This month's big reveal was the unpainted sample of the Narrow Gauge Gunpowder Van. We also saw a 3D printed sample of Bulgy, which is very crude compared to what the final model is going to be, but gives us a good idea. The N Scale LMS Brake Van was cancelled, but they should announce more show-accurate brake vans in the near future. At least N Scale Diesel, Paxton and Henry are still very much in progress and should hopefully have something to show in the very near future.

Sir Handel was recently shown in the package and will arrive in stock sometime very soon. HO Scale DCC Sound-Fitted Thomas and Percy are gunning for late winter/early 2026.

There's only two streams left for 2025. One of them should definitely show the unpainted samples of the N Scale Express Coaches. It's crazy how many products have been getting cancelled lately. We can only hope Duncan eventually gets a second chance.

Bachmann Thomas & Friends Star Ratings



Hello everyone,

I've been collecting the Bachmann Thomas & Friends range for a long time and I've recently done star ratings for the HO/OO & HOn30/OO9 locomotives that have are in the range. Everything that is rated his is out of 5 stars and they are locomotives that I've purchased and I think it would be a fun idea to rate the models I've bought. If you have any questions on the star ratings, I've be glad to answer any questions.

Thomas 2.5
Percy 2.25
James 3.5
Henry 3.5
Gordon 3.5
Toby 3.75
Spencer 4.75
Emily 4.75
Edward 5
Mavis 4.5
Salty 4.5
Bill 4.5
Ben 4.5
Donald 4.75
Douglas 4.75
Diesel 4.75
Duck 4
Sound-Chipped Thomas 3
Arry 4.75
Bert 4.75
Celebration Thomas 3
Oliver 4
Rosie 4
Paxton 4
Grumpy Diesel: 4.75
Red Rosie 4.5
LBSC Thomas 3.5
Busy Bee James 3.5
Origin James 3.75
Daisy 4
Ryan 5
Beau 2.75
Rebecca 5
Stanley 5

Narrow Gauge:
Skarloey 5
Rheneas 5
Rusty 4
Peter Sam 5
Yellow Rheneas 5

Hey, does anyone know if the figures from the Railway Personnel packs can fit inside of the Narrow Gauge Engines' cabs? Thanks!

Quote from: Kemptown Branch on October 05, 2025, 03:20:20 PMHey, does anyone know if the figures from the Railway Personnel packs can fit inside of the Narrow Gauge Engines' cabs? Thanks!

Unfortunately not, I've tried. All the HO Thomas figures are slightly overscaled.

Quote from: GordonPacific04 on October 05, 2025, 04:51:18 PM

Quote from: Kemptown Branch on October 05, 2025, 03:20:20 PMHey, does anyone know if the figures from the Railway Personnel packs can fit inside of the Narrow Gauge Engines' cabs? Thanks!

Unfortunately not, I've tried. All the HO Thomas figures are slightly overscaled.

Sadly, that is the case. I've had the figure packs for a while and have been meaning to get a review up, but life has unfortunately been a little hectic on my end, and I haven't had the time to get around to it. Hopefully, I'll be able to sometime this month.

Quote from: GordonPacific04 on October 05, 2025, 04:51:18 PM

Quote from: Kemptown Branch on October 05, 2025, 03:20:20 PMHey, does anyone know if the figures from the Railway Personnel packs can fit inside of the Narrow Gauge Engines' cabs? Thanks!

Unfortunately not, I've tried. All the HO Thomas figures are slightly overscaled.

Thanks!

This month's reveal was the painted sample of the HO Scale Open Carriage, which is now the next thing to join the list of products with painted samples awaiting release.

There's a few other samples that unfortunately didn't make it in time for this stream, but will be seen next month for sure. They must be the N Scale Express Coaches.

Sidney and Mainland Diesel are still very much in progress, and we should see them in early 2026.

I looked at the stream for this evening.

Glad that the open carriage is fully done just and this was one of the products doug was involved with before he retired.

and I'm glad to know that there's progress on sidney and the mainland diesel. (though I've mentioned I'm just hoping they're going to have the faces improved to how they should look like unlike how they did paxton that's just what I'm really hoping for).

and of course I am glad they're adding the flying scotsman to the line. (been busy with life where I've not been active that much). yes it's disappointing the 80th anniversary set was canceled. but doing the flying Scotsman makes up for the canceled set. and also the atticapation for the release of sir handel is coming close.(still am hoping for duncan for 2026).

so it was a nice stream to see what progress has been done. look forward to see what comes next.

Is there still no release date set for Sir Handel?

Quote from: harrison05 on October 10, 2025, 02:20:54 AMIs there still no release date set for Sir Handel?

He is currently scheduled to arrive in November.

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

 

Hello everyone,

Based on Trainworld's special livestream tomorrow, it might be the last Thomas Tuesday for this year (assuming a December stream isn't planned). I look forward to seeing the new prototypes of products that we haven't seen from previous livestreams. Based on the promises of the event, it gives me hope that Bachmann is making an attempt to push out these long overdue products to the shelves. Along with custom made models, it could bring some light before the year comes to a close. It's surprising how close we are to the end of the year. Just wanted to keep the the forum up and running

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 .

Although I wasn't able to attend the event at Trainland, I saw pictures and caught some of the stream earlier and it looked like a lot of fun!

Naturally, I'm most excited for Sir Handel, and I'm thrilled he'll be arriving early next year. The gunpowder vans turned out great too; I might have to grab one (or maybe two) of the D. Fusit ones.

Right behind Sir Handel, I'm especially looking forward to the DCC and sound Thomas and Percy models. These have been nearly five years in the making, but I'm so glad they're finally set to release by the end of the year. I've wanted DCC versions of Thomas and Percy for a long time, and I can't wait to run them at train shows when the time comes.  It's always a pain to run only analog on our modular setup (especially when I want to have multiple engines moving at once to make it feel alive), so I'm glad this will be resolved by our next show in January!

It's great to see the tankers finished and the 80th anniversary vans making it out in time for the end of the year. Hopefully, these releases open the door to more new HO and OO9 rolling stock announcements in the next catalog.  Possibly even a chance for Duncan to be reconsidered too, (though I'm not holding my breath just yet).

I'm a little bummed the N scale Gordon's express coaches didn't make it this time, but hopefully we'll see those soon, along with updates on other previously announced N scale products. I'm doubtful we'll get a new N scale engine announcement in 2026 with so much still in development, but maybe things will change by the NMRA. Fingers crossed for Edward or Duck!  I'm sure we will at least get some more N scale rolling stock if nothing else.

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)