Bachmann Branchline is a British

OO gauge OO gauge or OO scale (also, 00 gauge and 00 scale) is the most popular standard-gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards (4 mm to 1 foot, ...

model railway brand manufactured by Bachmann Europe PLC a subsidiary of

Bachmann Industries Bachmann Industries (Bachmann Brothers, Inc.) is a Bermuda-registered, Chinese-owned company, globally headquartered in Hong Kong; specialising in model railroading. Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the home of its North American headquar ...

, and is used for British outline OO scale

model railway Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

Bachmann, a US company founded in 1835, was purchased by Kader Industries in 1987. Kader had previously produced models for

Palitoy Palitoy was a British toy company. It manufactured some of the most popular toys in Britain, some original items and others under licence. Its products included Action Man, Action Girl, Action Force, Tiny Tears, Pippa, Tressy, Mainline Model Rail ...

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 Europe PLC in 1989 with their main UK headquarters in Moat Way,

Barwell Barwell is a civil parish and large village in Leicestershire, England, with a population of 8,750 residents, Increasing to 9,022 at the 2011 census, the name literally translates as "Stream of the Boar" and is said to originate from a boar that ...

, and the following year launched the Bachmann Branchline range for the British market with the moulds that had previously been used for Mainline Railways 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 Hornby may refer to: Places In England * Hornby, Lancashire * Hornby, Hambleton, village in North Yorkshire * Hornby, Richmondshire, village in North Yorkshire Elsewhere * Hornby, Ontario, community in the town of Halton Hills, Ontario, Canad ...

. In 2000, Bachmann Europe PLC bought

Graham Farish {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 Graham Farish is a company that produces large quantities of British outline model railway equipment in N gauge. History The Poole, Dorset based manufacturer of radio parts and kits entered the model railway busin ...

, an

N gauge N scale is a popular model railway scale. Depending upon the manufacturer (or country), the scale ranges from 1:148 to 1:160. In all cases, the ''gauge'' (the distance between the rails) is . The term N ''gauge'' refers to the track dimensions, ...

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 Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, t ...

. Many of their trains include NEM pockets, making it possible to replace standard tension lock coupling with close couplings such as

Kadee Kadee Quality Products Co. is a model railroad manufacturer. They are best known for their couplers, but also produce rolling stock and accessories. The coupler line covers HO and larger scales, but not N scale. Kadee Quality Products was establ ...

s or screw link couplings.

Models produced

The following locomotive models have been produced, or announced by Bachmann Branchline:

Diesel locomotives

Electric locomotives

Diesel multiple units

Electric multiple units

Steam Locomotives

OO9 Gauge Steam Locomotives

OO9 Gauge Diesel Locomotives

Rivals

Hornby Railways Hornby Railways is a British rail transport modelling, model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was pr ...

- Bachmann and Hornby are the two largest OO manufacturers *

Dapol Dapol Ltd is a model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where some of the design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railway products in N gauge, OO gauge and ...

- Produce

wagons A wagon or waggon is a heavy four-wheeled vehicle pulled by draught animals or on occasion by humans, used for transporting goods, commodities, agricultural materials, supplies and sometimes people. Wagons are immediately distinguished from ...

in OO *

Heljan Heljan A/S is a Danish model railway company based in Søndersø. Originally specialising in decorations and accessories for model railways, it has now also developed a substantial range of rolling stock. It has diversified into modelling the Bri ...

- Produce a number of locomotives and wagons *

Oxford Rail Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

- Produce OO scale locos and wagons *

Vi Trains VI or Vi may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Characters *Vi (League of Legends), a character from the ''League of Legends'' video game franchise * Vi (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), a minor character in the American TV series ''Buffy the Vampi ...

- Recently started producing OO locomotives * Rapido Trains UK - Recently started producing OO locomotives in the UK Market * accurascale - Recently started producing OO locomotives

References

{{Reflist See articles in 'Model Railway Enthusiast', 1999-2000.

External links

Bachmann Branchline pages on the Bachmann Europe website
Bachmann Industries Model railroad manufacturers Model manufacturers of the United Kingdom