Bachmann Europe 2022 results

[1andrew1]

No massive surprises here. I thought the focus on investing in stock control and supporting dealers was interesting.

• Turnover rose 10% from £16.3m to £17.9m. The launch of the dealer portal and service centre trade platforms contributed significantly to this growth
• Profit rose rose 50% from £534k to £802k
• Germany is breaking even before depreciation and tax
• Management and admin staff rose from 47 to 59. Of these, sales reps rose from 4 to 7. Development staff remained at 14

 

Aspects highlighted included:

• Reducing stockholding is a key objective
• The new ERP system will increase data flow across the group and help reduce stock levels
• Not announcing products until three months before release is popular.

 

More details https://tinyurl.com/ycpj7meu

[The Stationmaster]

Interesting resukr ts from Bachmann europe and profits continuing.  Interesting to note the level of attention they are giving to a 5% increase in inventory compared with Hornby's situation (although they obviously intend to tackle their massive inventory problem).  The staff numbers increase is very interesting and of course, sales staff apart, it's not clear what has driven it although the average salary per additional post is not excessive.       

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mike Bellamy]

How odd - just one comment in almost 24 hours (thanks Mike SM) - yet on the equivalent Hornby topic, we were half way down page 3 within the same time period, and now on page 8.

 

Why ??  Is it because everyone likes to have their say knocking Hornby but they don't like doing the same for Bachmann . . . . . . just curious and asking for a friend🤣

.

 

 

[Willie Whizz]

They used to say “The World and his Wife think they know how to run a railway better than BR, and are not afraid to tell ‘em so”.  I suspect they also think they know how to run a model railway company  better than Hornby, and are not afraid to tell them (and us) so!

[adb968008]

13 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

How odd - just one comment in almost 24 hours (thanks Mike SM) - yet on the equivalent Hornby topic, we were half way down page 3 within the same time period, and now on page 8.

 

Why ??  Is it because everyone likes to have their say knocking Hornby but they don't like doing the same for Bachmann . . . . . . just curious and asking for a friend🤣

.

 

 

what is there to knock… ?

they are self sustaining, profitable, good margin and increasing headcount.

in the best of British tradition, pat on the back and carry on the good work.

 

You are right however, we should celebrate success more in the UK than we do.

Flip side we do focus more on problem children under the microscope more than other countries and analysis whats going wrong.

 

What it does show, is that despite being at the upper end of price range, and without a direct to customer channel, and with on the ground sales teams.. Bachmann can be consistently profitable.

 

Bachmann dont seem to flood the market with as much stuff, and the quality and attention to detail draws far less issues than Hornby stuff.

in that sense, Quality over Quantity seems to be winning.

 

They have under 70 coaches “arrived”, but thats not an instock indicator, so may well be less, compared to Hornbys 266 available to buy now for example… and Bachmanns report indicated a desire to reduce stock levels further. (Hornbys report does not explicitly say this, it just blames poor sales).

 

if you look at the accounts of Gaugemaster, Peco, Accurascale, Dapol they are also reporting profits.

 

What could be asked is if Bachmann are doing good on nearly 70 staff, and Hornby is heading 4x in turnover larger on 3x (c200) staff.. it might by comparison suggest Hornbys issues aren't down to staff productivity.

 

A good sales coach once said to me sales performance is down to three things.. Skills, Activity and Results.

If the results are bad, you look at the other two.

Its clear on headcount the activity is a better ratio of staff to earnings at Hornby than Bachmann.

Both are executing at similar margins.

 

so that brings us to skills…is this the problem ?

Do Hornby have a sales guy anymore  ?

Sales guys dont just sell… they guide direction by feeding back what the market wants, and more importantly… strategy.

Bachmann has 7 ?

 I repeat this line…

 

Bachmann don't seem to flood the market with as much stuff, and the quality and attention to detail draws far less issues than Hornby stuff in that sense, Quality over Quantity seems to be winning.

so Bachmanns sales…

 

A good example, is the 37, its £70 more than its competitor, theyve still produced a wide range, they are in all retailers, they got the timing right. It is discounted in some retailers, but I assume this is a retailer decision not a manufacturer one and maybe down to subject choice as well as competition (some room for improvement). Theyve gone for different angles from the competitor, but stepping on toes will be inevitable. What it has done is dampened demand pricing on the competitor (unlike deltics the competitors model is not going to ebays heavens !), meaning the table is still level for both models, they found a competing niche, and with a higher price point they are maintaining margin but perhaps (speculation) in differing volumes.. and maintained a non direct channel… theres quite some skill in that.

 

Ask yourself, if this was Hornby making a super detailed 37 instead of Bachmann, what would this look like in terms of Quality, Detail, Accuracy, Variety, Availability ?.. I dont know about you but i’m cringing at that thought, and would guess Accurascale would have the 37 market sown up.. (so now think about class 31 and class 50 and they are £50 above the competitors too)

 

So coming back to the OP comment…

unlike Bachmann, Hornby is the front door to the hobby, and those knocking it, might actually be passionate about that… especially when exposed to simple, trivial avoidable mistakes.
 

Its frustrating watching the flagship of our hobby being consistently navigate its way to calmer waters, especially if anything untoward happen it could impact all of us who practice the hobby in this country…

It seems anyone showing concern is open to abuse, just like anyone dissenting Brexit was (remoaner etc)...

Thats also a British trait.

Is that the difference between those who care, and those who don't ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2023 by adb968008

[Mike Buckner]

Speaking purely personally (diesel era modeller):  too many disappointments from H.

[The Stationmaster]

14 hours ago, Mike Bellamy said:

How odd - just one comment in almost 24 hours (thanks Mike SM) - yet on the equivalent Hornby topic, we were half way down page 3 within the same time period, and now on page 8.

 

Why ??  Is it because everyone likes to have their say knocking Hornby but they don't like doing the same for Bachmann . . . . . . just curious and asking for a friend🤣

.

 

 

I think not,  Bachmann Europe have made a profit and unlike many folk in Britain we perhaps don't like to knock success on RMweb.    As noted above  -i it's apat on teh back for Bachmann Europe.  Bachmann's only troubling item - and they say they are well aware of it and are dealing with it - is a 5% growth in inventory (aka stock).  Otherwise their strategy - judging by the numbers in their accounts is working notwithstanding a lot of moans comments on RMweb about their pricing policy.

 

In contrast Hornby have a multitude of problems some of which are undoubtedly self inflicted and some of which have been lurking there for a long time.  So we naturally have more to say about Hornby.  And we're not the only ones as today's bid price on Hornby shares has dipped yet again with teh market currently pricing them at only 17p; they were at 22.5p before their financial results were published and 28.5p at the start of the year.  Bachmann of course don't have to worry too much about share prices.

[1andrew1]

Bachmann Europe seems to have a good business model which facilitates investment and growth, although its parent company is loss-making. 

https://www.kader.com.hk/investor_relations/pdf/result2022e.pdf

 

I think the only obvious weakness for Bachmann Europe is with its Lilliput brand. In my first post I mentioned that "Germany is breaking even before depreciation and tax." Presumably after these two charges it is loss-making.

 

For share price watchers,  there's always that of its parent company Kader Holdings. 

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/0180:HKG?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjo_sjsg-n_AhU3g_0HHeRjC64Q3ecFegQIKRAf&window=YTD

[wombatofludham]

Interesting results which seems to show that Bachmann, despite being a possibly less well known brand than Hornby, must be doing things right, whereas Hornby, despite being a household name, are back making a loss,  For me, that is more than enough evidence to criticise Hornby and their approach to the adult model railway market.

In fact Bachmann could almost be seen as the polar opposite of Hornby, having no on line presence for retail, working with retailers, unlike Hornby who are trying to develop their in house retail presence and getting rid of sales staff.  Despite relying on third party retailers and being perceived as expensive, a 10% increase in turnover and a near doubling of profits suggest that Bachmann not having a retail channel of their own doesn't seem to be harming them, whereas Hornby's move on-line doesn't seem to be delivering much financial uplift, and has done them some reputational damage with adult modellers.  That's probably why there would be many more pages of comment were this Hornby: they just keep giving us material to criticize them with. 

 

[scottystitch]

10 hours ago, adb968008 said:

what is there to knock… ?

they are self sustaining, profitable, good margin and increasing headcount.

in the best of British tradition, pat on the back and carry on the good work.

 

You are right however, we should celebrate success more in the UK than we do.

Flip side we do focus more on problem children under the microscope more than other countries and analysis whats going wrong.

 

What it does show, is that despite being at the upper end of price range, and without a direct to customer channel, and with on the ground sales teams.. Bachmann can be consistently profitable.

 

Bachmann dont seem to flood the market with as much stuff, and the quality and attention to detail draws far less issues than Hornby stuff.

in that sense, Quality over Quantity seems to be winning.

 

They have under 70 coaches “arrived”, but thats not an instock indicator, so may well be less, compared to Hornbys 266 available to buy now for example… and Bachmanns report indicated a desire to reduce stock levels further. (Hornbys report does not explicitly say this, it just blames poor sales).

 

if you look at the accounts of Gaugemaster, Peco, Accurascale, Dapol they are also reporting profits.

 

What could be asked is if Bachmann are doing good on nearly 70 staff, and Hornby is heading 4x in turnover larger on 3x (c200) staff.. it might by comparison suggest Hornbys issues aren't down to staff productivity.

 

A good sales coach once said to me sales performance is down to three things.. Skills, Activity and Results.

If the results are bad, you look at the other two.

Its clear on headcount the activity is a better ratio of staff to earnings at Hornby than Bachmann.

Both are executing at similar margins.

 

so that brings us to skills…is this the problem ?

Do Hornby have a sales guy anymore  ?

Sales guys dont just sell… they guide direction by feeding back what the market wants, and more importantly… strategy.

Bachmann has 7 ?

 I repeat this line…

 

Bachmann don't seem to flood the market with as much stuff, and the quality and attention to detail draws far less issues than Hornby stuff in that sense, Quality over Quantity seems to be winning.

so Bachmanns sales…

 

A good example, is the 37, its £70 more than its competitor, theyve still produced a wide range, they are in all retailers, they got the timing right. It is discounted in some retailers, but I assume this is a retailer decision not a manufacturer one and maybe down to subject choice as well as competition (some room for improvement). Theyve gone for different angles from the competitor, but stepping on toes will be inevitable. What it has done is dampened demand pricing on the competitor (unlike deltics the competitors model is not going to ebays heavens !), meaning the table is still level for both models, they found a competing niche, and with a higher price point they are maintaining margin but perhaps (speculation) in differing volumes.. and maintained a non direct channel… theres quite some skill in that.

 

Ask yourself, if this was Hornby making a super detailed 37 instead of Bachmann, what would this look like in terms of Quality, Detail, Accuracy, Variety, Availability ?.. I dont know about you but i’m cringing at that thought, and would guess Accurascale would have the 37 market sown up.. (so now think about class 31 and class 50 and they are £50 above the competitors too)

 

So coming back to the OP comment…

unlike Bachmann, Hornby is the front door to the hobby, and those knocking it, might actually be passionate about that… especially when exposed to simple, trivial avoidable mistakes.
 

Its frustrating watching the flagship of our hobby being consistently navigate its way to calmer waters, especially if anything untoward happen it could impact all of us who practice the hobby in this country…

It seems anyone showing concern is open to abuse, just like anyone dissenting Brexit was (remoaner etc)...

Thats also a British trait.

Is that the difference between those who care, and those who don't ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent post. 
 

Best

 

Scott. 

[The Stationmaster]

16 hours ago, 1andrew1 said:

Bachmann Europe seems to have a good business model which facilitates investment and growth, although its parent company is loss-making. 

https://www.kader.com.hk/investor_relations/pdf/result2022e.pdf

 

I think the only obvious weakness for Bachmann Europe is with its Lilliput brand. In my first post I mentioned that "Germany is breaking even before depreciation and tax." Presumably after these two charges it is loss-making.

 

For share price watchers,  there's always that of its parent company Kader Holdings. 

https://www.google.com/finance/quote/0180:HKG?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjo_sjsg-n_AhU3g_0HHeRjC64Q3ecFegQIKRAf&window=YTD

Kader is obvoiusly far more that toys & trains and Bachmann Europe is only one customer for them in that sector.

 

An interesting thing is that Kader's sales to Bachmann Europe  declined a bit (nothing like the large drop in their US sales) but Bachmann Europe's revenues have increased.  Simplistically this might well be down to Bachmann Europe having introduced the EFE brand plus selling in Britain various other non-Kader manufactured ranges.  On the face of it it could well be that model railway brand diversification has benefitted Bachmann Europe's financial position and certainly doesn't appear to have harmed it.

 

I don't know what they sell in their European outline, aka Lilliput, range but that might (by a bit of a stretch I will admit)  link the decline in Kader's numbers with Bachmann Europe's problem in the German market - i did say 'might' (it might not of course).

[adb968008]

Ive always found liliput HO to be quite stale. Not much changes yoy.

The BR42 for example I bought in 2001, indeed it may have been an upgraded tooling then too, and its still just a dcc upgraded one today. You could probably say the same about the A4, but the UK range has seen an eclectic number of toolings since then, Liliput has not.

 

I know the German market is quite saturated in competition in HO and suffers a lesser range of prototypes. Germany went Einsheit in the 1920’s not the 1950’s like the Uk but did it in a much bigger way in Germany… 1000+ is not an unusual number in several German classes, especially war locomotive classes.

At least Liliput didnt make a Vectron, as everyone else has.

However Eastern Europe interest has definitely widened and this could still be exploited, I dont know why Liliput hasnt expanded much but others are finding new markets and taking tranches.

 

 

Edited June 30, 2023 by adb968008

[Longhaireddavid]

20 hours ago, wombatofludham said:

Interesting results which seems to show that Bachmann, despite being a possibly less well known brand than Hornby, must be doing things right, whereas Hornby, despite being a household name, are back making a loss,  For me, that is more than enough evidence to criticise Hornby and their approach to the adult model railway market.

In fact Bachmann could almost be seen as the polar opposite of Hornby, having no on line presence for retail, working with retailers, unlike Hornby who are trying to develop their in house retail presence and getting rid of sales staff.  Despite relying on third party retailers and being perceived as expensive, a 10% increase in turnover and a near doubling of profits suggest that Bachmann not having a retail channel of their own doesn't seem to be harming them, whereas Hornby's move on-line doesn't seem to be delivering much financial uplift, and has done them some reputational damage with adult modellers.  That's probably why there would be many more pages of comment were this Hornby: they just keep giving us material to criticize them with. 

 

I haven't been in the UK outline market as I have always built US outline where Bachmann is just another manufacturer amongst many. However, I have recently started to build a GWR branchline and have leaned heavily on my local model shop Orwell Model Railways. Without trying, my new stock is almost exclusively Bachmann with Dapol coming in from eBay purchases. I don't have any Hornby. That must mean something?

 

Also, I did fancy going to TT 120 but Hornby are only building large express locos and, even in 120, I don't have room for anything like that so I didn't go that way,

Edited June 30, 2023 by Longhaireddavid

[PMP]

39 minutes ago, Longhaireddavid said:

. Without trying, my new stock is almost exclusively Bachmann with Dapol coming in from eBay purchases. I don't have any Hornby. That must mean something?

 

It does. The biggest thing it means is that Hornby doesn’t produce much suitable GWR branch line equipment. 

[jjb1970]

The results pretty much sum up Bachmann and why I like them. No drama, just a competent and well managed company, they deliver a high quality product with no fuss. They appear in the shops and if you like the products you can buy without having to get involved in pre-ordering. A few years ago Bachmann were terrible for announcing products which took years and years to appear, their current practice of announcing when the products are ready is a huge improvement in my view. The combination of a good product, no need to get involved with pre-ordering and no drama is really rather refreshing and commendable.

[No Decorum]

1 hour ago, jjb1970 said:

The results pretty much sum up Bachmann and why I like them. No drama, just a competent and well managed company, they deliver a high quality product with no fuss. They appear in the shops and if you like the products you can buy without having to get involved in pre-ordering. A few years ago Bachmann were terrible for announcing products which took years and years to appear, their current practice of announcing when the products are ready is a huge improvement in my view. The combination of a good product, no need to get involved with pre-ordering and no drama is really rather refreshing and commendable.

I’d agree with most of that but I would like a little more notice of incoming stuff. When Bachy announces stuff, my cash is usually already committed. It goes to show, you can’t please everybody.

[adb968008]

1 hour ago, No Decorum said:

I’d agree with most of that but I would like a little more notice of incoming stuff. When Bachy announces stuff, my cash is usually already committed. It goes to show, you can’t please everybody.

I’m kind of onboard with that, but Ive noticed there can be a lag, but theres also not the same rush at this price level.

indeed you can take it a bit easier on some items and come up better off.

[Ron Ron Ron]

21 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

…….I don't know what they sell in their European outline, aka Lilliput, range …….

If you’re curious, here’s the 2023/24  catalogue……

 

https://liliput.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Liliput_Katalog_2023_72dpi.pdf

 

 

 

 

.

[The Stationmaster]

2 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

If you’re curious, here’s the 2023/24  catalogue……

 

https://liliput.de/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Liliput_Katalog_2023_72dpi.pdf

 

 

 

 

.

Thanks Ron.  Nice catalogue but some of their models do look to be from rather dated tooling judging by the photos.  Also probably too large a range for anyone to keep comprehensive stocks - but that;'s hardly unique.

[Ravenser]

23 hours ago, The Stationmaster said:

Kader is obvoiusly far more that toys & trains and Bachmann Europe is only one customer for them in that sector.

 

An interesting thing is that Kader's sales to Bachmann Europe  declined a bit (nothing like the large drop in their US sales) but Bachmann Europe's revenues have increased.  Simplistically this might well be down to Bachmann Europe having introduced the EFE brand plus selling in Britain various other non-Kader manufactured ranges.  On the face of it it could well be that model railway brand diversification has benefitted Bachmann Europe's financial position and certainly doesn't appear to have harmed it.

 

 

On 29/06/2023 at 09:22, adb968008 said:

What it does show, is that despite being at the upper end of price range, and without a direct to customer channel, and with on the ground sales teams.. Bachmann can be consistently profitable.

 

Bachmann dont seem to flood the market with as much stuff, and the quality and attention to detail draws far less issues than Hornby stuff. in that sense, Quality over Quantity seems to be winning.

 

They have under 70 coaches “arrived”, but thats not an instock indicator, so may well be less, compared to Hornbys 266 available to buy now for example… and Bachmanns report indicated a desire to reduce stock levels further. (Hornbys report does not explicitly say this, it just blames poor sales).

 

if you look at the accounts of Gaugemaster, Peco, Accurascale, Dapol they are also reporting profits.

 

 

 

Those two posts go together.

 

Bachmann is a division of Kadar. Their original /historical function was to fill up the Kadar factory and keep it fully utilised , by selling directly to the European customer - and capturing the "commissioner's margin" for Kadar.  Over the last few years, model railway manufacturing capacity has been tight. Kadar are able to fill more of their capacity from 3rd party work than was the case 10-15 years ago. Possibly they are able to do so at a premium over what the factory charges Bachmann Europe.

 

How exactly the production cost works between Bachmann Europe and the Kadar factory is an internal matter within the Kadar organisation. We don't know. Various possibilities can be imagined - do Bachmann have to bid for production slots in some kind of internal market. Do they strike a deal and get X capacity , and any extra capacity will cost Y? We have no idea and won't find out. But it does mean that historically Bachmann Europe's profitability is largely determined by transfer pricing within Kadar . Assuming there is no reason for Kadar to want Bachmann Europe to show a loss, they can keep a modest profit in the subsiduary by adjusting the transfer price. They can provide a subsidy through a low price, they can move profit into Kadar Industries through a high price. As they choose. So in some sense Bachmann's results are not especially meaningful , because we are only seeing what the Kadar accountants want us to see.

 

What is clear, from Bachmann's own indications, is that the production capacity which they have at Kadar has been constrained in recent years. That is reflected in the Stationmaster's comment: An interesting thing is that Kader's sales to Bachmann Europe  declined a bit (nothing like the large drop in their US sales) but Bachmann Europe's revenues have increased.

There is that capacity constraint in black and white. To counter it, and keep turnover going through Bachmann Europe to support its overheads, Kadar have approved the EFE venture whereby Bachmann sell products made in other factories and licenced from other companies . Whether that has now expanded into Barwell-designed products being produced in non-Kadar factories for sale through EFE appears to be a sensitive subject, perhaps understandably  (although it seems overwhelmingly likely the EFE Pacer was not designed by Barwell, whatever its actual origin). EFE Rail does however mean that Bachmann Europe's profitablity is no longer determined entirely by the Kadar group accountants.

 

Not only is their capacity at Kadar constrained (a declining turnover with Kadar at a time of inflation implies a tighter squeeze on volumes) Bachmann now have more calls on it. Their OO9 range requires production capacity at Kadar, and that must have  been taken from something else, given that they are doing less business overall with Kadar.

 

To outsiders it looks as if it may have come from Farish, and especially steam. Having glanced over the fence into N I notice that the complaints about limited availability of staple items from Farish , and especially steam era items, has become a running theme of N gauge discourse . Along with the sarcastic cries of "Just what I wanted- another low relief toilet!" N gauge prices are lower than OO9 : the list price of a Farish 4F is £159 and Dapol offer Britannias at a similar price. The list price of a Penrhyn Hunslet in OO9 is £199, and a Double Farlie is £239 - a Bo-Bo diesel in N is about £125-£150.  (I paid £80 for a 33 off the Dapol stand at Warley and they were selling 66s for £100).

 

If you are rationing production capacity , you will cut back on the lowest margin items and give the production slots to higher margin products. OO9 is a new Bachmann answer to the problem of building a layout in a small space, and it looks like it is being given production slots at the expense of N.  (Hornby had no answer to the problem - so they've launched TT120. Do not expect Bachmann, Dapol or Accurascale to follow them)

 

So it's entirely understandable that Bachmann have many fewer items on offer than Hornby, and their prices are higher. Bachmann do not have an interest bill to cover - they need to extract the maximum revenue out of their restricted production capacity. If they make a Farish 08 they'd rather it was a DCC Sound one - at the same price point as the Double Fairlie.

 

Farish cannot push up N gauge prices because of Dapol, who are not generating new tooling in N but endlessly rerun their existing modern N gauge tooling at quite affordable prices.

 

Frankly having to clear surplus stock when you have a serious production /supply restriction would imply real incompetence. We can't infer that high-spec high price models sell better - we simply note that Bachmann cannot sensibly go for unit volume of sales

 

(They have visibly been bulking out the Farish range with floods of Scenecraft buildings at eye-watering prices. These are then heavily discounted 12 months down the line - whether by the retailers or by Farish I know not. Either way this is where Bachmann visibly generate surplus stock for clearance. I'm guessing resin buildings are either produced outside Kadar or in factories within the group where capacity isn't tight in the way it is for model railways)

[adb968008]

Maybe one pertinent point,..

 

UK corporation tax.. 25%

Hong kong Corp Tax.. 16.5%

 

if you were a multinational which one would you prefer to be posting profits, and.. which one would you be posting losses (Which become deferred against future tax, and which become an asset)

 

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by adb968008

[BachelorBoy]

23 hours ago, adb968008 said:

At least Liliput didnt make a Vectron, as everyone else has.

 

By Vectron's beard, they didn't.

[woodenhead]

@Ravenser With the 009 stuff - we'd need to know the batch sizes to understand the price differential between N and 009.

 

If they produce less of the 009 then to achieve the same level of profit as say a class 25 or a 4F 0-6-0 you'd need to raise the price accordingly.  So on the face of it you might think the profit margin on 009 is higher, but in reality it may be exactly the same but from fewer units.  But making fewer units of course has it's own benefits in a capacity constrained factory especially if they turn out the same profit of a higher run item.

[Covkid]

On 29/06/2023 at 10:01, Mike Buckner said:

Speaking purely personally (diesel era modeller):  too many disappointments from H.

Totally with you Mike

My red box diesels consist of

31111 which I haven't dare take out of it's box for the last five years

Preowned class 50

The abortion that is a Bagnall diesel that looks a little bit like a Bagnall diesel

 

ADB968008 has written it for me.  Why would anyone except the most Margateian acolyte buy a red box class 31 ?

 

  

[Covkid]

On 30/06/2023 at 17:07, PMP said:

It does. The biggest thing it means is that Hornby doesn’t produce much suitable GWR branch line equipment. 

And is increasingly falling behind with its back catalogue of stuff.  One simple example the GWR autocoach. I daresay many have got a Airfic or Hornby one in their stock boxes, but I bet it is the Bachmann one that spends more time on rails. 

 

The new Rapido B set will have a similar effect IMHO - at least to some folk.   

 

 

Two quintessential GWR BLT staples