The new Bachmann coil cars

[Ed Kapuscinski]

So I kinda like the Conrail and N&W ones, but there's no way in hell I'm paying $45/ea for them:
https://tonystrains.com/product/n-55-steel-coil-car-cr-628021-1

I can't imagine Bachmann's selling very many at that price point either.

Anyone in the retail world know where to find these things reasonably?

[Englewood]

Wow. Bachmann has lost their minds. I'd love to get their VIA Siemens passenger train, but it'd be cheaper for me to fly to Canada and ride the real thing in First Class.

[Mark5]

I was able to get a "deal" on one of the NW versions earlier this year - I've been waiting for work and the new "fixer upper" house work to let up a bit so I could post a review (maybe next month!)

Not a bad model, though the big "NW" logo is off (not as bad as on the Red Caboose version, which also had the "NW" logo too narrow).

The model is on the light side (it comes with separate coils in the case, but unfortunately those are plastic as well). I havent tried yet but I assume the coil covers are removable (this will be handy if plan to correct the NW logo with decals - I might decide that it is ok).

Naturally, those couplers gotta go!

Proto: https://www.nwhs.org/archivesdb/detail.php?ID=43196

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[learmoia]

Ed PM me... we can do a trade.. I have both NW and CR..

[squirrelhunter]

I bit on one on eBay for like $45 with shipping.

It's vastly better out of the box that the ex- Walthers cars Atlas sells, but that's not saying a whole lot in and of itself.

The ride height and details are pretty good, the hoods are removable, but the load dividers are permanently molded in, and ScaleTrains metal coils are too long to fit. I do not have any Red Caboose loose coils to test.

The biggest thing that would help these is an aftermarket etched running board. That would help the Atlas/Walthers ones too, but the hoods on those are both atrociously oversized and seriously glued on the car (like you need to be willing to destroy the hood or the paint job on the car to get th off level) so the running boards aren't the only fix needed on those.

[Point353]

So I kinda like the Conrail and N&W ones, but there's no way in hell I'm paying $45/ea for them:
https://tonystrains.com/product/n-55-steel-coil-car-cr-628021-1

I can't imagine Bachmann's selling very many at that price point either.

Anyone in the retail world know where to find these things reasonably?

$45 is about 30% off the $65 MSRP. How much more of a discount were you expecting?

[DirtyD79]

$45 is about 30% off the $65 MSRP. How much more of a discount were you expecting?

HO is 82 dollars. I ain't payin' 82 bucks for Bachmanns. They must be smoking crack.

[garethashenden]

$45 is about 30% off the $65 MSRP. How much more of a discount were you expecting?

MSRP of about $30?

[ai5629]

The N scale version hit the market a few months ago.  I saw them in stock at Midwest a while ago.  For the NYC/PC/CR modelers out there, these appear to be a good match for the Evans built (for NYC) class 984F.  Bachmann decorated the CR models as Thrall (built for CR) G52A.  Deco appears good, just wrong model for paint scheme.  I have thought about getting custom Conrail decals made and rolling my own.  Thanks.

Jeff

[thomasjmdavis]

MSRP of about $30?

$45 is about 30% off the $65 MSRP. How much more of a discount were you expecting?

HO is 82 dollars. I ain't payin' 82 bucks for Bachmanns. They must be smoking crack.

Bachmann prices have gone up across the board recently, not just these new releases.  And the US dealers are no longer giving the huge discounts that once applied to Bachmann products (big discounts because, for instance, who was going to pay more for a Bachmann 40' boxcar than for IMRC, Atlas Master, or MTL- even though the Bachmann MSRP was often $10 higher in recent years).

They aren't smoking crack or trying to rip anyone off.  They ARE paying huge tariffs, and you are seeing those passed along, so that you can pay the (hidden) largest middle class tax increase in history.  Political rhetoric aside, the tax (tariff) is not being paid by the Bank of China, it is being paid by the US consumer in the form of price increases in everything from model trains to computers to clothing. 
But, that said....We used to commonly see 50% or more off of MSRP on Bachmann. 

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Bachmann prices have gone up across the board recently, not just these new releases.  And the US dealers are no longer giving the huge discounts that once applied to Bachmann products (big discounts because, for instance, who was going to pay more for a Bachmann 40' boxcar than for IMRC, Atlas Master, or MTL- even though the Bachmann MSRP was often $10 higher in recent years).

They aren't smoking crack or trying to rip anyone off.  They ARE paying huge tariffs, and you are seeing those passed along, so that you can pay the (hidden) largest middle class tax increase in history.  Political rhetoric aside, the tax (tariff) is not being paid by the Bank of China, it is being paid by the US consumer in the form of price increases in everything from model trains to computers to clothing. 
But, that said....We used to commonly see 50% or more off of MSRP on Bachmann. 

Yeah, this is what I was wondering. Back in the day (and by that, I mean two years ago) we all knew Bachmann's MSRPs were laughable, but we also knew we could get deep discounts on the stuff that made it appropriately priced.

But now... who knows. We gotta rely on friends willing to eat the depreciation I guess?

[sizemore]

If those are the same RB trucks used on the Bethlehem hoppers they have a very wide axle width, .563" I think. Scale Trains doesnt import the .563" wheelsets very often, to the point they were "discontinued" at one point, then received more in low quantities. Consider a truck change to MT if you want semi-scale 36" wheels.

The S.

[Mark5]

I will likely ditch the trucks as well.

[track1]

If those are the same RB trucks used on the Bethlehem hoppers they have a very wide axle width, .563" I think. Scale Trains doesnt import the .563" wheelsets very often, to the point they were "discontinued" at one point, then received more in low quantities. Consider a truck change to MT if you want semi-scale 36" wheels.

The S.

Hi "The S.",

Do you happen to have the axle width of the Micro-Trains trucks you prefer handy? I can ask our engineering team if it's feasible to adjust our wheelsets to meet this standard so that our models come with the optimal wheelsets out of the box.

Appreciate the other feedback shared in this thread. We always try our best to make the most dimensionally accurate and best detailed model possible. We decided against having separate load divider parts and an etched walkway to keep tooling and assembly costs lower.

As far as MSRP and "street" pricing- we did have to unfortunately increased our MSRPs and lower our dealer discounts in order to compensate for the import tariffs. Those decisions are made above my head- I can say it's as frustrating for us as it is for the modelers, but we had to make a business decision in order to meet our financial goals.

Tyler
Bachmann R&D

[Missaberoad]

Tyler @track1

The most common axle lengths in N scale are .540" and .553". Micro-trains uses the former.