2019 Official Announcements

[Streak]

I'm sure it will be much easier to make much more of the Thomas cast in N Scale considering there's no moving eye mechanisms or size limits that Bachmann has to really worry about. I'm sure some characters will be complicated to make in the line but for now it looks like it could be smoother sailing with bigger engines like Gordon, Henry, Rebecca, and Spencer.

I guess someone should make a Bachmann in 2020 thread now.

[TrainshockeylifE]

Maybe the Narrow Gauge line will be ended here? Hopefully not!

[mulfred-100]

Maybe the Narrow Gauge line will be ended here? Hopefully not!

That's a tricky one beciase on the one hand they are probably more expensive to make and mold being diecast and obviously require new tooling. But they do sell very well. Look at how amazing skarloey did right out of the gate. Becuase many non thomas modellers buy these to recreate their real life counter parts. I think that this year with rusty and the coaches bachmann are thinking let's leave these ranges till 2020. I didn't realise that the tankers in large scale haven't been released yet. Again probably why bachmann left things till 2020. I hope none of the Thomas range gets cut, as i do genuinely love each scale they make.

[TrainFan97]

When Bachmann eventually gets to Spencer in N Scale, let's hope he would be much faster than his HO Scale counterpart.

[Streak]

Maybe the Narrow Gauge line will be ended here? Hopefully not!

I'm sure they'll keep it going. Skarloey and Rheneas sold like hot cakes and I'm sure Rusty will sell well to once he's released. I'm honestly more worried for the Large Scale range. It hasn't gotten a new engine since 2015 (if you'd really call Winston an engine). However, the LS tankers haven't been released yet so maybe they're treating those as the 2019 releases (despite being 2018 announcements) kinda like Rusty and the coaches for the Narrow Guage line.

When Bachmann eventually gets to Spencer in N Scale, let's hope he would be much faster than his HO Scale counterpart.

Omg a CGI style Spencer in N Scale would be amazing. Hopefully a literal "silver bullet".

[Kemptown Branch]

InsideTrack (or The Bach-man), is there any idea of what the N Scale Thomas range is going to be scaled like? Would they be 1:160, 1:148, or oversized similar to the Tomix models?

[TrainCollector]

I'm super excited for the N scale Thomas line! I can't believe Bachmann actually announced it! We all know James is gonna be announced next year for 2020 so I am hoping we get other engines like Gordon or Henry. My gosh if we get Gordon that would be amazing! N scale leaves up so many opportunities for so many characters! Whatever will they think up next?

[TrainFan97]

When we get N Scale James in 2020, who should we get with him, if a second engine gets announced? Hopefully, if we get two engines again next year, we could get Gordon, or Emily to join alongside James. When we get Gordon, it will be a real treat, since the big engines are much more possible in N Scale. Gordon is a character Tomix still has yet to make. Of course, we can't have Gordon without N Scale Express Coaches.

The fact that the N Scale range is finally starting is a big deal. Should be much more successful than Large Scale, and affordable too. Hopefully, not as expensive as Narrow Gauge.

Looking forward to HO Scale Red Rosie. Maybe next year, we can finally get Sidney and/or Green Thomas. Green Thomas would be perfect to celebrate the 75th Anniversary. Much better than how Celebration Thomas celebrated the 70th. We may not have Troublesome Truck #6 coming yet, but we are getting more open wagons. Two of which are loaded, and the Flatbed is coming back, with logs. We got the Spiteful Brake Van just recently.

[Streak]

When we get N Scale James in 2020, who should we get with him, if a second engine gets announced? Hopefully, if we get two engines again next year, we could get Gordon, or Emily to join alongside James. When we get Gordon, it will be a real treat, since the big engines are much more possible in N Scale. Gordon is a character Tomix still has yet to make. Of course, we can't have Gordon without N Scale Express Coaches.

While I could see them doing Emily, I think if they were to pair any engine up with James to sell in N Scale, it would be Edward. Gordon would probably be paired up with Henry. Granted we have no idea if they'll do two N Scale engines every year. I truly hope they will as it will help the range to catch up to the Large Scale range and the HO Scale range.

Wow, I'm honestly giddy. The N Scale announcement has gotten me so excited for the future. I just can't wait to see what Bachmann does!

[AJW98Productions]

So...some thoughts about this year's announcements:
Everybody saw Red Rosie coming, but I still thought it may be a year away. Not too excited about this one, but slightly happy to see her in red at least, as I prefer that livery to her lavender one. Nice to see the flatbed returning, and I'm curious, however not incredibly excited about the other HO wagons that have been announced.

Kind of disappointing that there are no announcements for Narrow Gauge, but if I recall correctly, previously if rolling stock has been delayed, the next year, we have not received any rolling stock in the announcements. If an engine is delayed, there has not been an engine in the announcements, so maybe this is why nothing was announced for Narrow Gauge. It could also have to do with the Factory issues Bachmann's UK branch has been having, perhaps.

As for the Narrow Gauge coaches, last time I remember a product being delayed for so long without any image (bar maybe Rusty or Rheneas) was with Oliver in HO scale, and since the CGI coaches are over scale, maybe there's an issue here with them trying to fix the scaling in the model, vs what Mattel wants. Considering Bachmann's Oliver is clearly a CG design, but does have the scaling issues of the CGI model a little fixed, it's possible that the reason the model stalled out in production for so long was because Bachmann and Mattel had trouble coming to an agreement on the final model. I sincerely hope this isn't the case, as it would confirm both coaches to have the same tooling, and (like I'm assuming most people are), I'm hoping that we do get two different toolings for the coaches.

It's sad to see nothing coming forth in large scale, it's been obvious that the large scale range has been in a bit of decline for the last few years, but I still feel really bad for Large Scale modelers, and it is sad to see that the range seems to be declining more and more. Maybe we didn't get anything here because there's already last year's tankers on the back-burner...but still, this just seems like confirmation that the range is in a very bad place right now, worse than I imagined, at least.

Finally, the N Gauge models. I'm actually quite surprised by these, in a good way. I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out, I hope they come out looking great, and if they do outshine their HO counterparts, it might show Bachmann that the HO Thomas, Percy and James are due for at least a little re-tooling.

Also, I'd suggest that in 2020, we'd only see James as an engine in the N Gauge range, as he doesn't share any common chassis or body components with other engines, so there isn't much financial incentive to release two different toolings in one year (which can be expensive), past the initial launch year. I'd suggest in 2021 that we may see Gordon and Henry, but that's because their HO models share a common chassis. Henry's wheelbase literally has the hole in it, that is used to screw Gordon's two trailing wheels into Gordon's model, because the two share the same chassis block, valve gear, wheels, and motor. And it's been a long time in HO since we've seen two engines released in one year that don't share common parts - and whilst there is Rosie and Oliver, Oliver had been delayed by about a year at that point already, so I'm electing to ignore that one.

However, so many of us are putting forward predictions for 2020 already. As much as I think it's potentially a little early it for it, maybe we could benefit from having a Bachmann Thomas & Friends in 2020 thread? It seems people are keen to speculate about next year, and maybe the announcements thread for this year isn't the most ideal spot. Not to be rude, just a thought, that's all

Have a great day everyone,
~Alex

[Titanic5972]

Wow great to see an N gauge range be announced. Looking forward to seeing how this develops. I'm surprised there's no new Troublesome Truck but the flatbed log carrier will be the perfect accompaniment to Henry. Great news.

[Captain Crutch]

I have a hunch that Bachmann has learned their lesson with announcing things too early. LS Diesel was cancelled and people are getting antsy over the upcoming products and how long they're taking, maybe they've set themselves with the idea that they should atleast have a prototype and be prepared to manufacture it before they announce a product, which would explain why we haven't gotten any Narrow Guage stuff the last 2 years, they're waiting because Rusty is taking so long.
Just a thought.

[douglas]

Well now. A new N gauge line, eh? Perhaps they bought the rights and toolings for the Tomix line from Tomy... if so, there's already two other models Bachmann have ready to go (James and Henry) for possible future release. Maybe we'll see that Gordon that Tomix supposedly announced then cancelled. I expect there would at least be re-done faces in CGI style, though.

A bit disappointed with the lack of new narrow-gauge models... I'm thinking (if I didn't sell them on eBay already, I don't remember to be honest) I can bust out my old ERTL Peter Sam and Sir Handel and do up my own NG versions. Others both here and elsewhere have done so iirc, so there's examples to work from.

I can take or leave the upcoming HO scale models. Don't have the space to work with them, not interested in newer characters/repaints of older rolling stock. In the meantime, I still have some HO engines to sell for some extra cash.

[TerencetheTractor525]

Does anyone know when the 2019 catalog will be up? I'm very curious to see what the new HO rolling stock looks like, as well as (possibly) the final images of the narrow gauge coaches. Still hoping the coaches are two different toolings!

[Kemptown Branch]

Last year it was up on Monday, February 19th. I'm really hoping that it will follow that pattern this year and that there is something about what size the N Scale range is going to be.