Quote from: Cheeky_ULP on August 04, 2026, 08:38:52 PMOne thing I have seen people mention recently that is still a problem on both the G Scale and N scale Thomas models is the width of his smokebox saddle:



Meanwhile, on his actual design, the saddle is fairly narrow:



My guess is Bachmann has used a wider smokebox saddle so that the splashers can be flush with the body as one single mold. It does make me wonder if it is possible to design a body shell with the proper narrow smokebox saddle while still being economical if that's the case. I would assume it's unrelated to the eye mechanism, as Edward has his thin smokebox saddle. If Bachmann can fix this in the new tooling, it would certainly help Thomas look "thinner" in the front.

With N Scale, Thomas' smokebox saddle is that way because that's where the gear train from the motor goes to the wheels. I do hope that their able to make it thinner on this new model, though, and hopefully Thomas' splashers can be separated from the tanks like the Large Scale model as well.

Going back to Thomas' wheels, I'm still hoping that maybe Bachmann will consider giving him new, more accurate wheels, since his original wheels are too big compared to the show (for both the Model Series and CGI Series):

Bachmann Wheels:
https://imgur.com/a/offBNur

Thomas' Wheels (Series 1):
https://imgur.com/gallery/thomas-wheels-season-1-WWcbN4y

Thomas' Wheels (CGI Series):
https://imgur.com/a/B99TVLh

They were able to get the wheel size and overall look correct in N Scale (other than the wheels being solid), so I hope they'll take the time to do it for HO Scale as well. They actually have the correct wheel tooling in the range already; Rosie and Duck use wheels that are the correct size and the spoke pattern matches up with Thomas' CGI model as well:

https://imgur.com/a/bYSs1pv

Anyways, I am really excited for these retoolings, and I hope Bachmann's able to get them to look as accurate as possible. It would be great to have models of Thomas and Percy that look like they were ripped straight from the show!

EDIT: Sorry for the pictures only showing up as links, it's my first time trying to use imgur.com and I'm not sure how to embed the pictures into the post.

The new Thomas and Percy are probably the highlights of the announcements for me, and I really hope they get them right!

I hope that they do make new chassis for them, especially Thomas. I've always felt that the wheels Bachmann originally used for Thomas look way to big when comparing him to either the Live Action or CGI models. I hope they use different wheels, especially since the N Scale Thomas got the wheel size right. If they could basically do the N Scale model, but scaled up to OO, I think this has the chance of being the most accurate Thomas ever, especially with an open cab and spokes!

I also think that Percy should get a new chassis, since the current model's chassis block looks way too big, and it just doesn't look good on Percy.

A new chassis would also let them use bearings, which would help with running performance quite a bit, especially paired with a flywheel. Since Thomas and Percy are main characters, I hope Bachmann is able to do everything they can to ensure they run well.

Also, I kind of hope they use the faces from the photos in the catalog. I think Thomas' closed-mouth smile looks really good, and it would help him stand out a bit from other characters in the range, since most have open smiles.

As far as sizing goes, I think they might end up being a tad smaller than the originals, since some of the proportions were stretched to fit the motors/eye mechs, but I don't think they would scale them down too much, since most of the models are scaled to fit in with the original Thomas model. Didn't Bachmann also scale Oliver up compared to his CGI render to help him fit in better with the rest of the range?

Quote from: Zorran202 on August 01, 2026, 10:22:15 AMI'm curious how this character got greenlit due to the loading restrictions or whatever, because I'm not surprised that his claw was a factor in making this model a chance to be made.

I think the NMRA Loading Gauge restriction was always just fan speculation, rather than anything stated outright. For example, I'm pretty sure that models of Double-Stack container cars would be taller than a model of Diesel 10 (there are also models made with pantographs as well). I think things were misconstrued due to the Thomas Wikipedia saying that Diesel 10 would be too tall for British Loading Gauge in real life, and people figured the same would be true of models.

Quote from: Cheeky_ULP on July 14, 2026, 07:22:24 PMThe wording is interesting because most Bachmann Thomas fans have probably made every reasonable deduction for a product Bachmann could make at least once or twice. I'm getting the impression that whatever they plan to announce might be something fairly outside the box.

It almost makes me wonder if it could be someone like Stepney. We wouldn't see him coming because it we pretty much wrote him off as a possibility due to what Bachmann said about him. I know it's extremely unlikely, though.

Quote from: Mulfred on April 10, 2026, 01:50:14 PMSomething I've been thinking about alot is vans within the range. Unfortunately at the moment in N scale and Large scale we have the 12 ton van however in HO theres both 12 ton van and the GWR vent van but there's an ever growing number of van variations being ticked off year after year and this leads to N and Large having one tooling for a van and their HO counterpart being a different one. But that doesn't need to be the case. We can still have a GWR vent van in N scale and maybe even Large (although N in my reason for this post.

Alot of goods trains in the show have multiple vans making up a train. See here the Mr Jolly's chocolate factory train where theres both 12 ton vans and GWR vans. Which leads me to my point. What if Bachmann introduced the GWR van into N Scale as a new tooling that they can add onto consists. I know some may say "its just rehashing old vans. Why introduced whats already in the range" but its not, its doing exactly what we do with things like Road numbers or having variations of different coloured wagons like for example the high sided wagons in NG line or Gondolas or even the gunpowder wagons.

I'm a bit late to the party on this, but here are my thoughts. While I think it would be cool to see the GWR Vent Van tooling in the range eventually, I feel like there are other types of goods stock that should be prioritized first, such as the Mail Vans, Flatbeds, and maybe even a new tooling for the Tankers before adding a 2nd Van variant, just so the range doesn't get immediately cluttered with vans. The other wagons would also provide more variety in a train than the GWR Vent Van. However, I do think this or the Salt Van would be a good option for a 2nd type of van later on, once the other types of wagons are made.

Bachmann posted higher quality images of the N Scale Diesel sample to their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/100064815337741/posts/1404963855007446/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

He's looking really good so far! I can't wait to see how the painted sample and Henry look!

Is anyone else getting an error message when trying to view the 2026 Catalog online? When I try to open the link to it, it just says "404 Not Found. The requested URL was not found on this server."

EDIT: It has been fixed now.

Hey everyone, I filmed a review of Sir Handel that I uploaded on YouTube. Here's a link to it:

Overall, I think Sir Handel is an excellent model, and I'm really glad he was finally able to be released! He has a great amount of detail and runs extremely well. I'm excited to see where the Narrow Gauge range can go from here!

Quote from: GordonPacific04 on October 05, 2025, 04:51:18 PM

Quote from: Kemptown Branch on October 05, 2025, 03:20:20 PMHey, does anyone know if the figures from the Railway Personnel packs can fit inside of the Narrow Gauge Engines' cabs? Thanks!

Unfortunately not, I've tried. All the HO Thomas figures are slightly overscaled.

Thanks!

Hey, does anyone know if the figures from the Railway Personnel packs can fit inside of the Narrow Gauge Engines' cabs? Thanks!

Quote from: GordonPacific04 on August 12, 2025, 07:31:45 PMI'm a bit bummed that he'll be using Gordon's chassis, as the siderods are too thick.

Bachmann did make new siderods for Stanley despite reusing Thomas' chassis, so maybe they'll be able to do the same for Flying Scotsman.

I'll second this, as I think it's a great idea! I grew up near the UTA Trax, so I'd definitely buy some if they were made.

Hey everyone, it looks like Hannah has been added to the web store, although she isn't in stock yet.

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=265_1126_1128&products_id=9278

Hey guys, I was able to pick up Emily recently, and she's an excellent model! The quality of the paint and lining is really high, being consistent across the entire model. I think she captures the look and shape of her CGI model extremely well, too!



She doesn't have some of the extra detailing seen in the later CGI seasons, but that's because she (and the other engines in the range) is based on the CGI orthographics that Nitrogen Studios created when they made Hero of the Rails.


Something I also want to mention is that Emily doesn't feel fragile. Even though the railings on her tender are see-through, they feel solid, and it doesn't feel like they could be broken by accident. Her model overall also feels really good, and all of the component pieces fit together extremely well.


As far as performance goes, she runs really smoothly and quietly in both directions. She is pretty fast compared to other engines, but mine can still be controlled to a nice, slow speed. She can also pull a decently sized train, which is nice!


If you guys would like to see my thoughts more in-depth, I made a video for her, which you can see here:
https://youtu.be/TmOZ17oEazY?si=nmkQZP3NYqNJXZuG

Overall, I think she's a great addition to the range, and she definitely makes me excited for the future of the range as well!

Quote from: RailsByRick on November 03, 2024, 07:35:25 AMI know we all want an N Scale Edward. Recently I've been thinking over the logistics of how exactly Bachmann would be able to tackle a model with such a short wheelbase in N scale.

The N Scale Thomas engines released so far have small motors that still take up most of the length of the model, and as such, have the front axle be the driven axle. Of course, Edward's driving wheels are very close together, and reside towards his cab. This means the usual approach of having an axle in the front be connected to the motor is out of the question.

Could Bachmann flip the motor around and re-wire it appropriately so that the worm drive is facing the cab? Another issue with this is potentially making the front too heavy, when in reality, you want most of the weight over the driving wheels.

I'm not sure how they'll approach it, but I certainly hope Bachmann doesn't just skip on Edward entirely, and I hope they'll do his model justice.

I've also thought about this a little bit. One thing I think they could do is similar they did with Peter Sam, Sir Handel, and the larger scale versions of Emily, and have his rear pony truck wheel geared as well as his drive wheel, effectively making him driven like a 2-6-0. Edward's body length in the show is very close to Thomas, so I don't think that Edward's front bogie wheel would need to articulate to get around curves in N Scale, compared to the larger scales. That would also make it so that Edward would have more wheels to pick up electricity.

If they did need to, they could still have Edward's front wheel articulate or just move a little more to each side; they "split up" the front bogie on the OO9 Baldwin, and it wasn't really noticeable when going around curves.