Advanced samples Bachmann 9F arrived in June last year and were released to the model railway press and we received one at MREmag. There was immediate praise for what is a highly detailed model. The challenge had been to incorporate a motor, and effective drive, while preserving the large uninterrupted space beneath the boiler, which was very much a feature of these locomotives. Bachmann solved this problem by placing a can motor in the firebox and boiler which connected to a tower of six gear wheels midway along the boiler, where they are hidden behind the motion brackets. The drive is carried down the gear train to the axles of the second and third pair of driving wheels. To give the model maximum weight (and thus power) a generous amount of diecasting was used in the model's construction.
Even on their 1999 upgraded model, Hornby had been unable to get the motion bracket to look right but on the Bachmann model this is most convincing. Also, the centre pair of drivers are correctly without flanges and there are power transfer wipers fitted to the remaining eight driving wheels.
The model has an 8-pin decoder socket in the smokebox and so is 'DCC ready'. The sample we recently received is of 92006 and, being an early member of the class, carries the early BR insignia on its tender. The production models should be in the shops in about a month's time.
Model Railway Express
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