EM1 & EM2 Woodhead Electrics

[John Tomlinson]

 

There's a model from the history books! I only ever saw ones on display stands, the EM gauge people had them IIRC, not common presumably due to the £500-600 price tag, and the reported problem of traversing curves under 6ft radius.

 

One thing I've wondered however, is how accurate they actually were. The data used by Bachmann came from notebooks of a member of staff at Derby who recorded all the detailed adjustments to these two prototypes, and subsequently the information appeared publicly in the Wild Swan LMS loco series volumes. However this was somewhat after the FIA models were produced, so their basis is presumably the inaccurate data available prior to the notebooks appearing?

 

Must admit, I'm not planning on buying a FIA one to check...!

 

The price tag you quote is inaccurate and far too high. They were £400 new and I suspect would sell today for £250 + roughly.The first examples did have track holding problems but later ones are easily able to cope with 3 ft. radius.Accuracy ? Well I have to say it does it for me in spades. Then of course so does the Rails/Bachmann variant .....which be well aware is not cheap.

 

In performance it's Bachmann standard motor v Canon. No contest. There were other sources of information and I'd be happy if you would substantiate that the FIA trains were built to inaccurate data as you hypothesise.

 

John.

 

Sounds as if I've touched a nerve there Ian, if so it wasn't intended.

 

A quick search on Google suggests an original selling price of £479.99. So a bit less than my memory recalled, but still quite a lot in 2007-08.

 

My post was a question, hence the question mark at the end of the second paragraph, and no I've actually no intention of answering it myself as I don't intend to buy one and do the detailed checking. The question was simply to seek out if anyone else had done so, which I thought was part of the role of forums such as this.

 

I'm glad that you're obviously so pleased with yours and that it has given you pleasure. For what its worth I have the Bachmann one in post 1956 lined green with which I'm also delighted, just wish they'd do the other to make a pair!

 

John.

[73080]

 

There's a model from the history books! I only ever saw ones on display stands, the EM gauge people had them IIRC, not common presumably due to the £500-600 price tag, and the reported problem of traversing curves under 6ft radius.

 

One thing I've wondered however, is how accurate they actually were. The data used by Bachmann came from notebooks of a member of staff at Derby who recorded all the detailed adjustments to these two prototypes, and subsequently the information appeared publicly in the Wild Swan LMS loco series volumes. However this was somewhat after the FIA models were produced, so their basis is presumably the inaccurate data available prior to the notebooks appearing?

 

Must admit, I'm not planning on buying a FIA one to check...!

 

The price tag you quote is inaccurate and far too high. They were £400 new and I suspect would sell today for £250 + roughly.The first examples did have track holding problems but later ones are easily able to cope with 3 ft. radius.Accuracy ? Well I have to say it does it for me in spades. Then of course so does the Rails/Bachmann variant .....which be well aware is not cheap.

 

In performance it's Bachmann standard motor v Canon. No contest. There were other sources of information and I'd be happy if you would substantiate that the FIA trains were built to inaccurate data as you hypothesise.

 

John.

 

A pair of FIA 10000 & 10001 sold at auction yesterday (Anthony Adler collection) for £399.50 including 17.5% buyer's premium.

[jjb1970]

The FIA models were made by Ajin in South Korea. Ajin have manufactured models for some of the world’s greatest model companies, they were the producer for Overland Models for many years. Along with companies like Samhongsa, Fujiyama, Mizuno, Tenshodo etc they are one of the great names of brass models. They worked to a standard of finish and detail which was truly exceptional and made any plastic RTR I’ve ever seen look rather ordinary. They were never cheap models, but considering you were getting what was in effect a batch produced high end brass kit professionally made, painted and finished to astonishingly high standards then the prices weren’t outlandish IMO. I collect these models, and if you keep an eye on EBay and brass websites you see some bargains, although that still means you should expect to pay more than for a typical plastic RTR model. I found that once I picked up a taste for these models then nothing else is quite like them and they’re almost addictive. Most of the great European brass names (such as Fulgurex, Lemaco) source their models from these Asian manufacturers too.

[GoingUnderground]

A Shortened LMS 10001 by Bachmann

IIRC, the bogies on the EM2 used the same design as 10001, so very appropriate.

 

I replaced the pans on my Olivias/Heljan EM1 with the Mike Edge ones, and it ran "under the wires" with its pans up on Deepcar at Model Rail 2013 at Newark Showground. Whilst I say so myself, it looked rather good. Judge for yourself as it's in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cISKPG8W_PY at 2 minutes, and here at the start https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ARED-FfySc, I miss Deepcar. 

 

But I do agree that the EM2 wasn't as good as the Triang version, the cab side windows were wrong, a disappointment.

[Culmhead]

Having admired the EM1 and EM2 loco's from my classroom window and later the EM1's at Rotherwood, Sheffield Victoria, Guide bridge and Reddish,etc, I was really looking forward to these releases and quite prepared to pay the relatively high price (at the time). However, they were such a disappointment, I didn't buy any. That will still be the case, unless the price drops considerably so to as justify the additional costs of getting the models half decent. In the meantime, my Tri-ang EM2's (one of which I have had for over 50 years), that IMHO capture the prototype exceptionally well and continue to serve me well.

 

Cheers,

Aidan

[jjb1970]

If you keep an eye open the Philotrain HO model can be found from time to time however only a tiny number were made in BR livery. Expensive but lovely.

[The Ghost of IKB]

If you keep an eye open the Philotrain HO model can be found from time to time however only a tiny number were made in BR livery. Expensive but lovely.

And for almost everybody here who model british railways, the completely wrong scale, so apart from making a very pretty ornament, completely useless

[jjb1970]

And for almost everybody here who model british railways, the completely wrong scale, so apart from making a very pretty ornament, completely useless

 

Maybe so, but for anybody that really loves the EM2 there is unlikely to be a nicer model made.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

If they ever end up in hattons bargain bin at £70 ...

 ...they will evaporate like the dew off the grass in summer, because folk like me will throw the Heljan body away and pop their old Triang EM2 body (with long ago clapped out mechanism) on top. Much easier than using the centre motor drive parts in my 'to do' pile to build a bespoke drive.

[jjb1970]

I've only ever seen thePhilotrain NS 1500, it's a wonderful model. When you see the standards of finish achieved by companies like Philotrain, Lemaco, Fulgurex, Overland, Micro Metakit, Tenshodo etc it puts some of the frothing into perspective.