Some snippets from Dapol's open day 2019

Les1952 · September 21, 2019, 11:23:56 PM

Others will expand but I can report the following announcements etc.

Holdups in China with a lot of the current projects in all scales seem to be related to electronic issues. Given the fun manufacturers (not JUST Dapol and DJModels) have been having with self igniting circuit boards and other such issues why am I not surprised?

1. The HST prototype EP was running for everyone to gawp at, even though the young man running it seemed reluctant to slow it enough to get a decent photo. It was pulling at least one of the retooled Mark 3 PROTOTYPE coaches.

2. There will be at least 3 varieties of coach to go with the power cars. Tooling the difference took longer than they thought BUT has allowed some scope for making versions of Mark 3s with doors modified by more recent users of them. Currently they are waiting the decorated samples to arrive.

3. High Window Maunsell coaches are awaiting deco samples. Best estimate is mid 2020.

4. Mark 3 sleepers- the holdup with these has been to allow for extra liveries to be made. The decorated samples are due in 4 to 6 weeks. Apart from the extra liveries the big change is that they will be UNNUMBERED with decal sheets to allow people to make their own rakes and to make running more liveries more financially viable. There was an unpainted sample on display - it may have been going round with the two HST power cars but my picture wasn't distinctive enough.

5. The Bulleid is back in the active list but nothing further was said.

6. The M7 is back in the frame with a new DCC ready chassis being worked on for it.

Apart from that there seemed to be a huge number of NQP Britannias for sale and very few diesels, though I did get a pair of defective Class 33s which might make good ones using parts I have in stock from one I dropped breaking the main frame....

One other snippet was that there is now a CAD apprentice at Chirk with a view to doing a lot more CAD at the factory rather than subcontracting it to China.

Les

njee20 · September 21, 2019, 11:45:51 PM

Interesting. Which new liveries on the sleepers? Not sure I can why having them unnumbered makes them more viable, people can double up on running numbers and renumber if they're that bothered. I imagine 90% will never see numbers fitted!

woodbury22uk · September 22, 2019, 01:23:07 AM

Quote from: njee20 on September 21, 2019, 11:45:51 PM
Interesting. Which new liveries on the sleepers? Not sure I can why having them unnumbered makes them more viable, people can double up on running numbers and renumber if they're that bothered. I imagine 90% will never see numbers fitted!

Probably saves on production cost and time. Fewer catalogue numbers, fewer box labels, fewer tampo passes, less QC to get same number both sides and in the correct box. Fewer complaints about the exact detail of the livery not matching the exact number on a particular date.. :-). Agree that most will not get numbered, and every forum will have its regular question about whether the livery is right for a particular number in a particular train on a particular date..

Good news on the HSDT prototype, and the possibility that the sliding door Mk3s might be coming.

Intercity · September 22, 2019, 03:55:14 AM

Would liked to have seen the missing pretendolino coach tooled or more buffets to have correct rakes, but the sleeper is certainly one to catch the eye, should be able to have a lowland and highland rake with revolution doing the mk5s and the 92 on the way.

Hopefully they won't take as long as the nodding donkey too to get on the shelves

njee20 · September 22, 2019, 06:38:46 AM

Still can't get the mk2s for the Caledonian Sleeper though.

crewearpley40 · September 22, 2019, 06:54:32 AM

You may have to do any converting, vinyl work! Yourself sadly. Could be an interesting model

njee20 · September 22, 2019, 07:32:16 AM

The problem there is that vinyled coaches look odd against factory painted. The vinyls are excellent though, I've done several sets of Caledonian Sleepers.

Perhaps in the fullness of time Farish will do the appropriate mk2s, but I'm not holding my breath!

leachsprite4 · September 22, 2019, 08:06:31 AM

That is good to hear about the m7, hopefully the small prairie wil get similar treatment.

On the battle of Britain/west country, this isn't really news as on the face of it it's a repeat from 1 October last year. If anything it's bad news as last year dapol said it was at CAD stage with the model expected early 2020. To me it's somewhat disappointing.

The decorated samples of the maunsells have been waited for since march 19.

The above dates were taken from the dapol catalogue or digest pages of their website.

Very pleased to hear about the CAD apprentice being appointed.

Graham

Capri_sam · September 22, 2019, 08:25:51 AM

I'd be very happy to see a retooled m7 chassis with room for a chip, hopefully with either a touch more weight or a traction tyre and stay alive combination. They are my favourite N gauge loco, very charming and actually run very smoothly on DCC, but they are hopeless under load! I've had to bullfrog snot all of mine to get them to take more than two maunsells up the hill.

On the other hand, the BB is bad news. Maybe with the class 50 off the blocks it'll get some attention, I'm hoping it's not just another land grab.

leachsprite4 · September 22, 2019, 08:55:46 AM

The BoB "land grab" happened in at latest 2012 was put on hold circa 2016 for fresh start which was announced in 2018.

Graham

Capri_sam · September 22, 2019, 09:28:16 AM

Quote from: leachsprite4 on September 22, 2019, 08:55:46 AM
The BoB "land grab" happened in at latest 2012 was put on hold circa 2016 for fresh start which was announced in 2018.

Graham

Hi Graham,

Yes I remember, probably one of the longest running n gauge projects all in! I'm more concerned that it was only restarted to keep their territory claimed with no real intent of progressing, which from the outside appears to be the case. I don't like suspecting that; I'm a big fan of Dapol but it *should* be a relatively easy project - simple valve gear and overall shape, very well documented plans, plenty of space for any and all electronics... A spam can shouldn't be a tough project and if Dapol weren't on it, it would be an ideal candidate for Farish, Sonic/RevolutioN or even Union Mills if Colin fancied a valve gear challenge.

leachsprite4 · September 22, 2019, 09:41:23 AM

I dont disagree.

Les1952 · September 22, 2019, 09:57:36 AM

Quote from: leachsprite4 on September 22, 2019, 08:06:31 AM
That is good to hear about the m7, hopefully the small prairie wil get similar treatment.

On the battle of Britain/west country, this isn't really news as on the face of it it's a repeat from 1 October last year. If anything it's bad news as last year dapol said it was at CAD stage with the model expected early 2020. To me it's somewhat disappointing.

The decorated samples of the maunsells have been waited for since march 19.

The above dates were taken from the dapol catalogue or digest pages of their website.

Very pleased to hear about the CAD apprentice being appointed.

Graham

It is intended to revisit all of the early locos one at a time AFTER the M7. Note the phrase one at a time.

There was no announcement as to WHERE the BoB was in its production stages, but the new mechanism was completely different from anything Dapol (or as far as I'm aware anyone else) as done before, so it will take time to get it right. In OO and O the new push-fit sound has taken a long time to develop, and Andy commented that getting the Chinese to understand what is wanted on something completely new was not easy. The new boards in OO and O are also completely revolutionary. You open the smokebox door, slide the circuit board out along its runners, plug in the chip AND SPEAKER (the sugar cube is just held in place under a clip-fit housing) and slide the board back. No solddring, not even a screwdriver needed. It engages with a socket at the far end in the same was as a 6-pin decoder. Andy demonstrated fitting sound into a 14xx in under two minutes. Getting this concept across to the manufacturer and then WORKING samples back has taken a lot of time. The upgrade to the BoB is at least as complex to explain to the manufacturer.

Part of putting things on hold was to secure Dapol's financial position at the time. With the demise of DJModels I think we can all see what happens when a manufacturer takes on more projects than they are financially able to deliver.

Lastly on "land grabs" - when are we going to see the promised Farish J72? Not at all now as Bachmann now claim it is technically beyond them.

Les

Paddy · September 22, 2019, 10:30:24 AM

Did they give any indication on how successful the Class 50 has been for them? I have one coming for my birthday next month (Rule 1) and I am looking forward to seeing how it runs etc. This will be my first Dapol loco purchase in a long time as I have not had a huge amount of success in the past. Good news they are planning to upgrade some of their older locomotives - great scope here to improve running, add DCC and overall build quality.

Kind regards

Paddy

Bealman · September 22, 2019, 10:33:37 AM

Yeah, the M7 upgrade is of interest to me.