DAPOL - YOUR THOUGHTS ?

[Woolleysh33p]

Hi

Thought I'd start this to see your thoughts about dapol.

They really impressseD me at TINGS today, and had more bargins than dapol.

I bought a B1 from them for £40 which is a great price. Sadly, when I opened it I noticed it was broken. So I took it back today and they swapped it.

Not only did they do that, they gave me a free catalogue and a 100% FREE A3 loco.

They really impressed me, and I must admit, normally I only buy one dapol item at TINGS, but I ended up with 14!

Really impressed with them. Brilliant customer service.

So what are your thoughts?

[scotsoft]

I think you have opened Pandoras Box 

[bigbob]

I was after some spares from them. Spoke to Joel who took my details and said he would send them in the post FOC so we`ll see...........

[porkie]

To be honest ive never had any problems with any of my diesels or electric loco's.

I know that a few members had trouble with circuit board and motor failures.

But my over all opinion is their just as good as farish and to think that they are still newbee's in N gauge.

[OwL]

I think you have opened Pandoras Box 

Now where did I leave my Tin Hat anyone?

[Tank]

As I've said before, I've never had any trouble from any of my Dapol products.  I have many diesels and electric, lovely runners.

[Pete Mc]

I'm in the boat with those that have not had any problems with Dapol diesels.Earlier this year,at Wigan,my only real purchase was a Dapol NMT HST power car and dummy set.Ran it in when I got home and all was well,still is in fact.

At TINGS,I bought another Dapol 156 Sprinter dmu to go with my other one(you can't have enought dmu's)and it too runs as sweet as a nut after oiling and running in.Another Legomanbiffo Loksound v4micro will have to be bougut for it.

I know some other forum members have had bother with their Dapol steamers and some with diesels and electrics as well,I just don't seem to have any at all.I understand that pcb and suppresion componentry can cause problems so before I run mine in,I give it a quick inspection just to check if everything looks ok.

I have had cause to have a look at an A4 loco that the owner tried fixing himself therefore invalidating his warranty but as it turned out to be a motor fault(shorting out when power is applied directly)I couldn't do any more.Shame really,as its a fine looking bit of kit.

Pete

[port perran]

I'm fine with Dapol.
I've got 3 panniers, a class 22 and a Bubblecar (oh and the Ixion/Dapol Manor) and all are absolutely fine.

[K-N-Gauge]

Never had a problem with there locos

[Rowlie]

I have to say never had any issue with any new Dapol locomotive (Steam, Diesel and Electric) that I have purchased.

[Bartercode]

My Dapol problems are with older models - the newer ones are pretty good in my opinion, provided you treat them with respect, of course - just like any N gauge model.

[bluedepot]

very happy with 2x 58s, 1x 56, hst, class 121 and class 156.

less happy with class 73s (but it's an older model)

I just bought a hall, not run it yet though.

overall I like the dapol diesels I have just as much as the farish ones.


tim

[zwilnik]

I've mostly bought Dapol's steam engines as they've really upped the bar on detail (which Farish has started to follow) but had to heavily repair/modify most of the ones I got or just return them for refunds as Dapol's industrial design is so bad and I don't plan to buy any more of them until I hear they've made radical improvements.

Their 0-6-0 engines have been pretty good and look great. (I have a terrier and a pannier tank so far) but they are very light and can only pull 'branch line' type loads. The 14xx I got was abysmal. Way too light and the axles were skewed on the chassis (apparently a lot of them were released this way) making it so it can't even pull its auto coach unless on a perfectly flat strait.

Their tender engines are the worst though. Too light, design issues with the tender connection, lack of clearance from footplate to tender, lack of enough weight to counter the torque of the driveshaft and poor build quality means they don't go around corners, can't pull reasonable length trains and just generally break in my experience.

I do have one Dapol's diesel, the class 22, which I think is great so far.

[Portpatrick]

I have had no quality issues with diesels, a 5 car Voyager, 2 each 66 and 67, and a 156.  On the Ivatt tank I had to slacken the underside keeper plate a quarter turn as the gears were fouling it.  The second hand Terrier is fine.  The Brit is great setting aside silver grey wheels (earlier lcos had black wheels) , though I wish they did not go for that shaft system.  It spoils the cab, restricting ability to add crew.  And they are pigs to put back when they disconnect themselves.  As a design it meant I bought Farish B1s (very nice) and will not replace my Minitrix 9F.  And I will avoid future tender engines except in extremis.

Nearly forgot, the M7 has been great, and is fine with a 12 wagon milk train.  Now converted into a Caley loco.

A colleague is hoping to get one of the LT panniers for me.  Used to pass them at Neasden on my way by Met line to school.

[Chris]

The only issue I've had with Dapol locos is lighting wires breaking. Had a few of these but all in all they have been nice runners, with the exception of an old tooling 66.