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  • You CAN use the dummy couplings,on model american rolling stock.

  • Ok, it was just a theory till just now (watched a bunch of the other videos first), but now I'm almost certain that the uploader watches Top Gear, lol

  • @douggoud - yes - yes definitely!

  • @simierski Thats good, every show could use a bit of Top gear in it, lol, it's almost like ketchup, makes almost anything better.

  • not really i just hate hornby

  • i hate great britain and hornby

  • @duckandscruffy53 Great Britain and Hornby hate you too!

  • copied Britains talent shows, Dancing ice celetbrity singing xfactor or wotever the fcUkin things called. Copied Top Gear, the Office....etc...now they wanna copy Only fools and horses. Can the yanks do anythin for themselves? cant even win a war without the Brits helping them. They even tryin to copy Thomas the Tank Engine. Sad bastards.

  • @Finchaviary - I'm British...?!

  • @simierski I was talking to u??

  • How can you lie about an opinion.

  • Just because your thomas is stronger and faster doesn't mean it is better. The hornby thomas is dumb the bachmann is better.It's face is more realistic.The hornby face is not like the oringal thomas face i think the hornby thomas is lack of the thomas's shape,details,design,and color.

  • @traintalkers. Liar. The Hornby is MUCH BETTER!

  • @scotsman125 thomas bachmann is way better. the hornby is not like thomas the train it is not shaped like thomas. bachmann is way better

  • @traintalkers. Wrong. Hornby IS MUCH better than Bachmann Thomas.

  • Hornby is better :3

  • 0:06 Thomas the Hank Engine

  • @legowoo101 ITS 00:5

  • HORNBY FTW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Nice "Stig" you got there! haha. although it looks like he put on a little weight... lol

  • This video is a year old now...

  • ._. this videos is just about what He says. In my say the Bachmann is better. But i respect your opinion too.

  • errrmmm. right.

  • thomas the yank engine XD

  • Do you like the Hornby Thomas better than the Bachmann Thomas? Yeah, I think you do. Because of all the bad stuff you said and shown in this video. :P) :D)

  • I cannot believe this series is nearly one year old! Well done Simon!

  • Personaly I prefer the Hornby Thomas.

    Depsite not having the Thomas shape like the bachmann one the Hornby one has

    a Coupling at either end and a nicer looking face. :) ;)

  • i love ur vids but can u tell me how u get all that stuff?

  • i like bachmann

  • I don't know witch one to chose

  • I just noticed the top gear reference after watching this video five times

    

  • i love your top gear refrence

  • what the hell bachmann thomas is way better 

  • This is an older model of the Hornby Thomas. The new version uses the Railroad chassis witch does not have traction tyres so has less pulling power.

  • @tiddles4x4 - about six months too late, I made a second video which, if you have the annotations on, you can go and watch and see I had found that out.

  • @simierski hornby is a poop bachmann is stilll better

  • @AATNO *facepalm*

  • @AATNO - *facepalm*

    Try again.

  • Comment removed

  • @AATNO i was thinking the exact same thing! bachmann thomas kicked ass and hornby cheated w/ the traction tires. Put those on the Bachmann model and do over.

  • i like the face on the hornby thomas face. i just got my hornby model of thomas today. even though that the hornby thomas is small when you get it,it looks so bigger than the bachmann thomas on camera

  • woo hoo hornby is way better

  • After spending tim0e with both, I much prefer the Bachmann model. I've fitted DCC to both and own the Hornby model. The mechanism Hornby use in Thomas, Toby & Percy models is really cheap and results gear noise and poor low speed running. The Bachmann mechanism is much better built, and the model is much quieter and happier at normal speeds.

    The blue is much closer with the Bachmann... if only that face was better looking. Nice vid

  • @TheBrainboxDuo Don't be so ridiculous! This is a rather professional review series. Not a 11 year old's stupid mess about! Please post stupid comments to someone else!

  • The hand haha its that the sticks brother

  • mack owen abut Bach mannut gordon and hornby gordon

  • i vote for bachmann thomas

  • In an ironic twist of fate, Hornby's Thomas was the first I laid eye on when I was a child. It was up in New Hampshire at Hartmann's Model Railway Museum. They still have them running in their layout today. I guess ever since I first saw the model I've wanted a Hornby Thomas. :)

  • The US Thomas is most likley made in Japan anyway. I love my homeland, but we don't make any quality stuff anymore. Sad.

  • it seems so long ago now

  • i keep telling my dad that my bachmann thomas has a weird face but he says its extremely accurate XD i keep telling him to buy me a hornby thomas so we could do a face switch.

  • which train would u recomend

  • I vote for Hornby. They make cute and real toys. Pause at 1:42 for the cuttest face.

  • 1:41 Alfred!

  • @TheWaluigiking ...really? Just because it's a B12 you automatically assume "Alfred?" It's clearly just a B12, they're not all "evil," just Alfred was, and the B12 I play in The Railways of Britain is just spiteful.

    I believe that the B12 in question is Stephen, the wise engine from Simon's British Railway Series, which has been around much longer than Alfred and Sodor Dark Times, mind you. Please try and keep this in mind. This happens too often now, and shows how SDT has affected the fanbase.

  • @SodorProductionsII ok sorry

  • Can you give Bachmann thomas tractiontires that would be awsome

  • You Should Do A Review On The 0-4-0 Hornby Thomas

  • This is a fantastic video, showing the ups and downs of both models. I personaly own the hornby model for one simple reason - it's a british show, so why should I be getting an american model LOL! As of before though great video

  • @Tardistraveller600 well said, British show which is massive in the USA, not many British shows pull that little trick off!

  • @leokimvideo Absolutely. I recently saw your video about how your hornby thomas couldn't pull five coaches without traction tires. I found it interesting, because my 2006 model has the same problem. Hopefully i'll get round to buying a set of traction tyres to go on him at some point.

  • @leokimvideo What are you talking about? Half your "American TV shows" are our shows that you've taken and replaced the British people with American people.

  • @olliesewell - he's Australian for starters...!

  • i vote for bachmann

  • Why don't you do the thomas and friends version of the flying scotsman and do it against the orignial flying scotsman

    

  • Please may you do salty, Gordon and Henry next please!!!!!!

  • i got it

  • skies do desil next

  • What happened to the stig...oopps...I mean the Hatt?

  • Hi there simieski, my first ever YouTube post. I was wondering, there are a lot of comments saying that the 2 ranges, despite technically being to different scales, are visually compatible, is this the case? If I say were to have Hornby Thomas, Percy and James and Bachmann Bill, Ben, Toby and Edward, would they look like they were from different ranges or would they blend nicely together? Cheers in advance.

  • @IylanKano - I would say they (the hornby models) would look oversized. They are actually closer to each other's scales than you'd think, Hornby being 00 and Bachmann's range being between HO and 00, closer to double 00. Percy, maybe not, Thomas and James, yes definitely.

  • @simierski Thanks, I am looking at starting a set but am really unsure as to the best way to go. Being in the UK, Hornby seems the easiest to get hold of and I would imagine Bachmann sets will all run off US electricity connections? I'm more interested in the asthetics of the show than I am in how well they map to the trains they were designed from so from your reviews, it seems that Bachmann wins in that regard. Would you have any advice?

  • @IylanKano - try trainsontime for the bachmann models. Aesthetically? No question, a uniform look with the american models looks better. Performance wise, they are poor in comparison to the Hornby model.

  • @simierski Thanks for the advice, I will look into it. Actual track wise, is it easiest to get Hornby track and power?

  • @simierski how about a mavis versus mavis review, i saw mavis was on both sites

  • @simierski i actually like bachman cause they look better but hornby is stronger only cause

    its more heavy

  • did you say thomas the tank engine vs thomas the yank engine?

  • Hornby

  • Just wondering, does the Hornby Thomas come with any detail parts?

  • LOL 0:05 Thomas the yank engine

  • why are you using hornby coaches? use coaches that hornby or bachman dont make so its not cheating because you are using your coaches not ours.the hornby train is very powerful but bachman just puts that thomas feeling while the hornby makes me feel like shit

  • @oldspice671 - I've already explained this several times. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using Hornby coaches. They're all roughly the same weight and cheap, which is the main thing, as it means I can use more of them...

  • @simierski

    lol why should it matter which company made the coaches? Its not like Hornby coaches give a power or speed boost when pulled by Hornby engines!

    I can kinda see where hes coming from though; Hornby rolling stock are made for Hornby models, and Bachmann rolling stock are made for Bachmann models.

    But the point is to see just what kind of weight each model can pull. And since they both pull the same coaches, its fair.

    Then again, Hornby cheats using its traction tires! lol j/k.

  • @UltramanCronos just to let you know the 2009 Hornby Thomas does not have traction tyres, so the cheating is over

    anyway why is it cheating?

  • @leokimvideo

    It was a joke, lol.

  • @UltramanCronos well I tend not to joke considering i spent a whole bunch of money on a model which does not perform as I can clearly se it doing in simierski's video

    there is now a non official reply from Hornby stating the traction tyres were removed to improve performance, seems there are tubers contacting the company and making sure they see my fail Hornby video

    Hornby better come up with a far better answer than that considering it's stated traction tyres are there to improve performance

  • @leokimvideo

    Well thats all fine and dandy, but the joke was referencing this video and how the Hornby model was able to pull more because of its traction tires (or tyres, or however you spell it, lol). And as your video showed, the loss of those traction tires greatly reduced the model's hauling ability. Though this makes me wonder. Your model was only comfortable with 500 grams, but the 1500 grams it struggled with wasnt distributed across several coaches but concentrated in one freight car.

  • @UltramanCronos there is one force of drag you are totally forgetting, in Simierski video the trains pull the line of coaches through a curve, and that equals lots of drag

    i have had this argument on my video, is there more drag if your car runs on 1 wheel or 10?

    i suspect the more wheels axles, other track effects will all add drag, pretty sure i show my freight car free wheeling and it felt easy to roll

    maybe I need to do a follow up video as there seem to be lots of tubers watching this

  • @UltramanCronos i will let simierski do the follow up to this, he knows all my data and details about my poor performing Thomas

    we are still yet to hear a official peep from Hornby on this, I have a feeling we will not hear a response on this consumer affairs topic, as it relates to quality control and customer information installed with a train, as it stands I have a model which is lacking what the paperwork details as something helps improve haulage performance

  • @leokimvideo - interesting discussion, the above. I now know the results of the new review, it will make for interesting viewing, and the weight to coach ratio will feature in the haulage test.

  • @oldspice671 that wouldn't be a fair test because then the load the engines pull wouldn't weigh the same amount. I don't think that Hornby or Bachmann rolling stock favour their own brands being inanimate objects and all...

  • you forgot the tug of war

  • I think you sound like Richard Hammond:)

  • i think that spoken annotation is coming from the wrong Thomas!

  • @leokimvideo - I think you're right! Will change that pronto. :)

  • .....biased lol

    

  • @CubaKid94 - yep! :P

    Although to be fair, I am producing a new review of these models. Some rather startling information has come to light RE the Hornby one. I don't think bias will save it if it performs badly next time...!

  • 100K in very short time, has to be a top performer, I wish my Hornby Thomas was he's lacking some vital gear!

  • I think that Bachmann is better, BUT!!! I'm not angry at your pick.

    I think that the Hornby Thomas is a ugly model, the only thing that saves it is front couplers,and the face.

  • @GatoradeMan3000 and the traction tyres which are missing on my 2009 Hornby Thomas!

  • @GatoradeMan3000. I hate the Bachmann model. No details but the worst of the Bachmann Thomas is the face.

  • where did ou get the bachman thomas and friends engines from

  • did you get bachmann thomas seperate

  • My Bachmann Thomas was made in 2002 from the Thomas and Annie and Clarabel set. This comment is for your Thomas vs Thomas rematch.

  • HAHA we call him the hat. Top gear for the win.

  • I have a Bachmann Thomas which is great but is there a way to purchase a Hornby Thomas with US currency?

  • @Sketchy2009Studios Yep. Try eBay. Some UK sellers may be able to ship worldwide.

  • I prefer Hornby, because I LOVE the British railway model trains, especially the Thomas and Friends range, despite flaws located on each model. After Edward, I think we should do Henry next.

  • At 0:04 you said "Thomas The Yank Engine". Did you Mean to Say That?

  • @SterMan8787 - yes. It is a reference to the fact it is American built. At the time, I honestly was not aware it was a derogatory term in the states :S One of my friends is American and didn't have a problem with the term.

  • at first i was like "hornby thomas cant be that much bigger than bach...WHOA CRAP ITS TITANIC VS SAILBOAT!!!"

  • it's quite ironic that the very first shot of the UK one looks like Tony Blair

  • i have one question, are you using hornby or bachmann track, by the way can you use a hornby power supply on bachmann track?

  • @crapboy89 - I am using a mixture of Bachmann, Hornby and Peco track. All controllers intended for HO/OO use are compatible with all types of track, bar perhaps the EZ Track from the Bachmann range.

  • simierski, you won't like this but the Hornby Thomas is crap as mine lacks traction tyres it fails to pull 5 coaches, it just wheel spins

    the controller supplied with the Thomas and Friends passenger and freight set is absolute crap, it's a fail unit. Considering how much this cost I am very disappointing with what was set up as a all in one train set.

    your video is misleading as I purchased the Hornby Thomas considering it's pulling potential which the most recent model can't perform.

  • @leokimvideo - ouch... :(

    But yeah, another comparison video is on the cards.

  • @simierski well the heat is on, my video about Hornby fail is up, and I am still looking for my traction tyres

  • @leokimvideo that is not misleading you got a bad one!

  • @YouOriginal i'm sorry to inform you this video does not indicate to the audience what Hornby are putting out in the market place today, I purchased Hornby only because of seeing it pull 1500 grams, it's now plainly obvious to me the Hornby Thjomas ( 2009 ) is more comfortable with 500 grams, I should have purchased Bachmann and gone for the looks ad Hornby have lost their performance, my video prove this

  • in the end it seems performance of these engines does not count as all the customers are keen to see is if the train looks like Thomas

    now translate that to the toy Take Along Thomas range and think just how much of a epic fail that is compared to the ERTL if looks are so important

    pretty sure Thomas fans are very eagle eyed when it comes to the look of the engines, now we wonder when Hit will wake up to this fact.

  • @leokimvideo - I agree with you entirely, however...

    The problem with the Hornby Thomas is that it is a product of the 1980s, and actually of the Reverend Awdry himself, who asked Hornby to redecorate their Billinton E2 (a model of the real locomotive prototype Thomas is based on) over a period of years in order for the character to actually be sold as an electric train. Cue Allcroft, who promptly made a license up, which Hornby took on, and they used their E2 accordingly.

  • @leokimvideo - ...however...it's very long in the tooth now, and to some extent needs a fresh look. Of course, this may all be complete tosh, given the new poster of the upcoming live action Thomas film, which features an actual Billinton E2 on its front - so the Hornby Thomas' looks may be relevant to the franchise in the future, after all...! That does not excuse, however, the change in performance of the chassis after reworking it. By, PM just sent via email, vis a vis the other points.

  • just been chatting to my local hobby store who have both Bachmann and Hornby Thomas stock side by side, here in Australia both brands are available.

    they report the Bachmann Thomas sells 5 to every Hornby Thomas 1. The only real edge is Hornby do better train sets and are much cheaper than the Bachmann sets. It is certainly interesting to see these on the shelves competing with each other.

    The Bachmann packaging also presents forward facing to the customer and is well presented.

  • all admit i like the bachmann thomas ( U.S.A!) cuz of its looks bit i will admit it is very weak when it comes to pulling but did you test its pushing? the most cars mine can pull was 6 with a james it can pull 11

  • You forgot the Tug-of-War

  • @Zaphodraptor - I didn't, who were they going to play against?!

  • @simierski Themselves?

  • @Zaphodraptor - but we know who's stronger anyway...!

  • @Zaphodraptor there will be a tug o war between the hornby with traction tyres and the new fail one which has no traction tyres

    i know already which one will be dragged away and i am not a happy camper for it

  • @thomastrainful - Edward VS Edward, 20th May.

  • sorry to open up a MASSIVE can of worms here, we all await a rematch of Thomas V Thomas

    if you want me to post my model over to you thats not a issue, as long as it boomerangs back to me!

    do Brits know how boomerangs work?

    anyway there is a Mad Bomber cap and Pez Thomas USB you have not claimed from winning the My Fav Thomas contest.

  • @leokimvideo - we are DEFINITELY on for a rematch of the Thomas models :)

    PM sent RE other points.

  • @leokimvideo - boomerangs, remember getting hit in the head by a plastic one while in Sydney many years ago...!!!

  • @thomastrainful - and a few of them have faces which don't match the television series models. This is fact, I don't do it to offend anyone, but the facts of the matter have to be said. End, thereof.

  • does it really matter which we buy? I think the American one's face looks alot better than the British one, So i would buy the american cause it looks fun, and real and is thomas that strong gordon could not even pull 11 coaches!

  • @coolguy123278 - absolutely, and full credit to you for your honesty. I never said the models weren't fun, after all ;) But I do look for accuracy, that's my rivet counting sadly!

  • maybe you could point out in your next review where to see the ID details of a model, as I am not a rivet counter I am feeling lost looking around the model

  • @leokimvideo - no problem, will do chap.

  • @thomastrainful - simply put, why? My opinion is not law.

  • hi simierski

    well here is a puzzle for you, i now have a hornby thomas and it does not have traction tyres, in fact it can't perform the same feats of strength ours can

    is hornby now using bachman parts, a little bird told me these trains come form the same factory in china, is this true?

    without traction tyres the hornby is not only abstract in looks but performs poorly

    sorry but my hornby Thomas has failed me

  • @leokimvideo - what date is yours chap? I have been asking around, and the dates seem to vary. Mine is dated 2008.

    I think I will have to make another review - the mystery of the missing traction tyres commences!

    Hornby and Bachmann were being made in the same factory, Sander Kan factory, but Hornby have changed suppliers (last year) - the wheelsets for the Hornby Thomas are shared by the Hornby Railroad 9F model - coincidence that the 9F doesn't have traction tyres either...?

  • @simierski the set my Thomas comes from is Thomas Passenger & Goods Train Set, it is marked as 2009 in white via the licence agreement, not sure if thats the date of make.

    I see in other comments via a google search there are others out there with a Thomas missing the traction tyres.

    Simierski this means you need to do a rematch with Bachmann, as I reported I can't get mine to pull the amazing performance yours did with traction tyres.

  • - I think we've cracked it somewhat, 2008 appears to be the last year for traction tyres. I will do a rematch with a newer thomas after the Edward review. I may even throw in a comparison to a railroad pannier tank too, a few people have been asking for that.

  • @simierski from the bit I read on some forums about Hornby and other models which are similar in design to Thomas it seems they also lack traction tyres. Have to say what I read about hornby was not good and it seems it's a brand which has lost it's way. maybe a better way to sum them up is thay are aiming for a particular market.

    the other striking aspect to the Thomas model is how light it is compared to all my other HO trains. Overall it has a strong sniff of toy to it.

  • @simierski whats interesting I do still have my hornby model traisn from when I was a kid, all made in Great Britain, all have traction tyres.

    whats weird here is it's cheaper to buy a Thomas if you purchase a complete train set, but i tell you the controller looks mighty cheap, it's not the hornby I remember as a kid, hello plastic fantastic.

    the plastic hubs and spokes of the thomas wheels did disappoint me, and the overall feel is what I term loose.

  • @leokimvideo - the plastic inserts to the wheels really irritate me, the colours never match that on the bodies. Even the top of the range models share this annoying design point. The controllers have been terrible for years now, I use a Bachmann EZ command module or my Dynamis instead.

  • @simierski the other annoying aspect to my Thomas is it's gearing. It has no low end speed. The only way I can simulate some slow speeds is to run a second train to suck some voltage. This strange gearing is also shared with the non Thomas models of a similar design in the Hornby range.

    Gotta say Simon if I was doing the review Hornby would have been marked down severely, the no traction tyres has me thinking maybe Bachmann is equal toHornby. The only plus I see with Hornby is no clown face

  • @leokimvideo - thats strange, mine has very good gearing. This will be one hell of a rematch I think. Normally the cheaper 0-4-0s and 0-6-0s have cheaper mechs, but my Hornby Thomas (2008, traction tyres) is a superb model. 

  • THE FACES AREN'T FUNNY FOR THE BACHMANN ENGINES. I'M OFFENDED. >:(

  • @SpencerandMurdoch - they're nothing like the faces on the TV series - I call 'em as I see 'em.

  • @SpencerandMurdoch lol, no need to get butthurt over your favorite toys.

    My gawd. I like Hornby. I'm American, but Bachmann sucks at the Thomas range.

  • @BhanuHabbo - thing is, the models aren't too bad for what they are intended for. It is just frustrating to see mistakes (see the Percy review) which should be easily avoided.

  • @simierski oh true. Percy is somewhat of a letdown. But without the face and some black paint, you could turn it into a smartish looking BR tank engine for shunting. :3

  • oddly enough, i bought my Hornby Thomas (mind you its copyright date is 2 years old) and surprisingly he has no traction tyres on his center wheel set

  • @dstu09 - it's interesting, I may have to invest in another Thomas and re-do this video from scratch, many people have PM'd me to say the traction tyres are no longer present. My model is 2008 so it may well have been the last year of traction tyres, perhaps!

  • @simierski yea it may well have been because my model is 2009 so that may have been the first year that they stopped with the traction tyres

  • @dstu09 - it looks like it is - asked around and the 2008 thomas may have been the last one with traction tyres.

  • @Camnukem - that's really not the case, on so many levels...have a look at the Sodor Island Fansite, it gives the history of the series in great detail, 1985-present. I do agree the storylines in the modern interpretation are, for want of a better word, "terrible".

  • is there anyway to make bachmann thomas faster or stronger? also what kind of paint was used on thehornby thomas face?

  • dude the bachmann thomas face is based on the cartoon picture that you can see on many thomas and friends toy packages. I think that the bachmann thomas' shape and face seem to suit the thomas character better which is a small cheeky tank engine. If bachmann was trying to appeal to kids with this model then they probably achieved that because i think that their model is more tv series acurate and most kids got to know thomas through tv. I know i did

  • @TrackMaster555 - bit of a contradiction, more TV series accurate yet gets the face wrong? The face is the first thing kids look at when they think of these characters.

  • :l

  • i like the way you talk :)

  • @ftsujulover - very kind of you :) I personally think I squeak and squeal too much!

  • Sorry, what i meant was "It Sucks" is an Americain thing to say!

  • Bachmann Thomas. Why You Can By The Bachmann Thomas On Ebay,USA & Canada. Bet You Can Buy The Hornby Thomas On Ebay & The Ebay

  • Good review! Such a shame about the bachmann thomas face! To be americain it sucks! If it wasn't for the face it would look really good!