Prototype. Beginning with the class H-1 in 1910, the Chesapeake & Ohio Ry. relied on several classes of compound articulated 2-6-6-2 locomotives to handle its heavy coal traffic until the end of the steam era. Most of the C&O’s Mallets were part of its H-4 class. The C&O received 150 class H-4 locomotives from Alco between 1912 and 1918. These Mallets had similar dimensions to earlier class H-2 and H-3 and later H-5 engines.
The model. Bachmann added a new cab and tender and modified other details on its United States Railway Administration 2-6-6-2 (C&O class H-5) model to create a C&O class H-4. But other details, such as the placement of the domes and the wheelbase, still match a class H-5 locomotive diagram. (For a review of the Bachmann USRA 2-6-6-2, see the June 2004 Model Railroader.)
The HO locomotive is detailed for a C&O Mallet at the end of her career. The locomotive has its post-1924 road number. The class VC-12 Vanderbilt tender replaced the original rectangular tender in the 1930s. The C&O added number boards beginning in the 1940s.
The model’s boiler, cab, and tender are plastic with accurate molded detail. Separately applied parts include the handrails, piping, bell, whistle, safety valves, and the Nathan low-water alarm. The dual air pumps are also separately applied on the smokebox door. All the lettering is straight and opaque.
The cab interior includes painted walls and engineer and fireman figures. The windows slide open, and there’s a hinged cab apron.
The tender has molded wood planks atop the water tank. Separately applied parts include an operating backup light.
The locomotive drawbar allows either a 1-scale-foot or 2-scale-foot spacing between the cab floor and the tender deck.
Mechanism. The motor and flywheels are inside the boiler and mounted on a die-cast metal chassis. The rear axle on the front and rear engine are connected by a gearbox to the motor. The siderods transfer power to the other axles.
On the model both the front and rear engines pivot, while on a prototype Mallet, only the front engine pivots. I successfully ran our H-4 around an 18″ radius curve, but the model looked much better on wider radius curves.
The SoundTraxx Tsunami sound decoder and a downward-facing speaker are inside the tender. The decoder fits into an eight-pin plug that’s accessible after removing the tender’s coal load. Two-pin and four-pin wiring harnesses connect the electronics in the tender to two sockets under the rear of the cab.
In DCC the model had a more prototypical 35 scale mph top speed. The Bachmann Mallet crept along smoothly in speed step 1 at 1 scale mph, when I set the decoder to 128 speed steps.
Most of the decoder’s sound effects are automatic in DC mode, including the chuffing exhaust. There are more sound effect options when running the locomotive with DCC. The model has several configuration variables (CVs) that allow you to fine tune the exhaust sounds and many more CVs for adjusting other effects. An extensive CD-ROM user manual is included.
User-triggered sound effects include the bell and a long and short whistle blast. I reprogrammed the decoder’s extended address without difficulty.
The dimensional discrepancies between the model and its prototype may be of a concern to C&O steam fans. However, the Bachmann Mallet is a detailed model, and the excellent Tsunami DCC decoder makes it fun to operate.
Price: $500 (DCC sound), $375 (DCC, no sound)
Manufacturer:
Bachmann Trains
1400 E. Erie Ave.
Philadelphia, PA 19124
www.bachmanntrains.com
Road numbers (all Chesapeake & Ohio): 1431, 1343, 1388, 1432, with DCC sound. 1340, 1397, 1436, 1439, DCC no sound. Painted but unlettered version also available.
Era: 1940s to 1950s as detailed
Features:
