I sincerely hope you gave them more information than " I bought 600.00 worth of trains from you in the last 15 years, used them all and they were junk, can I have my money back? Hell, if that worked I ask for $10K....LOL :mtongue:
Wow. Did I open a can of worms or what? Lets use this example. I bought one of the DD40X units years ago. It finally got a case of the split gears Bachmann is so famous for. I got rid of it. Then Bachmann comes out with the new DD40X. If I still had it would I be out of line in sending it in and expecting it to be fixed(probably just the new model)? After all it is a "Lifetime Warranty". In their defense I did have an old 4-8-4 I bought back in the 70s that had the frame go bad and sent it in and was suprised when they sent me a new one. That was a couple years back.
Am I the only person who has purchased a Bachmann loco that wasn't a POS? I just really find it hard to believe that one person has purchased several different Bachmann locos and they all were junk. Heck, even Yugo had a better track record. Eric
Eric I have hmmm let me see 5 of them and only one was bad ... and it wasn't a major problem! they may be noisy, they may at some point be cranky, but they do the job nicely, and I love then, yes believe it or not I love my Spectrums! lol :tb-biggrin:
Not very fair to compare the Bachmann products to the Kato or Atlas models currently produced (or even the past 20 yrs). When you buy Bachmann, even Spectrum Line, you have to consider the past track record of the company and factor that into your decision to buy their current offerings. Bachmann has made some dramatic improvements to their models over the past 10 years. I for one refused to purchase anything from them... even their Spectrum Line... until I saw that they were at least worthy of taking a chance. The Warranty was a bit of a confidence booster. I have over a dozen of their steamers and a few of their diesels. I purchased them over the past 5 years... at first sparingly because they were expensive... for a manufacturer I had little faith in. I was disappointed with the 4-8-2 light mountains lack of pullling power... ditto for the 2-6-6-2 Mallet Mogul (aka Prairie Mallet). They looked good but were pretty much shelf queens (or yard fillers). The 4-8-2 heavy mountain really is a decent locomotive and it looks like Bachmann has begun to improve quality of earlier versions by improving the tenders and some earlier mechanical issues. I got my first Consolidation about a year ago... runs great AFAIK. I've accumulated more of the later runs of the light mountain 4-8-2 which seem to run better than the original batch. Even their re-released Prairie 2-6-2 is a decent runner when you change out the tender (a litteral anchor dragging it) with a newer Spectrum tender. In-so-far as the Warranty issue goes... I don't plan to use it. I would rather park-it than pay to ship something back/forth and pay a fee to repair. The likelyhood is I got these cheap enough recently to either fiddle with them myself or sell them off for parts. If they are already dead... I can't kill them twice (or can I??? ) As for those who were buying these items because of the Warranty... well... I understand your frustration. The Warranty was a big selling point for many to 'take a chance' on the spotty 'quality???' (oxymoron alert!). To think you were getting precision German or Japanese workmanship from Bachmann was a bad calculation. It is possible that Kader will now improve their model performance by integrating the SandaKan chassis for their models; this would make them on par with Atlas, LifeLike and Intermountain (Athearn too?). This 'should' improve their reliability provided they don't 'cheapen' the motor or other internal parts.
I sort of agree with your statement. Bachmann Spectrum is using some of the latest design features in their products... some of which they may have created themselves. They still have a ways to go on the dedication to precision manufacturing with high tolerances. The quality control issue is really in the design of the mechanical components which apparently do not mesh quite right... requiring a long period of 'breaking-in' before they settle into decent to good performance. I believe some of the problems they've been having with the motors has to do with the poor precision fit of the gears which is causing the motors to overwork and fail prematurely. I've noticed an usual amount of 'slop' in the mechanism of my Light Mountains... and they are perhaps the worst performing steamers I've got from Bachmann's Spectrum line. The regular issue Bachmann models have improved quite a bit; but, continue to lag far behind other manufacturers products. Bachmann & Spectrum are still a work in progess. As stated before... now that they have the SandaKan mechanisms... MAYBE they will produce consistantly better running models. Its going to take dedication on their part to look at model railroading as a hobby for the demanding adult enthusiast... not as ordinary kids toys.
I'm an HO guy, so I may not have any bearing at all. I can't believe (Okay, yes I can, but I un like it) people being so willing to abuse a good thing. I had a Spectrum 4-8-2 C&O GW fry on me. Now, it was a recalled engine that had slipped through on the back shelf of a Hobby Shop, but they told me "We don't have that roadname engine anymore. Keep the GW parts, send us the chasis. So, I stripped the loco of the boiler, the piston assembly, the tender, the trailing truck, and sent back the rest of it. I even had to cut through the tender wiring to get the shell off. What I got back was a DCC and Sound Spectrum N&W Mountain. I've had some operator-errors getting the two to mate together, But to get the cake with all the fixings for what I sent in as a half of a locomotive, that should say something about a company. And I applaud them for being willing to put their foot down on the new DD40s. I just hope that it doesn't happen that legimately sent in secondhand locos that have been kicking for years and years for their next owners get shut out.
Hi Guys ! Yeah, I understand that claiming $600.00 worth of purchases over the years without documentation is futlie although it be TRUE, but it was my intention to just bring the general situation to their attention, knowing good and well that there would be no money coming back, or credit. Besides, all the receipts for those sickly locomotives is long gone. My description of JUNK may seem harsh but out of the 25 + Engines purchased only 4 are nice items (8-40's), everything else died soon after purchase. So, my letter to Bachmann was more to get their attention, than to get a refund. I KNOW Bachmann would not refund money, that is a given. fatalxsunrider43
Perhaps you guys need to understand,once again,that I have well over ONE HUNDRED Bachmann Locomotives.I've always been an advocate of them.I bought over a dozen of these -8's,both the older standard cab,and the new Widecabs,and EVERY SINGLE ONE runs bad.The motors are crap,no matter what I di,every time I want to run them,I hafta take the body off most of them if the motor doesn't start,and I then have to turn the motor by hand to get it running,and then run it for ten minutes to be able to actually use it.If I let it sit for more than a week,I hafta start all over..
I have had no problems with my 8-40's, and my new Light Mountain, & J class Spectrums, I have not run enough to know whats up with them, but everything else has just been a lost cause. I am glad to know that someone has had good luck with their Bachmann items. Here is an example, a couple of years ago I bought a spectrum F7B in UP, ran it a few times, it was fine, actually was impressed, stored it for a time, pulled it back out, now when I run it, the plastic barrel type worm gear mounted on the top of the truck, skips on the Primary Gear in the truck, makes for a horrible running item. Thats the kind of thing that Bachmann is famous for in my experience, they just dont last. Or...the drive rods on a 4-8-4 Northern, become unquartered after just few runs, pretty soon the drive wheels are loose on the axles, impossible to keep quartered. Those things are annoying and impossible to remedy unless you start glue-ing wheels on axles, so on and so forth. Anyways, thats a couple of example of my frustration with this brand. I know they want to provide a good product, but as many others have stated here, that it is the design and materials. fatalxsunrider43
All my Bachmann locomotives are Dash 8s and they ALL run well ... a bit noisy, but still great runners!
I don't have any problems with my Dash 8's making noise..They don'y make any noise,because they don't run.I could live with noise,if I couldn't I wouldn't have bought a Bachmann loco in the first place...Even after I do beat my brains out to get them running,the best they do is maybe 20 scale MPH..
I did have to give mine a good cleaning, and had to lube em, but since then even after being stored in not the greatest way they still run pretty well ... ok maybe not as well as other manufacturers, but I don't mind them. I have noticed that these ones don't have plastic gears, perhaps that is why they are good runners? Would explain also the noise.
The worm gear. Yeah, I'm running into that on the Mountain Chassis, it desn't mesh well backing up. but since I had it open, I'm not convinced it wasn't me that cause the meshing error. The problem with the drivers sounds like a classic and well known, and fixed issue. Bachmann used a plastic barrel, and each drivr plugged into that. When those cracked, the wheels could spin inside that barrel. The;re useing a solid axle now, but the older engines (HO at least) had that problem. Convientntly though, it was around the same time that P2K had an issue with plastic gears too, or a tad after.
First, I never would have thought that Bachmann's warranty program changes would have been brought about by fraud from within our ranks. I know such fraud exists, as I have talked to many Bachmann owners who just can't wait to "take advantage" when it wasn't deserved. I also believe there is a second reason as well, every year Bachmann pours literally thousands of trains into the buying public, many of them with defects ranging from major to very minor. I would expect accommodating such a warranty responsibility would be a monumental undertaking. Bad enough the bad apples in the production; now satisfying fraudulent claims just takes it beyond realistic realm. Next regarding Arnold's performance. I have my share of Arnolds, from their FP, FA and geeps to their Hudsons, Pacifics and 0-6-0's, and NOT ONE of those exhibit the characteristics you describe. I do keep my track very clean, use a state of the art power pack, and periodically and systematically maintain all locos, and I so far have successfully avoided them. As for blotchy details, granted but what wonders will do to a few aftermarket details, a good paint job, some real coal, and weathering will do to an old steamer. No miracle but to an older person, good enough. Ken "FloridaBoy" Willaman
Ken, I apologize if I offended you with my comment about the old Arnolds. I was trying to make a tongue in check comment. As to upgrading, I totally agree - added details can certainly make a huge difference. Eric
Re: Arnold vs Bachmann - you get what you pay for. I know Arnolds cost a LOT more than Bachmanns comparable item. Re: Abusing Bachmann's warranty - some people try and do game the system. Have they no shame? Apparently not. Al
I'm sorry, but it's hard to fault Bachmann. They have made great strides in the past few years and have continued to provide better products every year. I know that a decade ago, the vast majority of their products were definitely not up to the quality standards that the "serious" hobbyist expected. (Wow, there's an oxymoron - I thought a hobby was supposed to be fun...) Personally, I think they have raised the bar quite a bit and, especially for the steam enthusiasts, have continued to push the hobby forward. I believe that they set a standard for all the manufacturers when they produced their newer 2-8-0 and, because of models like that, we now have people like Athearn producing Big Boys and Challengers, and Walthers putting sound and traction tires on their Y-3's. I for one wish that they made more of their HO scale locomotives available in N scale as well. I would love to see them produce their Berkshires, 4-8-4's, 2-10-4's that the HO folks get to enjoy in N scale as well. Quite frankly, it seems to me that N scale folks can be their own worst enemy. Every time a manufacturer has 10 of their 10,000 models they produced fail, everyone jumps on the internet and starts claiming everything they make is junk, and it's all crap, and oh the sky is falling because Bachmann lacks quality. Keep it up and other manufacturers may follow Walthers lead and decide that they really just need to keep their focus on HO scale. Let's face it - N scale is a niche market. The big bucks are in HO and if every attempt by a manufacturer, especially the biggest one, is met with contempt, then the realities of the commercial world will lead the company to decide that it's just not worth it to keep producing hobby quality products in N scale. It seems to me that we get one of these "Bachmann Bash" threads every few months. And it's always the same. Someone who cites the lack of quality that Bachmann has, and claims to own "hundreds" of their products. Really? So I have to read your rant because you didn't learn your lesson? Do us all a favor and just quit buying Bachmann products so the rest of us can enjoy the ones we own. Now I think it's time to go run one of my DCC heavy mountains with a train of 45 cars around my layout (I would use the Kato Mikado but I still can't figure out how to easily install a decoder in it...besides, the Bachmann has MUCH better detailing than that dated design and detailing that Kato still plagues us with...:mwink
