Farish or dapol

[red_death]

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 .

I'd definitely have quite a few Pendos, but not from Kato/Arnold etc unless to 1:148 (or 1:152!)!

The thing with the Pendolinos is not that you will sell huge amounts of them to enthusiasts, but (as Hornby have always realised) they are the most iconic top line train of the current era (and for the last 10+ years!) and therefore appeal to kids and new entrants.  The perfect opportunity for a starter set of a short rake + controller + track. The number of times kids see a Virgin Voyager and mistake it for a Pendolino when we are operating Stoney Lane Depot is quite astonishing!

Cheers, Mike

[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 .

I'd definitely have quite a few Pendos, but not from Kato/Arnold etc unless to 1:148 (or 1:152!)!

The thing with the Pendolinos is not that you will sell huge amounts of them to enthusiasts, but (as Hornby have always realised) they are the most iconic top line train of the current era (and for the last 10+ years!) and therefore appeal to kids and new entrants.  The perfect opportunity for a starter set of a short rake + controller + track. The number of times kids see a Virgin Voyager and mistake it for a Pendolino when we are operating Stoney Lane Depot is quite astonishing!

Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike

I see your point and potentially see that sales could exist there, but that is likely to be influenced by the price-point for a set and that in turn could dictate the nature of the product in terms of detail/quality for the "modeller".

In reality I think both Dapol and Farish are geared more towards the "modeller" market.

Regards

Roy

[Ian McShane]

I haven't actually voted because I only have one Dapol loco and a sample of one is not valid. I model Era 5 and it's a factory weathered 9F which I think looks great, but it is much more temperamental about negotiating points than my Farish locos; it's noisier and when it came to fitting a decoder there was no clue from Dapol about what would fit. I tried several that didn't and in the end talked to the guys at Digitrains who reckoned the CT Elektronik 6 pin was the only chip that would fit. Sure enough it does, but I would have hoped for more help from the manufacturer over the choice of decoder. I guess that sounds like I should have voted Farish, but, despite my comments, I like the 9F and I'm not averse to buying more Dapol.

Ian 

[EtchedPixels]

The pendoleanto has a wide range of different vehicles which in plastic means different mouldings. It's not just a demand question but also a cost question. Likeiwse a garratt is a lot of mouldings and two chassis so you've now got to sell several thousand models at what - £200+ ?

The Blue Pullman in comparison is a lot of work but its basically two 3 car units back to back from a production perspective.

Alan

[PostModN66]

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

Me too!  And possibly three!

This is a model where I think we shoot ourselves in the foot by being too exacting.  I would be quite happy with a driving car and a generic coach with an alternative pan/non-pan roof.  I would have to study the original to know the differences between the coaches anyway, and hard to spot when it is doing 100mph plus.

Result of exacting standards = no model will ever appear!

Heresy they cry.....burn him!!!!!!!   

Cheers  Jon   

[EtchedPixels]

David (http://www.modernimagemodels.co.uk/) was talking about doing the Pendolino. He made a few sets available some time ago when he did the original build.

[red_death]

This is a model where I think we shoot ourselves in the foot by being too exacting.  I would be quite happy with a driving car and a generic coach with an alternative pan/non-pan roof.  I would have to study the original to know the differences between the coaches anyway, and hard to spot when it is doing 100mph plus.

Result of exacting standards = no model will ever appear!

By that argument just use a Virgin Voyager with extra coaches

I'm sure we have done this before, but how many different body types are there on a Pendolino (forget the interiors)? You have the 2 driving cars, 2 pantograph cars and then trailers with different window arrangements (incl toilet). So you essentially need 3 different shells (or 2 shells and 2 different roofs) and then the window inserts to be tooled as different slides (if injection moulded).

That is not significantly more demanding than what you suggest, yet still gets you accurate coaches.

Cheers, Mike

[PostModN66]

By that argument just use a Virgin Voyager with extra coaches

A question of degree I guess.  to my eyes the differences between the driving ends of the two trains are much more obvious than the differences between the coaches (within each train) and much more important in defining the character of the train.  I wouldn't be happy with the level of compromise that you are (presumable humourously) suggesting.

Reductio ad absurdam - if all models had to have 100% scale fidelity, we wouldn't have any at all. It's just about where you set the bar, for me, if it means no model available then it is too high.

Cheers   jon   

[Karhedron]

I haven't actually voted because I only have one Dapol loco and a sample of one is not valid. I model Era 5 and it's a factory weathered 9F which I think looks great, but it is much more temperamental about negotiating points than my Farish locos

Try loosening the screw that holds the pony truck in place by a quarter of a turn. It should help it steer into points more co-operatively.

[Jack]

I am also one of those who hasn't voted.

Most will go for which ever company produces the model they are after as has been said, but also folk may avoid either company if they have had bad experiences with their products. For example if someone has bought several locos from one and had problems, regardless of how large or small, they may favour the other.

It may also be a case where someone prefers rolling stock from one but locos from the other.

That's my two penance worth away.

[beestie]

I think that  tbh that both makes are becoming too expensive . and whilst their are a number of reasons why . I as a 17 year old have a very slim budget to use , would rather see that farish use some of their older molds to bring out some budget stock , much like hornby railroad . i would spend £45-50 on an older farish 47 that looks like one and runs well . but that is me .   

[EtchedPixels]

I think that  tbh that both makes are becoming too expensive . and whilst their are a number of reasons why . I as a 17 year old have a very slim budget to use , would rather see that farish use some of their older molds to bring out some budget stock , much like hornby railroad . i would spend £45-50 on an older farish 47 that looks like one and runs well . but that is me . 

It is a small market - and there are lots of second hand old 47s available. Prices are going to go up and it may be a bit more like it was in older times where you had to save a long time for a loco. I saved a year for a Hornby Hymek !

Alan (dons the old fart hat)

[beestie]

It is a small market - and there are lots of second hand old 47s available. Prices are going to go up and it may be a bit more like it was in older times where you had to save a long time for a loco. I saved a year for a Hornby Hymek !

very true , but the point i was really trying to to make was . that i have saved in the past , for a couple of locos from both makes and both ran like a bag of nails , however both were steam locos , but also does anyone else think that because its n gauge ,second hand seems to be more than , oo gauge secondhand ?  but yes Alan , i do agree with you . 

[EtchedPixels]

because its n gauge ,second hand seems to be more than , oo gauge secondhand ?  but yes Alan , i do agree with you .

I've always been baffled by the way old second hand N holds its value. Not that I'm complaining as I unload it onto ebay! Some things I can understand - because people collect them or there isn't a modern version. With a lot of the stuff that has modern equivalents it does seem way overpriced to me.

I do think todays expectations have changed though and may well end up going back the other direction. In the 1970s many people modelled small branch lines because they couldn't afford more rolling stock. The giant fiddle yard and discussions about 'can I do 16 track multi-level fiddle yards' didn't happen that often!

Alan

[Parky]

I agree with you EP about second hand gear being bought for crazy prices. My logic now is if you have to pay that much for old stuff then you might as well pay the bit more for a new item that has the new features.

As to the purpose of this post, I do not have allegiance to a single brand but as others state it's what model is desirable.

Coming back into model railways after so many years away it did surprise me the duplication of effort on the 9f's in N and 10000's in OO. I am all for secrecy and competition between companies, but those two examples won no points for either company.

As was mentioned earlier if it was viable to run the original models as a 'Railroad' range then both ends of the market might be covered.
I believe that there was a magazine article recently that suggested that as we don't want to pay top money for our models then we are further back in the production runs. This has always been like other hobbies an expensive one, but we all have our benchmark as to what we think items are worth.