Decent

I would not hesitate to run any of the recent Bachmann products.  They're not Kato quality, but they're not Kato price, either.  There are two things I look for and try to fix with any Bachmann locomotive:

1. Weight.  They tend to be on the light side.  Additional weight is usually, but not always, easy to add.  The smaller steam locos can be problematic, but the diesels you've mentioned tend to have plenty of room.
2. Wiring.  I have reached the point where, if I have to open a Bachmann engine, I just go ahead and remove and replace every piece of wire I can find.  They seem to use whatever color wire is handy, frequently using the right colors in the wrong positions, which can be VERY confusing when adding a decoder.  Related to that, I prefer to remove and replace all of the connectors on the steam locos (again, not your main interest, but might be useful for someone else), as they tend to be bulky and unreliable, and have too much wire hanging out of them.

With that said, they run well right out of the box, and there is no need to open them and tweak them if you don't want to.  I have several, and would not mind at all running more.  Go ahead and get one, and see how you like it.

Hi.   Thank you for the

Hi.

Thank you for the answer. I think I'll get one or two models. 

Best regards.

Improved

Everything I've heard about recent Bachmann releases has indicated that the drives are a huge improvement.  Shells appear to be about on par with Athearn blue box.  Seems like a nice option to me.  If you can get a nice running model that can be detailed to your level of satisfaction without breaking the bank, I think you've got a winner.

There's an interesting thread at  https://forum.mrhmag.com/post/bachmann-sd402-project-preview-12196160 about the Bachmann SD40-2.

Bachmann website and forums

This will interest you. The Bachmann site. There are forums for different scales, list of DCC CV's, loco diagrams you can download. Parts page., etc.

Many users of Bachmann products.

A couple Bachmann reps there also.

Look though the site. Some post anything to the General Discussion forum because that is the first they see.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php

Rich

I have purchased Bachmann ...

... 2 Graham Farish (British N-scale) Steamers as well as track, rolling stock and power pack.  Very impressed with the quality of the product -- greatly exceeded my expectations for "Bachmann" and the price.  The locomotives are every bit as good as the Kato NW-2 N-scale diesel locomotive that I also own (another high quality product).

More recently I acquired a Bachmann Spectrum On30 American (4-4-0) ... the quality of this locomotive really knocked my socks off for the price!

I really don't think that you will go wrong with Bachmann in today's market.  Good luck, have fun. enjoy.  Dave O

Buying in EU states

Quote: "Here in Portugal, due to Customs, it is kinda hard to get some of the great rolling stock."

You could buy in states of the EU like Germany. This way you could avoid customs. You would have to reserve items you want to get as the specialized hobby shops don't keep large inventories. But you can order everything Walthers carries.

Regards, Volker

0-6-0

I have the Spectrum 0-6-0.  It's an amazing little loco.  It will pull 20 cars on the flat, if you're careful with the throttle getting it started.  (Won't do it fast, and that was just an experiment...) but, like others have said, the weight is light; it can pull 4-6 cars up the club's 2 1/2% grade before the wheels start to slip--then just spin in place.  I know you're interested in later times, but this is still a testimony to the quality.  With or without cars in tow, she'll run so slowly that you can barely see that she's moving...excellent loco.

Good morning all. Well,

Bachmann

In the past few years I have purchased 1 DC GP7 it runs great . I have also purchased 3 Alco RS3s, an Alco S2, a set of ABA F7s and 2 more GP7s all of these are DCC sound equipped . They run and sound great I run then DC only on  MRC Controlmaster 20 power packs I think you cannot go wrong with engines, I have some of the 44 ton units the older 2 motor version they run fine I did do a little clean adjust and lube and have not had trouble with motor burnout on these 44 ton engines.

Ron High

45 Tonner a little jem!

Only one Bachmann on my roster, a lovely little GE 45 tonner fitted with the factory decoder. On DC it was near silent and would crawl quite happily, in DCC theres low speed noise which I found out was built in to shake the armature I believe. Can be tuned via JMRI to run very slowly and runs quite happily over Peco #5 dead frog points, it's my test loco if that runs over my newly laid track I know it's OK. Only reason I haven't bought any more is I already have a large roster of Atlas Alco's but will pick up a GP7/9 when they eventual release CR or BN liveries. 

Bachman is light years ahead

Bachman is light years ahead of where it used to be in the 80's. I bought a couple 2-10-2's with the "detuned" tsunami sound decoder and they sound and run quite well. And i got em for about $100 a piece on a special sale. Stripped the other decals off and re lettered them for B&LE.

Protection

Don't you just love it when Customs works so tirelessly to protect a domestic industry which does not exist?

European Source for US Bachmann

Try the Web Retailers in the UK.  Hattons of Liverpool usually has everything Bachmann US makes. Kernow Model Centre is another good web retail source with a good US coverage. I deal regularly with both to get UK stuff here in the US. There is a lot of North American prototype modeling in the UK so a good number of sources.  

Hattons also has great return and service practices.

As they are already in the EU you may be able to order without additional VAT.

Ken Adams

Walnut Creek California

Bachmann British outline

Bachmann

Bachmann really screwed up the keystones on their new GG1 in the last PRR scheme; solid buff gold stripe.

The "PRR" and outline striping in the keystone should be white; they did it in buff gold. I called Bachmann's head of R&D about it and even emailed them a color, full broadside view. . they told me "I was wrong, and they were correct."

Perhaps they should change their name to "Botchmann."

Well, as I work in a hobby

Well, as I work in a hobby shop in Portugal, I can get Bachmann US stuff, using a Spanish dealer. That's not a problem. In fact, I am waiting for a GP30 and a SD40-2, just to give them a try.

The big issue is the other brands: Atlas, KATO, Walthers, and so on... Well I prefer to take my chances with customs. Shops like Model Junction in the UK, and All American trains in Germany are too expensive (1 USD = 1EUR). It too high for the stuff we can get cheaper...

I have been with some luck, but now I have two items trapped in Customs for at least 2 months, and so signs of them.

Thank you all for the answers.

They have gotten a lot better

They have gotten a lot better than the crap they used to make, but many folks I know refer to them as Bustman. Generally if I can buy something from another manufacturer I will after buying some of their equipment many decades ago and being very disappointed I try to avoid them. I have bought one of their 44 tonners to fill out my prototype Virginian roster. My FM units are from Atlas and I will need to do a bit of modification to the Atlas H16-44s to make it match up as close as possible one of the early units that were purchased before the adoption of the train master type body.

One of my fellow club members brought in 3 small steamers by Bachmann all new in the box. Another member helped him program them. When they were running around the layout they were responding to comands but not running smoothly or pulling well. I asked if he had cleaned and lubed his engines and he stated they were brand new and should be fine. I suggested we open one up and take a look at the insides. On the three engines we discovered only some of the wipers making contact, various parts misaligned, and some corrosion. Things were quickly cleaned up, wipers adjusted, parts lubed, never stall applied to electrical connections, and the side rods and valve gear lubed.

His engines now pull quite well for what they are and will creep along at very slow speed and stop and start very well. He had a wow moment after this work was performed and will likely need one more session before he can do this for himself in the future. He was very impressed with the results of a bit of effort.

Similar results can be had with just about all the locomotives. Some respond better than others but it generally makes a big difference in the way they run. I use never stall, Atlas contact cleaner and lube, and 2 Labell products a white grease and a small bottle of oil. The next thing I may add to the line are the nano products as they look like they are worth the money.

Rob in Texas

I don't quite agree, as I

I don't quite agree, as I have Bachmann steam locomotives in both N and HO with all of them smooth runners, nicely detailed and with adequate DCC/Sound. I give Bachmann a lot of credit for producing affordable model railroad products. 

Barry

My experience is different (from Rob's) as well ...

... and is in complete alignment with Barry's.  I have recently purchased 3 Bachman steamers: two N-guage and one On30.  I'd rank all three as excellent value, very impressed with the quality -- they are nothing like the Bachmann stuff from decades ago.  The two N-gauge steamers (Graham Farish by Bachmann - British outline) run every bit as good as my Kato NW2 (also N-scale).  I would not hesitate to purchase today's Bachmann products (which are often available new at well below the MSRP)..

Dave

Costs in Europe

Hallo Luis,

the 1$ = 1€ equation contains shipping to Europe, customs, compliance tests (with European regulations, CE) etc.

If you buy just one locomotive in the US you might save just a few dollars depending on the dollar exchange rate. With larger imports it gets better.

As US and European regulations for e.g. electric locomotives are different they usually don't carry a CE label which is necessary in the EU. In the US electromagnetic compatibility according to FCC rules is not required in the EU it is part of the CE label. The importer/ dealer has to guarantee for it and/or has to make the necessary tests.

About two years ago a customs officer threatened me when importing a locomotive that I would have to do this test myself or stop importing. But I'm still waiting for it to happen.

There are no protective customs duties on model railroad equipment in Europe, at least not in Germany. You pay an importation VAT that is on all products. It is the same amount as on all products sold in Germany. It doesn't make prices higher as the dealer can get the importation VAT back.

Regards, Volker

Graham Farish locos (by Bachmann)

Paul, when I first arrived in Sri Lanka, I was without a model train.  As I've mentioned before on this forum, model trains are really not available in Sri Lanka.  I've always had a hankering to model a small British outline and decided to order a Graham Farish N-scale train set from the UK.  This particular set included the 0-6-0 "4F" locomotive with tender; as well as a selection of freight cars, track and power supply.  I was immediately impressed with the quality and performance of this little locomotive (I had dabbled in N-scale steam during the late '80's and early '90's and never really got one of those steamers to run smoothly and slowly).

I was so impressed with this locomotive that I purchased a Graham Farish "Castle" class thinking someday I may convert it to a "Hogwarts Express".  (Yes, I understand that the film used a "Hall" class as they thought it had a better look than the "Castle" class .... and I anguished over this for some period of time, before deciding a Hogwarts Castle was what I wanted rather than a Hogwarts Hall ... :/).

I am still keeping my eyes open for the coaches ... 

The "Castle" is a 4-6-0 with tender and like the "4F" it runs very smoothly at slow speeds.  I have been extremely happy with both locomotives (perhaps because I was not expecting such quality?).  But again, I do have a Kato NW2 to compare them with, and I honestly don't think the Kato runs any better (and it is a diesel).

Both of these were excellent runners out of the box, and I think both have very good detailing for the price.  Obviously the couplers are a huge "wart" and nowhere near prototypical; however, that just seems to be part of the "territory" when modeling British outline?  I did order the replacement front boogie for the Castle class (forget the source now ...) which is a more "scale" version than the one that comes with the locomotive.  And of course one could add more detail parts to both locomotives if one wanted to super detail them.

Volker, Things in Portugal

Volker, Things in Portugal are a bit different. It really depends on the Costums worker.... What can I say? We are in Portugal, and unfortunatly, things aren't made by the book...

Just received my CN SD40-2, and I am really impressed with it. Ok, it is not an Athearn Genesis, or a Atlas, but it is really nice. Even my better half liked it!

Inserted an ESU DCC decoder (a newer and cheaper, but fine), fine tuned it, and made it run a bit. Really nice and smooth. Ok, spoted some things that need sorting: Missing the snow plow - every photo I saw with the #6132 - (number that Bachmann used on this model), the colour of the "CN" on the nose and the running number on it's sides is worng, missing the sun shades, and the MU hoses. Everything else is great: the detail is like the European brand PIKO, which is enough for me, colouring and sprit is sharp.

I'll post some pictures of it in a few days/hours. 

Need to place two questions:

1st - Where can I find the details that are missing? The snowplow, the sunshades, MU Hoses, etc?

2nd - I have the possibility to get my hands on a brand new HO KATO RS2, ATSF Zebra strikes, or the Delaware & Hudson, blue and grey color. Can I justify one of these, or should I stay way, because I am making a mess on my roster?

Thank you so much for all the help.

Here she is:

Here she is: