No worries! I take something of a similar approach with my real-life vs Thomas items, only wanting a small handful of locos that don't fall under either of those categories. I'm unsure how much chipping from Rails Of Sheffield would be to the USA, the friends of mine that have tried it, haven't really discussed shipping with me. Since shipping is still occurring internationally, I imagine that - while not expensive - it would not be too cheap either. I wouldn't expect it to be as high as US$50 though. I also have generally found with sites like Rails Of Sheffield and Hattons, that if you have an account, you can set the Email settings, to prevent the chances of being spammed.

As for the type of track that I favour, I'll PM you about that. As I think discussing it openly, whilst not a direct violation of the codes of conduct, definitely rubs shoulders with almost violating them.

Stay safe out there all, especially those of you in hard-hit areas,
-Alex

Quote from: Cheeky_ULP on December 19, 2020, 01:41:37 PM
For British model trains that ship to the US, your best bets are Rails of Sheffield and Hattons.

I agree with what Cheeky_ULP has to say. Your best bet is to find retailers who ship to the USA. As an Australian, I know the shipping can make prices a bit higher, but from some limited experience, and a few happy friends, Rails Of Sheffield and Hattons are generally good picks to my knowledge. Kernow Model Centre is also a good choice, in my experience, and they'll often offer some interesting bundle deals too. Ebay prices are normally quite inflated. AJM railways is an online retailer that also ships to North America, and from the accounts I've heard, does quite well. Just be careful, to my knowledge, default prices are usually in the Australian Dollar, not the American one. But on the homepage you can change the display to either US or Canadian currency.

Quote from: cp5150 on December 18, 2020, 11:43:07 PM
Do you guys just have Thomas layouts? Or do you also have separate layouts with real-life trains on them? Or do you just put them on the same one? I was also considering just getting all the British ones I can get my hands on and then going for Americans. Sorry, this isn't relevant to the current thread, but I'm really curious.

As for layouts for "real" engines vs layouts for Thomas ones, in my experience, very few people have the money, space, or resources to create, build and maintain separate ones. Usually people will model something where both types of trains can "feel at home" to them, if they model both. Some people will build a layout to more closely resemble something from Thomas & Friends, others may aim for something a little more prototypical. It's honestly your choice as to what you do, don't feel pressured to please anyone else, this hobby is after all, a hobby, so pursue what you think will bring you the most happiness in it.

As a personal example, whenever I can get the space to (likely far off in the future), I want to create a "hybrid Tidmouth" using a version of Tidmouth Sheds similar to early seasons of the show. Plus my interpretation of Tidmouth Station from the Railway Series. If you're unfamiliar with the Tidmouth Station in the Railway Series, imagine Knapford Station in the TV Series, it's quite similar. I want to create something where my real life British Stock looks at home on, but where my Thomas stock also looks at home on. It's a delicate balancing act. Though granted, what I want from a layout changes roughly every 5 years or so. So maybe by the time I have the space, I'll want to model something else. I haven't had a layout of my own for a while, but if you have any questions about what sort of track and locomotives I use/used, along with what buildings I use/used, I'd be more than happy to talk more in PM's on the site.

Semi-related to layout building, and your other points, but US rolling stock is scaled to HO Gauge (1:87 Scale). Most Thomas and Friends stock scales with British OO Gauge (1:76 scale) - it says HO on Bachmann packaging as HO is the main gauge in the USA, and is clearer to the market there. So scale wise, Thomas and British stock can look odd and a touch oversized alongside other US stock. Building clearance compatibility usually isn't a problem at least, but since building design regarding architecture and other such buildings is quite different between the two nations, US stock may look a bit out of place on a British based layout, and vice-versa, if you do decide to collect what you like from both. Because if you want to run them alongside each other, no one can stop you, it is purely your choice. I myself may slip some Australian locos in when my collection of Thomas and British stock grows a bit, and when I have a bit more disposable income. Also, you may want to change over your British and/or Thomas stock to use Kadee (knuckle) couplers, to make them compatible with your US stock, if you decide to collect both, as Thomas and British rolling stock, uses a different coupling system to the US stock.

Regarding what kind of layout you build, my personal opinion is to look to other layouts, and work out what you can realistically build and maintain, with the space, money, and resources you'll have at your disposal, and work out what you'd like to build. Model Railway Forums and magazines can have some amazing inspirations for layouts. Plus internet searches can provide some good content for inspiration too. We even have some layouts on the forum that can provide plenty of inspiration too. Model trains are expensive and take up a lot of space usually, so it's worth considering what you can make in the space you have, with the money you have. Always remember "rule #1", that is something akin to "this hobby is something you build for you, and yourself first, so run/make/build what makes you happy, first and foremost".

I really hope this helps,
-Alex

I'm very pleased with how well Bachmann seemed to have turned out the livery on the LBSC Thomas. I can't say I like the minor update to the face (triangle eyebrows) though I do it is more accurate to the show, as Thomas's eyebrows have slowly become more triangular since Series 3 promotional images of the models, so I can't really complain too much there. Though I must say, I eagerly await the review, Chaz!

Also, due to my...prolonged absence from posting, I must also give Bachmann a long, long overdue kudos for producing the Narrow Gauge Coaches with different toolings. I was dreading they'd have the same tooling since they were announced, and I don't think I ever publicly expressed my gratitude in seeing them produced with different toolings. So sincerely, thank you very much for that, Bachmann! I hope we can see the new brake vans soon too.

And to all those who've used the Red Coach to form your own set of Railway Series coaches (in some cases, complete with Beatrice), I just wanted to say, superb work there everyone! It's been very inspiring to see.

~Alex

I recently realised how long it'd been since I posted in a topic, let alone logged in or read anything. Very briefly, I had an initial write-up on my thoughts on this years announcements written up. A rather long and in depth one, and I did tell Chaz that I would get it posted. Needless to say, that didn't happen, work and university have kept me mostly away from the hobby this year, but now that I'm slowly returning, I figured I should drop by and give my proverbial "two cents" about what I hope is yet to come.

Daisy, and Peter Sam are both in progress without photos having yet been released, plus Covid-19 has been delaying production in factories. Large Scale Diesel is still in progress too. So I'm not expecting much for next year. However, I'm happy to list off a few things I could think of that I think are feasible, followed by what I think we can maybe expect in the next few years, sort of like what I've seen a few others do in this thread. Then I'd like to summarise what I'd like to see the most, out of the suggested items from both lists. Let's kick things off with 2021!

HO Gauge:
Recolours. I expect with production delays, now will be the time for Bachmann to make some announcements that are easier to create, and don't require new tooling. I expect we'll see the explosives van (hopefully reusing the single vent van tooling), along with the toffee and chocolate syrup tankers.

I don't really foresee the return of the Red Express Coaches just yet, but I do think that they would be nice to see next year. If we do see the return of these express coaches though, I wouldn't expect to see either of the tankers come out, and the explosives van would also be questionable too. Maybe the tar tanker will be reintroduced? But given how frequently requested it is, and how easy it must be to produce, I can only assume that perhaps the licence holder doesn't want Bachmann to.

OO9 Gauge:
I'm not going to summarise why I don't expect much for every single one of these. Long story short, the brown brakevan has easily been the most fan-requested item, so at most, I'd expect this. And again, it's a recolour. Sir Handel is the next engine I expect, but not for next year's February announcements. Maybe we could expect another freight wagon of some kind. I particularly like the idea of narrow gauge troublesome trucks that I think was first suggested by Mulfred, and a lot of others have seemingly picked up on in a very positive way. I don't think it's super likely, as it'll still need a completely brand new tooling, and a face to be produced for it, but there clearly is demand for such an item within Bachmann's range.

N Gauge:
This one, I think is the trickiest. Given that the range is still new, I'd suggest that it may need the most investment to help it take off. I'd definitely say that Toby is possible as an announcement for February, or the mid-year announcements, but I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't. Toby, at least, is a simplistic tooling, and a reusable chassis later down the line for Mavis. Given all the production delays that are going to occur because of the global pandemic, I think Toby is the most likely engine to be announced.

As for rolling stock - again, if there is the resources available for it - I would suggest S.C.Ruffey as a reasonable candidate, and/or a regular wagon recolour. Like the red or blue open wagons that exist in the HO scale range. Also, the milk tanker seems a bit like low-hanging fruit too. If they are to announce Toby, and have the resources available, we might be able to expect Henrietta too - which would also open up the possibility for a Hannah recolour down the line, so to speak.

G Gauge/Large Scale:
Given this range's...generally lacklustre announcements, and the fact that Diesel is still in the pipeline. I can't be sure of exactly what to expect. However, there seems to be some indication of what we can expect, from an apparent leak...

Quote from: ShadowMonk on August 27, 2020, 03:52:15 AM
Large Scale:
Paxton (He was listed on Bachmann UK's website with a similar product number to LS Diesel, however it was removed after I had made a topic about it here, which was also removed so to me Paxton is pretty much confirmed for 2021).

If Shadow Monk is onto the right trail, then it's likely we'll see Paxton announced, since Diesel seems to be coming along nicely.

Outside of that, I'd expect some kind of wagon recolour. I think if we are to see a new tooling, we can maybe expect Henrietta to appear on the announcements - goes perfectly with Toby, and can be recoloured for Hannah later down the line too. Though I'd say that it's just as, if not more likely that we could see the Red Coaches (composite and brake). I sincerely hope, and also don't think (given they seem to be seeing diminishing returns, to my knowledge) that we won't see a regular old recolour of an already existing item in the catalogue.

Resin Buildings:
I think these are a stretch, and if they do get announced, we probably wouldn't see them until the end of the year, maybe even 2021, but I do sincerely hope we see more back in the range at some point. If we do see a batch of them announced, I think I agree with the suggestions by TerrenceTheTractor525, suggested below:

Quote from: TerencetheTractor525 on September 12, 2020, 04:35:48 PM
Ffarquhar Station
Retaining Wall
Narrow Gauge Double Engine Shed
Neptune Refreshments
Hopefully, we will see one more batch of new buildings down the line .

Though I'd maybe switch out Neptune's Refreshments for another building, not sure what, though the Season 4 Castle Ruins proved popular a few years ago when the conversation came up, so we could maybe expect those, if we are to get any resin buildings. Alternatively, Toby's Shed would also be a suitable replacement.

Wrapping Up:
I don't expect much for next year, and if we are to see announcements, I expect the larger ones to come in the mid-year ones. Especially given the outstanding items from last year's announcements. If we do get some new announcements - outside of recolours - I think we'd most of them to be arriving in 2022, maybe one or two by the end of 2021.

I know I haven't addressed Sir Handel in much detail, or Stepney, but my reasons for desiring to see those two made, mirror most other people's desires - such as Chaz and Terrence's. I don't really see Bachmann in a rush to announce those two, with them already behind on a few other large announcements as it is. And with Covid production delays, I really wouldn't see those two being ready until the end of 2022, maybe even 2023 - especially Sir Handel, given the length of time Rheneas, Rusty, and Peter Sam have all taken. Stepney may be more likely for the end of 2021, or end of 2022.

I would really like to see in future, Stepney, along with the original 6 Narrow Gauge engines finished off. I'd love to see the red express coaches reintroduced for those who missed them the first time. The rolling stock suggestions in this thread for the Narrow Gauge range have also been absolutely on point. I'd be especially keen to see the Narrow Gauge coal wagons, D-Fusit van, Brown Brakevan, and Green open coach. Basically, almost all of what has been suggested...

The resin buildings kind of feel like wishful thinking to me at this point, but who knows, maybe a couple could at least be seen at the NMRA mid year announcements. If not, then I hope we could see something akin to the range listed, for the 2022 announcements. I don't expect any new engine for Large Scale, except maybe Paxton because of the leak Shadow Monk mentioned. But outside of that, any hopes for Edward, Mavis, or any other engine, would likely have to wait until 2022. Even though I don't collect that particular range, I would just like to mention that I really do hope we can see Edward and Mavis released for it. Hopefully even Bill and Ben down the line somewhere. Though I think Duck's wheelbase may be a bit prohibitive for us to see him join the line up, unfortunately.

And to briefly touch on the idea of further recolours in the HO range (and possibly LS range one day too), I find myself agreeing with the suggestions put forth by Terrence, I'd be interested to see all those, especially Toby's museum coach, and I'd most likely consider picking up some of the trucks too, if they had model era faces, like Chaz suggested. Somewhat related, if we are to see more troublesome trucks in future, I do hope Bachmann and the licence holder will take heed of the negative feedback to the most recent troublesome truck announcement, and hopefully produce ones more closely based off the model era, but any time before the BWBA era would really be okay with most of us, I feel. Even though model era would be preferred.

I realise I must sound like a broken record here, but I'm trying not to get myself too amped up for next year's announcements, especially when so many of this year's still sit unfulfilled. But there's a quick summary of what I expect for next year's announcements, which is different to what I hope for next year's announcements - I hope I made that distinction clear enough - combined with a bit of what I expect, but also a bit of what I hope, we can see in future.

Regardless, to anyone out there who may be reading this, if you've taken the time to read this all, thank you very much if you have, but even if you've just skimmed this, I thank you very much for the time you've taken to read what you could manage of this long post. Stay safe out there everybody, the pandemic isn't over yet, I hope you're all doing well.
~Alex

Quote from: railtwister on October 18, 2019, 05:05:59 PM
I just picked up an HO "Toby" to run on my club's modules for the upcoming season. I was surprised to find him wired up with a circuit board containing two resistors and a couple of diodes, and even after a short run one time back & forth on the 3' track, the resistors get too hot to touch (this cannot be right). This circuit board doesn't appear to be for interference suppression, and Toby has no lights, so I can only guess that this is a circuit to drop the voltage going to the motor, but given the heat it's generating, it can't be long before it melts the surrounding plastic or burns itself out. I checked the Bachmann parts list and photo of this circuit board on the Bachmann website, and the resistors seem to have the same color code value (red-green-black-gold).

Bill in FtL

If it's of any help, a few years ago, my Bachmann Edward's motor burnt out, and I was able to send it back to Bachmann, who were able to replace the motor. It was much cheaper than the alternative (buying a new one). I'm not sure where you got your Toby from, but if you got it recently, and have your receipt, perhaps you could ask whatever store you picked it up from, if they could fix or replace the model for you? Or alternatively, if you got it from Bachmann, perhaps you could mail it to them, for replacement, or fixing, and they may send it back.

As for the slowness issue, Toby is by design slower than the other engines. However if this comment about Toby's speed is accurate:

Quote from: railtwister on October 18, 2019, 05:05:59 PM
I see Toby is very slow, he can barely crawl along, even at full throttle. Thomas, James, and Percy are three to four times as fast at the same power setting.

And if we presume the figures given by Really Called Thomas are accurate, then the Thomas, Percy, and James models should not be 3-4 times as quick. Like with before, I would advise seeking help with this issue. If however you're unable to get a refund or replacement, or mail Toby to Bachmann and get him back working, within the time frame you're hoping for, I'd suggest placing Toby on a siding as a static model.

My old model railway club used to have some Thomas and Duck models (though they were quite old - and by a different company), to run a little mine section of the layout, they were big crowd pleasers and halfway through an exhibition, our Duck models were struck by a series of motor issues. Not being able to do anything about this in the middle of an exhibition, we parked a Duck on a siding as a static model. Not an ideal situation, as we had to replace him with a Jinty, but we were able to fix our Duck models after up afterwards. Sorry, I know this isn't an ideal answer or situation, but I still hope this helps in some capacity.

-Alex

So...some thoughts about this year's announcements:
Everybody saw Red Rosie coming, but I still thought it may be a year away. Not too excited about this one, but slightly happy to see her in red at least, as I prefer that livery to her lavender one. Nice to see the flatbed returning, and I'm curious, however not incredibly excited about the other HO wagons that have been announced.

Kind of disappointing that there are no announcements for Narrow Gauge, but if I recall correctly, previously if rolling stock has been delayed, the next year, we have not received any rolling stock in the announcements. If an engine is delayed, there has not been an engine in the announcements, so maybe this is why nothing was announced for Narrow Gauge. It could also have to do with the Factory issues Bachmann's UK branch has been having, perhaps.

As for the Narrow Gauge coaches, last time I remember a product being delayed for so long without any image (bar maybe Rusty or Rheneas) was with Oliver in HO scale, and since the CGI coaches are over scale, maybe there's an issue here with them trying to fix the scaling in the model, vs what Mattel wants. Considering Bachmann's Oliver is clearly a CG design, but does have the scaling issues of the CGI model a little fixed, it's possible that the reason the model stalled out in production for so long was because Bachmann and Mattel had trouble coming to an agreement on the final model. I sincerely hope this isn't the case, as it would confirm both coaches to have the same tooling, and (like I'm assuming most people are), I'm hoping that we do get two different toolings for the coaches.

It's sad to see nothing coming forth in large scale, it's been obvious that the large scale range has been in a bit of decline for the last few years, but I still feel really bad for Large Scale modelers, and it is sad to see that the range seems to be declining more and more. Maybe we didn't get anything here because there's already last year's tankers on the back-burner...but still, this just seems like confirmation that the range is in a very bad place right now, worse than I imagined, at least.

Finally, the N Gauge models. I'm actually quite surprised by these, in a good way. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out, I hope they come out looking great, and if they do outshine their HO counterparts, it might show Bachmann that the HO Thomas, Percy and James are due for at least a little re-tooling.

Also, I'd suggest that in 2020, we'd only see James as an engine in the N Gauge range, as he doesn't share any common chassis or body components with other engines, so there isn't much financial incentive to release two different toolings in one year (which can be expensive), past the initial launch year. I'd suggest in 2021 that we may see Gordon and Henry, but that's because their HO models share a common chassis. Henry's wheelbase literally has the hole in it, that is used to screw Gordon's two trailing wheels into Gordon's model, because the two share the same chassis block, valve gear, wheels, and motor. And it's been a long time in HO since we've seen two engines released in one year that don't share common parts - and whilst there is Rosie and Oliver, Oliver had been delayed by about a year at that point already, so I'm electing to ignore that one.

However, so many of us are putting forward predictions for 2020 already. As much as I think it's potentially a little early it for it, maybe we could benefit from having a Bachmann Thomas & Friends in 2020 thread? It seems people are keen to speculate about next year, and maybe the announcements thread for this year isn't the most ideal spot. Not to be rude, just a thought, that's all

Have a great day everyone,
~Alex

In the past, I have been overwhelmingly positive about the idea of an N gauge Bachmann Thomas & Friends line, but recently a friend pointed out something to me that I can't help but think in my head. Was starting with Thomas and Percy the right call?

I know that sounds like a dumb question, but the Tomix range is very well established among the T&F modelling community as the N Gauge Thomas & Friends line. So was it a good choice to announce their own, when they may just be creating equivalent to characters that already exist? And unlike other companies, which previously have based their Thomas models on the engines' real life basis (for the most part) Tomix also bases their models on the TV series models. So they may be placing themselves into a position where their producing models that could potentially come off as "redundant" to people who already own their equivalents. And I'm not trying to criticise or comment too heavily on the practices and models by other manufacturers. I'm just expressing my concerns about these announcements.

Finally, this is more of an open question, do you guys think Bachmann will make their T&F models in a scale that more closely resembles standard British N Gauge (1:148), or a scale more similar to what Tomix employs for their Thomas models (I'm given to understand their models are larger than standard British N Gauge)?

Again, I'm not trying to stir up controversy or comment too heavily on other ranges, and I'm certainly not criticising them, I'm mainly using Tomix as a frame of reference here, as I'm not sure of the exact scales or how else to bring up discussion about these topics. Have a great day everyone.

~Alex

Quote from: JLK2707 on February 16, 2019, 01:20:09 AM
I wonder why we did not get Sidney this year.

I'm assuming it's because the Sidney isn't just as simple as a Diesel recolour. They would have to change the tooling to accommodate for his narrower face. I also think the eye mechanism may need adjustment to avoid stretching Sidney's face. It also may be related to Bachmann UK's factory troubles recently. Most of their announcements this year were recolours due to factory issues, so perhaps it's possible that the USA branch has been having some factory issues too? Then of course there's what everybody keeps commenting, that maybe they didn't want to flood the market with another Class 08 diesel for the third year in a row running.

Finally, since we still have Large Scale and Narrow Gauge products on the back-burner, and a new N Gauge line coming out, I'm assuming Bachmann may have more than had their hands full for this year. So decided to avoid creating new HO toolings, or modifying parts of existing mechanisms.

~Alex

Not to discredit the idea of a "trade war", as a person who's very political in his personal life, I'll try to dodge politicised topics here. However, I was under the impression that Bachmann's Thomas range was always produced in China. I'd say it's not necessarily where the production is occurring, but instead that production costs are rising.

That's what I'm given to understand though. And I dare not go further down that rabbit hole, as knowing me, political comments will come to the surface rapidly, if I continued that tangent, and (from memory) delving too far into politics is something that's prohibited under the code of conduct. Regardless, I'm open to being wrong, but to my knowledge, any "trade wars" (wow that sounds like a lame Star Wars parody ) is fairly disconnected from what's occurring right now. It's more due to rising production costs...which may arguably tie into that concept, but again, that rabbit hole goes too deep for me to go over here, and if I'm wrong, I'm fine with that. I just thought the "lacklustre" announcements were mainly due to rising production costs, plus most of the engines Bachmann can make a profit off of, have been created already.

Bachmann has to tow a hard line, one that appeals to younger and older fans, and cannot keep up with just how much other ranges can put out (see Trackmaster and Learning Curve), so most of what they believe they can probably profit off of, has been made. So...how to keep the range afloat? Recolours, I think, must've seemed like the best option to them, and the higher ups at Mattel which have influence on Bachmann's announcements.

Anyway, sorry if this seemed rambley, I'm currently very unwell, so this is far from my most concise, or well thought-out post. Sorry everybody, hope you all have a lovely day/night/whatever time it is for you currently

~Alex

Well if we're ranking by what we think is most likely, I don't particularly see Stepney or Daisy as being highly likely candidates for foreseeable releases. Then again I don't exactly know what to expect considering the HO lineup has had a fair few curve-balls in the last few years.

However Stepney and Daisy are the candidates I would be most excited to see for future releases (along with Ryan, provided he gets a bit more screentime), mainly for the reasons people have already gone over. Hiro isn't an engine I would expect much, to be honest, but undoubtedly one that I'd like to have, mainly due to the fact that I think he's one of the best characters introduced in recent times, and I quite like his basis and his render (even if he couldn't conceivably run tender-first on Sodor with any given train).

As for Narrow Gauge, I'm assuming Peter Sam is the most likely next engine in the range, and would also be my personal choice for the engine I'd like to see join the range next. Followed by Sir Handel, and (provided the tooling isn't based on that awful render) Duncan. After that I'd be unsure of where the range would go...I don't think we'd be ready to expect Luke, Millie or Victor yet...I think Chaz explained why in a previous answer. And with Duke, Mighty Mac and Freddie having not been seen in a significant amount of time, I don't think we should expect models of these engines in the future unless they're reintroduced into the TV series. In the case of Duke, at the very least, I hope that becomes a reality. Maybe Freddie too, if they manage to reintroduce him into the show in a graceful manner. I know Freddie is a TV Series exclusive engine, but for RWS fans, there's the potential to make him into Ivo Hugh, as he and Freddie are both based on the Talyllyn Railway's "Tom Rolt" locomotive (to my knowledge).

I quite deliberately left off one particular Season 4 exclusive engine and another particular Season 5 exclusive engine. As realistically, neither would probably ever get made, unfortunately. Considering at least one of them would've had potential for interesting development post-season 5...

~Alex

Wow, grandpuff, I'm very impressed with how the layout has coming along, and equally impressed with how Mighty Mac, Duke, and the coaches have turned out! Keep up the good work! I look forward to seeing more in the future.

~Alex

Quote from: Chaz on February 26, 2018, 10:55:12 PM
As usual here are questions for fans:

• Would you buy a Bachmann Peter Sam?
• Do you think he should be made next or should a different narrow gauge engine come before him?
• Can you also see his sales doing as well as Skarloey and Rheneas?

[...][L]et me know what you think.

I agree with most of the points you made in your post Chaz, I definitely think Peter Sam is the most logical for the next engine, and definitely the one I want to see next.

Now, as for those questions, I would certainly get a model of him, however, I personally will only start modeling Narrow Gauge Thomas engines once I have the space for it, so for the time being, I wouldn't be able to, but I definitely would buy a model in future.

I sort of already answered point 2 by accident, so skipping to point 3...potentially. Now I mean no harm when I say this, but from kitbashers across the internet, I certainly saw more excitement over a Talyllyn conversion from Skarloey, than a Dolgoch conversion from Rheneas, so I assume that perhaps the range will see a little less enthusiasm from people outside the Thomas community as it progresses, which does mean less sales. However, I could be completely wrong, and even if I'm not, I still maintain that sales of a Peter Sam model would do incredible, due to the Thomas community alone.

~Alex

I've vouched for Brakevans in the past, and since Chaz has outlined how much of a great option they'd be here, I don't think I'll go into a long post about them, I will say that I prefer the designs of them when they weren't based off the RWS tooling, but I still wouldn't mind it too much if they went the RWS route. I do like both designs, and there'd always be Shapeways if they chose the RWS route. Next year I could see the Brown Brakevan (for freight, and the CGI Red Coaches) being released, along with the Blue Brakevan. I'd save the Red Brakevan for 2020, as to me, having 3 Brakevans released in one year just sounds a little like overkill, but that might just be me.

I trust that Chaz's post about Peter Sam will be better than anything I could produce, as Peter Sam is also my next choice of engine, but I'll say why I personally would like to see him, in a brief summation:

It's no secret that Bachmann have struck gold with this range, I've already seen a few people talk of Talyllyn and Dogloch conversions with Skarloey and Rheneas respectively, and I've already seen a number of Talyllyn conversions (I've yet to see Dogloch ones though). Why do I bring this up? Well most of us are aware that Peter Sam has one of the best renders in the enitre CGI series, and his render is astonishingly accurate to his real life basis, Edward Thomas. Which provides us with the model we desire, and Talyllyn modelers with an RTR Edward Thomas - with a little conversion work.

Now lets add in some stuff I've pretty mush said word-for-word in a post last year: Peter Sam's usage throughout the entire series has been fairly consistent since his introduction, his personality has changed little even during the HiT era, he's also had a lot of lead roles, through the model era, and right into the CGI series, which is important to bear in mind.

Duncan may have a better overall usage in the CGI series currently, but lets not beat around the bush here...Duncan's render is one of the worst currently in the show. Peter Sam's render resembles his basis far more than Duncan's does, which gives Peter Sam a broader appeal to OO9 modelers, and Thomas and Friends modelers alike. Some Thomas modelers may even buy a second model, just so that they can modify one model so they have one Peter Sam with his original funnel, before he got the Giesel variant (which, lets be honest, the RTR model we would get, would have the Giesel design). Also, I don't really see Mattel approving a model of Duncan that doesn't resemble the CGI design for him, but I could be wrong there (I sincerely hope I am), as a model of Duncan that matches his basis more closely will make fans and OO9 modelers in general, far happier than the alternative.

Also quickly, I'd like to say that whilst Sir Handel has a great render too, his usage in the show has been less consistent since the introduction of the CGI series, and his basis is currently undergoing overhaul, so that makes this less likely too. (Though Duncan and Peter Sam are two of my favourite engines so maybe I just have a bias for them).

I think an engine and two Brakevans is enough to expect/put on my wishlist for next year, if however, they do squeeze an extra piece of rolling stock in, I could see it being a "tipper wagon" like we see in Blue Mountain Quarry. I personally would rather see the First Class Red Coaches of the Classic Season (for convenience sake I hereby dub them the "First Class Coaches"), but I feel like two years in a row that only includes Brakevans and Coaches as far as stock goes may seem a bit dull for some fans. Especially since freight trains can often be made more varied and interesting than passenger trains, to they probably appeal more to a younger demographic that way. In any case, I know I personally want the First Class Coaches, but I suspect that if they do get made, the earliest we'll see them is 2020, and I'm okay with that, as I think business-wise, that's the better choice, ultimately. Hopefully the Red Coaches of this year have tooling that's to scale with the Talyllyn Railway Coaches 1-2 (or coach 3), that way the tooling will already exist if Bachmann proceeds to make these coaches in 2020, as TerrenceTheTractor525 has already suggested.

As for HO Scale? Logically speaking the next engine should be Daisy, that's what's in the greatest demand from us fans, and most of us will be ecstatic with her arrival. I'd personally love to see both Harwick Branchline engines made in HO Gauge, over the coming years. I expect we may say Sidney next year, though I can't say I'd be that thrilled with another class 08 shunter recolour. If Bachmann does make a new tooling though, and sticks to their thing with smaller engines, I just hope we see Ryan, not Stanley or Charlie.

I think I'll ponder HO rolling stock a little more before I post my thoughts, much like Sparks. Though I do think TerrenceTheTractor525's suggestion for TT#6 is a good one. I also like the idea of a brown van that uses the Mail Car's tooling...but this will require more thought - I consider these options more of a "what I want", as opposed to "what is likely".

Moving onto Resin Buldings:
Well if we're to go off that strawpoll I created months back (link here: http://www.strawpoll.me/14346400) the Narrow Gauge engine shed currently sits at 25% of the vote, and is it any wonder, really? These sheds have been around since seasons 4 & 5, they're iconic to us as fans, and would provide easy storage for two little engines. This was honestly my favourite pick of the resin opetions in my own poll. I don't feel I have to argue this one too hard...I feel like the appeal is relatively obvious, correct me if I'm wrong though.
My personal favourite design of this shed is still this one: http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Duncan_Gets_Spooked/Gallery?file=DuncanGetsSpooked40.png
Someone can probably make a better case for them but I can, however I can put forward a better argument at a later date if need be, I can't have this post getting too long, can I?

Other favourite ideas of mine also include the Ruined Castle (as seen in the Classic Seasons and CGI Era) on the Castle Causeway (surprisingly, this got no votes), and Ffarquhar Station (As Per Classic Seasons) (sharing 18% of the vote, also my second favourite idea). With the 4-track Signal Gantry and the Shunting Yard Shed as the next runners-up.

As for Large Scale? I have no idea what to expect, I don't have any intentions of collecting the range, but its clear to me that the engines in the most demand are Diesel, Edward, Mavis, Bill and Ben - in terms of engines with small enough wheelbases to be made - personally I think any of them are a good choice - hopefully Diesel isn't actually canceled and there was just an error in the catalogue printing - though I somehow doubt that unfortunately. As for LS Rolling Stock? The Red Branchline Coaches are easily the best rolling stock choice. Plow Bender made a great post about them on page 16 of the 2018 predictions, it can be found here: http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,33422.240.html
Honestly, just read his post there, it sums up my thoughts too. However...if we're to get a bit more outlandish, I think that range would benefit from a Mail Car...but that may be pushing things a tad, I understand.

Sorry about my section on potential resin lineups and large scale being pitifully short, I didn't want this post to be too long.

~Alex

I must say, I agree with Chaz about Daisy, even though she's perhaps not the engine I'd like to see most (on a personal level), she's the one I'd like to see second, but I want to see Daisy the most in a "big picture" sense, as she clearly has the most demand, and therefore I believe, she'd be the most financially sound decision for Bachmann to make. As I have previously openly vouched for Brakevans for the Narrow Gauge range before, I can get behind the idea of those too. I also think Peter Sam is the best candidate for the next NG Engine, for reasons many have stated previously.

Now, onto TerencetheTractor525's earlier post; I wouldn't mind the blue of the coaches being like the one on the van - as that is more like the blue that those coaches held in the Railway Series, but I wouldn't mind them being the colour of their counterparts in the classic seasons - between the two options, I probably slightly prefer the idea of these coaches appearing as they did in classic seasons, but I won't mind either way. As long as they get made - correctly scaled, mind you (but more on this later), I'll be over the moon.

As for the Red Coaches? Well...in Bachmann's catalogue (on page 21), the Red Coaches in question, appear to be the fan-dubbed "Talyllyn Coaches" (gaining this name from having their liveries inspired by the Talyllyn Coaches) from the CGI Series. This isn't a problem in itself, but the red van in question that would suit the classic red coaches, won't match the CGI ones, the red of these current coaches is much darker than that of the older model series one.

Also a concern of mine that I've just developed...is that the Blue and Red Coaches may end up sharing a tooling...as the Red NG Coaches in the CGI series are also based off the Talyllyn Railway Coach No. 4, it just so happens that they're far too wide, and are also too tall. If both these coaches are to share the same tooling, I'd like them to be in scale with either the real life coach, or the model series variant, the CGI coaches are just far too out of proportion for my tastes. That might just be me though. Plus I feel like the Talyllyn paint scheme would sell better on a coach that had the proper scaling for the real coach, as that would appeal to Thomas fans and Talyllyn modelers everywhere! I see no downside to going with the proper scaling, instead of the dreadful CGI scaling. I sincerely hope they aren't Peco recolours either.

That's just my take on things though.

Quote from: Chaz on February 17, 2018, 01:40:38 AM
Add red and blue brake vans behind the respective vans and 2-4 coaches and you would have a really nice passenger train in narrow gauge too.

Honestly, that's been something I've liked the idea of for a long time now, glad to see I'm not the only one who has thought of it
~Alex

So, I've refrained recently from posting my predictions for this year's announcements, I didn't think I had much ton contribute to the conversation, my opinions hadn't changed much anyway so I figured it was pointless to post the same things over and over again. Anyway, I thought I'd give my feedback on the actual announcements here.

HO Range:
Paxton:
Despite being announced last year, it seems we do have an image of Paxton in the catalogue, the red siderods are nice, but it seems hard to get into the real nitty-gritty of it without a better and more clear display image.

Grumpy Diesel:
This just seems like a bad idea to me, especially when his regular "happy CGI" counterpart is still in the catalogue. I think if the need for a face change was in this much demand, the new faceplate and eyes should've just been put up on Bachmann's "Parts" catalogue, I think it'd be a much more cost-effective way of doing things, as I don't particularly see many people going out of their way to buy this one. I like the idea of Diesel with a new face, but I'll probably just order the faceplate separately. Come to think of it, separate faceplates on the parts catalogue are probably a good idea, fans have been clamouring for new James, Thomas and Percy faceplates, just as much (if not more) than they have for a new one for Diesel. This seems like a concept more suited to a range like Trackmaster than Bachmann.

Gordon's Express Coaches:
These have been in high demand since they were discontinued so it makes perfect sense to me as to why they're back. I think they'll sell well enough to justify their catalogue presence.

The tankers:
I don't even know what to say here...I mean I guess these are better than the Green Mail Car, but I still think the vans last year were a better idea. I don't think these are awful by any means...just...not the best choice. Personally (as mocked as the idea is) I would've rather just seen one tanker released with a face...I think that would sell better than both of these two combined. But I'm willing to be proved wrong. Still better than the Green Mail Car in my opinion though.

Spiteful breakvan:
I really look forward to how this one turns out! Even though he was a one-off character in Season 2, he left his mark with classic fans, and I look forward to seeing his model. I just hope his face is accurate to the Season 2 model (as I doubt they'll bas it on the RWS design).

NG Range:
I'm not surprised by the lack of a new Engine here, we still don't have a prototype model for Rusty yet. My theory here is actually similar to what people suggested with Oliver. Bachmann's probably having difficulty balancing the new CGI design with what fans want and will likely sell better - that being a design closer to that of Rusty's basis "Midlander". Also no one I've talked to wants that oversized face that Rusty's had since Season 5...which probably gives Bachmann a headache, as they want to please fans, yet Mattel will want something that looks close to the current CGI design. Bachmann aren't exactly in an easy spot with this one right now, methinks.

Anyway, onto the Coaches:
I was very pleasantly surprised to see the Blue Coaches on here, I'm extremely happy they're being made. They were in a fairly good demand from fans like myself, but since they hadn't been seen since Season 10, I had my doubts. I am extremely happy that these doubts were dashed. I hope they do use a different tooling than the Red Coaches, as these appear to be based on the CGI coaches, which have designs that are a bit overscaled. As for the Red Coaches...well, I'm a sucker for the classic series personally, so these don't interest me as much as the classic Red Coaches would, but I do understand they are based off the current design, what kids will recognise from the current TV series, etc. I can't complain too much here, I'm just happy we're getting coaches. I find it interesting that (if memory serves me right) Chaz predicted these a couple of months back in last year...regardless, I'm glad they're happening.

I hope we see a Brown Brakevan and a Blue Brakevan next year, to accompany the freight stock in this range, and the Red and Blue Coaches respectively. Hopefully the classic Red Coaches will crop up in the range at some point. Considering they all have "1" marked on their sides, they could be marketed as First Class Coaches, or something. Yet I doubt this. Even so, I'm happy enough with the current selection. I doubt we'll see the green "open air" coaches from Bachmann in the future. So for now, it seems like this is the only passenger rolling stock we'll get, though I am happy to see the coaches announced this year, instead of yet more freight wagons, as it brings in some rolling stock diversity.

LS Range:
Tankers:
I don't see these selling well, at all. I get they're recolours, so it's cheap and makes sense from a financial perspective, but...come on. Did anyone actually ask for these? I don't think so.

Discontinuations:
HO Brake Van:
The old one was really showing its age anyway, we used to have half a thread dedicated to how much this item of rolling stock needed an upgrade, hopefully the spiteful brakevan is the upgrade we desire, and not just a face slapped on the old model, without (at the very least) updating the paintwork of it.

Emily's Passenger Set:
Out of all of these, Emily's Passenger Set does make the most sense. The sets with Thomas do tend to sell better as introductory sets into the range, because Thomas is the main character, I'm pretty sure the only reason Emily's set stuck around this long was because she's the main female steam engine in the show. I mean, the James, Gordon, Percy and I believe Salty sets all disappeared a while back. I can't say I'm too surprised here.

McColl's cattle wagon:
Considering even the forum seemed to forget about this wagon in discussion, I can't say I'm overly surprised...plus we already have the regular Cattle Wagon, along with the GWR one, and TT#3, to be honest, this item being canceled isn't actually a surprise to me, when I heard its announcement I thought they might be overdoing it on the Cattle Wagons, turns out that may have been right.

Large Scale Thomas Set:
This seems nonsensical at best to me, sets are usually a good way to bring new people into the hobby, to not have one available in the LS Thomas Range makes me seriously think if maybe even Bachmann thinks the days of this range are numbered. I don't feel like this was the best business decision (though who am I to judge that?), I  do think, however, that it could be a bad sign of things to come.

Large Scale Diesel:
...Why? At least the basic tooling for this one is easily workable into recolours for characters like Paxton and Sidney...the tooling is versatile, and whilst a lot of people weren't thrilled with Diesel, I think most of the large scale collector's still would've liked a model of him...

'Arry and Bert:
Surprised these two are still on the catalogue and haven't already been discontinued, especially considering their discontinuation has been predicted for years.

Quote from: Chaz on February 16, 2018, 06:12:05 PM

Quote from: Griffin on February 16, 2018, 04:36:12 PM
No one [will] pay for a whole new engine unless they need a new Diesel anyway.

I feel like that is really the only logical reason for someone to buy "Grumpy Diesel" if they didn't get the first one.  Same could be said for those who missed out on Gordon's coaches.

I agree with these statements. Let's just hope Grumpy Diesel is less prone to buffer miscolours than the normal Diesel model.

~Alex