Bachmann OO Gauge Branchline

[TimR]

Anybody know of a US retailer for the UK design, OO gauge locos from Bachmann's Branchline series? Saw a bunch while in England recently and I think I would like to start a collection of these. EBay has some occasionally but shipping and exchange rates are not very favorable from England.

[the Bach-man]

Dear Tim,
Try:

models11.com

Have fun!
the Bach-man

[Terry Toenges]

Some of those Branchline structures are pretty cool and could be used in US scenes.

[bobwrgt]

You can use the Bachmann UK web site.
Ehattons in England also ships worldwide. They are like Trainworld in the US.
I have purchased several from Ebay UK. You can use your US ID to sign in, add to your watch list, bid and purchase.

Bob

[CNE Runner]

I agree with Bob that E. Hatton's is an excellent place to purchase English model trains. Their shipping is fast and they remove the VAT charge from the item. Another excellent overseas retailer is The Signalbox.

Regards,
Ray

[Jerrys HO]

I agree Terry. There are some pretty nice and hard to find accessories on their site,

Jerry

[TimR]

Thank you all! I will take a look at the places mentioned and warm up the credit card. 

[WoundedBear]

Have a look at these guys also..........

http://www.modelrailwayimports.com/index.php

Generally, their prices are a little better than Models11.

Sid

[TimR]

Thanks Sid! I've looked at all of the suggested sites now, including the latest. The best prices seem to be at eHattons and The Signal Box. Model Railway Imports is a close third on prices by being within $10 of the model numbers I compared. Models11 was considerably more, even after factoring in likely lower shipping charges. That said, each vendor had some model numbers in stock that the others did not.

Here is an example of price comparisons:

Model 31-727,  GWR 3700 Class 4-4-0 "City of London"

Ehattons: $161.78
The Signal Box: $161.85
Model Railway: $169.00
Models11: $191.00

I'll be ordering some very soon. Nice to have at least 4 choices in sourcing these new. I have also tried some of these on the UK eBay site, but many have the caveat that they cannot ship to the US. Of the ones I have bid on (and lost), the auction end times favor the UK time zone so I have not been able to watch them near the end like I do with others based in the US. I will keep trying though. I can't explain it but I became hooked on this series of locos after seeing them in person. I just find them fascinating. 

[TimR]

OK, so I ordered two new locos from eHattons along with some decoders and assorted bits and pieces. I received it all in 9 days time and in excellent condition. Hats off to eHattons and a very smooth transaction. I can recommend them based on this order.

P.S. - Check for their "Bargains", some of them are pretty good! 

[uscgtanker]

My brother has been building gotland station and has it on NMRA facebook. buying locos from england have a different wiring system then ours. so if you want dcc buy it that way, wiring is a mess.

[rogertra]

My brother has been building gotland station and has it on NMRA facebook. buying locos from england have a different wiring system then ours. so if you want dcc buy it that way, wiring is a mess.

WHAT???

Where did you come up with that piece of misinformation? 

UK locos only differ in that they must, by law, have a suppressor built into the circuity to suppress electrical interference.  Other than that, there's no noticeable difference to the wiring.  You can take a UK loco out of the box, put it on a North American model railroad and DC or DCC it will run right out of the box.

[MilwaukeeRoadfan261]

rogertra has a point. I myself have 2 Bachmann Branchline engines (BR A1 class 60163 Tornado and GWR 57XX class  #5775) and both ran on my American model railroad just like my American prototype trains. And I had to fit both with DCC. If you consider the Bachmann model of Tornado, don't forget a 21 pin DCC decoder but also be careful when you go to fit it with DCC because the screw holding the back part of the tender shell to the chassis is hidden beneath the rear axle of the tender and behind the mount for the rear coupling pocket and is hard to get at without removing the rear tender axle.

[CNE Runner]

I have to agree with Roger that UK locomotives can be placed directly upon US rails and perform as expected (do keep in mind that US electricity does not have a Royal Patent...so it is best not to tell the locomotive it is running on 'Yank rails').

As far as a suggestion by a previous poster that The Signal Box is a good place to order UK items: There are many Signal Box(es) in the UK (i.e. the name is popular for hobby shops). I would imagine the reference is to The Signal Box of Rochester, UK (which I agree was an excellent place with which to trade). This business has gone into administration (bankrupcy) and is no longer in business.

My main problem, with modeling UK railways, is the inability to purchase some of the excellent limited run wagons - sometimes offered by modelling societies/clubs.

Cheers,
Ray

[raveoned]

I'm going with the consensus here that the wiring inside is virtually the same as a US locomotive (I have some vintage British equipment from the early to mid 1950's, and those are the same for cleaning and maintaining the engines as I would for my 1950's HO American stuff).

Also, I hate seeing these posts, as it only shows me more shops online to order from and spend more money!