After much delay I have finally gotten my hands on the N Scale Toby. It's an excellent model. Perfectly captures the design from the show, and also performs very well as a locomotive. Operates smoothly, can pull lots of cars, and capable of more prototypical slow-speed running as well. Very much recommend picking it up if you're at all interested in N.

All 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.

I think in HO, what a side-character focused set needs to succeed is to have a better value for money than the standard "Thomas + Annie & Clarabel + Circle of Track" set. Something along the lines of the Salty or Thomas freight set but featuring a more widely-popular character who isn't just Thomas might do the trick. Say, James with a rake of four wagons? They could be either unique color schemes for existing tools or items plucked from the separate-sale range of wagons, preferably the former to get in more appeal to newcomers. Maybe a bit of both would work? Something like S.C. Ruffey and the Spiteful Brake Van coupled with a Box Van and Tank Car in unique schemes would be a pretty enticing draw for newcomers to the hobby. James has traditionally been the 2nd most popular character in Thomas merchandising as a whole, so I think something like this would be a hit.

As for other scales, you're completely right that we're well over-due for an HOn30 starter set. I think Skarloey with a rake of passenger cars (perhaps ones with liveries unique to the set?) with a loop of track would be a popular item. A Gordon set in N Scale sounds reasonable as well. I think the reason Bachmann is doing N Scale versions of all these discontinued HO sets is because they don't plan on keeping them around forever to begin with. But once Gordon's coaches are announced, I think it's pretty safe to assume they'll be making a set with them and Gordon too. Now all we need in N is a Christmas set...

For Large Scale, I think reintroducing the Thomas set would more or less be the only viable avenue for a new set. You basically hit the nail on the head, Large Scale's popularity dying down nowadays. But surely it having a Thomas-branded entry point into the hobby wouldn't make its situation any worse, would it?

I don't think explicit duo characters are something that Bachmann would necessarily be in the market to create right now. This is not an indictment of duos as a concept, moreso Bachmann's constantly rising prices for model trains. For example the price of purchasing both Bill and Ben is higher than buying a big engine like Spencer on its own. And for such small engines as Bill and Ben, even if they are excellent models, it is a poor value for money even compared to an ugly model like Spencer. This is likely one of the many reasons the Iron Twins got discontinued as well, seeing as they were more expensive than Bill and Ben.

The currently available twins (the Scots and the SCC saddle-tanks) in the range are likely only still here thanks to their classic notoriety, and with Donald and Douglas specifically they are not only bigger engines that better justify their price as a duo but also are not a 'mandatory pair' in the same way Bill and Ben or 'Arry and Bert are. Many stories feature one Scottish twin on his own, so having only one of them on a layout is less 'out of place' compared to just Ben or just 'Arry. Likewise, the 'Harwick Duo' are much the same way. While Daisy and Ryan do work together on that branch, Daisy has historically been a Ffarquhar Branch loco in the old stories, and Ryan is a pretty adaptable engine that can go just about anywhere if the modeller so desires. They are more flexible in use cases and will be more successful individually as a result.

I think out of all the characters mentioned in this thread Whiff is the most likely to be made. As far as I'm aware he's been a fairly consistent tertiary character in merchandising and whatnot. In terms of what is most likely to be the next new tool for HO, I'd say he's a solid 3rd place, right behind Nia (who would make sense as a follow-up to Rebecca) and Stanley (consistent request and also modestly popular). That said, I don't think Bachmann "needs" to make Scruff to go alongside Whiff if they do decide to make him. Unless he's significantly cheap, which he likely would not be given Bachmann's recent absurd prices for new train-set-quality tools, I think Scruff would be a pretty poor performer sales-wise. These two are also a bit of a 'one-way pair', since Whiff used to operate as a lone engine (and currently does operate alone in the 2D reboot). So, Whiff does not need to rely on Scruff to sell, but Scruff will rely on Whiff. This means that if Whiff bombs, Scruff will too.

Den and Dart would be nice additions to the range, but are fairly married to each other appearance-wise. So unless they can fix the pricing problem with duos, they might not be especially viable. Which I find a shame to be honest, as they're the ones I like the most out of the characters discussed so far. As for other options suggested such as Porter with Salty or Timothy with Bill and Ben, it's more or less the same case with Scruff. They are also 'one-way pairs', and Porter specifically is hinging his fate on a character who has already been discontinued once. And as illustrated earlier with Bill and Ben vs. Spencer alone pricing, adding a third loco to the Bill and Ben package would not make that value comparison any more favorable, ha ha.

Quote from: Red Tender 5 on May 22, 2023, 02:17:18 AMDoes Bachmann's license allow for products of objects not seen on screen?

I'm sure people would buy a Sodor Line bobber caboose to go with their Beau locomotive. Bachmann already produces a painted & unlettered version with the correct colors, all that is required is the "SODOR LINE" block letters.

I believe they are allowed to make rolling stock that was not seen on-screen. Many of the more recent rolling stock liveries make use of logos and lettering seen only on toys. "Sodor Scrap Co.", "Brendam Bay Shipping Co.", "Sodor Fruit & Vegetable Co.", etc. I assume putting the Sodor Line Caboose into the lineup would be at the mercy of licensor approval. However I think Mattel would be willing to approve its use, as they did approve the use of the Caboose in some CGI-style books which were published as recently as 2020. Lionel also has a version of the Caboose as a regular feature in their Thomas lineup, which I believe would have also required approval from Mattel.

I'm unsure about how popular it would be among hardcore Sodor modellers since it has never appeared in the TV show, but given Beau's reception has been positive enough to make Bachmann reconsider his 'limited run' status, I believe many would welcome it not only for its synergy with him but as a novelty item in general. And because Bachmann makes Bobber Cabooses in both HO and N Scales, it would also be easy to bring over to N Scale if it ends up being popular in HO.

I have a lot of UK outline N Gauge stock and want to convert the lot to knuckle couplers for a switching layout, and figured these could also pull double duty for a hybrid UK/US running session to entertain folks. One problem; the NEM knuckle couplers that are on the market (specifically from Dapol, who as far as I can tell are the only ones making anything like these) are much larger than the typical Kadee-style coupler and won't marry with them at all.

Anybody know any alternatives? Is there hope for Bachmann to provide their own like they have in HO/OO with their NEM E-Z Mates?

That's an excellent model, Red Tender. I'm surprised Bachmann haven't already announced a "Sodor Line Caboose" to accompany their upcoming Beau. Your refit of their existing bobber is proof it'd be a hit, ha ha ha.

On the Bachmann online store, there are a lot of new "coming soon" listings, including the N Scale Box Vans and HOn30 Vans. Toby and Ryan were listed as "coming soon" as well a month or so before they finally came into stock, so perhaps this means these items are on the water and will be distributed rather soon?

Narrow Gauge fans will no doubt be pleased to finally have the vans they were promised two or three years ago, but I'm astounded by the speed at which the N Scale Vans went from reveal to release. I was anticipating them to be releasing at the very end of the year, to be honest. I hope this method of announcing a product when it is ready to ship becomes more common, it gives one heart to see (what appears to us as) speedy product release cycles when the new engine tools (or Narrow Gauge vans, evidently) take 2+ years to make their way to market...

Either way, I've already made my pre-orders, so I'm eagerly awaiting the new Box Vans. (As well as the N Scale MKT wide-vision caboose. My old man's an MKT enthusiast, so it's something he'd get a kick out of, ha ha ha.)

Very good review, Chaz. I'm still waiting on my Toby to arrive from my retailer of choice, so it is nice to get a preview of some of the fine details.

Interesting to see the reuse of the Thomas chassis on Toby. Very clever, and something that only an engine with fully hidden wheels like Toby can really get away with. I recall the HO and Large Scale versions of Toby have only two out of three axles powered via gears, which I remember hearing led to poor performance? I've never had an HO Toby so I may be mistaken on this... But I am glad to see N Scale Toby has rectified this issue by powering all six axles via the siderods. Mechanically simpler and already confirms it will perform well, given N Scale Thomas' excellent quality.

Perhaps, some time in the near future, Thomas' chassis can be used to power a certain other tramway engine in N Scale.

Quote from: N Scale Sudrian on May 04, 2023, 09:43:25 PMBit of a shame there was no update on Toby's distribution in this stream like there was for Ryan, I suppose we are to assume he's either on the water or awaiting transit...

Well, consider my disappointment retracted. Latest Facebook post from Bachmann says that both Ryan and Toby are shipping now, which is excellent to hear. I'll post my thoughts on Toby once I've got my order in but I am optimistic about its quality.

Checked in on the latest Trainworld Thomas stream. Decorated samples for Emily's Coaches look nice, glad to see those coming along smoothly. I was a bit skeptical of them at first due to being based on the slightly-too-big N Scale Annie and Clarabel. But given how large Emily is, the sizing looks like won't be as jarring is as it is with Thomas.

Bit of a shame there was no update on Toby's distribution in this stream like there was for Ryan, I suppose we are to assume he's either on the water or awaiting transit...

Have been doing research for possible tank car liveries on my layout, and found this Die-Cast toy with a rather cool looking Jet Fuel logo. There aren't many red tank cars on Sodor, the only one I can think of besides this is the Raspberry Syrup Tank, which I do like the look of but seems at risk of being discontinued given its compatriot the Cream Tank has disappeared from both HO and Large Scale. If Bachmann is ever in need of a new red tank car for the Thomas line, I think this is the ticket.

I don't know how others feel about this matter, but I think it would be nice to see non-rail characters such as Bertie, Terence, or Cranky added to the N Scale "Thomas" lineup. If I were modeling in HO I would not feel as strongly since most typical "Thomas" toys roughly fit in that size range, even if they may not be to the same detail standard as say, Bachmann's model of Terence. But since N Scale is smaller than most typical "Thomas" toys, its been difficult identifying and procuring reasonable representations of these characters for the scale. I wouldn't consider it a priority by any means but it would be nice for those of us making dedicated layouts for N Scale "Thomas", especially if they were new tools that reflected the "CGI" design specifications instead of scaled-down versions of the HO vehicles.

Just finished watching the latest Thomas Tuesday, got a bit of a late start but glad I tuned in. Emily looks very nice, face or no face. Details are exquisite and the properly hollow-spoked wheels are a welcome surprise. Definitely looking forward to see how her painted sample appears.

News that Toby should hopefully be shipping to Bachmann soon, if not already shipping right now, is also reassuring. I fear he may have been upstaged by Gordon and Emily in the eyes of some despite being a landmark in N Scale "Thomas" in his own right. He looks fantastic to me as well, and I only hope that Henrietta gets her first sample soon so she can join him, ha ha.

Quote from: Zekeism on March 03, 2023, 08:25:25 PMFrom what I believe, Hornby owns the licence to the Flying Scotsman, which is why Bachmann haven't made a regular version on the engine.

Hornby does not hold exclusive rights to the Flying Scotsman loco, evident by Dapol making the Flying Scotsman in N Scale and O Scale. From my understanding, a manufacturer has pay a licensing fee to the NRM to make models of it. I believe that is the case with all NRM-owned locos, such as Mallard, City of Truro, etc... Bachmann Europe has made many models with the NRM seal of approval so I assume they would be perfectly capable of doing the Thomas version of Flying Scotsman, if it were a viable venture.

For what its worth, I think a Thomas version of Flying Scotsman would be currently better suited to the N Scale range than HO. Since his model in the 3D animated show is an altered version of Gordon's, they can recycle the chassis from the upcoming N Scale Gordon and just make a new body shell and set of tenders. Meanwhile in HO since HO Gordon is so disproportionate compared to the show, they'd have to make a new chassis from scratch for Flying Scotsman. From that alone the retail price for an HO Flying Scotsman would exceed that of Rebecca or even a prospective Hiro. An HO version could still do well regardless of the pricing, it'd just be a more economic choice in N with what assets currently exist for it to utilize, ha ha ha.

I did say "after Henry and Edward" before suggesting them... I feel more strongly about Mavis than Spencer (as well as more than Diesel, frankly) on the whole, she's one I related to. Young, rebellious girl learning to be responsible... I quite like the girls they've introduced to Thomas over the years, they tend to get the short end of the stick from both writers and fans but I appreciate the representation regardless.

That's enough waxing poetic on my part... I'd like an Express Coaches announcement but I can't help but be nervous about it, since Bachmann seems more willing to make new tools from scratch for N Gauge. Since they say they use the exacting references of the 3D models, if they made a new tool for Express Coaches, they would be based on the truly awful Express Coaches that they use in the "CGI" series. Those coaches are thin and ugly and have broad windows on both sides for some bizarre reason... It would be a disaster. I'd rather them do something like repaint the Graham Farish MK1 stock in cream and green, or shrink down the Express Coach tool they use in HO...

Whatever they do, I think they'll do what they did with Toby and wait to announce the Express Coaches until he's closer to release before going ahead with his specific rolling stock. Given how quickly a tooling sample has materialized, 2024 Catalog feels like that'd be when they do it... My gut feeling for 2023 NMRA is that we may see new faceless 7-plank wagons. I'd hope for them to be Blue Open Wagon, Red Open Wagon, and Green Coal Wagon rather than the newer trio of lettered wagons they've been adding to HO and LS... I'd previously assumed the latter would be what we get, but since the Box Vans announced are all older schemes that have begun to discontinue in HO and LS, I feel like the older 7-plank wagons have a real shot.