It was a lot of fun being on the stream! I couldn't really see the comments while I was presenting, but I definitely noticed a few familiar faces during the live session.

It was truly an honor to be there for Doug's final appearance before retiring. As I emphasized earlier, he's not just a great businessman who brings a wealth of knowledge when it comes to trains and Thomas, but also a really great friend. That said, Matt will do a fantastic job stepping into Doug's role, and I'm looking forward to seeing how progress and updates unfold moving forward.

It was great seeing the official image of Sir Handel posted in addition to extra pictures taken of the model on Bachmann's Facebook page.  I'm excited to get mine the day it's released!

After some thought, I decided to create a list for NMRA and my thoughts on the next N scale engines after Edward. As always, I'll start with HO, followed by N and Large Scale.

HO Engines


For HO, I'm leaning more than ever toward Hiro after the recent release of Rebecca. It's unfortunate he wasn't in this year's catalog, but understandable given Bachmann's current workload.  He would be one of Bachmann's very best sellers, despite his inevitably higher price, and many would buy him day one of his release.  He has a majorly wide appeal and continues to have a strong fan following since his introduction in Hero of the Rails.


If Hiro isn't announced, Whiff seems like the next likely candidate. His simple design aligns well with characters like Rosie and Stanley, introduced around the same time and with similar followings. Not counting Harvey or Diesel 10, Whiff would be the last major character from the model era who also appeared in CGI—a detail that adds novelty to his inclusion.

I only have two suggestions for HO rolling stock, both are repaints:


Green China Clay Truck: This would complement the upcoming red China Clay Truck and encourage sales. While green trucks didn't appear in the Railway Series, they were part of the Wooden Railway range in a two-pack with the red one adding some diversity. If Bachmann is introducing a new China clay load, it makes sense to use it across multiple wagons.  They can even copy the same decals from the red wagon (barring the numbers, which can be changed). It almost feels wrong only having a red China Clay truck but no green one to go along with it since I remember having the wooden railway two pack as a kid!


Gordon's Special Coaches – These darker blue repaints of the Express Coaches, would be a very smart addition. Not only do they offer a nice color contrast, but they also represent a piece of model-era rolling stock absent from the recent catalog announcements.

Figure Packs
By summer, I expect figure packs to be available for sale. If new packs aren't announced by then, I could see them included in next winter's catalog. Two possibilities that seem popular are a Sodor Brass Band pack and a Sodor Celebrity pack.  Hopefully they will do more than that in the future, but for now I'm just going to stick with these two.

Narrow Gauge

After Sir Handel is released, I could see the next narrow gauge engine being Luke.


Luke is a popular CGI-era character and fits naturally with the mining theme of the narrow gauge range, as he resides in the Blue Mountain Quarry.  He would likely be an expensive and a lot more of an intricate locomotive, but I feel the cross appeal for both Thomas fans and 009 modelers is definitely there, more so than CGI Duncan by a longshot. I would buy him day one!


For narrow gauge rolling stock, I'm going to suggest the 4-plank wagons, which have appeared in both the model and CGI eras. These could come in various liveries—brown, oxide red, and gray.  In addition, Bachmann can create different loads of their choice in each wagon such as coal or stone.  If not, these wagons would still make great additions, with or without additional loads. 


Narrow gauge brake van - tan - This I feel would be a long overdue repaint since the tan brake vans are more commonly used for goods trains.  This is an addition Bachmann can add either alongside the newly tooled Luke and 4 plank wagon suggestions made earlier or even work as an announcement on its own if Bachmann would rather focus on getting Sir Handel and all the previously announced rolling stock released first.

N Scale


The consensus among fans seems to be that Edward should be the next N Scale engine. While I understand the delays due to ongoing projects, it feels like a missed opportunity not to have announced him in the catalog to complete the original Steam Team.  That said, I think at this point he feels like a shoe-in for the summer and he would in no doubt be a popular seller once released.


After Edward, I firmly believe Duck should follow in 2026. His popularity, consistent CGI appearances, and strong sales of his HO model with an introduction in Bachmann UK make him a clear choice. A recent Japanese poll also highlighted his strong following ranking him in third place behind Thomas in his Railway Series and model series appearances respectively during the midterm results.  If that doesn't speak highly of Duck's popularity, I genuinely don't know what does.


Daisy also deserves quick mention too. After her recent UK introduction, she could be a strong candidate following Edward and Duck in N scale.  Despite how this would be a lot further down the line, it almost felt wrong to not mention her alongside Edward and Duck. 

N Rolling Stock
So like earlier in the catalog I'm going to suggest another pair of wagons which may seem redundant, but I feel with the additional coal loads and different color choices it will add some extra diversity:



Coal Wagon w/ load - This iconic rolling stock appeared extensively in both the model and CGI series and has been a popular purchase in HO and Large Scale.  It continues to be a popular request for a reason, and people would purchase multiple. 



Mining Wagon w/ load – With a blue livery and decal, this wagon would pair nicely with the green coal wagon, offering contrast and variety.


BR 20 ton brake van - In terms of new toolings, a BR 20-ton brake van should be added to the range this summer considering how it's been a lot more popular and iconic than the LMS brake van that was announced earlier. While Bachmann likely chose the LMS brake van to avoid investing in new tooling, the BR 20-ton brake van would be a versatile option for future repaints, including the Spiteful Brake Van.  Personally I think introducing one in either brown or gray or even purple and adding the two coal wagons mentioned earlier would make for a very fun lineup of N rolling stock!

Large Scale

Large scale is lucky to get any announcement these days, so I don't expect much activity here. However, I believe introducing the same two vans in HO (1945 and retro logo), would be a smart move for the large scale range.  These could not only appeal to large scale modelers but also to collectors as display pieces. 

Anyway that wraps up my thoughts on NMRA predictions plus which N scale engines should come after Edward.  I'm glad to see a lot of similar views all while still enjoying the reveal last weekend.

While I'm still very much a fan of the announcements revealed today, I'll admit that most of my personal wishlist and predictions haven't changed all that much, apart from the obvious additions of Troublesome Truck #7 and the large scale LBSC Thomas now being out of the way. If anything, it highlights how much more anticipation I have for seeing some of the previous suggestions during future announcement dates, particularly Edward and the coal wagon with load in N scale.

I don't think I've ever been more excited for a starter set than I am today with the 80th anniversary set especially with the inclusion of exclusive rolling stock and the Thomas model with silver buffers and updated decals to match the original illustration.  This one is a definite winner, and I might just have to pick it up.

The retro rolling stock decals are... intriguing. I've noticed Mattel has been incorporating these logos into much of their apparel this year, and Lionel seems to be following suit with one of their boxcars. However, I like how these decals are applied to the vans; they're a nice touch, and I might consider adding them to my collection.

Troublesome Truck #7 is a welcome addition too. While I'm not surprised they opted for a van with a face, I'll give credit where it's due—at least it's not another international rolling stock repaint like #6. For that reason alone, I can see this one performing better than its predecessor.

I'm a bit surprised it took Bachmann this long to update the HO milk tanker. It's interesting that the fuel tanker didn't receive a similar update at the same time.

The N scale LBSC Thomas and Origin James are fantastic additions, and I'm glad we're getting both rather than just one of them. I was hoping Edward might make an appearance, and while I'm optimistic he'll arrive this summer, it's understandable if that's not the case given the number of items we're still waiting on.

It's great to see some of the wagon repaints making their way into N scale as well. I'm a fan of the red one, not so much the Sodor Scrap Co wagon.  Hopefully, the original coal wagon with load isn't far behind! Maybe they want to wait before making the coal load mold in N first?  Still solid choices though.

Among this year's announcements, the large scale LBSC Thomas was probably the least surprising. This is one release that most people likely saw coming if large scale was going to feature a new engine. Still, credit to them for getting something out, especially given the limited offerings in large scale lately.

Finally, we now have updated images of the narrow-gauge gondolas and the blue open carriage. They look fantastic, and I'll definitely be picking these up. Holding off on new narrow-gauge product announcements this year was probably a smart move, considering Sir Handel and much of the previously announced rolling stock haven't been released yet.

The non-Thomas narrow gauge stock is quite exciting too.  Sir Haydn being next was a given once we had a better look at the sample and the Ffestinog wagons are a nice bonus too.

Overall, it's an adequate lineup. While there are no new tooling announcements, there's still plenty to be excited about. It's also great to see the anniversary year being acknowledged across all the scales, barring narrow gauge, and that alone makes this lineup all the more special.  I'm a fan!

Quote from: Gotoit756 on January 08, 2025, 09:10:31 PMMy predictions for new Thomas releases coming soon will be...

-Stepney the bluebell engine
-Nia the African engine
-Duncan (narrow gauge engine)
-Duke
-Harvey
-Murdoch
-d199/spamcam
-d7101/bear
-kana
-sandy
-Carly
-aeg Thomas, Percy, James, Emily, Gordon and diesel
-class 40/the diesel/d261
-Caroline
-Tom tipper and his post van
-George the steam roller
-diesel 10
-whiff
-Neville
-Norman
-Charlie
-Boco
-Trevor
-bulgy
-luke

Bachmann has already announced Bulgy, and he can be preordered at Trainworld or other shops.

Quote from: DustyMarie53! on January 07, 2025, 08:11:52 PMNow that we know the DCC Thomas and Percy use the same sound files as g scale, this opens the door for the rest of 2-7, Emily, and Spencer to become DCC in the future. I would fully expect to see them announced over the coming years. Could be cool if they announced one or two of the Three Railway Engines for DCC this year. I could see them waiting until these are out to announce anymore but I do think they will be on the horizon.

I would love it if the range expands their DCC options beyond Thomas and Percy. I've been meaning to upgrade some of my engines to have DCC at some point since my club runs DCC and I am literally one of three or four members that runs analog because of the Thomas models.  So having options available for the rest of the original steam team and Spencer would help a lot long term so I can run more Thomas models for guests during our shows.

Sir Handel looks great too. Can't wait to see how he looks once they finish the final details.  Didn't think it was possible to be even more excited for Sir Handel, but here we are. 

Quote from: Kemptown Branch on January 06, 2025, 09:10:50 AMFor open wagons, I think that Bachmann should do the Red Open Wagon, whether it has the clay load or not, and the original version of the Coal Wagon w/ Load. They might be a bit plain looking compared to options with logos, but they were both used extremely often in the show for 10+ years, so I think they have somewhat of an advantage. So far, all of the stock we've gotten for N Scale has been either a character or had logos, so I think the simple colors for rolling stock that actually appeared in the show should be prioritized to balance things out a bit. Considering both wagons are still in the HO range despite there being alternate versions with logos, I think they're probably popular enough to consider adding to the N Scale range.

I'd like to echo this in particular as I feel the plain logoless wagons would be a lot more of a natural addition to the range, and the fact that they've been used in the show would make them all the more of a welcome addition. I mentioned in an earlier post but a great way to approach this would be making the original coal wagon with load along with the China clay wagon and a cocoa powder wagon with load, all while reusing the same blue and red wagon designs from HO and large scale all while reusing the same coal load just repainted to match the China Clay and cocoa powder loads respectively. 

Sorry for the double post but I want to thank a friend for pointing this out. Earlier, I mistakenly said that Skarloey's front windows were open while Talyllyn's were blocked. It turns out I was wrong—Skarloey's front windows have always been blocked since it's initial release and remained that way since and the Talyllyn model offered a visual improvement over this area over the Skarloey model as I noted in my review. Again, I apologize for any misinformation I may have shared earlier and I'll take the L on that one. The review has been updated with more factually correct information.

The trailing wheels on Talyllyn are not powered just like Skarloey.

I've been a little bit behind on my posts on the forum and I apologize. Work and life have sort of taken a toll and getting ready for the holidays has been pretty stressful. But nonetheless, I wanted to do a post on Talyllyn and I wanted to do a review on it and while we are at it I figured since it's been almost a decade since his release, we can revisit Skarloey too and see how well it holds up.


2015 was a landmark year for Bachmann as well as the brand being the 70th anniversary of Thomas & Friends. Bachmann really went out with a bang that year by announcing the highly requested HO model of Oliver and revolutionized the hobby with the launch of Skarloey in OO9 scale. At the time, OO9 was a lot more of a niche market, with limited ready-to-run options, but Skarloey's release helped popularize it. The model sold out rapidly, with many waiting over a year after its first release to get one. Skarloey not only exceeded expectations but also opened the door for more enthusiasts to explore narrow-gauge modeling. Nearly a decade later, it still holds up remarkably well.


Skarloey captured the CGI series' dark red livery and detailed rivet patterns matching its real-life inspiration, Talyllyn. While some fans prefer the classic series' brighter red, the model remains universally appreciated. The face perfectly reflects the CGI design, adding to its charm. However, the lack of a separate handrail on the smokebox and the non-existent detail inside the cab make Skarloey seem a lot more plain compared to most of the engines that came after.  These flaws, however I think can be overlooked since it was Bachmann's first OO9 model in the range, and if Rheneas is anything to go off of, they improved on this rather drastically in comparison. Talyllyn also improved on adding more life to the cab interior that Skarloey started with, which we will talk about more in a minute. 


Performance-wise, Skarloey runs smoothly with excellent weight and traction on flat surfaces. It handles switches well, though it struggles on gradients with heavier loads. Adding powered rear wheels in future models like Peter Sam and their upcoming Sir Handel was a good call, so it's easy to give Bachmann the benefit of the doubt here too since this was their first attempt at a model like this. 


Overall, Skarloey remains one of Bachmann's standout products, and second best narrow gauge engine behind Peter Sam. While Sir Handel may surpass both of them, Skarloey's legacy as a game-changer for the Thomas range and OO9 modeling is undeniable and pretty incredible.


Now for Talyllyn:



The Talyllyn model shares many strengths with Skarloey but has notable differences. The front lamp and smokebox are standout improvements, with the red livery being applied beautifully on the model, particularly on the wheels. I also really like some of the additional painted details such as the gold on the wheels and even the black roof.

I want to make a quick edit. I need to apologize and thank a friend for pointing this out. Earlier, I mistakenly said that Skarloey's front windows were open while Talyllyn's were blocked. It turns out I was wrong—Skarloey's front windows have always been blocked and never opened. I initially thought mine were open, but after double-checking my model and seeing photos of others, I realized I was mistaken. Again, I apologize for any misinformation I may have shared earlier and will move forward from this.



Looking at Talyllyn's cab with a more correct perspective, the painted interior is a welcome addition and a genuine improvement over the original Skarloey model. It features more realistic cab colors, similar to those on the Rheneas model giving the model that extra little bit of life. These small details truly highlight how far Bachmann has come since the initial release nearly a decade ago.


Performance wise, it mirrors that of Skarloey to a t.  It runs very smoothly, can haul a decent amount of rolling stock and looks incredible running on any OO9 layout.  It is honestly so incredible to see a ready-to-run model of Talyllyn being available after seeing Skarloey released after so many years.  Many fans are happy with Talyllyn, and rightfully so. Whether you model the Talyllyn Railway, Skarloey Railway, or narrow gauge in general, this model is a welcome addition to any collection.


Thank you, Bachmann, for continuing to expand the narrow gauge line and introducing OO9 models beyond Thomas & Friends. While I appreciate this model on its own, I'm curious to see if Bachmann will explore other Talyllyn Railway repaints down the road. I could see Sir Haydn coming next if the Sir Handel engineering sample is anything to go off of.

As for me, my next review will be an exciting one: N scale Gordon. I can't wait to share my thoughts on that one soon. After that, I'll review Henrietta once Hannah comes out, STH's car when the figures come out, and hopefully N scale Emily and her coaches—though those may come later due to budget constraints, as N scale isn't my primary focus.

Have any of you picked up Talyllyn? What are your thoughts on the model? Does Skarloey still hold up after all these years? Let me know! In the meantime, I'll prepare for my next review of a certain big (and small) express engine that's almost as special to me as Skarloey.

The new pictures I've seen posted of Sir Handel really, really impressed me.  They really nailed some of the extra details that the CGI render did not have such as the additional brake pipes, the additional rivet detail, and the raised bunker panels. This model has all the right cross appeal for not only OO9 modelers but Thomas fans who also love and know the character and his design. I have absolutely no doubt that Bachmann will eventually reuse this model to make a Sir Haydn model in the future to go along with Talyllyn. They really went all out with this model and it's easy to see why it will take over three years for this model to be released. I say that this model will definitely be worth the wait once we see him fully painted and ready to go.

Quote from: SNER on November 21, 2024, 03:33:51 PMI had the same question! Now that I added Talyllyn to my Skarloey engines, running them on N Scale track is bothering me!
That same Peco starter set is available on Trainworld here in the States too. I was worried if the radius might be too tight, but I assume all the Bachmann Skarloey engines work fine on your layout.

They do, I'll be posting updated pictures in the narrow gauge modeling thread shortly once I get my Talyllyn/Skarloey review done.  All the OO9 models I've purchased, including customs have ran on the code 80 track with no issue.

Quote from: Awesometrain77 on November 21, 2024, 09:02:34 PM

Quote from: SNER on November 21, 2024, 03:45:23 PMMaybe a pipe dream, but I'd love to see Bachmann announce Edward in both N and G scale next year.
I don't collect G scale due to space, aside from a Bachmann Thomas and 1994 Lionel James, but would preorder an Edward immediately.

Maybe a wild suggestion, but after N scale Edward, I think Oliver should be next. Having both Scruffy and Toad in the range is like having Henrietta without Toby or Annie and Clarabel without Thomas.

Also, I love the Talyllyn I just got (maybe we can get a 2024 blue livery too). Please plan on doing Dolgoch, Edward Thomas, etc. I'd also like to see the Talyllyn's bogie coaches too!

I second of this Oliver should happen next however I do not see him next over characters like duck or Rosie who are way more popular than him.
But Oliver is popular and he would sell. They are bound to do him eventually, and I think it is about time that they do him, considering that his brake van  and his rival are in the range. He could possibly reuse a lot of parts from Edward once they do him so I would love to see Oliver after they finishthe steam team

Not sure about Rosie, but I think both Edward and Duck are a lot more likely to happen before Oliver, but I think Oliver is going to remain very firmly as one of the more popular requests because of Toad's inclusion.  I say give it a few years from now and I'm sure Oliver will receive his introduction in N scale soon.  And I don't think it's a matter of "if", based on how things have been going with the N scale line as of late.

Quote from: Coco462 on November 18, 2024, 10:20:36 PMThank you so much!! I think I'll just start with the complete Thomas set and see how it goes. Cause I can tell it's a whole other type and I don't know if he has the comprehension level to run it.

You would be very surprised!  I've worked in special education for almost 10 years and I'm in touch with a former student and his dad, who are now very active in the hobby. The student, a nonverbal autistic middle schooler like your son, quickly adapted to N Scale after starting with a Thomas model, some track, and Annie and Clarabel. Their collection (and layout) has steadily grown, and they're still expanding. Just today, his dad texted me that he's already preordered Gordon and Emily and some rolling stock for as a Christmas gift for his son.  When he first got Thomas he caught on right away that this wasn't like the average Thomas toy/merchandise.  He treats the models with great care and understands that they're a lot more delicate than the wooden or battery-powered trains that he also owns.  Hopefully your son sees it the same way too.

Good luck with starting your son into the hobby and odds are you may find yourself joining in on the fun as well.