Dapol Maroon Gresleys on Sale + Dapol Future Plans

[richard]

Hattons seem to have bought a truck of surplus stock from Dapol:

http://www.ehattons.com/stocklist/new.aspx

Quite a range of stuff on sale. Of LNER note are the Maroon Gresleys from GBP9.00.

They've also announced their future plans. Next year will include single Teak Gresleys with more numbers in 2009-10 if demand is sufficient.
Also in their two year plan ("designed and can be on sale with 90 days notice as economic conditions warrant") is a Thompson B1.

Still waiting for the B17 book sets to be released.


Richard

[richard]

As of today, some retailers are shipping the B17s. Hattons don't list them yet, but I have "Doncaster Rovers" on order from Maurice at Osborns.


Richard

[silver fox]

According to the new catalouge
Grimsby in LNER
and
Hull in BR

Leicester in BR with 6 blue spot fish vans

Plus the teaks
First - 31878
Comp - 32556
Third - 384

[silver fox]

Osborns are shipping, I got the last Darlington book set, sent out today!

[richard]

My Doncaster box set shipped from Osborne's today as well. It looked like Hattons might have sold out of Doncaster pre-orders when I looked a few days ago - the "Pre order now" link was missing but was still present for the Darlington box set.


Richard

[silver fox]

I also preordered Hull too, I'd like the LNER, but with not much available, I've decided to go over to BR, mostly because of the A4 situation, but no sign of the Leicester yet.

[silver fox]

Mine arrived today too, but we were out, I have to collect it monday morning from the Post office now!

[Paul B]

Picked up mine yesterday from John Duttons in Chelmsford - they said they were only going to get one of each of the book set in, so I asked them to put the LNER one aside for me which they most kindly did! And, I was just about to leave to go to the Chelmsford Model Railway exhibition, and they called to say that the book set had arrived! So yesterday was a good day! (If expensive!)

[Atso]

Great news that the Gresley's have come down in price - I've just got four to repaint!

I wish I could afford the B17 box set but unfortunately, in the current climate, my money is tied up with house upgrades and wedding plans so unless someone is feeling generous at Christmas, I'm going to have to go without...

[silver fox]

I'm new to Dapol, so a question, do all the locos come with this odd tender motor, loco drive system, with the drive shaft through the tender and cab?, wouldn't a tender drive be easier, but over Farish, they are 6 wheel drive as aposed 2, and with the coaches, the odd seperate couplings/bogies, which means you can't connect them on a circle of track, or a corner, as the couplings don't turn with the bogies!

[richard]

Yes Dapol tender locos (there have only been three so far) use the tender motor with a drive to the loco. This is considered better, although it can lead to a wider engine-tender gap especially if you intend to run it around really tight 10in curves!

Union Mills go for the tender only drive but I've also seen that kind of design slip. Outside valve gear only makes this more likely.


The couplers should be on the body of a vehicle - not on the bogie. Many modellers here in the US remove the factory fitted bogie couplers and fit body couplers. The result is much more prototypical, although it does restrict the radius on longer wheelbase stock.


Richard

[silver fox]

I notice it being a loud motor compared to the farish V2 running in the opposite direction, and it struggles with 8 coaches + one wagon, where as the V2 has 21 trucks and one tardis (amazing where Dr Who lands these days!)

[silver fox]

Great loco.....as long as you want to only pull the 3 coaches, don't give it 8, and a slight gradient, it struggles on full power, where as the Farish V2 very slightly struggles on slow speed!
I'm supprised it works with the tender and loco not actually connected!, and now I only have Tender pickups too!

[silver fox]

Just thought I'd dig up this post as this is the subject of my rant so to speak!

I have my board (the little one) up and running, it is 5ft by 2 ft, so the end curves and the back most fiddle yard siding are right on the edge.

it is a variant of Easingwold, but I have taken it straight through, and moved the engine shed so I can get power in it, and for the first time I have managed to wire up the points!!! [Thanks to a gaugemaster point control!]

So the biggest siding on the fiddle yard will [just] take 5 coaches and a nice A4 [Special through train!] And this will run through at [very] high speed with no trouble what so ever. Dapol B17 how ever takes a lot of power to get it going at a slow speed, and this is what I want for a slow approach in to the station for a stop, so it sets off crosses a couple of points out of the fiddle yard and rounds the curve, somewhere here the front bogie jumps and at the first set of point [coal drops] it derails. That be darlington, Hull City however suffered much worse, this managed to get all the way round, and as it re-rounded the curve to get back to the fiddle yard, somewhere here [about the same place] it jumps the front bogie, and the driving wheels also jump the rails, but with the motor in the tender it carries on and then falls off [the board] (3ft ish) and the connecting rods come off both wheels and will not go back on.

I don't know what the problem is,
it's not the peco 2nd radius curves as A4s happily take these at speed and v2 also.
It's not the wheel base as again A4 has an extra tailing bogie, and modern class 66 [don't know what this would be [6-6?]

As for the stock I bought 3 Marron gresley at the Malton SShow and they run perfectly!