USRA Light Pacific 4-6-2 DCC Santa Fe #1385

I use this engine on a mixed train consisting of a couple of reefers and a milk tank followed by a branch-line heavyweight (4 axle) Rivarossi passenger consist. At the time this engine was in service the Santa Fe classed their steam locomotives by the first engine number in the class, in this case 1337 to 1388. It was built by Baldwin in 1913, a part of an order for 52 of these engines. As delivered they were a balanced compound but were converted to simple single expansion in the years between 1922 and 1927. All were off the roster by 1954. Designed for passenger engine, as well they saw a lot of service in expedited freight service such as mail trains, milk runs or other perishable freight, and were often used as helpers on passenger trains, especially the heavyweights. In this case this model is a mixed bag. All in all I'm happy with these Bachmann Sound Value engines of which I own five. At the risk of sounding like a skipping record, the downside to the series is the sound is not in sync with the drivers, sounding much faster than the wheels are turning, however at slower speeds this is not as obvious. The sounds are all of quite good quality, especially the whistle and air pump. But there have been inconsistencies along the way and this model is one that has them. By way of comparison the Bachmann model 51405, a 4-6-0, ATSF 498, has a great deal of separately applied details unusual in this price range, and a fairly detailed back-head when looking into the cab, including a very realistic throttle. This model does not, an inconsistency. There are no ladder handrails on the back of the cab, inconsistent. There are separately applied ladder grabs on the front and rear of the tender, but there is no cutting lever on the tender. This is an inconsistency. The coal in the tender bunker is quite good, black diamonds. There are no grabs on the smoke-box front whereas the prototype does. There are cutting levers on the pilot and the front steps are accurate and hand railing is there, along with the handrail along the length of the boiler. In overall appearance the engine has a great look but does not resemble the engines in the 1337 class too closely. There are no train indicators but I added them. The bell and headlight are in the wrong place for this class. On the fireman’s side the air pump is an incorrect interpretation but the after-cooler pipes look very good. The drawbar between the engine and tender is too long for the prototype, probably so the model engine can negotiate tighter radius curves, so I changed this to make it a little more prototypical in appearance without inhibiting curve/switch negotiation. The top of the engine has a sand dome that looks correct for the Santa Fe but the steam dome does not. There are vents in the cab roof in the open position. On the engineer’s side the piping is correct along with the power reverse. Under the cab on both sides there are 4 inch, non-lifting injectors, also accurate with very good rivet detail on the fire-box. There are very good brake rigging details under the tender and readily visible, and the tender trucks have good detail. I replaced the front coupler with a scale dummy and the coupler on the tender to a short shank, scale size head, again for prototype looks. Like the prototype the engine number is carried on a badge plate on the smoke-box, sand dome, tender and backup light. The paint is a semi-gloss which looks good with a graphite smoke-box and fire-box. The best news is like most other Bachmann steam engines, this engine runs very smoothly and quietly with excellent slow speed operation, right down to a scale walking pace. If you are able or willing to compromise as noted above then this is an engine you should have on your power roster and within these parameters I can recommend this model.