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.

Hey everyone, while doing a bit of research on the Skarloey Railway stations and rolling stock, I found something kind of cool.

When Bachmann announced their slate wagon recolors, I figured that they were probably based on slate wagons from the toy lines (like how most HO stock is nowadays), but it turns out they do actually exist in the show! Here are a couple of pictures showing the Tan Slate Wagon and the Brown Slate Wagon:




Though I couldn't find a red one, there are red slate wagons seen in the Blue Mountain Quarry, although they are based on Dinorwic slate wagons, rather than Talyllyn ones.



One thing I am hoping is that they'll be able to make the Brown Slate Wagon a little bit lighter. In the picture of the Brown one from the show, the brown is dark compared to other wagons, but is still light enough for the ironwork to be seen. However, the Brown Slate Wagon in the catalog is so dark it almost appears to be a single color. It should be a mid-brown rather than dark brown. The slate wagons in the catalog appear to be photoshopped, so they should be able to fix it for the official release.

Anyways, I just thought I'd share, because I think it's cool that these recolors were indeed seen in the show!

TrainWorld announced that the February Thomas Tuesday will be next week, since there was a scheduling conflict for today. They didn't have a picture ad like they usually do, but they said it will come in the next couple of days. I think we'll probably know the new announcements by next Tuesday!

Looks like Rebecca's painted sample will be seen very soon!

When they used to do the text lists, the items were usually announced between the 9th and 17th of February, depending on what day the Friday was. It was only around 2021 that they started revealing the announcements at the end of January. Either way, I think we'll probably see the new announcements on Friday the 9th or Friday the 16th at worst, so we don't have too long to wait now.

Photo credit goes to James Drury.

Here's a link to a Facebook post with more pictures of Gordon and Emily:
https://m.facebook.com/groups/753298574781796/permalink/6768483689929891/?mibextid=Nif5oz

It also confirms that Henrietta will have a face!

Well, Bachmann have responded to enquiries about the catalog. Looks like we won't know all of the announcements until February. I don't think they would put the Thomas announcements in the video tomorrow, because they haven't for the last few years.