If a manufacturer had the will to do the S.P. version and the N.P versions of the Yellowstone... I'd be a buyer for each one and perhaps multiples of different roadnumbers.
Survey says: *RRRRRRR* Nope! I-1 was made by Minitrix the same time as the K-4 and the B-6B models, while not produced anymore, they can still be found and had for a decent price. Now the I-1 did take some pretty advasive kitbashing to make it look 100% correct, but nothing outside the normal modeling rhelms.
Are you referring to the German 2-10-0 with the red drivers? If so that is hardly an I 1. Now a yellowstone could be certainly be bashed from a Bigboy or a 2-8-8-2 or even a 2-6-6-2 and they are all American
Yeah, exactly. I think I ordered mine back in August 2005. Haven't seen it and don't expect to see it [from BLI that is].
The DMIR Yellowstone was offered from benchmark. Talk about a spectacular model, I hope they do more in N scale. For the kitbashers out there, there are brass pilots and lead trucks for the yellowstone being offered on ebay. The cab can be taken from a CC GS-4 along with the skyline casting and the tender from a LL 2-8-8-2 could work as a stand in. All you need is an IM AC-12 for a start. Anything is possible with some patients.
The drivers were not red, although it did have German Valve gear on it and the steamchests did not line up with the pipes. http://www.visi.com/~spookshow/decapod.html It is a pretty good version of an I-1 when "adjusted".
I'd like a Santa Fe 2-10-2, they were the backbone of the Santa Fe steam locomotive fleet. If Bachmann did a Spectrum 4-8-4 or 2-10-4 I'd go for them too, but we also need the everyday locomotives to run our locals and yards. All roads need more steam, you can't run the UP with just Big Boys and Challengers or the SP with GS4's and AC12's.
If that is your idea of a pretty good version of an I1 then the Backmann 2-8-0 is a pretty good version of a Yellowstone. When "adjusted" that is. LOL
I know a lot of folks would like their specific railroad's locomotives, but how about going back to some basics here? N Scale is lacking decent modern versions of what I would consider basic items. My list would be: USRA Light Mike - Model Power is the best we have right now? The Rivarossi is at least 100 years old, and still the best runner? C'mon now, these were built in huge quantities, almost every major railroad ran them or a copy, or something real, real close, and this is the best got? Are you hearing this Kato or Broadway Limited, or heaven forbid, Bachmann? A Pacific, a basic 4-6-2 of some generic sort. Problem is that every railroad ran their own type of these, or so it seems. K4 is the most numerous, but doesn't work on anything else but PRR. How about a UP "Harriman" type or a Southern Ps4 with or without the green paint as a generic "Pacific" Again, we have Model Power and the 100 year old Rivarossi in its various incarnations. How about getting back into steam Mr. Atlas, or how about trying it Mr Intermountain? Even Z scale has a nice Pacific... c'mon??? An 0-6-0 yard goat that actually runs through turnouts and could pull more than four cars would be great. All wheel pick-up through the tender and a metal boiler? Mr. Bachmann, you have made some great steamers and re-done this one about 10 times. One more time, one more time here, put a Spectrum name on it, and you could have a winner!!!! And how about a decent 4-4-0 or 4-6-0 for the turn of the century guys? I know the American is going to be tough given the size, but have you seen how the tender motor drive Moguls and Consolidations run? I don't believe it can't be done. Hey, they can do it in Z, why not on the these little guys. OK Mr. Athearn, you have the basic mechanisms engineered for this, why not give it a try? And last, but certainly not least, Alco S-1,2,3,4's - The Arnold looks great, runs like a buzz saw and DCC? That should make for a fun bit of misery... There were about 3,500 of the two horsepower's and different trucks made from 1940 on, and virtually every railroad had at least a couple of them. We have good switchers now, we need good Alco switchers. So how about it Mr. LifeLike and Mr. Kato? How tough could it be after doing SW's and NW's? Anyway, after getting back into the scale after a 20 year absence, that's what I notice right away. We have all the GP's, F's, E's, RS's, FA's, Centuries, U-boats, GS-4's, Big Boys, Challengers, Y3b's etc. we could want, and we certainly could use a modern 2-10 something, but it would be outstanding if our leading manufacturer's jumped in with modern versions of these really important locomotives. You know they would sell, and I for one am kind of tired of seeing all the new released in the modern stuff. Thanks for reading the rant.. Todd
Yeah, me too on the N&W A. Although we N&W fans are doing pretty well with the Y3, old Y6A, Js and the K1. One of my projects on the drawing board is to marry the J shell with the light 4-8-2 for a K2. John
I think the MP Light Mikado is not bad at all. It blows away the Rivarossi in runability and pulling power. DCC conversion is easy also. The only thing holding back the MP loco design is the tender pickups. Replacing the tender with a Bachmann spectrum increases pulling power and reliability dramatically. Same goes for the MP Pacific that was said about the Mikado. With traction tires both loco's are good for 40 or so cars on level and are geared quite nicely. I am using the MP Pacific chassis on a couple of B&O projects and the mechanisms are quite smooth. Besides the MP Pacifics, you have the Rivarossi, both heavy and light, an Arnold/Revell Heavy, and the Mintrix K4. None of them are horrible and all can serve as the basis for other variations out there. The sheer number of existing models is probably the main reason nobody else is making a new one. I would love to see Bachmann "spectrumize" the USRA 0-6-0 but honestly, there is really no need. At the price point they are at, it is cheaper to buy one and add your own tender. If it goes spectrum, you can bet the retail will hit the $150-200 price point. I just posted this in another thread but it bears repeating.... I am also quite fond of the 2-6-2/0-6-0 standard line loco. With a little detailing and paint, they look very good and run even better after putting on one of the spectrum tenders: [/URL] MP is the answer for a modern 4-4-0 again. It runs very smoothly and again, a swap of the tender does wonders for these. You do have a point on the 4-6-0. That is one loco that is sorely missing in N. Of anything, that is the loco I would like to see most as a new release. It fits many uses from pedler freights to local passenger service. We will leave the diseasels for another thread.
Tony, Sorry, I thought we were talking about off the shelf requests here, and what we wanted manufacturer's to produce for us. No disrespect intended, but I have an MP Mike, and you are right it runs OK, then I got a Kato Heavy Mike, and the MP hasn't left the box since. As far as the 0-6-0 goes, maybe it has been improved since the trainset one I got 20 years ago, but that wouldn't be what I would want in running quality in a yard switcher. And I would like a slope back tender, as that was what the Rio Grande ran. I am just not that interested in doing a lot of major work on a locomotive to get it to match a specific prototype or to get it to run properly; don't have the time or talent for it. So I will correct my request. I would like to see our N Scale manufacturers develop and produce a USRA Light Mike, some type of Pacific, on 0-6-0 and and a 4-6-0 with low profile wheels and all-wheel and tender pickup that run as nice as the Kato Mike, the Athearn Challenger, the Lifelike Y6B, Spectrum Heavy Mountain and Consolidation and the Athearn/MDC Consolidation right off the shelf where I can lay my money down, take it home, put it on the track, and have it run great. I will spend the money for a quality product, I believe you get what you pay for in hobby stuff, but the product has to be available. I don't think that is too much to ask, do you? Todd
Todd, The Bachmann 0-6-0 actually comes with a slope back tender. The problem is, the slope back is wrong for the loco. The Bachmann 0-6-0 is a spot on rendering of a USRA 0-6-0. The USRA 0-6-0's came with a USRA standard tender from Baldwin. Bachmann offers the loco with the USRA tender, but it is sold as a 2-6-2. If you remove the pilot and trailing trucks, you have a correct 0-6-0. It really is a good model, just lacks the seprate details we are used to. Adding an all wheels live tender is a 30 minute operation, or less. I wrote an article on how to do it for the NTrak steam handbook. There are some other simpler brute force ways also. The loco I pictured above is a bone stock mechanism with an all wheels live tender added. All I did was detail the loco with added piping and castings. Mechanically, they are a solid runner and get better with age. We ran one in the display layout at the shop I work at for 4500 hours before it finally wore itself out. The flanges and siderods wore off the loco, the motor is still good. I have 4 Model Power Pacifics and 1 MP Mikado and 4 Kato Mikado's. There is nothing really wrong with the MP loco's. They could be better with an all wheels live tender but they run very good in my opinion. The Kato Mikado is a very good loco but I don't think it is the pinnacle of steam loco developement. It is geared much too tall, as is ever other Kato product. I don't need a steam loco that runs 180mph. That said, I used the Kato mech to build a 2-10-2. It will pull 80 cars, if it was geared lower, it could pull more, it is to the point of stressing the motor now, not a lack of traction. For modelers who really care about steam, there is very little chance of an open the box and run it loco, unless you are a UP, SP, N&W or C&O fan. It seems like if you want road specific equipment, it is up to you to adapt to our needs. There are just too many variations out there to please everybody. Everything currently produced blows away the offerings of 10+ years ago except maybe the Con-cor/Kato Hudson and even that is debateable. Being a B&O fan, I have to build everything. The B&O didn't use USRA loco's (except for the D-30 0-6-0 switcher). Nothing suits my needs so I have learned to build and tinker. Most of the steam guys have shifted in that direction. Give me a good mechanism, I will deal with the rest.
I have noticed that unless you run the Santa Fe, you just have to make do, that's for sure. I am not an expert, but I don't believe the Rio Grande ran much USRA either. For what I do, if it has the right wheel arrangement and I can put some Rio Grande markings on it, that's about as good as it will get for me. Todd
