Planned Farish release schedule April 2019 - January 2020

[1977joey]

5 hours ago, montyburns56 said:

 

They've rebuilt the website and I actually think that the layout is much better now. The only annoying thing is that items that have been released and sold out are tagged the same way as new items that still haven't been released with "Out Of Stock". I think that they should list as yet un-released items as TBA like they did with their availability page.

 

Hmm, so now it looks like we have no idea when any of the outstanding items are due, unless they change that with the next update. Last I saw of the Mark 2F's was June so I everything crossed they are sticking to this ...

 

Cheers,

Mark

Edited January 24, 2020 by 1977joey

[Mr chapman]

One thing that's interesting... According the their website there are 386 items available from Bachmann, and 386 items available from Graham Farish. Perhaps N isn't quit as bleak as it appears. 

[montyburns56]

17 hours ago, 1977joey said:

 

Hmm, so now it looks like we have no idea when any of the outstanding items are due, unless they change that with the next update. Last I saw of the Mark 2F's was June so I everything crossed they are sticking to this ...

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

Well the Availability link still exists, but when you click on it it just goes to a blank page, so perhaps it will return at some point, possibly after the new items announcement in a few weeks?

[class8mikado]

Nothing being said about the inevitable further delays as Coronavirus  affects output from China... yet

 

[Ed-farms]

2 hours ago, class8mikado said:

Nothing being said about the inevitable further delays as Coronavirus  affects output from China... yet

 

 

Guess we don't fully know the affect on the delays yet, hard to tell when factories will reopen and what staff will be there

[bigP]

--

Edited February 1, 2021 by bigP
Deleted

[Littlethorpe]

Availability is now showing in the ETA Column...

 

https://www.Bachmann.co.uk/category/model-railway/graham-farish

 

The 8Fs are listed as July-20 but I expect that everything will slip due to the Coronavirus.

[John M Upton]

I presume anything marked as "Awaiting" is beyond some particular point in time?

 

Green and blue 31s showing up as August but the RTC one has Awaiting marked up.

[montyburns56]

2 hours ago, John M Upton said:

I presume anything marked as "Awaiting" is beyond some particular point in time?

 

Green and blue 31s showing up as August but the RTC one has Awaiting marked up.

 

Well the latest release date seem to be Oct 20, so I guess that anything listed without a specific date will be later than that.

[Mr chapman]

The price increases and delays do not help N as a scale. I have been an avid N gauge modeller since about 1997. If I was to start again tomorrow I would model in 00. This is based on what is available in the shops, what's available second hand and the prices of the models. Its all very well saying you can fit so much more into the same space but you do need stuff to fill it and the money to pay for it... 

I do wonder how many new modellers are put off N based on a perceived limited range of models. 

Edited March 8, 2020 by Mr chapman

[grahame]

48 minutes ago, Mr chapman said:

The price increases and delays do not help N as a scale. I have been an avid N gauge modeller since about 1997. If I was to start again tomorrow I would model in 00. This is based on what is available in the shops, what's available second hand and the prices of the models. Its all very well saying you can fit so much more into the same space but you do need stuff to fill it and the money to pay for it... 

I do wonder how many new modellers are put off N based on a perceived limited range of models. 

 

 

Price rises and delays are affecting all model railway scales. And unfortunately it is also prevalent in a whole host of other products and markets in life. It's not exclusive to N gauge/scale RTR models.

 

There are N gauge models available in shops but comparatively it's a more restricted range than offered in OO/4mm. To a large extent different market sizes dictate that. And, unfortunately, much of what is available doesn't seem to be universally wanted and many would like to see other rolling stock and motive power to that being announced and developed.

 

But it's a tricky balancing act that manufactures have to tread. Even getting a required level of pre-orders for certain items, and not just for crowdfunding, seems fraught. Witness the seeming lack of interest/pre-orders for Hatton's Beyer-Garret and KR's GT3.

 

N gauge needs more promotion and marketing and greater exposure. I guess that N gauge enthusiasts need to be more proactive and supportive to help get the benefits of the scale across to potential customers and enthusiasts.

 

The NGS could assist in getting information and messages out to their members through the Journal. Modellers could showcase constructive modelling, such as the building of kits, in the commercial monthlies. And undertake the building of high quality N gauge layouts for exhibiting and featuring in magazines.

 

 

 

 

[Revolution Mike]

19 hours ago, Mr chapman said:

I do wonder how many new modellers are put off N based on a perceived limited range of models. 

 

Is the perception of a limited range actually based in reality though? Sure there are things available in 4mm that aren't available in 2mm but the opposite is also true. For D&E modellers (which potentially covers the last 60 years!) the main things missing in 2mm (which are available in 4mm) are the prototype diesels most other things have been done until we get to units (and 4mm is not exactly blessed with units!).

 

I'm sure there are individual frustrations that certain models are not available in one scale (personally I can't understand why Farish haven't done a 2EPB) but when you look at the actual range there's not huge differences...

[woodenhead]

If you're doing Steam - Bulleids, Maunsells, Colletts, Gresleys, Thompsons & Stanier all feature in the range of coaches and locomotives.

 

In diesel really only an up to date Peak is missing from the range other than say some early less successful diesels.  The Aircon Mk2s are the only range missing and they are nearly here.

 

I have way more N gauge than I need, way more than OO.

 

The only reason OO has a greater range is that there is greater competition.

[grahame]

2 minutes ago, woodenhead said:

If you're doing Steam - Bulleids, Maunsells, Colletts, Gresleys, Thompsons & Stanier all feature in the range of coaches and locomotives.

 

In diesel really only an up to date Peak is missing from the range other than say some early less successful diesels.  The Aircon Mk2s are the only range missing and they are nearly here.

 

 

Yep, and the range of freight stock is rapidly increasing with RTR product from the likes of RT, C=Rail, NGS and Realtrack, as well as the traditional manufacturers like Farish and Dapol. Plus there is a massive range of wagon kits particularly from NGS.

 

However, the biggest sector having a lack of choice and product is multiple units including DMUs, DEMUs (like thumpers) and especially electric units.

 

 

[woodenhead]

2 minutes ago, grahame said:

However, the biggest sector having a lack of choice and product is multiple units including DMUs, DEMUs (like thumpers) and especially electric units.

 

 

 

Yep, all those 4Ceps are lonely with only distant cousin in the form of a class 73 and a 33 to play with.

 

The fact you cannot find many N gauge 4Ceps means someone bought them and would probably jump at an EPB and a Thumper, a pity Arnold are not interested in some BILS or HALs to go with the Belle - but they are not collectable glamour are they.

[Kaput]

Even when something exists in a manufacturers N gauge range it seems to be a pain to actually get them lately due to lack of reruns of older releases.

The Farish Black 5 is a prime example - hardly ever see any for sale.

 

Sometimes seems like theres two extremes with N, either it sells like hotcakes and if you aren't there at release you'll miss it and be up the creek or it doesn't sell at all and ends up in the bargain bin for no real reason. Distinct lack of a middle ground where a newcomer can come in and find some models of fairly common prototypes.

 

I've been on the lookout for blue/grey MK1's to make up a fake 4TC rake, so far managed to find an FK and thats it...lol

[Davexoc]

3 hours ago, Kaput said:

Even when something exists in a manufacturers N gauge range it seems to be a pain to actually get them lately due to lack of reruns of older releases.

The Farish Black 5 is a prime example - hardly ever see any for sale.

 

Sometimes seems like theres two extremes with N, either it sells like hotcakes and if you aren't there at release you'll miss it and be up the creek or it doesn't sell at all and ends up in the bargain bin for no real reason. Distinct lack of a middle ground where a newcomer can come in and find some models of fairly common prototypes.

 

I've been on the lookout for blue/grey MK1's to make up a fake 4TC rake, so far managed to find an FK and thats it...lol

 

Modern production methods to blame for that. Short runs of certain vehicle liveries/numbers these days, whereas when the same vehicle was churned out year after year, there was stock on shelves. But we don't want to go back to those days do we? The bean counters also don't like to see stuff kicking around for too long either.

 

If you have a good look around for blue/grey Mk1s, you should find CK, BCK and BSKs, but you'll be lucky to find all seconds...

[class8mikado]

Started looking at N just to get a model of a Jubilee that i travelled behind. about a decade ago.

  When i saw the detail in todays models i went mad for it and have been picking up bits mostly second hand to the tune of  £ 3,000 and i havent even got a Layout yet. Just enjoy tinkering and weathering.

Just about reached the Limit of whats available RTR  for the Era and location. Havent bought much for about a year now, saving up for some Farish Thomson Coaches. Reckon it will be 2021 and £ 40 a piece. which is ridiculous when i have been picking up Blue Riband Mk 1 'S  for less than  £ 20 a couple of years Back.... 

[Stuart A]

I still can't fathom why existing tooled coaches have risen in price so much from Farish (RRP for Mk1s £41.95),  (I'm aware of the arguments why they have - no need to revisit those here), when Dapol's Mk3s can be bought new for £20 - £26

[grahame]

15 minutes ago, Stuey said:

I still can't fathom why existing tooled coaches have risen in price so much from Farish (RRP for Mk1s £41.95),  (I'm aware of the arguments why they have - no need to revisit those here), when Dapol's Mk3s can be bought new for £20 - £26

 

Different companies, different owners, different capitalisation, different factories, different margins, different costs, different pricing approach. I'm not sure we can expect Farish to reflect Dapol's prices. Maybe be thankful that Dapol's prices aren't the same as Farish's.

 

 

[Steven B]

It's interesting to see that Dapol haven't increased prices on repeat runs anywhere near as much as Farish. Dapol Mk3s have barely changed in price whilst Farish Mk1s have doubled in price. Even the Collett and Maunsell coaches which have a larger number of parts when compared to the Mk3 have remained at a lower price even with re-runs. That said, I'd say the Farish Mk1 is the best of the bunch but I'm not sure it's worth 30% more which is one reason several of my early Chinese built trains won't be getting replaced with the newer modes and my Rule 1 fund has been reduced in value...

 

Steven B.

 

 

[justin1985]

31 minutes ago, Steven B said:

It's interesting to see that Dapol haven't increased prices on repeat runs anywhere near as much as Farish. Dapol Mk3s have barely changed in price whilst Farish Mk1s have doubled in price. Even the Collett and Maunsell coaches which have a larger number of parts when compared to the Mk3 have remained at a lower price even with re-runs.

 

I think Graeme hit the nail on the head though - the difference between the prices of the two companies probably has a lot more to do with the companies than the products.

 

Dapol are a small company, and it certainly seems like they set prices for each product individually.

 

Farish / Bachmann are just a branch office of a Chinese owned multinational. The fact that Farish / Bachmann price increases are almost always uniform across the board very strongly suggests they have to set their prices in line with policies from "upstairs". You can imagine that trying to argue for holding down prices on certain products won't hold much weight to head office, who are undoubtedly setting targets for each country in comparison with each other, not with competitors within each of those markets.

 

In a sense Farish / Bachmann Europe PLC are in competition with the other arms of Kader - for production slots etc - in a more direct way than they are with Dapol or Hornby.

 

All Kader will ultimately care about is bottom line global profits - why allow models for the UK market to take up factory capacity if they make less profit than other markets?

 

J 

[Stuart A]

Justin and Grahame - this makes sense.  I just can't see such rises being sustainable in the long run - but time will tell.

 

On a positive note I see the Mk2fs have a June date on, so I'll be able to add the Scotrail DBSO to the Dapol Mk3s finally.

[justin1985]

22 minutes ago, Stuey said:

Justin and Grahame - this makes sense.  I just can't see such rises being sustainable in the long run - but time will tell.

 

Agreed - but does that actually matter to Kader? So long as their factories are working at full capacity, producing products with the maximum possible profit margin, I can't imagine it matters to them two hoots whether that is British, German, or Chinese prototype.

 

Basic fact of life - multinational businesses have zero intrinsic loyalty to any one national market. If a range of products or a national market cease to fit the global template, it will fall by the wayside. 

 

If British products increasingly fail to make what Kader head office see as a sufficient contribution to the global balance sheet, then we'll inevitably see the Bachmann UK ranges be scaled back in favour of other ranges. Perhaps eventually the range might just peter out if Bachmann Europe PLC cease to be able to make enough sales at the prices/margins demanded by Kader for production slots. That would be more of a problem for us as UK modellers than it would be for Kader as owners.

 

Perhaps if it ever gets to that point, the tooling might get sold to someone else who is willing to take a thinner margin. More likely, in the long run, I think, is that smaller manufacturers (who almost by definition are happy to make a smaller margin) start to pick off more and more core prototypes.

[47475]

I noticed the following item in the catalogue, but it is not shown online yet:

 

377-878 BR 25T Queen Mary Brake Van in Departmental Olive Green

 

I'll certainly be picking that one up if/when it is released.