Sam's New Favourite Wagons | Bachmann 55T Hopper | Unboxing & Review
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- Опубліковано 8 сер 2024
- A review of some truly outstanding rolling stock for what I paid!
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0:00 Intro
2:56 Unboxing
5:39 Detail
10:37 Performance
14:28 Ratings
16:24 Conclusion - Авто та транспорт
You know Sam. The Nickel Plate Road was the railroad that was HQed and ran in my home city Cleveland Ohio. This railroad built the Cleveland Union Terminal aka Terminal Tower as we locals call it. It's STILL the second tallest building in Cleveland and this made me smile. Thank you Sam! Thank you!
Ahh very cool - thanks so much for the extra fun facts, appreciate it!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Nice! We have a connection! The Nickel Plate also run from my home city of Buffalo. It used to have connections with the New York Central, and the Pennsylvania. They're starting to refurbish and restore the old City Terminal.
The Chesapeake in Ohio have the same cars too by the way they were pulled by a big giant steam locomotive called the Allegheny which is 600 tons add up to be 1.2 million pounds a very very heavy locomotive the Allegheny can pull about 150 to 200 cars and the Allegheny can produce over 7,500 horsepower it is the most powerful steam locomotive ever built
The Nickel Plate Road (New York, Chicago and St. Louis Ry) was a high speed
bridge line from the American Midwest to Buffalo, NY. The road ran a fleet of
the iconic Lima Locomotive Superpower engines. The NKP did speed.
The USRA style hoppers were a legacy of World War 1 where for a brief period
the U.S. government nationalized the railroad network. Part of their work was
to provide standardized designs for locomotives and freight cars across the
American rail network. Many designs proved to be durable and of good value,
which shows government can do things right on occasion.
Thanks a lot for the extra info - love it! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Good to see you getting more American cars sam! I recommend Walthers mainline trains for cheap but good cars.
The bachmann silver series line is great, most of the stuff is good for the prices, I find my MEC cars rarely have trouble, if ever.
Also, The reason bachmann is frowned upon in the USA is because they charge way to much for locomotives that'll break if you look at them wrong.
Thank you! And Walthers is definitely on my list of things to try - really appreciate the tips!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrains Thanks for the reply!
Love it when you review American freight cars, Sam. Hopper cars are mostly used for hauling coal from mines to power plants and for export/import. On occasion they may haul aggregates like sand, gravel, or ore. Most railroads operate hoppers without the hoppers and are tipped over by a device when unloading. There are covered hoppers for weather sensitive loads like grain, cement, and plastic pellets.
Man, the Bachmann 55t hopper wagons are so detailed and work so well Sam. They were money well spent from Train World.
They really are great for what I paid - very very pleased with them! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
You make a very good point about cutting the weight in half for extremely long trains. Here in the US it was not uncommon to have coal trains with these cars be well over a hundred cars, and a surprising amount of people actually recreate that in HO scale, so that is a very handy feature.
Great video!!
Thanks Greg - looks like Bachmann really thought about this one, and it's so much better for it!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Great review on these wagons Sam, nice to see that they have loads with them, that is something that would be nice to get with all wagons.
Thanks so much David - yes the loads are a great addition! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
These go further without an engine than some of the locos you reviewed
haha absolutely right, haha!!! ;D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
These are the standard USRA 55 ton hoppers. They made hundreds of thousands of them. A rake of 200 would be quite common. I look forward to seeing reviews of more high-end American offerings like the Rapido RS-11 and Atlas GP40. If you can get a model with ESU LokSound as opposed to DCC ready that would be cool too.
How about those high end ones go eat dirt. Like seriously, some people like to have lives. -from an ex-railfan.
@@BattleshipOrion what are you on about? Angry because poor?
Thanks Brian - definitely not surprised to hear a rake of 200 would be comminplace. I'll be trying more high-end stuff soon hopefully!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@Evilminiature What are you on about? Angry because you have to wait a year to get your model, only to have it broken? Man do I feel bad for you. I can pump out a ship (from ordering to completion) in 6-7 months, tanks in a week, aircraft (depending on type) a month, and cars a day or 2. That's also including weathering (or lack there of in MOST cases), and detailing. I've been happier to. Got a steady job, bills paid, looking at getting a new truck, saving for land to build on, portfolio growing, and enough food & fuel to survive this winter into spring. Have not had that kind of piece of mind in a very long time. Hope you enjoy the lack of trains starting on the 16th. I will, as it means more money, more forklift time, and more trucks to unload/load. (I want to note that these are all facts. Not trying to be abusive or anything to breaks the UA-cam's EULA, or rules set forth by Sam.)
@@BattleshipOrion it’s not like I am asking him to buy a $1200 observation car from The Coach Yard
Hi Sam thank you for cheering us up with one of your video :)
Cheers Jasper & Willow
It's a pleasure - glad it could have that effect! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hello there
Thanks Sam! The Nickle Plate Indianapolis-Michigan City branch (originally the Lake Erie & Western) ran just a block from my childhood home, so it's one of my favorite railroads. I spent some time poking around their yard in Michigan City, Indiana in the early 60's. My mother was not thrilled about this and she proved prophetic. On one visit I was nearly run over by an engineless train being "Dutch switched" into the yard. I was distracted by the engines but luckily looked over and saw a coal hopper with a whole train behind it coasting into the yard track I was standing on. I took several giant steps to the rear and lived to tell this tale. Cheers from Wisconsin! PS: I noticed that the uncoupling arms below the knuckles are a bit too low on some of the couplers and they might snag on points. They can be adjusted by bending them gently with pliers. In fact, Kadee makes a special tool just for this. They also make a coupler height testing fixture which is quite useful for those of us whose couplers are all of this type. Finally (!) I noticed that all three cars have the same road number, which is uncommon in such sets. Perhaps this is why the price was so low. 🙂
Sam did mention that they were not a set, he just bought three of the same thing to get three hoppers to make a decent sized train. I've done that a few times myself.
Also with the coupler pin: I keep two pairs of fine-nosed pliers with my layout so that I can bend them up so that the end of the pin is parallel with the track. Two pliers - hold the pin near the coupler with one pair of the pliers and bend the pin with the other pair.
@@kiwitrainguy Thanks, I missed that comment.
The mighty Nickel Plate Road! When it ran from my home city in Buffalo, they had big powerful Berkshires that used to power freight and passengers. Some of the last steam freight services in the US.
Passengers used to go to the old Buffalo City Terminal. It has been vacant for years, but, they're starting to restore it. I'd love to see some stuff from the Erie Railroad.
I feel the Nickel Plate and the Erie are the true greats of the railroads in Western New York. Nice find, Sam!
Oh fantastic - that must have been a real sight to see, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hi Sam. One thing you (and other modelers) can do, is to put the plastic detail pieces in without the weights, then use super glue or 5-minute epoxy to affix the weights to the underside of the coal load. Once the glue sets, spray (the weights) with enamel primer and black paint (just use a cheap rattle-can of black paint, it doesn’t matter if it’s flat, satin, or gloss, you just want it to match the black coal load.) Now, you can lift out the coal loads with a magnet to produce an empty (and lightweight) coal wagon, or leave it in for a prototypically heavier wagon! 😌 Since the coupler pockets on U.S. HO-scale rolling stock are pretty much standardized, you can probably find a kit that’ll adapt NEM-style couplers to them and pull them with your favorite British locomotive if you want.
Brilliant Sam, we have no other word. Bachmann have exactly hit the nail on the head with these. The option of balancing the weights depending on length of the rake and loco’s capability certainly is very sharply thought through, and the moulding has been executed sharply. They very much do look the part and superb for the money. We were wondering if ordering from the German dealer All American Trains wouldn’t be more gentle concerning postage costs? Anyway, what a pleasant surprise these.
As an American myself, I can confirm that these hoppers are smaller-scale hopper cars from the days of steam. Today the hoppers are quite a bit bigger for the larger trains pulled by diesels, but back in the 1940s-1960s these hoppers were the prominent hopper car in that time period. They were most often seen carrying coal, but sometimes were seen carrying other things like gravel or sand. Today quite a number of these hoppers are actually still in active service, being used on countless trains around the US while a good few more are in museums on static display.
Thanks very much for the info - maybe I should try some larger ones one day??
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Great video Sam these hoppers look very good. You could do allot with them . You could fill with real coal and not put to much strain on the engine. You could put stones in them also. For the price making a good multi wagon rake will not break the bank. Thanks Sam for the review.
Thanks Louis - yes very pleased I got some in the end... and that's a great idea!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
The Bachmann sliver series rolling stock, as theses 3 hopper are members of, makes up most of the rollingstock I have on my HO layout. I discovered them about 14 or so years ago when I was putting up my Christmas layout. I had put one of them, A 40' box car on the track with a locomotive. I connected my dcc system and some how, the train began to run backwards, through a few sets of points or switches, as we call them here. This is normally an innovation for the train to derail and I was expecting this to happen. to my shock, the train kept moving in and out of one loop and on the the branch and back again, all in reverse, no trouble at all! I think this is down to the mettle wheels and how well weight they are. I quickly began buying them, when ever I saw a sale. I have never had a major issue with them . As I have pointed out in a few of my videos, while I don't care for Bachmann high prices for cheep equipment, I still say this is one of the things they get right.
The bachman easy mate couplers in my opinion are perfectly fine for pretty much anything a general modeler is going to be doing. It's when you have those full basement empires or are part of a large model railroad club that it's worthwhile to make the switch from factory fitted couplers to Kadees.
As far as the wagon quality itself Americans sent to only buy a couple of locomotives but own massive quantities of rolling stock and usually it's all freight cars so I don't know how accurate this is but it seems like American manufacturers will nickel and dine you on the locomotives particularly if you're buying from Broadway limited but it's the rolling stock which has much slimmer margins but that's okay because you're just going to keep coming back and buying more and more and more of it
Well my brother and I have huge fleets of locomotives and yes new DCC sound locos are and have gotten more expensive and while some quality issues exist their level of detail in my opinion trump's alot of the British locos I've seen Sam review. Plus there's plenty of more basic but still good looking models that are reasonably priced and let's not forget the huge used market that exists as well. As for rolling stock you are right with how we can get huge amounts. For example my brother who likes iron ore cars has like 1100+ of them (collected over many years) and that's just the tip of the ice Berg. Where'd new or used we can get some pretty great models for pretty good prices. Compared to some of the British rolling stock I've seen and what they charge I'd personally would feel ripped off but that's just my opinion. Both markets have advantages and disadvantages for sure but I'm very happy with what I can get over here. I just wish buying British locos wouldn't cost me so darn much, there's plenty I wouldn't mind having.
Yeah I rarely have a problem with the EZ mate couplers... perhaps not as quality as metal ones, but they've usually done the job for me, thanks for sharing!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
hi sam. goes to show that separately fitting parts can be beaten by molded parts. if done correctly..they look sturdy and can handle rough handling.
Very much so - I'd happily see all models done to this standard, if priced accordingly of course!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
It was called the Nickel Plate Road because it cost so much to build. Bachmann do a superb Berkshire Loco which has 'Nickel Plate Road' in this typeface on the tender. Tennent's Trains import stuff from the USA. You might ask them to get things for you rather than send off for very small orders yourself. Thanks for another review in your inimitable style!
I watched your review with interest, The reason why the cars uncoupled on the points ,was caused by the trip pin on one of couplers being too low .That pin facilitate s the parting of the cars when running over a magnet. If it's too low it will snag on the points. You can buy a special jig tool for checking pin height, also pliers for adjusting pin.😊😊😊😊😊
Thanks a lot Peter - and appreciate the tip, I will have to look into those!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I totally agree, and I use the same tool myself.
I keep two pairs of fine-nosed pliers with my layout so that I can bend the pin up so that the end of the pin is parallel with the track.
Two pliers - hold the pin near the coupler with one pair of the pliers and bend the pin with the other pair.
Get yourself some Tangent or Exact Rail freight cars, you'll be blown away!! Kadee freight cars are also nice and have all metal trucks/bogies with full springing and compensation. All brake riggng included too.
I bought some stick-on lead free wheel weights for wagons a while back that may help the cause.
I can think of two reasons the weights were separated.
1. Since they’re not fixed they could bang around the inside of the car damaging it during shipping.
2. You save money during manufacturing. You can stamp out some weights and details and thrown them in a box rather than paying someone or for a machine to install them on the car.
These are pretty good hopper cars, for me while I do own some Bachmann hoppers most of what I own are Athearn and Atlas and maybe some other misc manufacturers but the Bachmann are still part of my fleet. Now my brother and I have hundreds of hoppers and have even run 100+ car trains at our local modular train shows and let me tell you metal wheels can be more than enough weight for even the lightest and cheapest cars. It adds weight and tracks really good. It would be cool to see you run a long train one day but for now what you have is fine. I want to know how long aof a train you could run with your british open wagons you typically run. Now that could make for a cool train.
I think so too! 100+ long trains sound awesome... so these would be really handy for you!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I recommend using painted metal coal bits its more realistic and made of metal using a magnet makes it easy cleanup
Notice that all three hoppers have the exact same running number as well. Identical really does mean identical in this case. A reason that the weights might not have been added is also because there are modelers that use real coal loads, and will fill them when they use them.
Really cool review on the hoppers. If you're looking for unique rolling stock, you might like the Schnabel model train by Bachmann Trains. It's one of the largest train cars ever produced and it comes in 6 varients (2 different loads, 3 color schemes each). One problem with getting the model, however, is its price as, for the one with the pipe load, it's $350 USD on Bachmann's site. Trainworld used to have them but stopped carrying them a while back
Spot on with your comments about cost vs. fitted detail. I would be quite happy to buy a long rake of these rather than a few overly complex ones. (Not so easy for bits to come off either.)
Sam one thing you could do is add your own simulated coal load or what I'm doing with my rock island and Burlington Route hoppers is filling them with ballast for simulated "limestone or gravel" loads for my concrete plant
Good review Sam , the Silver series stock is several years old now but are very free runners and good value for money if you can find them ! just make sure your track is flat or they can run away from you !!
The prices have increased a lot over the past four of five years so not so much of a bargain especialy as Bachmann mouldings are of old stock if you model the 1940's to the late 60 then this stock is for you.
If you’re ever looking for any affordable American passenger cars, I’d recommend some Rivarossi coaches. You can find them in many different liveries for a reasonably low price on websites like eBay. They are very basic molds, but I find the liveries help them shine. I have probably 60+ Rivarossi coaches in various schemes, and they’re my favorite to run (you just have to make sure you get the ones with the knuckle couplers rather than hornhook)
If you want something with more detail, I’d recommend the Bachmann Spectrum range of coaches
Gotta say the optional weights are quite a clever design. Always great to see you checking out what we have to offer here in the States
Very clever indeed - I'm really happy with these!!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
OK, Sam, I've just checked what I would be paying for the Bachmann 55 tonne 2-bay , outside braced USRA hopper. Don't know why, but prices on this item range from $24.99 to $27.99 . You must have gotten the last of that lot. No 19511's were there to purchase. Trainworld is a good source and they are similarly priced to Model Train Stuff. I do appreciate that you are getting more American rolling stock to pull behind American engines with our style couplers. Thanks for doing the review of the RS-11. Your criticism of the damaging result of attempting a disassembly to see the motor and a possibility of installing DCC or even more importantly lubrication and cleaning. You have rightly brought that up. Good on you !
Ahh that could be the case - been a little while since I bought these now! Never had an issue with Trainworld, okay in my book! Thanks for the kind words, appreciate it!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
The Nickel Plate Road was easily one of the greatest freight operations in the American east. They did passenger service, too, but it was all about express freight. The company was a _very_ well-oiled machine with exceptionally tight scheduling, fast locomotives, and little in the way of steep grades to worry about. Decades after the 1964 merger with Norfolk and Western, its own successor, Norfolk Southern, would famously paint up a General Electric ES44AC (No. 8100) in NKP livery to honor the railroad and its legacy, alongside 19 other locomotives as part of a broader heritage program. Regardless, the most famous survivor of the Nickel Plate Road is No. 765, an ALCO 2-8-4 "Berkshire"-type that ran express freights in the late 1940s and was preserved by the Ft. Wayne Historical Society. I had the pleasure of seeing it just before the Pandemic, and it still runs incredibly reliably, even if UP 4014, the legendary Big Boy, has overshadowed it in terms of recognizability.
As for American rolling stock models, you'll find that a lot of it is _quite_ reliable across the board. Bachman here is seen as the economy brand, but if you like them, then Athearn, Atlas, Rapido, Intermountain, and ScaleTrains should definitely be checked out.
My Godfather who served in WWII was a fireman on NKP’s 765 Berkshire … great video sam. As you collect more US rolling stock may I suggest a caboose !
Sam, add the "Athearn" brand hoppers...(I saw you quickly showed them earlier this year) you'll be quite happy with them as well. They will roll beyond Gordon's Hill, I'm sure. The Bachmann hoppers have been around for over 20 years before they added metal wheel sets and still rolled great. Adding metal wheel sets and knuckle couplers increased the price and value. John
Thanks John - planning to try those soon, as they were much cheaper, so looking to see how they compare!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
NKP, excellent choice if I must say so myself! Rode a train behind a pair of NKP GP30s this past weekend, got an up close look at a NKP Berk/caboose and business car as well. One of my favorite eastern US railroads.
Thank you!! Ahh that's awesome - I do envy you for that!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
12:55 the plastic coal load shines in a super realistic manner. Icing on the cake of this very good looking models.
I agree... how did they make it look so good?
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
So right. Best I've seen.
@@SamsTrains Don't know but Bachmann really know their game in surface finish of all kinds!
One thing I have noticed : the US retailers makes you always pay the premium USPS airmail for your parcels, around the $50 mark. I have bought recently couplers from Microtrains and they gave me the choice to have an economy package at $16 instead of the USPS $50-55 package. 5-6 years behind, I had bought some stuff from the US, and they did not propose you the luxury pacakge as a mandatory service, except for things like DCC main stations. It has changed recently, and I don't know why. I have an address in the Eurozone for model trains if you are interested, it's All American Trains in Germany. I've bought some engines and wagons in N scale from them, they have HO too.
Yeah I don't really get that either... I can ship quite a sizeable parcel to the US for like £20 tracked... and I pay double that quite often to retailers, and THEN have to pay customs too... strange!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I just picked up a Broadway Limited Imports Reading T1 4-8-4 that I ordered as a birthday present from my hobby shop today, I also picked up an N gauge locomotive, three N gauge freight cars and an N gauge caboose so I could try and send you some N gauge trains again
I might add as to why you might want to remove/not use the included weight if your running live loads and not the included static loads. It can add quite a decent amount of weight depending on the material it’s made from.
Those Bachmann cars are pretty solid for the money; if you're looking for other nice quality US rolling stock at a reasonable price Walthers Mainline, Athearn RTR, Atlas Trainman, Scaletrains Kit Classics and Operator, and Bowser are other brands of rolling stock worth looking at
Good to see Bachmann getting things right for a change. Good wagons. Presumably in HO 1:87 scale? Best, Pete.
great video Sam check the metal pin sticking out the bottom of the coupler it look low on some of the hoppers. This can be bent up. If it is too low will catch on the switch points and uncouple. I do nut use magnetic uncoupling so I cut these pins off to prevent this problem.
.
I keep two pairs of fine-nosed pliers with my layout so that I can bend them up so that the end of the pin is parallel with the track. Two pliers - hold the pin near the coupler with one pair of the pliers and bend the pin with the other pair.
Brilliant revenge, Sam. Very glad you were able to expand your American stock.
Normally buy mine secondhand, but I may have to pick myself up three of these hoppers someday…👍🏻👍🏻
Hello Sam, Bachmann USA is a decent quality. I have several of their pieces. Walthers Mainline is nice as well. Dont know if they still make Bowser but they used to make decent freight cars (UK equivalent maybe Dapol ?) Atlas is top notch however they have their quirks. ITs not unusual over here to buy a Locomotive from one manufacturer and wagons (we call them Rolling stock or freight cars) from many other manufacturers. I personally mix and match whatever i like and what looks good. Keep experimenting and you'll find what you like. Good for you mate...
The American Bachmann rolling stock is fairly decent in my experience (being American) but the reason why they don’t get so much praise is because they can sometimes be expensive depending on where you buy it from here in the US, and because of their all plastic construction they tend to be light and derail when on a long heavy train. They also have a problem with the couplers sometimes being at the wrong height. This allows them to uncouple easily and sometimes when going along the line the black plastic bits on the couplers can get caught in points and either break the coupling, hold back the engine, or derail. Even all of the above in my experience
Thanks for another meaty but still very entertaining review. I wonder if the short wheel-base of the bogies (meaning that all the wheels are pretty much in line with the rails all the time) is why they are so free-rolling?
Would you review the Hornby 153? It's well worth the money!
Here is some "quick" history on the Nickel Plate Road:
The New York, Chicago & Saint Louis Railroad (NYC&St.L for short) was a railroad which was founded to connect Buffalo, NY, & Chicago, IL in 1881. It was nicknamed the Nickel Plate Road, and operated 3,490 km of track. It merged with the Norfolk & Western in 1964. and later became part of Norfolk Southern when the N&W merged with the Southern Railway. Norfolk Southern currently has 1 ES44AC diesel locomotive painted in a NKP heritage scheme, along with it's other 19 heritage units, which are on ES44ACs, & SD70ACes.
The Gordon's hill test has similar result as those cheap aliexpress/evemodell 4 wheeled open wagons.
These are Silver Series which are better quality than the lower Bachman models. I have some other Silver series and they are good. The uncoupling accident could be put down to the EZ mate couplers rather than the wagons as they are not as good a quality as the Kadee metal couplers but for the price they are fine. Also Sam for the record; real knuckle couplers do uncouple by themselves on occasion. Sometimes when the knuckles wear too much it happens so it appears from your running and shunting into the siding that it replicated the prototype perfectly and you can't get better than that. Great video once again
Hey Sam, just a suggestion for your US reviews in the future. Since you probably have people from the states watching your reviews, I would suggest buying a coupler height gauge from Kadee. It's a simple 5 to 10 dollar block of metal with a coupler on it that's used to make sure that the couplers on locos and rolling stock are at the proper height.
That's a great suggestion - I'd be interested to try one of those for sure!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
@@SamsTrains Great review, Sam! You can also get a special pair of pliers for bending the magnetic arm if it's running too low. A little question, please, and some of the American viewers might have the answer if you don't: do the Bachmann US outline models [Locomotives and stock] come with NEM pockets, so the purchaser can fit actual Kadees instead of Bachmann's own?
@@SeatedViper I have a few Bachmann US locos and none of them have NEM coupler pockets. That seems to only be a UK & Europe thing.
Of course Kadee being a US company do regular knuckle couplers as well like the couplers found on Bachmann US trains. In fact Kadee started the whole thing off and other US manufacturers (including Bachmann) have copied them. Kadee added the NEM compatible couplers to their range to adapt with European models.
Check and adjust the height of the coupler trip pins. One looked too low and probably caused the uncoupling over the turnout by dragging on the rail top.
$20 a piece is a good price for American freight cars with detail that isn't insane. Lionel sells HO scale freight cars for an RRP of $20 and I hope to get one someday. They also make passenger cars at an RRP of $25. I hope to try those someday and you should too
I had no idea that these cars had optional weights and interior details if you wanted to run them empty. Bachmann doesn't state that feature in their catalogs or website
Bachmann Silver Series cars roll really well, to the point I had to chock mine when they were on a siding
they were designed with the thought in mind the load is removed at the destination and reinserted at the loading area to make it removable glue a ball barring on one side and use a magnet to remove the load
Very interesting - that'd be a great thing to set up!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I think the advantage of US HO model railways is that it is a larger market, so the economics of scale are more favourable. They are impressive wagons.
Yes that's true - though many US products are still horrendously expensive... happily these are great value though! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I have to get some of these one day! I will probably get the Pennsylvania ones.
Those hopper vans look very cool!
My favorite Road, ran thru Erie, Pa USA, my hometown!
The thimg with derailing, if you have a banker or something like that to push then it's gonna get worse, with uncoupling it's just gonna go back on
Bachmann is a good brand (unlike some of those other brands) even though I'm not doing trains anymore they look decent. That's also how I like my ships, but with ships, tanks etc. you aint paying a kidney for them, unless you want to.
Yeah absolutely - Bachmann USA get a lot of stick, and rightly so in many cases, but they have their gems, and thee are one!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
I do have some Bachmann rolling stock in N-Scale, I just need to fit them with trucks with knuckle couplers. The trucks that are currently on them have the "Rapido" couplers, shouldn't be too hard a job to swap them out.
Thanks for sharing - good luck with that!! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hi Sam you should try a bachmann box car, they are just wonderful.
Cheers Jasper & Willow
I will do! Thanks for the tip!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Well im Conviced, Time to buy some Hoppers
Follow the Nickel Plate Road, maybe you'll find a wizard at the end of it!😁 I have lots of Bachmann US rolling stock, including the blacksmith wagon. The newer stuff is great, older not so much. Thanks for the review, Sam! I would like a set of these hoppers. BTW, you mentioned postage, but did you pay any VAT for the wagons? Cheers! Mika
hahaha! I'd agree... never a problem with their newer stuff!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Bachmann also makes a NKP Berkshire locomotive if you want to just have a nickel plate coal train
If you like these, you need to get a good assortment of 40' boxcars. Nothing beats a long rake of reefers
That's my favorite road, I love the Berkshire type engine they run
Ooh fantastic - I need to find out more about it!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Might I suggest trying some American streamlined coaches? Pretty sure Bachman makes a lot of them but idk the quality but either way do consider some more American passenger cars
Awesome video today Sam isn’t that the wagon hector was based on from Thomas and friends
Awesome video Sam's trains
Better yet, at a train show you could pick those up for $5/ea. maybe without the box. We're spoiled with decent excellently priced freight in North America. I'm in Canada
You should review some more Accurascale wagons. They’re some of the best on the market at the best value in my opinion!
I agree - looking to do some soon! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Very well done I am looking forward to seeing more soon
Thanks a lot Richard, see you soon!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Thanks as always Sam
I always compare wagons with excellent performance to the Ali express wagons, the current reigning champions, and I have to say, this was a photo finish. Comparing the two, however, I would say that the Ali express wagons came out very slightly on top. Measuring from the center of the wagon, they stopped in almost exactly the same place, but measuring from the front, the Ali express wagon made it further. Also, in the video with the Ali express wagon, it started a few inches further down the hill than these new wagons, and as such, the new wagons had more time to pick up speed. As such, it's my ruling that the Ali express wagons retain their title as the freest rolling wagons of the channel, but only by a hair.
Are you really promoting crappy Chinese knock offs?
@@Evilminiature no, everything else about those models are substandard. It's just become a meme at this point, that the toy grade wagons off of Ali Express outperform basically every single professional model on the hill test, most of them by a wide margin. When something gets a noticeably better hill test, I'll probably stop, but any time Sam says a wagon or coach is one of the freest rolling or that it might have been the best hill test that he's seen, I like to see if it actually is the new best free roller. This is the closest anything has come, with the next best being a few inches behind these and the Ali Express wagons, but I stand by the fact that the Ali Express wagons did marginally better on the hill.
You're right actually - the Ali express ones are still among the best performers... and probably slightly better value.. though I prefer these hoppers for the detail I think!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
You mean Sam, I actually found some freight cars that you liked with also the nice price too.
Hi Sam
I understand that the Hornby 9F Evening Star has been released, have you reviewed/tested this loco please? Or, are you about to?
Many thanks
Yes the postage from the States is very expensive. I think anything over £18 will trigger the extra cost. Of course if you don't get the option to pay the extra up front, then Royal Mail then take their cut and a trip down to the parcel office is in order to settle in full. At least people can't blame that system because of Brexit.
as an idea on the metal plates, they are probably the same plate for all of the hopper cars and are procured in a separate process and added during packaging. and you wouldn't want them coming loose inside the car during shipping. otherwise they would probably need to be glued instead of leaving it up to the customer. as you say, gives real flexibility for the customer on what they want.
its a shame when manufacturers don't understand the subtle difference between cheap and inexpensive. these are inexpensive cars, but not cheap i think.
as a question, do you think that the american custom of having 4 wheel trucks might give the bulk of american rolling stock a and trains a cost advantage over the british stuff? manufacturers can reuse the same 4 wheel truck across a large number of their designs and benefit from the reduced cost to produce the same trucks for most models.
That's wonderful a review these got the wagons american trucks staff that's would be nice 3 boxes anything good job to get three things is something that.
Man’s gained respect for getting the NKP hoppers
Who knew his new favorite cars would be from the nickel plate road, a railroad that I loce
That's awesome!!! :D
I think I have a budget version of this with less detail and plastic wheels made by Lifelike instead of Bachmann coloured light grey instead of black
A thought on why the weight is separate: many modelers in the US do use loose or ‘live’ loads in their open hoppers, so possibly they might be a little bit too heavy with the weight AND the car full of load. Just a thought
Yeah you're right - they would be too heavy with a live load and the metal weights... good point, such a great design!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Guess what Sam I bought hornby princess class for parts, and after 1 year (no joke) I finally fixed it. And it's now on the mainline on my layout
Cheers Jasper & Willow
Hi sam I hope you're ok
These wagond look great and there are great value for money
Thanks Lewis, hope you're okay too, very much so! :D
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Sam, I may have missed it, but can we assume that these are HO scale, slightly smaller than OO - 1/76th scale?
I wonder if the OO BR vanwide is available in the States for $20 dollars too! :)
I've had my share of issues with Bachmann's locomotives, but never have I had trouble with their rolling stock.
A small but pleasing note is that Bachmann, at least in N scale, puts metal wheels on everything. Even their cheapest train set rolling stock has metal wheels.
As for the price, Bachmann set their MSRPs much higher than the products are actually sold for at any retailer I'm aware of. Sometimes almost twice as high, as in the case of these hoppers. I don't know why this is.
Yeah I'd say I'd agree with that... very rarely an issue with their rolling stock. The metal wheels is a great touch... can't be doing with plastic ones!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Hey Sam would you say prices for Bachmann America are more reasonable than Bachmann UK? Minus shipping of course.
these proably the most smoothest rolling stock you reviewed yet I dont think any other rolling stock you reviewed has ever been smooth rolling
You're right... absolutely flawless runners!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Is it bad if a model train is light?
Interesting. I'm kind of astonished it comes with cross brace detail which I don't believe my Accucraft six pack of these have.
As for the weight, perhaps they come without weights for the rare case someone is using live loads, or legitimate coal loads and operating coal loaders or rotary dumpers. But that is quite strange they dont come with weights preinstalled.
I agree... for the money the detail is awesome! And you're right - that's a really handy feature too!
Thanks for watching, Sam :)
could you do a collab with SMT mainline?
I think you two could learn alot from each other lol
Great to see HO, see Frateschi
nice to be able to run loaded or empty train loads
You should get some Australian auscision models NHYH hoppers they'll blow your socks off
The American collection is growing!