Quote from: really called Thomas on February 06, 2025, 02:59:01 PMIndeed. If they sold packs of 5 faces per character (locos and troublesome trucks) I certainly would buy them.

But for how much? $7/8?

I'd imagine that if Bachmann did make face packs, they'd probably be around a similar price point as the figure packs are.

These announcements are all really good in my opinion!

I actually really like the RWS set and the 80th Anniversary vans, they all look really good! It's also cool to see that Thomas and the 3 wagons in the set all have exclusive features as well. The new Milk Tank was unexpected, but it's nice to see how it was differentiated from the Tidmouth Milk Tank with the black bands. Troublesome Truck 7 is also pretty cool!

I was not expecting the product tooling reveals at all, but it's cool to see that Bachmann are pretty far along with the Open Carriage and NG Gondolas!

As far as N Scale goes, I was pleasantly surprised to see that we're getting both LBSC Thomas and Origin James! I'm also excited that we finally got some Open Wagon recolors after 6 years, moreso for the Red Open Wagon, but the Scrap Co. Wagon is probably my favorite of the 3 logo versions.

It's also cool to see that Large Scale is getting LBSC Thomas as well!

Overall, I think this announcement set is really good, and it's nice to see how many of the products tie into the 80th Anniversary!

Quote from: DustyMarie53! on January 25, 2025, 12:37:07 PMWith them specifically advertising an exclusive 20-ton brakevan in the new 80th set, it makes me think Bradford and the brown van from N scale are an inevitability.

Quote from: TrainFan97 on January 25, 2025, 04:22:01 PMConsidering the 80th Anniversary set is getting the LMS 20-Ton Brake Van, that's the tooling for Bradford right there, so I can definitely see them announcing Samson as the next new tooling for HO Scale.

Hey, just a heads up for everyone, but the tooling for the 20 ton brake van in the HO set is a different type of van compared to the one that the N Scale version is based on.


The 20 ton brake van in the set is based on this old tooling Bachmann have, which is the same body as the Spiteful Brake Van with a different chassis:


And this is the type of brake van that the N Scale Brake Van and Bradford are based on, which is a tooling that Graham Farish have done:


Brake vans in the UK were commonly rated near 20 or 25 tons, so that specific thing wouldn't necessarily mean that the brake vans would be the same.

Hey everyone, it looks like Hannah has been added to the web store, although she isn't in stock yet.

https://shop.bachmanntrains.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=265_1126_1128&products_id=9278

Quote from: Angelob6660 on January 08, 2025, 12:02:47 AMI looked at current catalog and no Tar Wagon. Was it deleted or something. I was looking forward to getting at least 3 of them.

The new version of the Tar Tanker was announced in August, so it was after the catalog came out. It should be in the 2025 catalog when that's released.

I'll post my predictions for N Scale as well.

For engines, I still think Edward is a pretty safe bet to be announced at some point during the next year.

However, for rolling stock, rather than focusing just on a single type of wagon recolor, I think Bachmann should do 1-2 of each type, since we don't have a lot of freight stock in the range so far. Bachmann have announced recolors for multiple different types of wagons in the past for both HO and Large Scale, so I don't see why N Scale should only get one type at a time. It would help with the variety in choices as well.

For 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 also think Bachmann should consider the Gray 12 Ton Van for N scale, since they have the tooling for it, and so far it seems to be the most popular of the four 12 Ton Vans that just got released. It would also provide good color variety to the other vans in the range so far.

Finally, I think Bachmann should also do the Milk Tanker in N Scale as well. I'm genuinely surprised it wasn't one of the first ones released, especially since it has been in the show since Season 1. It would also be a new color option added to the tanker lineup.

To recap, I think Bachmann could add some good new rolling stock options to the line that add color variety, but also appeared in the show throughout the Model Series and CGI Era. We've gotten them in the other scales, so I think it would be good for N Scale to have those options as well.

Hey guys, I was able to pick up Emily recently, and she's an excellent model! The quality of the paint and lining is really high, being consistent across the entire model. I think she captures the look and shape of her CGI model extremely well, too!



She doesn't have some of the extra detailing seen in the later CGI seasons, but that's because she (and the other engines in the range) is based on the CGI orthographics that Nitrogen Studios created when they made Hero of the Rails.


Something I also want to mention is that Emily doesn't feel fragile. Even though the railings on her tender are see-through, they feel solid, and it doesn't feel like they could be broken by accident. Her model overall also feels really good, and all of the component pieces fit together extremely well.


As far as performance goes, she runs really smoothly and quietly in both directions. She is pretty fast compared to other engines, but mine can still be controlled to a nice, slow speed. She can also pull a decently sized train, which is nice!


If you guys would like to see my thoughts more in-depth, I made a video for her, which you can see here:
https://youtu.be/TmOZ17oEazY?si=nmkQZP3NYqNJXZuG

Overall, I think she's a great addition to the range, and she definitely makes me excited for the future of the range as well!

Quote from: RailsByRick on November 03, 2024, 07:35:25 AMI know we all want an N Scale Edward. Recently I've been thinking over the logistics of how exactly Bachmann would be able to tackle a model with such a short wheelbase in N scale.

The N Scale Thomas engines released so far have small motors that still take up most of the length of the model, and as such, have the front axle be the driven axle. Of course, Edward's driving wheels are very close together, and reside towards his cab. This means the usual approach of having an axle in the front be connected to the motor is out of the question.

Could Bachmann flip the motor around and re-wire it appropriately so that the worm drive is facing the cab? Another issue with this is potentially making the front too heavy, when in reality, you want most of the weight over the driving wheels.

I'm not sure how they'll approach it, but I certainly hope Bachmann doesn't just skip on Edward entirely, and I hope they'll do his model justice.

I've also thought about this a little bit. One thing I think they could do is similar they did with Peter Sam, Sir Handel, and the larger scale versions of Emily, and have his rear pony truck wheel geared as well as his drive wheel, effectively making him driven like a 2-6-0. Edward's body length in the show is very close to Thomas, so I don't think that Edward's front bogie wheel would need to articulate to get around curves in N Scale, compared to the larger scales. That would also make it so that Edward would have more wheels to pick up electricity.

If they did need to, they could still have Edward's front wheel articulate or just move a little more to each side; they "split up" the front bogie on the OO9 Baldwin, and it wasn't really noticeable when going around curves.

Bachmann just posted higher quality pictures of the High-Side Wagons on their Facebook page:






I think they all look really good, and I'm definitely planning to pick them up once they're released!

Quote from: N Scale Sudrian on August 25, 2024, 12:45:30 PM

Quote from: JLK2707 on August 25, 2024, 02:28:26 AMIs it easy to remove or change the N scale Thomas loco faces?

It should be, the faces are separate fitted parts with a shallow glued connection to the smokebox... They should easily be pried off with a knife or similar tool.

It is pretty easy. I've been able to do it for Thomas and Percy at different times. I usually just take the bodyshell off and push the face off from the back with a thin paintbrush handle.

Quote from: JLK2707 on August 24, 2024, 03:53:53 PMAre the N scale thomas locomotives die cast metal or plastic?

The bodies of the locomotives are plastic, but there is a lot of die-cast metal inside.

Hey everyone, over the past couple of days, and after the new announcements, I've been thinking about what should be next for the N Scale range in 2025. Before laying out my thoughts for these, I wanted to say that I think my suggestions for 2025 could happen in either announcement group, so I won't specify which products would go to which announcement.


Obviously, everyone is suggesting that Edward be next for the line, and there's absolutely no reason to argue against that. Simply put, there are so many reasons why he should be next that it would be extremely surprising if anyone else got announced first:
- He's the final engine from both the Series 1 cast and the Steam Team that needs to be made. So many people were upset that Tomix failed to do this, so Bachmann finally fixing that will be good. It might even make people more willing to collect the range.
- It's the 80th anniversary year, and Edward is the one who started it all.
- He's one of Bachmann's most popular characters. Even with all of the other characters from the last 16 years, so many people still say he's one of Bachmann's best ever models.
With all of that, Edward should be Bachmann's top priority for the next N Scale product, period (even over other rolling stock recolors).
It's only a matter of time before Gordon, Henrietta, Emily and her coaches are released, so I don't think they would have any affect on a potential announcement, and beyond that there aren't many toolings that we haven't seen (fully painted or otherwise). Even despite that, I don't think the unseen toolings would make it so Edward couldn't be announced, since there's only 5-ish:
- Diesel and Paxton (1 tooling)
- Express Coach
- Express Brake Coach (Body only)
- Henry (Probably body only)
- 20 Ton Brake Van (likely using an existing tooling)

TL;DR - Edward should have almost nothing stopping him from being the next N Scale product announced.

Rolling Stock Suggestions for 2025:
Every engine announcement so far has had at least one piece of rolling stock to be announced, and so I think it'll be extremely likely that we'll see some with Edward. I'm going to suggest a few recolors that I think will be crucial to the line's future success.  So far, all of the goods/freight stock in the line are either characters or kind of gimmicky products with logos. I think that the N Gauge range is severely lacking in standard, non-logo stock that could be used for general goods trains. I know that people have suggested just doing 3 open wagon recolors, but I think a little more variety should be done instead. Using the 3 wagon toolings already in the line, I'll suggest 4 products:


1. Green Open Wagon w/ Coal Load
Starting with the Open Wagon recolors, I suggest the green open wagon with the coal load. This has always been extremely popular in the HO line, even surviving alongside the mining wagon and Sodor coal wagon. It appeared pretty regularly in the model series, and it's also one of the main colors of the standard open wagons in CGI, alongside the red versions.


2. Red Open Wagon (maybe w/ China Clay Load)
Since this is the standard open wagon that appeared in the CGI Series, it should also be one of the first recolors to be announced. The only reason I didn't mention it first is this: the new HO China Clay wagon appears to be the Red Open Wagon with the the coal load recolored as China Clay. If that is true, maybe the model could be made with the load to get an easy second use out of the coal load tooling.


3. Gray 12 Ton Van
Like the red open wagon being the most common standard open wagon in the CGI Series, this is it for the vans. Bachmann have the tooling ready, and it would be nice to have a non-logo version of the tooling available. It appeared in the show all the time between series 17-24, and the HO version recently announced appears to have a pretty positive reception so far. I'm sure it would do well in N Scale.


4. Milk Tanker
This tanker has been in the show since the beginning, and has always been popular in the other merchandise ranges. It was also one of very few tankers to survive the CGI switchover, and only it and the oil tanker appeared during the Brenner Era. It's also still in the HO range, and it's the only piece of freight stock to make it to the UK range that we don't have in N Scale yet. It also adds a nice color variety to the tankers.

I think these four wagons should have the priority to be announced in the same year as Edward, because it gives more for the engines to pull, and since most of them don't have logos, they'd be perfect for general goods trains. I also don't think it would be too many at once, either, because the other ranges have had 4 or more wagons of different types announced at once.

I thought about adding what I think could happen for the range in 2026 and beyond, but this is a long post already. I might make a separate post about my thoughts for that later, though.

What do you guys think about my suggestions? I'd love to hear your thoughts as well.

I think these announcements are pretty good, even if the majority of them are recolors.
It's good that they finally got Sydney out of the way, and the other diesel is a nice surprise addition, too! I also think the new rolling stock recolors are excellent picks as well!

The N Scale announcements are probably the highlight for me! I'm glad we're finally getting Henry, and I know I'm in the minority here, but I actually really like the Brake Van that they chose! It appeared a lot in the Brenner era of the show, and it has a pretty nice livery, too. It's also nice that the N Scale range is forming it's own identity from HO and Large Scale witg the rolling stock choices as well. I'm not super excited about Hannah, but at least they're getting her out of the way pretty quickly.

I'll probably make a post over the next week or so about where I think the range could go from here.

Quote from: Awesometrain77 on August 07, 2024, 05:46:46 PMBill and Ben def should happen before Donald and Douglas .

Hypothetically, if the N Scale range does expand that far, I'd say it might be easier for Bachmann to do Donald and Douglas before Bill and Ben. Assuming we get Edward, Henry, and Duck before they start doing other secondary characters, Donald and Douglas would be able to share a chassis with Duck. Also, it might be hard to get Bill and Ben to run well in such a small scale. Although they aren't much smaller than Percy, their wheelbases are quite a bit shorter, so they might be more prone to stalling over dirty track and points.

Quote from: thomasj219 on June 08, 2024, 08:49:20 AMAwesome! But wouldn't it have to be a slight gloss to match the paint work of the coaches?

You could also apply a clear gloss coat to the roof to make it match, or a clear matte coat to the coach bodies to match the roof paint. Although, I think that you could probably find a gloss version of white paint. I'd also recommend putting a coat of primer on the roofs to help the white paint stick better.