Amfleet comparisons

[jmlaboda]

Before this thread becomes a lesson on what both Bachmann and Kato should have done better in making the cars roll I want to say that I am looking for how they look together, not how to make them move.  I am wondering if anyone can share a shot or two of the cars coupled (or otherwise end to end) so that the detail might be able to be compared.  Would their use with each other be reasonable, like on many Amtrak trains?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I was just compairing mine today and will post photos soon. The cars compliment eachother quite well. The overall lenth, height and width are with a few inches of eachother. Bachmann has better ends, diaphrams, and vent detail. Kato has thinner profile fluting, nicer onderbody, trucks and paint.

Both models have good interior detail and outstanding windows. And yes, both do not roll worth crap.

Unless you have the newer Bachmann Amfleets, its hard to describe just how nice they really are. They messed up a bit on the phase II paint, but the phase III paint is about right though the lettering is a bit large. I do not know about the phase IV or V. Bachmann did an outstanding job with the tooling. The doors, windows and ends look right. The fluting is very fine though it get a hair wider along the roof/side transiton. I should have purchased a lot more.

[Puddington]

The "Northern" perspective on the Amfleet question......



Amtubes......

..... and "yes" - we get real Monte's up here in the socialist haven known as Canuckville...... ;D

[sundowner]

The Katos actually roll and come with knuckle couplers, the Bachman does or has neither.

[SkipGear]

The Katos actually roll and come with knuckle couplers, the Bachman does or has neither.

The most recent batch of the Bachmann cars now come with knuckle couplers and they are supposed to be offering retrofit couplers through their parts department.

[davefoxx]

The most recent batch of the Bachmann cars now come with knuckle couplers and they are supposed to be offering retrofit couplers through their parts department.

But the Bachmann's will look much better if you body-mount the couplers and decrease the distance between cars.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Um, all newer Bachmann amfleets -Rapidos and knuckles- are body mounted and couple so close the operating diaphrams nearly touch.

[Ian MacMillan]

The most recent batch of the Bachmann cars now come with knuckle couplers and they are supposed to be offering retrofit couplers through their parts department.

Too bad their customer service dept doesn't know about both of those points when I asked them in July if they were going to offer them as a separate part! Hahaha

[bbussey]

Um, all newer Bachmann amfleets -Rapidos and knuckles- are body mounted and couple so close the operating diaphrams nearly touch.

That's good to know.  The cars I have are the newer tooling yet have truck-mounted Rapido couplers.  I just sent them an email to see if the body-mounted parts are available.

Did the floor component change as well?  And who is carrying the current version of the model?

[cgw]

adding to brians questions.... does  anyone  have a part numbers for the body mount couplers.     

[bbussey]

Just received a response to my query.  The coupler parts should be available in September.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Bryan, all newer tooled Bachmann Amfleets have body mounted couplers. The couplers pivot point is all the way back to the truck centers as they are both held to the body with the same screw. The coupler swings independently from the truck though.

There is some confusion when it comes to bachmann Amfleets. They made three versions of the Budd Amtube design. The first was featured on the Metroliner of the 1960s and not really an Amtube. They then made a true Amtube coach for many, many years. It was a huge improvement over the Metroliner tooling but still not that good. These stopped production somewhere around 2003. A few years later, Bachmann produced all new tooling Amtube coach and cafe cars. These were all new, sharing no parts from the previous cars.

The source of confusion is that Bachmann used the same part numbers for the coach car and the last run of the older tooling was in the modern jewel case with blue insert. So unless you inspect the car personally, its a crap shoot as to which car you get.




The newest run features a Bachmann knuckle coupler on the end


Older Bachmann in the rear. Newer run in the front.


I modified these cars with MTL couplers. The Rapidos actually coupled a tad closer.

These photos are a few years old. I will be shooting the Kato Vs. Bachmann cars tomorrow.

[bbussey]

Dan,

Well that sucks.  I think I have the newer version in PhIII and PhIV schemes but with Rapido couplers.  I'm pretty sure the diaphragms are separate parts.  I'll check in the morning.  Annoying.

The printing and paint masking also looks better on your PhIII cars than they do on mine.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

As promised here are the photos. All my Bachmann cars are in PIII, all Kato cars are in PIV. I compaired cafe to cafe and coach to coach.


Bachmann has detailed vents and (somewhat large) working diaphragms. Bachmann also has a separate vent cap over the kitchen. Kato's paint is much better. The silver is metallic and not as grainy as Bachmann's. The diaphragm is painted black as it should be.


Both cars feature working end markers. Bachmann has a complete ends because of their use of body mounted couplers.


Kato used tons of grease to keep those wheels turning. I modified my Bachmann trucks to roll just as well though. Kato's car weighs about 2/3rds the Bachmann car. No comparison here, the Kato car blows the Bachmann out of the water for underbody and truck detail. You can clearly see the Kato car has truck mounted couplers and the Bachmann has long swing body mounts.


OK a few things here. The coach has MTL couplers mounted to the Rapido swing arm which makes them able to negotiate tight curves. The cars couple close and look pretty good together. Again, Bachmann has that painted silver look while Kato has a great finish. You can see both models have flush fitting glass with full interiors (in the same colors no less). Kato has a slightly thinner glass thickness but Bachmann has thinner gaskets. Keep in mind Amfleet II cars had slightly larger windows, which you can see here.

[bbussey]

I'll have to track down some of the newer Bachmann cars in phIII paint.  The ones I have currently are pre-2003 tooling.