bmthtrains' N gauge projects

Its a great shame your having these problems David, I have had some problems with Dapol stock myself, To be fair i have 10 class 73's and they are all fine(touch wood), The 66's are a bit strange, one packed up within hours of purchase, the second really lost power after about twenty hours running but just needed a good clean and the third is absolutely fine, Got two voyagers one powered one dummy, both were ok then all of a sudden one of the driving cars started to short the track and i still don't know why?

 

Graham.

sorry to hear about the issues you've had david. ive got 5 Dapol powered units at present. a 66, a 221 XC and a few 156s. so far the only one i've had issues with is the voyager. it makes a truely horrible noise when going round corners and is generally noisier that all my other locos. Aside from the de-railing issue when i first got my 156s i've had no probs since.

 

 

 

so far, again touch wood, the farish units i have are all fine so far. my experience is that the Dapol models need to be run in well. i had to admit i didnt run in the 221 proper and i guess i've paid the price. it was my first n gauge loco i learned from that lesson though. all my other locos have gotten the proper amount of oiling and runnings before "play time"!!

 

Ryan

 

 

Hi David. You know about my troubles with the Wrexham and Shropshire box set that I recently purchased, but I was shocked at the service I got after returning it. It was absolutely less than satisfactory. I (rather foolishly) purchased mine direct from Dapol (and therefore paid over the odds for it!!!) and when the loco just failed to move... THen when I return it with a letter explaining my disatisfaction and that I would like a refund for the postage costs that I incurred in returning the items, I just get a replacement train set. They ended up sending me back the cheque separately after I had to complain to them via phone. They didn't really seem that bothered that I had had to wait 4 weeks to get a working train and had to make the effort to return it via post.

 

I agree with the fact that the detail is spectacular and I applaud all the work that Dapol have done in moving the N gauge scene forward, but simple things like making sure that customers get a decent working model, responding to their concerns and making them feel valued thing are all important factors in keeping a business viable.

I have had the opposite problems to you. I have had about 25 farish locos and 12 Dapol ones and so far, apart from my first EWS 66 from the first batch (66008) which sounds like a bag of spanners (my own fault i didnt oil it), i have had no problems with any of my Dapol stock and had to send back 6 of my farish ones (2 pre Bachmann and 4 post), and they tried to charge me for each one even though they were recent releases only a couple of months btween Bachmann shipping to customers to me shipping them back.

 

it just shows it really is just the luck of the draw as to wether you get a good one or a bad one, touch wood i will be still be lucky as i have just got my 153's and not got them out yet.

"Am I extremely unlucky? Am I mistreating these models? (They are run in and lubricated exactly as per instruction)."

 

I'm sure not. Dapol simply use poorer quality materials and components, and don't put them together as well IMHO. My 156 runs fine, but is noisy, and did not run fine (intermittent current collection) until I stripped both the bogies down and adjusted the pickup springs so that they actually made contact with the chassis, as well as resoldering two of them which both had dry joints. The light bar did not work either when I installed it, the result of the socket not being soldered to the PCB! This isn't isolated as a friend of mine had the same on theirs.

 

My 221 had wheels with very narrow back to backs which needed adjustment, the 66 would run for 20 mins to 1/2 hour and then start slowing and stuttering (traced back to hideously tight gearing, loose driveshaft mountings (poor design) which I ended up replacing with brass bearings). The 67 sounds like a bag of spanners, needs ear defenders to be run, and is built in such a way that it can't be dismantled (motor seems to be bonded into the block - so how are we meant to do adequate maintenance in 5 years time or whatever Mr Dapol?? ).

 

Steam wise I've had one utterly diabolical ??100 9F that could not do a lap without derailing or stalling, a 45xx that destroyed itself when the quartering went.

 

The only locos I've had that have been reasonably reliable have been the B17s (after some freeing up of one) but like you I fear for their longevity.

 

I'm much more confident in Bachmann's ability to build models than Dapol's and always purchase a Dapol model with trepidation (and care to store the receipt!)

 

Cheers,

Alan

I'm glad its not just me then, but I really have passed the point of no return now. I was interested in the 58, 86 and Pacer, but will now more than likely pass on them, as its just not worth the money!

 

David

i'm sorry to say that I personally have had issues with Dapol locos and their customer service.

 

while working in a model shop, locos sent back most often with issues were Hornby and Dapol