N scale Siemens SC-44 Charger????

[tehachapifan]

Oopf! At 260 bones, I'll have to say no. Looks great though!

[MetroRedLine]

Model Train Stuff has them in stock...Thing with these is that they're very corridor-specific; unless you're modeling Amtrak Midwest or Cascades trains (with Superliners), then there's no real reason to have them unless you really want one and don't really care about being prototypical. And there are no Pacific Surfliner rolling stock models in N scale, so unless you've gone the 3D printing route, it's hard to justify that one.

At least Kato's ALC-42 is more conducive to other kinds of Amtrak rolling stock.

[kscessandriver]

Model Train Stuff has them in stock...Thing with these is that they're very corridor-specific; unless you're modeling Amtrak Midwest or Cascades trains (with Superliners), then there's no real reason to have them unless you really want one and don't really care about being prototypical. And there are no Pacific Surfliner rolling stock models in N scale, so unless you've gone the 3D printing route, it's hard to justify that one.

At least Kato's ALC-42 is more conducive to other kinds of Amtrak rolling stock.

Horizons. All 3 liveries can be ran with Rapido horizon cars and be prototypically correct. Cascades currently has a horizon consist running. The Surfliner has in the past had consists of nothing but horizons and Amfleet cars, and obviously the Midwest stuff commonly ran horizons for years

[kscessandriver]

Mine came this morning. I'm blown away with all the functions that actually work. Flashing ditch lights, functioning marker lights, functioning strobes. Very smooth runners. They sound great out of the box. Built in keep-alive as well. I too thought the $260 was steep, but with everything built in, I'd certainly rather pay for it to be right to begin with, than have to tear it apart to fix (I'm looking at you BLI...)

[cv_acr]

Horizons. All 3 liveries can be ran with Rapido horizon cars and be prototypically correct. Cascades currently has a horizon consist running. The Surfliner has in the past had consists of nothing but horizons and Amfleet cars, and obviously the Midwest stuff commonly ran horizons for years

Amtrak runs across Michigan with "Midwest" Chargers and a random mix of Horizon and Amfleets. Even seen occasional Siemens coaches in some videos.

[cv_acr]

FYI Montreal commuter train services has just annouced an order for 10 Siemens Chargers.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/montreals-exo-orders-charger-locomotives-to-update-fleet/

Canadian modellers now have another reason after VIA Rail(32 units) to use these locos.

And in December 2022 Ontario Northland announced an order for three Charger + 3 car train sets from Siemens, similar to the VIA Rail sets.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/ontario-government-to-purchase-equipment-for-revival-of-northlander/

[MetroRedLine]

Horizons. All 3 liveries can be ran with Rapido horizon cars and be prototypically correct. Cascades currently has a horizon consist running. The Surfliner has in the past had consists of nothing but horizons and Amfleet cars, and obviously the Midwest stuff commonly ran horizons for years

The only problem is finding any non-"Dinatte" Horizon cars in the current scheme. All gone.

[kscessandriver]

The only problem is finding any non-"Dinatte" Horizon cars in the current scheme. All gone.

Yeah, I can see that being an issue. I see phase 4 stuff in stock places, but the phase 6 disappeared quickly.

[spookshow]

For some reason, all information about these models has vanished from Bachmann's website. Maybe they are updating the pages?

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=265_379_1231

-Mark

[kscessandriver]

For some reason, all information about these models has vanished from Bachmann's website. Maybe they are updating the pages?

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=265_379_1231

-Mark

Very odd. Updating the page, maybe another run coming soon in the future?

[ski]

This is my first Bachmann N scale diesel (I have one B-mann steam loco). Gotta say, I am pretty pleased with it. As @kscessandriver said, it is pretty feature-rich. I see the real ones fairly frequently and this captures it very well. I am very happy with my purchase and am hoping they do more Amtrak Midwest road numbers in the future. The only missing details I can see are the lack of "holes" around the perimeter of the wheels and lighted number-boards/destination board (understandable with all of the lighting effects that are there). The sound is nice as well.

It will be interesting to compare the Kato and Bmann versions of the ALC-42.

[simsuper80]

Everyone except me has already gotten theirs😆😑

[MetroRedLine]

Just saw this review on YouTube. It's exceeded my expectations. This is probably a good candidate for N scale model of the year.

I've been Anti-Bachmann all this time, but...

Now the only thing stopping me from buying one is the lack of a Caltrans/Amtrak California SC-44.

[Bart1701]

I am extremely pleased by mine. The number of lighting and sound features is amazing. It runs smoothly and reliably. The Keep Alive capacitors take several seconds to lose their power when you turn off layout power. I remember Bachmann locomotives from the 80's and 90's as being very poor (I am being very generous here), but the SC-44 is light years beyond that!

Bart

[Dwight in Toronto]

I am extremely pleased by mine. The number of lighting and sound features is amazing. It runs smoothly and reliably. The Keep Alive capacitors take several seconds to lose their power when you turn off layout power. I remember Bachmann locomotives from the 80's and 90's as being very poor (I am being very generous here), but the SC-44 is light years beyond that!

Bart

Interesting.  I swore off Bachmann N scale products after getting burned too many times in the past, and rightly or wrongly, continue to avoid the brand to this day. 

The chip on my shoulder is still there, but it sounds like they may possibly have turned a corner.  I’ll be sitting on the fence, waiting to see how these SC-44’s are faring a year or two from now.  Fingers crossed -  I genuinely hope that these locos remain stellar performers for you guys, and it would be wonderful if this turns out to be a harbinger of more good things to come.