Bachmann Reveal All New 8F for 00 Gauge!
The headline act from Bachmann at their Autumn 2025 announcements is the reveal of their brand new 8F for 00 Gauge.
With the number of requests having increased over the past few years, this is sure to be a popular model and Bachmann are really going all out with this one. The 00 Gauge model features plenty of die-cast construction for the boiler, chassis block and gearbox while also containing features such as a firebox LED and twin speakers - one in the tender and a second in the locomotive itself.
In addition to this Bachmann have an adjustable drawbar on the tender with integral loco-tender wiring and the auto-uncoupling feature will make it's first appearance on a steam locomotive for the sound fitted deluxe models. Interestingly this is only included on the tender - presumably as the necessary wiring and mechanism would have been too noticeable to include on the front pony truck.
The RRPs are set at £249.95 for DCC Ready models, £359.95 for Sound Fitted and £379.95 for the Sound Fitted Deluxe models. As always though the model railway retailers have a discount on the RRP with their approximate prices being £212, £305 and £322 respectively. Still a hefty chunk of cash but for those wanting a fully up to date 8F this looks like a superb model.
In other news, Bachmann revealed the livery samples for its recently announced J71. Looking resplendent in NER, LNER and BR liveries, Bachmann really are building up a nice range of North Eastern locos that I'm sure has more than one modeller considering a layout based in this region!
The Class 31s from last year have also received a minor upgrade too and going forward all models will now include a pre-fitted stay alive. Presumably this is a reaction to the competing Accurascale model which also contains this feature - although it has to be said that all manufacturers are starting to fit stay alive capacitors as standard to their models when possible. In any case it's great to see Bachmann continuing to assess and upgrade their models when they feel they can make an improvement - this dynamic attitude is sure to be welcomed by modellers.
Finally the Southern E4 locomotives make a return in a variety of different liveries. A popular model that was first released back in 2015, the latest release has been upgraded to feature a Next18 decoder socket and space for a speaker - with additional sound fitted variants also available too.
Overall a good set of announcements from Bachmann this month if we take into account the J71 and the N Gauge Hopper Wagons too. It's nice to see them releasing two new 00 steam locomotives under their own brand (instead of as commissions for others) and if what I've heard is true, it's not over yet!
