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all new 4-4-0 American

Started by edpb, May 30, 2018, 10:13:03 AM

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edpb

Hey Bach man,

I received my Jupiter and 119 yesterday, and already I have some things to tell you about the all new 4-4-0 Americans.

I noticed in the Bachmann store that Bachmann designers realized that B&O and Pennsylvania are eastern railroads and therefore their locos are coal burners, so the tenders on the B&O and Pennsy locos have coal loads.  Apparently, they didn't know that in 1869 the Union Pacific was an eastern railroad, so they gave it a tender with a wood load.  If there ever is another production run, please let the designers know that the 119 belonged to an eastern railroad and should have a coal load in its tender.  Strange that the 119 has a smoke stack suitable for a coal burner but it has wood in its tender.

Both my Jupiter and my 119 have front couplers, and the coupler boxes take up the middle third of what should have been a beautiful pilot, or cowcatcher, so, the appearance of the fronts of all the all new 4-4-0 locos are ruined by a ridiculous front coupler when there could have been the elegant pilot that the locos actually had.

Just show them pictures of the replica 4-4-0 locos at the Golden Spike National Historic site and let them take it from there.

Ed Berners in South Bend, IN




Trainman203

Try the parts catalogue.  They may have what you want.

edpb

Hi Trainman203,

Thanks for the suggestion.

On the tender assembly parts sheet that came with my loco the load is part of a casting that includes the whole top of the tender all the way  down to the frame.  I think I could get a B&O or a Pennsy part, but it would not be painted for the 119.  I looked in the parts catalog using the part number shown on my parts sheet.  That part number is used for 126 different Bachmann loco parts, and in the parts catalog none of them is a new 4-4-0 tender top.  Puzzling, but that's what I found.


Trainman203

Sometimes it works, sometimes it don't.

Terry Toenges

#4
Just a few thoughts to ponder -
The U P started out in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 provided for the construction of railroads from the Missouri River West to the Pacific Ocean. To me that's Midwestern, not Eastern.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Railroad
As to the ridges on the roof of Bachmann's 4-4-0's, the only locos I could find with those ridges are V & T's #18 and #22. (I've done a lot of searching through books and on-line looking for locos with ridges.) It seems like I saw somewhere that they might have been where Bachmann came up with the original design for their 4-4-0. This cropped photo is from Larry Jensen's "HOLLYWOOD'S RAILROADS Volume One Virginia & Truckee" page 42. In this pic, they are dressed up for the movie "Whispering Smith". They both have ridged roofs like Bachmann's 4-4-0's (and also coal loads).

Also of note is that V & T's #22 (Inyo) was used as a stand-in for Jupiter from 1969 to 1979 at the Golden Spike Ceremony.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_spike
As for the wood load, maybe they looked at the painting by Howard Fogg commissioned by the Union Pacific Railroad.

I've been to the recreation ceremony and I never paid much attention at the time to what load #119 had.
In this original (cropped) photo from WESTWARD TO PROMONTORY (page 73) by Barry B. Combs, it looks like wood sticking out of 119's tender. This photo is from the actual ceremony.

Bachmann is using the same 4-4-0 for a number of different road names so you can't really expect it to be identical to any specific loco.
Feel like a Mogul.

hminky

The Bachmann 4-4-0's are representations of the V&T 4-4-0's and not the earlier locomotives.

Harold

Terry Toenges

Harold - I'm pretty sure that it was you that I heard that from.
Feel like a Mogul.

hminky

#7
Compared to plan of the V&T 4-4-0's from Model Railroader:





A typical state of the art locomotive from the early 1870's about 5% bigger than the Promontory locos.

Excuse the blurry locomotive

Harold


Trainman203

4-4-0's were called "American Standard " for a reason.  For many years , until other wheel arrangements evolved, they were remarkably similar to each other.

RAM

I just wonder how they get water in the tender. 

hminky

#10
Quote from: RAM on May 31, 2018, 12:04:17 PM
I just wonder how they get water in the tender.  
If you look closely the water hatches are barely visible.

In the case of woodburners the fuel was consumed faster than the water.

The oil bunker on the 22 is visible.

Harold

Terry Toenges

One summer, my wife and I drove up to Council Bluffs (We live just South of St. Louis). We followed the route of the Transcontinental Railroad (as best we could) to Sacramento. It was a neat thing to do. One year, we tried to follow the Oregon Trail. We went as far as Boise, Idaho and ran out of time and money and had to head back home. On these trips, we would just take our time and only drive a couple hundred miles a day and stop and see a lot of stuff along the way. I visited a lot of old forts along the way, too, because I was going to build a fort on my HO layout.
I have a lot of footage on VCR tape and I don't have a VCR anymore. I keep meaning to buy one of those combos to transfer it over to DVD. I also have a bunch of pics stashed away in the garage. I should hire someone to put it all on DVD for me.
Feel like a Mogul.

bbmiroku

Terry, try a local flea market or pawn shop for a VCR.

Hunt

Somewhat of an aside,

Click Here for video segment.



Robertj668

Did you get it with sound? I love mine with sound. When I run it at the club for open houses. There goes all the 40 to 50 (actually we have a show siding limit of 30 cars but you get the idea) car and there goes my little 4-4-0 with it Passenger cars.I love the looks, especially when they hear the sound. I am very proud the steam engines that Bachmann has done.