Bachmann 2-10-0, any good?

Well, a new release from Bachmann is out.

Once I got the motor control cv’s on my previous release ones set right, they can get 10 or more cars up a 2% and can crawl like an ant.

 

I think the weak pulling of these engines is due to poor factory settings of the motor control cv’s. Once you get them right they’ll pull 15 or more cars on level track. And run a lot more smoothly too.

 

FWIW, street prices are rarely near what the MSRP is with Bachmann.

 

Would that PFM one for sale include installed DCC and sound?

My eyes and my layout lighting are too bad to worry about a certain level of detail. I’m pretty happy with those decs. I just wish that on the last run they’d gotten the motor control cv’s right at the factory... not hard to do but I bet a lot of them went in the trash. And I wish that on this one they’d used Tsunami sound.

Talking about Botchmann. Any brass steam engines ever run as smoothly as MR. B’s? I had two brassies that basically were beautiful paperweights, operationally not good for anything.

 

Has anyone acquired the new release #1624 with TCS sound? If so, report please.

 

Well, I bought one and it worked like a champ for about three weeks before it just quit cold. None of the functions worked, motor didn't work, sound didn't come up when I powered up the railroad, so I am guessing the decoder failed. It's back in the hands of Bachmann now for R&R. We'll see how that goes.

GS

 

So, I got a call today from a guy named Mike at Bachmann. He said the 2-10-0 was fixed and was on its way back. Amazingly quick turnaround, and I appreciated the call. He did say that for this particular locomotive, it is advisable to wait 10 seconds after powering up the layout and then start the locomotive gently (I guess as opposed to a jackrabbit start), as "hot" starts are bad for the decoder, which, BTW, was the problem here--not the startup, but the decoder itself. The term he used was, "it blew its top." I will hope for better results this time, and I'm wondering, if this happens again, if I can replace the OEM decoder with an aftermarket unit from NCE or other supplier.

GS

 

I wish they’d stuck with Soundtraxx with whom they had a very long running relationship. I waited for years for the decapod to return, only to see it come out with an unknown quantity for a decoder. Accordingly I’m not buying that engine till a lot more feedback appears. I have 4 decs operating already and 2 more currently receiving decoders. Total 6 with 2 of them Frisco and 2 MP, and yet an additional more 2 DC in reserve, I don’t need another one that badly.

 

We'll see how this one works with th replacement decoder. I'll post an update after it gets a few scale miles on its odometer.

GS

 

All of mine with various Soundtraxx decoders run like champs and pull like mules.

 

If this one fails I am going to install a decoder that does not include sound. I guess I'm an outlier on this, but I find those little noisemakers annyoing.

GS

 

So here's a question, and I think it ties into whether you like sound or not. For those who participate in op sessions regularly (as opposed to just running trains--not that there's anything wrong with that), do you think of yourself as an actual engineer on an actual railroad when you are operating, or do you see what you are doing as more like trying to solve a three-dimensional puzzle. Full disclosure: I normally try to get either a yard job or a local freight, and I more see my switch list/car card packet as a puzzle to be solved in as efficient a manner as possible.I do not imagine myself in the right-hand seatbox of an actual locomotive. I think because of that, I find locomotives that make noise to be a distraction that keeps me from thinking about the problem at hand, e.g., how do I fish out in as few moves as possible the one car in a cut of four or five that I actually need to retrieve? How about you?

GS

 

I differ on the volume opinion. I like the sound just as high as the speaker can handle without distorting. 99.9% of the time I’m running by myself so only one engine is sounding, the rest time out via cv 113, so engines aren’t conflicting with each other. I can audibly test locations of engines in the other room and as a side benefit I like the distant sound. I remember steam engines as being very loud and that’s how I like them on my railroad. I have had a lifetime 50% hearing loss in one ear due to an accident and I know the good ear ain’t as good as it was, so loud is the baseline on my line. You can probably hear the engines out in the yard.