After several disappointing reviews from several members on this board I have decided not to purchase any E-R Sharks at this time. The nail in the coffin was today. I attended a local showing of Long Island Ntrak and one of the gentlemen had a set in NYC lightning stripes. He had such difficulty getting this thing going and when it started up it ran like an old Model Power FA! Thinking that perhaps the unit needed cleaning he put a new one on the track with the same results. Not believing my eyes I spoke with another member who said that several members owned them and all were disappointed. He even went so far as to say that his Bachmann F units ran better and it was witnessed that the Bachmann Dash 8's that were on the layout were having no problem, one even pulling a 70 car train. Needless to say I am really disappointed myself as they look really, really good. I am afraid though that E-R stands for emergency room :-( What are everyone elses thoughts? Russ Hoffman Valley RR
watched a pair of them run at the Northern VA N-trak holiday party . Seemed to run just fine .Also saw three on the Bachmann 2-8-0 running > very impressive detail , nice and smooth and good slow speed. one of our member retailor s had just recieved them on Saturday. No fiddling or tweeing required rao great right out of the box.
All reorts on the ER sharks that I have seen or heard have been very favorable. Only gripe was the truck mounted coupler. Regarding the Bachmann 2-8-0 again I saw two operate right out of the box. Both ran smooth and quiet with good speed range and good slow speed. The Baker valve gear is something to watch. Engines pulled 20+ MT hoppers plus a Bachmann lighted Passenger car that was more of a sled than 'rolling stock'. UP, B&O and undec avail able now Southern and Western Maryland available in February.
Something doesn't ring true here. You mention ER Sharks in NYC Lightning Stripe scheme. Since ER hasn't released that scheme, they obviously couldn't have been ER Sharks. They were probably the factory-painted V-Line shells on old Atlas, Life-Like (or Model Power) chassis . I have both sets of the ER Sharks in NYC Lightning Stripe scheme on reserve and don't intend to cancel my order. All the reviews I've seen so far of real ER Sharks have been very positive. Unfortunately, for some reason, the NYC Lightning Stripe along with several other schemes are now not expected to be released until next summer (one source said Novemebr 2002). Cheers, Mike (nyc1956)
No, they were definately ER sharks. They might have been custom decaled but definately ER's. (He had a lot of custom decaled stuff) On a better note the same gentleman had one of the new Kato RDC's (I think also NYC). MAN! What a beauty and a sweet runner too! Definately getting one of those. Russ Hoffman Valley RR
If they were indeed ER Sharks, that is disturbing news. Could they be suffering from the same B---man quality syndrome? Let's hear from some more recent shark owners - good or bad?
I have four, and they all run fine. A little noisier than KATO, but I think KATO locos are too quiet.
In fairness I do know of one friend that is satisfied with them. His only complaint is he needs to clean them often to keep them running at peak. He felt that it might be that the blackening agent that they use on the wheels may be inhibiting electrical flow a bit. Also in fairness, these are not my comments but rather a club's point of view. In fact , I am one of a few people that seem satisfied with the majority of my Bachmann stuff! I guess that sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you do not. I will by some sharks if I hear enough favorable reviews but up until now I have not. Russ Hoffman Valley RR
