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Your favourite Farish locos from the last 50 years?


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As referenced in the 50 years of Farish N topic 

  

On 29/07/2020 at 11:05, AY Mod said:

I thought it would be nice to include some input from RMweb members on your personal milestones with regard to the range and build some submissions up to run a vote on their most influential or best models from the range.

 

I have compiled a list of the locos and units of the last 50 years to put to the vote for you to vote for your favourites as part of the feature I'm compiling for BRM. It's come out a nice round figure of 100 to choose from; you can select multiple products and there's not a need to determine any ranking within that. In a few days I'll then see what's had the most votes and compile a top ten.

 

The voting can be found here - VOTE NOW CLOSED

 

No personal data is recorded.

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1 hour ago, montyburns56 said:

This poll does highlight how old some of the Farish models are and how they could do with a retool. *cough* Class 45/46 *cough*

And how few new loco designs there have been since 2014 when there was a total glut of them. 

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5 minutes ago, Kris said:

And how few new loco designs there have been since 2014 when there was a total glut of them. 

 

Not only locos, N in general seems to have fallen into the abyss. Plus with Dapol deciding to push development in O instead, N really has fallen on slow times from all fronts.

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Not only locos, N in general seems to have fallen into the abyss. Plus with Dapol deciding to push development in O instead, N really has fallen on slow times from all fronts.

 

That's certainly the impression I get...  You'd think with modern housing being smaller, that a smaller scale would be popular enough to generate sales (though that does rely on the companies that produce the models actually doing so...  easy to say 'there's no market for N, nobody is buying anything' if you aren't actually supplying the product for sale in the first place).

 

Maybe it's the whole 'pensioner pound' thing; retirees driving the market, with bigger houses and spare bedrooms, with room for all these new 0 gauge items instead ;) 

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50 minutes ago, Zunnan said:

 

Not only locos, N in general seems to have fallen into the abyss. Plus with Dapol deciding to push development in O instead, N really has fallen on slow times from all fronts.

Its happened before and bounced back. Remember when farish was bought out? Things dried up almost completely, and what was there had corners cut. Little things like not painting the rear buffer beam red on the tender chassis, or tender pickups disappearing from models that had them previously. Mark my words, N will become the hot commodity again and a boom in new tooling models will follow. Just don't know from who yet ;)

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56 minutes ago, Zunnan said:

 

Not only locos, N in general seems to have fallen into the abyss. Plus with Dapol deciding to push development in O instead, N really has fallen on slow times from all fronts.

In the early/mid 1990s I was modelling US outline in N scale. I fancied having some British models, but to be honest the Grafar range of the time just didn't cut it for me. I eventually sold my N scale & moved up to HO American and back to OO for British stuff. Around ten years ago I moved up again, to American O Scale, & the recent boom in UK O R-T-R has also seen me get a few British O models too.

The post quoted makes me wonder if it's N scale that has suffered most from the O boom, rather than OO? I'd taken my eye off the price of British OO & N some years ago; now I see that N prices are more-or-less the same as OO, sometimes more!! Whilst there is no doubt the detail in N has come a long way, clearly the choice to use N rather than OO does not, these days, include saving money. Without any significant price difference, is it now the case that people stay with OO unless they really want/need what N can offer - either space saving, or a better 'trains in the landscape' impression than OO in a similar space.?

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Well publicised issues with BachFar supply aside, N seemed to loose favour at Dapol the second Dave Jones moved on and the diminishing release rate has really set in with little interest in getting long announced models out of the door. It almost seems to have settled into a rather moribund "the competition isn't releasing anything new, so why should we?" kinda thing. I think even Union Mills also scaled back their range of wonderful models too, I filled my boots there long ago so haven't really checked recently to see if things have changed mind you.

 

The reducing availability to actually buy new models doesn't help maintain interest, and it certainly can't help with bringing new blood to the scale! Ultimately, if you can't buy it, how can you start? If you can't buy it, how can you realistically measure demand? I suppose the best way is to look at the second hand market where prices have been going silly for certain models. I've completely given up trying to find Seacows for a sensible amount, but those sky rocketing s/h prices also put off the newcomers judging by conversations we were having at the club; and at the shop where they've completely stopped stocking N unless its a s/h item. I can't even remember the last N model I bought, rolling stock or loco. It has to be more than a year ago; though if I'm brutally honest, there hasn't been anything come through I've wanted. Reliveries of models I have in some cases many multiples of? No thanks, I bought more than I needed when they were half the price (or less). I also have to admit to selling certain models when the s/h prices have been too good to pass up. Coaches I once paid £7-12 for in the bargain bin at Modellers Mecca back when the shop was in Wall Heath years ago, I've routinely sold for upwards of £35, and they've sold fast! They've certainly paid for a few high end US H0 models in the past 12 months, so the demand must still be there almost to the point of desperation given the amounts changing hands for certain models.

 

I hope N does pick back up, but I doubt its ever going to be anywhere near the scale it once was.

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Totally agree with the above.

 

All the latest models are outstanding for detail, but nothing new is being announced & the things that have been announced we've waited years for such as the Mark 2F coaches, which I'm sure will be worth the wait, but 7 years since first announced & we may finally get these in september if they're not put back again?

 

I think N gauge as others have said would be way more popular if models were readily available. I wonder how many people model a much compromised OO gauge layout simply because it's only that scale you can buy models you want? I have been very nearly tempted because of this, but simply don't have the room to create anywhere near what I've done in N gauge.

 

If Bachmann would only shrink just some of the shere choice of stuff they've done in OO, even some of the liveries! My wish is the Class 117 DMU, I'd like at least 3 & I've seen these would be a popular train amongst many other N gaugers modelling the D&E Era. 

 

For those that want to have a decent layout with scale length trains who doesn't have a large loft or garage, N is definitely the way to go, it just needs the models on the shelves to be able to purchase...

 

I really hope we see a positive turn around with this situation in the future.

 

Anyway, back to the topic, i've voted for mine :) 

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

 

 

Edited by 1977joey
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I've only one GF loco and that's the N gauge 94xx from lord knows when.  As its my only one, then it must be my favourite GF loco...

 

I dug it out for my first N gauge layout in 40 years, and it still runs!

 

Edited by Hroth
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42 minutes ago, Hroth said:

I've only one GF loco and that's the N gauge 94xx from lord knows when.  As its my only one, then it must be my favourite GF loco...

 

I dug it out for my first N gauge layout in 40 years, and it still runs!

 

 

It was my first loco too, back in 95. Still runs as well, as I discovered this year (first time in a decade it's been out of its box). I didn't realise until I saw the voting list just how old the basic model was though!

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I chose five, since the survey let me, and they each have particular significance in my view of n-scale:

 

Class 47 (original 1981 version): much-derided now, but the first non-Lima locomotive I owned and thus the first one that looked much like the thing it was supposed to represent

 

Class 60: a good, solid representation of my favourite diesel locomotive class

 

Class 108: with Dapol's Class 122, the start of a (all too brief) flurry of quality first-generation DMUs

 

Class 350: an EMU!!! A lot of people criticised this as a poor choice of prototype, but it was exactly the type I was looking for. That said, the decision to do one of only two "namers" in the entire fleet as the only release in the early grey and blue livery is a pain.

 

Class 57 (2014 version): just a really nice model. One day I may buy one.

 

Jim

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56 minutes ago, The Western Master said:

To anyone whining about a lack of new products I point you to today's announcement from Bachmann.

 

It is precisely more of the same and addresses none of the concerns about a general stifling of supply.

 

That announcement pretty much sums up the last few years in a nutshell. I realise that Bachmann has changed from an annual announcement to quarterly, so the content is understandably reduced. But it still amounts to 4 wagon reliveries, 3 coach reliveries and a 'you remember that locomotive you thought was dead and buried?' which equates to a model that's been in development for a very long time.

 

From a personal perspective, I thankfully have just about everything I need to stock the clubs exhibition layout as well as a drawer full for conversion purposes, so a lack of announcements doesn't detrimentally affect me directly. To be honest, I've profited handsomely from the lack of supply and I still have an overstock for the layouts requirements. However, when a club member asks 'what coaches do I need to model this?' and it then takes 2 years to get half of what they want with the only option to scratch around looking for second hand...there is obviously a larger issue. This isn't really the thread for this line of discussion though, so I'll stop there.

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21 hours ago, Zunnan said:

 

Not only locos, N in general seems to have fallen into the abyss. Plus with Dapol deciding to push development in O instead, N really has fallen on slow times from all fronts.

 

Well it was Dapol entering the market that gave Bachmann a boot up the backside as up until then they were producing their new models pretty slowly (I think the Class 60 took six?? years to get to market), but since the new N models from Dapol have slowed to a trickle, the impetus from Bachmann seems to have disappeared as well.

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For me, it's usually the LMS Jinty 3Fs, Stanier Black 5MTs, Duchess Coronation 8Ps, heavy-duty rugged 8Fs and Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 Moguls, but as of recent, more Pre-Grouping steam locomotives along with period-correct rolling stock are being produced so it would have to the Midland 3835 Class (the LMS Fowler 4Fs, if you will) and the SECR C Class.

 

Why Pre-Grouping? Because my love of said-era has been further-fulled by it. Yeah, maybe not all steam locomotives in N Scale are easy to come by, but with a little luck, a well-to-do bank account and a smidgen of paitence, you never know when the right models pop up...like the Langley Models Urie S15 4-6-0 I was lucky to find on E-Bay years back yet it's been ages since I last ran it and tried to make it into the Big Four SR Maunsell green, but if ever I get a chance, then I could backdate the model with an accurate chassis (a loco-drive Black Five, maybe) and make it a sort of vintage train from the year 1920.

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ISTR that N gauge equipment, any that was any good anyway, was always as costly as, if not more so, than 00. Mind you, some of the more common equipment was significantly more sophisticated than it's 00 equivalent. Minitrix diesels, for example, being all wheel drive, all wheel pickup, central motored affairs decades before 00 manufacturers abandoned the motor bogie.

 

But I must confess to a soft spot for the 94xx. Almost 50 years on, I remember how amazed I was, when my father brought one home, that something so minute could actually work.

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I've now closed the vote as I'd got enough entries to determine a clear winner. It surprised me as I though the BP would come out top.

 

1st Class 40 1-Co-Co-1

2nd SECR C Class 0-6-0

3rd BR Midland Pullman 6-car

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I voted for the 40 (have two) and to be honest it doesn't surprise me, in terms of quality and features it was a bit of a game changer, coreless motor, Next 18 and sound ready all on top of a superbly detailed and sweet running model. 

 

I suspect the C scored as highly for all the same reasons, it is a beautiful little model and I am still having to remind myself that this tiny loco comes "plug and play" for DCC sound! In terms of the region I model I could never have justified one, but thankfully Rule 1 is my friend!

 

Roy

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On 03/08/2020 at 23:47, Zunnan said:

I hope N does pick back up, but I doubt its ever going to be anywhere near the scale it once was.

 

Do you think it's going to make a comeback at 1.3mm/ foot?

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Well I think my fav loco having missed the poll thingy has to be the Holden tank- it marks a first brave step into N and with a tiny loco at that and not GWR as might have been expected the 94xx that followed was not really as good to my mind.  The holden tank came  in several colours but I still have the original blue one in its jewelbox case and flocked plastic former and it runs.     

Diesel wise I think the humble 31 was a good model that even today holds ground with the latest tooling. 

 

Robert 

   

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On 05/08/2020 at 09:24, AY Mod said:

I've now closed the vote as I'd got enough entries to determine a clear winner. It surprised me as I though the BP would come out top.

 

1st Class 40 1-Co-Co-1

2nd SECR C Class 0-6-0

3rd BR Midland Pullman 6-car

 

I would have had money on that too (which is why I don't gamble :lol: )

 

I wonder if that is reflective of larger production runs for the 40 and C Class though, i.e. more people with those models voting for them vs fewer with a BP? 

 

All worthy models though, it was tough to choose between Farish's most recent releases. 

 

Tom.  

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