Dapol FEA-B & Dapol MRA Wagons in OO Gauge

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

Hi all, 

 

Hope everyone is well. 

 

I wonder if anyone could help me please? 

 

I am considering buying some new wagons in OO Gauge for my layout. The Dapol FEA-B Intermodal wagons and Dapol MRA wagons are at the top of my list but I just have a few questions to help me make an informed decision as to weather to buy them or not. 

 

Dapol FEA-B Questions: 

 

1. How have people found that these wagons run together in a rake? I ask because I have a rake of eight Dapol Megafrets and whilst they look fantastic, I can't manage to get them to do a full circuit of the layout without derailing. As currently I can't use this rake of wagons I would like to avoid buying another rake of intermodal wagons which I can't use. 

 

2. Do the coupling rods to connect a pair of the FEA-Bs together come with each pair of wagons or do these have to be bought separately? 

 

3. Can I buy any 20ft or 40ft containers to fit on top of these wagons or do I have to specific containers? 

 

Dapol MRA Questions: 

 

1. How does a rake of five of these wagons run together? I ask because I have seen posts before regarding derailments with these wagons. 

 

2. What were retailers originally charging for a five wagon set? I ask because it appears all retailers have sold out now as I think the first batch was produced a few years ago, so I will be relying upon Ebay to buy a rake but I don't want to pay an excessive amount if they were significantly cheaper originally. 

 

Lastly if anyone has any photos that they wouldn't mind sharing of either of these models on their layout I would really appreciate it. 

 

Both of these wagons look superb and I am really looking forward to expanding on my stock. 

 

Any help is very much appreciated. 

 

Thank you very much in advance. 

 

Kind Regards, 

 

Danny. 

 

 

[Winter123]

FEA-B...

 

1. Wagons couple in the same way as the Megafrets. If your derailment problem is between loco and wagon then replace the NEM with a Hornby Medium width coupling on the loco. If derailment happens between wagons that are coupled by the loops then try a blob of blu tac or plastercine on the sprue part of the underside of the wagon. Worked for me.

 

2. Come with the wagons

 

3. Each wagon fits one 20ft and one 40ft container. Some great containers available from C=Rail.

 

MRA...

 

1. Shocking coupling mechanism (possibly dreamt up by a previous employee who shall remain nameless). It is a bar which hooks onto a metal wire on the wagon. It takes me half an hour to faff about and connect a rake of 5 wagons. The paint also peels of the brake wheels which is really annoying.

 

2. Got my two rakes for £100 back in 2012. So £20/wagon would now be a steal.

 

In summary, perhaps consider the FEA-S from Hattons-they are sturdier and don't tend to derail. The MRA's are fantastic looking wagons but you'll be lucky to get much change out of £200 I'd guess.

 

I may be able to get some pictures later but I'm watching Wimbledon at the mo.

[Matt]

ON the whole I would say the FEA is a better wagon than the Megafrets - more finely made, smoother running and not as heavy.  I have long rakes of both and have them running fine around my layout but both wagon types required some back-to-back adjustments and in one case replacement wheelsets to resolve derailing problems - the wheelsets in these wagons are quite poor in my opinion and b2bs were out by a bit and not really adjustable in some cases.  Concur with others responses above.

 

MRAs are not in same league as FEAs.  To add to above, be aware that Dapol cleared a whole load of these wagons at bargain prices - I got some but found the chassis were warped a little.  These are an odd beast with plastic chassis and metal uppers which remove from wagon in entirety - this does make them top heavy and not as stable as some other wagons.  Mine haven't had much running time to comment but I don't recall derailing issues despite my observations above.

 

M

[Roddy Angus]

11 minutes ago, Matt said:

be aware that Dapol cleared a whole load of these wagons at bargain prices -

 

 

If I remember correctly, there was a livery error and that was why they were sold cheaply.  I don'y think there was any suggestion of problems with the wagons themselves.

 

Best wishes

 

Roddy

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

Thank you very much for the replies and for the information. I really appreciate it. 

 

I am going to rule out the Dapol MRAs, just to avoid potential coupling, running and derailment issues. I have found three sets currently available on Ebay and two are priced at £180 whilst the third is priced at £225. For me that's too much money to pay to potentially have derailments. 

 

So I will focus on the Dapol FEA-Bs and now Hattons FEA-Es as well. Can anyone give me any feedback on the Hattons FEA-Es in Freightliner green please? The main thing for me is to have a rake of intermodal wagons that won't derail. So out of these two wagons which is the best? The Hattons FEA-Es are slightly more expensive at £32 whereas the Dapol FEA-Bs are £40 for a pair. I don't mind paying more for the Hattons versions as long as they are good runners. Will the Hattons FEA-Es fit any 20ft and 40ft containers on or are their specific ones that I would need to buy? 

 

I ask specifically about these Freightliner intermodal wagons because I have several Bachmann FL 66s and 70s that require some additional work. 

 

Winter123 I hope you are enjoying Wimbledon and I would appreciate any photos that you could post if you have time. Thank you for the info regarding the Megafrets too. I will try and find out which specific wagon/s that are derailing and hopefully make some adjustments so that I can use them. 

 

Thank you very much in advance. 

 

Kind Regards, 

 

Danny. 

[Winter123]

So regarding the FEAs, I have the Metronet/GBRF FEA-S versions from Hattons  which are very similar to the Freightliner FEA-E. Yet to have a derailment which is a good pointer as I have some appalling curve and point work on my layout. Agreed Hattons are more expensive but in my opinion they are better. The Metronet versions were a whopping £59 each but they do contain track panel carriers as I was compiling an engineers track laying train so only needed a couple. I think Hattons have stated somewhere they should also be compatible with any OO scale containers (C=Rail, Bachmann 20Ft, Dapol etc), but you can check to make sure.

[Winter123]

[Winter123]

I've got more pictures but they would exceed the 10mb size. If anyone can advise how to add more or lessen the size please let me know

Cheers

[Matt]

On ‎05‎/‎07‎/‎2019 at 08:01, Roddy Angus said:

 

If I remember correctly, there was a livery error and that was why they were sold cheaply.  I don'y think there was any suggestion of problems with the wagons themselves.

 

Best wishes

 

Roddy

I probably should have been clearer.  Roddy is absolutely right that the Grey/Blue MRAs were sold cheaply because of a livery error.  I had forgotten that but was referring to the Network Rail yellow sets which were also sold heavily discounted direct from Dapol - it was only some time after purchasing that I found the chassis on mine was warped.  This may have been limited to my set but I assumed that this may have been the reason for the clearance price.

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

Hi again all, 

 

As always thank you for the replies. I really appreciate it. I just want to have the correct and appropriate information so that I can make the right decision on what's best for the layout. 

 

Good to hear that the Hattons FEA-S wagons run well, thus as you say the FEA-Es would likely run well too. I am definitely considering these too now alongside the Dapol FEA-Bs. Out of interest do your GBRf FEA-S wagons have NEM couplings on each end? I think this makes them run better as opposed to loop couplings and other coupling systems. 

 

Thank you for the photos of the MRAs. It's a shame about the couplings on them otherwise I would have bought a set. They really do look excellent. Don't worry about posting anymore photos, those are perfect. 

 

Thank you for recommending C Rail. I had a look earlier on their website and they have a variety of containers to choose from, which is perfect. 

 

I recall seeing some of the MRAs discounted. Shame that the coupling system isn't different. Maybe this might be altered if a future batch was to ever be produced. 

 

I watched a video earlier on YouTube and the Dapol FEA-Bs seemed to run well even at speed on curves, so that's also good. 

 

Thank you very much in advance. 

[Winter123]

Yes precisely. The NEMs on the Hattons FEAs are at either end which definitely improves the coupling mechanism and reduces the risk of derailment. Don't get me wrong the Dapol ones are still good. Maybe consider buying one of each type and decide which one works out better. There are loads available at the moment so you can always order more of whichever version you prefer.

 

I wouldn't totally rule out the MRAs. I have not had too many issues in spite of my earlier comments but they can be very fiddly. They do look very realistic when running or lined up in a siding.  The biggest problem unfortunately is that you have to act quickly when models are released these days because once they have sold out the prices in the second hand market virtually doubles overnight. I don't envisage they will release a second run due to all the reasons mentioned on here. One other feature of these that I forgot to mention is that the ballast units have opening doors and are also provided with two sprues so you can place them in a side tipping position when stationary.

 

C=Rail containers are superb quality, a great variety of liveries and sizes and are very reasonably priced. Service level is also first class.

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

13 hours ago, Winter123 said:

Yes precisely. The NEMs on the Hattons FEAs are at either end which definitely improves the coupling mechanism and reduces the risk of derailment. Don't get me wrong the Dapol ones are still good. Maybe consider buying one of each type and decide which one works out better. There are loads available at the moment so you can always order more of whichever version you prefer.

 

I wouldn't totally rule out the MRAs. I have not had too many issues in spite of my earlier comments but they can be very fiddly. They do look very realistic when running or lined up in a siding.  The biggest problem unfortunately is that you have to act quickly when models are released these days because once they have sold out the prices in the second hand market virtually doubles overnight. I don't envisage they will release a second run due to all the reasons mentioned on here. One other feature of these that I forgot to mention is that the ballast units have opening doors and are also provided with two sprues so you can place them in a side tipping position when stationary.

 

C=Rail containers are superb quality, a great variety of liveries and sizes and are very reasonably priced. Service level is also first class.

 

Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate it. 

 

That's a fantastic idea. Quite torn between the Hattons FEA-Es and Dapol FEA-Bs. Both sound really good, but the main difference is the price. I wanted to form a rake of eight wagons which would cost £256 if I bought the Hattons FEA-Es. Alternatively if I bought the FEA-Bs it would cost £160. Although if the FEA-Es run better and have the NEM couplings at each end then I wouldn't mind paying more for having the piece of mind that they will run better. 

 

It's a real shame about the MRAs because they really do look excellent even despite the livery errors. 

 

Yes I was shocked to see how cheap the containers were from C Rail. They are cheaper than what I thought and as you say from the photos alone they look excellent. 

[Winter123]

I will leave you with this thought which may complicate your ideas further. If you want to create an Intermodal train have you considered the Dapol IDAs? The coupling on those is a bar which fits into the NEM pocket between pairs. Works really well. In DRS livery so will probably be something right up your street judging by your user name! A bit more limited with containers as they hold 45ft Dapol , Oxford Diecast or Bachmann ones only eg Stobart/Tesco Less CO2  but go well with the Megafrets (if you can stop them leaving the track). Obviously not relevant for your Freightliner locos but maybe an alternative plan to the MRAs.

 

Rails still had a few left when I was in the other day and £32.50 for a pair so considerably cheaper. Of course you may already have some of these or were aware of them in which case ignore this. Good luck with your decision.

 

[DRS Crewe On A Mission]

On 07/07/2019 at 20:38, Winter123 said:

I will leave you with this thought which may complicate your ideas further. If you want to create an Intermodal train have you considered the Dapol IDAs? The coupling on those is a bar which fits into the NEM pocket between pairs. Works really well. In DRS livery so will probably be something right up your street judging by your user name! A bit more limited with containers as they hold 45ft Dapol , Oxford Diecast or Bachmann ones only eg Stobart/Tesco Less CO2  but go well with the Megafrets (if you can stop them leaving the track). Obviously not relevant for your Freightliner locos but maybe an alternative plan to the MRAs.

 

Rails still had a few left when I was in the other day and £32.50 for a pair so considerably cheaper. Of course you may already have some of these or were aware of them in which case ignore this. Good luck with your decision.

 

 

Thanks for the reply. I hadn't really considered the IDA. They also look excellent. I wish in some respects that I had bought these instead of the Megafrets because they may run better with them having different couplings. Not to worry, hopefully I can get the Megafrets running at some point. I don't have any of the IDAs at the moment so yes I will definitely consider them in the future. That's a really good price for the pair. 

 

Still swaying towards the FEA-Bs or FEA-Es, just because I want to try and occupy some of my FL locos. 

 

Thank you for all of the help, I really appreciate it.