K4- Bachmann vs. Trix

[Bob Bufkin]

I was also impressed the Trix shell held up with its lipstick.

I also pimped out tender!

There probably is "no comparison" with a stock Trix.

Remember, for the sake of Tom Mann's sanity, keep it constructive!
Everyone has to say something they like about the Bachmann.

I really like the Kiesel tender trucks!

Yes. It's a K4, and we're a bunch of nerds.

But Damn Proud Nerds.

[Dave V]

That tricked out Trix (pun intended) looks almost like a K-4.

An Dave, did yours finally get to you today.

P.S.  Dave watching the Thunderbirds perform over the house today from the AAFB airshow.

Not yet.  It's "out for delivery."

Watching AF at MSU.  We had some good plays but penalties and turnovers are killing us.

[peteski]

Since few here mentioned proportions and dimensions, can't someone here dig up a drawing of the real K4 and superimpose it over the side shot of Bachmann and Mintrix models to compare their proportions to the 1:1 loco? If we think the driver diameter and smokebox/boiler  is wrong, why not measure the model with a caliper and see how well the dimensions compare to the 1:1 loco.?

[Dave V]

[mplsjct]

The drivers on the Kato loco look much closer to the line drawing, interesting in that the Kato was likely based on a Japanese prototype. (that is a Minitrix shell on a Kato mechanism-right?)

The drivers on the Bachmann just don't seem to have the right proportions, compared with those in the drawing.

[eric220]

As soon as I get home, that is so going into photoshop and becoming an alpha mask. Unless someone beats me to it.

[VonRyan]

I look at those, and photos, then look at my Bachmann... I ain't see no problems. Looks pretty damn good to me.

[mmagliaro]

I don't think it's a bad idea at all to compare these engines.   People have been waiting 20 years or more
for a good K4 to come out, and this model costs $225+.  It seems perfectly fair to me to see if
it has really improved on the 40 year old Trix as much as it should have for all those years and for
that much money.

That K4 shell has a pretty thick coat of paint on it, and it could be refined more.

The Bachmann wins on overall "delicateness" of the body details, and it does have the correct
valve gear and tender trucks.  I think the cab and firebox proportions are more correct also.

But the big thing that jumps out are those Bachmann drivers.
They look awfully small.   I'd be
very interested if someone could put calipers on them to see how big they are.

Otherwise, the Bachmann stamped flute-less siderods are also a big drawback.  Even the original
Trix siderods had some cut relief fluting in them, and of course, those C55 rods are beautiful,
though they are not the correct ones for a K4.

[robert3985]

Someone sold me this nice Kato Japanese C55 with Trix shell a few years ago. I fixed up the tender and repainted the boiler. It's unfinished but have a look and compare.
What do you guys think about both models? Strenghts? Weakensses? What did Bachmann get right or wrong?

Thought I'd put this on the same page as Dr. Dave's drawings...makes it easier for me to compare...

Hmmmm....after looking at the drawings and the photos, I'd say the drivers are pretty close to the dia. in the drawings.  However, it looks to me like the whole body sits too high...which makes the drivers appear to be smaller than they are.  The gap between the underside of the cab and the tender is excessive...maybe because the tender isn't prototypically close, but...the angle of the front of the firebox appears to be too far from the rear driver...but moving the whole body down a bit, makes that gap much less.

There are other niggling points, such as the tall, squarishness of the sandbox and the upward tilt of the box in front of the cab, and the bell being a bit too far to the rear,  but maybe those are due to another set of drawings or photos the Bachmann people used as references.

I also think the cab isn't exactly right, with the straight sides appearing to be too tall, but that may be due to the lighting in the photo.

For the money, it's a shame the rods and valve gear aren't done better although it appears there IS some fluting on the rods, but them big ol' round rivets on the valve gear are really disconcerting.

I didn't get around to comparing the Bachmann model with the Trix/Kato kitbash as my interest is more to prototypical compliance and present-day availability.

I won't be getting one of these, but...I'm happy the SPF's have finally got one.  I hope it's a trend in the industry.  I'll take a much closer look when my buddy Nate (Nato) gets his.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[chicken45]

The Bachmann wheels are 84 scale inches or .450 inches. That's not counting the flanges.

[eric220]

As promised,





Now some allowance must be made for the fact that I had to guesstimate the scaling and rotation, but I worked to get them as close as possible.  For the side views I tried to scale the back of the cab to the front of the smoke box.

Overall, I was quite surprised.  The Bachmann model actually matches the side views much better than I would have given them credit for.  Both side views indicate that the Bachmann version sits a little high at the smoke box end.  Given the tolerances in N Scale, I'm almost willing to give them a pass and write that one off as this particular model has a loose screw holding the front end down.  Also, someone made a comment about the curvature of the cab roof; it seems to match quite nicely.  The only real glaring inconsistency that I saw was the head-on view.  The cylinders stick out much farther than the prototype.  I'm also willing to write that one off as a necessity due to the physical limitations of the valve gear.  Overall, I'd say Bachmann did a pretty dang good job of matching the presented prototype drawings. 

[Scott Lupia]

Eric, thanks for the overlay.  A picture like this is worth thousands of words, or a few Bachmann K4 threads on Railwire.  Sadly, I don't think this will please everyone though.

Scott Lupia

[basementcalling]

As promised,

Change the tender lettering to Pittsburgh and put a Steelers logo on there and we have a winner. 

Comparing the Bachmann K4 to a 40 year old model shows just how good the Trix version was for its time.  I will assume for charity sake the new model is superior in running characteristics to the old mechanism. It damn well should be even without factoring in the sound and DCC controls. I never have even seen a Trix K4 run, so  I can't comment to specifics.   

The drawings don't lie though,  and if I was an SPF I would be like a kid on Christmas morning with these. Defects I have seen pointed out are all seemingly correctable with some modeling.  Might even make a good article.

[chicken45]

That's awesome!!

[Scott Lupia]

That side vies overlay would make a great Railwire banner! 

Scott Lupia