Rolling Through Alaska on the McKinley Explorer!

 Made a particularly good find at a local resale shop about a month ago...

This is the Bachmann McKinley Explorer 00624 set from a decade or so ago.  It represents a 90's to early 2000's consist of the McKinley Explorer Westours tourist train as operated by Holland America. My example was like new except for the missing cellophane box windows. Zero damage or missing pieces and the track was still wired to the packaging!

 It has 4 Full Dome Budd cars, each with the name and number of an actual car as used until around 2004 or so when the Budds were replaced and sold off.  The locomotive is Bachman's standard basic GP40 in Alaska Railroad livery #.   At first glance this seems like a fairly simple train set, and it is.  The locomotive and cars are simple models with average detail that have been in the Bachmann catalog for decades.   However, a few aspects set it apart nicely.   

What to love about this set...

First, is the general appearance.  This is a very handsome set.  I particularly appreciate the tinted windows.  Seems like a small detail, but for basic, unlighted cars with simple details, tinted windows that partially obscure the view, almost always offer a more realistic appearance.  This is especially true for Bachman super dome cars where versions with clear windows allow the viewer to see every bit of the toy-like one-piece beige plastic interior.  

Secondly, a credible go has been made at matching prototype.  The locomotive is a GP40 instead of the G40-2, but the differences between the two are so minor as to be unimportant and the paint and number are correct for units operated by Alaska. 

  Budd Full Dome cars are all correctly numbered and named (after Alaskan rivers) and the car type is correct.

 The hardcore prototype modeler, could certainly find details over which to quibble, but that's inevitable with this sort of set.  The purchaser of this train set receives a consist (albeit abbreviated) of a properly liveried locomotive and cars that might actually have run together frequently in the 90's and early '00s.  

Lastly, the running characteristics came as a pleasant surprise.  I've had alot of experience with "train set" rolling stock.  Current, Bachmann Train set equipment has come quite a ways from the pancake motors of old.  The rolling stock is now usually well painted and the locomotives are smoothly running, nicely appointed, all wheel drive, often equipped with flywheels.   However, this set appears to be over a decade old and represents something of a transition.  It is all wheel drive but I could see the lack of flywheels on the locomotive and the one-piece plastic wheelsets on the cars.   Thus, I fully expected that the locomotive would be quite noisy running on DCC, and that the railcars would be somewhat wobbly. None of that was the case as the videos below show!

Note that the sounds are coming from a sound-equipped steam loco being run nearby.

The loco is one of the smoothest and quietest DC locos that I've run on the OPSME DCC layout.  The cars glide along with scarcely a quiver.  I definitely plan to convert the loco to DCC, but aside from new couplers (the Bachman EZ mates are losing their grip) I don't think I'll modify the Budds at all.

Acquiring a McKinley Explorer Today....

There is currently a McKinley Explorer set offered for sale by Bachmann, #00743.  However, it is an entirely different set. It has a different numbered locomotive and though it only has two passenger cars, they are new models of the custom Colorado cars built in the early 2000's to replace the Budd cars.  They also are branded Holland America rather than Westours. The Colorados are impressive looking with a level of detail more in line with modern models.  Savvy buyers should note that on the used market, there is also a set preceding the current set. It is set #00694 and it has three of the newer style cars instead of two.

There are also various McKinley Explorer Budd cars that have been made available separately in the past, some sold directly to tour participants in boxes with "Westours" livery.  I will likely look into acquiring some of them in the future even though most have clear windows.   These and the various iterations of the McKinnley explorer train sets can be found on Ebay at various price points.  The best value is probably the 00624 set here which has the most matching cars, albeit of the earlier prototype.

Final Thoughts

My final take on this is simply that it's a lovely train set that I'm happy to have. I'm very impressed with the look and running characteristics of the rather basic components of this set.  With 4 cars and loco it's already an impressive sight on the layout even without additions.  Though not a line I otherwise collect, it fits well into my mostly 1980's and 1990's collection.

Those interested in learning more about the McKinley Explorer and some of the other Alaskan tourist lines will find a wealth of information here:

Freight and Passenger Cars (alaskarails.org)

Be well and roll on,

Karl