Manufacturer: Bachmann Industries, Inc., 1400 East Erie Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124. Price: 98905 Classic Coach with Interior Light $24.95 suggested list.

The three passenger cars represent half of Bachmann's unpainted ABS plastic kit line. (The use of ABS means you may use any kind of paint without damage.) The other half of the line currently includes a tank car, a boxcar, and a reefer. The freight cars list at $19.95. Heck, some HO scale kits cost more than that! The large scale Bachmann kits have attractive and accurate proportions, crisp detailing, and good overall quality. They should absolutely delight detailers and kitbashers.

First, the dimensions: The coach measures 19 1/8 actual inches over the end beams, about 5 7/8 inches from the top of the railhead to the top of the roof, and 4 1/4 inches across at the widest point. In 1:22.5 scale those numbers translate to 35 feet 10 inches long by 8 feet wide by 11 feet tall. They represent Jackson & Sharp products from about 1885.

According to Mallory Hope Ferrell's The Silver San Juan, the Rio Grande Southern owned eleven Jackson & Sharp coaches ranging from 38 feet 3 inches to 38 feet 7 inches. The narrow gauge passenger cars of the Colorado & Southern came from a variety of builders including Pullman, the Union Pacific Railroad, and the C&S itself and typically were about 40 feet long. Some were 42 feet; two were 35 feet; one was 35 feet 5 inches. My data on Denver & Rio Grande passenger cars shows coaches ranging in length between 32 feet 1 inch for the earliest Jackson & Sharp products to an even 42 feet for an 1880 Jackson & Sharp coach. The widths of D&RGW cars varied between 7 feet 11 1/2 inches and 8 feet 6 inches. Heights ranged from 11 feet 3 inches to 11 feet 11 inches. One plan shows a Pullman coach 54 feet long, 8 feet 3 inches wide, and 11 feet 7 inches tall.

The point? The Bachmann coach and other passenger cars are completely within the realm of credibility for smaller narrow gauge rolling stock. If I were to question anything it might be the use of 4 inch siding instead of the apparently more common 2 inch, but Bachmann may have duplicated a particular car with wider siding.

Other observations? First, the end doors: Too bad the panels are flat instead of recessed. Next, the clerestory window material: Pink "crinkled" semi-opaque "glass" seems less common than glass with green tinting or clear frosting. Also, the quality of the hardware castings (end rails, grab irons, smoke jack, and brakewheels) is less impressive than the excellent work on the body. Finally, installing the interior lighting is cumbersome and the instructions are barely adequate; they require a lot of study.

But let me temper each of those remarks because they apply more to an ideal product than to one from the real world. Bachmann is producing models roughly analogous to what Athearn offers in HO scale. Either will look absolutely fine if you paint, letter and, maybe, weather it. Neither would lay claim to "rivet counter" accuracy with respect either to dimensions or detailing; they are "better than ballpark accuracy" level models. It is common knowledge, for example, that Athearn's passenger cars are really too short; Bachmann's, on the other hand, simply represent shorter originals. Athearn cars come with no interior lighting; Bachmann's do and you should consider the installation optional. Athearn casts its detail onto its cars; Bachmann provides separate pieces.

So consider Bachmann kits an excellent starting point for adding or changing detail. Phoenix (through Railway Garden, Ltd.), for example, makes very good passenger car end platform detail specifically for Bachmann models. More hardware is available from Ozark, Shortline Car & Foundry, Trackside Details, Rio Grande Models, and one or two others. If the non-recessed end door panels bother you, cut out the panels and build up new ones. If the clerestory material is unsatisfactory, build up new inserts from clear styrene. While the wheels and couplers are fine (the coach had no trouble negotiating LGB's tightest radius curved track), you might also want to add metal wheels and Kadee couplers. (Bachmann says their own metal wheels will be available later this year.) The point is, with a little work and very little expense, the Bachmann cars will transform into first rate models well within the resources of even budget-conscious hobbyists.

For most of us, though, Bachmann's passenger cars will require nothing more than an hour to assemble, a coat of paint, and the addition of dry transfers or decals. The overall quality is good, the overall appearance excellent, the performance flawless, and the price most reasonable. In light of those qualities, it seems safe to say Bachmann may have revolutionized the hobby of large scale model railroading.--RR