The P&WV Hi-Line

[jayrod]

Bachmann is delivering the new light Mike, HO scale. Looks like a good candidate for detailing as a 1000 series engine.
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod

[Rich_S]

Eric,
I'm a little gun shy right now with Bachmann. I broke down just before
Thanksgiving and purchased one of their N scale PRR K4's Pacific
number 1361. When I received it, it looked great, sounded good and ran great.
On December 2 it stopped running for no reason, lights and sound went out.
A light touch on the tender would get it running again.
On December 3, it suddenly stopped and went up in smoke.

I sent it back to Bachmann on 12-4 and they received it on 12-7.
I checked the status on line and the repair status never changed, so
on 12-18 I called them. I was told they do not have any K4's in stock.
I was offered a Berkshire as a replacement for my K4 Pacific.
To be honest, if I wanted a Berk, I would have purchased a Berk.
I was also told they currently did not have any parts to repair my
locomotive. The first thing that upset me, if I would have not called on
12-18, would I still be waiting to hear from Bachmann on the status of
my locomotive?

The second thing that upsets me, how long do I now have to wait to
either receive a new locomotive or for them to receive
parts to repair my locomotive. He hoped they would have repair parts
arriving after the holidays and he is suppose to call if / or when they
receive new locomotives. I could have purchased 3 Atlas diesel
locomotives for the price I paid for this locomotive.

Maybe I'm the exception, but this is the second Bachmann locomotive
I've had problems with, the first is my H16-44.
_________________
Regards,
Rich S.

[jayrod]

That's the problem with small runs. If they sell out, you're out of luck until the next run if you need a replacement. It's my understanding that parts are ordered with the run. Let's hope they just haven't arrived yet.

I have three Bachmann connies and two Kato mikes. When I first got them, I took them apart and lubed them before I broke them in. With limited running, so far, so good.

I haven't gotten around to putting decoders in the connies yet but I assume they have a similar pickup system in the tender as in the Katos with phosphor-bronze contact strips. In the Kato engines, I replaced the strips with hard wiring to eliminate any chance of intermittent contact as well as to make more room for for wires the decoder. Originally, there didn't seem to be enough weight to maintain reliable long-term contact between the strips. That sounds like your first problem.

Every once in a while, you get a bad decoder. Sounds like you had both problems at once. Let's hope Bachmann steps up and takes care of the issue or at least offers a refund. Keep us posted.
_________________
Eric Schlentner
Aka, jayrod