So in an effort to relive some of my childhood I’m thinking of adding a short trolley line to my layout. As I was ageing (not necessarily growing up) PCC cars were still common in my neighborhood and I rode plenty of them.
I’ve seen the ads for the Bachmann and Bowser/Stewart PCC cars and while the better units have more detail and better appearance I really can’t justify the expense of 8 or 10. The Bachman units will suffice except for the extreme height and undetermined drive. So a couple questions:
1 Do the Bachman units use the same plastic cased pancake motor as the trainset loco’s? Meaning they can be converted to DCC.
2 Any idea if the ride height can be modified? From the ads it appears to be about a 5 foot jump to the first step (yikes!) The prototypes were only about 2 foot, or less, above the railheads. Perhaps the shell can be lowered on the chassis?
I know I’m asking about cheap stuff and will get the advise to spring for the better models but thats not in the budget.
For heaven´s sake - go for the better Bowser or Con-Cor PCC cars. The Bachmann cars are cheapish toys you will most likely ban from your layout in short order. Go to your LHS and have a look at them - how can a renowned company put anything like this on the market, I will not understand!
How about getting only 4 of the better ones instead of 8 - 10 Bachmann toys?
I have one of the St Louis streetcars that was DCC equipped. It runs well. I can’t answer your question about lowering it or what type of drive it has, because I have not had any need to ever open it up.
Whether it would be prototypical to a rivet counter I cannot say because the last time I ever rode a St Louis streetcar was in 1962 and I don’t remember what they looked like. The St. Louis Car Company made them, so they may not have been to PCC design.
I don’t think Bachmann even markets it as a “PCC car,” but as a streetcar. The Bowser model would certainly be more accurate if you want a PCC.
I have one of the Bachmann Peter Witt trolleys. This is certainly a cut above their PCC cars. It’s really a very high-quality model, and it’s given me no trouble at all. It comes with DCC already installed. I added a sound decoder to mine. The unit has a speaker well for a 1/2 inch speaker already built in. This is an alternative to the higher-priced PCC cars, if your plans don’t require a PCC.
You’re not going to find other trolleys for the price of the low-end Bachmann PCC, though. In MSRP terms, you can’t find much of any kind of motive power for under $100 and expect much quality.
Unless you are planning to run an automated operation, it seems to me that 8-10 trolleys will be an awful lot. Unless the new Bowsers are different, none of these comes with couplers or drawbars, so they’re not designed for running in consists. I would also go with a few good-quality units rather than a bunch of lower-quality ones.
I grew up in Shaker Heights and PCC type cars (including St Louis and Pullman) were in use into the late 80’s, the Witt style were long gone by then. I was planning on running em in 2 unit consists with a drawbar (which wouldn’t too hard to add) so only 4 trains at a time over about a 100’ run. I’m perfectly willing to sacraifce fine detail for price since I am a bit ham fisted. Details don’t last long for me and supporting a family and house doesn’t leave a lot of extra for toys, I know I’m not the only one.