Thomas Range

[Tigg]

Hello,

Which manufacturer (in onpinion) produces the most realistic (in looks etc. to the original) models in Thomas and Friends - Hornby or Bachmann?

Hope this isn't too controversial!

Many thanks,

 

[walkingthedog]

Controversia, Thomas, I don't think so.

 

Do you mean the Books or the TV program?

[Fazy]

Bachmann designed there locos from scratch for Thomas.  Where Hornby just used what ever they had laying around to produce a model. Also remember Bachmann rage is for the American market and so HO scale.

 

I don't know if the new Thomas range differs from the old at all but what I have seen on the web I doubt it. 

[LCDR]

 Lets face it, the models used in the TV series which were Gauge 1 or larger, are only very marginally similar to the ones originally envisaged by the Rev. W. Awdry and which the various artists drew to illustrate his books. The carriages especially are nothing like the carriages in the books.  Sadly most people nowadays have very little knowledge of the excellent stories in the books or the excellent illustrations, but are misled by the TV.

 

I did see his own layout operated by him at the Model Railway Club exhibition at Central Hall Westminster, and his models were sufficiently different from the latest offerings. His 'Thomas' WAS an E2 (Wills) with a face of course, so Hornby has got that about right, although the one in the film is too short, and Annie and Clarabell were bogie coaches. 'Toby' was a K's kit so Hornby need to try harder.  'Mavis' was an Airfix shunter with a motor bogie hidden by skirts and 'Daisy' was a Tri-ang diesel railcar single car with a cab grafted on the other end! I cannot remember his 'Percy' .

 

He was a really nice man, and was willing and not too busy to discuss the layout with a youthful admirer (me).

[Tigg]

Controversia, Thomas, I don't think so.

 

Do you mean the Books or the TV program?

I did mean the TV Programme mainly.

[walkingthedog]

It's really a case of compromise. Neither company is going to have tooling unique to a particular Thomas loco. It's easier for them to base a loco on an available chassis and stick a different top on it. Personally I'd prefer they looked like the locos and rolling stock in the books. Like Hollywood, when they make a film based on a book it usually bears very little resemblance to the book. 

[96RAF]

...Like Hollywood, when they make a film based on a book it usually bears very little resemblance to the book....

 

e.g. Tom Cruise (4 ft 6inches and 7 stone, soaking wet) playing Jack Reacher (ex US Army MP at 6 ft 14 inches and weighing 20 stone). Hardly realistic.

[LCDR]

 I have been a fan of Tolkien since the 1960s, and re-read the books annually. When Peter Jackson's films came out I was nervous that they would stray from the story, and sure enough they did, however not as much as I had feared, and in fact I found I did enjoy the films after all. I think 'The Two Towers' was a really good interpretation. Didn't like film 1 of the Hobbit but films 2 & 3 are actually great fun. So I find I re-watch these too, especially for the magnificent NZ scenery.

 

Apart from Ealing Comedies I don't watch feature film much. My favourites I suppose are 'The Battle of Britain', 'The Train', 'Blow-Up', and 'Here We go Round the Mulberry Bush', all for very different reasons. All have some problems with reality but are entertaining in their own particular way.

[Tony57]

 Hi

The Hornby 1990's made models was the most realistic, ( read Simons blog about meetings with Brit Allcroft) TV when Ringo Starr narrated the short stories.

I have the original format books, 6 stories in each book x 4 books total 24 strories though they are reprints. The original stories were based of real railway practices not the rubbish the yanks are putting out now. 

[Slornie]

Bachmann are definitely more accurate to the TV Series as their toolings have been specifically created to replicate the characters as-seen (although there are some aficionados who argue about the minutae of design accuracy).  Bachmann also have their proprietary "moving eyes" feature which I believe is used to make the characters appear more "life-like".

 

Hornby's offering on the other hand is somewhat more mixed.  By and large they have reused existing toolings to create characters which means some are near perfect facsimiles for their real life/original Railway Series basis while others are quite far removed from either TV Series or Railway Series.

 

For instance Hornby's Thomas used an existing tooling which happened to be exactly the right class of locomotive for both Railway Series and TV Series (although the latter is shorter than the real thing), while Percy was tooled from scratch to mirror how the the character appeared in the TV Series.

 

Then you have James, who (I believe) uses exactly the same model tooling as Awdry adopted on his own personal Sodor layout but which differs in appearance to the portrayal in both Railway Series and on TV, and Edward where the existing tooling Hornby used has been widely derided as completely wrong.

 

Of course, as readers of Simon's latest blog will know, Hornby's RailRoad A4 model was a spin-off from the accurate tooling they created for Spencer in the Thomas range so it's all swings and roundabouts!