Just when you thought coaches could not get dearer, or more beautiful

[leslie10646]

Fancy  your own DN&GR Boat Train?

Almost a hundred quid a pop - but just lovely?

From Bachmann - April / May 2025.

https://railsofsheffield.com/search?sort_by=relevance&q=lnwr arc roof&options[prefix]=last&filter.v.price.gte=0&filter.v.price.lte=170&filter.p.vendor=Bachmann&utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=campaign&utm_campaign=Bachmann Winter 2024 Announcements&utm_id=01JBXSXYMHW6R92BPS6EQA17JD&_kx=94TVSTwJKaw1u9s0VI6GSrlZad3yB7CBtaw17rSe4OjqnSFePN1n7xZw98DdvMB7.RXkVMS

 

Fourteen variants.LNWR, LMS and Midland and Great Northern Jjoint

With my love of "Tail vans", I can see the full brake being added to Portadown Jct!

[David Holman]

The paint job alone appears to be something of a masterpiece. Can't imagine how many hours that would take to do by hand.

[Flying Snail]

These caught my eye when I saw the pre-announcement. I've a growing interest in the LNWR and the race to the North. I'm sitting here looking at my Improved Precedent that these would suit to a tee .... but the prices!?

Dunno, it's a difficult one ... I want a few of them, but ... I wonder will these (admittedly beautiful) coaches sell well at that price point? Lots of decorative detail, but I don't see lighting listed ... could that put people off? Will people hold off in the hopes of price reductions? Should I roll the dice and hold off in the hope of getting them cheaper??

 

 

... or maybe should I get the Parkside kits and do some actual modelling? 

Edited November 8 by Flying Snail

[amdaley]

Beautiful coaches but the price Too rich for me I'm afraid unless I win the lotto.

[BosKonay]

£100 each and £110 for the 'fancy' ones and no lighting, etc at all. Ouch!

[Warbonnet]

Coaches are a difficult one to do when it comes to manufacturing. The factories feel that they are the work and assembly complexity of a locomotive, just without the motor, but know they cannot charge locomotive prices to assemble. 

I know from our own POV we have to fight tooth and nail to keep the prices on our coaches somewhat respectable. Still, we always welcome coaches that make ours look like bargains, and when you look at our Mark 2s, Park Royals, Mark 1 Suburbans for Accurascale etc you can see what value for money they really are.

Cheers!

Fran 

[Mol_PMB]

Regarding the lighting, it's probably fair to say that 100+ years ago the lighting would have been so dim as to be almost invisible from the outside, except in total darkness. So I don't think that's a major omission. 

Bachmann are often a bit on the pricey side, but perhaps they're unsure of the potential market size and are playing it safe for now. In this initial release they have omitted what's probably the most popular livery (fully lined LMS) so they should get a second slice of income when those are released in future.

Mol

[Galteemore]

It’s also worth bearing in mind that these are finished off in an incredibly complex livery at a standard that most of us could only dream of.

Give a Ratio LNW kit ( which costs at least £20 )to a professional builder and £100 will not take you very far. Totally agree with @Mike 84C about lighting, which in any case can be like sound and difficult to scale down convincingly. 

Edited November 8 by Galteemore

[Rob R]

At £100 a piece I would expect the footboard on the full brake to be fitted properly............

[BosKonay]

1 hour ago, Galteemore said:

It’s also worth bearing in mind that these are finished off in an incredibly complex livery at a standard that most of us could only dream of.

Give a Ratio LNW kit ( which costs at least £20 )to a professional builder and £100 will not take you very far. Totally agree with @Mike 84C about lighting, which in any case can be like sound and difficult to scale down convincingly. 

Good to know € 130 is acceptable for a coach with no lights

[Galteemore]

8 minutes ago, BosKonay said:

Good to know € 130 is acceptable for a coach with no lights

Sorry @BosKonay- I’m just used to 7mm where £100 gets you this…..  It’s not so much that it’s acceptable, as that if I wanted such a coach by any other means it would cost me a lot more…..

Edited November 8 by Galteemore

[leslie10646]

5 hours ago, David Holman said:

The paint job alone appears to be something of a masterpiece. Can't imagine how many hours that would take to do by hand.

David

I watched Richard McLachlan spend THREE days (say fifteen hours) just tinkering with paint detail on a set he's building for a friend. He continued throughout the Clontarf bash and they're still not complete.

LNWR livery takes some doing and these look worth the money -

All you youngsters have to do is give up the Sex Drugs and Rock 'n Roll for a while ......

[MOGUL]

They are lovely coaches, and the LNWR livery in particular is a cracker, but even at £85 a coach from rails,they are pricey. Plus they are only part way right for the DN&GR boat train stock, which I believe was non-gangway stock. Will be interesting to see how they sell at the RRPanyway, but I doubt we will be picking them up from the bargains section of a UK box shifter anytime soon unfortunately

Edited November 8 by MOGUL

[irishrailways52]

6 hours ago, BosKonay said:

Good to know € 130 is acceptable for a coach with no lights

don't get any ideas

[David Holman]

Can only agree with Warbonnet on the complexity of coach building. Mass production presumably brings some economies, but trying building one of those coaches yourself, even from a kit, and it is going to take 30-40 hours minimum - even before that paint job. At minimum wage rates that is pushing £500...

 However, it seems that 4mm scale modellers are fast approaching the time when a loco and six coaches is going to exceed four figures. Not sure there is an easy answer to that as quality is never cheap, be it in terms of time or money.

[jhb171achill]

This would explain the almost impossibility of finding someone with the skills, willingness and availability to make up brass kits.

I’ve a few, but my eyesight and nimbleness aren’t what they were. I wish I’d never bought them……!

[minister_for_hardship]

On 8/11/2024 at 12:15 PM, leslie10646 said:

 

All you youngsters have to do is give up the Sex Drugs and Rock 'n Roll for a while ......

Sorry, no deal.