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Dapol 121 and 122 dmus in O gauge


Hal Nail
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53 minutes ago, F-UnitMad said:

Oldbury Town - true. The 'other' Oldbury was on the main line, now known as Sandwell & Dudley.

Langley Green is spelt correctly, but another odd choice I would have thought - as far as I know, neither it or Oldbury/Sandwell & Dudley have ever been 'terminating' destinations?

Maybe the Heljan designers imagine someone might model a "What if?" layout - what if Oldbury Town had stayed open, & a service similar to the Stourbridge branch had run on it, between it & Langley Green? Say, there's an idea, along with freight to Oldbury Goods, and Albright & Wilsons.... :scratchhead: :mail:  :good:

I note both Stourbridge Town & Stourbridge Junction are provided. :yes:


maybe the Heljan designers might, but this is Dapol. Have they been moonlighting?

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2 hours ago, F-UnitMad said:

Oldbury Town - true. The 'other' Oldbury was on the main line, now known as Sandwell & Dudley.

Langley Green is spelt correctly, but another odd choice I would have thought - as far as I know, neither it or Oldbury/Sandwell & Dudley have ever been 'terminating' destinations?

Maybe the Heljan designers imagine someone might model a "What if?" layout - what if Oldbury Town had stayed open, & a service similar to the Stourbridge branch had run on it, between it & Langley Green? Say, there's an idea, along with freight to Oldbury Goods, and Albright & Wilsons.... :scratchhead: :mail:  :good:

I note both Stourbridge Town & Stourbridge Junction are provided. :yes:

That 'Oldbury' (and Bromford Lane) would have been rather off piste for a Bubble as well as not providing any terminating facilities!

 

I wonder if the Oldbury branch was considered for reopening at some point, leading to inclusion on destination blinds which would then turn up in researching what to provide...an if it was on the reel then why not provide it scenario. There are photos of a Bubble car on the branch, though most likely a special(s) prior to the routes obliteration by the M5 or a working up to the truncated end shortly afterwards.

 

Old Hill would be doable as a relatively obscure terminus for that vicinity, 122s certainly worked the Bumble Hole on the Dudley - Old Hill service. Those modernised tiny concrete halts along the route which lasted only a few years would be very easy to produce, as would their near derelict timber predecessors for a Flying Banana or auto train. A shame much of that route was up on embankments...the sometimes significant diverted freight traffic (it played host to 8Fs) and meagre passenger service with even lesser facilities provided on a mining damaged route would make for an interesting subject.

Edited by Zunnan
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4 hours ago, Zunnan said:

leading to inclusion on destination blinds

It is possible Dapol have worked from original DMU blinds, at least in some regions, and therefore names may be on there that bubble cars themselves didnt actually service. 

 

Hopefully the spelling mistakes are sorted for the 121 at which point we could arrange swaps on here.

 

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Given the number of spelling mistakes, it would be nice if Dapol created replacement sheets. I'm not going to hold my breath of this. 

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And here is the 122 in blue/grey.  As expected, the livery is very neatly applied, with the colours, lining and livery details captured nicely.  

 

As feared, the mechanism is quite highly geared and so quite rough at low speeds (no lovely slow pull away with this model).  Both my 122s have benefited from some lubrication, and will, I'm sure, improve with running in.  Curiously, one is rougher running than the other.  Both are now sound equipped, with fitting the decoder being the work of seconds.  I expect speaker selection is crucial and I have, I'm afraid, opted for a sugar cube with sound enclosure fixed externally on the underframe (together with a larger speaker in the guards compartment).  So an eagle-eyed spotter may notice some unprototypical additions to Dapol's rather lovely underframe; but that small risk is, to my mind, ameliorated by the improved sound.  Interestingly, the location of the motors in the bogies themselves makes this a noisy model when running, so there is some appreciable "real" sound going on too.  I have yet to master the lights; my fault for choosing an after-market sound project, rather than waiting for the manufacturer's own.

 

I am still firmly of the conclusion that this is a first-rate model for a very reasonable price.  I shall be very interested to see how it compares to Heljan's DMUs when they arrive.      

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Edited by uk_pm
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21 hours ago, uk_pm said:

And here is the 122 in blue/grey.  As expected, the livery is very neatly applied, with the colours, lining and livery details captured nicely.  

 

As feared, the mechanism is quite highly geared and so quite rough at low speeds (no lovely slow pull away with this model).  Both my 122s have benefited from some lubrication, and will, I'm sure, improve with running in.  Curiously, one is rougher running than the other.  Both are now sound equipped, with fitting the decoder being the work of seconds.  I expect speaker selection is crucial and I have, I'm afraid, opted for a sugar cube with sound enclosure fixed externally on the underframe (together with a larger speaker in the guards compartment).  So an eagle-eyed spotter may notice some unprototypical additions to Dapol's rather lovely underframe; but that small risk is, to my mind, ameliorated by the improved sound.  Interestingly, the location of the motors in the bogies themselves makes this a noisy model when running, so there is some appreciable "real" sound going on too.  I have yet to master the lights; my fault for choosing an after-market sound project, rather than waiting for the manufacturer's own.

 

I am still firmly of the conclusion that this is a first-rate model for a very reasonable price.  I shall be very interested to see how it compares to Heljan's DMUs when they arrive.      

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It is a good model, i have a blue dcc ready one, which decoder with sound would you recommend?

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On 24/08/2021 at 21:55, Baggies1961 said:

Iv not attempted that. My regional liveried 122 is off for sound fitting hopefully very soon.

Sounnd fitting on these is dead easy, it took me today one hour do do 5 sound fitted models with a large 4 Ohm Hi Bass speakers,(just a plug to put on the speaker which Dapol supply) in the brake van area.  'It almost plug & play'  Charlie (Legomanbiffo-dckits).

Edited by charliepetty
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I have a dcc fitted blue one but it isnt working very well. Initially it was just humming and not even moving. Now it does move but jerkily at slow speeds and  occasionally only the wheels on one bogie are turning. Then it shoots off and on every curve slows down and sometimes stops altogether. Seems i am not alone with these problems though on both dc and dcc versions.

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I've had to return my Blue/Grey one to the shop I bought it from for repair (presumably by DCC Supplies).  No stock of Blue/Grey ones left to swap it with sadly.

 

The running was pretty poor with one bogie having a distinct tight spot that didn't loosen up with a good running in session on the rollers.

 

Bit of an anti-climax all round after the wait but hey ho...worse things happen at sea :angel:

Edited by admiles
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Since returned mine to Tower Models, they tested it and there is a fault with the decoder on dcc but not dc. Awaiting news as to the solution, seems others have had this as well.

Also there is issue with the motors seizing up could be related to time spent on Ever Given?

 

Am going to wait for the Heljan model due out early next year, that will have just one power bogie like the 128.

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Psst ..... Llanelly was good until 1966 when it became Llanelli. Probably a good number of other Wenglish spellings became wholly Welsh at the same time.

 

I'm only sorry that I don't do 7mm as it looks a very, very nice model. The photo near the top of the previous page was superb - the only real give-away (to me) were the slightly oversized windscreen wipers.

 

Cheers and have fun with them,

 

Philip

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 29/08/2021 at 00:37, F-UnitMad said:

Oldbury Town - true. The 'other' Oldbury was on the main line, now known as Sandwell & Dudley.

Langley Green is spelt correctly, but another odd choice I would have thought - as far as I know, neither it or Oldbury/Sandwell & Dudley have ever been 'terminating' destinations?

Maybe the Dapol designers imagine someone might model a "What if?" layout - what if Oldbury Town had stayed open, & a service similar to the Stourbridge branch had run on it, between it & Langley Green? Say, there's an idea, along with freight to Oldbury Goods, and Albright & Wilsons.... :scratchhead: :mail:  :good:

I note both Stourbridge Town & Stourbridge Junction are provided. :yes:


Langley Green (referred to as Langley Green and Oldbury during some periods) was indeed a terminal point of one of the skeleton services remaining from B’ham Snow Hill after most services were removed (the other was to Wolverhampton Low Level) - both were run by Tyseley based class 122 units (including at times M55008 in bsyp (red buffer beans and white cab tops) and M55005 (bfye but yellow extended to cover the cab doors). 
 

It looks like the destination sheets are based on some of the destination blinds shown in photos on railcar.co.uk. I’m not sure some of the destinations which the class 121/2 worked to lasted long enough for new blinds to be created - especially the ex Southern withered arm and other branches like Axminster-Lyme Regis - most photos of DMUs at Halwill Junction are showing plain white in the blind. When I saw W55000 at Prestwick in 1967 soon after transfer from the WR (working an Ayr to Kilmarnock service), it was not showing a destination - and a photo on the internet of it in 1969 is not showing a destination either. 

 

Interestingly St Erth autocorrects to St Earth on Apple…….. ;)
 

 

Edited by MidlandRed
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello

I have had one of the Dapol class 122`s 55004 dcc version on pre order for 2 yrs now with ROS looks great and was exited to be told they are in stock and expected shipping early next week, however I have just been reading with interest all the running problems or lack of running in some cases..  In this course for concern as I do not have room for running in the loco or funds for a rolling road as such..  Is this isolated instances or the most of the locos...

Mant thanks for any advice. Keith

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  • 2 months later...

There seems to be an issue with the sound fitted models. My retailer e-mailed to say they tested mine before dispatch and it was dragging on one bogie, so they have sent it back. Why did the soundfits take so long? Is this why there seem to be running issues on DCC rather than DC. I have asked for a refund. Disappointed, yes, Dapol don't seem to have done well with this, although I accept it is not all their fault 

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My 122 finally gave up in late November. 

Jerky running on both a Bachmann decoder and a Dapol Imperium 3 decoder.

 

I sent it back to Rails of Sheffield who confirmed the same issues.

Today postman called with a replacement which I have fitted with a Imperium 3 decoder.

Hopefully it's finally sorted.

 

Paul

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On 22/12/2021 at 18:49, class27 said:

There seems to be an issue with the sound fitted models. My retailer e-mailed to say they tested mine before dispatch and it was dragging on one bogie, so they have sent it back. Why did the soundfits take so long? Is this why there seem to be running issues on DCC rather than DC. I have asked for a refund. Disappointed, yes, Dapol don't seem to have done well with this, although I accept it is not all their fault 

I had this on my 122s and returned them to Tower models and got a refund.

 

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Greetings from Brisbane, Oz, where it is an unusually cool 26 deg C for this time of year.

 

Based upon some of the feedback above it was with trepidation that I unboxed my new sound fitted Cl 122 this morning as supplied by Hattons, whose service was exemplary as usual. 

 

All was well and the loco worked beautifully except for one minor issue.  The direction was reversed and so I had to adjust CV29 by 1, from 10 to 11.  That fixed it and now "forward" on my Z21 App is forward and "reverse" is reverse.  This now aligns with all the other locos I have.

 

But it created another minor issue -  the drivers cab light selection based upon direction did not reverse as well.  So now if you turn on the drivers cab light it is the reverse cab (was originally the wrong direction driving cab) that lights up.  No doubt there is a CV somewhere to change the cab light selection / direction.  Does anyone know which one it is?  

 

The Zimo manual is not much help since it says much of the information about CV settings for things like light switching would be different depending upon the particular sound project.

 

Another minor gripe is the sound file.  It appears fine if you want to accelerate with full throttle assuming you have miles of track in front of you (which is what the original drivers did except when they had to change gears).

 

But for a gentle acceleration along a 10 ft plank the sound file revs the engine like its a diesel electric - engines revving at full speed but DMU going slowly.  Which doesn't match the original mechanical drive where without wheelspin the engine revs were directly related to the speed of wheel rotation and which gear the box was in.  And due to the freewheel arrangement coasting and deceleration would have the engines at idle.

 

No doubt there are CV's that can be adjusted to fine tune these things and it would be very helpful if Dapol or whoever developed the sound project could provide a list of CV's associated with each function with some basic instructions along the lines of:


"If you want to reduce the intensity of the forward (or rear) lights this is controlled by CV XXXX.  Default value is set at YYY,"

"If you want to reverse the cab lights to match the direction of the loco this is controlled by CV ZZZZ.  Change it from X to Y.

 

Adjusting engine revs to what the DMU is actually doing may be a bit more involved but any advice would be appreciated.

 

Overall I am very impressed with the model and how it performs, and would not hesitate to recommend purchase of one of these DMU's.  IMO it is excellent value for money.

 

However if I was in the market for another sound fitted one I would do some research into the available alternative sound files and try them out if at all possible, or ask for a video showing operation if you are on the other side of the world as I am, before deciding on whether to buy a Dapol sound fitted one, or fit an aftermarket sound decoder and / or sound file. 

 

It's a big wad of extra cash to go to DCC Sound and I would like to see if anyone else has made a better job of the sound side of things.

 

Best wishes to all.  2021 has been a difficult year for most people.  Lets hope things start to turn around in 2022.

 

Trevor

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Hal Nail,

If you can't respond constructively to someone posting and asking for help / information and offering suggestions to others what they should consider, then please refrain from doing so.   It is not helpful.  

Clearly you either don't have the knowledge or expertise to answer my questions, or were having a bad day!

Hopefully someone else can assist.

In the meantime I am trawling through old Zimo posts from Paul Chetter in the hope there is something in there that points me in the right direction.

If I find a solution either by info from others or by trial and error I will post same to assist others.

Best regards and Happy New Year

Trevor

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