Pre Orders

[Newportnobby]

Well now, it's been many a moon since I had no pre orders on for Farish as there's just nothing announced I need or want. Rapido seem to be the 'go to' for transition era stuff as I have 6 items on at Rails. There are 2 Dapol items and 2 Sonic items on at Rails, along with one each at RevolutioN and NGS.
Come on, Farish. I want something to froth about!

[Roy L S]

Well now, it's been many a moon since I had no pre orders on for Farish as there's just nothing announced I need or want. Rapido seem to be the 'go to' for transition era stuff as I have 6 items on at Rails. There are 2 Dapol items and 2 Sonic items on at Rails, along with one each at RevolutioN and NGS.
Come on, Farish. I want something to froth about!

You are not alone Mick, this January will be the 7th anniversary of the announcement of Farish's last "new tool" steam loco, the Stanier 8F.

While the sound upgrades are very welcome, I keep hoping that the "next" quarterly Bachmann announcements will reveal a brand new steam loco release, and each time they fail to, I an not sure I will even bother watching the next one TBH.

I have no idea whether it is a deliberate policy or "prejudice" on the part of Bachmann, but other manufacturers (Sonic and Dapol) still seem to see N Gauge steam/diesel transition as a place worthy of investment, and with the advent of RevolutioN in particular, the "modern" market seems that much more crowded and challenging now. This seems borne out by bargain bucket prices for 90s so soon after release there is no indication that there is frantic demand (or possibly it is oversupply?) for such "modern" stuff or recent MU releases either and I say this with no satisfaction, I just hope the 158 does better.

With  Accurascale (I have been told) saying they will have an N announcement during 2024 (37 or 55?) the diesel/MI "space" is only likely to become more crowded, and I would have thought that knowing RevolutioN have no interest in steam, Rapido unlikely to dip a toe in the water for a good while yet, the steam area of the Market is a sensible place to be looking....

Roy

[Trainfish]

I don't think I have any Farish on pre-order either and I model a very different era to you Mick. I have loads of other pre-orders though, 3x class 59s, Cartics, tube train (not really sure why), class 313, 2x class 44, Pullman HST, 96 cars (Capris, Escorts, Fiestas, Cortinas).

I may have to put off retirement for another year yet 

[Chris Morris]

Bachmann Europe are a business. The directors have a legal duty to make the business as profitable as possible in order to make a good return on investment for their shareholders. Their choice of models and any new tooling will be guided by this over-riding principle.

Anyway I think Bachmann have done plenty of good work for British N in recent quarters.

[Newportnobby]

Following on from the success (at least with me - 2 x 56xx and 1 x J50) I really hope the large Prairie is successful for Sonic. I know some had the odd rogue loco but, like it or not, that seems to be the way of life nowadays. I really can't see RevolutioN doing a steamer in my lifetime. Rapido may surprise us yet and, providing I don't have another heart scare, I look forward to Dapol's light pacific and the Mogul.
Not having the faintest interest in sound, I don't feel adding it to existing locos to be 'something new'.
Diesel wise I consider myself to have been well catered for. I won't be ordering a new Peak as I have Farish class 44, 45 and 46 and am quite happy with them. I'm sure the Rapido one will render mine obsolete but there comes a limit when replacing old with new. I'm still over the moon with their class 28 and the 128s from RevolutioN and believe the forthcoming class 120 will be a good seller for them and pave the way for other models.
When it comes to steam or early diesel I'm really not sure where Farish would go. A retooled Crab would be welcomed by me and maybe a class 15, although the latter is a bit niche.
The world of older electrics is very thinly populated both in loco and EMU/DEMU format and is hugely reliant on kit form (maybe 3D body on an available chassis) and is a market all the manufacturers could tap into. SR sets, Class 76/77, class 71/74, class 304 - 310 anyone??
Are there few models because the market is not there or do people shy away because there are too few RTR models?

[Bob G]

Just bought a secondhand class 158 from Hattons for £85 to become my tenth hacked chassis to make a 63' chassis for BR Mk 1 based EMUs/DEMUs. I have another 158 unit with bodies which I can put with it to make a 2-car 158 Dummy Unit and sell that on EBay to reduce the cost of the chassis a bit more.

These chassis go under BR designed EMUs. I use TPM inserts in early Farish Mk 1s for 4-CIG/4-BIG/4-VEP, and WW overlays on slightly newer t-cut Farish bodies for Thumpers (classes 205 and 207), 2-EPBs and 2-HAPs. All of these use BR Mk 1 bogies so Farish coach chassis ideal (with a few more bits added underneath).

For my older Bulleid and Maunsell EMUs coming from @JimSan in the new year (4-COR/4-BUF/4-COR, 2x 2-HAP and 1x 4-SUB, I'm using Greenmax chassis as these have 8' bogies just right for NGS SR 8' bogie overlays.

@Mr Sprue is working on a top quality 71 (and maybe 74?) and I have all three Class 70 electrics 20001-20003 now, and a Bulleid 1Co-Co1 diesel, curtesy of @JimSan.

No need for Dapol or Farish to bother, really. I've got enough bits to keep me going

Bob

[Newportnobby]

Fine if you're in a position to be physically capable of such work.
Some of us have to rely on RTR, Bob

[Bob G]

Fine if you're in a position to be physically capable of such work.
Some of us have to rely on RTR, Bob

I'm not physically capable of anything right now. I've had an awful virus for 2 weeks.
Just as the Holidays were starting! Typical!

[Roy L S]

Bachmann Europe are a business. The directors have a legal duty to make the business as profitable as possible in order to make a good return on investment for their shareholders. Their choice of models and any new tooling will be guided by this over-riding principle.

Anyway I think Bachmann have done plenty of good work for British N in recent quarters.

Hi Chris

I cannot disagree that overall in the last 12 - 18 months there has been a lot more by way of deliveries in N by Bachmann, but that has been after a very "thin" period indeed. Recent deliveries has to be fair included much asked for items like Mk1s in popular liveries and the unexpected surprise (for me anyway) of the BR maroon Thompsons.

There have been a number of sound upgrades (both steam and diesel) some of those "in the works" before the transition to quarterly announcements (5MT for one). Bachmann appear to be  leveraging their extensive current N tooling suite, and as far as steam is concerned, and if that is indeed the strategy there would be a number of models still to work through for the sound upgrade treatment (4MT Tank, Duchess and WD Austerity spring to mind). It is conceivable they could be doing this before any thought is given to anything new tool, in which case the 7 years since the last new tool model could easily turn into 10 years before the next. 

At the end of the day, it remains a fact that there hasn't been a completely new steam loco announced by Bachmann for seven years next month. I am disappointed that this is the case for a number of reasons, but me being disappointed won't change anything and there could be any number of reasons why it is the case.

What I can see is an increasingly crowded market for diesel/electric and modern models, the production of two 59s and 3 66's by different manufacturers is a clear indication of this. If Accurascale do indeed enter the Market in 2024, I would think (if a loco) we would be talking diesel, and just as in OO this would very likely target the existing Farish N 55 and 37, neither of which have yet had a sound upgrade.

In terms of what I would like to see (or think could be possible) then looking at recent OO releases where R&D is fresh, logically for steam it would be a V2 and 94xx, the latter was an ever-present in the Farish range and I was very surprised it did not feature as part of the 50th anniversary of Farish "celebrations" which sadly appeared to have a lower profile than Lord Lucan 

The fact that the ubiquitous Black five was not upgraded to loco-drive/sound tells me that anything tender-drive will not be, including the B1 and J39 (which I do have on pre-order but moved from imminent to no delivery date in the middle of this year, I am told because they weren't happy with it's running).

Additional possibilities would be the "Crab" a K3, or an Ivatt "Flying Pig" but I would think some pre-Grouping OO steam locos less likely to do well in N personally.

Roy

[njee20]

This seems borne out by bargain bucket prices for 90s so soon after release there is no indication that there is frantic demand (or possibly it is oversupply?) for such "modern" stuff or recent MU releases either and I say this with no satisfaction, I just hope the 158 does better.

With  Accurascale (I have been told) saying they will have an N announcement during 2024 (37 or 55?) the diesel/MI "space" is only likely to become more crowded, and I would have thought that knowing RevolutioN have no interest in steam, Rapido unlikely to dip a toe in the water for a good while yet, the steam area of the Market is a sensible place to be looking....

Roy

Where are 90s being punted out cheap? I see a bit of discounting, and I think Farish's approach was odd; releasing a second batch of the same liveries simply with different running numbers rather than doing any of the obvious additional liveries.

I never pre-order stuff generally unless there's a good reason to, like with Revolution and the price incentive. I'll be picking up a new Dapol 68 in NTS green when they come out, and maybe a pair of Avanti voyagers when they get released, but we'll see. I know some OO gauge models sell out on pre-order, but I've never seen that in N, so don't really see much point in pre-ordering frankly.

[Railwaygun]

Fine if you're in a position to be physically capable of such work.
Some of us have to rely on RTR, Bob

I'm not physically capable of anything right now. I've had an awful virus for 2 weeks.
Just as the Holidays were starting! Typical!

A nasty case of Talobita virus I suspect






( There's A Lot Of It About )

[Dalek]

Are there few models because the market is not there or do people shy away because there are too few RTR models?

The pre ordering isn't helping, new models come in expensive waves instead of ordering as you can afford it.

Craig

[njee20]

Fine if you're in a position to be physically capable of such work.
Some of us have to rely on RTR, Bob

I'm not physically capable of anything right now. I've had an awful virus for 2 weeks.
Just as the Holidays were starting! Typical!

A nasty case of Talobita virus I suspect

( There's A Lot Of It About )

That acronym doesn't even work... it would be taloia?

Are there few models because the market is not there or do people shy away because there are too few RTR models?

The pre ordering isn't helping, new models come in expensive waves instead of ordering as you can afford it.

Ultimately that's what the market asked for, people complain about long gestation periods.