who will take on the class 50 now?

bluedepot · March 19, 2017, 06:06:12 PM

could revolution take it on as a crowd funded loco? It's a very popular diesel so would surely get a lot of orders? far more popular than a class 92 i should imagine.

alternatively could hornby arnold shrink the oo hornby model? appreciate it's not as simple as just shrinking it as you need to get the n gauge mechanism and pcb etc. etc. but they obviously have all the research and designs and arnold must have the expertise.

it seems unbelievable we are getting / already have new spec. class 17, 22, 23, 24, etc. which don't have the same following as the class 50. nothing against those locos by the way, i like them, but just saying that a class 50 is more popular and would sell a lot more you would imagine?

50 year anniversary as well - so good time to sell class 50 models you'd think!

anyway the alternative is just wait and see if dapol cancel it outright or if it's just delayed a few more years....

tim

NeMo · March 19, 2017, 06:45:12 PM

Bachmann do of course have the ex-Farish model already, and given they've steadily updated most if not all of their BR diesels, it must be on the cards eventually. The 08, 20, 47 and 37 were updated some years ago now, the 55, 31 and 25 were done recently, and the 40s are on the way.

Of their original line-up, there's what, only classes 33, 44-46, 50, 52 and 56 still outstanding? Given Dapol have done the 33, the 52 and the 56, I can't see Farish double-dipping there, but that still leaves the 50 and the various 'Peaks'.

That Dapol have pulled back from their own Class 50, Bachmann might well look at their future projects, and the 50 does seem an obvious choice. Long-lived, widely travelled, lots of different liveries, and as you say, fairly popular -- though not with the crews and engineers who had to get the darned things running reliably prior to their refurbishment!

Cheers, NeMo

bluedepot · March 19, 2017, 06:49:19 PM

yeah fair point, could end up with a new farish class 50 one day i guess, even though they don't have one in bachmann oo gauge.

tim

koyli55002 · March 19, 2017, 07:01:52 PM

Can't imagine anyone taking it on in a hurry, even though I agree it should sell well.
I'm guessing they'll all be concentrating onn getting their "wish lists" down now !

dodger · March 19, 2017, 07:10:21 PM

My gut feeling is that Farish would less work to do as much of the chassis would be the same as the class 37 & 55.

Dodger

koyli55002 · March 19, 2017, 07:14:00 PM

Quote from: dodger on March 19, 2017, 07:10:21 PM
My gut feeling is that Farish would less work to do as much of the chassis would be the same as the class 37 & 55.

Dodger

Good point - but I won't hold my breath for it this time !

Western Exile · March 19, 2017, 07:29:32 PM

A new 50 would fill the last big gap in my planned loco fleet and so nobody would be happier than me if someone else were to take this model on. Let's see, 007 in GWR green, 149 in Railfreight triple grey, a couple of NSE and a handful of large logo blue (one with a black roof) would do very nicely. I'd happily put a deposit down on a dozen right now. I doubt it'll happen, but we can dream...

47033 · March 19, 2017, 08:12:36 PM

Are Dapol not doing it then ? I thought the announcement was that it was to be delayed.

Jamie

koyli55002 · March 19, 2017, 08:25:16 PM

"Delayed", yes - but the inference and general opinion is that the "delay" is indefinite.

njee20 · March 19, 2017, 08:25:56 PM

It's a soft way of saying "you're never going to see it, but we don't want to say that".

RailGooner · March 19, 2017, 08:26:41 PM

Quote from: 47033 on March 19, 2017, 08:12:36 PM
Are Dapol not doing it then ? I thought the announcement was that it was to be delayed.

Jamie

Read between the lines and you may eventually come to the same conclusion that I have: this is the beginning of the end of Dapol in N.

gc4946 · March 19, 2017, 08:37:59 PM

I think Farish may be the only manufacturer who could release a 50, but it'll take several years for it to appear in the shops as they've got their own backlog of projects to work through.

njee20 · March 19, 2017, 08:45:41 PM

Why do you think that? I can think of no reason that any brand couldn't do it.

PLD · March 19, 2017, 09:35:21 PM

Quote from: njee20 on March 19, 2017, 08:45:41 PM
Why do you think that? I can think of no reason that any brand couldn't do it.

Indeed anyone could do it, but I can think of no reason that any brand would want to do it...

Given that Dapol have said only that development is paused; they could at any time restart and gazump any other manufacturer if they were so minded.
If Dapol deem that it is currently not financially viable (after expending a significant amount of money, time and effort), what is so different about any other manufacturers cost base or production method that would make it viable for them starting from scratch??

Is there really so much pent-up demand?? over the two threads on here, there are only around half a dozen (albeit vocal) members specifically lamenting this particular prototype...

njee20 · March 20, 2017, 04:14:49 AM

I agree, I can't imagine Farish doing it for exactly that reason, hence wondering why they are being suggested as the only brand who "could" do it. I'd say they're the least likely, and a crowdfunding venture would be the safest way to ensure Dapol don't suddenly rush theirs out.

That said, there's no implication Dapol have spent lots of time, effort and money on it. They've produced CADs, which are the cheap bits, and have stopped short of tooling, or anything expensive. they announced it a long time ago, but that's totally different.