Bachmann Range for 2013

Bachmann Range for 2013

Today Bachmann released their new catalogue, it shows all the engines for this year including some new faces coupled with plenty of familiar ones. As well as the much anticipated Duck we also see the Iron Works duo diesels; 'Arry and Bert. Further more Bachmann have given mention of Thomas with sounds! So let's take a look.

This years catalogue features Bachmanns new range of Chuggington engines:

"Traintastic Chuggington™ is pulling into Bachmann! Based on the popular TV series Chuggington™ that airs weekdays on Disney Channel’s Disney Junior programming block for kids and their families, and daily on the new 24-hour Disney Junior basic cable and satellite channel, HO Scale Chuggington electric Locomotives, Rolling Stock, and Accessories are arriving in 2013! Join your favourite “trainees” —Brewster, Wilson, and Koko— as they ride the rails pulling Chuggington cars that include a Box Car, Low-Sided Gondola, Flat Car, two Hopper Cars, and a Passenger Car. Vee, the depot dispatcher, will be there to keep all the Chuggers on schedulee."

But don't worry Thomas fans, we get a mention, surprisingly no mention of the new Duck in there; but it's not all bad!

"This year, Thomas & Friends™ 

fans can look forward to Iron ‘Arry, Iron Bert, Jeremy, and 

Troublesome Truck #4 as well as the new Thomas’ Christmas Express set in HO scale and Toby the Tram Engine and new rolling stock in Large Scale."

We will start with the sounds Thomas:

"Now you can hear Thomas’ steam sounds! With an analog sound system including steam chuffs, periodic whistle, and steam blow-down upon stopping, this sound-equipped Thomas brings to life the sights and sounds of the Island of Sodor."

He is set to retail at $99 which is $38 more expensive than the basic Thomas, but will it be worth it? He runs on normal DC current and the sounds activate according to the speed of Thomas, this should help make the sounds more realistic. However many are always a little wary of sound chips, we will have to wait and see. Some can be good but plenty of them aren't great! Thomas is likely to cost between £70 and £75 when he arrives in the UK. With thanks to TheDieselWorks for reminding us to mention the sounds Thomas.

Jeremy seems a bit of an odd choice to me, Jeremy the plane that only appeared in six episodes (of which he only spoke in one!) and a special. Toby however seems like a good choice, it would be nice to see him in HO, hopefully his faithful coach Henrietta will make it to HO as well.

Most interestingly it features 'Arry and Bert, although sadly they are just CGI stock images at the moment, but that is something to look forward to. Also it is good to see that a few minor modifications have been made to Duck. 

Although the image above is blurry you can see that Duck now has a grey (sadly not white) running plate, which as we all know really does make a difference! Also that bit of black on top of his safety valve has been removed. Bachmann must have been reading the viewers responses! It is really good to see a little more progress on Duck. Fingers crossed he will be released at the end of this month as planned.

Click here to view the online catalogue for yourself!