The Bachmann Peter Witt (HO) as reported in the September 2008 edition of Scale Rails
 

The Bachmann Peter Witt was introduced to the traction modeling public in November 2007. The car was first available from Micro Mark in the undecorated (#84601) form. Within weeks the decorated cars became available in the paint schemes for Baltimore (#84604), Brooklyn (#84603), Chicago (#84602), Los Angeles (#84605), and Saint Louis (#84606). Scale Rails decided to review the car in September 2008.

Knowledgeable electric railway modelers know that this car is a very accurate model of the Baltimore 6001- 6050 and 6101-6150 class of Peter Witt streetcars built by J. G. Brill and Cincinnati Car Company in 1930. The basis for the model is prototype car 6119 which has been preserved at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum and is very operational. While the other cities mentioned had Peter Witt cars, none of the cities besides Baltimore had cars like these. In fact, Los Angeles had only two Peter Witt cars and they were bi-directional, unlike the Baltimore cars. But in defense of Bachmann, the paint scheme used on the other cars were mostly correct and the scheme on the Baltimore car was outstanding.

Members of the Southern California Traction Club have purchased and operated at least thirteen of these cars with very limited problems. They ran one at the Del Mar World's Greatest Hobby on Tour show in January 2008. Because of the open gear box necessitated by the 26 inch wheels, a piece of ballast got jammed in the gears once or twice. Once removed the car resumed operation normally. Operation for overhead wire allows both rails and all wheels to be grounded, minimizing the dirty track problems experienced by two-rail modelers. the comments in the review combined with the choice of road name that Scale Rails chose to display give a very false impression of the model.

It would have been more reasonable to see Scale Rail use the Baltimore version car for an evaluation of the model, since the model is of the Baltimore car, if the intent was to give an accurate review of the model. Not only is the Chicago version shown, but the fact that the model is a Baltimore car is not mentioned in the review.

This streetcar is powered and does not have couplers and is not intended to operate in trains with other vehicles, so many of the interface concerns that are pertinent with other model railway vehicles do not apply.

It is obvious that the reviewer did not know anything about model trolleys or the prototype for this model. First, the item called a rear headlight is not actually that on the prototype. It is a brake light similar to those used on automobiles. It illuminates when the brakes are applied.

The statement in bold red letters (NOTE: This product did NOT receive a Conformance Warrant) at the very beginning of the review leads one to believe that there are serious problems with the model which is anything but the case.

While the reviewer pointed out that the spring pressure did not comply with the S-5 specification, he did not mention that the trolley pole base represents nothing in reality. In a magazine called "Scale" Rails, one would have expected more comparisons to the prototype but, again, if that was the case, the Baltimore car would have been selected as a subject for the review.

*All of the SCTC Bachmann cars ran on girder rail, ORR turnouts, code 100 rail and turnouts, and code 83 rail and turnouts without any difficulties. What's the problem?

**The trolley pole is criticized for not complying with one portion of Specification S-5 but complying with another part of the same specification make the trolley harp and wheel oversized, "clunky" and toy-like. Most modelers that run trolleys will not be using the trolley pole anyway as they do not run from overhead wire. Remember, you can become an MMR or GMMR without ever hanging one foot of operable overhead wire.

***The most popular small radius track with HO scale trolley modelers is the ORR track with 6 1/8" radius turnouts. Our Bachmann Peter Witts negotiated these with ease so what's the problem. The next photo shows the Baltimore Peter Witt successfully negotiating an ORR turnout on one of the SCTC modules. This and the other club owned Bachmann Peter Witt cars have run consistently through ORR turnouts without any difficulty.
While the model may have not conformed to some NMRA specifications, some of which date to the "stone age" of traction modeling, a person reading this review could get a totally incorrect picture of this model. For ages and ages, the traction modelers in HO scale have for ages been urging a major model railroading manufacturer to produce a ready-to-run trolley. Bachmann finally does it, makes it DCC ready and is so incompletely reviewed. This review did not help the model traction portion of the hobby. We can only hope that both Bowser and Con-Cor will still proceed with their trolley projects.