Advice on manufactures.

[Newportnobby]

I do have some Farish diesels which are so quiet they whisper round the layout and I can only tell where they are by the sound of rolling stock clicking over points!

Sounds a very good excuse to go to DCC and sound Mick.   

Yadda Yadda - no way, José

[Chris Morris]

At the moment I have no shelf queens - they are all revenue earners.
The only prime mover that was hopeless was an early GF GWR railcar bought off ebay which now runs wonderfully on a Tomix chassis.

I think Dapol locos tend to be a little more likely to be flakey than GF locos and steam outline are more demanding than diesel outline to get perfect running. Sometimes getting everything working well takes a little effort.

[Bornin1980something]

^Agreed, I think most of the complaints I've heard about running relate to steam locos. With diesels, you can't go far wrong. After all, most have all wheel drive and pickup. That said, I have been disappointed with a Dapol 156. In my case, the main problems seem to stem from the fact that it hates tight curves. That, and bogies falling out. However, I have two smaller Dapol diesels (a 73 and a 26), and they have never given me any problems. As yet, I don't have any conventional diesels from new Farish (post Bachmann takeover), but I have several steam locos and a class 14. They are amazing runners.

I think both Dapol and Bachmann Farish have some problematic early models, particularly steam ones. Dapol, in particular, was a big experimenter, seemingly redesigning everything the most new models.

By the way, what era and type of service are you looking to model?

[railsquid]

As you grow in confidence, secondhand isn't at all bad and might give you the chance to buy something you are less precious about to open up and tinker with if you're so inclined.

Food for thought: good second-hand stuff (sold as a runner from a reputable source) in my experience is actually more reliable than new stuff, at least in my experience, simply because it's survived the QA testing process of being used. To date all the failures I've had are of new locos, the second hand ones (at least those not bought knowingly as non-runners) have so far been fine.

[Mash Can]

Hi Guy's,

I would just like to say thank you for all your replies, it is as I expected, for the most part, there isn't a great difference between manufacturers, you just might pick up a nail if your unlucky, but it's nice to be reassured. Now back to sorting out the layout wiring, I suspect that might bring forth another enquiry.