Bachmann Europe have announced a change to their new product announcements and produced a new catalogue encompassing all their British Outline brands / scales including: Branchline, Graham Farish, Narrow Gauge, Scenecraft and other complimentary products; called “The Combined Volume” a term which I am sure will be familiar to those who were trainspotters in their younger days.
This new Combined Volume illustrates ongoing items that are available to purchase, or have been included within previous catalogues for delivery at a future date. It does not include any new re-liveries (announced today) or new tooling products.
We have come to expect new tooling announcements from a number of manufacturers during the first couple of months of each year with some having been criticised in the past for the length of time between announcements and the products being released. Some of you might have been expecting a post regarding new product tooling announcements today.
Bachmann’s Managing Director; David Haarhaus explains about their ‘new era’:
“In response to customer and consumer feedback, we have taken steps to reduce the lead time between the announcement and release of new products. Working with our colleagues at Kadar, real progress has been made in the latter half of 2019 to release many of the outstanding items announced several years ago. Last year 13 new tooling products were released, plus more that 200 re-liveried or modified models.”
David continued that in appreciating the support of and benefits to members of their Collectors Club:
“Each issue of the club’s Bachmann Times magazine will feature a new product brochure, highlighting completely new items to be released during the following three months. New tooling announcements will no longer be illustrated by black and white photographs of the original prototype, replaced instead by pictures of our actual models.”
New livery items
As Bachmann continue to deliver the models previously announced it does mean that fewer items and no new tooling announcements are being being made at this moment in time, but that this will clear the path for new models to be revealed later in the year. However the SR related new 00 livery items, out of a total of 20, announced today and due to arrive this spring, within the next three months, are as follows:
- 31-464A – ex SECR C Class 0-6-0 No. 1573 in post 1931 SR Lined Black livery
- 39-600A – SECR 60ft Birdcage Brake Composite Lavatory No. 1157, Set 143 in SECR Dark Lake livery
- 39-610A – SECR 60ft Birdcage Composite Lavatory No. 1150, Set 143 in SECR Dark Lake livery
- 39-620A – SECR 60ft Birdcage Brake Third No. 1164, Set 143 in SECR Dark Lake livery,
Also announced within the Scenecraft range are the suite of Bluebell buildings in either Crimson and Cream or Green and Cream including: Booking office, station canopy, Waiting room and toilet, and office and store room.
Work in Progress Update
A total of 30 previously announced models are confirmed as being released this spring, however by way of an update of items with a Southern / Southern Region flavour I advise as follows:
Branchine 00 Gauge
- Bulleid 64ft Coaches – in the drawing office prior to tooling
- Class 410 (4BEP) EMU – preparing livery artwork
- Class 414 – (2HAP) EMU – now in production
- 31-520 Class 159 3 card DMU 159013 in BR Network South East (revised) due this spring
Graham Farish N Gauge
- Class 450 EMU – at Engineering Sample stage
- Class 319 EMU – awaiting livery samples
The full details of other new, non SR related, livery announcements can be found on the Bachmann website or downloaded here
Does today now mean they there will be no new tooling announcements until the next quarter, I’m slightly confused?
Essentially that is correct, no new tooling announcement until the next quarter at the easily set, assuming that such tooling is sufficiently advanced for the new model to be released within that quarter.
It would seem then to be a bit of a retrograde step. Do 00 gauge modellers want to know about N gauge models and vice versa? And as for delaying any new tooling announcements, does that really help?? It seems to me that this is just a fudge to avoid criticism, and does nothing at all to speed up any process between design and production. I have criticised Bachmann in the past over the extreme delay in producing the Birdcage coaches, but it did have the effect of my not resorting to building a kit version, and thus allowing me to continue in other areas of my model railway.