It's Finally Here!
Mine arrived on Monday January 3rd. I opened it that night. Impressive with a capital "I". I noticed something odd on the pilot. Apparently, when the unit was packed, the packer snagged the uncoupling lever on the engineer's side and also snapped the right-most pilot beam handrail stanchion. I phoned Bachmann's service/parts department on Tuesday. They not only do not have any parts in yet--they don't even have the drawings and parts lists! Fortunately for me, the damage looks repairable. So, a warning--the loco has some very delicate parts. Be careful handling, even if you are experienced.
On to the important part! My layout has been sitting idle while I did four pretty complex structures. So, I gave the layout a thorough cleaning, repaired a balky turnout throwbar, and finally got to run my Climax tonight. This was just a thirty minute test run switching my classification yard. Now that I'm satisfied with the test run, I will lube it up before giving it a thorough break-in. It handled six freight cars easily. All were weighted to the NMRA recommended practice. It handled both handlaid and manufactured turnouts with ease and did not break stride by even a whisker through a #6 double slip switch. Next, I backed down on a Silver Streak four-wheeled bobber, coupled gently, and pulled through the yard throat to grab four Keystone Climax log cars. What a sight, running gear thrashing as it backed down, then ran forward to spot the cars. I will have to swap couplers. Bachmann's do not uncouple automatically from the Kadee #711's I use on my logging equipment.
As for my earlier question about an oil bunker, that still puzzles me. The Climax spec page from Oso Publishing's book indicates that an 875 gallon bunker was an available option on the 50-ton Class B. Very few, judging by photos in the book, were ordered that way. One is pictured on page 276, if you have the book. It looks about three feet high and occupies roughly the forward 2/3 of the available space and looks to have been made of riveted plate. I use the word "puzzling" because the Bachmann loco does include a snowplow pilot option. According to the Oso book, only one was built that way, and it was a special fabrication made at the purchaser's request. Oh, well ...
Finally, the Climax seems just noisier to me than does Bachmann's HO scale Shay. Anybody have any thoughts on that one? The Climax was worth the wait--Great loco!!!
--Stu--
P.S. My loco had only warranty information, lube instructions and a few exploded view parts diagrams. It had no historical or other narrative instructions. Is this right?
Merry Christmas everybody! I was browsing the web today. It appears that the Bachmann HO Climax is finally appearing!!! And, an e-mail from the manager of a nearby hobby shop indicates he expects delivery of his first shipment very soon. What a wait! I received Oso Publishing's book "The Climax Locomotive" for Christmas two years ago and my mouth has been watering ever since.