Not really, I got a couple of Atlas U25b's that are trash can material and some Kato stuff that are shop queens. But my LifeLike, Model Power, Bachmann and ER models I am satisfied with. Don't get me wrong, not all of my Atlas and Kato are bad but if the truth be told the same applies to Bachmann. I am no stranger to the old white cracked gears issues either. I had them in the Brill streetcar as well as the PCC. How many issues of the F7 were there? I had three, the regular, the Plus and the older Spectrum. There was even a GP20 issued by Bachmann that had the white gears (not to be confused with the LifeLike GP20). But the white cracked gear problem is in the past. Let it stay there and quit beating a dead horse.
I would like to chime in here. I do understand a person's reluctance to ever keep trying something again. ( something about insanity, but hey, it's n-scale. ) I would like to point out, that from all I have read, historically, here and other forums. ALL manufacturers have their problems. However, bachman gets an unusual amount of beat downs. Perhaps it's because of how they run the business in PRC. If that's the case, then we should not buy anything made there? That would narrow us down to who? Not many.... Bachman is improving. Every model is better than the last. Either they are listening to us or they have a modeller somewhere down the line that cares. Every Bachman I own is in good running order, and all have come from online hobby shops. I did have the famed 4-8-4 Sante fe wreckage. ( gave that away) I came into the GN 2-8-0 that is a disaster. The rods kept coming apart. No traction, horrible pick-up. And the first bachman I owned was the little 0-6-0. It's in a box somewhere. Kato steam is awesome. If you can find it. Some of the evil bayers want to much. I have 4 kato con/cors. And they are just awesome runners, once you isolate the motor for dcc. And my MP stuff is great. It is unfortunate they are so tricky to disassemble. Bachmann has that issue too.. Which brings me to the question if kato owns a patent on their steam frames. It's so simple, you would think everyone would make things simple like that. Anyway, why everyone bashes bachman? Because they can. However, things are improving. And yes, time will tell, but all things wear out.. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
There definitely is a lot of Bachmann bashers out there. I still do not now where all the negativity comes from.they have stepped up to the plate and are producing more engines than any one else
Okay a story but not a parable. A parable is defined as a usually short fictitious story that illustrates a moral attitude or a religious principle. I heard a variation of the story wherein the men were executives of a company and were blindfolded and although they could not see the elephant they could smell and hear it so they all guessed it was an elephant which is why the executives at our company were always right and why it was the underlings who were responsible for its demise. That was the gospel according to management.
See definition #2: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/parable Quantity is no substitute for quality. Some manufacturers seem to have a better grasp of quality control than others. If you get a good running sample of a particular loco, my odds of successfully getting one, too, should be better than that of a coin flip. Consistency from unit-to-unit needs to be better than that. It's evident that some company's manufacturing process includes little, if any, test running of the finished product before stuffing it in the box. Likewise, the performance of some manufacturer's products tends to progress in a positive direction with time. Others seem to take a step, or two, forward and then a step backward. It's as though they're not learning anything from previous releases and applying it to the next new design.
I'm out of sync here. A day late and dollar short. Allow me to respond to Inkaneer's original post, as follows. Looks like I better stay out of this discussion. It could well be about me. Ok, I can't resist. In my defense. When I put something negative out there about B-mann it's due to real and actual experience. Also noting the problems friends are having with some of the same equipment. Now, when I relate to problems it's because of what can be found on my work bench. Then my experience with B-mann and the communications I've had with them over the years will forever shadow my feelings toward this particularly frustrating company. And they aren't the only ones. Frustrate, frustrate, frustrate. I said not grinning. I once called for a moratorium and was surprised at the results. Nonetheless, I'm always glad to hear when something works out well on your layout. That would be the silver lining. Still waiting for the other foot to fall, those gremlins and Mr. Murphy to go to work and rue the day. And they will! Oh, the N Scale.... J Series, 2001 model year is sitting on my work bench. Do I dare tell you it doesn't run? Right along with my ConCor GS4 and my Kato GS4. Now how would that make you feel?
Let my add my two cents to the discussion. Last year I purchased one of Bachmann's K4's, number 1361. Right out of the box it ran a little funny on DC, but was a good runner on DCC. I did not have any issues reprogramming the Sound Decoder, changing the decoder address, adjusting the sound level, whistle, etc. After running the locomotive for a few weeks, suddenly the front tender truck melted. I figured hey, Bachmann has a warranty, so I sent the locomotive back to them for repair. They called me and told me my locomotive could not be repaired and they wanted to send me a Berkshire. Honestly, I did not want a Berkshire, I want an operating Pennsylvania Railroad K4 Pacific, so they sent my locomotive back untouched. I found it very odd they did not repair my tender truck, when they show K4 tenders in stock. So I purchased a spare tender and repaired the locomotive myself. I also found a loose wire, which I was able to repair. At that point I was boiling mad, as it was not that difficult to repair my locomotive, but it seemed Bachmann was not able to preform the simple repair work I had accomplished. After rattling enough chains I finally found someone at Bachmann that is listening. When I first received my locomotive back, I wondered if the company even cared about customer support, but they have now reached out to me and want to make things right. Since they are the largest model railroad company in the world, you'd hope they also cared about customer support and it appears they do. Do they have issues, yes but as mentioned elsewhere, what model railroad company has not produced a few lemons. Are there products getting better, YES, the details on the K4 are very nicely done. So what's the point of my long winded story? Yes, Bachmann still has some problems, but it does seem like they are trying to correct these issues. Again just my 2 cents and your mileage may vary.
This is the key to the entire topic. What has happened to some, has not to others. Those who have not had the experience may be having troubles understanding those who have.
Precisely. I am reminded of high school geometry, theorums and postulates. You can have almost an infinite number of examples to prove your case (I never had any problem), but it only takes one to disprove it. Too many people, over too many years, have been highly disappointed with the product line. And, to top it all off, while one issue may be very trouble-free, it is almost (ALMOST) like when that happens they say "Oh, Carp!" and the next one is.....extremely problematical. The QC and design...and carry-through varies so much and so often, a person never knows. It's like automobiles. Never buy a first year release. But, with this company making shorter runs (of higher price) with more add-on PRC electronics, if you want one, you really need to jump now...and there's the rub.....my crystal ball is in the shop...still.
I'm tirec of playing Mr. Fix IT! Not to worry I should have all three of my locomotives back up and running with the proper replacement parts. Still growling and snarling in my beard including letting a few non-descript words parse my lips that I dare not repeat hear. GRRRRRRRR!
For the price you have to pay, these should be dead-perfect, and run for 50 years. Regardless that my Varney, English, PennLine and Mantuas that ARE that old (and older) still run..and what were they, fifteen bucks apiece new?
Those were my words exactly when I contacted Bachmann's customer support. One locomotive cost me a days pay at the discounted price and it was the first locomotive I ever had to return for service. Like I said above, they have reached out to me, so they want to make this right, but as you indicated in the long run I shouldn't be going through this process. Do we live in a perfect world, no, but it really does get under your skin when you pick the bad apple off the apple cart. From what I've read in different forums, it does appear I'm in the minority and the majority of people are not having any issues with their K4's. All I can say at this point is, I'm hopefully optimistic that this issue can be resolved with Bachmann. I'm also planing on making a few recommendations on their service and repair policies, things do break and I realize that, but the way this matter was handled really needs addressed.
I always hope for the best and plan for the worst when buying steam from anyone not just the Bmann. Most have some downside but it is better than nothing. N scale went for years with little to nothing before Bmann started the steamers. Remember how happy you were when Atlas came out with the 2-8-8-2 flop. I have had to send stuff back to Bmann. All I run is steam and without the roster that Bachmann has provided the layout would be thin. I would still be running old 1970 stuff from RR. Thanks you Bachmann.
I have two Bachmann U36Bs from the 1970s that still run and they ran a lot back then, I believe I changed the brushes in the motors at least once. If I remember right I paid $9.99 each.
So why do Mercedes dealers have repair shops????????????????????????????????????????? I mean with all that German engineering bullsh*t they sling around one would think having a repair shop would be superfluous. Heck, I have seen some garages who advertise that they specialize in Mercedes repair. Fact is within any distribution one will find deviations from the average. Its like buying a car that was made on a Monday instead of Wednesday. So maybe the one you bought was made on a Monday.
