New Railway Modellers Forums

I know I should try harder to keep up with this stuff but ... what's an "EFE" J94? How is it different from a non-EFE J94? I won't ask why the thing is as expensive as it is, but I will ask whether Bachmann bought the mould tools off he-of-whom-we-do-not-speak ...

Yes, it looks like the J94 is an improved version of a previously released model from a now defunct manufacturer. It appears that the 'EFERail' moniker is being applied to models produced in collaboration with third parties such as Kernow and Heljan, hence a Hymek being miraculously pulled out of the hat. Immediately noticeable to me was a lack of the rolling stock (particularly steam era wagons) which has always been a staple of the Bachmann range. Maybe profit margins on these are thin and/or sales slow so they are going to take a back seat in future?

If this is ex DJM it'd better not have the same b***** awful chassis. As Bachmann are involved they know that split chassis don't work....will they tool it properly?

Not 'arf! And I hope they haven't put that cheapo coreless motor in it ... not that I can ever see me paying that much for one

Access to the J94 tooling has been acquired by Kernow who have made some modifications including a Next 18 decoder socket. Bachmann through using the EFE Rail brand are acting as distributors giving the models a wider range of outlets than otherwise existed for them, even in the case of the Heljan Hymek as there are a number of model shops who do not stock Heljan models; this in some cases goes back to Heljan dropping prices on some models some years ago leaving retailers in the lurch and consequently a number ceased stocking Heljan.

Ahah! Thank you for the enlightenment, Mike. If it's basically the DJM J94 with a few tweaks, any interest I might have had in one is unfortunately evaporating fast ...

If it doesn't have wiper pickups I'm OUT.

Meister wrote:... It appears that the 'EFERail' moniker is being applied to models produced in collaboration with third parties such as Kernow and Heljan, hence a Hymek being miraculously pulled out of the hat. Immediately noticeable to me was a lack of the rolling stock (particularly steam era wagons) which has always been a staple of the Bachmann range. Maybe profit margins on these are thin and/or sales slow so they are going to take a back seat in future?

Rather that the various sources don't feature much in the way of steam era wagons?

The real curio is the N gauge class 17. Now that's an independent ex-DJM item, never got to the point of being offered for retail sale so a completely unknown quantity.

My comment re. steam era wagons was really aimed at the main range announcements rather than EFERail. Having said that, I overlooked the fact that there are some previously announced wagons due in shortly so maybe no need for more new releases at the moment. Thanks for the information on the class 17, I did wonder where this had sprung from!

Meister wrote:My comment re. steam era wagons was really aimed at the main range announcements rather than EFERail. Having said that, I overlooked the fact that there are some previously announced wagons due in shortly so maybe no need for more new releases at the moment...

My sole problem with Bach's steam era wagon programme is that they were 'going like a train' up to 2010 in developing a very useful range of the most common wagons in service in the BR steam period, and then abruptly slowed, and it has been a trickle of new introductions since.

But that will be the retailers saying 'enough already': unlike when they started in about 2000, and the models just 'disappeared' like the snow in spring as fast as they went on sale: by 2010 new wagon releases were relatively easy to find. I had been filling my boots systematically from 2000 to provide realistic train loads of wagons, that were an easy match for well finished kit builds.

The essential 16T steel mineral in several of BR's most common diagrams was the stand out, for the first time as a RTR scale model. And it just got better as the range developed. Unfortunately the progress halted before the LMS general merchandise vans and LMS/BR general merchandise opens were tackled as thoroughly as the LNER equivalents had been. But hey, that's manageable by RTR bashing and kit building, and much less to work through for a representative wagon fleet had Bachmann not provided so much over the 2000 to 2010 period. (We won't talk about the pricing since.)

I suspect that my affliction with Bachmann wagons stems from the Airfix and Mainline wagons I had as a youngster in the early 1980s. The Airfix 7 plank 'Stalybridge' and Mainline coke wagon 'Coalite' were particular favourites and I was just blown away with the quality relative to rather crude and toylike Hornby offerings of the time.

On relurning to modelling in the late 1990s Bachmann wagons were effectively the successors of my old Airfix and Mainline friends and I could not get enough of them. A quick check in the 2004 catalogue reveals an RRP of just north of £6 for the planked open wagons which translates into just over £9 today according to the BoE inflation calculator. Yes, those really were the days!

muggins wrote:Not 'arf! And I hope they haven't put that cheapo coreless motor in it ... not that I can ever see me paying that much for one

Sadly, that same garbage motor isn't limited to afflicting the J94. It also got into the Kernow class 42: http://www.mrol.com.au/Pages/Vu/Reviewo ... 600Warship

I've two class 41s and both run exceptionally well. Powerful and quiet. The motor is far from garbage.

The kernow Warships - only seem to have have trouble with DCC CV52 frying motors

Hope you have D605 on your roster....!

Sorry but that motor is junk. Some may get lucky with one that is alright but I had a J94 that only ran half speed one way while sounding like a cement mixer with gravel in it. Sent back, replaced and while this one ran the same speed in both directions it also sounded the same.

This was on DC too....