# Aristocraft/Bachmann Class 66 locomotive



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Mornin', All - just doing a bit of market research here, seeing as how we have such a widespread audience/membership. 

I'm attempting to find out just how many of the membership outside the UK have actually bought one or more of the very fine Aristocraft/Bachmann Class 66 locomotives, and if so, for what reason? 

Just to remind you all - this is the locomotive built by EMD in London, Ontario, principally for British use, that has spread over into continental Europe and Scandinavia. 

If you HAVE bought one, and are ashamed to tell me publicly, then please PM me. /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif 

TIA 

tac


----------



## dawinter (Jan 2, 2008)

I followed the history; buildings and shipping, of these locomotives pretty closely. Some great stories and photos in UK and European magazines. But I have never actually seen a model in even a large shop. Perhaps they were were never built for NA distribution. 

It would be one of those 'odd' things I would buy just for fun. Kind'a like that CN -9 that I have on a shelf but don't run because it's way too modern for the layout 

Dave


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By dawinter on 08/19/2008 6:25 AM

I followed the history; buildings and shipping, of these locomotives pretty closely. Some great stories and photos in UK and European magazines. But I have never actually seen a model in even a large shop. Perhaps they were were never built for NA distribution. 
It would be one of those 'odd' things I would buy just for fun. Kind'a like that CN -9 that I have on a shelf but don't run because it's way too modern for the layout 
Dave 




Dear Mr Dave - according to the post from Lewis Polk on the Aristocraft website - negotiations were underway last december for a distributor in TX to farm them out to dealers who had a customer - as you say, not a general widespread distribution. 

Mind you, with a recommended price that is the same as the UK MRSP [around $760 at the moment], plus shipping and taxes, it might be a while before I get a reply. 

As you say, a 'spur of the moment' purchase for 'fun'. 

tac


----------



## dawinter (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By tacfoley on 08/19/2008 9:30 AM
Posted By dawinter on 08/19/2008 6:25 AM 

I followed the history; buildings and shipping, of these locomotives pretty closely. Some great stories and photos in UK and European magazines. But I have never actually seen a model in even a large shop. Perhaps they were were never built for NA distribution. 
It would be one of those 'odd' things I would buy just for fun. Kind'a like that CN -9 that I have on a shelf but don't run because it's way too modern for the layout 
Dave 




Dear Mr Dave - according to the post from Lewis Polk on the Aristocraft website - negotiations were underway last December for a distributor in TX to farm them out to dealers who had a customer - as you say, not a general widespread distribution. 

Mind you, with a recommended price that is the same as the UK MRSP [around $760 at the moment], plus shipping and taxes, it might be a while before I get a reply. 

As you say, a 'spur of the moment' purchase for 'fun'. 

tac 




$760.00? 

You've got to be kidding me! /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/w00t.gif 

At that price it's not a "nice to have but..." kind of toy. Around $300.00 is ok. I can live with that and hope to get a most of it back should I decide to sell. Sill, there are people who will have two or three and use them regularly.  

Dave


----------



## George Adams (Jan 2, 2008)

That company is Models 11, http://models11.net/store/ . They were importing them into the US from Bachmann UK. The Class 66 was never available through normal distributers in the US. Aristo built them for Bachmann UK (not the same as Bachmann in the states) and they were responsible for sales and distribution. Hope that clears up a few things. 

George


----------



## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

Still not $300 but they are available NEW from some UK dealers for around $600  

I know some railroaders in the States bought them because I saw the posts they made about them.


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Great Western on 08/19/2008 11:17 AM 
Still not $300 but they are available NEW from some UK dealers for around $600...I know some railroaders in the States bought them because I saw the posts they made about them. 


Dear Mr Great Western - In his letter on the Aristocraft site on 8 December 2007, Mr Polk wrote that the US dealership that I did not name, just in case the deal had gone sour, would be charging the UK MRSP [currently around £380] plus import/shipping/taxes, for this model. Hence my rather generously-assessed figure of around the $760 mark which seems to have been underestimated by a considerable margin 

I just looked on the dealer's site and found this - 

A23200 Class 66 Diesel BR 66 - Undecorated $817.95 

A23201 Class 66 Diesel EWS - G $817.95 

A23205 Class 66 Diesel GBRF Livery - G $817.95 

A23203 Class 66 Diesel German - G $817.95 

A23204 Class 66 Diesel Malcom Logistics - G $817.95 

A23202 Class 66 Locomotive Freightliner - G $817.95 

Ah well. 

tac /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif


----------



## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

Dear Mr. Tac, 

I do not know how much they sell for in the States - I just take your word for it. What I did say was that some UK dealers are retailing them for less than £300 (which I approximated to to around $600) so if any Stateside railroader is interested in one maybe they should act now as they may become scarce in the future.


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Dear Mr Great Western - please do not take my word for it - the prices quoted above are straight off the Models 11 website. I'd guess that buying in UK and taking off the 17.5% VAT would make a pretty good saving for anybody interested in this loco. Shipping might gobble up a lot of the savings though, so any prospective buyer would have to ask the vendor about that before committing himself. 

Perhaps our friend at Dragon G-Scale might help here? His prices seem to be about the keenest around. 

tac 

PS - my BIL in North Wales is a VERY keen amateur radio operator, PM me and I'll give you his QSL.


----------



## Rod Hayward (Jan 2, 2008)

At the risk of being flayed alive, I would nt give you £2 for one. My Dear Mr Tac, I hope this will not damage our fond relationship..........


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By Rod Hayward on 08/20/2008 1:35 PM
At the risk of being flayed alive, I would nt give you £2 for one. My Dear Mr Tac, I hope this will not damage our fond relationship..........




Rod, old floon, this post was simply an exercise in establishing just how much interest there is in this model over the other side of the Great Water after reading an article in the latest 'Garden Rail' magazine. 

So far I have to say that interest seems to have been - how can I say this diplomatically? - a whole lot less than not very much at all. This is hardly a great surprise, given that a large-scale fan of modern diesels in the USA can buy at least three Dash 9 or SD70MAC for the same amount... 

As for my personal interest in the model, which is VERY good indeed BTW, I have none whatsoever, as I'm sure you know well. I would rather have boiling mercury poured into my stapled-open eyeballs than see anything so ugly running on MY little track. 

We remain the best of friends. 

Graders 

tac


----------



## Guest (Aug 21, 2008)

Mr. Tac, 

would you allow me a hijack please? 

I have often wondered the same about the GG-1 as produced by USA Trains (Was/is there any interest)...just the other day I was reading through an older GRy magazine and re-read the GG-1 review....that seems to be the last memory I have of any mention anywhere about said engine (here or abroad)...minus the ads in the mag... 

hijack complete, you may have back the helm! 

cale


----------



## Art (Jan 3, 2008)

I wanted to purchase one as they look so nice, but at those prices I will save my money and buy another loco some place else.


----------



## tacfoley (Jan 3, 2008)

Cale - although I have seen the FineArt model in a showcase in Tokyo station, I've never clapped eye-trumpets on the USA Trains' version anywhere in either the US or GWN, let alone here in UK where it was around £1650, I recall. 

By all accounts it really is/was a beauty as well. Just not enough of a a GN Y-1 for me though. 

'I have control'. 

Best 

tac


----------



## PlumLocoRR (Oct 18, 2011)

I have purchased two of these locomotives and the reason why is I have a great deal of European locomotives running in my gr, and I've been looking for some GB rail to add. I purchased the Freightliner and the GBRf, both liverys of which I like and felt would fit nicely into my theme. As of this date I have had no issues with the locomotives, but they do need wide radius curves of 8' to run. Both locos pull upwards of 10 - 20 trailing cars with no problems. There were a total of 5 different locos at the time I made my purchase, one being an EWS (have no idea what the letters represent), a DB (German) and a third one which I cannot recall at this time. The Freightliner livery was very nice, as well as the GBRf livery with the Union Jack. I'm pleased with my purchases.


----------



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

When you say "need an 8' radius" curve, do you mean diameter instead? A minimum 8' radius seems particularly wide of a minimum radius for a mass-produced diesel, especially given that other similarly-sized diesels can get around far tighter curves without much difficulty. (I'll readily agree on the aesthetic front in terms of an 8' radius.) 

K


----------



## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Ha, that is an old thread dug up.


----------



## steamtom1 (Jan 2, 2008)

Tac,

EMD, at London, Ontario, produced locomotives for many countries, in several different gauges. Ever wonder how they got all those different locomotives out of the plant. 


Well, this is how they did it...












Talk about your_* multi-gauge*_ track!


----------

