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 Posted - March 09 2009 : 11:08:59 PM
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These cars, along with the old 51' clamshell coil gon, have long been among my most f a v o r i t e cars by any manufacturer!
I remember as a kid, 8 or 9 years old, lusting over Bachmann's huge Overland Express trainset, simply because one of these cars was in it, and at the time there was no other plausible way for me to get one. My how times changed once I got old enough to go to hobby shops on my own...
At any rate, the tooling dates back to the mid-80's and was actually a bit ahead of its time. A very nicely done rendition of an interesting car, with paint and detail touches such as end markings, COTS and ACI stencils that were quite uncommon for RTR cars of the day. I bought every one I could find in 1990 and have added each new paint scheme Bachmann comes out with since.
In real life, these cars are just awesome. They're huge, colorful, and a bit different from every other hopper out there. The notched ends are uncommon. And while drab, nondescript cars with barely-there reporting marks have been the norm for 15 years, these cars are still adorned with bold, colorful graphics. Canadians have all the fun.
With similar models from Atlas and Intermountain pushing $20 these days, and Model Power's version being one of the most laughably crude models ever made, the Bachmann cylindrical is a great value. Older versions can be found in "dirt tyco" territory.
Anyway. Here's a gallery of offerings:
Santa Fe was one of the first roadnames offered in the 80's, and included in that famous Overland set. Ironically, that first is one of only two US roadnames for 12 versions of this model!
 Second of the original 4, featuring just one of the famous Wheat graphics used on the real cars.
 Most of these cars are slightly different in real life... kind of like the Tyco Santa Fe 50' boxcar, it would take Bachmann a long time (over 20 years!) to finally make the more common/accurate version of this car.
 One of my most favorite of prototype cars, this one was incredibly hard to find. Didn't stop me from weathering it!
 After nearly 20 years Bachmann finally added some new roadnames to the series. This is only the second non-canadian one. The model has a funny goof on the car end, whereby the words "car end lettering" are actually printed underneath a HUGE set of reporting marks. Seems like something was lost in translation when the art dept. told the Chinese what to paint!
 A famous CN promotional scheme.... but perhaps not as famous as one still to come.
 A beautiful car by anyone's measure! Photos of entire fleets of these cars show an impressive display of civic pride.
 The final new roadname from 2004. This one has superbly rendered paint job, including the stripes which wrap over onto the roofwalks.
 New for 2009 - finally "fixing" the heritage fund car from the 80's! The "Take an Alberta break" slogan is a simplified modern graphic. There are dozens of cities named on the real cars (I'm thinking it would be easy to change the model given a decal set... hmmmm)
 Another of the famous Wheat-logo schemes. These look very interesting weathered in real life.
 Just one side of the last version. Very plain, but...
 ... THIS one will get your attention! This giant roll of LifeSavers was painted in 1971 for a CN commercial (the famous "Newspaper" and "Orange Slices" cars were done at the same time). The chemical formula is for the paint coating used to paint the car - which was also hauled by it as well. Unfortunately Bachmann flubbed the colors, as the last 2 stripes should be black and purple. But it's still an eye-catcher.
There is a 12th car: the standard CN paint scheme. I somehow missed this when I ordered the other new 3. Curses!
Hope you enjoyed. If you get a chance to pick up one of these, take a look. They're some of the best cars available in the low-end price range these days.
Edited by - GoingInCirclez on March 09 2009 11:10:36 PM
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 Posted - March 10 2009 : 2:34:08 PM
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That "Pac Man" car was hard to find! I think we looked for years for it.
~anna
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Posted - March 10 2009 : 2:37:53 PM
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quote:That "Pac Man" car was hard to find! I think we looked for years for it.
Originally posted by mix3d3m0ti0n5-March 10 2009: 2:34:08 PM
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Looks great with the weathering!  
    
- Matt -
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