Bachmann new release dates

[chuffinghell]

I was looking forward to the release of Bachmann’s Class 94xx 0-6-0T in GWR livery which I thought was due this year

 

But it looks like it’s going to be September/October next year (according to Hattons)

 

Is there anyone out there ‘in the know’ who can clarify the release date?

Edited June 29, 2018 by chuffinghell

[The Johnster]

It's been put back several times; first announced in 2015 for late 2016, and now estimated for next autumn.  It may not even appear then, of course; the online catalogue still only shows photos of prototype 94xx and I have yet to see a CAD, never mind a pre-production sample or mockup.  I asked the Bachmann rep at the Bristol show in May about it and he claimed that progress was being made, but 'it's more than just a box on wheels, you know' (actually, I did know that but decided not to make a point of it).  My reading of this is that there may have been unforeseen difficulties with this model, either in design or research, and that delays have resulted but Baccy are understandably playing their cards close to their corporate chest and I don't blame them, but this is only my own interpretation of a comment and should not be taken as definitive or factual!  A price has emerged, though, £120, though I suspect that will rise before the model is produced as costs, especially labour, are increasing in China as workers  there demand a better standard of living, and why shouldn't they!

 

The delays have encouraged me to embark on a Lima body/Bachmann 57xx chassis hybrid, and I have started a thread about it over in Questions Hints and Tips if you are interested in having a go and in what I have done so far.  Even if the Q3 2019 date is met, the model will have been in the pipeline as long as some members of the class were in service, and my layout needs a 94xx!  I am sure the model will be excellent when it does finally appear, and I will probably still buy one despite building my hybrid, but we have been kept waiting a very long time for this engine...

[Wicor Models]

Just to put it into context, Bachmann announced the Brighton Atlantic in 2013 for delivery in 2015.  It is now 2018 and we may see it later this year that will be 5 years from announcement to delivery which is the same for the Birdcage coaches and, back in the day, the Southern N Class.

Don't panic Mr Mainwaring the models are coming!!  We just don't know when exactly.

[tomparryharry]

We're steadily progressing to the wonderful world of an £150-odd tank locomotive. Add to that, Bachmann have not really indicated that they actually will make the model. May I respectfully suggest that you have a look at the 94xx pages on the forum, and the GWR e-forum that works up to a rather natty model in its own right.  The e-bay modelling route should give you a good looking and working model at the fraction of the price. Quite a few quality models exist in the comet/High Level route, so things like EM/P4 are quite straightforward as well.

 

There as at least 10+ models on the forum, so there's plenty of prior knowledge to help you, if you wish to go down that route.

 

Happy modelling!

 

Ian.

[Butler Henderson]

Bachmann have not really indicated that they actually will make the model.

?

Taken from http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/134726-Bachmann-times-summer-2018-product-updates/

Drawing Office (CAD preparation)

25/1 and 25/2

Quarry Hunslet

Ashiover Coach

Class 812 (for Rails)

Midland 1P

20/3

4BEP

V2 (new tooling)

94xx

Class B TTA

[The Johnster]

The rep I spoke to at Thornbury in May was reassuring enough when it came to the company's intention to produce this loco, but he (sensibly) could not be drawn on when.  To be fair to Bachmann, there are all sorts of things that can delay production of a new model, from the planning stage all the way to final assembly and shipping, especially from the other side of the world.  The Bachmann 94xx will be beyond doubt a much better model than the LimBach hybrid; no work required on handrails and the removal of surplus bunker steps, absolutely correct alignment of wheels and splashers, a compromise with the LimBach, correct profile for the cylinder cover in front of the smokebox for BR built locos, and, perhaps most importantly, the correct frame profile at the front; the 94xx is more like the 2251 than the 57xx here, as the loco is slightly longer.  The finish will be much better as well.

 

It should represent as great an advance over the LimBach as the LimBach does over the original Lima, which is not too shabby from the footplate up, but a joke even as a crude toy below it.  I am budgeting about £80 tops for my project, but with any luck will be able to come in under this; whatever the donor loco costs on eBay plus new buffers, handrail, knobs, smokebox dart, and number plates, say £20.  I will be regarding the loco as a temporary fix until Bachmann's is on the market, then it can be a spare.

[RBAGE]

Another land grab?

[mdvle]

Another land grab?

 

Not really.  Bachmann UK is still dealing with the fallout of the last 4 years or so of changes at parent Kader to deal with financial problems.

 

While Kader is now profitable again it has resulted in a back log of Bachmann products to work through the system.

[tomparryharry]

?

Taken from http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/134726-Bachmann-times-summer-2018-product-updates/

Drawing Office (CAD preparation)

25/1 and 25/2

Quarry Hunslet

Ashiover Coach

Class 812 (for Rails)

Midland 1P

20/3

4BEP

V2 (new tooling)

94xx

Class B TTA

Well, I wouldn't argue with you. My honest opinion is that the model is in abeyance, until the market catches up. As I've posted earlier, Bachmann need to have a comfortable period to unleash a £150 locomotive. Yes, I know people are quoting far less on websites, but we're already seeing a price increase on wagons, where we've gone from £8, to £16+. There are still quite a few panniers out and about, and this market is in direct competition with its own stable mates.  A brand-new pannier is currently £80-odd. Do you  honestly think that Bachmann will release a new model, with about the same price, in an existing market? By my rationale, I don't expect seeing a 94xx before 2025, or  the cost below £150.

 

If I'm playing a doom-monger, please excuse me. It's not my intention to upset fellow forum users. However, I'm a bit of a pragmatist, however much I'd like to see the new 94xx model.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[bigherb]

 I don't expect seeing a 94xx before 2025, or  the cost below £150.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

Unless someone else decides to have a go at it.

[Neal Ball]

Plus of course, Bachmann want to upgrade the 57xx / 8750 class as well.

 

Will they get to market before a new 94xx?

 

Only time and I guess patience will tell :-)

[tomparryharry]

Plus of course, Bachmann want to upgrade the 57xx / 8750 class as well.

 

Will they get to market before a new 94xx?

 

Only time and I guess patience will tell :-)

 

That's interesting Neal, that's the first I've heard of it. You can never have enough 57xx panniers, and a full-fat version is just what we need. Even more, if Bachmann finally listen and make a version without top feed. There again, pigs on runway 1.....

 

Cheers,

 

Ian

[Neal Ball]

That's interesting Neal, that's the first I've heard of it. You can never have enough 57xx panniers, and a full-fat version is just what we need. Even more, if Bachmann finally listen and make a version without top feed. There again, pigs on runway 1.....

 

Cheers,

 

Ian

 

 

I asked them during the open weekend at the Mid-Hants railway last Summer. Specifically, I asked what happened to the DCC sound version of a Pannier Tank. Apparently the moulds were in such a poor condition, they couldn't be used. They were determined that the next Pannier Tank will be Bachmann as it was part of their heritage, being in the first batch of locos, many years ago.

[The Johnster]

Well, I wouldn't argue with you. My honest opinion is that the model is in abeyance, until the market catches up. As I've posted earlier, Bachmann need to have a comfortable period to unleash a £150 locomotive. Yes, I know people are quoting far less on websites, but we're already seeing a price increase on wagons, where we've gone from £8, to £16+. There are still quite a few panniers out and about, and this market is in direct competition with its own stable mates.  A brand-new pannier is currently £80-odd. Do you  honestly think that Bachmann will release a new model, with about the same price, in an existing market? By my rationale, I don't expect seeing a 94xx before 2025, or  the cost below £150.

 

If I'm playing a doom-monger, please excuse me. It's not my intention to upset fellow forum users. However, I'm a bit of a pragmatist, however much I'd like to see the new 94xx model.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

 

I really hope you are wrong, just as much as I really think you are right...

[The Johnster]

Plus of course, Bachmann want to upgrade the 57xx / 8750 class as well.

 

Will they get to market before a new 94xx?

 

Only time and I guess patience will tell :-)

An upgrade to the 57xx is going to be interesting; the current model is pretty good, but if the moulds have had their day then now is the time to do it!  A version without a top feed would be good, and the 8750 has not been in production for a while.  Not sure what improvements B can make beyond this; sprung buffers, real coal/empty bunker, connecting rod/slidebar/eccentric detail between the frames, a removable cab roof so we can put a crew in there perhaps.  Inside motion detail could easily push the price beyond the £200 even without DCC, and that'll be beyond my pocket especially as it would only make me dissatisfied with my other locos if I bought one...

 

But if the current 57xx/8750 moulds are past their sell by, then there will only be the 64xx representing small GW locos once current stocks of 57xx are exhausted, which may mean a boost up the priority ladder for the 94xx; this is all conjecture on my part of course, but I would have thought the 94xx would appear first.  I might even be still alive when it happens!

Edited July 1, 2018 by The Johnster

[Neal Ball]

An upgrade to the 57xx is going to be interesting; the current model is pretty good.  A version without a top feed would be good, and the 8750 has not been in production for a while.  Not sure what improvements B can make beyond this; sprung buffers, real coal/empty bunker, connecting rod/slidebar/eccentric detail between the frames, a removable cab roof so we can put a crew in there perhaps.  Inside motion detail could easily push the price beyond the £200 even without DCC, and that'll be beyond my pocket especially as it would only make me dissatisfied with my other locos if I bought one...

Hopefully no top feed for starters, yes the ability to easily get crew inside.

 

DCC sound would clearly be an (expensive) bonus! You couldn’t only have one sound fitted Pannier!

[The Johnster]

Hopefully no top feed for starters, yes the ability to easily get crew inside.

 

DCC sound would clearly be an (expensive) bonus! You couldn’t only have one sound fitted Pannier!

 

I'm already too much of a Luddite, and an impoverished pensioner, for DCC anyway; I was thinking more about the inside motion, which would of course then be a requisite on another half dozen of my locos, and they I'd be unsatisfied with the outside cylinder ones as well.  Sometimes progress isn't as beneficial as it might first appear!

 

At least DCC can be an optional extra, making a loco without it less unaffordable to the lower classes (me).  I am happy for now with no sound fitted panniers or anything else, and make chuff chuff noises when I think nobody can hear me; SWMBO has given up even looking exasperated and rolling her eyes now...  But it's a good point; a serious improvement on one model engenders dissatisfaction with it's lesser brothers, and it may in some cases be holistically better to keep to an overall lower standard unless you can upgrade the lot at once.  It has taken me some time to eliminate wagons with moulded handbrake levers and plastic wheels from my railway, but I am definitely happier with my wagon fleet now I've done it.

[Neal Ball]

I'm already too much of a Luddite, and an impoverished pensioner, for DCC anyway.......... .

...........It has taken me some time to eliminate wagons with moulded handbrake levers and plastic wheels from my railway, but I am definitely happier with my wagon fleet now I've done it.

Not sure how I will cope being a pensioner, when the new must have loco could cost @£300 or so, then when two arrive in the same month. My £50 pension won’t go very far!

 

As for wagons, I still run some Peco wonderful wagons, with their paper sides! It’s not all fancy stuff in the DCC world :-)

 

Do you have a layout I should be following?

Edited July 1, 2018 by Neal Ball

[tomparryharry]

Luddite here as well. I don't need DCC, or sound. Just a good looking model. In fairness to Bachmann, the existing pannier model is pretty good, however, Bachmann don't pander to the earlier eras, with the topfeed situation. Sure, they put 'Great Western' on the tank sides, but the top feed places the loco some 15-25 years hence. Really? They committed the same sin with the 64xx. To DJM's credit, the 14xx model managed to cover all the bases, without fuss.

 

Still, enough from me. Off to drill yet more holes in my Limby 94xx conversion.

 

Cheers,

 

Ian.

[MikeParkin65]

, perhaps most importantly, the correct frame profile at the front;

 Bachmann could start by getting that right for the Modified Hall! 

[The Johnster]

The frame issue is my main issue with the Lima conversion 94xx; the frame of the 57xx chassis is wrong for a 94xx's, which is more akin to the 2251 which the 94xx is in reality a tank version of.  The 2251 chassis is the correct profile, but has larger diameter driving wheels so cannot be used without major work to the axle channels to enable the loco to sit at the correct height; it is easier to build a new chassis, which is beyond the skill level of many of us.

 

The Lima 94xx with a 57xx chassis is a compromise, a bodge when all is said and done; a properly made RTR 94xx, which is what we should be getting eventually from Bachmann, will beat it hands down in every respect.  The frame profile on the conversion can be addressed by building up frame extensions with plasticard, but the angle of the brake hangers is different as well; you have to decide how much compromise you are individually prepared to accept, but you have to accept some. The loco, after all, will be running on the wrong gauge of track, but let's not open that worm can with this topic, please!

 

I am not aware of the Modified Hall frame issue, not being in the market for such a big engine on my little BLT, but can it not be sorted with extension or cutting of the existing frames?  This raises the argument of how much you are willing to 'improve' a model from it's 'out of the box' condition; I have no problem with this but others feel differently, and it affects the resale value of the model if that sort of thing is important to you, and it is to many people.  I buy models I intend to keep and use, and do not sell them even when they are run to death; they have usually been improved and have little resale value, so it's not worth the bother.

[adb968008]

Here's a step by step of my Bachmann / Lima 94xx conversion.

Was done to a minimal budget.

 

Starting Line

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/123937-Bachmann-94xx/?p=3001853

 

Mid Point

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/123937-Bachmann-94xx/?p=3003231

 

Finished result

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/123937-Bachmann-94xx/?p=3004919

 

All in worked out £25 for both the Lima and the Bachmann Panniers, Plus Fox cabsides, then selling off the old Lima chassis and Bachmann body/box.

 

Good enough to last until the Bachmann model is released.

[The Johnster]

My thoughts exactly, and you are one of the many here who have helped to persuade me down this path.  But I am going to be regarding it as a temporary fix pending the Bachmann release.  Mine should be in a runnable state fairly soon; you can follow the saga in Questions, Hints, and Tips, but personally I'd rather go up the pub; it's too nice an evening not to...

 

I won't be able to match your budget, though.  Donor 57xx, on it's way as I write, = £55 on eBay Buy It Now, and will be donating not only the chassis and mech, but the complete buffer beams, bunker hooks, top of the safety valve cover, and probably handrail material as well; what is left will be worthless and eligible for an exciting new career in landfill.  Add number plates and smokebox dart and I think I'm probably looking at about £70, which is a tenner inside my budget.  The cab backhead, which has all the detail, is I believe attached to the chassis, but the bunker front, with the bunker coal door detail, will probably have to be transferred from the donor as well.  The Lima chassis works, in it's crude toylike way, but is not in my view worth the faff of selling; this too will be joining the body in landfill.

Edited July 2, 2018 by The Johnster

[adb968008]

My Lima chassis works, in it's crude toylike way, but is not in my view worth the faff of selling; this too will be joining the body in landfill.

Lima armatures are worth a fiver, and the brushes / springs £2.

(I have my cheap side too every penny is a penny towards something else).

 

If your sacrificing the body, consider taking the tank lids too, the Lima ones aren’t much to shout about.

[The Johnster]

Tank lids are a good point, adb; the 57xx will donate these as well.  The vents are probably ok, though.