While doing some Christmas "wish-listing", I found on another site a listing for "Bachmann Open Sided Excursion Car w/Seat Cass Scenic HO".  The item is up for pre-order, and is said to have an arrival date of Early December, which I guess means it should be available any day now.  To confirm this, I did a google search and found similar listings on two other sites.  Since none of them include the usually reliable walthers.com nor the official Bachmann site, I was wondering if this is for real or if someone got the wrong information by mistake.  I also saw the Jackson and Sharp excursion cars which are already out, and hope to find those under my tree  .  The Jackson/Sharp cars are kind of similar looking to Cass cars (although not really...they have open sides similar to old fashioned trolley cars and the like), and I thought someone might have gotten confused and listed one of them as Cass Scenic when they really aren't.  Does anyone know anything about this?  If this is true, it would REALLY make my holiday (  )as I have always wanted to have Cass Scenic RR tourist cars to go with my Shays.  (Even if it is delayed or something, a simple picture of what they will look like would be nice!).

PLEASE HELP, BACH MAN!   

That's a shame they stopped modeling #5...it was the prototype for the Bachmann Shay!  But like you said, maybe it will surface again sometime soon...

There is some difference in the general design between CSRR #5 and #4, etc (although Cass' original Greenbrier and Elk RR #4 was said to be #5's twin sister, along with CSRR #1, which is at the B&O museum).  For one thing, #5 is much older, so there is the basic evolution of machinery over the period of time between #5 being built and #4's construction (like comparing a Ford Mustang from the 1970s to one made in the 2000s.).  The engine pretty much operates the same, so the difference is mainly in the way the cylinders and gear work are designed and appear...a great deal is just cosmetic.  If you look at a picture of Shay #5 next to Shay #4, you might see what I'm talking about...#4 has a more "rounded" look in some places.  Just like looking at human blood...its all red and runs through veins, but its chemistry varies from person to person (A+, A-, O, etc.).

Anyway, you say you have a lot of CSRR equipment...did you build any tourist cars for your layout?

Hi!

I also have two Shays...my layout has been down for a while (over a year...I'm hoping to have it rebuilt in the next few months!), but when I did operate the Shays, they always hauled and handled unbelievably well...much like the prototype.

I have one BIG question:  Did Bachmann discontinue the prototype Cass Scenic Railroad (CSRR) Shay (Steel Cab)?  I live in WV, and CSRR is the reason I even started railroading (I already have one CSRR Bachmann Shay, but was planning to buy another for display), and it would be a shame if it were no longer represented in the model railroading trade (it took long enough as it was...lol!).  If it is discontinued, why just the CSRR and no others (now don't get any bad ideas with that statement...! )? 

Another Shay suggestion:  there are multiple "types" of 3 truck shays (CSRR itself has a wide variety), such as Pacific Coast, and just simply different versions of the original (Cass #4 and Meadow River #7, for example...or even WM #6 or WVP&P #12).  Is there any chance that these different variations will be produced by Bachmann any time in the not-too-distant future? 

Also, it would also be a good idea for Bachmann to model the CSRR tourist cars to accompany said Shay...I have scratchbuilt a couple modeled after Cass' first generation with your ACF log cars, but it would be great if a company would mass produce them, even if only for a limited run.  Even if not modeled after Cass, Great Smoky Mountains RR also has a variation on the cars, as do the Georgetown Loop and Durango and Silverton.  I have always wondered why tourist railroading has never been represented in HO, they are what most common people come in contact with when it comes to trains these days...commercial railroads are dwindling! 

Thanks for reading...looking forward to a reply!