Still strange seeing 828 in miniature when I know the real thing so well (I helped on and off with her last overhaul, I've spent countless hours cleaning and polishing her and firing). Stunning model that really does her justice. Fun little story, I was one of the first people to pre-order it when the project was launched at MRS back in 2018 and the woman dealing with the order forms got wind of the fact I knew the real loco quite well and instantly latched on to me saying "HEEELLLLLPPPPP can you tell me what the differences are between "as built" and "as preserved"?". Thankfully I was able to fill her in on most of the differences (different pipework and details besides just the shade of blue). Re price: It's worth remembering that some of the money goes towards the real 828's next overhaul. Another excellent video and a good start to the year, keep up the good work.
Not going to lie I bought both Caley Livery versions to help support her and get two fantastic models as well. Sure footed runners on dcc if a bit coggy at the bottom end
I recall that Bachmann Did create models of Donald and Douglas, 11 years ago. I could be wrong, but they were Bachmann's first attempt at making models of the 812. Oh, and that flimsy brake-bar does seem like a deal-breaker.
Not only is it (Decently) detailed, It's a pretty decent runner. It hauls a pretty good amount of coaches. Overall, I think Bachmann did a good job on this.
I’m excited to get them when I come back to railway modelling. And since the 812 is out, the Unlucky Tug is now planning to make models of Donald and Douglas.
I like the look of the Caledonian 812! I absolutely love the Caledonian blue livery too, it’s quite a smart look! Definitely getting some Donald & Douglas vibes out of this since they were also in blue, not just black.
@@SamsTrains, I would love it if you started your own OO9 scale model layout. A layout to go in tangent with your OO layout. And the first OO9 scale locomotive you could get is a Bachmann Baldwin 10-12-d. I would also like it when you get a Heljan BR class 28. I am still waiting, and I will keep waiting.
@@SamsTrains I just wanted to say I've watched your channel for a long time and I love it ♡ I am an American but its thanks to The Railway Series books my late Grandfather read me as a child and the Thomas TV show that I have a deep appreciation and love for British Rail History and have started my own collection of Hornby models ^-^ Keep up the good work!
An excellent review Sam. Fairly typical for Bachmann: looks gorgeous, mechanism not the best, over priced. The way I always think about it is this: What else can I get NEW for £200? e.g. - An Oxford Rail J27 and say 5 new wagons or 4 railroad coaches. - An OR J27 plus a second new loco such as a Peckett, Terrier, K1 or one of a variety of 4-6-0s which several model shops currently have on sale for around £100. - Or a big 4-6-2 Paciific loco. I guess it depends whether you have your heart set on that particular loco and there's no doubt it's a beauty. However when you see what Oxford Rail can do for a far lower price tag you do wonder how much of a mark up Bachmann and Hornby are making. If Bachmann said they were giving a percentage of their profits to the Trust for the original it would be an easier pill to swallow. Seriously though normally it makes more economic sense to sell a large number of units at a small profit each time and grow your market than make a large profit on each item, but only cater to a more exclusive well-off market. It would be nice if Bachmann and Hornby published their profit margins to prove we're not being ripped off and justify their prices. For Hornby now they've bought Oxford Rail it would be sensible to take a long hard look at how OR managed to have manufacturing costs that allowed them to produce such good value models and adopt some of the same methods and practices for their own production.
Assuming Bachmann is a British company, their accounts are a public document so are available for inspection by anyone. You can easily get hold of Hornby's public accounts.
Thanks very much - yeah that's fair to say! Much better value models out there, no doubt about it... but better looking ones? Maybe not so much... I agree - I'm fascinated by how Oxford managed to pull off the J27 for that price! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Great review Sam the locomotive looks great and I definitely think it is worth the money especially as I have seen other reviews on this locomotive, bachmann have done a great job.
I love the Caledonian 812 design ,especially in that stunning blue livery .I also have one of these but it took a while to arrive but ,overall, It's an amazing loco.
Got mine about two weeks ago, the preserved livery and was hoping you’d do a review of this, I think it’s one of the best models currently out there and Bachmann have done amazingly well with it despite the long wait but totally worth it, glad your pleased with yours and awesome review, keep up the good work.
Good honest review as always Sam. I imagine the excessive cost is down to economies of scale and limited production numbers, being as it's a Rails exclusive. Had it been mass produced for the general market in higher numbers, I reckon you could knock around £50 off the RRP. Being a Southern Region modeller it won't be added to my collection, nice as it is.
Thanks very much Andrew - yes that's true - one reason why I'm not a huge fan of exclusives... you can't tell me they wouldn't sell at TONNE of these if they were better value, and available everywhere! ;D Thanks for watching, Sam :)
So being a “Southern” modeller, what do you think of Bachmann’s 00 analogue 4-BEP at £499 RRP produced for the general market? Basically a near 15 year old model of their 4-CEP with only one trailer coach altered. An analogue version is only worth about £150-175 as nearly all the R&D costs were covered years ago, maybe DCC Sound £250. But £500 for an analogue 15 year old model?? Get real Bachmann! With Hornby now trying to charge £500 RRP for their re-released 4-VEP (now over 15 years old too) in SWT livery, it seems that Bachmann and Hornby are trying to create a very expensive duopoly! Would love both a 4-BEP and another 4-VEP, but at £1,000 between them, could have a holiday in Newfoundland with my Canadian 🇨🇦 relatives for that price!
@@adriancarter2863 One would have to be an idiot to pay anything even remotely approaching the £500 being asked-(and yes, retailers will discount it, but by how much?)-especially taking into account its age. We have rapidly increasing rates of inflation, stagnant wages and are about to be shafted royally by the energy suppliers, so I don't anticipate many sales with people watching their money very carefully. I'm a pensioner with limited resources and am gradually being priced out of the hobby; and I'm not the only one, given the demographics of the model railway hobbyist tend toward those of a 'certain' age...!
Wow, that is a superbly detailed model, it looks like it just come out of the painter's livery shop, the lining is almost perfect and enhances the Royal blue livery to another level. It is almost crying out to be bought due to the excellent locomotive presentation.
@@SamsTrains I am I think it's one of my favourites. Love anything caledonian anyway. I don't run my locos so was interested to see how you found it :)
I bought the served blue version with sound. Good runner, good sound and lovely finish featuring excellent attention to detail: Hornby - eat your heart out, from my recent experience (lousy W1 and Rocket) you ain’t capable of rising to this level. Very pleased with my 812, Sam.
I’ve got three of them. The CR light blue, the as preserved CR dark blue, and the BR late crest black. They’re nice running engines. Worth the money to get the factory sound fitted versions.
Got mine last week. Absolutely beautiful model 😁 having lived near the Strathspey Railway I always wanted a locomotive of 812 and 419 so that's one down and one more to go to have the 3 surviving caledonians all modelled up
I just can't say how much I really love this video, Sam💙I love the music you used, I agree that this model is something really special because I loved Donald and Douglas as a kid and I love their real life basis! I have a deep love for this great Scottish steam engine🔷🏳💙🚂
the engine that Railway series /Thomas and Friends characters were used for the Scottish twins Donald 9,and Douglas# 10, on the NWR, thier original numbers had fallen off.. love these engines locos, maquinas de vapor! great video! now i have the themes of the Scottish twins playing in my mind! awesome mate lol
Donald and Douglas' basis. And it's fitting that they're painted blue. In the original books, they were repainted from black to blue after The Deputation. But in the TV series, they remained in their black livery.
Fantastic video you did today. That Caledonian 812’s Blue Livery looks extremely beautiful. I would absolutely buy that loco, but with DCC Sound, because I love having model locos with Sound and the locomotive does made me like Donald and Douglas more than any Thomas & Friends Characters. Hope you enjoy the new year of 2022 and I can’t wait to see what brand of any model trains you’ll have for your next review. Cheers.
For me, this has to be one of the loveliest models I have seen recently. I actually said "Wow" when you took it out of the plastic carrier! Beautiful model and another great review. Nige
I bought two for myself and ordered some 3d printed Douglas faces using all of my savings, both are coming this weekend and this review just makes me so excited. I know this custom will be great :D
I should've guessed you would get the locomotive at some point. I have the Preserved livery, but I can say for sure, it is a very nice model. Love this video, really looking forward to seeing what you'll bring out this year.
I got 2 of these 1 in the "as delivered" light blue and the other in the "as preserved" dark blue and they arrived the other day as my first OO scale locomotives. I have yet to take mine out and examine them so this video is great to see.
Im so excited!!! My birthday comes soon and this wee lad is definitly going to be on my layout soon. The 812 is such a wonderful mixed traffic locomotive and the model is great for people that want to do an express but dont have the money for several locos. A bit sad though that you cant find the blue variant these days. I think im going to repaint mine into a blue livery with red stripes, similar to Edward, Thomas and Gordon. The scottish twins also wore this livery in the books.
Hi sam Great review I think everyone came to the same conclusion with locos prices. For me it one if not best Bachmann loco to date I cant understand why Bachmann have not used the new drawbar connection on this and lnwr improved precedent class like they did on the v2 Only my opinion. Keep safe arp
The Caledonian Railway 812 Class, eh? Pretty amazing model, very highly detailed, but the engine itself is beautiful so I suppose that’s partly responsible for it’s looks! 812’s are truly stunning engines! Great video as usual Sam!
Starting 2022 with a review of an astonishing loco? Caledonian locos are honestly something else. All of them look unique and beautiful in their own regard. 812 is probably my second favorite loco ever, only beaten by the GWR Manor
Given the NBR and the Caledonian Railways feud with one another before grouping, I feel like this model and the Hornby Maude would have an absolute field day with the other Bachmann did a great job on this one. If the firebox flicker were a bit better on DC I’d really consider getting one. (Hornby are doing a lot of shady things at the moment, but there’s no denying they can make good models. Their Princess Royal firebox is IMPECCABLE)
haha that's a great point... I need to make that happen! Yeah - not sure why they couldn't have the flickering work on DC when other manufacturers have managed it! Thanks for watching, Sam :)
Phew. - glad you like it. Got my preserved livery one in December and it’s a beautiful, one-off, special little loco, but a silly price. One bought as a rare treat and I’m very happy with.
As the Caley 828 was parading down the catwalk behind some other famous models… Sam says “this really is a beautiful model. I can’t wait to get my hands on it…”. That doesn’t sound at all perverted. Have you seen the Caley 828 stripped down Sam? Each to their own. ;-)
Sam I'm not trying to embarrass you but... you have a third caledonian loco the hattons Andrew Barclay in the caledonian livery. Did you seriously forget about her?
Loved your review. You have come a long way in terms of your subscriber since I first started watching your videos. I have the sound version, for my collection and the sound is amazing. Was surprised how small it is.
I think it's a very fair review. Very glad you went for it and as you say it's hard to have regrets when it looks that good. I certainly don't with my two (as built and preserved) but am in the market for anything Scottish, not least the 812. They are now the pride of my collection and my favourite model by far. Even my fiancee thinks they are fantastic! The preserved is darker but on balance I think I prefer the as-built slightly. I was ok with the brake rigging but I did use tweezers as it looked fragile. On DCC as supplied the decoder is very much tuned to the motor with a good speed curve and top end but realise this doesn't help DC modelers. The next 18 socket change is a positive in my book even if the socket has changed position, as they are better than the 21 pin (come on Hornby - they should have switched straight to PluX22/ next 18 as it's 2022!). All next 18's are small so it'll be no problem fitting them there thankfully. The model feels quality and I think Bachmann can be pretty proud of themselves. Agree that the reverser and cab supports should be metal. At least nothing has fallen off and they should be robust. After lubrication and running in mine is silky smooth so don't miss the flywheel too much. My primary criticism is the terrible draw-bar setup. Pricing is high but it is a limited commission so to be expected that will add a premium. Compared to what you now buy the J36 for, it still could be cheaper or they could have added more die-cast. I'm ordering some etched number plates for them both at £5 per pair so they definitely should have been included. Nevertheless if this is a sign of things to come for 2022 they we are in for a good year. I'm sure this will be a favourite for future running sessions you have!
Good Evening Sam, that is an excellent review on the Bachmann Caledonian 812 No.828. I too have the Bachmann Caledonian 812 No.828, but in Caledonian Railway Blue Livery as preserved. I respect your opinion on the built & running quality of it, but with mine, I don't mind at all, even though I paid a lot of money into purchasing it, as long as it looks excellent & runs very well. Keep up the good work mate. 10/10 & 5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Kind Regards Trainzville/Jordan Shingler
I got one for Christmas and I was blown away by the speed. The only disappointment with the loco. However an interesting note is that the removable coal load on mine didn't have the rubbery bottom that yours had
Locos i'm interested in you reviewing this year: -Anything from Oxford Rail -Hornby class 110 -EFE Rail 1938 stock -Rapido trains titfield thunderbolt -One of the Dublo branded locos
I do love the blue colour but I bought two other 812s; one to represent a Belgian type 30 ROD that did actually pull the railway guns in WWI and of course it was black and my favourite in LMS livery. Tomorrow I take delivery of two Improved Precedent Class locomotives from Rails: one in crimson and the black LMS version. They were in my basket for ages before I could justify buying them.
Hi Sam. Great review, as always. Have recently bought the preserved version. I agree that it’s VERY expensive but I’ve found it to be really smooth and reliable, running faultlessly. It’s also stunning to look at so I have no regrets! Chris Moss
Hi Sam, I have the "As Preserved" 828 as it is my absolute favourite loco and it runs an the "Strathspey Railway" which is close enough to me for a good day out. I pre-ordered mine as soon as I found out it was coming out. I wouldn't pay that much for a similar model again, but I am well pleased with mine. Mine crawled smoothly even more slowly than yours, straight from the box, lucky I guess. My only real complaint is the loco/tender drawbar connection. A screw would have been better and would not have broken the bank. The loco on the "Strathspey" normally hauls six maroon Mk 1s as far as I know. Another review up to your usual high standard. I can't wait for part 2 of your wooden "Rocket" kit construction. Regards, Alan.
That lining really is sublime. Nice to see they have differentiated in colour been the brass bits and the copper piping, something Hornby needs to improve upon. However, all the metal painted parts (copper, brass and steel) use a really bad grainy paint. This makes all those parts look like they were originally really rough sand castings, though many are supposed to represent smooth polished or machined metal. Now paint brand Alclad2 do some superb metallic paint finishes. Prepare with a gloss black first though to ensure the best shine
I really like my preserved sound fitted one. After watching your review I went to pick it up off the railway and noticed the plastic drawbar adjustment on the tender had snapped, so obviously another thing they didn't get right. I will make a metal one.
I fixed my one by gluing a strengthener on the back by using a thin piece of plastercard. I thought the original part shouldn't be plastic so I checked with my Bachmann 4F, same type of model. Did you know on the 4F they use a metal part, on this model they use plastic but they haven't "beefed it up" to compensate for the different material.
I imagine that Brake Rigging could have just been a bad batch of plastic. Happens a lot these days wth the shortages. Bachmann would probably send you a replacement if you wanted.
Hi Sam's Trains this was a brilliant review I bought one myself being from Scotland and also having had a run behind 828 on the Strathspey Steam Railway.
I just bought one of these today at model rail Scotland and the detail amazing but one small thing I use and old style hornby dc controller and even set to zero the loco moves 🤣. Might need to update to a better controller now
After seeing this model, I went right to Rails of Sheffield and bought one myself, but I paid a little extra for the DCC Sound, but it's in the same livery. The ones in as preserved are unfortunately sold out, so I bought one in the same livery as this while they're still available. They won't last long on the shelves. Beautiful engine Sam, great review, and I can't wait for mine to arrive. Brings me back to when I bought the Hornby J36 because of your rave reviews that engine too. :)
@@SamsTrains I just took one look at your review, and not even half way through, I went onto the site and put in my order. I’m really excited to get it! :)
Nice loco and nice and beautifull livery . At least Bachmann is honset since this loco was made for rails of sheffield and Bachmann did not do a copywrite infringement as Hornby did in there new models for 2022. Keep up the good work. and keep safe. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Drawbar - Tender issue. I've found that 2mm I/D Nitrile "O" rings fit over the Tender spigot and if retained by a tiny drop of PVA solves this separation problem. Just fit one to the top of the spigot leaving plenty of vertical play in the drawbar below. A bodge but it works.
Brilliant review Sam! i gotta say it is a Stunning! utterly stunning model, one day i really do hope to own one, it's a one of a kind :D in the real world with the real thing too! :D
Nice review Sam... yes, beautiful decoration/details (less brake rigging) and fast... A CR drag race... how 'bout it? 31:17 I just obtained one of those "Rolling Road" devices for $50 Canadian from Alie-Express, a friend ordered it for me, six axle version and no wire attachment... was $50CA a good price? John British Columbia, Canada
So when it comes to scottish locos we can assume hornby pefers norht british whilst bachmann, being they're competitor, perfers caledonian. Can't wait to see a bachmann Cardean or Hornby North British Atlantic!