N Scale Bachmann Thomas

[Falcon the 2nd]

Releasing two engines that are capable of sharing a single chassis together is an ideal way to approach character creation. Gordon and Henry's HO models were both released in the same year, so I can see it likely happening again in the N Scale lineup. And if Mavis isn't the perfect partner to release alongside Toby, I pretty much don't know who is.

Exactly. Gordon and Henry being released together is a very strong possibility considering they share the same chassis. So is Toby and Mavis. The main argument going for Mavis in Large Scale is that she can reuse Toby's chassis/cowcatcher mold and that would apply to N Scale as well once Toby is eventually made. I have a strong feeling as well that if/when Diesel is released in N Scale, that it's a good move to release Paxton alongside him. They share almost all of the same molds and an N Scale Paxton would probably have a much better face than the HO one considering they won't have to worry about moving eyes.

Of course, if sets of twins are announced for the line (like Bill and Ben, Donald and Douglas, Arry and Bert), they'd both be released side by side obviously. But I also want to say that next year in 2020, there might be a slight possibility we could get a second engine announced alongside James (because let's be honest, the next N Scale engine's gonna be James). If that does happen, I'm calling Edward since both he and James go well together and are around the same size. Since the first three years of HO Scale had at least two new engines being released each, something similar to that could happen with N Scale. Who knows, if N Scale turns out to be easier for Bachmann to produce we could see two N Scale engines every year but I highly doubt that. Either way, the possibilities of this new line have me excited and I'm interested to see where Bachmann takes it.

I actually was thinking about Edward for a brief moment. His similar size with James is a pretty good point to bring up and it helps that their tenders are just about the same shape.

While I'm not sure how soon Donald and Douglas may come, I would hope for Duck to be released shortly afterward since the twins' front wheelbases are somewhat similar to his.

In one way or another, we're all excited for the N Scale lineup and we all hope for it to be a success. HO Scale engines have been announced at a gradually slower rate in recent years, so it's possible for N Scale engine announcements to come our way a bit faster since they could be easier to make. For now, though, the best us fans can do is to keep sharing our ideas/suggestions with Bachmann over the coming months and hope they may listen to us.

[TrainFan97]

Let's hope Bachmann's taking notes, so they can reuse things like chassis and molds to help build up the N Scale range faster. Gordon and Henry would share the same chassis, with Gordon having added trailing wheels. Mavis and Toby would also share the same chassis, with Mavis being a bit longer. Paxton can easily get released with Diesel. Diesel having a grumpy face on the first try, and Paxton having a more accurate face, since Bachmann doesn't have to worry about eye mechanisms in N Scale.

I heard that the HO versions of the Great Western Van, Fruit and Vegetable Van, and even the Water Tanker look inferior to their Large Scale counterparts, with the two vans using the Ventilated Van tooling, and the Water Tanker being in reversed colors from its Large Scale counterpart. Maybe Bachmann can fix those issues in the N Scale versions.

When James gets announced next year, some N Scale rolling stock that I'm hoping would also get announced in 2020 include the Red Coaches, which are something the range needs sooner rather than later. We could also get a Mail Car for Percy, S.C. Ruffey because nearly every Thomas merchandise line in existence has made him, and possibly a Brake Van to help complete a train. We'll get the Express Coaches when Gordon gets announced within a few years or so. When Bachmann gets to Spencer, they should also make the Special Coach. Emily would also need her coaches as well. As for Toby, N Scale Henrietta should be nowhere near as problematic as Large Scale. Maybe we can even get Hannah.

[Streak]

Let's hope Bachmann's taking notes, so they can reuse things like chassis and molds to help build up the N Scale range faster. Gordon and Henry would share the same chassis, with Gordon having added trailing wheels. Mavis and Toby would also share the same chassis, with Mavis being a bit longer. Paxton can easily get released with Diesel. Diesel having a grumpy face on the first try, and Paxton having a more accurate face, since Bachmann doesn't have to worry about eye mechanisms in N Scale.

I heard that the HO versions of the Great Western Van, Fruit and Vegetable Van, and even the Water Tanker look inferior to their Large Scale counterparts, with the two vans using the Ventilated Van tooling, and the Water Tanker being in reversed colors from its Large Scale counterpart. Maybe Bachmann can fix those issues in the N Scale versions.

When James gets announced next year, some N Scale rolling stock that I'm hoping would also get announced in 2020 include the Red Coaches, which are something the range needs sooner rather than later. We could also get a Mail Car for Percy, S.C. Ruffey because nearly every Thomas merchandise line in existence has made him, and possibly a Brake Van to help complete a train. We'll get the Express Coaches when Gordon gets announced within a few years or so. When Bachmann gets to Spencer, they should also make the Special Coach. Emily would also need her coaches as well. As for Toby, N Scale Henrietta should be nowhere near as problematic as Large Scale. Maybe we can even get Hannah.

Yeah, hopefully they see this thread and take our ideas and suggestions into account when working with the N Scale range. Finding ways to squeeze out more than one engine a year would be very beneficial. I definitely hope when they eventually make Diesel, they'll give him the grumpy face right away. Similarly, I'm sure that when Rosie's made in N Scale, she'll be her current red instead of her old pink. And since the designs will probably be CGI based, Spencer will probably have sleek silver paint. Maybe even by the time they get around to Oliver, Jam Filled may fix his CGI model. Hopefully however the Express Coaches and Spencer's Special Coach will be inspired by the Model Series/HO Scale designs. I'd be fine with CGI style Annie, Clarabel, and Troublesome Trucks but the Express Coach CGI design isn't really that good.

I didn't even consider the possibility of recolor rolling stock like the GW Van or the Water Tanker in this range but I can definitely see them carrying over to N Scale. Sounds fine to me. The more rolling stock the merrier I say. However I hope they'll first release all the important rolling stock items before getting into recolors (except for ones like Red Express Coaches or Hannah).

Currently, these are my predictions for the N Scale line in 2020:

James
Edward (if a second engine is possible)
Mail Van
Red Coach and Red Brake Coach
S.C.Ruffey
Brake Van

As the year goes on, I'll change my predictions accordingly as new information is revealed about the line. To close this post off, I just wanted to say that I've been thinking of characters that can be made in N Scale and I can't really think of many they couldn't. One that they might have trouble with is Stephen considering how small he is. I do hope he is possible though considering they probably won't make him in HO Scale. What characters do you guys think Bachmann may be unable to make in N Scale?

[Kemptown Branch]

What characters do you guys think Bachmann may be unable to make in N Scale?

I think that Philip, Scruff, Bash and Dash are too small to be made.

On a completely different note, I got an Update email from the Bachmann Sales team about the scaling of the N Scale models. Considering that I never asked them again about the sizing and they gave me an update anyways, I feel like that just shows how good Bachmann's Service is. This is what it said:

Dear ___________,

Sorry, we replied too quickly. The exact scale of this line has not been determined yet.

Best regards,

The Sales Team

Bachmann Industries, Inc.

Read into this what you will. It almost makes me wonder if they will do completely new toolings for everything or not.

[Chaz]

All right, clearly some of you guys are getting a little too carried away with this new range. I am excited for it as much as the next guy but, announcing two engines for that range a year or making other larger engines like Rebecca or Spencer (as brought up in another thread) is a little "extreme".

Sure, the range started with two engines this year, Thomas and Percy. This is exactly what the large scale range did too, as well as HO while also including James.  But in literally the last 10 years, it's been pretty rare for Bachmann to announce more than one engine per lineup unless if a range had only just recently started or we get a pair of twins.  Heck even when narrow gauge got announced only Skarloey was announced.  Honestly, I think it's almost obvious if not inevitable that James is probably going to be the only new engine announced in 2020.  Any other engine would probably come out a year or so afterwards.  

Size is not going to be anywhere near as much of an issue here like it was in large scale, but it seems that the catalog hasn't even determined prices yet for these models, and more likely than not, pricing will likely be an issue for this range too.  I definitely think Gordon would be a great seller and easily has the best potential out of any larger engine.  At the same time though, I'm not going to deny the fact that like any other scenario, that the tooling cost is something Bachmann would have to really think about before production.  Especially with the manufacturing cost at China as well as licensing from Mattel.  It's basically why I feel if other engines come out, I expect them to add Emily and Toby as they were both popular in HO and large scale and wouldn't cost as much as Gordon and Henry.  

Honestly I'm just glad that the new N scale range will likely have new toolings rather than taking toolings from Tomix or Graham Farish.  That will likely help boost their sales and really show the true potential that this new range will have.  Just as long as pricing isn't too steep.

[Streak]

Yeah true. we have been a little bit too over the top with saying what Bachmann could do with this range. We have no idea the price or if it's even gonna take off. I guess personally I've just been hyped up by the prospect of this new range that I may have speculated some pretty crazy things. I still stand by my 2020 predictions but I recognize that I shouldn't get so hyped for something either years and years away or something that may not even happen at all. 

[Kemptown Branch]

I've been looking back through the old threads and catalogs recently, and there are a few things I noticed in regards to how quickly Bachmann has been able to get new ranges out. When the Large Scale range was announced in 2009, there were no pictures for the models, but they had painted samples of at least Thomas by July. They were also able to release the entire range by December 2009. For the Narrow Gauge range in 2015, there were again no pictures for Skarloey (a.k.a. the only model Bachmann were making themselves at the time). By the NMRA train show 2015, they had an engineering sample on display (August 28, 2015 - Thanks Chaz for providing the record). The official picture was uploaded to the site on December 9, 2015 (thanks Cheeky_ULP for the record) with Skarloey coming into stock the same day. Another thing I have noticed with the large scale range is that all engines, with the exception of James, have been released within the year they were announced. I believe one thing that could possibly have to do with this (in the case of Emily and Toby, at least) is that they were able to just scale up the HO models and make the small changes for details to stand out better. It seems like they can release things fairly quickly when they only need to be resized. I think the reason James took longer was because he had several differences compared to the HO model. Another thing that I noticed is that the models seem to take the longest when it is being completely designed for a first release. Examples of this are Oliver, Rheneas, Rosie, Duck, Donald, Douglas, and Rusty. I know that we are in different economic times, but do you guys think it would be possible for the N Scale range to have at least a couple of engineering samples on display at the NMRA Train Show in July?

[Chaz]

It's a little hard to predict how production is going to go since things have been a lot slower as of late.  I think that while we could have at least unpainted engineering samples of at least Thomas and maybe the rolling stock maybe at some point this year, it all really depends on what stage the models are at in terms of production.  It's a little hard to speculate on engineering samples or prototypes until Bachmann reveals any info to the public via shows or posts on the forum.  I'm just hoping that the first lineup of the new N scale range won't take over two years to be released similar to the case of Oliver and now Rusty who still isn't out yet or hasn't been seen on any of Bachmann's public displays.

[Zekeism]

If I was Bachmann, this would be my yearly plan..
2020: James, Red Express Coaches and Bertie
2021: Gordon, Green Express Coaches
2022: Emily, Emily's Coaches and Harold
2023: Toby, Henrietta, Milk Tanker
2024: Henry, Log Flatbed, Break Van and Terence
2025: Edward, Mail Coach, Tar Tanker
2026: Duck, Red Branch Line Coaches and Trevor
2027: Diesel, Sodor Fuel Tanker, Troublesome Truck #3
2028: Donald, Douglas, Breakdown Train, Spiteful Breakvan and Bulstrode
2029: Mavis, Quarry Wagons (2 different loads)
2020: Oliver, S C Ruffey, Toad and Bulgy
2021: Spencer, Spencer's Coach
2022: Salty, Troublesome Truck #4, Ventilated Van and Cranky

[plas man]

well you guys - with the amount of interest shown in this thread Bachmann would be silly not to manufacture Thomas in N scale . it would be a top seller - the only contender is Tomix and they are hard to get even when new and largely over scale .

my request is for a walking talking full DCC  ''Sir Topem Hat'' .

[Chaz]

I don't know about Sir Topham Hatt being in DCC... but I do want to bring up the engines eventually being released in DCC and sound at some point. 

My N scale club runs DCC only, so when I do get these models, I will have to add DCC to Thomas and Percy already.  Personally, I think if Bachmann really wants the sales for these to take off, they should announce DCC/sound models sooner rather than later so fans have the option to go down that route, rather than just to buy these models and add DCC to these models themselves, only to discover a few years later that DCC and sound alternatives would eventually become available.  I feel Bachmann probably would have had better overall sales with the DCC sound models in large scale if that were the case, especially with how terrific the sound quality of the models turned out on them compared to the HO analog Thomas model. 

[TerencetheTractor525]

Lately, I've been thinking more deeply about Bachmann's newly announced N Scale Thomas line, and I have to admit that the idea of it has really grown on me. Also, just today, I came across this image, showcasing the Tomix Thomas in front of a 1:148 N Scale British Express Coach and a 1:148 N Scale British Loco (Oliver's basis) in front of the Tomix Thomas Express Coach.



After looking at this image, I think that making the new Bachmann line in scale with the standard 1:148 British N Scale (smaller than Tomix) would be the smarter move as there is currently much more that is offered through that than there is in the Tomix range. Moreover, this would make sense since Bachmann is now offering their entire Thomas range in the UK, so UK modelers will want to have Thomas models that are in scale with their other British products. What are your thoughts? And for those who have already stated their preference, does this image change it?

Lastly, here is the link to the forum where I found the image: http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/15419-new-n-gauge-thomas-and-friends-by-bachmann-us/

[Kemptown Branch]

This actually makes me more hopeful that they will be made in 1:148. It would make more sense, at least.

[Rodimus Supreme]

well you guys - with the amount of interest shown in this thread Bachmann would be silly not to manufacture Thomas in N scale. it would be a top seller - the only contender is Tomix and they are hard to get even when new and largely over scale .

my request is for a walking talking full DCC  ''Sir Topem Hat'' .

...This sounds like you've somehow totally overlooked that Bachmann announced an N Scale Thomas and Friends line this year.

And that Sir Topham Hatt idea is absurd, TBH.

[Plow_Bender]

And that Sir Topham Hatt idea is absurd, TBH.

Absurd, yes... impossible, no...

Introducing Bachmann Sir Topham Hatt w/ DCC sound! 

The sound module is also available separately and can easily be plugged into the already existing Bachmann Sir Topham Hatt figure and features 10 phrases and realistic sounds such as "You have caused confusion and delay." and "It's no good arguing with policemen."  Can be operated on both digital and/or analog systems.  Sir Topham Hatt w/ DCC Sound is $179 and the module itself is $80.  Both are expected to start shipping Fall of 2019.  Preorder yours now!

Clearly this is why I don't have real friends...    Anyways, hope you all a good laugh.

-Rusty