Introduced: 1984
These "just OK" models sport Bachmann's latter day "big black split-frame" trainset locomotive design And thankfully, I don't need to document X-million variants here because they never received any upgrades or modifications over their relatively brief lifespan. AFAIK, these were last produced in 2008 (where they were included as the motive power portion of Bachmann's "Centennial" Amtrak trainset).
The motor is an open-sided 3-poler. All wheels are geared, and all gearing is plastic. Two wheels (the center wheels on the forward truck) have traction tires. All the rest of the wheels provide pickup. Current is transferred from the trucks to the split-frame metal chassis via oval brass metal contact strips (IE, no wires). The couplers are truck-mounted Rapidos. Directional lighting is provided by a PC board mounted inside the shell. The pantagraphs are non-operational (what a shock). The wheel flanges are reasonably sized, so no problems running these on Code-55 track.
Performance is adequate enough I suppose. Pickup is decent and slow speed creep is, I guess, acceptable (wow, I'm really running out of neutrally positive adjectives here). On the downside, the mechanism sports some really long plastic drive shafts and a whole lot of open space in the metal chassis. As a consequence, this thing makes just one hell of a lot of noise when it runs (any speed).
Apart from the noise factor, throttle response is also a bit of a problem. Buried somewhere in all that metal is the same 3-pole motor found in the rest of Bachmann's (smaller) locomotive models of the same era. And I must say, I don't think it's quite up to the task of propelling this gigantic pile of metal around. I guess "sluggishly" is the best way to describe the way this thing responds to the throttle.
So, yeah, a typical Bachmann trainset loco. It runs... It looks OK... And it's not an embarassment. But beyond that, well, it is what it is.
To remove the shell, simply spread the sides apart and lift.
Grade: B (just 'cuz I'm in a good mood)
