In 1988 Bachmann started to produce large scale train sets called the Big Haulers based on a Baldwin 4-6-0 ten wheeler modeled after a locomotive from the "Tweetsie" railroad.
The train set had a retail price of $99.98 but usually sold for less in big box stores. Some could be had for only $25.00!! The train was not really intended to be a "model railroad" or even a garden railroad, but rather a toy. However with so much interest in garden railroading and the very high cost of the mostly LGB German equipment, the idea of a "garden railroad" for less than a hundred bucks, launched garden railroading into the main stream. The original locomotive ran on D batteries and used a small radio for control. The set also included 2 cars, a flat and a gondola as well as a caboose. Also a loop of all plastic track a road crossing, a set of power polls and a coaling tower. All for less than 100 dollars!
And the equipment a quite good looking, even if super lightweight toy quality. The locomotive is modeled after locomotive No. 12, the the last surviving narrow-gauge steam locomotive of the East Tennessee and Western North Carolina Railroad (ET&WNC), which ran service from Johnson City, Tennessee to Boone, North Carolina from 1919 to 1940. When the Tweetsie Railroad theme park opened with its first steam locomotive ride, one mile to a picnic area and back in 1957, this was its sole locomotive.
The No. 12 "Tweetsie" is a Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia 4-6-0 built in 1917
Set 90100 was the first set. The locomotives were battery powered and were radio controlled. In 1989 They began making train sets using track powered electric locomotives. In 1989 Bachmann also began selling locomotives, freight Cars, and passenger cars as separate items. Since the early years Bachamnn introduced a high quality line of prototype 1:20.3 locomotives and rolling stock in their Spectrum Line.
Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headquarters, Bachmann is today part of the Kader group, who model products are made at a Chinese Government joint-venture plant in Dongguan, China. Bachmann's brand is the largest seller, in terms of volume, of model trains in the world. Bachmann primarily specializes in entry level train sets, and premium offerings in many scales. The Spectrum line is the high quality, model railroad product line, offered in N, HO, Large Scale, On30, and Williams O gauge all aimed for the hobbyist market. Bachmann is the producer of the famous railroad village product line known as "Plasticville."
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachman...
tweetsie.com/explore-the-park...
shop.bachmanntrains.com/