Thomas & Percy Retoolings

[Luke22]

Judging by the reference photos from the announcement page, I'd imagine they'll use the Large Scale models, face and all. For Percy, I'm sure they'll have to retain the chassis since it looks great on his old model. Thomas, however I'd imagine they'll use Stanley's wheels with the side rods to make him as accurate as possible.

[Zorran202]

So it's confirmed by Matt on the live-stream earlier today that both Thomas and Percy will reuse the chassis present on their old models to keep the costs down, unless if there's some modifications to be made, like maybe reusing Stanley's side-rods since it's more closer to the CGI Thomas model we know of...

[RailsByRick]

After tonight's stream, it sounds like Thomas and Percy's chassis' will be mostly reuse. If it keeps costs down, I guess that's fine by me. The new bodies being designed around these ancient chassis' does bring up a few questions:

-Will Percy's shell remain a split design to fit around the current gearbox?

-Will the weight be improved? The plastic gearboxes make them much too lightweight.

-Will the siderods be retooled for Percy? I think Thomas should reuse the rods from Stanley as they're a perfect match. Hoping Bachmann keeps this in mind.

I think the siderods are a main concern at the moment. I really hope the old ones aren't carried over to the new models.

Besides that, Matt did allude to rear lining for Thomas and possible DCC capability for both so that's pretty neat.

[harrison05]

Will Percy still have counterweights is the question I wanna know?

[Chaz]

Besides that, Matt did allude to rear lining for Thomas and possible DCC capability for both so that's pretty neat.

That was easily the highlight of today's stream for me—the possibility that the new Thomas and Percy might be DCC ready. This is something I've discussed before, and I really hope they go this route, as DCC is the usual go-to over analog at almost every club I've been to.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if/when they get to James, I really hope they go this route and, more importantly, introduce James with DCC and sound on board like they did with Thomas and Percy. They already have James's sounds in the DCC module, so I think it would be well worth the investment to make these newly revised models DCC ready and kill two birds with one stone by introducing James as DCC-ready while also giving people another version of James with DCC and sound installed and ready to go.

[Zorran202]

Will Percy still have counterweights is the question I wanna know?

Based on Matt saying that re-using their chassis will be a cost-saving measure, yes he will keep his counterweights. Granted it's too early to say anything else until then, but just going by what he said is a possibility that'll have them save the chassis of the OG models.

[TrainFan97]

Hopefully the new Thomas and Percy will be DCC ready. Hope it's possible the same can also be applied to Diesel 10, and all future models in HO Scale, just like how it is in the UK. DCC ready Thomas models shall become stateside. Diesel 10 will most likely still be analog DC.

If we were to get HO Scale Annie and Clarabel to look like their CGI renders, Bachmann can then release an updated HO Scale Thomas set. The first set to use the new Thomas. If they were to release DCC Sound variants of the new Thomas and Percy, they can be released in a set together with Annie and Clarabel, and two Troublesome Trucks; a DCC Sound set.

[harrison05]

Will Percy still have counterweights is the question I wanna know?

Based on Matt saying that re-using their chassis will be a cost-saving measure, yes he will keep his counterweights. Granted it's too early to say anything else until then, but just going by what he said is a possibility that'll have them save the chassis of the OG models.

That makes me happy to hear, I'm not a fan of Percy's CGI model don't having counterweights it looks weird to me.

[Zorran202]

Hopefully the new Thomas and Percy will be DCC ready. Hope it's possible the same can also be applied to Diesel 10, and all future models in HO Scale, just like how it is in the UK. DCC ready Thomas models shall become stateside. Diesel 10 will most likely still be analog DC.

If we were to get HO Scale Annie and Clarabel to look like their CGI renders, Bachmann can then release an updated HO Scale Thomas set. The first set to use the new Thomas. If they were to release DCC Sound variants of the new Thomas and Percy, they can be released in a set together with Annie and Clarabel, and two Troublesome Trucks; a DCC Sound set.

It would be good to know IF the motors are also counted as the chassis, meaning if that's the case, they could reuse the chassis + motor housing the DCC sounds to make this definitely a possible cost-cutting measure just like the upcoming new models.