I’m the guy who needed help shopping for Amtrak stuff. Well now I’m looking for some power for the Central Railroad of New Jersey.
My requirements are HO scale, DCC/sound, and something the CNJ had in 1971. (Therefore no EMD F units).
The only two locomotives I know of that are/will be available are the Bowser Baldwin DS 4-4-1000 and the Bachmann EMD GP7. The Baldwin is a switcher and the GP7 I’ve been told is terrible because it’s Bachmann.
Thoughts and suggestions?
Edit: I am looking for a freight locomotive rather than a passenger one.
I highly disagree with the Bachmann GP7 being terrible. Lacking in detail yes, its more like the early Atlas/Kato yellow box era engines. I had 3 of them, all ran very nice, smooth and quiet. I did upgrade the decoders to TCS T1’s to eliminate motor hum at slow speeds. I put lots of miles on them at the local club. If you buy one, test it before you leave the shop, some do run like crap, but most run quite well for the price. Only other options is getting a model custom painted. Not sure when CNJ got rid of thier Alco RS3’s. Good luck in your hunt Mike
A quick search on Walthers.com reveals that Atlas has made SD35s in CNJ paint. Walthers says they are sold out, but you may be able to find on a your LHS or trainshow or eBay.
I think you may need to costum paint if you want something else. However I’d say if you get a pair of CNJ SD35s and a Baldwin switcher you’ll have road and yard power. A GP7 would compliment them, but you may need to work with the Bachmann a bit, it’s hard to say, I’ve had poor experience with Bachman but other have not.
Let’s get this clear from the beginning, I do not do any of the following for Bachmann, work for them, paid to represent their products, have Bachmann shares, know someone who works for them!
15 years ago, when I used to fill in at the long gone LHS, I would have steered purchasers of locomotives away from Bachmann, apart from their “Spectrum Series”, to other manufacturers.
BUT that was 15 years ago, things have changed over at Bachmann. I have three Bachmann DCC equipped Sharknose, 2 A, 1 B, that have had hard usage running on the layout at shows, 8 hours a day, for up to three days. I should also add that apart from addressing and consisting, they are as they came out of the box.
Fellow Model Railroaders of a certain age have observed and favourably commented on them, and other “new” Bachman in action, but then are overheard still continuing to perpetrate the “Bachmann is Rubbish Myth”.
Word of mouth is good, but only if the word is well informed.
Poking around eBay and the internet I found the following listed:
Atlas Alco RS4/5 road switcher
Atlas Alco HH660 switcher
Atlas FM H24-66 road switcher
Stewart VO-660 switcher
Stewart VO-1000 switcher
Walthers FM H10-44 switcher
Walthers SW1 switcher
You’ll have to consult the CNJ Historical Society for specific dates that certain CNJ locomotives operated. However, the Fallen Flags website for the CNJ lists a number of 1st & 2nd generation locomotives still operating in the early 70s - i.e. assuming those photo dates are correct.
HO Hobbyist
…the GP7 I’ve been told is terrible because it’s Bachmann.
Let’s get this clear from the beginning, I do not do any of the following for Bachmann, work for them, paid to represent their products, have Bachmann shares, know someone who works for them!
15 years ago, when I used to fill in at the long gone LHS, I would have steered purchasers of locomotives away from Bachmann, apart from their “Spectrum Series”, to other manufacturers.
BUT that was 15 years ago, things have changed over at Bachmann. I have three Bachmann DCC equipped Sharknose, 2 A, 1 B, that have had hard usage running on the layout at shows, 8 hours a day, for up to three days. I should also add that apart from addressing and consisting, they are as they came out of the box.
Fellow Model Railroaders of a certain age have observed and favourably commented on them, and other “new” Bachman in action, but then are overheard still continuing to perpetrate the “Bachmann is Rubbish Myth”.
My first loco was a Bachmann Spectrum GE 70tonner I got at a train show for $20 (though it was tagged at $25, fellow gave me a discount as he knew I was a beginner). The loco was in good condition when I bought, I ran it on the test track at the show and it ran fine.
A month later I had accumulated enough track and a power pack and but the loco to work. After a few runs I began to smell that electrical smell just like those old slot cars. I though this is weird so paid a bit of close attention to it running and saw it ran jerkily, especially in reverse.
I bought a new engine at a local used train store, which ran way better than the Bachmann, and asked the guy there if he knew what was wrong with my engine (he is a pretty experienced guy since he fixes up trains for a living!). He guessed that it had cracked gears just like old P2Ks are notorious for having. I wonder if they may have melted. The loco remained this way when I put it in storage a year ago. Have too look at it this summer.
Now this must have been an older model, but when I look at Bachmann’s newer stuff the detail is medium, but then the price is about what you’d pay for a high end Atlas, yet the detail doesn’t meet that price, and I’ve heard that people have had issues (even more resently) with their Bachmanns.
Hense I will not buy a Bachmann unless it is the only plastic version of a specific engine. I worry their upcoming SC44 might hook me, though if their prices follow their recent trends, I may not even be able to afford it!
Again just my opinions! I realize I just wrote a whole ton, so good job if you have read this far!
More than likely it’s going to have a paired-down OEM decoder vs a full-featured one. If you are okay with that then it’s a decent deal.
I would rather have an Atlas or Bowser/Stewart locomotive (e.g. RS-12). While you are going to spend more for one with sound, it’s worth it for the better-quality decoder and motors. Cannon and Buehler motors - like those in the Bowsers - are 2nd-to-none in smoothness.
Those Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0s are indeed sweet units, Mike. The one saw operating back in the mid-2000s didn’t have sound decoder but it ran very smoothly.
Despite the lack of detail I likely will go with the Bachmann. It can work as a mainline runner and assemble it’s own trains. (CNJ doesn’t have a yard on my layout). However, there is one major deal breaker with the Bachmann…
The Bachmann is a model of CNJ 1523. I can’t find pictures of it pulling freight, only passenger. If anyone knows about this locomotive, I’ve posted on the Trains general discussion.
I can’t vouche for the CNJ but GP7s on the NYC were dual-purpose units and could be used for either freight or passenger service. My guess is the CNJ Geeps were used the same and the photos you are finding are from an excursion run.
Why no F units? Your timeframe is a period when the CNJ was in bankruptcy and had huge power shortages, so they leased F units from the B&O and N&W (N&W units were former Wabash). F7s, here, as opposed to the CNJ’s original F3s. SD35s would be found, as well as a bunch of B&O leased SD40s.
You can find models of pretty much all of these. They may not have DCC and sound already iunstalled, but that shouldn’t stop you.
Plenty of photos online to see these various locos.
Hate to disagree with you Tom but I’d have to disagree. The SP&S had a group of 6 gp9s. Now 150-152 had steam generators and were use primarily as backup passenger engines. They rarely pulled frieght. However their siblings nos 153-155 lacked steam generators and only pulled freight. With the CNJ being similarly relatively small, it could easily have done similarly. I wouldn’t assume w/out photo graphic evident, especially if the picture you have of a gp7 pulling freight is so many numbers off.
To the OP I’d go for an Atlas or a Bowser, they are much higher quality. Besides, if you have the excuse to run a Baldwin that late then do it! However in the end it’s your railroad!
