Farish or dapol

[RussellH]

Oh fun!

Not much between them - So many points for and against each - judge each model for its own merits. Mechanism wise - Farish multiple split gears, dapol poor motors &wiring. Thinking outside the box - trix - odd motor failure (spectacular comm fires) otherwise still going after 30+years. And before you mention the look of trix remember lima - looked bad and ran even worse.....

Happy new year!

Regards
Russ

[Roy L S]

But despite the general non-preference for either brand being expressed in the text Dapol is losing big time in the votes.

But combining the two neuteral options 'No Preference' and 'Neither' then they are currently ahead so the moderates have it...

But as my economics teacher about 30 years ago said, statistics is common sense made difficult!

The way I read this: -

-Very few people actually prefer Dapol.

- Although a sizeable number actually have no preference.

- Numerically the majority of voters who expressed a preference clearly favour BachFarish.

Roy

[ParkeNd]

BobB has redressed the balance a bit. But --------------

Whilst the text replies indicate mostly that it doesn't matter the outspoken Farish fans have put it well ahead of the outspoken Dapaol fans.

I find it odd that 477 people have looked at the thread (or probably that the thread has been looked at 477 times) and yet only 6 people have voted "Dapol does it for me".

Dapol seems to be suffering.

[BobB]

Hi ParkeNd

Given my experience I'm rather surprised at the poll results as well.

In the past, I'm told by my friendly local retailer that Dapol had loads of problems but that he thought this was with OO size. In that size of model I think Hornby have gone through a similar reputation but have emerged with an improving image. It will be interesting to see how the yet to be released Arnold Brighton Bell's quality is judged.

I wish Union Mills had a more extensive range that included some diesels because I think it's possible for both Dapol and Farish to get better. A 3rd and 4th manufacturer is what we need !

BobB

[Newportnobby]

I find it odd that 477 people have looked at the thread (or probably that the thread has been looked at 477 times) and yet only 6 people have voted "Dapol does it for me".

Dapol seems to be suffering.

I don't think the thread being looked at 477 times has a great deal of relevance
With a potential to it being volatile I have looked at it several times with my Mods hat on but have no interest in being drawn into it as I don't think there is much point, my modus operandi being "whoever makes what I want gets my money".
As such, I haven't voted either

[joe cassidy]

I think that Dapol suffer more from bad press than Farish.

For example, I really wanted to buy the Dapol A3. However, I was put off by comments/photos about the butchered buffer beam, and the unsightly seam on the dome, so I decided to buy the forthcoming Farish Peppercorn pacific instead.

I did however buy a Dapol B17 to tide me over, which looks great and runs great, although the paint finish is more "toy like" than that of my Farish locos.

I was tempted by the Dapol 9F and Britannia. What put me off was the slide bars, which look like they've been made from recycled paper clips.

Best regards,


Joe

[Karhedron]

I was tempted by the Dapol 9F and Britannia. What put me off was the slide bars, which look like they've been made from recycled paper clips.

Give it a go, I have one of each and they are nice models. I bought one of the second batch of Brits which had all the motions and the screws the same colour. Then I painted the wheels black as per the prototype and it looks rather spiffy.

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=7800.msg102147#msg102147

[Sprintex]

I don't think the thread being looked at 477 times has a great deal of relevance
With a potential to it being volatile I have looked at it several times with my Mods hat on but have no interest in being drawn into it as I don't think there is much point, my modus operandi being "whoever makes what I want gets my money".
As such, I haven't voted either

I have voted, but again being in Mod-mode I've probably looked at this thread over a dozen times, every time it comes up in the "Unread Posts" list in fact


Paul

[Vanders]

I've always been slightly bemused by the very vocal anti-Dapol posts on various forums.

For example, I have a Farish 37/0 which runs beautifully, and a Dapol Class 22 which runs a bit rough. But then I also have a Farish Warship that runs a bit rough, and my best runner by far is a Dapol 121 (which I've hacked about, even!)

Dapol back-to-backs are far more accurate and consistent out of the box, but for the odd one that isn't then adjusting them is a nightmare. Farish wheels tend to be complete crap (I've measured over +/-0.5mm out of B2B) but are easy to adjust.

I do however wish that Farish would wake up and realise that NEM couplings really are a good thing and would fit them to their wagons consistently. I mean, I'm sure that Dapol appreciate the extra income from all those NEM conversion kits they're selling, but seriously Farish have no excuse at all and it's actually quite tiresome to adopt all those Farish short wheelbase wagons for no good reason.

[Woolleysh33p]

I tend to prefer dapol. For slow running, but it seems that dapol are ridiculously slow at distributing there models. For example, they promised the class 121 in br green livery, but it never arrived, or at least not at the big sellers. However, dapol and farish do need to listen to the modellers and produce what many want, like the bayergarrett ( don't know how you spell it) or the virgin pendilino!

ATM, there is no clear winner for me, but dapol are slightly ahead for smooth running!

[RST]

Daft thread anyway but does seem that Farish are leading by a considerable margin.  Unless you are a politician and count the middle vote as either way you choose.  The "neither" posts are throw away / discountable against the thread title.

...who was it that asked the reason either way?  Have you not read the posts man!

[Roy L S]

I tend to prefer dapol. For slow running, but it seems that dapol are ridiculously slow at distributing there models. For example, they promised the class 121 in br green livery, but it never arrived, or at least not at the big sellers. However, dapol and farish do need to listen to the modellers and produce what many want, like the bayergarrett ( don't know how you spell it) or the virgin pendilino!

ATM, there is no clear winner for me, but dapol are slightly ahead for smooth running!

A vocal minority say they "want" such models but I am not sure that sufficient people would buy either a Beyer Garratt or a Pendolino to justify the tooling costs for a major manufacturer (They would need to sell thousands). 

As to smooth/slow running, in terms of British steam anyway there is nothing to touch the recent generation of coreless motor loco-drive Farish and their tender driven stuff isn't that far behind. I think my Dapol A3 is lovely and it runs fine but by comparison it is very noisy with lots of "buzz" and "cogging" from the motor when it creeps.

Roy

[Pengi]

Well I'd definitely buy a Pendolino and the Pendolino also came top in the NGF most wanted EMU in our polls

Would rather it came from Kato, Arnold or Fleischmann through .

[johnlambert]

I want to like Dapol, in fact I do like the company.  Nearly everyone I have dealt with from Dapol has been polite, helpful and a pleasure to deal with.  It has to be said that innovations such as the light bars, working semaphore signals and easy shunt magnetic couplings must also be counted in its favour.

I'm not sure how to vote, I have been disappointed by some Graham Farish models just as I have been with Dapol models.  Equally, I have been delighted by some models from both companies.

Dapol back-to-backs are far more accurate and consistent out of the box, but for the odd one that isn't then adjusting them is a nightmare. Farish wheels tend to be complete crap (I've measured over +/-0.5mm out of B2B) but are easy to adjust.

Funny, I've found the opposite, the only stuff with incorrect B2B measurements are my Dapol Siphons.  Not enough to derail but enough to make them wobble through points as the wheels ride up on the check rails.  When checked with Dapol's own back-to-back gauge the wheels are clearly too close together but any attempt to adjust them means they foul the bogie frames.

I do however wish that Farish would wake up and realise that NEM couplings really are a good thing and would fit them to their wagons consistently. I mean, I'm sure that Dapol appreciate the extra income from all those NEM conversion kits they're selling, but seriously Farish have no excuse at all and it's actually quite tiresome to adopt all those Farish short wheelbase wagons for no good reason.

I agree, although Dapol hasn't quite made NEM pockets universal; the tooling of the Collett coaches was modified to allow for the fitting of light bars but not adapted to include NEM pockets at the same time.  It must be possible, the siphons and GWR Auto Coach now permit interchangeable couplings, although in the case of the former the couplings now stick out quite a long way.

[Roy L S]

Well I'd definitely buy a Pendolino and the Pendolino also came top in the NGF most wanted EMU in our polls

Would rather it came from Kato, Arnold or Fleischmann through .

Wouldn't we all like a British model from one of those!

I think Dave Jones then of Dapol said "no" to a producing Pendolino on grounds of cost v's potentail return, and in reality I suspect the Market for a dedicated WCML EMU (However nice) would be limited and certainly not run to the 3 or 4,000 units it would need to make it viable.

The NGF "Most Wanted" poll is a useful barometer but in reality the vote was a very small %age of NGF members, itself a small %age of British N modellers, and without wishing to be controversial I think the cross-section of modelling interests represented on here is more weighted towards M/I and DCC etc than the British N community as a whole so maybe not wholly representative.

Regards

Roy