# New Bachmann @ NMRA Show - PIX!



## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Here they are, the new Davenports -- cute as a bug in a rug! 






















Look at the counterweights on those side-rod connected wheels. I'd like to see one of these moving. 












_*SWMTP*_ angles around to shoot the Davenports from the front -- Oh look! What have we here? 












A profile shot.. 












MSRP of $275.00 gets you this long caboose, and a detailed interior as well. 









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This is what some people are calling Stan Ames' '2nd Generation' socket. Stan just calls it an industry-standard 8 pin socket suitable for handling loads of 1 amp or less. 












And a back view. I think this resin (?) character figure is also a prototype that will come along with the crummy. 












Okay, here's the punch-line. The logging Mallet! MSRP of $1275, or in the neighborhood. A Bachmann Rep I talked to said that although it's announced for November, we probably won't see it until December. The prototype _will_ take R1 curves, grudgingly and with a little fudging. ( I think this is rep-talk for 'don't try this at home'.) Spectrum, yes, Tsunami or Pseudo-Tsunami, no. 












This prototype was sitting high on a box in the middle of a table (with a train running around it!) The Rep and I tried to throw a tape measure up along it, but never quite got it straight. Our 'best guess' is a length of 25 inches. (And no, it wasn't in a spec sheet!) 












I think he said that there would be five versions, but I only remember three. Black undecorated, Undec with red window trim, and "Little River". Now that's an interesting choice. 












Why? Because this is a 1:20.3 model of a three-foot gauge engine designed in 1929 for the Biles-Coleman Lumber Co. _which never got built!_ (And I'm guessing that "Biles-Coleman" is one of the versions that will be available, I just didn't hear it.) The "American River" engine was built in 1909, (which puts it possibly in my layout's time period, huzzah!) but it was a standard gauge engine! Apparently, _all_ the American Logging Mallets which Baldwin built were standard gauged. 












So this model, in effect, has no prototype. As soon as you take it out of the box and put it on your track, you'll be playing "what if?" 












Now that's just fine with me, although I'm aware that there are some rivet counters out there who won't put a window shade in a tender's doghouse unless they can find it in a picture somewhere. Myself, I'm just wondering how my little on-again off-again Squirrel Creek Lumber Company. is going to justify this motive power!


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## peter bunce (Dec 29, 2007)

Hi Gary, 


Thanks for the photos - most interesting!


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary, 

Thanks for the pix. That long caboose is very tempting and a nice interior to boot.


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## John Corradini (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary 
We can always count on you for Great pictures. Thanks for sharing them. 
John


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

Nice photos. The 1:20 guys are getting some nice stuff.


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## cjwalas (Jan 2, 2008)

Great looking stuff, Gary. Thanks for the photos, especially of the Mallet. I've always liked the design of the Biles-Coleman and I'm surprised (and pleased!) to see Bachmann come out with a "shoulda' been" model. I can't be positive from the photo, but I'd be willing to bet that the unpainted figure is a vinyl casting and not resin (not that it matters!). 
Chris


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the photos. They answered a couple questions I had actually!


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Great photos Gary! Thanks much for the detailed shots of the 2-6-6-2T especially. Wonderful.


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Excellent!! Thanks for posting a most comprehensive report! This is _exactly_ what I was looking for!


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## jlyans (Jan 2, 2008)

The Bachmann rep said that the factory in China had copied the figure, (a Railroad Avenue figure), that was sent along with the prototype model when it was sent to China. Now they are contacting RR Avenue to get permission and/or a license to use this figure. Chris you are correct, the figure is made from a soft, flexible material. 

John


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## SlateCreek (Jan 2, 2008)

I think that would make him "Freddy" ... not Krueger, though the hat is similar! 

http://www.railroadavenue.com/Freddy.html 

Maybe they'll get some new 1:20.3 blood that way..... 

Matthew (OV)


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By SlateCreek on 07/19/2008 11:10 PM
I think that would make him "Freddy" ... 
Matthew (OV)




Posted By jlyans on 07/19/2008 11:02 PM
Chris you are correct, the figure is made from a soft, flexible material. 
John







And with some Large Scaler's pre-occupation on insisting that every Bachmann release gets a "Cutesy" name, he will probably be "Flexible Freddy"?


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## livesteam5629 (Jan 2, 2008)

What about that saddle tank. Looks like a open top and ends or is it some type of elephant ears. It certianly does not look right or is it the camera angle? 
Comments please. 
N


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## Rich Schiffman (Jan 2, 2008)

You are right, it is called a split saddle tank. Common on Baldwins tank mallets used for logging.


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## bruce a m (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes the mallets and loco's look good


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## rgs41 (May 14, 2008)

That Bachmann long caboose is awesome its so detailed its going to give AMS a run for there money! That thing has fully sprung trucks and not like just any sprung truck out there the leaf spring moves and there is coils behind it. The under frame has all the brack rigging. That Stan Ames 2Gen socket and pc bored controls track power for the marker lamps outside and lanterns inside, as the caboose rolls the chip makes them flicker. There is also a battery compartment hidden under the cushion across from it so you can have flickering lamps on battery powered layouts. The underside of the roof is also fully detailed, and in the coopala there is train brake pipes and a PSI gauge. But the coolist thing to me is that the doors work. I know what your thinking so do the doors on alot of other 1:20.3 cars, True but you don't have to turn the door knob to open them. This caboose has working door knobs I love that. And last but not least(if your an RGS fan) they are going to do RGS 0404. And if you are an RGS fan yes it will have a single window in the coopala.


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## R.W. Marty (Jan 2, 2008)

rgs41, 
You know,sometimes I fail to understand all I know about this hobby. For years folks have been gripping and tinkering to eliminate the flickering problem with their caboose and coach lights. Now that the problem is pretty much solved, battery power, stainless rail, etc, you tell me they are adding an electronic circuit to make the lights flicker./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/ermm.gif 

Great looking model though. 
Later 
Rick Marty


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Ah yes! The difference though, is that we _want_ them to flicker rather than "sputtering" on and off as the car rolls over dirty track! The flicker should be much more believable!


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Steve Stockham on 07/22/2008 9:50 PM
as the car rolls over dirty track! 



Dirty track???????????? I find it incredible that anyone could have dirty track. After all there is a thread almost every week, on one Forum or another, about how to clean track. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

A neat caboose and a must have for sure, but I still would have preferred that side-door crummy Bachmann built as a prototype a few years ago.


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## JoelB (Jan 3, 2008)

I think that the Mallet is based on Clemons Logging (later Weyerhauser) No. 7, built in 1925. There are a few details not exactly as it ran in Washington, but the proportions are correct. 

But that engine was standard gauge -- is Bachmann marketing this model as narrow gauge??


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## Dougald (Jan 2, 2008)

Joel 

B'mann is indeed marketing the mallet as a narrow gauge loco. B'mann has declared it a model of a loco Baldwin proposed to the Biles-Coleman Lumber Co - the loco was never built. 

Various pics and drawings exist of the proposed prototype. It was a catalog loco and various versions were sold to standard gauge roads. 

Regards ... Doug


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## rgolding (Jan 2, 2008)

So that makes it fit both a narrow gauge anf standard gauge format. Much like the 45 tonner.


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## SlateCreek (Jan 2, 2008)

The Baldwin proposal document says (among other things) that this 36" gauge 2-6-6-2 would be built "similar to" Weyerhauser/Rayonier #110. As such, it would have a family resemblance, of sorts, to that locomotive vis a vis outline, arrangement of features, split saddle tanks, and other features. The measurements in the plan, however, make it very much a narrow gauge locomotive, with respect to spacing, frame size, and profile. It's not just a standard gauge locomotive with the gauge pinched to fit 3' gauge track. 

HOWEVER 

Since the Biles-Coleman locomotive was never actually built, chances are it will greatly resemble the surviving Rayonier 110 in many respects, as just as its prototype would have been, it will likely be "based on" or "similar to" what the designers can see when they look at it. 

Matthew (OV)


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