Hornby James vs Bachmann James Review: Thomas & Friends Range UK vs USA!!!

"Hornby James VS Bachmann James"

Or "Come in Red 5!"

A product review which looks at the top two models of James the Red Engine, sold in the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and made by the companies Hornby & Bachmann respectively.

The two models are put through their paces, with style, speed and sheer POWER tested to the limit!

The review finishes with a startling conclusion: which will come out on top?

Parents will find buying the Thomas & Friends engine of choice easier with Hornby VS Bachmann....!

Visit the Hero of the Scales Blog for behind the scenes, sneak previews, and many more!

http://thomasmodelreview.blogspot.com/

Recommended Retail Prices are correct as of 17/03/2011.

Hornby & Bachmann's Websites:

http://www.hornby.com/thomas-161/r852/product.html

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productI...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornby_Railways

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachmann_Industries

Special thanks to Leokimvideo for his great help and advice in making this video.

The contents of these videos, including all text and photos (except where credited otherwise) are ©Simon A.C. Martin

Category:

Education

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[TKTiger]

I'm not sure comparing the Hornby price against the RailRoad range is fair, as the RR range is a budget range using older, less detailed toolings to keep the price down and their James is not part of this range. I think the price compares favourable to other Hornby locos in their "main" range, which are astronomic. That said, I got my James around 20 years ago (or so) when Hornby first started doing the Thomas range, and he cost about £40 from a toy/train exhibition.

[simierski]

@TKTiger - actually TK, in many respects the Railroad models (though derived from older toolings) are actually superior models, with tender drives eliminated in favour of loco drives in all cases (5MT versus Henry, for example, A1 versus Gordon is another), and in most cases are DCC fitted or ready! All at prices far lower than the higher priced, lower spec Thomas range. The comparison is fair because it's calling into question value for money.

[Stuingtion]

Are you British?

[simierski]

@Stuingtion - yes.

[nazgul820]

ape kejadahnye nie??? bale nakri guk naabucrep???

[dopeyduck123]

@JBofBrisbane Well his motor when it makes a good connection runs like a beast as shown in the vis his wheels on the tender are clean as ar his tyres. And his cogs move freely and are well oiled. It' the wherels on the loc that lock up and I cant see how it can pull off his wheels I have tried lol ! I can see any serews on them other than the ones that hold on his side rods.

[JBofBrisbane]

@dopeyduck123 - Sounds like you should pull it apart and clean and lubricate everything. You might be surprised at what you find in there.

[JBofBrisbane]

I can see the disadvantage of doing the Tug of War on parallel tracks. Perhaps you could hand-lay a gauntlet track section (Google it) on a separate board, to reduce the problem with the skew-whiff tailrope.

[dopeyduck123]

Random question have you ever had any issues with your James ? ( the hornby one ) . My James is an original 1988 version and the tender suffers conectivity issues and the driving wheels on the loco lock up . Seeing your James belt round your fine layout hauling many coaches makes me wonder why my james cant even move himself ! But that aside these videos are very infomative top work :-)

[legowoo101]

They both look great

[TheWaluigiking]

I like both James models

[byrnz35]

Bachman looks a lot better in my opinion.

[IndianaJonesnutter]

i no y there is no coupling at the the front of the bachmann model as u said very rarely r the thomas tender engines seen pulling trains tender first. That is cus in one of the first episodes of thomas and friends i think tenders and turntables (something like that) Ringo Star says 'because it is dangerous for big engines to go backwards ' and that one thing was carryed on forever

[Zorran202]

@legotrainzman Legitimately yes, but you should also think about the fact that Hornby based them as their real-life counter parts (and parts of RWS if you read them), while the Bachmann range is based on the TV series. You could say a difference that people on both sides of the Atlantic would consider...