Review: Bachmann GG1 with Sound Value (SoundTraxx) HO Scale

[@planetmongocommoditiesexch9079]

GG1 locomotives do not have diesel engines. F6 is the sound of the air brake compressor. They were not silent stealth locomotives. Especially noticeable at low speed was a loud, speed dependent, buzzing- groaning sound from the motors and drive gears. A lot of the old electric locomotives and "el" and subway cars had that same sound.

[@OregonRailfan83]

They did have steam generators for heat in the passenger coaches.

[@hiltondriver5335]

Yes I remember those engines growing up in the 60s and 70s it especially Groaned as pulled into a station with the Bell clanging

[@ckott99]

Thank you for explaining the F6 sound. GG1s were my favorite locomotives when I was a kid. I had thought they were equipped with auxiliary diesels because of the deep lub-lub-lub sound they made. When I learned they were completely electric I was always trying to figure out what caused that noise they made that sounded like a diesel engine to me. I lived about a 1/4 mile away from the Northeast corridor tracks growing up. I can confirm those Penn Central GG1s slowly pulling a long freight train were indeed noisy and by no means stealthy.

[@befrank88]

The GG1 is my favorite locomotive, I used to see them as a young man on the Philly to Baltimore tracks near my home. Back in the late 60s they started to test the new Metroliner, the big deal was their top speed of 80 mph.....hmmmmm. The GG1 could pull a string of heavy passenger coaches at 80 mph....so I couldn't understand the big deal with the Metroliner. I suspect the difference was the time it took to reach 80 mph. Good review.

[@NicksCollectableCreations]

This is the reason I don't write Bachmann off in general. They CAN make nice models. I have a GP40 and a GP-7 bachmann and they are very nice models. But this is why bachmann disappointed me so much with the ES44AC.

[@Peonygreenleaf]

I have a pair of early (late 80's) Bachmann EMD F-9's in Santa Fe and I can definitely tell they have come a long way since those locomotives were made. These have the front drive trucks with rubber tires that's how old they are. They both run great but can get a little loud, and I just replaced the tires on both 2 weeks ago. One thing I liked about Bachmann is even the early versions you could use the knuckle couplers on them quite easily unlike tyco and lifelike trains where you had to fight that pin in the trucks and break it. though I have old trains I do have a building collection of higher end models

[@NicksCollectableCreations]

They really made giant leaps forward during the 90's Plus and Spectrum era. Those had issues with thick paint, and wrong spaced lettering and such, but they were very nice for the time. Prior to Lifelike Proto 2000 which IMO was a revolutionary product in the 90's, they were about the nicest plastic locomotive made under $80. Kato was the best then, but they were still over $100 They just haven't improved themselves since then like they should.

[@Peonygreenleaf]

Well the demand for model trains was greater in the 80's and 90's but when the internet and cell phones came out the need obviously declined as younger people migrated to new toys. Nowadays model trains are scarce to find locally unless you have a train shop in town, otherwise you order from online and have really no bargaining rights either like you do face to face at a real train shop. I remember back when toys r us carried Atlas, lifelike, tyco and bachmann products and even Wal-Mart too but now they have traded trains for video games and iphones..

[@robertswickard2818]

yep that's a nice feature with bachmann ,( F-5) is the traction motor blowers kicking on and off , and the horn is spot on ,the Bell is close but needs a little reverb after the strike of the hammer ,other than that , let's just say MTH ----1 GG1 Broadway ----1 GG1 Bachmann---- 10 GG1's 12 all together, 4 in Pennsylvania dark green enamel -5 stripes( cat whiskers) 1 in dark green 5 stripes to 1strip ,the only 2 Tuscon red 5 stripe for pulling the Broadway Limited , and the 3 silver with single red stripe for the congressional ,senator and the Congressmen

[@jonatasbg]

Fantastic Review jlwii2000! All yours reviews are very very nice! Are detailed and very much explained! Congratulations! They help-me a buy my new locomotives! Thank You!

[@ACLTony]

Well it's been over 2 years since I bought mine and have to say that I'm still happy with it. It's a nice substitute for the "hard to find and expensive" BLI version. With that said, the primary discrepancy on this particular version is that the lettering on the keystone herald is "yellow". The lettering on the prototype was actually white. I had initially planned on replacing the herald. However, with my other passenger related projects waiting for me and my airbrush, I can live with it. For the price, this unit is a very good buy! Modelers should have no trouble with this pulling an 11 car HO Southern Crescent, Silver Meteor, or Broadway Limited!

[@billligon4005]

I have 4 Broadway Ltd GG1's and they are awesome machines, each one has two motors. I run all 4 together. I'm sure you'll be happy with it.

[@shnorth888]

Great model. The detail looks great for Bachmann.

[@BNSF9382]

James, I have been a subscriber for a while now and noticed recently that most of your videos start with an ad. I usually don't watch videos that start with advertisements, probably gonna quit watching your videos if the ads continue. Thanks for your service…

[@jlwii2000]

The advertisements are from KZbin and they are there if a video uploader agrees to allow them. These advertisements generate a very mild amount of revenue that allows me to purchase items for review and then turn around and sell most of those items at a loss. For example, when I turn around and sell the Bachmann SD70ACe and ES44AC I purchased for $159 each plus shipping I will lose about $45 or more per locomotive. I'm not made of money (contrary to popular belief) so these ads help offset costs. I am sorry but they can stay, or the range of reviews will be reduced to only things I buy for my personal collection which is quickly slowing because I have built up my collection to almost everything I want. That's just the honest truth, no B.S. there.

[@BNSF9382]

Thanks James! I understand you gotta do what you gotta do. Good luck with the channel and the collection. I'm retired military and believe me, I'm not made of money either but I'm not going to force my subscribers to watch ads every time they click on one of my videos.

[@jlwii2000]

BNSF9382 I'll see if I can adjust the ads just to pop up little boxes at the bottom like they used to be. After I logged out, I can see you are forced to watch a 15 second ANNOYING AS ---- commercial and I don't feel you should have to do that either. I'll get to work on that right away to see what I can do. Thanks!

[@BNSF9382]

Thanks James. Not my intention to "beat you up" on this, but like you said, really annoying. I'll have to log off and check mine also…

[@jlwii2000]

BNSF9382 No problem. I can tell who's being a jerk and who is just trying to convey a point. You're no jerk. If you go refresh the video, it should now show just a pop up ad instead of the video ad at the beginning if I fixed it properly. Thanks for your suggestion.

[@efitter7]

Hey James, great review as always. I'm only getting it in 360p, maybe its still rendering. Thanks for sharing! Ethan

[@DaBobsNScaleMancave]

I got 360 as well, but I watched it on Facebook, KZbin has 1080p.

[@thecurtray]

you do a good job at this and I know you work hard at it for us.thanks a lot my fellow American.also I love model trains.i think of them everyday

[@danshobbies13]

I’m watching this on 12/24/2020. The price now is 79.99 at Train world. Unbelievable price

[@username666galadrihm6]

i think F6 was Air compressor sound

[@elfnetdesigns702]

Found this image of a GG-1 Conrail. www.railroad.net/photos/bicentennial/media/CR_4800_19761.jpg

[@roge69charger]

Always heard the Tuscan was for passenger use, And, The Green for freight, But, growing up in NYC back in the 50's never forgot seeing a Green GG1 Very dark green almost blk maybe? On Passenger, In Pennslyvania station , While it was still around before Madison Square Garden built over it.

[@johnhauser4589]

The cages over the windows were always needed going thru north Philadelphia. Kids always threw rocks at us in that neighborhood. We used to dump our sand at 80mph to get kids to stop throwing rocks. Grit in the eyes usually stopped rock throwing.

[@ReadingAreaRailfan]

John Hauser I've been in this unit before, they are WAY to far apart to stop anything like that. It's just part of the design. Now on AMTRAK in the 80'S yeah I understand, but back then nobody worried about that.

[@izzynutz2000]

Did you say there was a statement in there stating that it was emissions compliant?😮😮🤔

[@Stellerex]

Beautiful engine man, I hope one day to do a massive setup between my HO Scale slot car set and my HO Scale train set Ive been collecting since I was 15. I have over 300+ feet of HO Scale slot track. Thanks for sharing!

[@russellloomis4376]

It's been seven years are you any closer to starting or better yet finished your layout? I'm in the same boat as you were/are as I'm currently working on a slot/train layout. Unfortunately, it's harder than one might think. At least for me anyway.

[@HARPO1ME]

F6 is the air compressor with air release.There is no prime mover.

[@georgebottarini1788]

I have one and it’s great. It all electric the steam is used for heating.

[@sammym.4747]

Hi James, awesome review. It is cool you review locos out of your era (out of my era as well) because it just adds to the general enjoyment of the hobby as well as providing an opportunity to learn something new. Thanks!

[@jlwii2000]

Thanks Sammy!

[@jamesburton7298]

James, would you get the dd40ax or the gg-1 first? Train world has both on sale, gig-1 for $89 and the dd40ax for $99. Thanks and God Bless.

[@ACLTony]

Hi James. I bought mine last year. Mine is the green with the single wide stripe (which is the scheme that the majority of the GG1s had during the 1960s had). Initially I was skeptical, due to Bachmann's past history regarding product quality. But I was pleasantly surprised. It's heavy, runs smoothly and the body detailing is decent. For the price, the sound equipped unit is a very good deal. The sound doesn't run constantly, but that's appropriate since the prototypes were so quiet at low speed that, unless the engineers tooted the horn, they had a reputation for startling maintenance personnel in service areas that weren't paying attention.

[@jacksmith1211]

Did I see pilot details coupler lift bar and mu hose?

[@iron1349]

my old Rivarossi GG1 has pantographs that do basically the same thing

[@gp3yt]

James, great review - awesome loco and bargain. F5 is Fan / Cooling Blower sound and F6 is the Steam Heating Boiler sound - if you notice the side of the engine it is marked for Water and Fuel Oil...those were for the G's Steam Heat boiler to heat the train during winter service. Trainworld NY just re-listed for $89.99 one of their great sales promos. Also, what brand are your operating crossing gates? Very nice.

[@devinjones3938]

Nickel plate HO scale plz

[@TFN5459]

Looks good, Bachmanns heading in the right direction but they still have a long way to go to catch up with Athearn RTR or Atlas

[@RodimusPrime]

Catch up to athearn? Athearn has never done a gg1 there is no comparison.

[@TFN5459]

Matt Hazzard I meant in general, not specifically the GG1 but other compareable sound value models like the F7s or the GP7s.

[@hovermotion]

The gg-1is an amazeing loco..this one is on my list ...great review..

[@choochoo742]

I saved 280 with mine it's a rip off of the AHM one same details and motor location

[@thebrantfordrailfan]

Um, maybe because it's the SAME TYPE OF LOCOMOTIVE! Dumbass

[@vwgolfer1873]

I know alot of people arent fans of the electric locos but they might be my favorite cuz they are unique in style and not alot of people have them. This one is beautiful ive been loving this GG1 since i first saw it. Thanks for the vid,

[@BarrysBench]

very nice James. That horn is spot on. Almost got nailed by one of them up at Frankford Junction. Scared the snot out of me when that horn blew.

[@Dvincenzo]

Black Jack

[@bradwhitney7782]

The minimum curve radius of the brown Bachmann Pennsylvania Railroad gg1 in ho scale is 22 inches. The minimum curve radius of the green Bachmann Pennsylvania Railroad gg1 in ho scale is 22 inches. The minimum curve radius of the black Bachmann Pennsylvania Railroad gg1 in ho scale is 22 inches.

[@DGModelworks]

Great review on the GG1 James! By the looks of it, Bachmann did a lot better job with this locomotive than they did with the SD70ACe and ES44AC. Thanks! Deryk

[@bestforweb1457]

I just got one of these GG1's for $115 on ebay - brand new from omnimodels - go get you some.

[@robertdrake5502]

cool

[@johnserafin3689]

The sound stinks on these since they have traction motor running sound at all. This is the main sound that would replace the prime mover that it does not have . So it should have the traction motor sound. So no automatic sounds at all ! Only user activated or programmed bell and horn. But is has a user operated traction motor blower. How cheep and pure non attention to detail with the sound can Bachmann who makes trains,and Soundtraxx that makes sound systems for model trains can you get. And they call it a sound decoder. What a joke. Save your money and get one without this disaster of a sound decoder and get anything else since at leat it will have the correct sounds for a electric.

[@richbuege6491]

being as I just bought one for $89.95, cough up the difference and I'll look at someone elses. Otherwise, four lines of useless, brainless comment. For the difference, I could put in the top of the line decoders.

[@dkarle483]

I have to agree, this model should have had traction motor reving up and down as they accelerate and deaccelerate. I think Bachmann and or Soundtraxx made an error and failed to provide sound when the unit is moving.

[@waynestrickland1763]

Another great review which I really appreciate James.

[@ModelerManMike]

Thanks for sharing! This one actually looks pretty nice.

[@kimhill853]

You should invest in the super chief. Walthers just released it and I'm pretty sure its a limited run. its pretty expensive though. its a really nice train. heres the link www.walthers.com/exec/page/super_chief

[@johnnywalker6980]

Truck sideframes are too thin and lack depth because of this. All the new models suffer from this except the older Geep sideframes and the new Alco s2 and s4 switchers that have thick sideframes and hang out over the rail like they should. The rest are worse then Tyco.Bachmann cheeping out one way or another Just like their new e7 that has friction bearings on the trucks that looks sick. Wrong also!

[@scottk9806]

Y not the bli model much better detail

[@Echo_Sierra]

I have an old IHC Premier (Mehano) GG1. This looks like it was made with the same tooling right down to the trucks. Now, did this locomotive come with an exploded parts diagram? I'm curious to see whether Bachmann kept the two-motor system or whether they decided to power it with a single motor. My Mehano GG1 is powered by two motors, and they draw so little power that I can operate both with one decoder.

[@stevekovoc3939]

Long Hood Forward Yeah, I have the same version you're talking about. I have a Mehano (IHC Premier Series) GG1 in Amtrak livery that was made for a train pack made in the late 1990's. It does, in fact, have a dual motor drive with a flywheel on each motor. In fact, it can even run through the pantographs! I quite like it and the Bachmann version looks quite a bit like it, I do agree but I found a side by side comparison online with both the Bachmann and the IHC version. The IHC (Mehano) version is notably larger than the Bachmann version overall. Another odd thing about the Mehano version is that the shell and whatnot actually came from a company called Pemco, who made an H0 scale GG1 in the early 1980's that came with a quite bad pancake motor. When IHC/Mehano got ahold of the rights for Pemco's models in the late 1980's, they completely redesigned the motor and made it a much better runner overall.

[@bobaroo58]

I just bought this loco because you kept your loco!!!

[@TheTrainman888]

I personaly like the mth gg1 better. these engines motors were not quite like modern electrics. F5 was likely the sound of the motor running when the locomotive is started up.

[@hiltondriver5335]

Where is the catenary for GG1 to run into the northeast corridor it needed electric power

[@gamingmxracer926]

nice review, surprised of the detail Bachmann did. now all you need is electrical wires.

[@benmerritt9080]

I was in the GG-1 4935 (Blackjack) Jun. 29 at RailCamp 2016

[@TKommando]

Do the pantographs pick up power at all? I have a GG-1, non DCC, which has functional pantographs and they will pick up power from an overhead wire.

[@Peonygreenleaf]

It's Bachmann...Probably non functional panto's I have a panto locomotive that's a dual cab type grey and black no road name and it picks up power (+) from the panto. I was told it was extremely rare and worth alot of money

[@Echo_Sierra]

It most likely has the option for panto-power as their HHP-8 and Acela locomotives do.

[@101MTA]

Do you have any other Northeastern style rolling stock?

[@wrailfan]

The shell and pantographs look exactly the same as the Rivarossi GG-1 I have (Tuscan/5 Stripe). I may have to pick one of these up. Great review as always!

[@lhsboyproductions3446]

try the europe models ther really cool

[@quincytrains2964]

I got the Tuscan red gg1 it is amazing...definitely did not expect this from bachmann

[@Peonygreenleaf]

I believe the GG-1 locomotives carried the same horn and bell as the EMD "E" and "F" series car body locomotives. I may be wrong but I am going off 3rd party information. The steam features of this locomotive also I assume is for steam heating in passenger coaches. I am also assuming that it is bachmann that the panto's do not pick up (+) positive power from an aerial wire?

[@ACLTony]

Hi Melinda, yes you're correct. Many of the early passenger locomotives from EMD were equipped with a pair of Leslie A-200 "Honker" horns. As the 1950s approached, multi-chime horns became popular and replaced many of the original honkers. WABCO (Westinghouse) had a honker called the "E2" which had a slightly deeper tone. The GG1s were all equipped with steam heating (boilers) for passenger service. The pantographs on the Bachmann don't offer the power pickup feature, but for the price this GG1 seems to be a decent deal overall.

[@Peonygreenleaf]

I am sure if one is good withe electronics and wiring then the pantos could me modified to actually work. I mean the assembly is already metal and spring loaded. I would try it on a much cheaper locomotive first and experiment before kit bashing the original model

[@jaughntrains6741]

Awesome review. As always. Bachmann really did great on this one. A lot of people might even prefer this one over the MTH version since there are some complaints about the way MTH GG1 sounded. But they do have an awesome pantograph operation. And of course much better detail in general with its die-cast body and lighted number-boards. But then again, it's much more expensive. One thing I would comment though. MTH SD70ACE can't be your heaviest loco. BLI AC6000 is even heavier than that. And I'm sure you have others that are heavier. :-)

[@KTHedleyBassoon]

It’s on sale for 89 at trainworld

[@Bubs031]

hey james nice review I was just wondering are you going to do any more Canadian reviews like you did with the Rapido park car and bendy track

[@dumafreddy3153]

Nice review of the GG1... I bought two of them!

[@Lykoloo]

I remember seeing this exact train at the Pennsylvania Railroad museum. The actual train is gorgeous.

[@SwindellSteamWorks]

jlwii2000. When you said that the GG-1s were quiet, that saying is actually not true. I have a friend who worked with a GG-1 and said they were so loud, you couldn't hear yourself think.

[@ACLTony]

The GG1s were noisy when the blower motors kicked in, but once those motors shut off, Gs were generally quiet running (compared to diesel locomotives) and metaphorically sounded like oversized kitchen refrigerators.

[@SwindellSteamWorks]

ACLTony Oh.

[@ZakWolf]

Adam Swindell I imagine those horns on the GG1s were pretty loud, too. When I think of train horns like those, I think of the ones heard on the old Warner Bros. cartoons (particularly the Road Runner shorts.)

[@HookLineSinker4343]

Fantastic review on a really interesting loco! I want one!!

[@oologahnorthernrailroad8873]

Nice review as always! Keep up the great work!

[@stevenmichael2845]

I like the choice of railroad!

[@TheShadeTreeFixitMan]

Neat unit for sure.

[@trainman1562]

what is f6 and f5

[@caelanreeves9760]

Oh god not bachmann

[@motorman1989]

How is the pulling power?

[@Mariazellerbahn]

3:33 not ladders ... they are safety chains to prevent anyone falling off if the nose doors are open. On the real locomotive, those chains are covered in a thick black rubber tubing.