Class 50, Class 59, prototype HST, Battle of Britain will be shelved for now

STEVE44 · March 25, 2017, 06:13:26 PM

Hi, This might have been said but when I spoke to the bloke at the Dapol store at the Warley show, he said that the class 50 would be coming out in September at TINGS. So I thought the tooling was approved a while ago. I'm sure I have seen a prototype model in the Dapol cabinet at the shows. If that was the case the expensive part has been paid for.

Steve44

austinbob · March 25, 2017, 06:19:23 PM

Confused I am.....

njee20 · March 25, 2017, 06:26:22 PM

Quote from: STEVE44 on March 25, 2017, 06:13:26 PM
Hi, This might have been said but when I spoke to the bloke at the Dapol store at the Warley show, he said that the class 50 would be coming out in September at TINGS. So I thought the tooling was approved a while ago. I'm sure I have seen a prototype model in the Dapol cabinet at the shows. If that was the case the expensive part has been paid for.

Nope. There's been a prototype 3D model floating around for ages, but tooling hasn't started. They were still tweaking CADs I think. Definitely not tooled. The party line has changed since Warley.

koyli55002 · March 25, 2017, 06:59:53 PM

And the protestations that they are not pulling out of N gauge have about the same ring as those of a certain football club which exoressed the utmost faith in their manager ?

Sprintex · March 25, 2017, 07:01:27 PM

Quote from: koyli55002 on March 25, 2017, 06:59:53 PM
. . . a certain football club which exoressed the utmost faith in their manager ?

Nope, no idea

Paul

trkilliman · March 25, 2017, 07:34:09 PM

Quote from: silly moo on March 25, 2017, 12:36:40 PM
It's a shame that the new West Country and Battle of Britain classes have been put on hold, I was looking forward to seeing a Dapol loco
without a tender drive shaft and seeing what the new design team were capable of.

I feel the same, as I'm sure many more do.

Rabbitaway · March 25, 2017, 07:46:05 PM

All

I think Dapol are still well into N gauge

Class 68 in tooling

A lot of new HST sets and coaches coming

trkilliman · March 25, 2017, 08:20:05 PM

Quote from: Rabbitaway on March 25, 2017, 07:46:05 PM
All

I think Dapol are still well into N gauge

Class 68 in tooling

A lot of new HST sets and coaches coming

I think Dapol could move out of N gauge, or abandon steam locos that have caused them a few headaches. They could then concentrate on their OO, and particularly O gauge that seems to be gathering momentum and popularity.

Newportnobby · March 25, 2017, 09:20:31 PM

Quote from: Sprintex on March 25, 2017, 07:01:27 PM
Quote from: koyli55002 on March 25, 2017, 06:59:53 PM
. . . a certain football club which exoressed the utmost faith in their manager ?

Nope, no idea

Paul

I think that's Leicester City

Snowwolflair · March 25, 2017, 09:32:56 PM

Speaking to two senior people separately at Dapol today the message is nothing is cancelled only delayed until they are economic to produce, or the market can sustain the necessary price in the current market.

They have found that N products are always left in the warehouse where as O and OO fly off the shelves, therefore the capital tied up in unsold stock is considerable and they cannot afford it, or at least need to limit it.

NB they were selling GWR Manors for £35 today due to overstock - I just happened to buy three

koyli55002 · March 26, 2017, 06:49:21 AM

Did anyone get to Ally Pally ?
Report on another forum states that Dapol were having a "fire sale" of their N gauge range at half price or less, whilst having a showcase full of OO and O gauge.
If anyone did go, was there ANY N gauge in the showcase at all ?

I would have thought that the samples of those "continuing" N Gauge projects would have been in there somewhere.

NeMo · March 26, 2017, 08:01:56 AM

Quote from: koyli55002 on March 26, 2017, 06:49:21 AM
Report on another forum states that Dapol were having a "fire sale" of their N gauge range at half price or less, whilst having a showcase full of OO and O gauge.

Absolutely not true. There's a Bargain Basement thread on what they had there; nothing out of the ordinary that you don't see on their monthly sales or the DCC 'less than perfect' bargain rail. So pannier tanks at £50 is nice, but hardly half price, and the £70 'Westerns' have been available for months, off and on.

As I've said elsewhere, you can't fault Dapol for promoting relatively new ranges (like the O stuff) that's making them a good return on investment. On the other hand, for a very small company, you could argue their lack of focus -- or put another way, anxiety to focus on the one thing making a healthy profit at the moment -- isn't sensible over the long term. Flexibility is fine, but if they jump from one "bubble" to another, always needing quick returns to stay in profit, sooner or later they'll make the wrong move. I find it hard to see how a small company like Dapol can develop good quality products across three scales simultaneously. But what do I know?!

RMWeb seems to be much less friendly to N gauge than this one, which is one reason I can't be bothered with it. I find that it's a lot like picking up a copy of 'Railway Modeller' and finding all the layouts featured are 00! So while there are some people who make postings there that I like to read, it's very rare I'll see anything there that isn't better and more fairly discussed here.

Cheers, NeMo

njee20 · March 26, 2017, 08:33:39 AM

The post says:

QuoteFire Sale N gauge at Alexandria Palace today whilst showcasing their Lionheart 0 gauage stuff and 00 gauge EPs

Undercutting all their retailers with some uber bargains could be described as a fire sale, even if it's the sort of thing they do at major exhibitions. They also had new samples of O and OO models (including an EP of the 59). What new N gauge models did they show? Seems a wholly accurate statement to me.

RMWeb has a more impartial membership than here just by virtue of its diversity. Some may be anti-n gauge, but most here are anti anything else. It's a specialist forum, to call it fairer to N gauge is a little daft. I suspect you get the discussion you want. RMWeb gives you the market line.

koyli55002 · March 26, 2017, 08:35:48 AM

Thanks for the clarification, Nemo.....thought I would check with someone who had been able to attend.
I have to agree with your thoughts regarding their "focus" too.

Don't get me wrong, folks - I hope Dapol DO stay in N gauge - but the omens don't look too favourable to me.

NeMo · March 26, 2017, 08:51:28 AM

Quote from: njee20 on March 26, 2017, 08:33:39 AM
The post says:
QuoteFire Sale N gauge at Alexandria Palace today whilst showcasing their Lionheart 0 gauage stuff and 00 gauge EPs
Undercutting all their retailers with some uber bargains could be described as a fire sale...

No it can't, @njee20. A "fire sale" is a very specific thing. Originally the sales of goods after the shop or factory burned down, it now specifically means selling off stuff cheaply to create some cashflow and stave off immediate collapse or bankruptcy.

To suggest that Dapol is doing this is, as far as we know, completely wrong.

Cheers, NeMo