Guys, we only have around 2 weeks left until we find out about the new announcements if there are some!

I think they look thick enough that they could be sturdy when separately molded, but it will be interesting to see what they do.

I was going to wait to say this, but I guess I don't have to.


Edward should totally be the next N scale engine if Bachmann's ready to announce one next year! It would be great to see them tackle an Edward model for the first time in 14 years! It would also be great, because Edward was the first character, and he would be announced right after being taken out of the show completely. It would be a really nice gesture to show that he's still important. Plus, he hasn't really had new/redesigned merch that represented him well since around 2013, and that's long overdue for him.

And based on the improvements with the James model, Edward could look really good! He would also allow the range to be different from the Large Scale range! And since N scale doesn't have the eye mechanisms, Edward probably wouldn't have the balance issues his HO model reportedly had.

Overall, I think he would be an excellent choice for the next model. Although, if they aren't ready for him, I'd love to see Mavis!

For rolling stock, I'm hoping they announce either (or both) the Milk and Tar tanker at the NMRA show. Next February, I'd hope to see whichever one wasn't announced, along with the original coal wagon and a brake van.

One thing I have also given some thought to is what the next item of rolling stock should be (this isn't necessarily for next year, but in the future overall). I think it would be good for them to further differentiate the range from the other ranges here. My choice for this is the Cattle Wagon.

It's a van, but it doesn't allow the range to fall into the trap of being exactly the same as Large Scale. They have been seen all throughout the series, and are probably almost as iconic as regular vans. The tooling is in the Graham Farish range. And this is more of a personal thing rather than a real point, but right now, there are plenty of vans available from Graham Farish, and not cattle wagons, so they could use a new way to make them more easily obtainable. Not to mention they would go great with a certain blue engine who shall remain nameless.

Bachmann will likely need multiple liveries for the cattle van, as we've seen with pretty much every piece of rolling stock in the other ranges, and there wouldn't really be much of an issue there.
There's the original livery (which is technically a darker version of the GWR livery):

There's the CGI livery (the planned Farmer McColl wagon):

Another fun one is making Troublesome Truck #3 (but not the HO one). Like Troublesome Truck #5, rather than #3, they could do this one with the same livery as the normal one, but with a darker roof (one is in A Cow on the Line. It's also not unusual for one model to change from one scale to the next. Scruffey had more detailed paint in large scale, the brakevans look completely different, and the Box Vans aren't even the same models as each other. The last thing I'm thinking about them changing is the face. I don't think the original #3's face has actually been on a cattle wagon, so I'd propose this one instead:

It would help Troublesome Truck #3 be even more unique by breaking the mold of all smiley-happy troublesome trucks, and it's right out of the model series, which would be pretty cool to see!

And last, if they need 1-2 more liveries to justify it, here's two more:



The obligatory questions:
1. Why is Edward the best option for next N Scale engine and why are you going to buy him as soon as he comes out?
1. Do you agree about the cattle wagon?
2. Do you think changing Troublesome Truck #3 is a good idea? Why or why not?
3. Would you buy the cattle wagons?

Let me know what your feedback is. Thanks for reading!

I also just realized that James' front wheels have spokes all the way through them! It'll be interesting to see if the other wheels will be the same way or not.

Here's James! He appears to have a fully open cab, and the paint looks nice!

I am so glad to hear about this! And James, too!

Hey everyone, I've decided to make a scene inspired by this set. The only difference is that it'll be done as a single track line.




Here's the track layout:






After getting the track glued down, I began weathering the track using a process inspired by a process I found on RMWeb. First, I painted the sleepers chocolate (that was the color I had to hand), then I painted the rails in rust. After that, I weathered the sleepers using Tamiya mud, snow, and soot. Here are a few pictures of the track.







I feel like this is finally beginning to come together, which is pretty nice! I'd also like to do the watermill someday, although I don't know when I'll start it.

I was able to watch some of the Virtual World's Greatest Hobby Show, and here are some pictures of relevant new products.

First up, N Scale James (still unpainted) was on display alongside the other N scale products, so we get a bit more of an idea of what his scaling looks like with the other products. He doesn't look to be as oversized as his CGI counterpart, although he might be slightly larger than in the Classic Series. They said he should be available sometime later in the year.










Large Scale Paxton and Diesel were also there, and they said that they should be due around the end of the month.




Daisy and Peter Sam weren't on display, and nothing about them was mentioned.

Thanks Terence! Here's my progress for today on Clarabel. There are so many windows that I didn't want to do it all in one sitting!

So, not exactly a "progress" report, but a few photos from earlier in the process of Ffarquhar Sheds. I made them from 0.75mm thick plasticard and am currently cutting out pieces of the roof from 1.5mm thick plasticard (it's actually really hard to cut!).






And here is the beginning of Annie and Clarabel, who are going to be done like their original RWS appearance, but with some added real-life detail as well. Thomas will eventually have details added to him too, once I work up the confidence.



3D Concept

Thanks Chaz!

That is something I don't know, but I was planning on looking into it eventually. People who scratchbuild their locomotive's have to get rods from somewhere. I'd figure they're probably etched into metal, which I'm not sure how easy it is to have an etch done. You could probably get into contact with someone at RMweb for that, though.

EDIT: A quick search for nickel silver etching brings up https://fotofab.com/metals-we-etch/nickel-silver-etching/
for example. No idea how expensive it is, though.

Hey everyone, it as been a while since I've posted, but I was recently able to get Thomas, Troublesome Truck #2, and the Water Tanker. I'll try to offer my thoughts in a little review.


First Impressions/Detailing
My first thoughts on the tanker and Troublesome Truck were pretty good. They are both quite free-rolling, and the paint finish, although glossy, is pretty nice! I think the colors of the troublesome truck look better on the N Scale model than they do on the HO one. Not sure why that is, it just seems to be the case. The tanker wasn't my first choice, but since the oil tanker wasn't available at the time of purchase (although now it is?!), I got it, and I'm honestly really glad I gave it a chance! The classic-style lettering is a nice touch, and the dark blue color isn't bad, either. Another nice thing is the separately applied brake lever, which I think sets it a bit above the troublesome truck.




My first impression of Thomas is a bit of a different matter. When I first took him out of the box, the model appeared to be significantly warped, which I thought wasn't a good sign. Upon closer inspection, there had been a screw put on top of the metal weight in one of his tanks, and that was pushing the body up. I removed the screw, and luckily, there's no body damage, and the model fits together perfectly now. I think mine might have been a one off on that regard, because that screw didn't seem to be a design feature, so I'm not sure what happened there.

    Otherwise, I am very impressed with the model's looks. The lamp irons and brake pipes are very fine, so much that they fit in with the general finesse of the Graham Farish C Class. The number and lining are very crisp and nicely done. The buffers are also something I want to mention. They are accurate to how they appear throughout Season 1 (and frankly, everywhere else until Series 23) which is a first for any merchandise of Thomas, including Bachmann's. Large Scale was extremely close, but the shanks look just a bit short. His face is also a pretty accurate representation of the CGI era. His coupling rods are overscale. Comparing that to the C Class, his rods are slightly thicker, but his hex screws are actually smaller, interestingly enough, which, in itself, is nice. The whistle is probably the most disappointing thing on the model. I'm not sure why it's molded on when there's already so much separately fitted detail.


One last thing before moving on that I wanted to talk about was Thomas' scaling in particular. A lot of people say he's too small, but he's actually scaled to his Model Series counterpart. In the classic series, 7-plank wagons are the same height as the tops of his tanks. The troublesome truck does go half a plank over, but, from comparisons photos I've seen, the troublesome trucks are also half a plank taller than standard N Gauge 7-plank wagons, which can be chalked up to the troublesome trucks' CGI scaling. Another comparison is with the GWR vans. In the model series, they go the same height as Thomas' roof, which, from what I've seen, appears to be the case on the N Gauge model. The HO and large scale Thomas models are too tall in that area, due to their overscale wheels. Annie and Clarabel are simply too large in the N scale range; again, CGI scaling. Percy also appears to be model series scaled like Thomas, from every photo I've seen of the two together.








Mechanism/Performance
I found Thomas to be a very smooth runner straight out of the box, and subsequently, a better runner than even my Narrow Gauge locos, which I wasn't expecting. There is a large metal weight in Thomas, as well as brass gears, bearings, and a flywheel, which is why it's more expensive than the HO model. It can also pull 20 wagons (source: pedanticmongrel's Thomas and Percy review on YouTube). It's also capable of smooth slow starts and running.








Conclusion
Overall, I find Thomas to be an excellent model, and not worth all the naysaying it appears to get by Thomas fans on Twitter and YouTube. It's the most show-accurate readily available model of Thomas out there (Yes, I know CoolProps is out there, but it's not readily available). I'll give it an 8/10, considering the issues that I mentioned. I can't wait to see the future of the range, especially with how Toby turns out!

P.S. Here's a game. A few unfinished buildings from the show are in some of the pictures. Which ones are they?

Thanks!

Hi all,
I recently came into possesion of an 0-6-0 after a club member and personal friend died. The engine works, except there's a lot of fluff on one of the side rods (wrapped around the connecting pin) that I believe is affecting running.



I've been trying to pull it out using an Xacto blade and tweezers/pliers, but I can't quite get it. Does anyone have or know of a better way of getting the fluff out? Thanks!