The painted bracing on the LS Tidmouth Milk tank looks great! Here's hoping the HO version will see a running change with that added on!

The new stone wagons announced at NMRA will have the newly tooled China clay load just recolored to resemble gray stone. I know Matt mentioned that it helps with cost if Bachmann can use a new tool across several products which absolutely makes sense.

With that in mind, I think it might a wise choice for Bachmann to finally start selling wagon loads as a separate-sale item. Of course continue to produce wagons that have loads, but additional loads that can be bought separately would help us fill out our empty wagons. Example: the FQC wagon won't be supplied with a load, so a separate sale "stone wagon load pack" would help with that.

I know I've seen this pitched before and it's a great idea. Stone, coal, ore etc. would all make for great separate sale wagon load packs.

After tonight's stream, it sounds like Thomas and Percy's chassis' will be mostly reuse. If it keeps costs down, I guess that's fine by me. The new bodies being designed around these ancient chassis' does bring up a few questions:

-Will Percy's shell remain a split design to fit around the current gearbox?

-Will the weight be improved? The plastic gearboxes make them much too lightweight.

-Will the siderods be retooled for Percy? I think Thomas should reuse the rods from Stanley as they're a perfect match. Hoping Bachmann keeps this in mind.

I think the siderods are a main concern at the moment. I really hope the old ones aren't carried over to the new models.

Besides that, Matt did allude to rear lining for Thomas and possible DCC capability for both so that's pretty neat.

I don't understand the desire to have the body lowered. I'd rather the model be as close to the CGI reference as possible provided by Mattel. I prefer the gap and don't see the reason to change it.

Thanks for bringing this up, Cheeky_ULP. There's so many concerns with the new Thomas and Percy that it's hard to address them all at once but this is a big one. I would hope that since the 2002 Thomas has separate whistles that the new one would do the same, but obviously that's not a guarantee. Separate whistles is the way to go.

In regards to the gap on Diesel 10:

I know I'm in the minority, but I prefer when Bachmann is as close as possible to whatever reference they're using for a model. In this case, Diesel 10's CGI model which has a gap between the body and chassis. I've seen a lot of people ask for this to be adjusted on the Bachmann model, but this "gap" version is well and truly the version seen in most of his appearances. Only in TATMR was it the "right" way.

I saw the same thing happen when Flying Scotsman was announced. People asked Bachmann to fix the tender lining and number of tender wheels- which Bachmann said they weren't going to because it went against the reference material from Mattel.

Personally, I hope the gap stays.

I actually think the 4 wheel coach needs to be updated. The one glaring issue for me is the axle boxes not being evenly spaced. The N scale Annie and Clarabel are practically perfect (besides the lack of guards compartment on Clarabel). An HO update made to the N scale standards would be great.

Quote from: DustyMarie53! on August 04, 2026, 02:21:30 PMI'm in agreement with Chaz. The coal car inclusions are bizarre especially since the sodor coal one was discontinued in HO this year, surely the generic green would be better?

Engines make sense, hope we see edward in winter.

Narrow gauge is the thing really throwing me for a loop. The lack of a new engine makes me wonder if they're waiting for the market to be better to drop right into Duncan. I wouldn't complain about this outcome but do want to see Luke

I'm on the edge of my seat for the next loco in narrow gauge. I'd assume they're just waiting to figure out their solution for their "best of both worlds" Duncan. I do hope we get Luke at some point as well as Victor. Victor is also a prime candidate for a repaint, but I don't know how many yellow NG engines Bachmann wants to put out there.

Of course I'd love Millie, but she's low on my list unless Bachmann brings out Stephen.

Thanks for bringing this up. It's one of those things that once you see it you can't unsee it. I hope Bachmann keep this in mind in the design process.

And just to piggyback- some more accurate wheels for Thomas and Percy would be much appreciated. The Edward driving wheels I'd say are acceptable for Thomas, but Percy needs newly tooled wheels to be accurate. Percy's wheels lacked the counterweight in CGI. This detail was also reflected on the N scale model.

Splatter and Dodge is definitely the way to go if we were to get more 08 repaints. It makes sense from a business perspective not only because they would compliment Diesel 10, but also because it's two repaints from one tooling that are almost guaranteed to be purchased as a pair at the same time. I know I certainly would.

With Henrietta and Hannah now coming to G Scale, I think it'd be great to see them come to HO. Obviously Henrietta already has an HO model, but I'd love an updated version with a face. It'd be strange to have HO Scale be the odd one out as far as Hannah and an updated Henrietta goes. I could definitely see them being announced in the next year or so.

Someone attended the NMRA show and spoke to Bachmann about Diesel 10. The info they got from Bachmann was reported to Thomas Merch News on Twitter and can be found there.

Apparently the arm will be able to be raised and lowered, and swivel 360 degrees. However, they report that the claw will not open and close.

Now, take this with a grain of salt because we didn't hear it from Bachmann directly, but if this is true I can't help but be a little disappointed. If the claw were to have any movement, I would've thought it'd be the claw itself- not everything else BUT the claw.

I hope the person that spoke with Bachmann misheard, but if not, then I really hope Bachmann reconsider how they approach the claw. I'm happy to pay more if they can deliver.

Needless to say, I'm ecstatic about these new announcements. I still can't believe most of these are happening! My number one wish for the past few years has been Diesel 10- especially after Doug mentioned that he's been on Bachmann's radar. It's still very surreal to me. Of course, as with most others, I'm curious about how Bachmann will handle doing the claw. I can't speak for everyone, but I would certainly pay more if Bachmann was willing to do a fully posable claw. This character means a lot to me, and I hope Bachmann can give it 110% effort to bring us the best possible model.

The Thomas and Percy retools are something that people have been asking for, but I honestly never thought it would happen. I'm so excited to have these two characters in HO made to the same standard as Bachmann's latest offerings. This opens so many doors to potential model retools in the future. Might be a pipe dream, but James, Gordon, and Henry could definitely use a retool. A concern of mine is the brochure only mentions a retool of the body shell and face, but doesn't mention the chassis. I really hope we'll get an updated chassis but we'll see. Also, please update LBSC Thomas with the new tooling!

The new HO open wagons are great! It's so nice they'll be coming with stone loads. These look like the faded open wagons from the CGI series so it'll be interesting to see how they achieve the faded look. Looking forward to getting a bunch of these!

G Scale Henrietta was very unexpected, but much needed! I'm thankful they didn't do her sooner because I personally prefer her with a face, so it all worked out in the end.

I don't have any strong opinions about the N Scale announcements, but it's nice to see the line expanding.

Overall, these announcements blew me away. It really feels like we're entering a new era for Bachmann Thomas. Thank you, Bachmann, for listening to the fans. Keep up the great work!

Since we're a week away from the NMRA announcements, does anyone have any final predictions?

My one hope is Diesel 10. I know Bachmann have stated before it'd be challenging for them, but I'm sure they could figure out a solution.

They're leaving a lot of money on the table by not producing him.

With Bachmann's recent trend of wanting to use as much existing tooling as possible, I'm personally placing my bet that the next announcement will be Shooting Star Gordon and/or Streamlined Thomas.

They'd certainly be less expensive to produce than a completely new-tooled model, and would definitely be unexpected by most. I'd be pretty stoked if they did go this route seeing as I'm a huge CGI fan. They'd go great with Flying Scotsman too!