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Sunday, March 27, 2016

Fleet Review: Bachmann 2-6-6-2 USRA mallet

 This locomotive gives me all kinds of feelings. I wanna love it, but Bachmann just makes it so hard for this particular model. I bought this brand new from a show having really caught my eye. partly because of the big ole steamer factor and because it is of the same type of mallet that is currently under restoration not too far from me, Western Maryland's newly acquired  #1309.

At first sight this is truly a pretty model, and having messed with Bachmann stuff (the american stuff atleast) I was surprised at the level of detail they managed to squeeze into this little beast.  Its got a lot of nice separately applied parts and the white walls on the wheels are pretty cool to boot. Its got a dummy knuckle on front, and initially came with a rapido coupler on the back(which I replaced). The head light is low mounted on the pilot and when in operation can be disappointingly dim at the lower end speeds. There is also no back up light as per the prototype.

 It pronounced 'mal-ay' its a french thing

Under the hood its got what I though was a 5-pole motor, but is according to the internet is a 3-poler. All the tender wheels and all 12 drivers pickup power so there's no problems with stalling. the middle 2 drivers on each engine are geared, and the rest is turned by the cranks. Operation is over all, ok. Definitely not amazing, but it looks good with all the drivers pumping and the little 3-pole motor its got is surprisingly responsive. But there lies a dark side to this model, a secret so dark that...well ok, its not that bad, but its not great either.

the soft unprotected underbelly

This is the bottom. At first glance its nothing too noticeable, and it wouldn't be a problem if the engine itself wasn't a feather weight. not having traction tires is a big problem for this thing. If you like to run long trains, then this isn't for you. I can pull at most on my flat layout maybe 14-15 assorted freight cars. That and what ever Bachmann used for the boiler long weight isn't particularly...weighty. 
Perhaps slathering on some Bull Frog Snot to the geared drivers or somehow figuring out how to add more weight to the boiler you could get more out of it. But for me pulling a 15 car train with a mighty mallet that isn't so mighty, well, just doesn't do it. 
Like I said in the beginning of this review, I wanna love it, Its a beautiful model, and as long as you don't mind short trains, its a respectable one at that, but until I figure out how to make it heavier or get some traction tires on it, she'll be a shelf queen until then.

It really is pretty though...

A Small Update


Ah! its been a few days hasn't it? been keeping busy with a new job, but I've still made time for some N scale shenanigans. 
As you can tell from the nice picture I've added a small  'island' at deck level with a currently stand in light house. At some time in the future this will become the "port" section of New Port, but until then it will be a nice visual break in the otherwise flat track plan. I have ordered another building from Lunde studios, so when ever that comes I will be posting some build progress on that. also got a new Loco for my B-day so I should be putting up a fleet review on that as well as one later today! whoop whoop!

 Its a light house! Yes, there is a light in said house...


Also stopped at Ye Old Hobby Shope. and found these two jems: a 1:144 scale U boat and Aichi E13A. Since 1:144 Is close enough to N scale to get away with, (1:150-1:160) I decided to nab these babies. I'm thinking to keep the U-boat a U boat, and bash the Aichi into some kind of cargo plane. But we'll see.

Sideways picture is sideways