Taking A Close Look At A Bachmann CP SD40-2

Many modelers have improved opinions of Bachmann products over the past 15 or 20 years, certainly since their Spectrum range, and more so in the past 10 years or so with improved paint work and mechanical and electrical upgrades to their standard line. I've been a fan of their RS-3, S-2/4, and GP7/9 for quite a while. Recently I got a CN SD40-2 and was impressed with its potential. Just the other week, I went ahead and ordered a CP version.

The first two photos are straight out of the box, with just a quick test run to be sure it works:

The paint is smoothly applied and opaque. The lettering is very clear and opaque.

The paint scheme on this loco, according to this site, is Action Red, 5" nose/cab front stripes, small multimark. However, the site isn't clear on exactly which units got this scheme. After 5718 in 1975, 8-inch nose stripes were used, with a small multimark. 5937 would have been delivered in a later scheme, with 8-inch nose stripes and a large multimark. Based on the info I see, I can't rule out some units being repainted in the 5-inch nose and cab stripe scheme.

I popped the body off and hit the chassis and air intakes on the body with grimy black. Looking at the chassis, I saw that the DCC version for this model is the full factory PC board. This does not support most NMRA speed control CVs and comes with a factory-default compulsory speed curve and momentum setting. This makes it impossible to match speed curves and consist the loco with other units. The best bet is to replace it with an NCE BACH-DSL decoder, which is designed to be a drop-in replacement for Bachmann DCC on board decoders.

Here's the loco put back together temporarily with the air intakes now painted black.

Another thing you can see here is that, although the site I linked above says the units with the small multimark had a red area above the height of the multimark on the rear of the long hood, the long hood end here is black and white all the way to the top. Again, I can't rule out that some units may have been painted this way.

Here's the Bachmann unit set next to an Athearn bluebox CP snoot behind it. The snoot has had some roof weathering done. The overall level of detail and proportions look very close.

Here's the bluebox snoot by itself, currently on a dummy chassis. Both the Athearn and Bachmann models are generic in their detail, and the actual CP units have many variations from these models. I'm using them as layout quality models. Bowser now offers models much closer to Canadian prototypes, and they're an option for people who want more accuracy, though of course at a higher price.

On my two bluebox units, I added Detail Associates Chessie-style pilots, which are close to the CP prototype.

The bluebox unit also has the black and white area extending to the top of the hood with the small multimark. Apparently the reflective dots seen on this unit weren't consistently applied to all units.

It slowly began to dawn on me in recent years that, although CP power was common on lines like Guilford's freight main, the former D&H, and the Conrail/NS Southern Tier, the SD40-2s ranged all over former Soo and Milwaukee territory, as well as on NS and Conrail trackage rights in many areas. Good units to have for my general interests.

This multimark CP scheme is out of production at Bachmann, but if you look, you can find them. They still offer later CP schemes. It's worth doing a thorough search for the best price on Bachmann locos, but I get the impression that Bachmann has increased its prices recently and is imposing greater price discipline on retailers. The SD40-2, if you can find it at prices between $50 and $75, is a very good value, especially with a good decoder.