DD40AX In Stock Date?

[herc driver]

Just wondering when the DD40AX will find itself on store shelves and when the pre-orders will be filled?  Any latest word Mr Bachmann?

[the Bach-man]

Dear Herc,
We're still anticipating April/ May arrival.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[UPOzzie]

Here in Australia we were told DEC/JAN? i gather there has been a hold up on these items then? I have 2 ordered with my local hobby shop and just rang them and they had not heard a thing,

[herc driver]

Same for me...I was first told the engine would arrive in Dec 08.  Although I'm sure there was a good reason for this delay, it is frustrating.  It seems like almost every manufacturer these days are missing stock and release dates by months.  It's gotten to the point where whatever date a manufacturer gives, I add four to six months.  I have no idea how complicated it is to make a product like this, go through the production process, and around the world shipping to finally get one into the customer's hands.  Hopefully, this engine will be released soon.  It looks like Bachmann did a great job modeling this one, and hopefully it will run well with the onboard DCC.

[C855B]

Patience. The recession and money-flow woes have disrupted a lot of production schedules. There are only a couple of factories in China producing N (and I think one just bought the other), so the schedule slippages are clobbering everybody.

The delay situation on the DDA40X and 44-tonner is nothing, anyway. I just canceled a moderate advance order (non-Bachmann) because the importer pushed the delivery estimate back for the fourth time, and is now a year delayed since first promised. Now that's ridiculous.

[bigjewc]

what the heck is going on? how can this not be released yet? i just got a brand new one last week, (big SOB!) but im really confused now.

[herc driver]

I...ah....really?  You got the new DD40AX?  From you LHS or direct from Bmann?  Ok...now I'm confused.  My LHS is still saying it won't be delivered for quite some time.  Maybe, since he's got to go through a national chain/wholesaler it takes a bit longer.  I just placed a call to him and (his computer's down) later today I might have an updated arrival date.

How does it look and run?  I'm really hoping Bachmann did a good overall job with both the design and decoder integration.  I'm not a rivet counter...but would like things to look good and run well.  My biggest concern is what radius is required for this engine.  I'm using 11 inch curves now and can't go any larger.  I had read (way back when this engine was announced) that they were trying to get the useful radius down to 9.75 inches, and to accomplish that, they were going to truck-mount the couplers.  A small concession to be able to run it on smaller layouts imho.

Write a review!  Let us know what you think!  Thanks

[Frank C]

what the heck is going on? how can this not be released yet? i just got a brand new one last week, (big SOB!) but im really confused now.

Perhaps you received one of the older ones. There are still some around.

Frank

[C855B]

I agree. There is a relatively foolproof way to tell - if it is truly a new locomotive (even if from old stock) and therefore hasn't been repainted or relettered, the road numbers are unique for each production group:

6926 - original production from the mid-'80s.
6906, 6938, 6941 - "Plus" and "Spectrum" versions, mid-'90s to around 2004.
6915, 6927, 6932, 6943 - 2008 announced version that we don't think has been shipped yet.

I may have missed a number for the middle release, but for certain if it is not 6915, 6927, 6932, or 6943, it is not the new release.

[r0bert]

I'm sure that the new ones will also come in the clear plastic jewl box,
while the spectrum and plus models came in black and grey cardboard boxes respectively, and the original version came in a white cardboard window box.

[bigjewc]

yep, mine must be an older model, number 6922. but i really do like this one. works quite well, and strong as all hell, will pull every car in my collection(along with drywall off the wall ), and thats alot. causes cars to derail on turns when im pulling to many, the force of the pull has the cars jump off. but really cool. wish i could upload a pic. guess i'm going to be waiting for the new ones too. haha

[r0bert]

Yep, it's an older version, from the spectrum/plus run.

[herc driver]

That one looks pretty good to me!  How does it run?  Great looking layout scene btw.

[C855B]

Thanks for the detailed response and the nice photo. I'll add 6922 to my notes.

One special spotting feature of the "mid" run Centennials is the sharp-but-slightly-bold outlining of the lettering, and the yellow is not paint - that's the plastic the body is molded in. This was a technique used by some HO manufacturers back in the '60s that was usually associated with toy-quality brands (like Tyco), but it is clear from the two I have that there was a quantum leap in finish quality. I daresay the final appearance is worlds better than the first Bachmann version (I also have two of those).

These things are stump-pullers because like the prototype you have two locomotives in the same body. Then, the extra length adds about 20% more weight than you would have by coupling two "lesser" conventional model locos together.

Two downsides, one you'll have to be on the lookout for, the other you can choose to ignore. These mid-gen Big Jacks have a tendency to spontaneously crack axle gears. You'll hear it in a "click-click-click-..." which gets worse with load. Both of mine have it, and, like yours, they were recently acquired new, from old stock.

The second issue with the second-generation rendition is, while they look great in isolation or next to another of its own kind, couple them to any other current N scale locomotive or compare the model to a photo of the real thing, and suddenly you're scratching your head in the realization that it's quite an approximation. The hood is 20% too wide, and the nose proportions are all wrong.

The latter stuff is a big issue for my rivet-counter-ness and is primarily why I'm hanging around here micromonitoring the process on the new release. From preliminary photos the most glaring bugs seem to be addressed. You see, the 40X's for most of their active life were run as DDA40X-SD40-DDA40X sets. These 8000-series SD40's had special high-speed gearing to match; we called these lashups "Fast-Forty Sandwiches". Anyway, in any effort to model the heyday, as soon as you plop a Kato SD40 in the middle of a pair of 1st- or 2nd-generation Bach 40X's, the proportion problems jump out and bite ya'. 

[r0bert]

That one looks pretty good to me!  How does it run?  Great looking layout scene btw.

here ya' go
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryo82x4SXoc