From what I've heard

I don't own any Bachman locos, so take my comments with a grain of salt, perhaps, but I've heard from others that have had recent offerings that they do run quite well.  Now, if detail and accuracy is your thing, the Bachman model probably isn't going to cut it, but if you just want a decent DCC loco to run on your layout, you can't beat the price.

Bachman

I have 6 dcc Bachman locos on my layout and they run great. they have been very reliable.      ron netti

I have 2

I have 2 Bachamnn DCC spectrum locos.  The shay sounds great and runs slowly--as it should.  It also looks great, but I haven't put much run time on her yet.  (Don't have my own layout, and when we're running trains at the club, she's a rolling slow order for anything on the line.)

My other one is a (non-sound) 0-6-0, still fairly new. She's amazing...runs smoothly at incredibly slow speeds, way under 1 scale MPH, I think, and will pull 20+ cars on the flat.  Hills are another story...she's a bit light.  5 cars up the 2 1/2% ruling grade.

For looks, check and see if the loco is up to your standards, whatever they might be.  I won't hesitate to buy a Bachmann again.  (Though my next one will be larger than an 0-6-0 and faster than a Shay...)

Buy Them!

In the last three years I have bought two new Bachman loco's. one a steamer, 2-6-0 Constellation and a FM H-15-14 both DC.  They run great.  They run slow for long periods of time, so that means they will run better with decoders.

Don't worry about the price.  Bachman stuff comes out at a slight discount, then a big discount, then the price goes back up.  Happens all the time.

The reason Bachman has such a bad reputation is for years they have been putting out bad stuff.  The stuff from the 80's and 90's is bad.  I have a bunch of stuff from the 80's.  Biggest problem is the trucks.  All the things that can go wrong with those trucks over time go wrong and most are difficult to impossible to fix.  Second is the frame comes loose and you get intermittent running.  The way found out about about this was I bought a loco off ebay form the 80's that was virtually new.  It was undercoated and has problems with the shell and the guy never got around to fixing the shell and running the loco.  The loco ran perfect!  So, with analysis, I was able to determine what was wrong with the used 80's stuff I had.  ( How long  the "new" 80's loco will run is up for grabs).  It runs better with a decoder.  Three pole motor and lots of power. 

So, buy the new Bachman stuff and enjoy and stay away from the old stuff.

Mike Lee

Priorities

Whether a Bachmann GP38-2 would be suitable for you depends on what you want.  Most people who have the current generation of Bachmann diesels seem to like their performance, including the "Sound Value" decoders that are made by Soundtraxx.  If that's sufficient, go ahead and get one.

If you want great tooling, prototype specific detail, or care if the manufacturer offers well researched paint schemes, you may want to save for something else.

Bachmann

Here is the link to the Bachmann forums. Scroll down. There are different forums. Repair/parts service. Loco diagrams. CV list. Online catalog. Couple Bachmann reps there also.

Bachmann on board non sound are low end Lenz decoders.

On board sound are SoundTraxx stripped down decoders. A few CV's and sounds not present compared to the Tsunami you buy. Still quite good. Some rivet counter do not like the on board sound..

If you work on them, they do not use NMRA wire colors. I have some Bachmann locos.

They sell standard line, Spectrum line and sound value line.

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

Ruich

Decoders

There were enough people using Bachmann non sound diesels that NCE developed the Bach-DSL lightboard decoder with LED's attached to the decoder to retrofit the Bachmann diesels.

http://www.ncedcc.com/component/virtuemart/?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.tpl&product_id=51&category_id=13

Some have fine tuned the on board decoder and are happy with it. Some are not so NCE responded.

Rich

Value vs quality

Thank you for your informative responses. So I think it's a go ahead for my first DCC locomotive. My ongoing Blog about building a small switching layout in a condo/loft, http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/15425,money is kind of tight. Plans will be to upgrade to a better quality locomotive with Soundtraxx Tsunami, better accuracy and operation and could downgrade the Bachmann to a backup.

I do remember when Bachmann went from producing toy quality products to more 'professional'.

And thank you Rich for pointing me in the direction of the Bachmann forum and your useful information.

cheers,
Brad

Bachmann diesels

Glad to help. I always find that including links are much better than a few sentences or even paragraphs. A picture is worth a thousand words.

For switchers, I have a couple 44 tonners and a 70 tonner. Both converted to DCC with sound. Not offered with sound by Bachmann yet. Only on board DCC.

As an extra bit of info. Bachmann is going to be offering the former HO 1880's old time tender drive 4-4-0 in a DCC with sound version and DCC ready with 8 pin socket. No more tender drive. The motor will be in the boiler. Forget, On the Cheap. lol

Rich