An Amtrak set, the later version with the movable pantographs, was my first passenger set. I was actually disappointed at the time, because what I really wanted was that B&O Rivarossi set that I finally pieced together earlier this year... It was a big disappointment, partly because my layout was decidedly not the NEC, partly because I wasn't sure how I felt about a cab car instead of a locomotive, and thirdly, in the classic Bachmann tradition, the frickin' thing didn't work. Like, at ALL.
As a 12 year old, not well versed in the fundamentals of warranty statements, or in the finer points of locomotive maintenance and repair, I took the engine apart, lost the parts, neglected to make a note of how to put it back together... total disaster. Couldn't make it go, couldn't return it.
I ended up experimenting with the coaches, one I painted blue to make it into a commuter car for some freelance concept I had concocted, the others I tried to bash into an Amfleet car by cutting the cab end off of one and grafting the flush end from the other to it. Another disaster. The only thing that survives are a few sections of the 9.75" 45 degree track sections and a stray truck from one of the coaches.
I think the only body style Bachmann made was the club car, I haven't seen any others in my searches.
Lee
