Class 66

[kirky]

Farish for me. Significantly better haulage, finer detail, run better.

Agreed

[RailGooner]

Two dozen plus Dapol 66s. Only one has a problem, which I bought as a nonrunner on ebay. One GF 66 which sounds like a washing machine full of rocks and is relegated to test-track duties.

[njee20]

About 15 of each here. One Dapol non-runner, one Farish with cooked PCB. Meh.

Gradually replacing with Farish, having originally bought Dapol because of easier DCC compatibility versus older Farish.

[geoffc]

I have a mixture of Dapol and Farish 66's.
Dapol:
Against: Early ones are noisy and not DCC friendly.
For: Later ones two variations of pcb boards with 6 pin sockets.
All have NEM coupling sockets. Final drive by shaft to universal joint on top of bogie.

Farish:
Against: Early ones have solder tabs for chip. No NEM couplings. Final drive, worm gear to straight cut gear on top of bogie. I bought one which had chewed up the top gear because of this, no doubt used on small radii.
For: Later ones have dcc sockets.

Geoff

[David Asquith]

One point to consider is spares and repairs.  I recently asked DCC supplies about gears for a Dapol 66 and pick ups for a Dapol Voyager.  Told they didn´t have spares but Dapol were looking at producing spares but only for current or future production runs,  Not a lot of good to me or anyone else unless they buy brand new in the future.  This is where I could split to two other Forum; Unhappy thread and Train Surgery.  I´m looking to see if any other Dapol or Farish gears will fit the 66 and the same with the pickups for the Voyager.  I stripped the 66 bogies and found that some of them were a bit rough and one split a la Farish. Picked up ballast I feel.  I got the gears moving again but they weren´t turning the worm gear.  Don´t really know where to go from there but I would gladly pay someone to sort them if they could somehow get/make suitable parts.

Dave

[ntpntpntp]

@David Asquith   For replacement gears where the original spares are no longer available I use MikroAntriebe in Poland.    Not cheap but you can specify exactly what you need, so worth doing if you really want to get a model running again.  There may well be other firms which will do the same, but I was told about this firm by another modeller quite a few years ago now.   I've had replacements for Arnold and Minitrix gears made over the past few years.

http://www.kkpmo.com/search_gearwheels.php

[David Asquith]

Thanks for that Nick.  I´m not sure I want to spend too much time, effort or money on the 66.  I was going to try and repair it and then swap this one - DB Schenker livery and another Stobart livery for a Farish J94 and a diesel NR loco if I could.  Maybe I´ll just sell them as spares or repair.
Thought just crossed my mind.  Would DCC supplies be interested in commissioning gears from http://www.kkpmo.com/search_gearwheels.php

Dave

[Rabbitaway]

Dave

I have a Dapol 66 with a split axle gear on each bogie.

Look at my posts in train surgery under heading "Do Dapol locos split gears" Dr Al has suggested that I try Farish 16 tooth type 2 as the standard Farish gears have a too big axle hole. I have not got around to ordering these from BR Lines to try and see if they fit.

The other option is to try class 73 gears but I have not checked them for fit or teeth number, all other Dapol loco do not use gear on steel axle type wheel sets as far as I am aware

Yes, most annoying that Dapol do not carry spare gears for the 66, as like you I got a no from DCC Supplies

[Paul-H]

Only had few of each but found the Farish version much better, both smoother, quieter and much more pulling power.  I had the same issue on all the Dapol model's  andcthat was ghry all lost the red LED at one end within days of getting them, and it was the LED not the diode on the PCB which is also known to blow. Because of the way the LED is glued into place and the non availability of spares, even though these were brand new models rendered them unreparable and had to be replaced, and the LED failed on the replacements within days as well, I ended up replacing them with Farish versions.

[David Asquith]

Thanks guys,  I have now used the pickups from the 66 in the 220 so the 66 is now spares and repairs. Motor, chassis and body (DB Shenker) available if anyone wants them.

Dave