DAPOL - YOUR THOUGHTS ?

[Dr Al]

  and a pannier which ran superbly to start off with but now has a surging motor when running backwards.  :'(  Good thing it will run mainly forwards as I'm not able to send it back.

Power pickup on the panniers is not good (one of the ones I have was exceptionally bad - stalling repeatedly on straight clean track). I've had to strip two down completely to get them to run reliably, cleaning the phosphor axle bearings and properly setting them in the chassis, as well as cleaning the axles themselves. The lubricant seems to readily make its way into these parts (particularly between the chassis sides and bearings) and really hinders performance, as does the fact the phosphor bearings were often loose in the chassis sides.

I have a third loco on the stack to do the same to.

Cheers,
Alan

[silly moo]

Oh dear! I thought the panniers were one of the better Dapol locos.

[silly moo]

I also wish they'd provide an exploded diagram of the loco like Farish do, I suppose that with the extended guarantee they assume most people will send the locos back for repair and not need to do any tinkering.

Perhaps we can ask the new technical man to consider providing diagrams even if they are just on the website.

[EtchedPixels]

themselves. The lubricant seems to readily make its way into these parts (particularly between the chassis sides and bearings) and really hinders performance,

I'm not surprised it gets in there - it's a tiny gap with two smooth surfaces and most lubricants are designed to make good use of capilliary action to get places. I've not found a good conducting lubricant for N gauge.

Interestingly 2fs has similar problems with the split frame and split axle pick up arrangement and seems to have mostly gone over to adding small phosphor bronze springs to improve pickup.

[Andy T]

Hi everyone hope you all are well ?
I have not really had any problems from Dapol , Apart from a fastline 66 whose light were running
in the opposite direction to which the loco was running    ( Disconnected the lights i can live with that  ) Other than that i am really impressed with the running 

[bees]

Hi there,
I have a fleet of 7 DMU's, 5 on Farish chassis, a Greenmax and a Dapol. My 156 is the second best of the runners, bet you can't guess the best!!
There are 4 which are RTR, the 156, in my opinion, looks the best, although it does have an electrical issue in the dummy vehicle (directional lighting).
What I think does let Dapol down, is the limited runs that they do on each product. I do wish though, when they announce a product is going to be produced that we wouldn't have to wait 4 years and still not see it!!

All In All, I would buy more of there products that suit my era and location!!!

Steven

[GWR-Kris]

What I think does let Dapol down, is the limited runs that they do on each product.

This is due to the way China manufacture and to keep costs down on shipping etc. Alot it is annoying where there is so many B1's up for sale, but can you get hold of the pannier tank in GWR. Not really they sell out in minutues.

I do wish though, when they announce a product is going to be produced that we wouldn't have to wait 4 years and still not see it!!

I do think dapol have their marketing stratagy wrong. When we have been coming close to release of a product we have always done teaser pictures, that show some of the product. Gets people talking about it, trying to guess what it is etc. Then we release the product at the shows. take the class 50 now looks like late 2014, and going by the past history thats earliest 2014.

The one thing I would say to Dapol is stop relasing new products and not delievering them, concentrate what you have espically rolling stock, give us more running numbers for one, when was the last time there was blue/grey coaches for Virgin coaches for sale. I have not seen any in shops.

[bees]

I understand and agree GWR -Kris, i think though, this is something which lets down both Dapol and Farish though, stop concentrating on Loco's, even just for a month, and bring out more rolling stock, especially second class coaches where there is numerous amounts in a train.
Dapol with differing running numbers on second class Blue/Grey and Virgin.
Farish should bring out alot more MkII's, again, mainly TSO's
albeit, after everything i've said, i'd still purchase Dapol over Farish

[red_death]

What I think does let Dapol down, is the limited runs that they do on each product.

So do Farish, just that Dapol's runs are shorter. Farish seem happier/more financially able to sit on stocks in their warehouse whereas Dapol would rather get things sold out so they can use the income.

I do think dapol have their marketing stratagy wrong. When we have been coming close to release of a product we have always done teaser pictures, that show some of the product. Gets people talking about it, trying to guess what it is etc. Then we release the product at the shows. take the class 50 now looks like late 2014, and going by the past history thats earliest 2014.

Unfortunately that isn't unique to Dapol - Farish have been equally guilty.  At least (to date) with Dapol because they showed off the CAD there was a reasonable chance that errors would be spotted and corrected (I know it hasn't happened in all cases).

I do think there is a degree of impatience on the part of some (not necessarily you Kris) - we know development takes a long time, but sometimes it seems as though the end of the world is upon if a model doesn't appear within X months/years. For example the class 50 was announced mid-July 2012, we have seen some CAD so I think your estimate of 2014 is possibly realistic but I wouldn't have expected it earlier anyway (particularly given other delays).

Although it can be frustrating waiting for a signature loco for your layout (a Pendolino and 92 for me!) you either live with what we have, wait or get very (perhaps unnecessarily) frustrated!

Cheers, Mike

Cheers, Mike

[Bealman]

IMHO I think if we take a step back and think about what we put up with from the sixties through to the nineties, I don't think we should be nitpicking about who brings out what and when. I am just grateful and amazed that this stuff appears at all. To me the new products have revitalised N gauge

George.

[CarriageShed]

Whilst I could have a bit of a moan about Dapol's short runs that make the locos that I'd like to get pretty expensive on the second-hand market, the range of locos and rolling stock on offer these days is incredible when I compare it to my first stint in the hobby (late 1970s-early1980s). There are more goodies on offer than I could possibly buy (at least, in the short term), and creating the layout I'm aiming for is entirely possible with relative ease, so overall I'd say I'm a happy bunny. Mind you, I have yet to give any of my locos any serious running time, so reliability issues are something for the future.

[Dock Shunter]

I don't think we should be nitpicking about who brings out what and when. I am just grateful and amazed that this stuff appears at all. To me the new products have revitalised N gauge

George.

Exactly.......
Well said George.....

[EtchedPixels]

The 1970s was certainly a bit different. Manufacturers would introduce a tiny number of new models each year because of the cost of tooling something new back then and the time it took to get the money back.

It took Hornby nearly ten years from the class 47s hitting the rails to the model appearing and even longer to get around to actually producing a DMU.

[CarriageShed]

The 1970s was certainly a bit different. Manufacturers would introduce a tiny number of new models each year because of the cost of tooling something new back then and the time it took to get the money back.

It took Hornby nearly ten years from the class 47s hitting the rails to the model appearing and even longer to get around to actually producing a DMU.

In which case we definitely can't complain about waiting for a couple of years for the forthcoming Maunsell carriages or whatever else it is we're after.

[Dr Al]

I don't think we should be nitpicking about who brings out what and when.

I think nitpicking and suchlike has helped push manufacturers to improve. Without it I doubt we'd have what we do...

Cheers,
Alan