Do you think that it would be a good idea if Bachmann could make more HO scale Amtraks in the future? ??? ??? ???
Well they already make the Acela Express® Locomotives, the Acela® HHP-8, the 85' Amfleet I Acela Regional Coach, the 85' Budd Full-Dome Passenger Car, the 85' Amfleet I Phase II,III & IV Coaches, the Business Class Passenger Car, First Class Passenger Car, Cafe Acela®, the End - Business Class Passenger Car, 85' Amfleet I Phase II,III & IV Cafes, the DCC-Equipped E60CP Locomotive, the Nor'easter set, and of course the Acela Express® Set.
So in short, that seems like enough for one road to me.
How about adding a few DDC loco's
They already have 3 different DCC locos with multiple road numbers for each.
One thing I have not been in Bachmann is Superliner Cars
I have dabbled in the Amtrak world.
The Acela set is truly awesome. Highly recommend it.
The F40PH engines are also great. Nice and smooth.
Unfortunately, the Silver Series Amfleet II passenger cars do not roll freely. I have tried a few tricks to get them rolling well, but to no avail. The inside bolster system has too much friction. It takes two engines to safely pull 6-8 amfleet cars. It seems free rolling, modern passenger cars is a challenging task. My guess is, it would be way too expensive to manufacture some sort of ball-bearing axle for the cars.
On the plus side, they light up very well. They also look very good.
Regards,
Jonathan
Superliner cars and the mail coaches need to be on the Bachmann line. Dining cars should be included too. Dash 9 style Amtrak locomotives should be added to the HO scale Bachmann list.
The electrical pickups are a drag on your passenger car wheels.
The lights are an extra load (drain) on your power pack.
Have you considered removing the pickups and using battery powered golden white LEDs instead?
What would be the best DCC Decoder to use with the HHP-8? Would sound be considered a good possibility?
Quote from: Joe Satnik on May 20, 2010, 11:22:49 AM
The electrical pickups are a drag on your passenger car wheels.
The lights are an extra load (drain) on your power pack.
Have you considered removing the pickups and using battery powered golden white LEDs instead?
What do you mean?
Quote from: JonD on May 20, 2010, 01:07:02 PM
What would be the best DCC Decoder to use with the HHP-8? Would sound be considered a good possibility?
Who is that a picture of on your avatar?
This thread seems to have taken an abrupt and possibly awkward new direction, I think.
--D
I think it would be profitable for Bachmann to revisit the Metroliner, not only for Amtrak but PRR and Penn Central as well.
It might also be an auspicious time to do a deal with Jouef for the Turboliner tooling.
Unique models attract both new and former customers which should benefit the rest of Bachmann's range - provided they make a good impression. I think they can.
Quote from: Edward2 on May 20, 2010, 01:18:27 PM
Quote from: JonD on May 20, 2010, 01:07:02 PM
What would be the best DCC Decoder to use with the HHP-8? Would sound be considered a good possibility?
Who is that a picture of on your avatar?
looks like Brisco County Jr.
Bachmann should make the Genisis locos (is that even what they're called, because i forget the real class). They would be really nice.
Quote from: Emster on May 26, 2010, 12:18:36 AM
Bachmann should make the Genisis locos (is that even what they're called, because i forget the real class). They would be really nice.
I would LOVE to see Bachmann do a Genesis locomotive, in all phases, or atleast phase 5. Athearn's aren't the best, but alright. I have a review of mine on youtube.
Also, they were also called P-40's and P-42's mainly, but there were some others I can't name at the moment. :)
I would love for bachmann to remake the metroliner set in their spectrum line. also athearn makes a great running p42 (own 2 of them) . They should they invented the drives everyone else uses in their locos.
Quote from: hobo1 on May 26, 2010, 04:29:34 PM
I would love for bachmann to remake the metroliner set in their spectrum line. also athearn makes a great running p42 (own 2 of them) . They should they invented the drives everyone else uses in their locos.
Are you talking about the newest run of the Phase 5 ones? If so, there's just one stupid design I hated. As I was running it, during the first 10 minutes while I was breaking it in, I stopped it and lifted it off the tracks, and the gear box clip on the back truck randomly fell out. At the time, I didn't know what it was, so I decided to take off the shell. I hadn't known that there was a small piece of plastic by each of the ladders, and when I took off the shell, it tore off all of the ladders. It's bad enought that the gear box clip fell out on its own, but the clip is doing nothing there. It doesn't hold the shell on at all, it's just a waste in my opinion. Now, I'm not saying it's a bad product, and that Athearn is terrible, just that the plastic piece is serving no purpose.
It is a great runner, but the plastic piece is just a nuisance.
This Highlights the problem I have with Athearn Locos. They aren't bad products (they run great) but the shells seem too fragile at least for me.
I would love Bachmann to put out a Metroliner Set in PC Logo
the p40 and p42 diesels are already made by athearn.
Quote from: Edward2 on May 20, 2010, 10:28:50 AM
Superliner cars and the mail coaches need to be on the Bachmann line. Dining cars should be included too. Dash 9 style Amtrak locomotives should be added to the HO scale Bachmann list.
Maybe if Walther's was not already making Superliners, Mail Cars, and Dining Cars Bachmann would consider doing them. The Amtrak B40-8WH's have been done by Atlas AND more will be arriving in November.
I'm a proponent for a revised Metroliner though. The tooling must still exist?
I think it's important that Bachmann not re-invent the wheel when it comes to Amtrak models. So far they've done an excellent job releasing models such as:
E60
Metroliner
Acela Express
HHP-8
Phase V and later amfleet coach and cafe cars *
I put an asterisk next to the amfleet cars because I'm not a big fan of them nor am I impressed with the paint jobs. Also keep in mind that walthers also produces these cars (I think Bachmann was first though) The older Bachmann tooling was a bit more accurate but lacking bulkhead details. I'm not a fan of the re-tooling.
Unless other manufacturers got it COMPLETELY WRONG, it's not necessary to duplicate what's already available on a continual basis unless they were to significantly step up quality and features. I see no need for Bachmann to re-produce superliners when Walthers has metal plated superliners with interiors in every paint scheme that these cars have shown up in.
Emster, I think the class your talking about is a P42DC. They use them on trains like the lake shore limited and the capitol limited.
I'm considering an E60CP (http://e60cp%20engine%20http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?searchStr=e60cp&act=viewCat&Submit=Go) and am interested in getting some matching cars.
First, what is the difference between these two engines (Phase II vs Phase III)? Does anyone have the E60CP? How is it? Are there any areas of concern?
Second, I've read some concerns over the 85' Amfleet but cannot tell if people are unhappy with the performance of all or just certain Phases.
So, any clear recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
the "phases" you hear everybody talking about are the different paint schemes amtrak has used over the yeara, phase one being the original "bloody nose"
i believe phase two was the one with the large black numbers on the side, above the red white and blue stripes. phase 3 had smaller numbers centered on those stripes. not sure which paint phase 4 was, but phase 5 is the current one with the dark blue "wave" along the top of the locomotive, and the huge blue numbers on the side.