Bachmann Branchline
Bachmann Branchline is an English 00 gauge model railway manufacturer. It is a brand name of Bachmann Industries used for British outline 00 scale model railways.
Bachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader had previously produced models for Palitoy under the 'Mainline' brand. Palitoy required its manufacturers to produce and retain ownership of the toolings and Kader had used the toolings and added new ones for models commissioned by Replica Railways following the demise of Mainline.
Kader formed Bachmann Industries Europe in 1989 with their main UK headquarters in Moat Way, Barwell, and the following year launched the Bachmann Branchline range for the British market with the moulds that had previously been used for Mainline and Replica. From this starting point Bachmann has developed the range further and now produce a large range of models competing in particular with Hornby.
In 2000 Bachmann Branchline bought Graham Farish, an N gauge manufacturer, and since then many of their models have been made available in both gauges.
Items
Bachmann are known for their consistent quality of model trains [citation needed]. Many of their trains include NEM pockets, making it possible to replace standard tension lock coupling with close couplings such as Kadees.
Models produced
The following models have been produced, or announced by Bachmann Branchlines:
Diesel locomotives
| Class | Liveries | Notes[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 03 "Flowerpot" | BR Plain Green, BR Green & Wasp Stripes, BR Blue | Special Edition models in WAGN and NSE livery. DCC Ready (6 Pin) |
| 04 | BR Black, BR Green, BR Blue | |
| 08 "Gronk" | BR Black, BR Green, Longmoor Military Railway Blue, BR Blue, EWS, Freightliner, First Great Western (limited edition of 512) | Later models Digital Command Control (DCC) ready. |
| 20 "Chopper" | BR Green, BR Blue, Waterman Railways (collectors club limited edition).GBRF | DCC Sound version available |
| 24 "Rat" | BR Green, BR Blue | DCC ready. DCC Sound version available. 2008 version features directional lighting and 21 pin DCC socket. |
| 25 "Rat" | BR Green, BR Two Tone Green, BR Blue | DCC ready. 2008 version features directional lighting and 21 pin DCC socket. DCC Sound version planned for release early 2009. |
| 37 "Tractor" | BR Blue Large Logo, BR Green (collectors club limited edition), Civil Engineers, Coal Sector, Intercity Mainline, Trans-Rail, EWS, Direct Rail Services (commissioned limited editions), DB Schenker (limited edition of 504). | New revised version released summer 2007; all versions now DCC ready. First DCC Sound versions released spring 2008 as "Coed Bach" in Coal sector livery and "Viking" in BR Large Logo Blue. |
| 40 "Whistler" | BR Green, BR Blue | |
| 42 "Warship" | BR Maroon, BR Blue | Old, split chassis model, inherited from the former Mainline range. Lights added 2009. |
| 44 "Peak" | BR Green | |
| 45 "Peak" | BR Green, BR Blue With White Roof | |
| 46 "Peak" | BR Green | No longer produced |
| 47 | Two Tone Green, BR Blue, Intercity Swallow - Windsor Castle (limited edition of 500), BR Great Western 150 Green - G J Churchward (limited edition), First Great Western Heritage two-tone Green - Abertawe Landore (limited edition) | Released July/August 2007 - DCC Sound version available |
| 55 "Deltic" | BR Two Tone Green, BR Blue | DCC Sound version available |
| 57 "Body Snatcher" | Freightliner, First Great Western, Virgin, Porterbrook (collectors club limited edition), Direct Rail Services, West Coast Railways (Model Rail limited edition), Arriva Trains Wales.Network Rail | DCC ready. DCC Sound version scheduled for 2011. |
| 66 "Shed" | EWS, Direct Rail Services, Freightliner, GBRf, Stobart Rail, DB Schenker, Fastline (limited edition of 504). | DCC Sound and DCC onboard versions available, others DCC ready (recent models are fitted with a 21-pin socket rather than the 8-pin one found in earlier models). 66/9 variant released in Direct Rail Services and Freightliner liveries. |
| 70 "PowerHaul" | Freightliner PowerHaul | DCC ready, fitted with a 21-pin socket. Expected early 2011. |
Electric locomotives
| Class | Liveries | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 85 "AL 5" | BR Electric Blue With White Roof, BR Blue | DCC ready, fitted with a 21-pin socket. |
Diesel multiple units
| Class | Liveries | Notes[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 105 | BR Green with Speed Whiskers, BR Green Yellow Warning Panels, BR Blue/Grey | Announced 2008, released Autumn 2010. DCC Ready (8 pin socket, two decoders required). |
| 108 | BR Green with Speed Whiskers, BR Green Yellow Warning Panels, BR Blue/Grey, BR Blue (limited edition of 504), Network SouthEast, BR Greater Manchester PTE White/Blue, Strathclyde PTE Orange (limited edition of 510) | DCC Ready (8 pin socket, two decoders required). Two and three car variants available. |
| 150 - "Sprinter" | First Northwestern, Centro, Arriva Trains Wales, Regional Railways, Provincial 'Sprinter' (bundled only with Dynamis Starter Set), Merseyrail (limited edition of 504), Silverlink (Bachmann Collectors Club limited edition of 504), Provincial revised livery (limited edition of 504), ScotRail 'swoosh' (limited edition of 500). | Released around May 2009. DCC ready (21 pin socket, one decoder required). |
| 158 - "Express Sprinter" | Regional Railways, Regional Railways EXPRESS, West Yorkshire PTE, Alphaline Wales & West, Central Trains, First North Western, Northern Spirit, Alphaline Wessex Trains, ScotRail, Northern Rail, First TransPennine Express, First ScotRail former ScotRail 'swoosh' livery, First ScotRail 'Barbie' livery (limited edition of 504, full production version due 2009), Arriva Trains Wales, Iarnród Éireann as an Irish Rail Class 2700 DMU (exclusive to train set) | Two and Three car units available |
| 159 - "South Western Turbo" | Network SouthEast, Stagecoach South West Trains NSE variant, South West Trains | Very limited availability. |
| 166 - "Network Express Turbo" | Network SouthEast, Thames Trains, First Great Western Link, First Great Western' 2006 'neon' | |
| 168 - "Clubman" | Chiltern Railways | Utilises the Class 170 tooling. No alterations have been made to portray the differences between a Class 170 and 168. |
| 170 - "Turbostar" | Central Trains, Midland Mainline, South West Trains, ScotRail, First ScotRail, One, CrossCountry, London Midland, ScotRail Saltire | Two and three car units available. The models cab fronts are based on original style Turbostars with smaller light clusters. A TransPennine Express model was advertised in the 2008 range and was to have been the first 170 to come with a DCC chip pre-fitted, however it has been dropped from the range. |
| 171 - "Turbostar" | Southern (2 x limited editions of 504) | Utilises the Class 170 tooling. Second weathered limited edition was advertised as a 170 portraying the unit before it was reclassified to class 171 but was delivered as 171724. No alterations have been made to portray the differences between a Class 170 and 171 except the side destinations displays. This was exclusive to Modelzone. |
| 220 - "Voyager" | Virgin Trains, CrossCountry | |
| 221 - "Super Voyager" | Virgin Trains, CrossCountry | Tilting train. |
| MPV | Railtrack, Network Rail | Announced 2008, released 2011. DCC on board and DCC Ready (21 pin socket, one decoder required). |
| 251/261 - "Blue Pullman" | Midland Pullman | Announced mid-2010. DCC on board. |
| British Rail Derby Lightweight | BR Green with Speed Whiskers, BR Green with Yellow Warning Panels, BR Blue. | Announced 2010, released November 2011. DCC Ready (8 pin socket, two decoders required). |
Electric multiple units
| Class | Liveries | Notes[1] |
|---|---|---|
| 350 "Desiro" | Silverlink unbranded blue/grey (Apollo), London Midland | Announced at 2010 Model Rail Scotland; officially announced for 2010. Unbranded blue/grey model released November 2011. DCC Ready (21-pin socket). London Midland models delayed by half a year. |
| 411 "4-CEP" | BR Green, BR Green with yellow warning panels, BR Blue/Grey | Announced at 2006 Bachmann trade show; officially announced for 2007; released early December 2009. DCC Ready (21 pin socket, one decoder required). Model is of the units in their unrefurbished form. |
| 416 "2-EPB" | BR Green, BR Green with yellow warning panels, BR Blue/Grey | Announced at 2009 Warley show; officially announced for 2009; released 2011. DCC Ready (21 pin socket, one decoder required. |
Steam Locomotives
| Class | Liveries | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Midland Railway 1377 Class | BR Black, LMS Black | DCC Ready | |
| LMS Fairburn 2-6-4T | BR Black, LMS Black, Caledonian Railway Blue | DCC Ready | |
| LB&SCR E4 Class | LBSCR Brown, SR Green and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| GWR 9400 Class | BR Black and GWR Green | DCC Ready | |
| LB&SCR H2 class | SR Green and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| GWR 6400 Class | GWR Green, BR Black and BR Green | DCC Ready | |
| LMS Stanier Mogul | LMS Black and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| LNER Class D11 | GCR Green, LNER Green, LNER Black and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| LNER Class O4 GWR 3000 Class | GCR Black, LNER Black, BR Black and GWR Green | DCC Ready | |
| S&DJR Class 7F | SDJR Blue and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| Midland Railway 3835 Class | LMS Black and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| GWR 5700 Class | GWR Green, London Transport Maroon, GGMSWR Brown and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| Midland Railway 1000 Class | MR Maroon, LMS Black and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| SR USA Class | USATC Black, SR Black, BR Black, Longmoor Military Railway Blue, National Coal Board Black, Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Golden Brown and BR Green. | Model Rail Exclusive | DCC Ready |
| GWR 3700 Class | GWR Green | Limited Edition of 3440 City of Truro. | DCC Ready |
| GWR 4900 Class | GWR Green, BR Green/Black | DCC Ready | |
| GWR Dukedog Class | GWR Green and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| GWR 2251 Class | GWR Green, BR Green/Black | DCC Ready. Originally a Mainline model. Revised version introduced with a new chassis design and improved body tooling. | |
| LMS Jubilee Class | BR Green, LMS Maroon | DCC Sound version available | DCC Ready, On Board |
| LMS Parallel Boiler Scot | BR Green, LMS Maroon | See LMS Royal Scot Class | |
| L&YR Class 5 | L&YR Black, LMS Maroon, LMS Black and BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| LNWR Webb Coal Tank | LNWR Black, LMS Black, BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| LNWR Class G2 | BR Black, LMS Black | DCC Ready, On Board | |
| LMS Rebuilt Royal Scot Class | BR Green, LMS Maroon | DCC Ready, On Board | |
| LMS Patriot Class | BR Green, LMS Maroon | DCC Ready, On Board | |
| LMS Hughes Crab | BR Black, LMS Maroon | DCC Ready | |
| LMS Fowler Class 3F | BR Black | DCC On Board | |
| Midland Railway Johnson 0-6-0 | BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-0 | BR Green, BR Black, LMS Black | DCC Ready | |
| LMS Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T | BR Black, LMS Black, BR Maroon | DCC Ready | |
| LMS Ivatt Class 4 4-6-0 | BR Black, LMS | DCC Ready | |
| LNER Class V2 | BR Black, BR Green, LNER Green | "Green Arrow" in LNER Doncaster Green - Part of National Collection. | |
| LNER Class V1/V3 | BR Black, BR Apple Green, LNER Green, LNER Black | ||
| LNER Thompson Class B1 | BR Black, LNER Green, LNER Black | ||
| LNER J72 Tank (NER Class E1) | BR Black, LNER Green | ||
| LNER Class J39 | BR Black, LNER Black | ||
| LNER Class A4 | BR Blue, LNER, BR Green | 60019 "Bittern" | Body inherited from Brish Trix/Lilliput when Kader acquired the Lilliput range[1]. Hornby produces competitive models. |
| LNER Class K3 | BR Black, LNER Black, LNER Green | See GNR Class H4 | DCC Ready |
| LNER Peppercorn Class A1 | BR Apple Green, BR Blue, BR Brunswick Green, LNER Green | 60163 "Tornado" released in BR Apple Green 2009/2010 | DCC Ready |
| BR WD Austerity 2-8-0 | Br Black | ||
| BR Standard Class 4 2-6-4T | BR Black | DCC Ready, On Board | |
| BR Standard Class 9F | BR Black | DCC Ready | |
| BR Standard Class 4 2-6-0 | BR Black | DCC Ready, On Board | |
| BR Standard Class 5MT | BR Black, BR Green | DCC Ready | |
| BR Standard Class 3 2-6-2T | BR Black, BR Green | DCC Ready. Released late 2009/2010 | |
| GNR Class C1 (large boiler) | GNR Green, LNER Green and BR Black | National Railway Museum Exclusive | DCC Ready |
OO9 Gauge Steam Locomotives
| Class | Liveries | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Baldwin Class 10-12-D | ROD Black, Welsh Highland Railway Black, Ashover Light Railway Crimson and Ashover Light Railway Black | DCC Ready |
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Rivals
- Hornby Railways - Bachmann and Hornby are the two largest OO manufacturers
- Dapol - Produce wagons in OO
- Heljan - Produce a number of locomotives and wagons
- Vi Trains - Recently started producing OO locomotives
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References
[1] See articles in 'Model Railway Enthusiast', 1999-2000.