I just my new Bachmann GE 70 ton switcher in the mail today. I took a chance but spookshow had good things to say about it so I went for it. The investment isn't too high either. I purchased the Bethlehem Steel model because it's got round headlamps and no front grille which is what I need for the Pere Marquette 22.
Looking at the model I'm impressed with the detail. I'm no rivet counter, keep in mind. What impressed me was that you could clearly read the tiny GE decal with the naked eye and other various tiny decals like Fire Extinguisher.
Then I tried to run it to break it in as the instructions recommend. They suggest running at 3/4 throttle for 3 minutes in each direction. I tried this but it kept dying on my (currently) unpowered frogs, always when the front truck was on the frog. The rear truck wasn't getting juice.
Once I looked at the unit under the magnifying glass, I could see that one of the contact from the truck was not bent up enough to make contact with the frame. That was the issue.
After a slight adventure figuring our how to get the shell off, I was able to bend the contact up a little more and the unit ran great after that. It's a bit on the noisy side, but I should be able to cover that up with a speaker.
I'll probably take it back apart on Sunday or Monday just to dry fit a decoder and speaker.
I'd do it Saturday, but I'm skiing finally.
