Hi Gang;
Just announced on FB...
http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=information%2Fnews&news_id=47#.Ue_3m6xdBNF (http://dapol.co.uk/index.php?route=information%2Fnews&news_id=47#.Ue_3m6xdBNF)
Now that should generate some discussion!!!
Later;
STU from EGDL
Mmmm did he jump or was he pushed??
Whilst I've always found him very personable, he can generate a lot of, erm how do I put it, differences of opinions, I think that's the best way to put it.
Regards
Neal.
I saw the announcement on Facebook. His departure is a massive loss to Dapol and I will be very sorry to see him go. While I wish him all the best for the future it would have been nice if he could have stayed on and said goodbye at TINGS.
Quote from: Calnefoxile on July 24, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Mmmm did he jump or was he pushed??
Wonder if he's gone to Bachmann or Hornby or something like that!
Quote from: Calnefoxile on July 24, 2013, 04:56:36 PM
Mmmm did he jump or was he pushed??
Or made an offer he couldn't refuse.
H.
Who knows
Dave knows!
;)
Poor guy, I know how he feels being in front of all them customers although I shouldn't feel sorry for him. I wish him the best for the future. Good luck Dave.
Anyone else think Dapol will look closely at the name for the new man/woman. Dapol Cuthbert wouldn't have the same ring to it :D
Quote from: mereman on July 24, 2013, 08:49:44 PM
Anyone else think Dapol will look closely at the name for the new man/woman. Dapol Cuthbert wouldn't have the same ring to it :D
Chirk Charlie would be OK :D
Its a sad day for DAPOL and particularly for N gauge.
Whilst his personality has sometimes polarised peoples opinions, he put a hell of a lot of time and effort into his role and the list of products we have now gives you some idea of the workload he has been responsible for.
I don't think for a minute that we have seen the last of Dave, but i imagine he will be glad for a rest!
He has been an excellent front man, Jo public is a bloody hard animal to please and has taken the flack but not always the credit for the quantum leap we have had in the last few years. It hasn't been without its problems, which are well documented across the net but hell we used to wait a whole Preston Guild before a new N gauge product was released, how short our memories can be sometimes.
I wish him well and it will be a hard act to follow. That said, the majority of stuff we all wanted we now have!
I concur with Dr Deltic. Dave will be greatly missed by Dapol, I don't think his passion was fully recognised. Equally I don't think people realised how petty some of their comments and veiled abuse had become.
I tried to speak to him on several occaisions during the DEMU Showcase at Burton. On each visit he was being harangued over some minor detail in supply or fidelity to prototype and, standing back, I felt DJ considered he'd had quite enough. It comes as no surprise to me to learn that he is moving on, nor his comments about any replacement will require a thick skin.
I see that there may be some sort of announcement from Dave at TINGS regarding his future escapades and I for one will always look out for any project which has been influenced by Dave. Sadly, I suspect we may be be enjoying the heyday of Dapol in N Gauge and their positive influence on other producers. I hope to be proved wrong.
Good luck Dave, thanks for all the N Gauge!
Steve
+1 Dr Deltic
Sad news indeed, Dapol's loss.
I always thought that it was brave of Dave to put his head up above the parapet,
how many other manufs/companies do similar?
poor Dave's problem was - only one of him and too many hounds at the gates. e pluribus unum.
Edit PS :
When I first came across "Dapol Dave" I thort it most likely a pseudo for a pr department, sadly it became clear that it was one guy with limited time & resources :(
I too think that Dave leaving Dapol will be a massive loss to Dapol.It will be particularly difficult to employ someone with his knowledge and enthusiasm for model railways and the prototype.I believe that he may have been in his dream job and after having read his regular contributions on RMWeb,he is a true model railway enthusiast with a preference for n gauge.Only a few months ago he was saying that having seen Farish's new Deltic,he might have to buy a set of 22.Now thats not a model railway enthusiast is it?
Anyway,I have spoken to him a few times,the last time was at Wigan and always found him very personable,even after he was clearly starting to lose the will to live.
So i say good luck Dave,whatever and where ever you are moving to and don't forget that we appreciate your enduring us and our complaints.Heck,why not even become a member here?
Pete
:Class31: :Class37: :NGaugersRule:
Hello just been on ngauge yahoo and seen that Dave Jones is leaving Dapol at the end of august onto pastures new a lot of speculation as to his future just hope that he stays involved with ngauge as we have a lot to thank him for
Geoff
Will be sad to loose him, I have had many helpful questions answered by him :thankyousign:.
I hope they find someone to replace him at dapol who is as involved as he has been.
It is a sad loss and I hope that dapol find someone who can do the job as good as Dave did.
Otherwise I fear dapol could slowly go down hill.
Had no idea who "Dapol Dave" was when I first saw this thread, but it seems from the replies he was quite an asset to Dapol. Just hope the quality and momentum of releases doesn't suffer because of his departure :-\
Paul
Quote from: Sprintex on July 28, 2013, 02:57:55 PM
Had no idea who "Dapol Dave" was when I first saw this thread, but it seems from the replies he was quite an asset to Dapol. Just hope the quality and momentum of releases doesn't suffer because of his departure :-\
Paul
There are some, on other forums, who believe it is down to Dapol Dave as the one who dragged n gauge RTR models up to their current status and quality. As to how much truth is in such a view, I have no idea.
Quote from: Jack9465 on July 28, 2013, 07:23:32 PM
Quote from: Sprintex on July 28, 2013, 02:57:55 PM
Had no idea who "Dapol Dave" was when I first saw this thread, but it seems from the replies he was quite an asset to Dapol. Just hope the quality and momentum of releases doesn't suffer because of his departure :-\
Paul
There are some, on other forums, who believe it is down to Dapol Dave as the one who dragged n gauge RTR models up to their current status and quality. As to how much truth is in such a view, I have no idea.
I would certainly agree that Dapol's arrival on the British "N" scene seven years or so back was probably something of a "wake up call" for Bachmann.
Then Dave arriving at Dapol a couple of years later led to many ongoing incremental improvements to the mechanics of their models (some of the pre-Dave models like the 45xx were pretty ropey!).
As the range developed, he was responsible for delivering some lovely well detailed models, for me the pinnacle of which is without question has been the A3.
Dave has embraced the latest and best of ideas from round the world such as pinpoint axle-end pickup. We have also seen some great innovations which he has been directly responsible for, such as those fantastic working signals, at an incredibly sensible price, lighting for coaches, easi-shunt couplings, all of which have advanced the cause. Within a price-point we find achievable.
All of that has surely furthered the cause of British N and as one who has modelled in the scale for many years am still pinching myself when looking at the quality of what we now have.
I think we must surely therefore have to acknowledge Dave's massive contribution. However to say Bachmmann would have rested on their laurels with the Farish range had none of this happened I think is unlikely, and also unfair on their own very highly though of Chief Designer Colin Allbright. Although a very different character, from my discussions with him is every bit as much of an enthusiast for British N.
Cheers
Roy
Quote from: Roy L S on July 28, 2013, 08:33:19 PM
Then Dave arriving at Dapol a couple of years later led to many ongoing incremental improvements to the mechanics of their models (some of the pre-Dave models like the 45xx were pretty ropey!).
If I remember rightly his first project was the 220 voyager which was the biggest mechanical botch job Dapol ever produced.
Alan
Quote from: EtchedPixels on July 28, 2013, 08:40:18 PM
Quote from: Roy L S on July 28, 2013, 08:33:19 PM
Then Dave arriving at Dapol a couple of years later led to many ongoing incremental improvements to the mechanics of their models (some of the pre-Dave models like the 45xx were pretty ropey!).
If I remember rightly his first project was the 220 voyager which was the biggest mechanical botch job Dapol ever produced.
Alan
Ah, erm, yes, forgot that one, rushed to Market under a cloak of secrecy and totally eclipsed by the Farish product when it arrived.
In some ways.. the Dapol mechanism sucked but the Farish body wasn't great the top speed on the Farish was too low and the couplers pants. Hardly eclipsed IMHO. The good model was the Dapol 221
Quote from: EtchedPixels on July 28, 2013, 09:28:17 PM
In some ways.. the Dapol mechanism sucked but the Farish body wasn't great the top speed on the Farish was too low and the couplers pants. Hardly eclipsed IMHO. The good model was the Dapol 221
I have to admit the finer points of 220s/221s is not really my area of expertise.
My comments were based on my own observations, having seen both running, and the opinions of my Club colleagues and others who have had both variants.
Cheers
Roy
Whoever takes his place will have some big shoes to fill - I always found him friendly, approachable & knowledgeable - my best wishes to him in whatever he does next.
From what I have heard the speculation is that he could be setting up on his own, but that is only hear say. ::)
Quote from: Mr Sprue on July 29, 2013, 09:24:15 AM
From what I have heard the speculation is that he could be setting up on his own, but that is only hear say.
Yep, see: http://s480747971.websitehome.co.uk/ (http://s480747971.websitehome.co.uk/)
H.
What an odd photo on the homepage, looks like he was leaning on something which has been edited out! :hmmm:
WoW!
That is well and truly a slapped down gauntlet if ever I saw one! Watch out Dap's and GraFar!!! :telloff:
;D ;D ;D
Quote from: H on August 16, 2013, 10:35:22 PM
Quote from: Mr Sprue on July 29, 2013, 09:24:15 AM
From what I have heard the speculation is that he could be setting up on his own, but that is only hear say.
Yep, see: http://s480747971.websitehome.co.uk/ (http://s480747971.websitehome.co.uk/)
H.
Correct H as posted here : http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=15826.msg157002#msg157002 (http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=15826.msg157002#msg157002) at 09:45:30 PM ! ;)
Quote from: njee20 on August 16, 2013, 11:04:12 PM
What an odd photo on the homepage, looks like he was leaning on something which has been edited out! :hmmm:
It looks like he's got an invisible midget locked in a wrestling move called the 'Full Nelson'
Former WWF and current WWE fans will know what I mean :smiley-laughing:
Dave Jones is taking on a tall order but good luck to him though. How many of us has dreamed of owning our model railway manufacturer.
But I had to read his web page twice as I think he means about after sales service and stuff, I can't see how 1 man can compete with bachfar with the manufacturing side of things. Also I'm more than happy with my last 2 purchases of Graham Farish locos so I can't see how things can be improved.
I'm certainly no expert though but I will be following DJ Models
Ps He doesn't mention the N Gauge Forum but RMweb whoever they are :P
Or it may all be a hoax :D
Quote from: Agrafarfan on August 16, 2013, 11:25:34 PM
Ps He doesn't mention the N Gauge Forum but RMweb whoever they are :P
RMweb? I have visited that forum many times and I personally fail to see the fascination??
Run by a dictator whom is a commercially controlled puppet. Pretty grim part of the web in my books........
Good luck to ExDapol Dave if he's gonna ply his new found company there.......
Quote from: EtchedPixels on August 16, 2013, 11:29:04 PM
Or it may all be a hoax :D
I Doubt it Alan. April the 1st has already passed! :D
Hi all,
Might of been mentioned as this topic on two threads but I think DJ Models is a bad idea for a name. Put ' trains' in there somewhere.
If you tried to access LS Models site (who do N gauge Belgian and French stuff) there are WARNINGS as it is also some Romanian under age sex site.
DJ Models ! :)
off topic, but re
If you tried to access LS Models site (who do N gauge Belgian and French stuff) there are WARNINGS as it is also some Romanian under age sex site.
The NGS site was blocked by the filters at work at one time - for sexualy content :smiley-laughing:
Yep, NGF is blocked on our work firewall too, no idea why!
Quote from: njee20 on August 17, 2013, 12:06:45 AM
Yep, NGF is blocked on our work firewall too, no idea why!
Not golf lovers!
http://www.ngf.org/ (http://www.ngf.org/)
PS. Don't know anything about this guy but good luck to him in his venture.
Quote from: weave on August 17, 2013, 12:15:51 AM
Quote from: njee20 on August 17, 2013, 12:06:45 AM
Yep, NGF is blocked on our work firewall too, no idea why!
Not golf lovers!
http://www.ngf.org/ (http://www.ngf.org/)
PS. Don't know anything about this guy but good luck to him in his venture.
No that's not it, they're an insurance company, a good proportion of business is done on the golf course!
Most of the pages on that site seem to return errors, clearly still a work in progress, who's the sleuth who uncovered it!?
Hope Mr. Jones has a sense of humour or he'll be sticking with rmWEB (whatever that is! :D) and wouldn't go to the best site ever with a bargepole! :NGF:
Quote from: Agrafarfan on August 16, 2013, 11:25:34 PM
Dave Jones is taking on a tall order but good luck to him though. How many of us has dreamed of owning our model railway manufacturer.
Don't forget that Dave Jones has been here once before, before he joined Dapol he had a company called N'thusiast Resprays, and he supplied kits as well as doing his resprays. One of his kits was a Tamper, which actually was very good and I hope he re-releases this as I think that is one model that is very sorely missed in British N, although Bachmann do/did produce one in HO, I wonder if they would consider shrinking it to 1:148 :hmmm: :hmmm:
Regards
Neal.
Quote from: Calnefoxile on August 17, 2013, 12:34:46 AM
One of his kits was a Tamper, which actually was very good and I hope he re-releases this as I think that is one model that is very sorely missed in British N,
Yep, a very good but fairly complex kit, although I was under the impression that Bernard (of TPM) did the design work for it. I never got mine completely finished and must dig it out and do so;
(http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/348/4wfh.jpg)
H.
I think someone needs to invite Dave to post here.
I lurk on RMWEB and the following is an extract of a post he made there;
"I have big exciting plans now which will be announced on Saturday 6th September at the TINGS show at Leamington, and on /in the media and forums on that day."
Quote from: GrahamB on August 17, 2013, 08:50:14 AM
I think someone needs to invite Dave to post here.
I lurk on RMWEB and the following is an extract of a post he made there;
"I have big exciting plans now which will be announced on Saturday 6th September at the TINGS show at Leamington, and on /in the media and forums on that day."
I confess that I'm a frequent visitor to that site also. But what I can't get my head round is the fact that NGF is specifically dedicated and has a huge following with N Gauge, in fact probably more so than RM.
Being overlooked by key people employed at these large companies is very poor PR!
Some folk would deem him no longer a key person and he doesn't work for a big company anymore! :D If he's got his soap box set up on RmWeb then so be it! He most likely has some deal with the site owner in all likelihood. RmWeb is commercially driven due to being owned by rail model press so this would make sense to me as to why he has adopted it as his speaking platform.
NGF is totally independent and owned by Tank not some Railway Model press company! (and with donations and support from it's members this will continue)
Some people, myself included, had problems with Dave when he traded as N'thusiast Resprays - taking money and not delivering the goods. I managed to get my money back eventually, but it was very, very difficult. Several others contacted me who had had the same problem, asking for advice.
I wish him luck with the any venture, but will treat it with great caution.
Quote from: GrahamB on August 17, 2013, 08:50:14 AM
I think someone needs to invite Dave to post here.
I have invited him and Dapol themselves on here a few times, but they aren't interested surprisingly. The same with Bachmann who never even bother replying to emails.
I am also another victim of N'thusiast Resprays who lost money from broken promises.
I wonder if the someone has let the cat out of the bag too early...the DJ Models site is now 100% password protected. :doh:
Quote from: Tank on August 17, 2013, 11:17:13 AM
Quote from: GrahamB on August 17, 2013, 08:50:14 AM
I think someone needs to invite Dave to post here.
I have invited him and Dapol themselves on here a few times, but they aren't interested surprisingly. The same with Bachmann who never even bother replying to emails.
I am also another victim of N'thusiast Resprays who lost money from broken promises.
Also potentially as a site that's not 100% dependent on major advertisers to keep running, the moderation of criticism on the site is purely down to yourself at the end of the day and not swayed by keeping the big advertisers (i.e. Dapol and Bachmann) on side.
While I don't really see anything on NGF that would damage a big company, I doubt they want to get involved in discussions on forums where *any* negativity towards issues they have isn't able to be redacted with a quick email to the mods. (see Dapol's Facebook posts for instance).
From their point of view, they're bringing new members to a site by making it a resource and way of communicating with them. In return they expect all communications to be positive towards them.
Yes, when I last spoke to 'Dapol' about it they were worried about previous threads where they were being 'bashed'. Obviously they would get a few members hounding them if they signed up, but surely that would soon disappear with some good customer service and would encourage others to buy more products if the membership saw for themselves that they are dealing with an approachable company (not that I'm saying that they aren't approachable already)! :)
Dave (or an informant) does read here, I got a snarky PM from Dave pretty sharpish after a comment about Dapol here.
Exactly why any manufacturer looking to be successful long term should be engaging forum users. *Especially* when they feel they're being bashed.
Both Dapol and Bachmann have had some very serious quality control issues. (Bachmann's Tornado for instance and pretty much every Dapol steamer that has more than 6 wheels). They do make some great models and a decent number of them do work, but a lot don't and fail on either basic QC issues that shouldn't have got through or some really bad engineering design choices. All these sort of issues are the sort of thing you want to hear detailed feedback from your customers on (even if they're angry and bashing you) so that you can fix the underlying issues and make better products so that fewer customers have issues with the next release (and hopefully you can resolve some of the issues customers have with the current ones).
If, as a manufacturer, you just stick your head in the sand and go "lalala we're not listening" when customers complain about problems, you'll simply lose customers. It might 'only' be 10% of the current set, but next time you've only got 90% of the customers to sell the next product to. If that one is 10% broken, you're down to 81% and so on.
All the manufacturers that I speak to are generally aware of much of what is said/posted about them (and their products) on most forums and the individuals who perpetuate it. They certainly seem pretty well informed.
I get the impression that it is not so much the negativity that alarms them but the ferocious unpleasant nastiness that some of the comments are delivered with, or the way any explanatory answer is responded to. I guess they also feel that any dialogue would quickly and easily degenerate in to a slanging match that only makes their company look worse, so it's probably better not to engage in the first place.
However, many 'company men/spokespersons' do contribute occasionally on RMweb; Dennis from Bachmann, Dave formally of Dapol, Chris of Model Rail, Steve from BRM, Ben from the NGS, Phil from Hornby Mag, Chris the photographer for many mags, and so on.
H.
Quote from: H on August 17, 2013, 01:05:37 PM
However, many 'company men/spokespersons' do contribute occasionally on RMweb; Dennis from Bachmann, Dave formally of Dapol, Chris of Model Rail, Steve from BRM, Ben from the NGS, Phil from Hornby Mag, Chris the photographer for many mags, and so on.
H.
Grahame,
I agree with this but I think the point being made was, that as an N Gauge manufacturer Dapol & Bachmann have no presence on this, a purely N Gauge, forum.
Regards
Neal.
Quote from: H on August 17, 2013, 01:05:37 PM
I get the impression that it is not so much the negativity that alarms them but the ferocious unpleasant nastiness that some of the comments are delivered with, or the way any explanatory answer is responded to. I guess they also feel that any dialogue would quickly and easily degenerate in to a slanging match that only makes their company look worse, so it's probably better not to engage in the first place.
H.
You are bang on there H, there are members on here who are rude to other members observations, at the end of the day we are a hobbyist forum who help each and one another through there quest for a solution to there problems.
Quote from: Calnefoxile on August 17, 2013, 01:09:24 PM
I agree with this but I think the point being made was, that as an N Gauge manufacturer Dapol & Bachmann have no presence on this, a purely N Gauge, forum.
Yep, but possibly the reason they don't have here is because of as I explained earlier in my post. And, of course, with both Bachmann and Dapol not being just N gauge manufacturers they get a better coverage of all their products (in other scales) on RMweb. No doubt having presence on one forum is more than enough for them.
H.
Quote from: weave on August 16, 2013, 11:54:51 PM
Hi all,
Might of been mentioned as this topic on two threads but I think DJ Models is a bad idea for a name. Put ' trains' in there somewhere.
Or get better filters
Quote
If you tried to access LS Models site (who do N gauge Belgian and French stuff) there are WARNINGS as it is also some Romanian under age sex site.
Careful. Your filters may be deluded but the statement you made is highly defamatory to LS Models. More likely your filters are broken or out of date (most filter software is as you will have noticed useless)
UltimaModels is also fun if you go to the .com not the .co.uk site...
Quote from: njee20 on August 17, 2013, 12:44:05 PM
Dave (or an informant) does read here, I got a snarky PM from Dave pretty sharpish after a comment about Dapol here.
Dave has always kept his eye on forums and has been a member of the ngauge list for years before he joined Dapol. Any vendor wants to keep their ears to the ground to find out what customers think. What they want may be a different matter. Perfectly reliable models at £25 a throw isn't doable :beers:
I think a lot of people forget that many of the folks from the big vendors are modellers and railway people. When not at work the ones I know are as likely as the rest of us to be found assembling kits or building layouts (and in at least one case has also written a book on a railway)
Alan
Quote from: EtchedPixels on August 17, 2013, 02:49:03 PM
Dave has always kept his eye on forums and has been a member of the ngauge list for years before he joined Dapol.
Yep, he was also the moderator on one group back then, although these days he seems to only post on RMweb (as his preferred stage).
H.
Well whatever Dave is doing or going to do I wish him well.
Never met the man but setting up any business in the current negative economy we have is brave indeed!
Good luck! :thumbsup:
Quote from: moogle on August 17, 2013, 04:56:07 PM
Well whatever Dave is doing or going to do I wish him well.
Never met the man but setting up any business in the current negative economy we have is brave indeed!
Good luck! :thumbsup:
I'm not sure I'd agree that the economy WAS negative. My own business has thrived in the last 18 months or so, and I've just enjoyed by busiest (read: most profitable) August in the entire decade of the existence of my business. Admittedly, I don't work in the railway modelling field, but mine is a field that suffers badly if company budgets are tight. Things to me seem to be flourishing quite promisingly.
Quote from: Pete33 on August 17, 2013, 05:52:30 PM
Quote from: moogle on August 17, 2013, 04:56:07 PM
Well whatever Dave is doing or going to do I wish him well.
Never met the man but setting up any business in the current negative economy we have is brave indeed!
Good luck! :thumbsup:
I'm not sure I'd agree that the economy WAS negative. My own business has thrived in the last 18 months or so, and I've just enjoyed by busiest (read: most profitable) August in the entire decade of the existence of my business. Admittedly, I don't work in the railway modelling field, but mine is a field that suffers badly if company budgets are tight. Things to me seem to be flourishing quite promisingly.
:sorrysign: I mean't as in trying to set up a business.
Banks are still quite reluctant to lend to start up businesses. I know as I've looked into this myself.
It depends on what type of business it is of course as to if they'll lend.
And if it happened to be a model shop, like I looked into, you'll be very lucky indeed.
As to business in general, it depends on what your business is as some are still suffering.
Nice to hear yours is doing well.
Anyway, we're :offtopicsign: now, so back to the OP, good luck Dave!
Quote from: moogle on August 17, 2013, 06:44:15 PM
...Banks are still quite reluctant to lend to start up businesses. I know as I've looked into this myself.
It depends on what type of business it is of course as to if they'll lend.
Good point. Mine was a loan-free business, although in those days, getting a loan wouldn't have been difficult. Setting up a shop or similar selling business must be a bit of a nightmare these days. :(
Quote from: captainelectra on August 17, 2013, 11:30:45 AM
I wonder if the someone has let the cat out of the bag too early...the DJ Models site is now 100% password protected. :doh:
:-[
Model business still seems fairly subdued but other businesses I talk to around here seem more positive. Businesses have money (profits up, wages down in real terms) but people don't - or what they have is being spent on more important things than trains - like fixing the car.
Alan
I'm noticing a big upturn in orders. This could be down to the improved vinyls and increase in 4mm stuff. N gauge is certainly a lot more buoyant and we have to thank Dave for giving the UK scene a real kick start.
Quote from: captainelectra on August 18, 2013, 08:24:11 AM
I'm noticing a big upturn in orders. This could be down to the improved vinyls and increase in 4mm stuff. N gauge is certainly a lot more buoyant and we have to thank Dave for giving the UK scene a real kick start.
Thank you, Dave :wave: