I have a bachmann Northern, one of the new runs. It runs pretty damn good, and I'm pretty happy with the performance overall, Of course it needs tender pickups. Anyways, the one thing I have always HATED WITH A PASSION is the boiler shell, and details, and I REALLY hate the fact that the shell has a Inverted U shape, with no lower boiler curvature. with the frame actually being curved at the bottom, this added to my frustration with it. Anyways, I decided to bash it into something that looks a little more Northwestish. I've tossed the shell in the parts box, and I'm starting from scratch there. The cab, and some other details are going to be salvaged from a Kato Mikado shell I have lying around. As for a tender, I like Vandy tenders, so I'm planning on using one of the bachmann ones. NP never ran Vandies, this is one of the reasons I am calling this a freelance, which doesn't tie me down to a prototype. As I make progress that is worth seeing, I'll post more, Right now all I have done is pulled the shell, and decided on a pilot.
