Bachmann China

Tibet stock

Review by Peter Morgan

I Purchased the new Bachmann Tibet loco and sleeper about a year ago and I have finally written the promised review.

The loco was produced to celebrate the opening of the new high altitude line to Tibet. It comes in several different numbers either individually or in a wooden boxed set with 3 loco's and 3 sleepers. The individual loco's come in a new style box for Bachmann China. Gone are the window boxes to be replaced with a much more sturdy 2 piece box.
The packaging is a huge improvement over the previous packaging on the QJ and the SY.

First impressions are that the glossy finish similar to the voyager does make it look a bit toy-like, but the detail is stunning. This is a serious model! All the pipe work is there on the front and back and even the hydraulic lines on the bogies are represented by separately applied tiny pieces of copper wire.

This is the finest detail I have ever seen on a diesel model. The more you look at it the more you see.

The chassis is a traditional Bachmann chassis with a powerful central motor driving all wheels. there is a DCC socket and screw fixings for a speaker. I assume that it will be offered with sound in the near future.

The problems only start when you actually try and run this loco. Unless the track is perfectly level and straight it simply doesn’t stay on the track. I haven’t had a chance to really look into the reason for this yet (I hope to over the next week or so) but it seems that the centre axle of beach bogie is positioned slightly lower than the outer 2 meaning that it rocks back and forth and the 6 wheels don't seem to sit on the rail at the same time. It may be that the outer axels are sprung but not sprung enough.

The whole thing lights up like a Christmas tree, but the lights do tend to show through the plastic and does look a bit toy-like.

To accompany the loco Bachmann have also produced the oxygen equipped RW25z sleepers. They come in the traditional Bachmann coach packaging and are beautiful models. they have taken the trouble to produce this variant from an entirely new tool from the older RW25 and the attention to detail is stunning. All the grab handles on the ends are separate parts and the air conditioner is the correct type (not a bodge using the old tool).

Peter - September 2008