Dapol Announce O&K JHA Hoppers in OO gauge

[Monkersson]

7 minutes ago, martin_l_jones said:

 

I guess return is the only option....

Or replace with a Kadee

[newbryford]

1 hour ago, martin_l_jones said:

 

I guess return is the only option....

 

Return may not be an option if you can't get a replacement because they've sold out.

If you've ever bought kadee couplers, they often include a couple of spare springs that may fit.

[SWT442]

2 hours ago, martin_l_jones said:

Anybody had any issues with the close couplers, the buckeye on one of my wagons seems to be permanently open and fails to couple with the next wagon, looks like there is a brown spring missing which is on all the others. 

 

 

 

Yep. Despite arriving 2 weeks ago, I finally got my rake out tonight for a once over and one was like this. Spring was still in the box fortunately, but it soon pinged out of the tweezers and disappeared into the carpet...

 

I replaced it with a spare spring from a Kadee pack, looks to work fine. It's a faff to get it on though.

 

Andy.

[No Decorum]

3 hours ago, martin_l_jones said:

Anybody had any issues with the close couplers, the buckeye on one of my wagons seems to be permanently open and fails to couple with the next wagon, looks like there is a brown spring missing which is on all the others. 

 

 

Yes, same on one of mine.

[PaulRhB]

To get springs on slide it onto a pin and put wagon end in position. Then hold the outer end with a cocktail stick or similar to compress it slightly and slide out the pin. Rarely ping off doing it that way. 
If you don’t have any Kadees I’d just ask Dapol to send you spare springs, it’s a lot cheaper than you returning the wagon in postage! 

[Tony Walker]

9 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

To get springs on slide it onto a pin and put wagon end in position. Then hold the outer end with a cocktail stick or similar to compress it slightly and slide out the pin. Rarely ping off doing it that way. 
If you don’t have any Kadees I’d just ask Dapol to send you spare springs, it’s a lot cheaper than you returning the wagon in postage! 

 

Or pop the spring on a small flat blade screwdriver and pop it on the one pin, compress the spring to pop it on the other. And yes I had one missing and found it in the box. And yes the Kadee springs will do the job as well, if you loose one.

[SouthernMafia]

I found this on 3 of my wagons but all the springs were present in the boxes. They seemed to be 'stuck' in the box under some sort of static! Easy enough to refit, just do it carefully!

 

Also, ages ago it was mentioned the sides can be taken off, which is certainly the case:

 

If the greys of the main wagon body are the same you could have a mixed fleet and run early livery one side with later livery the other, or have a mix. But I'm not sure they are? Or at least supposed to be, isn't the grey on the early version supposed to be more silver?

[Steadfast]

8 hours ago, SouthernMafia said:

isn't the grey on the early version supposed to be more silver?

Yeah both liveries should be silver, the early livery is a brighter, more reflective silver.

 

I'm just hoping Dapol announce they're shrinking these as they don't look like bad models overall and save a lot of scratch building!

 

I'm tempted to get a 4mm wagon to measure up for graffiti decals. Virtually every wagon in the fleet has been hit!

 

Jo

[No Decorum]

On 10/09/2021 at 00:49, PaulRhB said:

To get springs on slide it onto a pin and put wagon end in position. Then hold the outer end with a cocktail stick or similar to compress it slightly and slide out the pin. Rarely ping off doing it that way. 
If you don’t have any Kadees I’d just ask Dapol to send you spare springs, it’s a lot cheaper than you returning the wagon in postage! 

Thank you for that. I found the spring in the box and put it back using your method. It’s a little concerning because, if the spring can come loose in transit, it means that it come loose in handling. In spite of that, the buckeyes are an excellent idea.

 

Glue is called for. Some of the yellow securing hooks had come loose and were in the box. I tested the ones still in place and found a tendency for both on the same side to be loose. Likewise, a handbrake wheel had come adrift.

 

As Shedmaster has pointed out, the wagons are heavy and very free running, leading to an accident which is no-one’s fault but my own. They are rock steady with no wobble and are very stately in motion. The tail lamp may not work exactly as it should but the arrangement of touching the wagon to turn it on and off is highly ingenious. No messing with batteries or magnets!

 

As martin_i_jones has already said, Dapol is excellent at producing a rake with different running numbers (a fetish of mine), following with more later. A perfect compromise – easier on the wallet than a whole train at once. However, herein lies a problem. I pre-ordered two outers and six inners in the first livery, which I thought would make a decent train. Two of my inners haven’t arrived yet but one which did was in the later livery. I checked (I always try to check before going off half-cock – it can save embarrassment) and found that the reference number was what I had ordered. It seems that minds have been changed somewhere during the production process. This is borne out by the running numbers of the end wagons not being the same as when I originally ordered. A quick glance at some retailers’ sites seems to indicate that they haven’t picked up the changes either. The two pre-ordered which haven’t arrived yet have reference numbers between the original and revised liveries. I wonder which liveries they’ll be in. Go on, Dapol, surprise me! 

 

In spite of the niggles, I think the word I would use to describe these wagons is “magnificent”. Dapol seems to do modern wagons (i.e. those use in block trains) extremely well.

[The Pilotman]

5 hours ago, Steadfast said:

I'm just hoping Dapol announce they're shrinking these as they don't look like bad models overall and save a lot of scratch building!

And as if by magic….

 

[Steadfast]

5 hours ago, Western Aviator said:

And as if by magic….

 

Sweeeeeeeeet!

 

Jo

[Geordielad]

I had two brand new unopened HJA with spring missing both returned for replacement. I ordered 7 the remaining 5 uncouple when running. There is a pocket below the knuckle coupling but I cannot find socket that fits the pocket, I have a pack ofBachmann sockets and tension locks but the socket is too big to fit the Dapol HJA pocket. Anyone any ideas about what would fit this?

Edited September 12, 2021 by Geordielad

[rembrow]

On 09/09/2021 at 20:34, martin_l_jones said:

Anybody had any issues with the close couplers, the buckeye on one of my wagons seems to be permanently open and fails to couple with the next wagon, looks like there is a brown spring missing which is on all the others. 

 

 

Thanks for the info. All of my four inners had one spring displaced, and in each case it was the end with the spring facing the rear of the box. All springs were still in the plastic casing and I've managed to refit. The problem seems to be that the locator at one end is just a pip, whereas at the knuckle end it is a longer rod, so they can pop off the pip.

[Steadfast]

Could a small dab of superglue to retain the spring on the small pip be a fix?

It works on the Dapol N scale NEM Buckeyes which are also prone to shedding springs

 

Jo

[rembrow]

1 hour ago, Steadfast said:

Could a small dab of superglue to retain the spring on the small pip be a fix?

It works on the Dapol N scale NEM Buckeyes which are also prone to shedding springs

 

Jo

Yes, I think so, I finished putting the springs back about 11pm last night so decided to leave attempts to fix the spring until today. Will need to be careful as will need to avoid getting glue into the coils, as that will affect it's ability to flex.

[Mike Harvey]

37 minutes ago, rembrow said:

Yes, I think so, I finished putting the springs back about 11pm last night so decided to leave attempts to fix the spring until today. Will need to be careful as will need to avoid getting glue into the coils, as that will affect it's ability to flex.

I found that a tiny dab of clear varnish on one end was enough to eliminate the spring fling on the N couplers.

[Brian Hawkins]

Did the O&K JHA's ever run together in the old and new liveries ?

[lyneux]

7 minutes ago, Brian Hawkins said:

Did the O&K JHA's ever run together in the old and new liveries ?

 

This has already been answered at least three times in this thread!

 

The answer is: yes, for a limited period when the liveries were changed.

 

Guy

[The Pilotman]

8 minutes ago, Brian Hawkins said:

Did the O&K JHA's ever run together in the old and new liveries ?

Yes, but not for long apparently. See the post by @Steadfast posted on August 20th above.

[lyneux]

My stash arrived at the end of last week from Rainbow Railways (thanks Mark, Colin and Mike!).

 

They look good next to my Intercity Models kits which I intend to paint to match.

 

Jo, I reckon that the colours look spot on. I think Rails and Hatton’s photos make them look a bit lighter than they should be (overexposed studio shots).

 

Note how the hopper doors don't extend quite as low on the Dapol ones.... will hunt for pics/drawings of the prototype to compare against.

 

Cheers,

 

Guy

Edited September 13, 2021 by lyneux

[Brian Hawkins]

6 minutes ago, lyneux said:

 

This has already been answered at least three times in this thread!

 

The answer is: yes, for a limited period when the liveries were changed.

 

Guy

Thank you and sorry i missed the posts on this, looks as if i'll have to add a couple of the original ones to my five  later versions then.

[Steadfast]

12 minutes ago, lyneux said:

Jo, I reckon that the colours look spot on. I think Rails and Hatton’s photos make them look a bit lighter than they should be (overexposed studio shots).

Yeah that blue looks good, Guy.

The goldmine of Flickr gives some nice customisation options.

Faded decals?

Time to chuck a load of stone dirt all over them?

 

 

Jo

[adb968008]

4 hours ago, Steadfast said:

 

I guess its a bit of a red car day in Reading that day ?,

just seeing red, special offer on Red or Red for Reading ?

[rembrow]

10 hours ago, rembrow said:

Yes, I think so, I finished putting the springs back about 11pm last night so decided to leave attempts to fix the spring until today. Will need to be careful as will need to avoid getting glue into the coils, as that will affect it's ability to flex.

Have now fixed the springs on 3 of my 4 inners. I found that it helps to take the bogies off to give more room and to push the buckeye to the right using the cam that is under the bogie. Then applied superglue using a pin, running around the base at the 'pip' end furthest from the buckeye. Seems to be working and the couplings are opening ok.

[ERIC ALLTORQUE]

I guess this coupling issue may have something to do with the ship hitting the side of the canal,depends on where the container was on ship,just seems strange so many having same issue.