Quote from: Yard Master on January 27, 2026, 09:49:02 AMHi Awesometrain,

I was told that the licensor at the time (HiT) told Bachmann that we were not allowed to make models of these characters, I believe due to a potential legal issue. I don't think any prototypes were made or still exist.

Sorry for the late response but thank you so much . I was wondering about these two for a while in regards to their cancellation .

So glad he is not super pricey he is $230 which is a lot of money but I am just glad they kept him under $250 .

However to compare
Gordon is $140
Rebecca is $220

Scottsman chasis are shred with Gordon .
A peice of rolling stock costs $25
Gordon and rolling stock is $165

Stanley is $120
Thomas is $90

Granted there a bit more to him then a tank engine however $30 difference
Add this $195

So is he that cheap .
Compared to Rebecca yes but when you think about it is he actually overpriced .

He could cost about $199.99 and they just reused Spencer's tender and only make one new tender mold to make this more fair .

Now for $30 more then this could be I'd expect flying Scotsman to be very nice .
With a proper tender coupling etched name plates etc


Okay with that said here is what I realistically expect to see from him 
1 new tender mold with difference tops .
Coal tender has a couplings for tenders .
New shell .
Release date spring or summer 2027

So these two were cancelled in 2005 not much is know other then the fact that rickety was retired in the wooden railway line the same year.

Was there any reason for their cancellation? Is there any prototypes that can be shared from years ago?

Rickety
Fred Pelhay

Okay so a bit to take in here are my thoughts before I read everyone else's

New items
So the Thomas 80th thing is the brakevan . I saw this coming but I had my doubts as it is not 100% a repaint .

The fuel tanker is one I should have seen coming but I thought they would do the cream tanker but regardless they are doing the CGI fuel tanker which may be out at the same time was the Milk and Tar . Honestly a good pick overall

The Ffaquarr quarry wagon is a good pick that I sorta saw coming but did not think we would see it so soon . I also thought it had happened it would have had the quarry stone load . But it did not .

The blue open wagon I did not see coming and I honestly thought the only reason why they did not announce more open wagons in N scale was because they wanted to do the ones with the coal load but I got proven wrong as they just announced more this year that don't have the load . The blue wagon is retired in HO so it was a shocker but nice to see none the less .
Mr Jolly's chocolate wagon I did not expect to see but I am not surprised it happened . It is a good seller in HO scale and I'd imagine it will sell well.

The fact we got more large scale stuff is crazy .
The funfair vans are cool to see . I am not shocked they did them .Id imagine these will sell well .
The milk tanker coming back was a shock.


Okay as for the retired products .
Tar tanker is one that I am shocked lasted so long in G scale but it is gone. The Peco NG wagon took a long time to be finally retired but it is gone now.
The raspberry tanker is retired which honestly again I am shocked it lasted this long . But I wish they retired the diesel co tanker instead of it .
The sodor co wagon was a shocker but I could care less for it .
Nothing major was lost but something huge was cancelled .
Knapford being cancelled is such a let down . Please Bachmann if your gonna announce something actually commit to making it . This is the fourth time this has happened in the past three years and honestly, I'm getting sick of it .

With 24 days until 2026 I wonder if they're gonna be out in time.

Sir Handel is out this is sooner then I thought .
The 80th vans and DCC Thomas and Percy are said to be out by the end of the years so we will see them in the next few weeks . No update on the the DCC set but I assume it will be out very soon .

The DCC set and the narrow gauge gonalas could be the start of 2026

Into spring I think the Open coach, the new tankers , and the narrow gauge gunpowder vans will come out around then.

OK, so it seems the DCC Thomas and Percy are arriving before the end of the year. Glad to see this happen
So I think the late 2025 shipment will be DCC Thomas DCC Percy classic logo van 1945 van and maybe the large scale DCC set.
Sir Handel seems to be early 2026 .If I were to guess the gondolas will come out around the same time .
We don't know for sure about the tankers and the open coach possibly the same time as Sir Handel but I honestly could see be into late  spring 2026 .

The gunpowder wagons are nice and we are missing the tan one . Which I feel we will see very soon . I feel these will be spring or summer 2026 .

Now as for products that are still upcoming Here is the following status for some of them And my guesses for when we can see them come out .

Sidney and Mainland diesel are going along well and we will see samples of them in early 2026 (maybe they will release Q4 2026 )
Salty needs a quieter motor before release (maybe he will be out in fall or summer 2026 )
Flying Scotsman flyer says late 2026 but these flyers are not right most of the time (I would honestly say mid 2027)
China clay wagon confirmed to be in development however load is a new tool however this could be in any stage (I will guess the end of quarter 3 or quarter 4 of 2026 )
Flat wagon with a diesel load I don't remember if we got an update on this I think it was mentioned on a Thomas Tuesday (I could see this come out as early as summer 2026 or as late as early 2027 )
Troublesome Truck 7 apparently some design ideas have been going into this and how the face will work being fit on it but aside from that no real update (I could see this in quarter 2 or quarter 3 2027 )
Bulgy we have actually seen a 3-D printed sample of him ( I could see him come out Summer or Fall 2026)

So it seems sir Handel has been delayed yet again .
On the bright side the 80th vans should be out by Christmas .
The gunpowder vans painted have been shown off as well . 
Alongside the new tankers.

I expecting the express coaches however I feel Bachman is trying to get the narrow gauge backlog finished up . But I imagine we will see them by early 2026 .

Salty the class 08s troublesome truck 7 china clay wagon flat wagon with fuel loads  flying Scotsman and knapford are some products in HO we don't have much info about . I wonder what will be the focus next .

Sir Handel is November has me wondering if the late 2025 releases will be

The DCC set
The 80th vans
Sir Handel
Narrow gauge gonalas

Interesting to see the progress on the class 08s glad to see everything has started up again product development wise .

November I definitely see the samples being shown at the trainworld Thomas event

 

We have seen the sample of the gunpowder vans .
As the 3D print of Bulgy to make up for how long he was taking. 

The N scale LMS brakevan got cancelled.
The amount of products that have gotten cancelled in the past 2 years is wild.

Henry is in process .
N scale class 08s are going on well .
The China clay wagon is going along well which is intresting to note .
More RWS wagons are a possibility .
The 80th vans should be out by the end of the year
DCC Thomas and Percy is late winter early spring

This is for the retired items over the years or for what items you may think will be retired .

Yeah I'd say so . He definitely looks like that in the episode if you rewatch it.

Several products have just became able to be pre-ordered

Pretty sure the 80th vans are still coming this year as they would've been canceled .
It's funny to think that they still have a lot of stuff to produce after they are done with the stuff that is the loop.
Like beyond Sir Handel ,the Gonaldos the gunpowder vans , The 80th vans , DCC Thomas and Percy , Salty , N scale express coaches , and the open coach .

There is still the CGI tankers , the troublesome van , Scottsman , the oil flatbed , China clay wagon , bulgy , Sidney , mainland diesel , LBSC Thomas in 2 scales , n scale black James , n scale open wagons , N scale Henry , and the n scale class 08s .

There is never a dull moment in this line for sure . There is always something that's far away from release , or expected to be shown off any day or expected to be released any day .
I'd say the item we are farthest from is definitely n scale Henry i'd hope that we would see it by 2026 but honestly, I feel like it's gonna be 2027 .

So the gunpowder van is the tale end of the large huge narrow gauge back log . It's crazy that this backlog is over . I hope development continues on the new products.
DCC Thomas and Percy may be released by the end of the year. Maybe along side the gonolas.
I think the reason the large scale DCC set is taking so long is because Bachmann wants to produce the decorders all at once so it's waiting for the HO scale DCC Thomas and Percy to be ready.

So it seems like
Sir Handel could be fall 2025
DCC items , NG gondolas, and 80th vans winter 2025
And then like knapford , salty ,n scale express coaches , and the gunpowder vans in spring 2026
Maybe we could see both  LBSC Thomas and the N scale black James for a summer release alongside the China clay wagon and the CGI tankers which we know are somewhere in the design process. 

It seems progress has started up to rise up again . I sorta am lowballing these so I would to see some of these products come sooner then that but I really don't know.