BTW I forgot to mention, look at the enlarged coal bunker!!!!! Also how beat-up the cylinder covers are, and the modified tender steps. There seems to be plenty of potential to individualise a decapod to get away from the "out-of-the-box" model.

Bill.

Hi, I found a photo of an Erie Dec with the generator mounted where Bachmann put it on the model. It also shows the flat round thing that Trainman referred to more clearly, It is not the mount for the whistles, it is between the generator and the rearmost dome: https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2F4RZoWLc.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reddit.com%2Fr%2Fmodeltrains%2Fcomments%2F6ecaek%2Fso_i_decided_to_model_a_fictional_2100_this_is_a%2F&docid=VOOZVrHGlE7pPM&tbnid=T7YDzAfFAL9KAM%3A&vet=10ahUKEwi4sM7V2vTdAhUDWsAKHVjrDUoQMwhcKBYwFg..i&w=2514&h=1428&client=firefox-b&bih=916&biw=1701&q=Bachmann%20Spectrum%202-10-0%20Erie&ved=0ahUKEwi4sM7V2vTdAhUDWsAKHVjrDUoQMwhcKBYwFg&iact=mrc&uact=8#h=1428&imgdii=T7YDzAfFAL9KAM:&vet=10ahUKEwi4sM7V2vTdAhUDWsAKHVjrDUoQMwhcKBYwFg..i&w=2514 Sorry for the long link - google's fault, not mine, I could not get closer to the original pic now they have disabled the ability to load the pic directly from source.

BTW these side views show that the footboards are not as on the model, in that the different levels are independent, not linked by '"verticals", if you see what I mean. Looking at the parts diagrams on this website it looks like the footboards in Spectrum 81701/3 would be more accurate than those in 81704, which is the Erie model.

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi RAM, thanks very much.

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi, I attach a link to an excellent photo of an Erie Russian Decapod. It is photo #6 in the slideshow on this page from the Monroe County Historical Association: http://www.monroehistorical.org/transportation.html My question is, what is that whing-ding on the top of the smokebox where Bachmann put the headlamp? Excuse my ignorance, I am sure everyone but me knows what it is!!!!! All the photos of Erie Decapods I can find are arranged like this, and so I am guessing that this is what RRs which bought Decs from the Erie received them configured like, though the Alabama, Tennessee & Northern seem to have removed it from theirs, which suggests that it is a frivolity, not a necessity, unless they moved it elsewhere.

Thanks,
Bill.

Hi, if it is any help in your re-numbering, Microscale do several HO decal sheets for the ARR:

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=ARR

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi RAM, thanks. That would also make it post-1947, if it ever happened.

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi, When I look on locobase I see that the PM did indeed get 30 USRA light Mikados, but they numbered them 1011 - 1040. In fact they numbered all of their Mikados in the 1001 - 1099 series. http://www.steamlocomotive.com/locobase.php?country=USA&wheel=2-8-2&railroad=pm#  All 30 of the The USRA light 2-8-2s served the PM from 1920 to 1951, and so are a useful and representative engine for a not often represented RR. Does anyone know why Bachmann have numbered their example #2379? Is this just an error, or did the PM re-number them, and if so does anyone know the operative date? Looking on the PM Historical Society website I don't see any steam locos with numbers higher than the 1339 http://www.pmhistsoc.org/stmrostr.shtml

The other PM loco in the Bachmann range is the Berkshire, and the numbers Bachmann have used, #1218 (DCC) #1225 (DCC + Sound), are correct, though Bachmann have lettered both 1218 and 1225 in yellow as per the preserved #1225 which Bachmann could, and presumably did, go and look at, though the also preserved #1223 is lettered in white, so I am not quite sure which is correct for an in-service PM engine in the 1920 - 1950 period and if that also changed, and if so the operative dates.

I would be grateful for any info from those who know!
Best Regards,
Bill.

 

Nice idea. For some time I have searched for e real example of a Russian Decapod with a Vandy tender, but with no luck. They all seem to have the type supplied with the model, albeit with modifications, e.g. the taller coal sides for the WM and the Erie seem to have modified some tenders. Can anyone reference a pic of a real Russian Dec with a different type of tender from the one supplied by Bachmann? Or a Russian Dec converted to oil? There must have been some tender changes over their long lives, one would think??

Bill.

Hi Mr B, I just got an email from you (10 August 2018) entitled "2018 NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS". Unfortunately when I "See what's new!
Click here to view Bachmann's New Releases 2018 announcement brochure. " I am told "To view this page ensure that Adobe Flash Player version 11.1.0 or greater is installed. " A quick google will tell you that Flash Player is a notorious back door for malware of all types and the general advice is to not have it on your PC. Any chance you could provide your 2018 NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS as a simple PDF file, please?

Thanks,
Bill.

Hi ebtnut, I got a fully painted Aristocraft Ma & Pa 2-8-0 #26 on ebay some years ago for a reasonable price and it is very beautiful, but it has a big, noisy open-frame motor that fills the cab and I am not up to the job of DCC + soundifying it. A Spectrum standard version would be a better starting point for me! I am sure Bachmann could sell a ton of them.

Bill.

For years via this board I urged Bachmann to complete their suite of Ma & Pa prototypes with the small Baldwin 2-8-0, Ma & Pa #23-26. I have stopped because it needs to be to the old Spectrum standard to sit alongside the old Spectrum Baldwin 4-6-0 #27-28 and Richmond 4-4-0 #4-6 models. There is no point in doing it to the new simplified 4-6-0 standard. The problem with molding all the pipework and fittings onto the boiler is that the modeller cannot easily change them to more accurately match a specific prototype - and Baldwin sold a lot of those small 2-8-0s to a plethora of small RRs who did all sorts of things to them. If we want a simplified small 2-8-0 there is the Roundhouse model, which I see is being re-issued in November, but it does not really match the Ma & Pa prototypes. But I also see that their list price is $190 DC and $260 with sound, so if Bachmann were to produce an accurate Ma & Pa 2-8-0 for their current list prices if $300 DC and $400 DCC + Sound Value then it should really be to a Spectrum level of detail.

Best Regards,
Bill.

Ooops, I think that shell may be a beaver pelt!

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi, an update, for anyone interested, on the Rock Island USRA Light 2-8-2s.

I got access to my Rock Island Steam book at the weekend, and found that the first 9, built by Baldwin, were for the CRIP, and the remaining 11, built by ALCo, went originally to the Texas & Pacific in 1918, who did not want them and passed them on to the Rock in 1919. Apparently they were liked on the Rock and they lasted to the end of steam, the first going in 1945 and the last one being withdrawn in February 1953.

They were all delivered as coal burners and were all converted to oil by the CRIP in the 1930s, so they were probably oilers by the time the CRIP put the shell emblem on their tenders from 1937 onwards. Before that the tenders were lettered "Rock Island". Microscale make comprehensive Rock Island Steam sheets for 1915-1937 and for 1937-1954. From the photos in my book the oil tanks were big and extend further back than the coal bunker on the Bachmann USRA tender, so a drop-in alternative bunker for the same space is not the answer. Also, and presumably at the time of conversion, the Rock modified the cabs to provide sloping cab fronts, i.e. the top of the cab front is further forward than the bottom, so the model is of a pre-1930s conversion Rock Mike, without a lot of effort to change it. Otherwise they seem much the same as the model / a standard USRA light Mike.

My book has good photos of one at Colorado Springs in 1941 and one at Kansas City, MO, in 1951, so they were not all concentrated in one district. I don't know how widely they travelled.

Best Regards,
Bill.

Ah, I see it in the spares shop - it is "Tender Oil Top (HO 2-10-2)", Model: 838X-0AB02, $8.80, SOLD OUT - so I guess a few other people had the same idea! BTW if you want a snail-slow MOPAC switcher for your yard I can recommend the Life-Like USRA 0-8-0 - I have MP #9605 and it is superb, but unfortunately another loco that does not like my PECO small radius Ys. Also it has a coal bunker, and indeed I think all their MoPac 0-8-0s come with coal, unlike their CRIP 0-6-0s, of which some are coal and others oil.

Returning to the Rock, I found this micro terminus http://www.carendt.com/micro-layout-design-gallery/standard-gauge-lines/ - Erick, Oklahoma, admittedly 1988, but... It has a grain silo, timber yard, and unspecified warehouse all of which can be switched from an imaginary off-scene loop. Scenic area length variable according to your choice of locos and cars. I imagine it would be served from a traverser of however many roads you want long enough to hold however many freight cars you want, at the further end of which there would be a second traverser or however many static tracks you want to hold locos that would propel their cars into the scenic area. No need for tight radius turnouts on this one!

Best Regards,
Bill.

Hi, I just got this through the post today from Modeltrainstuff, and whilst it is unfortunate that Bachmann are no longer introducing new models to Spectrum standard, I felt I should record that I am very pleased with this model. First, I got it for $135, i.e. $149.99 less a 10% discount that MB Klein had on Bachmann when I ordered it, which I mention because they still have some at that price for several RRs (though the 10% discount is ended, but that seems to cycle around) which is a good deal better than the $319 RRP and a lot less than I would have had to pay for a Spectrum (or a BLI, who also do the light and heavy USRA Mikados).

But the particular points I wanted to make about this model are:

Bachmann have used correct #s. Most CRIP 2-8-2s were not USRA types, but they did get 20 in 1919 and numbered them 2300-2319, CRIP class K-55. These were the lightest 2-8-2s the Rock Island owned, with a tractive effort some 10,000 lb less than their other Mikes, which may be why they did not get more.

There is a photo of #2319 on Don's Depot which shows that Bachmann have also got the main visible features right, like the headlamp on the smokebox door, and the position of the bell.

But what I am most impressed by is the slow speed running. My DC track has an old H&M Duette controller attached, which offers high and low resistance and full and half-wave rectification. Stright from the box this engine was a bit too fast on full-wave, low resistance, but on high resistance it was commendably slow and at half wave it just creeps along smoothly, even through turnouts. I guess the wheelbase over which it collects current may be something to do with that, but also I suspect the gearing is ideal. Also, even at low power the headlight and backup lights are commendably bright.

Unfortunately it has one big problem for me - it is 2-inches longer than my ruling 10-inch max loco length to switch my yard!, so it will have to sit on the shelf for a while. However, I am planning a new RR which will be able to accommodate it, and I am also minded to do that in DC as sometimes you need to get back to the silent simplicity of an old-fashioned layout where you do not have to keep punching in numbers and remembering which function is which for this or that engine. A good, smooth, slow running DC loco is needed for that - I also have two DC Life-Like Rock Island USRA 0-6-0s that fits that bill, one coal and one oil fired.

If I might make one suggestion to Mr B, the coal load on the USRA medium coal tender lifts out, so why not make an optional oil bunker for this tender and put it in your spares shop. I cannot see from Don Ross's photo what #2319 has in its bunker, but locobase reports the CRIP K-55 class as carrying 5,000 gals of oil or 19 tons of coal, and so far as I know the Rock Island used different fuels for different territories.

So in conclusion, I recommend this loco to anyone who might be thinking about a mike, especially one that needs to be able to do a bit of switching. BTW I have no idea how the "sound value" version performs. Also, I cannot comment on hauling power of this plastic-bodied loco, but that is not an issue on my RR.

Best Regards,
Bill.