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Amfleet 1 Comparison : Kato vs Bachmann
Hey!
My wife surprised me with 4 Kato Amtrak Amfleet 1 Phase VI Budd cars for V-day; not sure if that means I’m the catch or she is 🙂
As shared in an earlier post, I was having trouble with the Bachmann version of these cars on my layout, in fact, I called them a failure. A train of 4 cars would not make it up my inclines and I would have common derailments with one of the Bachmann cars on the inside main behind the roundhouse. Over time I discovered that two of the Bachmann cars had metal weights in them, so I removed them to remedy the incline failure, it was a win…I could have an Amtrak train come to town! That said, the one Bachmann would commonly de-rail and I’ve not been able to sort out the solution yet, likely an axle or truck issue.
While I have both sets in front of me, I thought I’d offer my assessment as some random bloke on the Internet.
I did purchase the Bachmann cars second-hand, but were marketed as never run or barely run, and I believe it, they are in new condition as best as I can tell. The Kato are brand new, no question.
The Bachmann cars comes individually while the Kato cars come in pairs, below are the item numbers. I appreciate Bachmann’s approach here because you can make the train you want to make. For instance, Bachmann offers a Business class car, but Kato only offers a Cafe and Coach.
Bachmann 14168 (Cafe) – 1.2 oz
Bachmann 14169 (Business) – 1.8 oz
Bachmann 14170 (Coach) – 1.2 oz
Bachmann 14171 (Coach) – 1.8 oz
KATO 106-8002-1 (Coach & Coach) 1.2 oz each
KATO 106-8003-1 (Coach & Cafe) 1.2 oz each
All cars in this discussion are factory lighted, you will see the Bachmann cars have a yellow interior hue while the Kato has a blue interior hue. I find the Kato light kit does a great job lighting every window, while the end windows on the Bachmann are less lit than windows toward the middle. The Bachmann has red marker lights on the exterior while Kato has no exterior marker lights. The Bachmann cars occasionally experience some light flicker, while the Kato lights are always on. In my opinion, I am disappointed Kato doesn’t have the iconic red marker lights, it is special to see an N scale car with exterior lights.
The body of the cars are the exact same length, but the Bachmann’s have a longer / flexible vestibule at the end of their cars that when coupled together look very prototypical, especially in curves. I did have an experience when reversing on a curve the vestibules could catch and cause a derailment; I had zero issues reversing on straights. It didn’t happen often, but was something unique to the Bachmann’s because of the protruding vestibule.
The Bachmann cars stand a bit taller than the Kato cars and have higher track clearance. The visual makes the Bachmann cars look more toy and the Kato cars look more model when sitting next to each other…if I didn’t have both, I would call them both models. The exterior color is nice on both, I’d argue the Bachmann are lighter like a macbook laptop while the Kato are more silver…not really sure which is more prototypical, but both look beautiful.
The Bachmann cars have body-mounted couplers while the Kato cars have truck-mounted couplers.
The Bachmann cars come in different weights (1.2 or 1.8 oz) while the Kato cars all came in at 1.2 oz each. Bachmann even sells a replacement chassis without the weight on their website for those seeking to go from 1.8 to 1.2 oz cars. Admittedly, I didn’t know about the different weighted cars until after I purchased, but I do wish they were all 1.2 oz. The 1.8 oz cars feel less fluid / more friction on the rails; they don’t free roll as far when pushed by hand. Certainly, running the 1.8 oz cars on my layout would promote a smaller train, and who wants that?!?!
Overall, I like them both, I love the Bachmann exterior marker lights, I love the usability of the Kato. I don’t like the weight of the heavy Bachmann cars (and removing the weight may damage the chassis) and I don’t like the lack of a Business car by Kato.
Thanks for joining the fun!
-Hububba
Kato Cafe Left / Bachmann Cafe Right
