Bachmann 100 Ton Hopper quickie review

[Mark5]

I got a "deal" on one of these, as they are good enough at a glance to be a stand in for N&W H12 class hoppers 1974+ (as well as the Trinity built H49 and H50 classes). The car I bought is lettered for the H49 class (built 1989).

Jeff ( @ai5629 ) enlightened me that the bachmann model is most likely based on the Reading HTG class hoppers (CR HR1D) built by Bethlehem. They are 18" or more shorter (length) than the N&W cars, but have similar slope sheet angles and side stake patterns. The Bachmann model is about 44" inside (IL) and 45' 6" on the outside of the body. The top of the hopper is about 12' 6" off the rail, which is 3" too tall for and H12 - so I'll need to lower this car a bit.

Sorry for the blurry pix as I did this hastily.

Out of the box:


The first thing that hit is that the trucks are bad (lousy, wrong, etc).

Here are the trucks next to MTL 100 ton trucks.

I quickly test fit MTL 100 ton trucks:


The MTL trucks are a bit "snug" on the bolster but that's easy to fix. I will test BLMA trucks when I get a chance - to see how much lower they will make the car.

Back to the model - the car has weights on the inside - glued (poorly) to the inside outer slope sheets. The weights and the plastic covers that cover the weights were all loose in the car  (under the coal load, which is easy to remove by pressing either end of the load gently).

I was impressed that the model came with inner supports:


Here's one side of the weights:


Underside:


The underframe with the body mount couplers is held to the body by the truck pins.



I will ditch the couplers for Accumates as they are an easy direct swap.

Eventually, I'll strip it and paint/letter for N&W. Unfortunately, there are no accurate N&W hopper decals currently - so I need to finish up that artwork.

Overall, a decent model (but pricey!)

Mark

[Mark5]

Note, on the NS paint job, they did a decent job on the as delivered paint (these were built starting in 1989) - they got the road number and class correct. The reporting marks are wrong though - it should be NW 145275 (not NS 145275). 

[basementcalling]

$28 is more than pricey.  Glad to see though that the cars have modeling uses, which is better than average for a Bachmann car offering.

[ai5629]

These showed up at MBK a few days ago (6 of each road name).   PRR, CR and NS sold out in two or three days and there were three UP left this afternoon.  That surprised me (doesn’t bode well for the future fire sale if people pay what Bachmann is asking).  I would like maybe six total of these to mix in with my MTL 100 ton cars.  Almost 30 a pop is a lot to ask for a car that needs trucks, couplers and painted into an accurate scheme.  For now, I ordered a CR to support the cause.  I hope that MTL, Atlas, BLMA or TW trucks will make the car ride at the correct height.  I will most likely paint this car black and letter it for a Reading class HTG hopper.  Most of the cars in that class rode around in full RDG paint until the split and beyond.  Thanks for the review @Mark5. 

Jeff

[Mark5]

I hope that MTL, Atlas, BLMA or TW trucks will make the car ride at the correct height. 

MTL 100 ton trucks yield the same height. I'll try the BLMA trucks later today.

[central.vermont]

Underside:


Mark

Just out of curiosity, what does the number printed on the bottom of the hopper door represent??

Jon

[Mark5]

Just out of curiosity, what does the number printed on the bottom of the hopper door represent??

Jon

I think it is a Bachmann factory thing (no relation to anything prototypical).

[Mark5]

$28 is more than pricey. 

I didn't pay $28, but agreed.

[Mark5]

Some info for anybody looking to use these aside from Reading (Conrail) or N&W ...

N&W H12:
[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

N&W built these for the following:
    N&W (obviously)
    Conrail (class H1D, blt 1978-79)
    Blue Diamond Coal
    Island Creek Coal
    Upper Merion & Plymouth
    Norfolk Southern (a few were built in 1988 and delivered in NS paint)

The Upper Merion & PLymouth ones were dispersed as follows:
  D&RGW (7201-7233)
  Chessie System (191600-191873)
  CSX Patch
  Reading & Blue Mountain Northern (7401-7499)

In 1980 N&W and Union Pacific swapped 4 hoppers for evaluation purposes, so 4 N&W H12s were in UP paint at this time. The UP H12's were 39896-39899: I have a photo of 39898 in UP Paint.

Credit @Robbman for much of this info.

Mark

[wazzou]

Those are perhaps the widest wheel treads I’ve seen.

[peteski]

Those are perhaps the widest wheel treads I’ve seen.

Typical for Bachmann.  I think my Acela wheels are even wider!  And they are not tapered (at least on Acela), so they can short out on the tracks diverging from the turnout frogs on insulfrog turnouts. 

I would say that their designers have train set mentality, but the flanges are fairly shallow.  Not sure what their train of thought is.  Those wheels sure aren't to NMRA specs.

[Mark5]

I forgot to post this:

[peteski]

Ok, so the wheels are small.  What do they measure out to? 30 scale inches? 

[ai5629]

I forgot to post this:

Do the truck centers line up with the last rib like on the prototype?  I would try Atlas 100 ton trucks to see if they help
with the ride height.  The bolster on the Atlas trucks is slightly recessed IIRC.  While BLMA will most likely correct the ride height due to the bolster being recessed, you may need a shim to get it right.  Thanks.

Jeff

[Mark5]

Do the truck centers line up with the last rib like on the prototype?

Pretty much. Will post (more and better) pix later today when I pull out the BLMAs and get rid of those monster couplers.

I am avoiding the Atlas 100 tonners (mainly due to no source for metal wheels that will fit).

Mark