Hi,

Just saw this on RMWEB.

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/165257-bachmann-announce-class-69-in-oo-and-n/

This is a big deal for me as I think I may the first person to have posted this news on the forum 

John P

She does look pretty striking in her full livery.

Maybe never being a fan of the 56 isnt helping, I get the idea behind this conversion and its obviously a cheaper route to a class 66 then buying a class 66 but she doesnt half look like a dated loco doesn't she???

I'm now safely tucked up behind my parapet for all the flak from Grid fans

It was exploiting a loophole rather than saving money. They were no longer allowed to buy 66s, due to their not meeting current emissions regs, so they bought some spare 66 engines and stuffed them into 56s!

I don't really like them. I do like 56s, but somehow these look wrong. I quite like the GBRF livery, but not with the flags on the side or the awful 'speed whiskers' on the front.

Quote from: njee20 on June 14, 2021, 10:25:43 PM
.. the awful 'speed whiskers' on the front.

How did I miss them?! Seriousy, I had to go back and look again before I noticed them. It is late though.

Interesting that Class 66's don't meet current emissions rules but their engine's do ?.

NGM

Quote from: N_GaugeModeller on June 15, 2021, 07:35:08 AM
Interesting that Class 66's don't meet current emissions rules but their engine's do ?.

NGM

The engines don't meet the emissions limits for a new loco, but are an upgrade and improvement on the original equipment in the 56...

Quote from: N_GaugeModeller on June 15, 2021, 07:35:08 AM
Interesting that Class 66's don't meet current emissions rules but their engine's do ?.

NGM

Yep, as PLD said, it's more nuanced than that. Article about it here.

It's just a class 47 on steroids

The obvious question here is, with the chassis and commonality of parts, will this mean a competitor 56 will appear next to Dapol's model?

Cheers,
Alan

Quote from: jpendle on June 14, 2021, 10:08:27 PM
Hi,

Just saw this on RMWEB.

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/165257-bachmann-announce-class-69-in-oo-and-n/

This is a big deal for me as I think I may the first person to have posted this news on the forum 

John P

Bachmann do send me the announcements as well, but they always send them on the day that they're going out.  As I work full time, it means that other forums get the news out there quicker.....  Thanks for showing it though. 

A bit underwhelmed by the announcement I'm afraid, not one for me.

I am though curious to understand whether this loco is one to be one of the "announced during the quarter" models that is a matter of months away or if it is as yet a twinkle in Bachmann's eye that will arrive after I retire...

Roy

Quote from: Dr Al on June 15, 2021, 09:59:36 AM
The obvious question here is, with the chassis and commonality of parts, will this mean a competitor 56 will appear next to Dapol's model?

Cheers,
Alan

Obviously the chassis is common (mechanically speaking), and the bogies, but that's basically it. The body is -to all intents and purposes from a modelling perspective - new, so I'd be surprised to see a 56. I'm not sure the market has room for two 56s, given the Dapol model is good. It's an odd class given so many intra-class variations. Clearly Dapol will get their recently announced batch out before Farish manage to do anything, so I'd have thought that would be a huge waste of effort.

Quote from: Roy L S on June 15, 2021, 03:20:08 PM
A bit underwhelmed by the announcement I'm afraid, not one for me.

I am though curious to understand whether this loco is one to be one of the "announced during the quarter" models that is a matter of months away or if it is as yet a twinkle in Bachmann's eye that will arrive after I retire...

As per the press release, it's "out of cycle" and they've just tied the announcement to the launch of the real thing. Given it says they'll appear in the catalogues "in due course" I suspect it's a couple of years away.

Quote from: njee20 on June 15, 2021, 03:40:45 PM

Quote from: Dr Al on June 15, 2021, 09:59:36 AM
The obvious question here is, with the chassis and commonality of parts, will this mean a competitor 56 will appear next to Dapol's model?

Cheers,
Alan

I'd be surprised to see a 56. I'm not sure the market has room for two 56s, given the Dapol model is good. It's an odd class given so many intra-class variations. Clearly Dapol will get their recently announced batch out before Farish manage to do anything, so I'd have thought that would be a huge waste of effort.

I'm not so sure it won't lead to another 56, it might do.....

Let's be frank here the current Farish 56 is pants in all aspects, it's just a 47 with the intake filed off. The Dapol one is better, but still not quite there however it is fairly cheap when compared to equivalent Bachmann/Farish locos and for the price it is a good compromise. And we are all quite aware that if Bachmann/Farish do produce a new 56 it ain't going to be cheap, it will be more expensive than the Dapol version but as long as it's more accurate than the Dapol version will it be worth the extra cost??? That's something that only time will tell.

Also please remember this is all mere speculation and possible adding 2 & 2 together and making 5.

Oh and I'll not be buying a 69, not my era although I do like the livery.........on 69002 



Regards

Neal.

I don't profess to be an expert on the class, but is the Dapol one that bad? I thought it was a good model. Certainly not one that is crying out for improvement IMO, particularly with a new batch just announced and therefore demand sated.

The old Farish 56 is dismal, but I do wonder if it's more likely they're doing things the other way around and they'll re-use some elements of the 56 as a starting point (the bogies were never that bad - and could be a decent starting point), rather than the other way around.

Certainly the 56 is a very long way down the list of locos I'd recommend to Farish, for what little that's worth.

Quote from: njee20 on June 15, 2021, 06:04:55 PM
I don't profess to be an expert on the class, but is the Dapol one that bad? I thought it was a good model. Certainly not one that is crying out for improvement IMO, particularly with a new batch just announced and therefore demand sated.

It's now a generation back from the forefront - Dapol themselves have surpassed it with their own 50 (certainly in terms of mechanicals and  DCC capability, sound fit, cab lights, and more broadly a superior drive).

Given Farish's current diesels being sound ready, coreless motor drive, I suspect the 69 will put the Dapol 56 in the shade - it's by no means a bad model, but times move ever onwards.

Given they'll tool all the chassis gubbins (not so much of which will be common to other models) it seems a no brainer to go the full way and add a 56 body into the tooling suite to stretch what they can get out of it all. But then who knows - we've seen very odd decisions in the past.

Cheers,
Alan