Quote from: GordonPacific04 on February 03, 2026, 09:06:39 PMI am also down with resin buildings making a return. But taking critical approach, my biggest concern would definitely be the cost, especially in the current economy. (Even if I would buy them out of consumer loyalty regardless.) Also the Scene Scapes Resin buildings were all discontinued in 2023 and Bachmann has not produced any Resin Buildings since, so I assumed that resin buildings were dead in the water for the US market, as typically buildings are a one and done buy, and take up way more space and don't have as much demand as Engines and Rolling stock. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the resin buildings for the Thomas range. But I can't help but see the line between what us fans want and what is realistically feasible and profitable from a business perspective. However, the internet has gained much more exposure to the bachmann thomas range especially with Bachmann now taking more reception from what the fans want thanks to the Bachmann forums and the Thomas Tuesday livestreams. With the resurgence of demand for the resin buildings from older fans, and an increase of several new fans who never got the chance to obtain these buildings, I don't think it is completely off the table, it just has to be approached right.

If we are tying ourselves down to the Small, Recognizable, and versatile for general model railway use, I would love to see ones like the Signal box, trackside station, and black loch folly return.

I pretty much agree with everything Terence said, so I don't have much to add, but I'll advocate for a few of my top picks.

Narrow Gauge Engine shed -



OO9 is a prime market to strike for resin buildings. Been wanting one of these for a while, The Granite Rheneas sheds would be my top pick, but any of the skarloey sheds or depot sheds would be welcome as well.

Ffarquhar -
 


I know we're going with smaller buildings, but Ffarquhar station is one of, if not THE most Iconic thomas station. It was used in the classic series intro, and has remained relevant in CGI ever since it's return in The Adventure begins. Every fan would be over the moon if this got announced, and is one I can see selling very well.

An Idea I have is going the Hornby route and sell the station and platforms separately. I used to be hate the idea of this, trust me I know most of you will raise an eyebrow at this. But cost wise, say you already have usable platforms, so you just buy the station. Or if you need more Thomas platforms then you can buy more of those. You want both, than just buy both as if they were one. Maybe unrealistic, but just a thought.

Haunted Mine -



This is actually an Idea I've grown to love, it's a very industrial piece of architecture that I feel could work for any layout.

This will be a thread I can definitely see myself coming back to, and adding new ideas, but these would be my top picks. Don't want to dilute the water with too much.

Here's a question I'll ask and leave you all with, as I feel everyone's answers are important to this topic.
What exactly is the appeal of the Resin buildings, and what advantage do they have over a simple plastic or card kit?

Yea I think the detailing is second to none, weighty items always feel higher quality- but since everything is cast theres no wonky corners or warped parts and it scales very well as a result. the textures used are also often straight off the props and the effects of multiple layers of paint on this fine relief detail is just amazing. tidmouth sheds for some reason has massivesly scaled bricks when you compare it to something like maithwaite, and the colors are never as bright and synthetic looking.

That being said I think a paintjob goes a long way- the old sodor junction from ex-plasticville pieces are really nice items even if they arent accurate to the show, the subtle weathering and matte finish actually makes them sit quite nicely alongside resin buildings.

I definitely agree, I think the smaller more affordable items are the way to go for now, and if they can match the quality of the previous resin range I would be all in. Maybe it'll lead to larger ones in the future.

As for specifics I definitely agree we need buildings for the narrow gauge engines, any shed, a small slate built water tower, or even the incline winding house would look great. Also while I think the castle loch was a fine item, I would much prefer a small ruined castle as seem on the causeway to compliment the NG line.

If we are going for small but iconic and memorable, I would also suggest items like the multiple small vertical boiler cranes or even the sodor maid canal boat, these could be well detailed but still have more of a 'play' factor to them that may get more people into the higher quality resin line. I think part of the reason the og signal box did well was because it was the most affordable railway related option, and railway related buildings I feel generally more inclined to buy or use. (not everybody has room to use a scenic castle loch or random sheds- but they most likely have room for a signal box next to the tracks, or an engine shed etc)

The workmans hut and tidmouth dairy are good choices for the die hard fan, but on their own they do have a tendency to look a bit generic as you said. If they need a strong jumpstart to a new resin line, things with ttte-unique signs like the Neptune Cafe, or the C&B barber pack that extra punch and really make it feel like a thomas item. So as much of that as possible, like the Cool Arlesburgh Maritime Museum building with its iconic mural, or an MC Bunn Cafe. I think this was the appeal of the hornby resin range having items like "waterton butchers" etc that had that unmistakeable connection to the thomas world.

I'd also argue the clock tower steeple is very iconic, being seen in many countryside sets, by knapford, in arlesburgh harbor too. I dont think they would need to make the church that seems to be attached to it (I thought it was just a standalone clock tower for the longest time)

It might also be worth noting that the maithwaite tooling could be altered to create an affordable building for the new range: harwick station. With Ryan and Daisy in OO already this could please alot of people, just the station building with no platforms.

Its bizarre to me that ffarquhar or the watermill havent been made by bachmann or hornby, so if the resin range picks back up those would be great in time. I may just be speaking for myself but comsidering the rarity of alot of bachmann's previous buildings I know I'd be pre-ordering any new ones that were announced! Here's to hoping they come back!

What I don't understand is why Douglas affects Duncan's chances so much. This is still the thomas range, bachmann Duncan even in his unpopular CGI form would be viable and popular-at the very least for another smooth 0-4-0 chassis. We've seen them take controversial cgi routes for characters before as well. (Oliver seems to still be going strong)

If the narrow gauge range only sees profit for toolings that can be reused outside of thomas now then I'm scared for its future..

A happy medium could be designing the TVS duncan around a wheelbase accurate for Douglas, and then tooling a new body if they want to produce the latter. Isn't the exact same cost saving measure but not a bad trade either. Fourdees already does this and offers high quality prints of bodies designed to fit Bachmann chassis, it's somewhere to look to if bachmann want to expand the non-thomas Hon30 range. (Although I am curious how well welsh narrow gauge sells here at all)

This has been discussed with Doug on Thomas Tuesday Livestreams, the market and interest may be there, but the fact is that the faces on the locomotives are not meant to be removed by the average consumer. There is no designed way to remove them. It is quite easy to damage the products by removing the faces and- depending on the engine- the eyes come out with the face. which makes them incredibly fiddly to refit. There will be no alternate face options unless the loco toolings themselves are updated to accomodate the feature. I recall talking with Doug about this to which he said something along the lines of "we would end up with many broken thomas' in the repairs department."

Niche modifications like this are well covered in the fandom already too. there are many options to purchase STLs or face prints from lots of different individuals. Kato has recently released a thomas face and while I believe its only available in japan, the fan ones are still of higher quality. We are now at the place where scans of actual prop casts exist digitally and for free! https://x.com/thomasmodeller/status/1920301786302177469?s=46