If Bachmann introduced the Skarloey Railway to the range...

[Cupix the Azelf]

What if Bachmann introduced the Skarloey Railway characters and rolling stock to the range?
Would they be HO/OO (unlikely) just like ERTL, Wooden Railway and Take-n-Play/Take Along models do which somehow makes them the same size as the normal guage engines? Or would they be N/OO9 Scale? I think going for N scale would be great.

Please comment your ideas for train sets if they sound like good ideas. (they don't have to be real... just pretend) and what year they would do them in order.

No negative replies or comments doubting this would happen. Like I said, it can be pretend.

A cool idea for an accessory would be a track that goes through HO/OO and N/OO9 scale tracks as seen in episodes with the wharf location!

Set ideas...


2012
Skarloey with 2 red coaches and red guard's van (or instead of the coaches and guard's van, make them Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima, and Beatrice from the Railway Series) and an oval of track.

2013
Rusty with breakdown train or rail fixing supply trucks and brown guard's van with a circle of track.

[ThomasFan247]

As the models would be based off of the current series, and I would tend to think some sets would be like this:

-Skarloey Set: Skarloey with two red coaches and a guard's van; oval of track
-Petersam Set: Petersam with two slate trucks and a goods van; circle of track
-Day at the Wharf Set: Thomas, two coal trucks, brake van, Rheneas (or basically any other engine. I'd imagine possibly Skarloey more than any other engine, though), flat bed, open wagon, and a goods van; HO/OO9 crossover with a figure-8 (one track would have to be elevated so that the lines could intersect again, unless two crossovers were included), and Colin the Crane

[Cupix the Azelf]

As the models would be based off of the current series, and I would tend to think some sets would be like this:

-Skarloey Set: Skarloey with two red coaches and a guard's van; oval of track
-Petersam Set: Petersam with two slate trucks and a goods van; circle of track
-Day at the Wharf Set: Thomas, two coal trucks, brake van, Rheneas (or basically any other engine. I'd imagine possibly Skarloey more than any other engine, though), flat bed, open wagon, and a goods van; HO/OO9 crossover with a figure-8 (one track would have to be elevated so that the lines could intersect again, unless two crossovers were included), and Colin the Crane

Good ideas!

[branmas]

All sound like sweet ideas. I do want a Skarloey Railway range.

[Calebtrain]

I could also imagine a Duke the Grand set. Duke
                                                               Three coaches
                                                                Guards van.
                                                                 Oval of track
                                                                with a staition

[therailwayinspector]

The demand for a Skarloey range is so high....
I'm wondering if it's worth me investing in an RTR 009 production company, and persuade HiT/License holder to allow me to make RTR 009 Characters,...

[RW James]

The demand seems high on this forum and among other Thomas modelers. But honestly, the number of people that want a Skarloey don't make the tooling worth it. Bachmann does well with their HO standard gauge range because of the crossover into the toy market. Narrow gauge items wouldn't do well in that market (see how many N scale models are targeting the toy market). But if anyone could do it, it would be Bachmann since they already manufacture the 9mm chassis - and I feel that the fact that they haven't moved in that direction a good enough reason to believe that it wouldn't be worth the effort.

Having said that, there is nothing to stop a modeler from making his own narrow gauge locomotive from existing materials - which has already been discussed here. For instance, I am making a Duncan from a N scale 0-4-0 and a brass boiler. It should be a good runner. I also have plans for a similar narrow gauge diesel using a N scale chassis from Bachmann. This is part of the fun of MODELING - as opposed to just buying off-the-shelf RTR models.

[Cheeky_ULP]

There's been a few attempts by model companies to make RTR OO9, but all of the attempts have fallen short, mainly due to the lack of market.

[Cupix the Azelf]

Any ideas? Blue Mountain Mystery is coming and Duke is said to return!

[gwr duck]

how about a sir handel set
engine.sir handel
rolling stock.3x slate wagons & gray van
oval of track with sideing
& george the steam roller 
i'lld buy it wouldent you ?

[J70]

The issue with the Skarloey Railway isn't about Bachmann making them, it's about how they would make them.

I'm a member of a narrow gauge modeling forum that is host to both modelers and manufacturers, and both have been in discussions over anything done in OO9. The end conclusion is the core market for OO9 locos is far too small to make any line specific locomotive viable. The only feasible way to get a OO9 loco would be to fund the whole production yourself, and this can be very costly.

With Skarloey items, they fall into the OO9 market. In the US, anything narrow gauge seems to be made to HOn3 and HOn30 and very much US outline. Considering they are very much identifiable to just one line, it essentially lowers the potential market for the models. None of the Skarloey items are even remotely American in outline, so you've lost some sales to this market.

Bachmann, or technically it's parent firm Kader, has only done HO scale narrow gauge under it's Lilliput brand, and even then the market is easier. If you're thinking "why don't they make them then and sell in Europe too?" it's because it's a tricky market to go in to. Roco decided they would release a British outline locomotive, and quickly found they had no market to sell it to.

So if you've read that and are thinking "well surely most of them will be bought by parents for their kids?" then I'll say this. If you've got your kid a HO scale set up already, and see that these products won't work on the same track system, then you'd more than likely avoid buying them. The success of brands like Trackmaster and Wooden Railroads is compatibility. It has to be compatible for it to sell.

Therefore, you do have one good modelling scale that the Skarloey items could be made for. On30. Doing them to this size would mean they could use existing track, as well as offer themselves to an existing market Bachmann supplies and has a good reputation in. Whilst this means they would look silly to us if you mixed them alongside your HO models, I'm sure the core audience of these models wouldn't mind one bit. 

As a side note, here is how a true to scale OO9 locomotive compares to the Bachmann Thomas.







Jack

[thomasj219]

Pretty close to scale wouldn't you say?

[RW James]

Looks great, Jack

[7029cluncastle]

They look similar because Duke is narrow gauge 4mm scale. S basically its the same scale just runs on n gauge track. The buildings that would be used with the 009 (narrow gauge) are the same as what you would use for the HO or OO gauge layouts.

[PasqualeCS96]

If I had a dollar for every time this was brought up... Nice Duke by the way