I have a farish china class 47 body, and this will NOT fit any of my chassis, all of which are Poole built. Not too concerned about this as I have a Chinese 47 in two-tone green on my shopping list anyway.

Does anyone know the interchangeability of class 52 western bodies?

not sure about the 52s, but you can modify the inside of the china 47 body to fit a poole chassis, i think there are some lugs or vertical strips of plastic on the inside of the body that need filling off. Im sure someone can post a photo to show exactly what needs altering.

Yes, there are two shallow transverse strengthening part-bulkheads in the 47 body which could probably be filed away without weakening it too much. If I don't get my green one (and they do seem to be like hen's teeth), then this is what I will probably end up doing.

Having just bought a blue (small yellow warning panel) class 52 body, I can confirm that Chinese bodies are NOT compatible with Poole chassis. This time it's vertical strengthening ribs that prevent attachment.

So I now have a nice Chinese body with no chassis to fit it, and a good Poole chassis with a rubbish body (the red used on the Poole bodies is far too dark).

This means I now need to go shopping for a Chinese chassis (which might as well have a body on it - replacement red?) and a Poole body (blue, probably).

Quote from: tadpole on April 01, 2011, 08:41:34 AMHaving just bought a blue (small yellow warning panel) class 52 body, I can confirm that Chinese bodies are NOT compatible with Poole chassis. This time it's vertical strengthening ribs that prevent attachment.

AFAIR they are not 'strengthening ribs' but just locators that engage in slots in the chassis block to ensure correct positioning and orientation. You could quite comfortably cut them off from the inside of the body. Not so sure why you'd want to put a new body on an old Poole chassis; the newer Chinese chassis are far better runners. If you're unhappy with the Poole body why not detail it up and repaint it?

H.

My old chassis runs well. I guess I could repaint the body, but new ones are so cheap on eBay (£7.50) I thought I'd try that approach first. At some point I will certainly want a new chassis though, one western is never enough.

Quote from: tadpole on April 09, 2011, 01:35:12 PMI will certainly want a new chassis though, one western is never enough.

Wouldn't you be better off waiting for the all new Dapol version; sounds like it's gonna be a corker and certainly more accurate and more 'western' like than the Farish version.

H.

Quote from: tadpole on April 09, 2011, 01:35:12 PM
My old chassis runs well. I guess I could repaint the body, but new ones are so cheap on eBay (£7.50) I thought I'd try that approach first. At some point I will certainly want a new chassis though, one western is never enough.

  Yes indeed, one Western is never enough! I only have 15 now.  

I agree that if you can keep the old chassis running for a few months, it will be worth seeing what the Dapol is like.  I have one on pre-order and will let y'all know how it looks and runs.   If it's anything like the Dapol 66s I've got it will be a corker.

Thanks, yes, I,ll hold off for now.
I agree there's somthing not quite right about the new farish westerns -cab windows look odd, too small?