Are these new loco any good? How do they compare to the older b'mann dash-8. I see a loft of these newer unit showing up on Ebay and was thinking of picking up a few.
I have also been seeing them listed. If it's the same seller I saw, look at the pictures on the listing. For some reason, they have PhotoShopped the front coupler. I read that one of the tell-tales between the old version and the new was the old had truck mounted couplers and the new had body mounts. So, I asked the seller were they truck or body mounts. Their answer was the biggest cop out I've ever seen: "We are a Backmann dealer and sell only Bachmann products. Please visit the Bachmann website for detailed information on this product." KB
I own several of the mighty six axles from Bachmann. I have a couple different versions. If there is one thing I can count on when it comes to Bachmann you will never run out of things to repair. Seems like I am always tinkering to get them to run ok. But if you like to tinker......
I have quite a few of the new ones - the older ones were junk. When you look at the listings on eBay make sure they are DCC ready. The old ones were not. Also, if they have a picture look at the trucks - the new ones have brake line detailing. In addition, all of the new ones have the standard clear plastic case that all new Bachmann locomotives come in - the old ones have a black plastic back. I've had pretty good luck with most of the ones I've had. Converting them to DCC, however, is not that simple - definitely not "plug and play." They run pretty well, have pretty nice detail, and the price is right. Quite frankly, it's the only way you'll get a 6-axle Dash 8 in N scale. I've bought a quite a few items from The Favorite Spot and have always been pleased. I usually go to their shop up in Denton, TX when I buy something and pick it up. If you are looking at picking up some from them I can tell you that they are all the new ones. The folks up there are pretty nice to deal with. Like any Bachmann product you can always call them up if there's a problem - there's something to be said about the lifetime warranty. I've got quite a few of Bachmann's newer engines and am very happy with them.
If we are talking about thefavoritespot, they are not photoshopping the front coupler. The images do contain a watermark from ebay's image hosting service that makes the image look a little funny. I believe the images they are using are straight from Bachmann. I've seen the same images used on many items, so I would assume that they are not images of the items the seller has in hand. I would only bid on the items that explicitly specify the features of the new ones, e.g. DCC ready and five-pole motor. I have bid on these items though not won any yet at the price I would pay. The basic shell is the same as the old one, and not great quality IMHO, so that price for me is not high. However the newer ones have more detail, proper pilots, and apparently a reliable mech.
The shell is toally different with flush fitting windows and add on details like cut levers and nose handrails. I wiykd say the new ones would be a winner if: 1. the hood wasn't 4-6 inches too wide 2. the engines were geared faster to match Atlas 3. they had used needlepoint axles 4. they used DCC pluggable boards instead of the solder jobs That being said, I own 6 and like them. The Conrail paint job was butchered and I decided to repaint mine: Atlas Model Railroad Forum Archive - Detailed review: Bachmann C40-8W
I have one of the new (pilot mounted coupler) 8-40Cs in NS. Is it worth the $135 list price? Not in this universe! But it is well worth the $20 I paid for it. It runs very smoothly without jackrabbit starts on DC. It is advertised as DCC ready. The shell gets a B. Proportions are pretty nice overall with many separately applied details. The main thing that I think is "off" are the positioning of the cab side windows. It server me well until something better comes along. Mark
