I just got this locomotive via the auction site for $32 and I must say it is worth every penny and more. The shell is very close to the Athearn GP38-2 in detail. The hand rails look very close to scale and are not bent or warped. It has McHenry style couplers with the KD style spring. It is fully assembled and arrived with all parts attached. It is protected by a clear plastic cocoon like the latest athearn rtr locos. It does not have grab irons, lift rings, snow plow or MU hoses.
It does resemble the athearn drive and is definetly not the scaled up N scale clamshell chassis.
I got the CSX version and there are a few things to fix. The headlight needs to be moved to the low nose and the light above the cab plated over. It needs a bell midway back on the left side of the long hood and it has the old style blomberg trucks. I doubt if I’ll do anything about the trucks. To me this is an excellent loco for a young member of the hobby as it won’t eat a hole in his or her wallet, yet it is good enough that an experienced modeler can spend a few bucks on detail parts and end up with a good unit. I’d say it compares favorably with the Atlas Trainman GP38-2.
From looking at various pictures I will agree its a good looking model.I would not hesitated to buy one if I needed another GP38-2 or had a tight hobby budget…
After a little more research I have found out that if Bachmann had used a number above 2703 for this model the headlight location and old style blomberg trucks would have been correct. Go figure.
I think the yellow that Bachmann used is closer to the real thing than Atlas.
I bought a GP35 DCC about a year ago. I was surprised at the detail it had for the money. Mine had factory grab irons installed buy no plows or MU’s. It had the old style drive and split frame with no flywheels. Make sure it’s oiled up. Mine got a dry squeel after about an hour. Pulls better than my Athearns. (Down Brakie! Down![:D])