The CGI series is being revived, but with one notable difference being the colored irises, which carried over from All Engines Go.

The 2026 reboot appears to have actually been made with the older fans in mind, unlike All Engines Go, which wasn't, and it completely alienated older fans. So far, it's been much better-received. At least it actually looks like Thomas. Maybe there's a chance characters like Stepney or BoCo could return in the reboot. If they do, and Bachmann eventually makes them, it would be strongly advised the models wouldn't have colored irises, so that they wouldn't look so out of place compared to what we have. After all, the N Scale models didn't have the additional rivet details, and Emily didn't have her number 12.

 I'm looking for the old Bachmann N scale track because it has the 7501 and 7502 45degree radius track. The newer E-Z track with the grey plastic ballast is not going to work on my layout.

I personally am in no hurry for Luke anyway. Not that he's a bad character, Id just rather see them complete the original lineup first.

FYI, I have built a couple of On30 passenger cars plus one or two freight cars, but never locomotives, by utilizing parts from the On30 kitbash section. Bachmann was selling passenger car bodies, frames and roofs for reasonable prices. I was able to put together two passenger cars - minus trucks and couplers - for less than $30 dollars each. After I added Bachmann cast trucks and Kadee couplers, my cost was still less than $50 each. At the time, I had posted on this forum but its been a while now. Right now, I think they only have a couple of car bodies listed in the kitbash section. Hope this helps.

I think the reason Bachmann hasn't announced Luke yet is because they're not ready to announce him yet, that they need to see if his tooling is feasible first, in order to avoid another situation like Duncan. So there won't be a repeat of what happened with Duncan, with all of us looking forward to him, only for Duncan to get cancelled, especially over a year after being announced.

We most likely won't see Duncan back on the cards until after Douglas finishes overhaul. That way, Bachmann could actually make Duncan based on Douglas, instead of his CGI render like originally planned. Rusty was based off his CGI render, which is very different from how Midlander is now. Because Rusty was smaller and simpler, so he was more doable. He's unfortunately too small for an open cab for crew to fit inside.

Yeah, not a lot of good options besides watching eBay.  I'm interested in a couple of DCC Porters too. I could easily get a DC pair right now but it looks like a slice of you know where to convert to DCC.  When I feel like risking a few hundred bucks, I might grab the parts for a 4-4-0 and cross my fingers but until then, I'll just keep looking online for what I want.

This is definitely a piece of HO Scale rolling stock Bachmann needs to consider, a red or green mining wagon with an ore load, so that the ore load can be available outside the Deluxe Thomas set, so people don't have to buy that set just to get the ore load. Especially if that set was to be discontinued at some point. The existing blue mining wagon has a coal load. They can release one in a different color with an ore load.

It looks like all the parts are available to "build your own" from the parts store.  I've done this with some 'Thomas & Friends' locos that went out of production, but the parts to build one were still available. As you noted, it's more expensive than buying a complete loco. But the alternatives are doing without, or buying a pig in a poke on eBay.

Len

I have a Bachmann HO 3 truck shay that is a disaster.  I have had a national company and a local train repair guy attempt to do the NWSL metal gear replacement and both failed.   First just had massive play, second was also not quite right.

So, seeing that Bachmann is releasing the HO Shay again with metal gears, will the trucks on the new release be compatible with my locomotive.   It is really my last resort before the trash can.

Any comments or advice most appreciated.  I really do like this locomotive and want it to run as it should.

I'm new around here.  Name's Dan.  I'm testing the waters of switching from N scale to On30. I can see sourcing locomotives can be a real pain but I'm patient. And yes, I know sourcing anything in the scale is tough but I'm set up with a laser and 3D Printer and have scratch built many a structure and even some On18 rolling stock and a critter.  But actual On30 locomotives are beyond my skill set.

However, while looking around the parts store I noticed it looks like you could build certain locomotives by purchasing the major sub assemblies and putting them together, namely the 4-4-0 Inside Frame.  Am I missing something, or more to the point, are those sub assemblies missing something like critical detail parts or important sub assemblies?  It looks more expensive than just buying a 4-4-0 but then again, you can't buy them new anyway. As I said, I'm patient and can wait to find what I want on eBay, but if desperation sets in can this be done?

Thanks and hi!