I haven't really talked too much about large scale so much recently in my posts, mainly because I feel the range is on it's last legs.  Granted they've released some fun recolors recently, but the majority of what's been announced in large scale over the last decade has been just that - recolors.  I feel like if they introduce any new toolings at all in large scale it would have to be for something they could reuse for additional recolors to justify the tooling cost of the product. 

With engines, I think they are pretty much done aside from more Diesel repaints like Sidney or 'Arry and Bert.  Maybe an LBSC Thomas and Origin James too for the 80th anniversary, but that's really it.

As for rolling stock, I think it's pretty clear that if we get anything else in the future for large scale it will probably be more recolors.  I do, however think there is a lot more going for new rolling stock toolings than engines because of the recolor options out there.  The first is Henrietta since not only is she still a popular request after all of these years, but Hannah is a possible recolor option Bachmann can look into for either HO or N scale, they could easily introduce both Henrietta and Hannah either at the same time or a year or so apart from each other and it would be a good way to justify that tooling cost.   

Apart from Henrietta, the only other new rolling stock tooling I could potentially see them do in large scale would be 1 plank wagons with the large crate loads that were introduced in HO a few years ago since that seems like a simple enough tooling they could continue to reuse for repaints or different crate loads. 

Otherwise aside from those and potentially a new Thomas starter set, I think that's all I can see happening in large scale for the time being.

Gordon looks terrific! Bachmann really did a solid job with the fully painted sample and I appreciate how much of a night and day difference it is compared to the HO scale model.  It is absolutely surreal to see an official N scale Gordon model knowing that over 20 years ago I was excited for Tomix to release a model of Gordon, only to be disappointed a few years later knowing it's cancellation.  It's really nice seeing Bachmann bring Gordon into the range and I really can't wait to add him in my N scale collection. 

The NMRA is also later this month, here's hoping Henry and/or some express coaches are in the product brochure.

Sir Topham Hatt's car being announced earlier does lead to the possibility of more non-rail characters being introduced.  Trevor would be one I would be the one I would like to see the most with Bulgy being a very close second since these are both well established classic characters who are in the CGI series.  That being said, I wouldn't mind Skiff being introduced next either as not only would he go along really nicely with the recently released Ryan and Daisy but also because he adds to the non-rail vehicle diversity as a boat character.  It would be interesting to see if he would just be a boat or if Bachmann would go the full mile and add a set of wheels for him to ride around on.  Either of these would be welcome, but for now I think it makes sense to see how Sir Topham Hatt's car sells first before adding more vehicles after that.

Murdoch I wouldn't mind seeing either if he was introduced similarly to how Arthur would, admittedly I like Arthur a lot more than Murdoch but Murdoch undeniably has a much bigger sales market going for him than Arthur does going for the insane prices he goes for on eBay so the sales for Murdoch would be there, no doubt.  Either way, like Arthur, Murdoch I'm not so confident with either, again due to the CGI mandate, but would still be a fun addition.

As for the narrow gauge engine repaints, as I said in my earlier post on Yellow Rheneas, Bachmann doing repaints of the narrow gauge engines prematurely really hit the sales on Yellow Rheneas pretty hard, already having him on discount at Trainworld... Smudger might have sold a little better than Yellow Rheneas, but I think it makes a lot more sense for Mattel to allow Bachmann to ignore the CGI mandate for the narrow gauge range since there's only so many narrow gauge engines left in the show, and an even smaller number left in CGI.  This is is where I personally feel Mattel would be more likely to overlook the CGI mandate, not with HO/OO but with their narrow gauge line.  Though, instead of doing repaints like Smudger or Proteus, they could go the full mile with making a new tooling in the form of Duke. In my opinion, Duke I think would make more sense (despite being a new tooling), because he's the only narrow gauge tender engine (besides Bertram, who would only be a Duke repaint) and with that also adds more diversity for the narrow gauge lineup and Duke has just as big of a following as the six narrow gauge characters who appeared in the CGI series.


Anytime I post my custom Duke model on social media, people go crazy and always ask about it and several other fans went ahead and made their own Duke models too.  Plus Duke is an easy 0-4-0 locomotive with a tender so he wouldn't be that much more expensive than one of the current narrow gauge engine offerings.  Since the OO9 crowd is usually an older audience who grew up with the books and the earlier television series, I think it's in Bachmann's best interest to do Duke after Duncan (and maybe Luke), before doing more OO9 repaints like Smudger Proteus or even Bertram. 

I know that Mattel won't approve Arthur being made due to the CGI mandate, but I'll admit I've always had a very soft spot for Arthur.  Easily my favorite non-Awdry character by miles.  Even in the earlier years of the forum during the late model era, Arthur was a top request and several members had him on his wishlist (myself included).  Over time though, as Arthur became less relevant his requests slowly died down as more Awdry characters were being produced like Bill and Ben and Donald and Douglas, thus making the demand for characters like Duck, Diesel and Oliver practically skyrocketed even higher than ever while lesser known model era character requests like Arthur and even Molly died down.  Though, this really wasn't a bad thing at all.  If anything, I'm really glad Bachmann stuck with the characters who had a much bigger following and legacy as the demand for them was higher than Arthur, even back then.  But it still would have been fun if Arthur found his way in the range too, I would still have it in my collection today if that were the case.

So while the odds are not in his favor, it really is great knowing there's still a fan-following for Arthur all these years later.  If we somehow got lucky with Bachmann taking the same approach with Beau by making a model of Arthur with the Bachmann Europe 2MT tooling, I would buy the model day one. 

Jay, (DecadesofSun), brought his custom model of Arthur to my apartment once before and it was a lot of fun seeing Arthur on the layout.  Might not be a bad idea for another future custom I'd like to look into for myself in the future...

Quote from: TrainFan97 on July 25, 2023, 08:20:45 PMWell, I guess you were right. There was no TrainWorld Stream tonight. When I said to "eat your words" I knew that you were naturally going to retort back at me. Turns out it's me.

Oh, the indignity!

The next Trainworld stream will come sooner or later, there's no need to tell other users to "eat your words".  Let's try to keep the discussion civil while we anticipate the full reveal of Gordon's painted sample.

On another note, a huge thank you to everyone else for your responses to the short review on the box vans.  I'm looking forward to talking about Toad next.  I'm looking to get new faces added to my N scale engines that match the model era of the show, I'll show pictures once the faces are done and fully painted. 

Kempton, I never noticed the different running board on the CGI model compared to the original season 1 design.  Your new take on Thomas looks excellent so far and I like how the brake pipe turned out too.  Great work!  I also like the new snowplow, can't wait to see how that will look fully painted.

Honestly; I agree.  The consistency of the Trainworld streams being at the beginning of the month always gives fans a better idea of when to expect updates.  Plus we will have the NMRA later next month, making the early stream in September all the exciting to go over if there are any major announcements. Heres hoping for now anyway.


On that note, my box vans arrived in the mail earlier.  There isn't too much to say about these other than the fact that I love the fact Bachmann went the full mile with these and used a new more show accurate tooling over the Graham Farish toolings.  They look fantastic with the rest of the engines and rolling stock and are built in exceptional quality.  I also appreciate how they used the single vent tooling as per the large scale range instead of just sticking with the double vent like HO.


I also want to talk about the liveries.  The ice cream van is a surprising one they went with since both the HO and large scale models both got discontinued.  I was never a fan of the Hit era but I figured I could repaint this one to a more classic era style van for fun later.


The fruits and vegetables can is one I think is all right overall.  I love the dark green livery and the decal they used for it doesn't look too bad either.  Might keep this one as is.


The best for last though is the great western box van.  This one has always been a favorite, both for its show accurate livery and a homage to the GWR (despite not being in GWR colors, but it's the thought it counts).  Might pick up more of these down the road.  Hopefully one day further down the road we can see some great western engines in N scale like Duck and Oliver!

Normally I'd send pics of engines pulling these around but not today... currently in the middle of an interesting mod on my four N scale engines as of now.  Hopefully they'll be ready by the time Toad is in stock!

Bringing this old post up since we're talking about old shape Henry (again...) only this time in N scale (which is even less likely) but the same logic still applies here too.

Edit: I know some of the things referenced like Paxton and Daisy are outdated since Bachmann's already made both of them and Stepney was ruled out earlier, but again the logic in the old post is referring to why old shape Henry won't ever work for Bachmann.

Quote from: Chaz on December 30, 2015, 04:38:25 PMThe problem I see with Henry's old shape isn't so much the tooling or design of the model, it's the major lack of appeal.  It wasn't even used for a full season of the show and the current design of Henry is far more iconic.  The sales are not there for the model either, from both younger and older fans.  Parents who would buy models for their kids wouldn't even know the difference between the two Henry's, nor would they really care.  Henry's old shape might win over some of the older fans, but it probably won't do anywhere near as much justice as one of the remaining classics like Stepney or Daisy.  Even Paxton would have better sales than Henry's old shape, and he would take a lot less effort on Bachmann's part to make, and would probably be cheaper too.  At the end of the day, Bachmann would much rather invest in making a character they haven't produced yet as the sales for them would be a lot more promising than one of their existing characters with a tooling change.  Even if they were to do a "limited edition" run of Henry's old shape, the amount of money and time that would go into production won't make up for the limited sales that would go for the model. 

It's not going to happen.

I think the next Thomas Tuesday is going to be a very exciting one for the N scale fans

Quote from: Angelob6660 on July 03, 2023, 06:47:02 PMGood review on the rolling stock. I gotten the brake vans but not the new vans. I thought of no point of getting the new ones except the bracing. Somewhere down the line I might so the railroad can have single and double sheathed box vans.

Does these new vans goes nicely with the Peco vans together? Since I didn't see a photo.

I sold my older Peco vans about a year or so ago but I'm sure you may be able to find photos online of the newer vans and compare them with the Peco recolors.  Never hurts to hold onto both anyway if you decided to get the new ones down the road.

Well this is certainly an overdue post on my end, apologies guys.  Work's been busy and it takes a while to do these posts.  But out of everything we have been waiting for, it seems the narrow gauge brake vans the longest.  Longer than Oliver, Rusty, and even the highly anticipated Daisy and Peter Sam models that finally got released last year.  Question is, was the wait worth it despite these being rolling stock?  Let's take a look:


Brake vans have been a popular request for the narrow gauge range for a very, very long time.  Everyone and their mother have been asking for brake vans the moment Skarloey was first announced in 2015, but it made sense to wait on introducing these until after they added the more iconic slate wagons and coaches first.  I can safely say that these, while they took a long time, don't disappoint in the slightest.


The livery application on both brake vans is absolutely beautiful, and I love the attention to detail on including guard compartments on both sides of the van which was exclusive to the television series and not the real Talyllyn guard vans.  The wood and chassis detail looks excellent as well and I love the metal wheels that allow for smooth performance at the end of the train. 


There's also some fair weight to them too, not too heavy or too light, so they can move along corners and switches on layouts with no derailments or any issues while navigating at the back of your narrow gauge trains. 


I also want to talk about the box vans, these are basically the exact same tooling as the brake vans minus the guard compartments.  You could argue this may be a cheap move but I personally think it's incredibly smart as the show had done the exact same thing with their box and brake van molds as well.


But more importantly, these replaced the original Peco recolored vans that were introduced back in 2015.  Not only is this much more accurate to what's on the show, but also a lot cheaper too.  A HUGE improvement over the predecessors, and it's nice seeing Bachmann make the appropriate revisions to previously announced products or announcing new products in their place altogether like the upcoming HO human figure packs.  I hope to see more new additions replace some of the less than average additions Bachmann have included as well, mainly the Peco open wagon recolor from 2015 and especially the N scale tankers.  If we're lucky, maybe even a face upgrade for Paxton since the large scale model was such a huge improvement.  Point is, improvements like these are always welcome and after seeing what Bachmann has done with the NG box vans, I hope to see more improvements in the future.


Overall, aesthetically the narrow gauge brake vans and new box vans are stunning models and don't disappoint.  Thomas fans and OO9 modelers alike will definitely appreciate having these in their collections.  I hope to see a light brown recolor of the brake van in the future as this was present in both the model and CGI seasons.


When running these models on my OO9 layout, they look fantastic, specifically with the matching passenger cars.  As I said earlier these hardly have any issue being transported on any railroad with either Peco OO9 track or Bachmann N scale track.  The box vans also look really nice for goods trains as well too.  They add some nice diversity, especially when most of the OO9 freight stock that are currently, or coming into the range are all different types of wagons.   


My final thoughts are this, the Bachmann narrow gauge box vans and brake vans deliver in all areas that fans would expect from the narrow gauge range.  If you haven't picked these up yet, you will definitely want to pick them up sooner rather than later as these are selling like hotcakes!  Thanks Bachmann for adding these highly requested items in the range and I hope we can see more updates on Sir Handel and the new wagon announcements soon too!

Quote from: N Scale Sudrian on June 24, 2023, 11:21:41 AMAll he needs now is Henrietta to keep him 'on track', whom I expect will make it to market in 2024 given the current turn-around time on the upcoming rolling stock projects. I hope that she is a new tool based on the "CGI" iteration with the face. She became a very fun character once that design change took place.

Honestly I'm surprised Bachmann didn't use the CGI Henrietta promo in the catalog since her face being added was a distinctive change for the character in the show.  Regardless, I'm almost certain she will have a faceplate added to match that of the CGI series since any merch of her that came out since then has included it like Adventures and Capsule Plarail.

I wanted to bump this thread in light of what was revealed today!  The teaser of the Hatt family figure pack.  I read in the comments that the plastic bases will be removable as well which is a nice feature I'm glad they implemented.  Can't wait to see more in the next Thomas Tuesday!

I'm a bit late (the school year just ended, been busy until then), but thanks everyone for your strong feedback on my earlier post on starter set ideas!  It's clear that the set that is most likely going to happen from my post will be a starter set for Gordon in N scale.  Here's hoping that will happen once Gordon gets released and some express coaches are announced too.  It would be nice if Bachmann can at least re-consider re-introducing the large scale Thomas starter set too, but if pricing is a factor then I guess beggars can't be choosers.  Though the points that were shared about why a set for Skarloey and a DCC Thomas might not happen are totally valid, and I agree with the feedback that was shared regarding why, especially with the high price tag on the upcoming DCC Thomas model.

I like the idea of James potentially getting a new set in HO if for some reason they can't re-introduce the Percy set.  It's really just a good diversity move to allow other engines besides just Thomas to get a set like how the N scale range is doing.  Though as N Scale Sudrian mentioned earlier, the reason for the additional characters getting starter sets in N scale could be that Bachmann isn't planning to keep them around for long term, which again is a fair point since the HO sets for other characters didn't stick around for too long either.  I also forgot to bring up a Christmas set in N scale, but I'm confident that they will add one soon since Christmas train sets have always been very popular from Bachmann.

Finally, it's nice seeing confirmation on more Thomas announcements for the NMRA, although it's not surprising given the track record over recent years.  I'm still under the impression that this year is still a "catch-up" year for Bachmann since they're releasing lots of previously announced products that have been in production for a long time, in addition to starting on new ones that were announced last year.  Hopefully we get an update on Sir Handel soon, even though I'm a little concerned he still has no RRP or is available for pre-order at Trainworld and yet Rebecca (who was announced after Sir Handel) does...  Either way, hopefully Bachmann can surprise us again at the NMRA this year.  Even if they don't announce much like earlier this year, that's honestly fine by me.  As long as we at least get an N scale Henry announcement this summer, in addition to some more rolling stock announcements in HO and N scale, I'll be a happy camper.

Well, I figured now is as good of a time as any other to talk about something that I don't think I've really brought in discussion for a while now, starter sets.  I haven't done a post devoted to starter sets in a really, really long time. Part of the reason why I have been inspired to do this post, comes from a recent meeting I had with a former student and his dad who are looking into the Hobby. The student is nonverbal, but his dad was telling me that he wants to get his son started with HO but said that he would be interested in a starter set that featured another locomotive besides just Thomas.  In the past, it's been stated that sets that feature other characters besides Thomas, don't usually sell well, which is why there haven't been sets devoted to other characters in HO for a really long time.

However, the N scale range seems to have broken that boundary. Last year, a Percy was announced, and this year, an Emily set is now being introduced. Maybe Bachmann is being a little more ambitious with the newer range since it's a good way to get people in N scale? Who knows. Because of these newer sets, and the idea of introducing a new generation into the hobby, I figured that Bachmann could really benefit from adding to their starter set diversity.  Especially since, for the most part, most of the engines and stock I am about to suggest in these sets are already present so it's not like it will cost much production wise.  So, in honor of this, I figured it's time I shed some light on the subject on starter set ideas again, starting with HO.

The first set is technically not new, it's a re-introduction - the Percy and the troublesome trucks set in HO. 


The Percy set was one of the first train sets announced during the range's launch in 2002 and has been around for a couple of years, only to eventually get discontinued in the late 2000s alongside sets for other characters like Gordon and James.  I feel that if Bachmann are reluctant to introducing starter sets in HO to other characters again, I feel doing so with Percy would be the least risky since Percy is still a very popular main character on the show as well as being an icon for the Thomas brand.   As per the original, this set would consist of circle of track, Percy, and troublesome trucks #1 and #2.

The second set, I'm about to suggest, is a little bit more ambitious, it is a DCC and sound Thomas and Percy set.


Bachmann has introduced DCC sets with more than one locomotive in the past (as shown above), to show modelers how they can operate two different locomotives on the same track at the same time at various speeds. If Bachmann really wants to encourage fans to get into the hobby, or let alone something as niche as DCC, why not make a starter set devoted to DCC and sound? This set would include an oval of track, plus a switch and a couple of additional straights and a bumper to park one of the locomotives while running the other.  This set would include both the upcoming DCC and sound Thomas and Percy locomotives, in addition to some rolling stock, whether that is the same troublesome trucks #1 and #2 alone, or including both of the trucks plus Annie and Clarabel. It would definitely be an expensive set for sure, but I feel this would really help people get into this rather niche side of the HO Hobby. Even if they did a set with just the upcoming DCC Thomas, with the two trucks, that could easily take place of the current Thomas and troublesome trucks set. Out of all of the sets I'm mentioning, this one is probably the least likely, but I figured I would throw it out there just for some good measure.

The next set is something that I am genuinely surprised has still never happened yet which is a starter set for narrow gauge. 



On a similar point to the DCC set I mentioned earlier, introducing a starter set for the narrow gauge range is a really smart idea and one I'm still surprised Bachmann hasn't considered. OO9/HOn30 is an incredibly niche part of an already incredibly niche hobby that not too many people are going to be familiar with, let alone understand how it works.  Heck, even a small number of fans think the Skarloey range is considered N scale and would get the engines and stock mixed up with one another which I feel attributes to why a starter set for the narrow gauge line is a necessity. 

The narrow gauge range has been out for almost a decade and still sells really well, but if Bachmann wants to continue to encourage a younger generation to get into the hobby, a good way to get people into this side of the hobby would be to introduce a starter set devoted to Skarloey.  This set would include an oval of Bachmann's N scale track, Skarloey, and 3-4 pieces of rolling stock. Personally, I would recommend one of the slate wagons, one of the upcoming box vans and a brake van of a color contrast to the box van included in the set for some further diversity.

The next set I want to talk about is for the already expansive N scale range, which is a set devoted to the upcoming Gordon model.


Gordon had a set introduced in HO previously, similar to Percy and Emily. And just like those previous sets, they ended up getting discontinued some time later after introduction.  However, I think introducing a set for Gordon in N scale would not only be a smart idea, but also a great way to hype up an exciting model making its way into the range.  What a better way to honor a long overdue introduction to an N scale Gordon model than to give him his own set too?  The only current drawback is that there are currently no express coaches announced in N scale, but something tells me we may not be that far off from this introduction.  This set would include an oval of N scale track, Gordon, Gordon's express composite coach, and Gordon's express brake coach.

And the last thing I want to talk about is another re-introduction which is a Thomas starter set in large scale.


In Bachmann's current 2023 catalog there are only three large scale sets in production period.  Not one of these sets is dedicated to the Thomas range.  On some level, I understand why.  Large scale is already a niche and, quite frankly, a dying part of the hobby with the appeal being fairly limited.  But on the opposite end of the coin, I truth be told don't really see the harm in re-introducing only the Thomas set in large scale but just leaving it at that.  As I've stated earlier, starter sets really help with getting people into the hobby.  Bachmann doesn't need to make a few sets for the large scale range (or narrow gauge either for that matter).  But, when there are basically no real starting ground to get people started with large scale Thomas, it in some ways alienates their consumers from getting into collecting this range, let alone large scale as a whole.  It might be a risky gamble since the price will likely be high, but that's the nature of G scale and I think consumers who want to get into large scale, or get their kids into G scale probably know this in advance already.  It's a risk, sure, but it's one that I think will pay off long term.  The contents would be the exact same same as the original release in 2009: a circle of G scale track, Thomas , and Annie and Clarabel.

And that's pretty much it!  I know that this is a bit of a tangent, but I feel that getting a younger generation into the hobby is so crucial to keeping it alive for both generations to enjoy together.  And the fact that a parent told me he was struggling with options, strikes me as a red flag and is something I feel Bachmann needs to take into consideration, or in some cases, re-consideration.  The worst thing that could happen with these sets are that don't sell and collect dust on shelves or in storage. The best case scenario though, is getting more people, particularly a new generation, into the hobby which I feel would benefit everyone involved, Bachmann especially.

Anyway, let me know your thoughts.  Which sets do you think could work? 

Kelson, I love all the specifics you shared with your experience with DCC and using your "cheater boxcars" on the forum!  DCC is something I feel gets a little overlooked when it comes to Thomas modeling, and I'm genuinely excited for the upcoming HO DCC sound Thomas and Percy models. I'm looking forward to your posts talking about Gordon and when you eventually add DCC and sound to the rest of your collection.  It's very inspirational to me and I hope to one day add DCC to my N scale collection as well.