The Bachmann Spectrum HO scale class H-4 2-6-6-2 features a SoundTraxx Tsunami Digital Command Control (DCC) sound decoder. Watch this steam locomotive run on our model railroad, and listen to a demonstration of some of its sound effects.
Video: Bachmann Spectrum HO scale 2-6-6-2 Mallet
By Angela Cotey | June 22, 2010
| Last updated on February 11, 2021
Watch this Digital Command Control (DCC) sound equipped HO steam locomotive run on a Model Railroader layout
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I think your speaker might be playing up Joel as it sounded fine on mine, althjough I do have mine set up with surround sound and decent speakers. The C&O had some fine locos back then and the Bachmann model is a good representation of the real thing.
The engine overall looks fairly good, but the chuff and whistle leave a lot to be desired. I have to agree with Mr. Charles Fink of Texas if I was the engineer on an engine sounding like that I wouldn't leave the yards. I can say this with experance because I'm a steam engineer and mechanic as well as a modeler. Please keep up the good work I love the reviews, your video programs and magazine.
How disappointing – the loco has the sound of a simple articulated (double chuff of two independently working engines), but it was a compound articulated (using steam twice with only the front engine chuffing; i.e. 4 chuffs per weel revolution and no double chuffs)
I wish thT BOWSER HAD NOT STOPPED BUILDING STEAMERS. wHO DO i GO TO NOW FOR RELIABLE KITS and or cars?
Having several Bachman Steamers I will most certainly add this one to my roster.
I wish I could add a positive note but I can't. Maybe the speaker on my computer is acting up.
Saw it on display at the NMRA show. Ac ouple of people were running them on their layouts, and the people at SoundTraxx all agree on one thing: no locomotive sounds the way we want it to when it comes out of the box. That's why there are CVs (which for those who don't know the translation/ Custom Variables). The locomotive sounds great when you tweak it. The mike that MR uses is in a basement, so the acoustics may not be grand. Find somebody who owns one or show up to the shows to see and hear it, and all of you naysayers will have a much different opinion after you do.
chuff sounds week, whistle ok bell not right… may be some one will build c&o h 8 or dmir yellow stones these would sell arm sure.
Again, poor sound. Not worth the money, in my opinion.
It's good, but the "chuff" sounds too hollow and could use just a random "nano-second" between them. I hope that makes sense. But it sure looks sharp!!!
Too bad it's not in NP colors.
I can almost live with questionable sound quality, of course, I have not heard the locomotive in person. What I did like from viewing the video was that the locomotive appeared to run straight and true down the track and did not nose and waddle like a drunken duck.
I find Tsunami sound the best! All the compaints can be easily fixed with the CV's. I bought a bunch of Bowser kits on their half-price sale just before they quit. They occasionally re-issue a few kits. Get on their e-mail list. Other people give me Bowser kits or assembled locos that were not carefully built. They are fun to de-bug and get working, and they last forever. My first one is a Penn Line fH-9 from 1954 and is still running. Try that with a plastic loco!!!!!
Why don't these videos ever show the locomotive accelerating to full speed?
i love the whitewalls on all C/O good detale for the mony before DDC modles suck new ones are 100% better
My only complaint is the way the manufacturer did the articulation;both sets of drivers pivot. On the prototype, only the front set of drivers pivoted! that's the way I prefer it and the only I would buy one.
Possibly the volume was low, or Dana's mic was louder. Which I do not know, but it sure doesn't seem worthy of my time or bucks.
The tsunami has adjustments for chuff timing and volume of sound so you just have to do the adjustments to your liking.
Some of you are making comments based on what comes out of your computer speakers. Actually having it on your layout it puts out a much richer sound and like almost all Spectrum models they are pretty smooth out of the box. I bought mine about a month ago and am totally happy. If there is a week point it is the tender electrical pickups. On every Spectrum I have bought these pickups tend to be loose and if the axles get dirty they will not run smooth. Other than that it was well worth the money I paid for it.
I am reminded of an earlier Bachmann 2-6-6-2 review where to my delight and amazement the actual length of the locomotive and tender was listed. You know, the sort of info you need to know to decide which turntable to buy, or which locomotives wil fit the turntable you have. I sent a letter to Jim Hediger praising the idea and got a reply that sounded like length would become a basic statistic in MR reviews. Alas, I haven't seen that measurement since. We can't all afford the space for an 18" Walthers turntable . . .
I suspect a steam engineer would send this engine to the roundhouse immediatly. That exhaust timing sounds like something is badly out of adjustment. It's a good thing there is an electric motor in this thing; I don't think it would be moving with the valves set up the way they are.
Underwhelming – looks like 3 chuffs per revolution and the sound especially for the exhaust was of the "Tinney Minnie" variety. Undoubtedly a larger speaker would help as both Tsunami and Bachman make quality products.
Unlike say BLI engines, the Spectrum sound-equipped engines don't have a cam or other way to synchronize the chuffs. You have to do some CV adjustments. It takes a little time but you can get it pretty close to four per revolution.
Apparently the engine comes set for a "simple" articulated where each set of drivers gets steam directly and exhausts separately thru the stack. This double "chuff-chuff" isn't really accurate because 1. it should be going more in-and-out of phase, not just always separate, and 2. a "true" Mallet like this engine that uses the steam twice (first in the rear cylinders, then in the front low-pressure cylinders) would only exhaust four times per revolution, like a non-articulated engine. But again, that is an easy thing to change using the CVs.