Why hasn't Bachmann re-issued their HO 2-8-0 with DCC AND sound? This is a great loco and
needs to be brought back with sound.
How about it, Bach-Man, please put in a good word to re-issue this loco with sound!
Maybe if everyone suggests it Bachmann will do it!
Bob D.
Dear Bob,
I'll pass along your request!
Thanks!
the Bach-man
Yes, the Bachmann 2-8-0 with the new sound decoder as per the new Alco 2-6-0 would do well in the market place.
As others have mentioned it is a great little engine.
I myself love my Spectrum 2-8-0 and have though about putting a sound decoder in it a few times (my dad originally had that idea because we had seen the Spectrum 4-6-0 that had sound factory installed at my LHS and he likes the sound-on-board engines). If the 2-8-0 were re-issued with sound, I would look at getting one if it was in the right roadnames.
I can see the possibility of the 2-8-0 being issued somewhere down the road as a "Sound Value" engine. Some folks will like this while other(s) will not. It's really easy to install a sound decoder and a speaker in the current version and it saves the consumer quite a bit of money. It features an 8 pin socket and the mount for the speaker so.......
The 2-8-0 is no longer a Spectrum locomotive so it will not be reissued as such.
I'm really surprised they didn't sound value this engine first...
I am awaiting a 2-8-0 Consolidation to arrive in the mail... hopefully today. I will be installing the Digitrax SDH164D sound decoder, with the additional 8 pin harness (so I don't have to do any hard wiring). I chose this decoder specifically because it is half the cost of the Tsunami TSU-1000 Medium Steam decoder, which is what I prefer. But, I'm willing to give this one a try first. If it doesn't work out.. hey, I've got 2 other DCC ready Diesels just itching to have sound installed that the SDH164D would work well in too. ;D
The only thing that has changed is that sound has been added to standard line engines which were previously not available with sound. Spectrum has not changed.
My two cents worth.
The Spectrum 2-8-0 was and is an excellent locomotive, if you can find one.
My belief is that it would be a very wise business decision to offer it with sound.
Just as strongly as I believe that, I believe Yardmaster.
It likely will not happen.
To some folks out there the sky is falling....
In reality, some items that are not currently in the catalog are merely waiting for dealers to sell through remaining stock before another run is produced. If the dealers aren't ready to buy more we need to wait a bit before producing more (and yes - we talk to the retailers on a daily basis and have a firm idea of what they want). We would have to be pretty dim to invest large sums of money into creating tooling for locomotives only to run them once - come on now we're smarter than that ::)
And yes Bachmann is a business not a hobby. If certain road names sell much better than others those are the ones we will do more often - even if it happens to be the Pennsylvania Railroad ;D
Believe it or not some folks like the fact that the 2-8-0 can be had for well under a hundred dollars and they aren't afraid to open the tender and plug in a decoder! Guess sometimes you just have to buck up and accept changes.