Quote from: Jacob Wilson on January 04, 2016, 11:28:12 AM

Quote from: TTTEfan1992 on January 04, 2016, 11:22:36 AM
Why do we all have to be careful about what we say on here?

Good question TTTEfan1992, but we just do, otherwise you post may get deleted by a moderator as it could be inappropriate and could offend other Members. At the day, this is an Official Forum by Bachmann Trains, so this in a way (In my mind), represents Bachmnn as company and manufacture, and anything posted by a Member on Forum could give Bachmann a bad name, so Members do need to cautious in what they post on the Forum.

I don't think I could've said that any better myself. Jacob, you hit the nail right on the head, with a sledgehammer
I don't think that's just in your mind though, I think that is a very valid and rational point

~Alex

If you had your personal pick then Jacob, which of the products you listed would you most like to see next year? (Keeping in mind that, of course, they can't release everything we want in a single year )

~Alex

Quote from: Jacob Wilson on January 04, 2016, 11:02:09 AM
^ Above 1 Reply @ Reply #107 By AJW98Productions: I am not going to quote the Reply, before I get my head cut off by other Members!

That's a big post there Alex! It must have taken a long time to put together, but I do like it.

I hope we get four different coloured Brake Van's: A Red one, Blue one, Grey one and Brown one.

I also want the Narrow Gauge Red Coaches, then a Red Brake Van will sit well with the train.

I also want the Narrow Gauge Blue Coaches, then a Blue Brake Van will sit well with the train.

I also think the Slate Trucks will have a great potential release as well, and I would love the D.Fuisit Gunpowder Wagon's as well. Yes, they have not appeared much, but I would love to own them, and I think they would be popular if Bachman were to release them.

Whilst I do want all those too (along with the Green and White Coaches, even though I consider them the least likely of the bunch), I was just putting out a few suggestions, because I don't think Bachmann could cover all that in one year. Personally if I had my choice, this year we'd see the Blue and White Coaches, Blue and Brown Brakevans, and Rheneas, but I realise that even that could be asking too much, and whilst that's what I want, it's not what everyone else wants...Bachmann does have to appeal to the largest possible demographic after all.

*EDIT* Yes that post did require a lot of time, but I figured a long post like that one would be useful for explaining out my thoughts

~Alex

Whilst I believe Bachmann Oliver would have moulded handrails as opposed to...non-moulded handrails (or is seperately moulded a better term?) we must be careful about what we say, as Chaz put it not all that long ago, and in better words than I can think of:

Quote from: Chaz on January 01, 2016, 03:28:50 PM
Technically, there is nothing wrong with talking about other ranges on the forum, but there are boundaries such as not comparing the two ranges or saying one range or model is better than the other.  This is generally not allowed here since this is an official Bachmann Trains forum and representatives from other ranges cannot speak for themselves here.  Same can also be said for putting down either range or calling Hornby something along the lines of "H company" or "red box company".  

Whilst I don't think we have any kind of huge issues here yet, I believe that caution should be taken as to what we say on this kind of topic. But again, I don't think we have any issues here yet.

Anywayyy moving...slightly more on topic here, here are some more of my...semi-educated guesses about this year's range. I think I'll just put out some thoughts here for HO and G scale, as these ranges I'm the least sure of what to expect next (please note these are just my opinions, and are not indicative of everyone else's).
HO Gauge:
All I really see is at best maybe a freight wagon of some kind, as Oliver and Toad are already delayed to this year anyway, I guess they could maybe throw in an engine like Paxton but I'm not entirely sure of what to expect, if much at all.
G Gauge:
Since Winston has also been pushed back, at best all I see is another wagon being added to the range, but all I think we'll really get is Winston and nothing else.
...And the range I am probably still the most excited for...
Narrow Gauge:
I expect Rheneas as the next engine, and as a lot of people (myself included) have gone over why Rheneas will probably come next in the line, I won't dawdle too long on this point here.

If there's one thing I expect more than anything else in the range however, it's a humble brakevan of course.
Preferably the brown one, as it has been seen in both model, and CGI form, considering the stock that's currently on Bachmann's range, the brown Brakevan seems the most likely, being the only colour of Brakevan seen in the CGI and model series (see below), and it is also perfectly tailored to Bachmann's existing Narrow Gauge rolling stock, having been used so extensively on freight trains all throughout the show's runtime, and having even been used along side the Green and White Coaches in earlier seasons (see "A Bad Day For Sir Handel"), however of all the coaches, I consider those the least likely to appear in Bachmann's range, or at least, the ones that if they were released, would probably be released last, but more on that later. Anyway, tangent over, here are images of the Model era and CGI era Brown Brakevans:



Or alternatively perhaps we'd get the Blue Brakevan and the Red Brakevan from the classic series to fit with colours/colors of the Blue Box Van and Red Box Van respectively.

Anyway, whilst I'd like to see some coaches in next year's range, I don't think the Slate Trucks would be entirely out of place, the ones from the classic series in particular being very iconic. Having been so extensively used throughout the entire model era of Thomas and Friends, plus they look more unique than the current Open Wagon in the Narrow Gauge line I'd say, as Open Wagons like that did appear in standard gauge, but the Slate Trucks were always unique to the Narrow Gauge Railway. So it's not hard to see why they have a fair chance of being produced along side the brown Brakevan.
As a side note; I doubt we'd see them with faces, as the last time I recall seeing the slate trucks fitted with faces was all the way back in season 5, so maybe they'd look somewhat like their season 5 counterparts below (just with no faces)...

Maybe with/without slate loads...I mean, I am just one person, but I think that could be something and also if I'm wrong here feel free to correct me, but aren't the slate trucks seen throughout the classic series a little overscaled next to their basis?

But if I had to be honest for what I wanted to see most next year, I would have the Brown Brakevan above on my "wishlist" but I'd also have another kind of Brakevan on there...and some matching coaches of course, so without further ado, I present to you...

Duke pulling Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima, and Beatrice...oh wait...these are the TV Series Blue and White Coaches...
On a more serious note though, I'd say that of all the Narrow Gauge Coaches, not only are these (in my opinion) the most iconic, but also just my personal favourites really, so I'm probably heavily biased but nevertheless I feel they do have a lot of potential, being so extensively used throughout Season 4. I mean, I'm fairly sure almost every single Narrow Gauge Engine from the model era has pulled them at some point (with the only possible "Model Era" exceptions I can think of being Smudger and Bertram, both of whom were both only seen in one episode and never again).
Also given if Rheneas does come out next year, then we'll have a set of Blue and White Coaches and a Blue Brakevan, which in my opinion are the coaches which suit Skarloey and Rheneas best, as the colour contrast really does look quite nice with them.
They've been there right from the start, and have seen events such as Peter Sam leaving behind the refreshment lady, the events of Gallant Old Engine (a character defining moment for Rheneas and an episode that gave Duncan some character developement too), they also saw the events of "You Can't Win", they were there when Duncan needed to stop on the middle of a lake to gain steam and were also there when Duncan stalled on a Viaduct...and that's all in the space of just a few episodes of one season.

Also, whilst my point about them being Agnes, Ruth, Lucy, Jemima, and Beatrice was merely my attempt at humour, the simple fact of the matter is that these coaches do bear a strong resemblance to the coaches of the Railway Series. Which is part of what I think think helps them stay in the hearts and minds of long term fans, and fans of both the Railway Series and TV Series (like myself).
I can even see the Railway Series modelers in the community applying "1" and "3", along with "SR" decals to show which compartments represent first class, and which compartments represent third class and to of course show that the coaches are property of the Skarloey Railway.
To me at least (and maybe this is wishful thinking on my part) but if these coaches were released into the range, I see them being very popular.
...The only downside I can think of is that they were last seen in season 10, so I do worry a little about their appeal to younger fans. Even the Green and White Coaches, along with the Red and Yellow Coaches, whilst far less iconic did last appear in the slightly more recent Season 12, which is still a while ago now, so it does sow the seeds of doubt in my mind as to whether or not they could appear.

(To my knowledge, this is a deleted shot of all these classic coaches next to each other in "A Bad Day For Sir Handel")
Now, people may bring in the arguement of characters like S.C.Ruffey, and how he has not been seen since season 3 or 4 I think (?) but he was no more than a repaint and a new face mould for Bachmann, so an easy profit, but with these Narrow Gauge Coaches, each coach (Blue and White, Red and Yellow, Green and White) would be an entirely new tooling, and yes I did list the the Red and Yellow and Blue and White Coaches as different toolings, as they aren't actually identical, the photo above shows some minute differences between them, for example, it can't be seen in the above picture but, the Blue and White Coaches have more clearly visible...paneling...for lack of a better word, but, however, what is visible is that the body pieces of the Blue and White Coaches do not curve inwards just near the chassis like they do on the Red and Yellow coaches.
They even have entirely different basis', which can be seen on TTTEWikia:
http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Skarloey_Railway_Coaches

So that would mean my other most likely candidate for Coaches is the fan dubbed "Talyllyn Coaches"...

Whilst certainly not my personal favourites, I can see why Bachmann could release them, as they are (so far) the only coaches to have appeared on the Narrow Gauge Railway in CGI. Personally I think they look overscaled (and as for representations of the Talyllyn Railway's coaches, they are overscaled), but also the paint work to me just doesn't look as nice as the coaches from the model era. But I realise Bachmann must try their best to cater to all demographics, not just those with the exact same mindset as me. So realistically I'll probably be happy with whatever coaches Bachmann may introduce into the Narrow Gauge range.

But who knows? Maybe we'll get thrown a massive curve ball with something like the D.Fusit Gunpowder Wagon appearing (I mean it's unlikely, but you never know)...

So there's just a few of my thoughts on potential releases for next -I mean this year. Anyway, maybe I'm entirely wrong, it's impossible to know exactly what Bachmann will release next after all, "beggers can't be choosers" after all.
Anyway, until next time,
~Alex

Unfortunately, a model of Henry in his "pre-accident" form will probably never occur, he only appeared for about half of 1 Season, and as far as manufacturing costs are concerned, there just isn't high enough demand to justify the cost of manufacturing a new tooling for Henry, plus even in this year's "The Adventure Begins" they actually outright ignore Henry MK I, as the movie (I suspect at least) is supposed to take place prior to the events of "The Flying Kipper", but Henry appeared in his "new shape" for the whole movie.

I honestly think that because of Henry MK I's apparent absence in "The Adventure Begins", that Henry MK I has just essentially been "swept under the rug" by HiT Entertainment, and given the fact that Bachmann doesn't have anywhere near as much of a demand for Henry MK I as they do with Henry MK II, as with Henry MK II, they can appeal to all fans of the series, from almost any season. With Henry MK I, only those who are familiar with Season 1 will be familiar with the engine, meaning they lose a lot of sale potential to anyone who hasn't seen Season 1, which unfortunately a lot of the younger fanbase is unfamiliar with, meaning that it's harder to justify the high prices for manufacturing a large engine like Henry in a different form. Also as he is the same engine, so some fans may not wish to purchase it, as then they have 2 models of the same engine. Also, he just seems to look a bit more like Gordon in that form, which to even many older fans makes him look less unique, and therefore less appealing.

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a model of Henry MK I. I think I'm actually in the minority who like Henry in his MK I form basically as much (and at times a little more than), his MK II form. But unfortunately I just don't think it will happen. But I just don't see Bachmann producing it. At this current point in time, it would be basically financially unviable to produce Henry MK I, as it is only available to a very niche market, as opposed to the wider one which Bachmann need to appeal to in order to justify the high manufacturing costs for a large tooling like a new form of Henry, Not to mention they'd need to get HiT's approval, which for some reason I just don't think they would give, mostly for my aforementioned reasons. But I guess we can dream...

~Alex

Quote from: TTTEfan1992 on December 30, 2015, 12:02:31 PM
How high of a chance do you think Oliver's and Toad's picture will be revealed in the Bachmann 2016 catalog?

I assume they would be...reasonably high, though not 100%. If their photos do not appear in the catalogue however, I expect their prototype models will appear in February's Toy Fair; where of course, Bachmann will be making their announcements for next year. There is of course the ever present chance that both scenarios are wrong, and we will see neither their prototype models at the Toy Fair, nor pictures in the catalogue, I consider the latter-most of all 3 options highly unlikely though, but there are still chances of it occuring, so one must be careful not to presume too much.

Whenever we see photos of them, I very much look forward to it, I can't wait to see how these two classic characters will be handled by Bachmann

~Alex

Quote from: Jacob Wilson on December 28, 2015, 05:53:05 AM
The problem is that must be remembered, is that what needs to be done to fit the knuckle coupilers is that you have to cut away the holders for the Hook-and-Loop Coupilers which means that you will ruin the models and will mean that they will never be able to be restored to back their original couplings.

Jacob, so long as the seller is honest about this, it should be a non-issue, as I said before there is a market for these modified models, if the buyer wanted to fit their Thomas or any other engine with knuckle couplings, they wouldn't care as they were going to do it anyway, there's enough of a market for knuckle coupling fitted Bachmann Thomas stock that second-hand sales should not be an issue, provided the seller is honest about what the buyer is getting. I don't know how I could make this clearer, there is a market for this, selling should not be an issue. For example: I know a person who bought a Bachmann Percy with knuckle couplings fitted to it for his mostly American layout, he soon also bought a Thomas fitted with them, he knew what he was buying, he wanted the product, so he didn't care that it was modified. It was no real issue to him.

Anyway, it would seem TrainMan2001 has made up their mind on what they want, I suggest that unless we could aid in instructing or help give advice to make the conversion go through, we leave the topic alone. I know as I am not being helpful, I shall soon leave this topic alone, and let the experts in conversion handle it.

~Alex

I have to disagree on the topic of fitting knuckle couplings to them. If most of your stock has knuckle couplers (for example: a lot of American stock uses knuckle couplers) so I can see the appeal to it. I also disagree that it could harm resale value, I think it seems like there's enough of a market for Thomas stock fitted with knuckle couplings, so resale value wouldn't exactly be too badly damaged, and you save the next buyer a lot of work if they intended to fit their Thomas items with knuckle couplers.

At the very least, I'd say the term "sacrilege" is an exaggeration. I've seen a Bachmann Toby on eBay with sprung buffers fitted and screw-link couplings also fitted, as well as some detailing here and there added, it was slightly used and it still sold for around the same price as a normal Toby, because the detailing had been carried out nicely, and it looked in an as new condition. There is a market for trains that are, in some people's eyes "improved", if a knuckle coupling conversion were to be carried out correctly, I see no reason why the resale value should be drastically damaged. There is a market for that sort of modification after all.

~Alex

Quote from: Jacob Wilson on December 27, 2015, 12:20:04 PM

Quote from: Parva Productions on December 27, 2015, 12:12:06 PM
Bachmann realistically are only going to produce items if they think they're going to sell. Numerical order won't guarantee sales - popularity of the characters will. Sir Handel has barely appeared in the show in recent years, whereas the likes of Peter Sam, Duncan and Rusty have been far more frequent.

If I were a betting man I would place money on Rheneas being the next narrow gauge engine introduced, followed by Rusty and then Peter Sam. I can't see Sir Handel being produced for some time.

Personally, I prefer them to be released in numerical order, than popularity of the Locomotive. I am pretty sure Rheneas will be released next, then Sir Handel, second Peter Sam, third Rusty and fourth Duncan.

I think Parva Productions has a point though, Bachmann cares not for the numerical preferences of a few, when there is higher demand for engines like Peter Sam to be released first, they wish to appeal to the largest possible demographic, whilst still keeping their options realistic.

I think Peter Sam or Rusty are more likely. The simplicity of Rusty's design and kitbashing potential would make for an appealing model, but Peter Sam seems to have the greatest demand for the third engine, but I suppose things could change between now and 2017, when I'm assuming the third Narrow Gauge engine would be released. I suspect for 2016 we'll see Rheneas as the next engine in the range.

I'm curious as to what people might think might be released in terms of rolling stock for Narrow Gauge next year, personally I'm hoping for the Brown Brakevan from the classic series, and the Blue and White Coaches from the classic series, along with their matching Blue Brakevan from the classic series.
(Please do not quote this post in its entirety if you are to reply to this...it would severely begin to clog up the page)

Anyway, best wishes,
~Alex

I suggest perhaps we shift the topic towards predictions for what Bachmann could make next year. I recall much earlier this year, I believe it was, if members thought the Skarloey Railway coaches (if Bachmann were to release them,) would have faces or be faceless. It has dawned on me that I asked a very silly question, as I just found out the last time we saw Narrow Gauge coaches with faces was in Season 4, and they haven't had faces since.

Quote from: Chaz on December 26, 2015, 02:51:54 PM
For the third narrow gauge engine, I could see it either being Sir Handel or Peter Sam.  While Sir Handel would make sense because of the numerical order, I feel Peter Sam would make even more sense than Sir Handel because he has had more appearances and speaking roles in CGI and has also had his own episode to himself in CGI which was Don't Bother Victor.  Either of these would be great, but even on a personal preference Peter Sam is my favorite narrow gauge engine so I would be happy seeing him come out in the future. 

To me, Sir Handel makes sense from a numerical perspective, as I see Rheneas being the second engine released, but I think Peter Sam may have better chances of coming out first, mainly because from what I can see from parts of the fanbase, he seems to be more popular than Sir Handel, and as Peter Sam is generally a more pleasant character than Sir Handel, and for a few other reasons here and there, I could see Bachmann releasing Peter Sam third, and Sir Handel fourth.

That could be personal bias of mine though, Peter Sam is one of my favourite Narrow Gauge engines and was my favourite for quite a while when I was younger.

On a side note I'm hoping Duke will return at some point in the nearby future. Because the Narrow Gauge line isn't complete without him, and for me at least, it'd be nice to have a model of him at some point in the future.

~Alex

Quote from: Chaz on December 26, 2015, 12:28:24 PM
Also Alex, I find it interesting that you mentioned Rusty being the third narrow gauge engine that you expect from Bachmann.  I could see Rusty happening in the future too but not right away since I imagine others like Rheneas and even Peter Sam could happen before him.  To me, Rusty is basically the "Toby" of the narrow gauge engines meaning that there isn't a lot of urgency to him but he has a simple design with a lot of conversion possibilities.  I know I would certainly love to have Rusty too! 

That was under the possibility of Bachmann releasing 2 Narrow Gauge engines in the same year (which I do somewhat doubt myself), moreso, if only one gets released per year, I expect Rusty would be saved for much later down the track (the pun was not intended), I could see him happening as a third engine, but I expect Peter Sam and Sir Handel have higher chances of coming out first, I just thought I'd bring up a point I don't recall having seen anyone else brought up. But I did an absolutely terrible job of bringing that up, Rusty was moreso brought up as a possibility, as I think it could happen, and I thought should be mentioned as he is one of the few engines I haven't seen brought up for being the third Narrow Gauge engine from Bachmann. I'd be lying if I didn't say that I think Rusty has greater chances for being the third Narrow Gauge engine than I believe he's credited for, but that's just my opinion, and I don't speak for everyone so to each their own opinion I guess

Also thanks for bringing up Rusty's kitbashing potential, that was a point I completely forogt to bring up in my last post. But the simple design is something that I believe would make for an easy to produce model, which would definitely be appealing to the company selling as well as the buyers ready to kitbash or just use regularly, depending on sufficient demand of course.

I'm curious though, as most people seem to think Rheneas will be the second engine in the range, who do people think will be the third and why?

~Alex

Quote from: ChaoticCreeper55 on December 26, 2015, 12:26:53 PM

Quote from: AJW98Productions on December 26, 2015, 03:33:05 AM
ChaoticCreeper55, if you think they have all the engines you really need in HO, then you don't necessarily have to predict the next engine to join the range

So you are saying I can't voice my opinion?

I'm saying quite the opposite actually, I'm saying that if you are having a hard time forming an opinion (which to me it sounded like you were), that you didn't have to state one if you didn't want to, as based on your earlier statement (found here):

Quote from: ChaoticCreeper55 on December 26, 2015, 01:41:17 AM
For the ho scale I didn't know what to put cause I think they have probably all the engines that I really need.

You sounded like you said that merely because you thought that you had to, as you didn't know what to put, I was just saying that you don't have to give your opinion if you were having a hard time forming one. I was just trying to be nice is all, sorry for any confusion, but I was genuinely trying to be nice I would never forbid someone from stating an opinion, that's what makes this fun after all, I just thought you shouldn't have to give one if you seemed like you almost didn't entirely want to give an opinion, which in this case it came across to me like you didn't entirely want to give an opinion on HO, and no one should feel like they have to give an opinion if they don't want to, which again, it seemed like you didn't. So I thought I'd try to be nice, sorry if I came across as rude at all, I was trying to be nice. Feel free to voice your opinions all you like, I was not in the slightest bit trying to prevent you from having an opinion.

Sorry for the confusion, but please know I did have good intentions and I did only mean that in a nice way. Best wishes,

~Alex

Quote from: Jacob Wilson on December 26, 2015, 05:04:59 AM

Quote from: ChaoticCreeper55 on December 25, 2015, 10:17:30 PM
I also think Bachmann Murdoch would be pretty cool

That is a good Locomtive for Bachmnn to bring out, but it wouldn't be as good as the Hornby Murdoch. The Hronby Murdoch has already set a good standard going, when it was released back in 2011. Bachamnn would not be able to produce a Murdoch better or just as good as the Hornby one. The Hornby Murdoch, has sprung buffers, seperate handrails, a ladder on the rear of his tender, just like a real life Class 9F has. The detail that Hornby Murodch has would not be beaten by Bachmann because they so not fit sprung buffers, separate handrails to their Locomotives. I admit that there probably is a bit too much extra detail fitted to Hornby Murdoch, but I feel it is better than having one without it, with moulded handrails like Bachmann would do.

Remember that detail isn't everything, it also comes down to the quality of the model's running, and many other factors. I don't see Bachmann avoiding releasing Murdoch just because Hornby already have their own variation available, as it is much harder to acquire a Hornby Murdoch in the USA anyway, where Bachmann has the license to produce Thomas in HO, and the same country where Hornby does not have the license to produce Thomas in OO, just like Bachmann odes not have the license to produce their HO range in the UK. This means that Hornby models can be much more difficult for Bachmann's US customers, and does give Bachmann excellent market advantage if they were to do so.

But with that said, I'm not going to lie, I don't think Bachmann will be making Murdoch in the near future, as he only appeared in 7 episodes, and only spoke in 3 of them. Trucks like S.C.Ruffy are a little different, as for Bachmann that was a quick new face moulding and repaint, plus S.C.Ruffy is a little more iconic than Murdoch anyway, Murdoch would be a large gamble on a relatively large new tooling that would be expensive to produce, and given his last appearance was in Season 12, and he does not seem to be in high demand among many fans, I do not see Bachmann producing Murdoch in the near future, even though I do like his basis...
(And if you don't believe me about his amount of appearances, I double checked the TTEWikia to make sure that was correct: http://ttte.wikia.com/wiki/Murdoch )

~Alex

As Christmas is over now, I hope everyone had a great day, regardless of whether they celebrate it or not. Best wishes and season's greetings to all

~Alex

ChaoticCreeper55, if you think they have all the engines you really need in HO, then you don't necessarily have to predict the next engine to join the range, just stick to the other ranges if it fits you better, or alternatively just what you think Bachmann has the greatest chance of releasing next, as this topic did start out as a predictions thread, as opposed to a wishlist thread. For example I have no clue what Bachmann could release next year, so I just guessed that for now, Paxton seems most likely (to me anyway), but that would be if we get an engine at all next year. Oh, and also just a friendly heads-up, there's a "modify" button at the top of every post you make, so you don't have to go back and post multiple times in a row in the same topic, it just creates less clutter and only adds to one post instead of 2+ new ones. I mean, no harm no foul, this is just a friendly heads-up

Quote from: ChaoticCreeper55 on December 25, 2015, 09:00:39 PM
Yeah... if they made the whole series whistle and chuff people would only need to put a DCC chip without sound if they wanted to oporate there engines in different ways.  

Unfortunately, the voltage is a problem that somewhat prohibits this from functioning ideally. Bachmann's Whistle and Chuff Thomas as well all know is DC, so the sound chip is made to detect the voltage the motor is receiving and respond accordingly, for instance, higher speeds create higher voltage, meaning the sound chip responds accordingly. Unfortunately DCC runs at a higher voltage already, I think I saw a video a while ago of a man who does DCC conversions explaining that, because of this, Bachmann's Whistle and Chuff Thomas, when fitted with DCC, sounds like its going at its top speed, even if its only moving seemingly at a crawling speed. So it is a bit of an issue, the best alternative is to just get a DCC chip with sound to fit to Thomas, but that's probably a topic someone else could do a far better job of explaining than I could.

Anyway, shifting this long post of mine back to the topic at hand, predictions. I honestly don't see Bachmann making any more than 2 engines in next year's Narrow Gauge line up, sorry for seeming so cynical to anyone who is hoping for around 3, but allow me to first elaborate on why I think that won't happen.
It seems to me at least, that this year's range was a big success, but I think it's worth keeping in mind that the most engines ever released into the range at once was 3 in a year, and that was in 2002, when the HO range was first getting on its feet, Bachmann wanted to be able to quickly release 3 engines to keep options open early and keep themselves in the game by establishing themselves quickly.
Large Scale was a gamble to them, but slightly less of one, as their HO Thomas line was already established and profititable, and it kind of shows, as in HO, 3 engines (Thomas, Percy and James) were released in its debut year, as opposed to Large Scale, where in its debut year only 2 engines (Thomas and Percy) were released, and James was released in the range's second year.
And on the subject of HO, since 2002 it seems when we've had more than 1 engine released in a year since, it's because they share similar features, for example, Gordon and Henry were released together in the range's second year, but their toolings share a lot of similar features, meaning that it was easier to release them together than it would be with a lot of other engines.
For example, the chassis blocks for Gordon and Henry are identical, or at least appeared that way upon close inspection of my models, Henry's even has room for the screw that holds in Gordon's rear trailing wheels, a feature which would be impractical unless the chassis block is the same between the two, even their driving wheels and front bogies are the same, that's I think why they came out in the same year, and (correct me if I'm wrong) but since then, any engines that came out in pairs of two were always twins, eg. Donald and Douglas, Bill and Ben, 'Arry and Bert.
So next year I seriously doubt we'll see upwards of 2 Narrow Gauge Engines, I think we may only see Rheneas, as he seems the most likely candidate. Personally I can see Bachmann releasing the Narrow Gauge engines in numerical order (except possibly with Peter Sam and Sir Handel, I think Peter Sam could be released before Sir Handel), if they are released at a rate of 1 a year, that is. If we are to get 2 engines next year, I think we'll see Rheneas and Rusty. Rheneas has high demand amongst the fans, and given the backstory of Rheneas and Skarloey, it seems almost counter-intuitive not to follow up Skarloey with Rheneas, it also makes sense numerically, as Rheneas in #2 on the Narrow Gauge railway, and Sarloey is #1.
So, I hear a few people already asking (or at least, I'm assuming I'd be asked), why would Rusty follow up in the second year, as he is #5 on the Narrow Gauge railway, well a few reasons: His design is not as complex as the other engines, being a diesel and all, his design is rather box like and quite simple compared to the likes of Peter Sam and Sir Handel, also the fact that it seems to be (from what I've heard anyway) that Skarloey, Rheneas and Rusty seem to have gotten the most attention recently, almost appearing as the "Main Three" of the Narrow Gauge line (much like how Thomas, Percy and James spent a few years as the "Main Three" of the standard gauge engines).
Also I thought this might happen because it seems to me that Peter Sam and Sir Handel, for the most part have similar wheelbases, and also given their backstories and appearances in the classic seasons, they seemed to be, for a while at least, good contrasts to each other (given Peter Sam seems to be the positive contrast of the two, that is why I think he'd have a fair chance of being released before Sir Handel, just to tie into what I was saying earlier about Peter Sam being potentionally released before Sir Handel).
In the classic seasons, Sir Handel was grumpy and disliked Trucks and was often rude, Peter Sam was almost his polar opposite, I could almost see these 2 being released together as well, but I think Bachmann are more likely to stick to the safest route next year of just Rheneas, that's just my predictions anyway. If I (objectively) got some information in here wrong, feel free to correct me, if you think that (subjectively) my opinion/s are wrong, feel free to reply of you want, that's a part of the beauty of predictions after all, calmly debating with logic and reason (I must ask anyone who does intend on responding to this to not quote this post, as its length would unnecessarily clog up the thread).

Anyway, as ever I look forward to hearing the opinions of other members, and constructive criticism is always welcome. I look forward to any responses or thoughts on any of next year's potential releases, predicitons are after all, one of the most interesting parts to the lead up to the announcements in the following year

~Alex