RMweb Premium Crepello Posted August 11, 2018 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted August 11, 2018 Can we have a photo or two from someone please? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 Can we have a photo or two from someone please? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oreamnos Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 What I haven't seen anyone comment on is that the motor seems to have been changed compared to the original split chassis Bachmann Farish version. Below is a picture of the original BachFar split chassis with the the open frame that was needed to make room for the large 5 pole motor. I notice in the picture above that motor is not visible and is fully surrounded by the frame. Does the new model have a coreless motor? If so, that's another improvement. Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1985 Posted December 4, 2018 Share Posted December 4, 2018 I bought one of these railcars from Hattons when I saw them on special offer (for a bit of a side project I've been planning with a fellow 2mm member). I was disappointed to see the section of body side with the windows seems to still be a separate strip, and on my model it seems to be a quite poor fit. You can see it curves up in the middle, and is also rough along the top. Is this normal for this model? Or is mine a duff? Justin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oreamnos Posted December 17, 2018 Share Posted December 17, 2018 Seems to be a fault in assembly with the bodies of the latest batch. If you look carefully at the pictures on the Hatton's website you'll see that even the one they photographed shows evidence of this problem (though not as bad as your example). A pre-owned one currently being offered by Hattons (https://www.hattons.co.uk/427100/Graham_Farish_371_629_PO_GWR_Railcar_20_in_GWR_chocolate_cream_with_shirt_button_emblem_Open_box_minor_/StockDetail.aspx) looks as bad as yours, however. Yours is a duff, but it looks like at least other examples are duffs, too. I have two green and two crimson and cream ones from the last batch issued 5-7 (?) years ago. They are all fine along the windows, but one has a bit of extra glue along the roof/side join on one side. Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul80 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 Hi all Although for a new model this is quite a disappointment, limited DCC comparable, no lights etc there is One upside to this disappointing "New" Model,it is both very heavy and very powerful, mine has now found itself a new job as it pushes and pulls with ease my CMX track cleaner. So silver lining etc. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1985 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 (edited) Seems to be a fault in assembly with the bodies of the latest batch. If you look carefully at the pictures on the Hatton's website you'll see that even the one they photographed shows evidence of this problem (though not as bad as your example). A pre-owned one currently being offered by Hattons (https://www.hattons.co.uk/427100/Graham_Farish_371_629_PO_GWR_Railcar_20_in_GWR_chocolate_cream_with_shirt_button_emblem_Open_box_minor_/StockDetail.aspx) looks as bad as yours, however. Yours is a duff, but it looks like at least other examples are duffs, too. I have two green and two crimson and cream ones from the last batch issued 5-7 (?) years ago. They are all fine along the windows, but one has a bit of extra glue along the roof/side join on one side. Matt Thanks Matt. It's a shame this seems to be a common fault - presumably the moulding is worn out or something. Or the glazing strips have to be cut from a sheet by hand? I returned the model to Hattons and the replacement is better, although still not perfect. One side is pretty good, and the other only has a very small gap towards the middle. I'll live with it. I guess the model is pretty disappointing overall - although I'd say the lack of interior is more of an issue than the lights. Hardwiring a small DCC decoder is hardly a big job. Slightly ironic that the Farish model with least need to pull heavy trains is probably most powerful they've made for a long time ... Justin EDIT: Just looked at the Hattons used listing - have a sneaking suspicion it is the one I returned! Edited December 18, 2018 by justin1985 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oreamnos Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 EDIT: Just looked at the Hattons used listing - have a sneaking suspicion it is the one I returned! That's pretty funny. To be honest, a couple years ago I returned a blue Class 55 which to me had some sort of unacceptable flaw on the body (don't remember what it was) and few weeks later I noticed it was offered as pre-owned at a small discount. One man's trash is another man's.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpgibbons Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 That's quite disturbing. I had always assumed that new item returns went back to the manufacturer. Did Hattons disclose the fault when they resold it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1985 Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 That's quite disturbing. I had always assumed that new item returns went back to the manufacturer. Did Hattons disclose the fault when they resold it? I'm pretty certain the model they have listed as used is the one I returned. Or at least the flaws are identical. It is described in the title as "Open box, minor chipped paint on sides, imperfect box" which probably a pretty fair description. I had assumed returns went to the manufacturer too. First thought was that this might a symptom of the supposed breakdown in relationship between Hattons and Bachmann, but then Matt said above that he'd noticed this happening years ago ... Perhaps as Hattons have such a strong second hand business that they just see it as easier to resell models with minor or cosmetic faults, rather than deal with the bureaucracy of returning to Bachmann? J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
oreamnos Posted December 18, 2018 Share Posted December 18, 2018 That's quite disturbing. I had always assumed that new item returns went back to the manufacturer. Did Hattons disclose the fault when they resold it? This has gone off topic. In my instance the Class 55 I returned was clearly listed as "pre-owned" and like all their pre-owned items, Hattons posted pictures of the actual item being offered for sale, so whatever cosmetic flaw I had taken issue with (and I'm fussy) would have been clear for anyone to see. This was also around the time the first batch of the new tooling blue Class 55s had run out of stock with Bachmann, so someone was able to get a model they would otherwise have been unable to. Given those circumstances I don't have an issue with what Hatton's practice. Matt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted December 19, 2018 Share Posted December 19, 2018 Thanks Matt. It's a shame this seems to be a common fault - presumably the moulding is worn out or something. Or the glazing strips have to be cut from a sheet by hand? I returned the model to Hattons and the replacement is better, although still not perfect. One side is pretty good, and the other only has a very small gap towards the middle. I'll live with it. I guess the model is pretty disappointing overall - although I'd say the lack of interior is more of an issue than the lights. Hardwiring a small DCC decoder is hardly a big job. Slightly ironic that the Farish model with least need to pull heavy trains is probably most powerful they've made for a long time ... Justin EDIT: Just looked at the Hattons used listing - have a sneaking suspicion it is the one I returned! There's a bit more to it than just hard-wiring a decoder, as the cutout in the chassis is hardly big enough for the decoder and in order to accommodate the wiring you have to cut a hole in the ceiling of the plastic body moulding. It's still not a huge job but it should not be necessary in a model that was supposedly retooled to 21st century spec. (CJL) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
justin1985 Posted December 20, 2018 Share Posted December 20, 2018 There's a bit more to it than just hard-wiring a decoder, as the cutout in the chassis is hardly big enough for the decoder and in order to accommodate the wiring you have to cut a hole in the ceiling of the plastic body moulding. It's still not a huge job but it should not be necessary in a model that was supposedly retooled to 21st century spec. (CJL) There is a matching recess in the brown plastic body moulding too (so you can see through to the white roof moulding) over the decoder recess. Something like the ZIMO MX622, which is 14mm x 8.8mm x 2.5mm should just fit within the chassis recess, so long as the excess wires are removed/trimmed down carefully. There are some even smaller decoders from CT Elektronik, although they don't seem to be easy to buy at the moment. Certainly agreed its less than ideal, and retrograde even compared to the early "DCC-friendly" Bachmann Farish diesels that had solder pads on a PCB. Nonetheless, there's no cutting involved, only soldering and wiring. For me, thats an acceptable compromise for a model which has been released as a compromise at a budget price (RRP £95, widely available at £75, compared to e.g. a Dapol bubble car with an RRP of £135) but I appreciate it might not be acceptable to everyone. J Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 There is a matching recess in the brown plastic body moulding too (so you can see through to the white roof moulding) over the decoder recess. Something like the ZIMO MX622, which is 14mm x 8.8mm x 2.5mm should just fit within the chassis recess, so long as the excess wires are removed/trimmed down carefully. There are some even smaller decoders from CT Elektronik, although they don't seem to be easy to buy at the moment. Certainly agreed its less than ideal, and retrograde even compared to the early "DCC-friendly" Bachmann Farish diesels that had solder pads on a PCB. Nonetheless, there's no cutting involved, only soldering and wiring. For me, thats an acceptable compromise for a model which has been released as a compromise at a budget price (RRP £95, widely available at £75, compared to e.g. a Dapol bubble car with an RRP of £135) but I appreciate it might not be acceptable to everyone. J I found that I had to enlarge the opening in the brown plastic 'ceiling' moulding by at least 10mm to accommodate the decoder and wires. It may be budget priced (I think mine was about £87 from memory) but it is not in the same league as the Dapol model, and for Farish, that's unusual. (CJL) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stefen1988 Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Interesting would be the double Unit as a Model. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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