This locomotive is based on a design proposed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works for the Biles-Coleman Lumber Company of Omark, Washington 1n 1929. Baldwin built many narrow gauge Mallets for the lumber industry that were very successful. With the movement of logging camps and loading facilities further away from the saw mills, the geared locomotive's lack of speed became a disadvantage. This is where the Mallet became the champion of many lumber companies where speed and long trains became the norm.
There are two sets of switches on this locomotive. The switch in the smoke box controls the smoke generator. The switch has three positions: DCC, OFF, and DC. In the DCC position, the smoke generation is controlled through the plug and play socket. In the DC position, the smoke unit is on whenever power is supplied to the locomotive.
There are switches in the boiler. To access these switches, you must first remove the boiler cover. To remove this cover, pull up and forward on the front dome on top of the boiler (the forward motion will release piping detail from the cab). When reinstalling the boiler cover, be sure to insert the piping into the cab first and then carefully lower the cover. There are four switches on the main PC board in the boiler. Motor Switch: When off, the locomotive will not move, but all other features such as lighting will function. Track Polarity Switch: This switch determines whether the power pickup will be Large Scale of NMRA Standard. Pickup Switch: In the "track position", track power is fed from the tracks. In the "battery" position, all track connections are removed and power is fed through the two screw terminals just to the right of the pick up switch. Box/Cab LED switch: This switch controls the cab light and firebox flicker. It has DC/ OFF/ and DCC positions.
The locomotive comes with a plug-and-play socket designed to accommodate aftermarket plug-and-play products. A dummy PC board is plugged into this socket so that the locomotive can be run on straight DC power. In this mode, the locomotive headlight and rear light will be directional.
To install a speaker in this locomotive, the boiler must first be removed. Four screws hold the boiler in place, two under the headlight, and two under the side water tanks. The speaker is intended to be mounted under the main PC board. To gain access to this area, four screws must be removed from the main PC board and the board tipped to one side so that the speaker may be put in place. The handbook tell you which pins the speaker wires are to be connected to.
Other features of this loco include two idler gear boxes, optical chuff sensor in each engine, die cast metal frame, drivers, and valve gear. All wheel driver pickup, equalized chassis, LED headlight, cab light, and rear light, detail parts and cab interior, coal and oil loads, both long and short cab steps, and die-cast knuckle couplers front and rear. A nice feature is the coupler lift bar which can be made functional to actually open the couplers for uncoupling.
The locomotive comes with excellent instructions and schematics. There is a brief history of the locomotive in the beginning of the handbook. Included in the booklet are the pin connections used for plug-and-play, which includes headlight, smoke unit, chuff triggers, and speaker connections. There is also a CD that can be played which covers all areas of the instruction manual. There is a bag included that contains the plug-and-play circuit board for sound, DCC, or battery operation, an assortment of tools and accessories for detailing the locomotive, an engineer, fireman, and an oil tank cover to convert the locomotive fuel system from coal to oil. The detail on the locomotive is what we have seen on past Bachmann Spectrum locos. Many detail parts have been added for realism, and the bell is made of brass. Happily, the headlight and rear light have warm white LED's which are more prototypical than the yellow LED's of past Bachmann locomotive offerings. All lettering is crisp and opaque white, as is all the striping and the white on the locomotive wheels.
This locomotive would be best run on large diameter curves of at least eight foot diameter, but preferably ten foot. It is a smooth runner with excellent low speeds which match the speeds of the prototype. Once more, Bachmann has come up with a winner for the Large Scale community. This locomotive would really look great pulling a long string of lumber cars or logging disconnects, since this was its purpose in life. Adding a sound system with articulation would really make this locomotive look and sound realistic on your layout. Once again I would like to thank Choo-Choo for lending me this locomotive so that I could do my review.
