Bachmann announcements 2013/4

[Michael Delamar]

are they 20ton or 21ton?

[Michael Delamar]

nice shot of D5139

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95062750@N04/9230848947/

[The Bigbee Line]

Offhand, I can't think of anywhere in S E England where limestone (as opposed to chalk) was quarried, at least not in quantities which would justify rail transport; such industrial users who used limestone in quantity, notably sugar-beet refiners, had it brought in from the Peak District. Such traffic was conveyed, usually, in former iron-ore hoppers, some of which were branded accordingly. Flows that come to mind are from Wirksworth to places like King's Lynn, Ely, Ipswich and Bury St Edmunds.

One of my targets when viewing pictures of the Southern Region are small hoppers.  A number are seen in Chi Trevor shots of Chichester (Some A1 shots)

 

See http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevs_trains/1794283942/sizes/o/in/photostream/

 

There are two similar hoppers loaded with something light.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevs_trains/1794269766/

 

I have a couple of the mainline / Bachmann ones that I am tarting up

 

Thanks,

 

Ernie Puddick

[Fat Controller]

One of my targets when viewing pictures of the Southern Region are small hoppers.  A number are seen in Chi Trevor shots of Chichester (Some A1 shots)

 

See http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevs_trains/1794283942/sizes/o/in/photostream/

 

There are two similar hoppers loaded with something light.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/trevs_trains/1794269766/

 

I have a couple of the mainline / Bachmann ones that I am tarting up

 

Thanks,

 

Ernie Puddick

Ernie,

I think those are BR 13t hoppers, originally intended for coal; on the only occasion I ever saw any, however, they were at Liskeard, being loaded with stone. The load in those looks like roadstone; at the time those photos were taken, it tended to travel as occasional wagon-loads from Whatley, Frome and Wells, rather than in the block trains of later years.

[Adam]

Ernie,

I think those are BR 13t hoppers, originally intended for coal; on the only occasion I ever saw any, however, they were at Liskeard, being loaded with stone. The load in those looks like roadstone; at the time those photos were taken, it tended to travel as occasional wagon-loads from Whatley, Frome and Wells, rather than in the block trains of later years.

 

Yep, that's exactly what they are. They were most common in the NE, of course - a legacy of the NER's hopper policy - but seem to have got around abit on stone traffic as Brian says. There's an excellent brass kit available in 4mm from Dave Bradwell. A good kit of a complicated prototype though it is by definition a bit fiddly it goes together well.

 

http://www.scalefour.org/DaveBradwell/rolling-stock/

 

Adam

[ozzyo]

Ernie,

I think those are BR 13t hoppers, originally intended for coal;

 

If the wagons were intended for coal and used in the transportation of stone, the wagons would not be fully loaded (as seen in the photo) as stone is heavier than coal per cubic yard.

[petethemole]

"Back-tracking to some postings in March, earlier, I think that there will be evidence somewhere for the carriage of masonry quality limestone by rail."

 

Portland stone and Bath stone were transported by rail. The LSWR/SR had a depot for Portland stone at Nine Elms serving London and had 1 and 4 plank wagons built for the traffic. The GWR also handled Portland stone but not apparently with a specific wagon type. The quarry companies also had wagon fleets. Bachmann have in the past produced a 1 plank Bath Stone Firms wagon and a 3 plank for United Stone Firms, however both were on the 10ft wheelbase underframes. I am putting together a wagon fleet for this traffic so have been researching recently.

 

Pete.

[John Oxlade]

Sand, from Holmethorpe pit, close to Redhill station, to the St Helens/Warrington area- the traffic ran up the WCML at a stately 35 mph, with a van marshalled between the hoppers and the brake van to stop the guard getting sand-blasted. In later years, air-braked hoppers were used. The site was one of three in the UK producing sand of high-enough quality for glassmaking; the others were at Oakamoor (North Staffs) and one near King's Lynn. Only the latter still uses rail.

Oh is THAT why there was a van in the train. Makes sense.

[coachmann]

I had completely forgotten just what an ambitious program Bachmann has in store for modellers seeing as it is seven months since Andy posted the images of forthcoming products. The MR 1F 0-6-0T, Stanier 5MT 2-6-0, GWR 64XX Pannier, LBSC E4 0-6-2T, LMS Diesel 10001, GCR J11 0-6-0, MR 4F 0-6-0 and MR 20T goods brake, plus many many other models.

[Ravenser]

I had completely forgotten just what an ambitious program Bachmann has in store for modellers seeing as it is seven months since Andy posted the images of forthcoming products. The MR 1F 0-6-0T, Stanier 5MT 2-6-0, GWR 64XX Pannier, LBSC E4 0-6-2T, LMS Diesel 10001, GCR J11 0-6-0, MR 4F 0-6-0 and MR 20T goods brake, plus many many other models.

 

Thus far we've seen the MR 4F 0-6-0 , and the LMS Ivatt Co-Cos seem to be imminent. Both of these were 2012 announcements . The J11s, Dukedogs, revised Class 40s , Halls , and L&Y 2-4-2Ts. Cl 101s,  all of which were announced in 2012 (or in the case of the 40s even earlier) are still pending - if they had been Hornby announcements they would no doubt be being cited ad nausaum on page 20 of a thread as evidence that Hornby might not be in business in 2 years time... As it's Bachmann a more measured approach is taken on the forum, but clearly delays in getting product from the Chinese factories affect everyone. Possibly we might see one more of the 2012 items by Warley/Christmas , but a lot of them are clearly going to slip into 2014. and if they all come out in 2014 then it's going to be a busy year for Bachmann regardless of whether they get any of their 2013 programme out in 2014

 

We'll see them in the end and I'm not exactly breaking into a sweat about the lack of a J11 in my life, but it's interesting to see how much of a backlog has built up in the RTR sector as a whole. It's also worth noticing how far Bachmann's programme is weighted towards LMS/GW , while Hornby is much more weighted to Southern and Eastern

[brian777999]

We'll see them in the end and I'm not exactly breaking into a sweat about the lack of a J11 in my life, but it's interesting to see how much of a backlog has built up in the RTR sector as a whole. It's also worth noticing how far Bachmann's programme is weighted towards LMS/GW , while Hornby is much more weighted to Southern and Eastern

 

I am waiting for one of the companies to wake up to the fact that the pre grouping era is relatively untapped.

[PaulRhB]

I think people are more used to waiting for Bachmann thankfully we seem to have moved back from the ultra secrecy to the last minute that started to develop and they are announcing well in advance to stop too many duplications. The duplication of models with the LMS twins is a truly bizarre and I wonder about how much damage could happen if one like that really flops for a shop or manufacturer.

[Legend]

Thus far we've seen the MR 4F 0-6-0 , and the LMS Ivatt Co-Cos seem to be imminent. Both of these were 2012 announcements . The J11s, Dukedogs, revised Class 40s , Halls , and L&Y 2-4-2Ts. Cl 101s,  all of which were announced in 2012 (or in the case of the 40s even earlier) are still pending - if they had been Hornby announcements they would no doubt be being cited ad nausaum on page 20 of a thread as evidence that Hornby might not be in business in 2 years time... As it's Bachmann a more measured approach is taken on the forum, but clearly delays in getting product from the Chinese factories affect everyone. Possibly we might see one more of the 2012 items by Warley/Christmas , but a lot of them are clearly going to slip into 2014. and if they all come out in 2014 then it's going to be a busy year for Bachmann regardless of whether they get any of their 2013 programme out in 2014

 

We'll see them in the end and I'm not exactly breaking into a sweat about the lack of a J11 in my life, but it's interesting to see how much of a backlog has built up in the RTR sector as a whole. It's also worth noticing how far Bachmann's programme is weighted towards LMS/GW , while Hornby is much more weighted to Southern and Eastern

The key difference between Bachmann and Hornby is that Bachmann communicates the status of their new model program in the Collector magazine. While Hornby just don't say anything at all, giving rise to the aforementioned 20 pages of conjecture.

[it's-er]

In addition to the locomotives coachman lists at post 916, Bachmann have also taken on board the Model Raiil USTC 0-6-0T, and announced the Brighton Atlantic for 2015.

 

What was already a full programme has thus become even bigger, not to mention their coaches - SR CCT/PMV announced last year; this year's announcement of GWR Autocoach, SECR/SR Birdcage coaches, LMS Inspection Saloon and LNER Thompson stock; plus the models they are doing for Invicta Model Rail including the BR CCT.

 

Altogether an astonishing programme.

 

John

[The Stationmaster]

Interestingly the Bachmann website is not showing any information at all about 00 models expected in the next 60, or any other number of, days although it does have info in that category for both N and H0.  So it looks like they either don't know what's enroute or aren't sure or there isn't anything - which takes them past Warley and awfully close to Christmas.  But the NRM L&Y tank is due within about a month according to Locomotion so clearly some stuff is enroute.  Which simply suggests to me some sort of admin problem - ah well what turns up will turn up when it turns up and that's all we need know to be honest (unless we happen to be retailers trying to run a business plan and manage cashflow of course.

[brian777999]

I am still a bit confused about their manufacturing process. So they do not actually own the factories : they subcontract the work out to the factories who then make models according to what they can fit into their schedule ? It seems a rather strange way to go about producing anything. What is the advantage of this method of production ? If a particular model turns out to be very popular then they cannot capitalise on that and order more immediately ; they have to wait for more slots on the production line.

[ThaneofFife]

i thought that Hornby were the boys who had to do bona-fide subcontracting out of produiction to the sanda kan factories and that was the main reason for the foten vast chasm in prices between blue box and red box.  Im sure Bachmann are a lot closer to the production than a true subcontract relationship. 

[The Stationmaster]

I am still a bit confused about their manufacturing process. So they do not actually own the factories : they subcontract the work out to the factories who then make models according to what they can fit into their schedule ? It seems a rather strange way to go about producing anything. What is the advantage of this method of production ? If a particular model turns out to be very popular then they cannot capitalise on that and order more immediately ; they have to wait for more slots on the production line.

Bachmann is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kader, who own the factories.  However I understand that they operate in effect as an 'internal customer' of the design and production process although quite how production slots are allocated I haven't got a clue.  Going back 18 months-2 years there was a definite difficulty getting stuff through design and tooling but judging by what we have seen of late that would seem to be no longer a bottleneck.  However earlier this year Kader closed one of the factories previously own by Kanda San due to an increase in local taxation and stated that the closure was going to disrupt production for some months whilst the work done by that factory in the past was relocated to another factory or factories.  That might well account for disruption and delay to Hornby supplies but quite how if affects Bachmann UK I don't know unless their production slots are also being reallocated.

[brushman47544]

Bachmann is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kader, who own the factories.  However I understand that they operate in effect as an 'internal customer' of the design and production process although quite how production slots are allocated I haven't got a clue.  Going back 18 months-2 years there was a definite difficulty getting stuff through design and tooling but judging by what we have seen of late that would seem to be no longer a bottleneck.  However earlier this year Kader closed one of the factories previously own by Kanda San due to an increase in local taxation and stated that the closure was going to disrupt production for some months whilst the work done by that factory in the past was relocated to another factory or factories.  That might well account for disruption and delay to Hornby supplies but quite how if affects Bachmann UK I don't know unless their production slots are also being reallocated.

 

Shortly after Kader took over Sanda Kan I remember Bachmann saying that a certain model (can't recall which I'm afraid) was the first from its "new" factory and said in a way that implied the Sanda Kan factory would in future manufacture more Bachmann models. I remember thinking at the time that this would mean less capacity to produce Hornby models, and look what's happened since...

[Ozexpatriate]

... earlier this year Kader closed one of the factories previously own by Kanda San due to an increase in local taxation and stated that the closure was going to disrupt production for some months whilst the work done by that factory in the past was relocated to another factory or factories.

In their most recent annual report, Kader states:

Under an unfavourable macroeconomic environment, the Group continued to enhance the development of its core business through strategic restructuring plans. Early in 2012, the management took decisive action to restructure our business model to alleviate the incessant cost pressure. Apart from streamlining the business structure and workforce to enhance overall efficiency, we consolidated our production plants in Mainland China.

I believe this consolidation was in closing the ex-Sanda Kan factory (in the Hong Kong area) and moving production inland. I don't remember where. Shenzhen rings a bell and that's just inland from Hong Kong.

 

If I recall from the Bachmann Collectors' Club, aren't they organizing another factory tour?

 

For the six months ending June 2013, Kader made a loss. In their 2013 interim report they said this:

During the first half year of 2013, the turnover for the Group’s OEM/ODM toys business was approximately HK$114.90 million, which decreased by approximately 26.80% as compared to the corresponding period last year. During the period under review, toy manufacturers were confronted with the slow recovery of the economies in Europe and the United States, the shortage of labour in the manufacturing market and the increase in statutory minimum wages in Mainland China. All these unfavourable conditions adversely affected the Group’s performance.

 

Regarding the model trains business, the turnover in the first half year of 2013 was approximately HK$225.02 million, which decreased by approximately 24.04% as compared to the corresponding period last year.

[Dunsignalling]

 

++++. It's also worth noticing how far Bachmann's programme is weighted towards LMS/GW , while Hornby is much more weighted to Southern and Eastern

Southern and Eastern? Don't you mean Western and Eastern? There's been a near glut of both in the last couple of years with more to come (the rest of the big tanks, Star, Hall, P2).

 

There have been no new Southern steam locos from Hornby; just EMUs, two of which are very nice if you like that sort of thing.

 

John

[Leadmill]

Ordered one of those really nice looking BTP buildings. Just waiting for it to get in stock. Need to model some appropriate vehicles now. Alas there are no 1:76 Vito's, Mondeos, or Kugas on the market. So will repaint a couple of transits I think.

[ThaneofFife]

wonder who has placed the largest pre-order on the new Mk2fs?

 

Personally I have ordered 3 x FOs and 5 x SOs in blue and grey (ddc). but there must be some clubs around that have ordered 20, 30, 40 or more of these?

[Jon020]

wonder who has placed the largest pre-order on the new Mk2fs?

 

Personally I have ordered 3 x FOs and 5 x SOs in blue and grey (ddc). but there must be some clubs around that have ordered 20, 30, 40 or more of these?

A good ponder... as an east-coast 70s modeller, I tend to sit on my hands watching Bachmann offering "F"s, and now Hornby offering "E"s.... which is a shame as I'd love to see some "D"s... but moving that toilet across looks a bit tricky.

[Michael Delamar]

Does anyone know when we are likely to see the grain hoppers?