Delicacy and finesse of detail.
Rear truck performance, otherwise nothing of note.
tanks. An open-sided three-pole motor drives the centre coupled axle via a worm and nylon gears, but there is no flywheel. The Next18 decoder socket is mounted above the leading coupled axle and a speaker mounting is provided in the bunker space. Classic LNWR wheels are fitted and the large brake shoes have the pull-rods already installed. The trailing truck is a curious arrangement. The frames are narrowed at this point and the rear axle is on a pivot, which allows substantial movement in all possible directions. It worked well on test on my Code 75 track and 3ft radius curves, but was less reliable on the Hornby Setrack of the Model Rail test layout, particularly through pointwork.
PERFORMANCE
On test, the ‘Coal Tank’ proved to be smooth and quiet straight from the box. Its long fixed wheelbase, with unsprung axles and the very lightweight radial truck arrangement, does not tolerate poorly laid track or curves sharper than second radius. Running on Model Rail’s test track, the ‘Coal Tank’ could handle six coaches (including two heavy Pullman cars) on the flat, but only two coaches over the 1-in-30 gradient. Running at home on Code 75 track with more gentle curves, a ten-coach load proved to be well within its capabilities, but it slipped on starting and also on the curves, when it had 12 coaches on the drawbar.
CONCLUSIONS
I hesitate to call any Crewe product ‘cute’ but this would be one Crewe product I’d be happy to have on my layout. The real thing has character and ‘presence’, and Bachmann has captured that very nicely in a handsome little locomotive which gives a scaled-down rendition of the real thing’s capabilities. (CJL)
LIGHT CAN SHINE THROUGH BETWEEN THE FRAMES AND THE FRONT BUFFERBEAM, REVEALING THE FINELY MODELLED CYLINDER FRONT DETAIL