Bachmann have turned a blind eye to fan's requests, and now another manufacturer is filling that demand. Granted it is easier since Kato already have the tooling, but they're taking initiative. Countless times have we seen people request Duke and replacement Thomas faces. Bachmann hasn't delivered, and another manufacturer has stepped up to make fully licensed offerings.

Competition like this is good. Perhaps it will turn into cooperation/collaboration one day.

After looking at the photos of the Doug figure that Chaz has shared (see "Farewell Doug" thread) it looks like these will be oversized for OO, and certainly way out of scale for HO. I placed a OO scale figure from Bachmann Branchline in the cab of my Gordon, and the figure's head can just barely poke out from the bottom of the side window. In Chaz's photo, the Doug figure can be seen through the window from about the chest up.

Now, in the "Railway Personnel" pack (the one which Doug is included) there are three taller figures, one of which is "Doug". I have a theory that they were intentionally made much taller to look more appropriate in the engine's cabs- most notably Gordon and Henry, as a standard OO figure looks too small in the cab.

Hopefully Chaz can confirm this and elaborate more if he'd like.

Quote from: DustyMarie53! on March 11, 2025, 08:16:55 PMThomas tuesday next week, maybe on monday, they said there would be something special. Unclear what (this does not necessarily equal a product from Bachmann themselves either.

I have a feeling this next stream is being hyped up so much because there might be a very special guest. On the New Model Monday stream, Matt said it will be "one to remember" and Christian alluded to last month that it will be "a big one." As far as I know, no guest has been announced yet.

So, hear me out. I predict this month's guest will be Ian McCue.

He certainly would make it a very BIG stream, and one to remember for sure. We recently saw him sit down with the Train Sim World team to talk about the new Thomas addition, so I don't it's too far fetched to think he wouldn't sit with fans for an hour and a half to discuss Thomas during this 80th Anniversary year.

We have yet to see samples for the express coaches in N scale. Hopefully in the next Thomas Tuesday stream or in the coming months they will be shown off.

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'd prefer if they were accurate to their CGI models to go with the very accurate CGI engines in the N scale line. If they're going to base the range on CGI, then I'd want them to go all in.

Quote from: JLK2707 on February 17, 2025, 03:54:39 PMBut how would Harvey's crane operate?

The same way the Wooden Railway, Take Along, Trackmaster, and Nakayoshi models did. The crane arm would just swivel. I'm sure a winch mechanism could be fitted, and the wheel on the side could act as the control to raise and lower the hook.

Personally, I'm rallying behind Harvey and I hope it happens.

Quote from: DustyMarie53! on February 05, 2025, 06:04:35 PMChristian said the next stream would be a big one, I'm just curious in what way. Did he mean the guest because I admittedly am drawing a blank on who that could be (ThomasTankMerch Perhaps?)
I could also see some reveals happening. They didn't talk about the the open carriage this stream so that's likely going to be shown off. But assuming Christian meant a big reveal. The only thing I can really think of is some unpainted samples from NMRA 2023. Diesel and Paxton have had prices for a while now so wonder how fast they started work on samples after finishing Gordon and Emily.  I suppose we will see when it happens

I've been thinking about that too. He did put emphasis on "big." Perhaps the reveal of Bulgy (a bigger bus)? Or maybe N scale Henry the BIG Engine? Who knows, but I can't wait.

I'm glad Bachmann is open to discussion about changing the face for the 80th set. I really hope they're able to as it would absolutely put it over the top. Hopefully it will then influence them to create more newly tooled faces for the older models that need it.

It's really cool how the Sodor China Clay wagon is RWS-inspired. Never thought I'd see the day where Bachmann started to pull directly from the pages the RWS. This could open the door for them to finally re-announce their cancelled Rickety and Fred Pelhay from several years ago.

Quote from: TrainFan97 on November 26, 2024, 05:27:34 PMSo HO Scale Rebecca, 12-Ton Vans, Sir Topham Hatt's Car, N Scale Gordon, Emily, Henrietta, and Emily's Coaches have shipped from Trainworld, but are now completely gone from the site.

This happens when pre-order items arrive in stock. They are removed from the website to process the orders they already have. Once all pre-orders have been processed, the remaining stock will go up as "New Arrival" Should be within the next day or so.

Let him run in for a half hour in each direction just in case it is a breaking in thing. I believe all the locos you mentioned have the same motor, so they should be running at the same speed. I know that's the case for my copies of these models.

If it doesn't improve after complete breaking in, you can contact Bachmann directly and they'll help you get it repaired or replaced. Hope this helps.

So glad to hear about the items that made it to warehouse. I was getting nervous as Doug was showing off which ones arrived and which ones didn't lol. Hopefully we'll have these items in hand by the end of the month.

If I remember correctly, Doug said in the last stream that we should expect the airdrop shipment items in early November. It is now about mid-November and no update. TrainWorld was most likely given the "early November" ETA and changed their "expected release date" to November 16th to add a buffer in case of delay- which may very likely extend past the 16th.

TrainWorld's "expected release date" is nothing to go by considering the N Scale Paxton is listed as "expected December 31, 2024" and not even a sample has been shown yet.

Either way, I hope there is some major clarification on Thursday's stream and hope the wait isn't too much longer.

Just got my shipping notification from TrainWorld for my Talyllyn pre-order. They seem to have shipped to retailers before going up on Bachmann's own web store. Really hoping the new N Scale Thomas items are here soon. The November 16th release date that keeps being thrown around is most likely a placeholder.

Quote from: Chaz on November 08, 2024, 07:31:09 PMHonorable mentions go to Bertie, Harold and Terence for accessories to join the line at some point.  They have yet to add non-rail characters in N, but I suspect they'll start with Bertie and Harold first before moving onto Terence.  Cranky also seems like a likely choice along with the inevitable N scale Tidmouth sheds announcement.

I second this. The N Scale line needs non-rail vehicles. Bulgy could also be viable eventually by essentially scaling down his digital tooling with some adjustments. The N Scale range has been becoming more appealing to me (having limited space, high quality mechanisms, and cohesive designs based all on ONE era) and I hope to see it expand more and more.

Quote from: DustyMarie53! on November 06, 2024, 09:45:28 PMBachmann Tallylyn has now been released. Not directly Thomas related but still nice to see, wonder when the coaches will hit

Nice to see Talyllyn has arrived. I would've thought they'd be in the same shipment as the Thomas stuff supposedly releasing this month, but there's no indication of that at the moment. On the New Model Monday stream, Matt said Rebecca is "on the water" at the moment, even though I thought these were being shipped air freight to ensure delivery for the holidays. Might've just misspoke or used a general term. Regardless, I'm dying to get ahold of the new N scale items.