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Dapol 'Western'


Andy Y
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  • RMweb Gold

Are we talking blanking plate or PCB here

 

My early 22 has just fried a V4 chip so am going to replace the PCB before I fit another - the blanking plat ehas no role to play in that of course

 

Cheers

 

Phil

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Are we talking blanking plate or PCB here

 

My early 22 has just fried a V4 chip so am going to replace the PCB before I fit another - the blanking plat ehas no role to play in that of course

 

Cheers

 

Phil

Hi

 

We are talking about the blanking plate for non DCC use, however it has a considerable amount of circuitry as part of it. It was the original blanking plate on the first Dapol Westerns, that caused most of the lighting and motor problems. Those who installed chips had less issues.

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  • 2 months later...

Looks like I'm going to need quite a few Western spares, including the hard one: a buffer and spring which popped out and disappeared!!!

 

UPDATE: quite a few Dapol Western spares ordered from DCC, including the new-type blanking plate. Buffers and springs are not an official "spares list" item, so it looks like I'll have to wait until they can supply some.....

Edited by Horsetan
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  • 2 months later...
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Each to their own of course but for looks alone the Dapol wins hands down.  For ease of railing and for reliable drive Dapol wins again.  Both draw a little more current than Bachmann or Hornby locos but for taking apart and "doing" the headcodes the Dapol isn't so bad at all.  

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  • 5 months later...

Yes, Geoff, I think that's right, hence why I quoted the other bit. For example, the 4mm is a good match for the Heljan Hymek. Here's a photo of the 3.6mm fitted to a Dapol Western:

 

attachicon.gif1001-02.JPG

 

Although these are strictly a little undersize, the 4mm characters would probably be masked by that black surround on the earlier versions. Also, the curved edges of the box appear to cause a slight magnification which may make the 4mm appear oversize or even extend beyond the box.

 

Nick

 

ps if anyone has fitted the 4mm type, it would be instructive to see a comparison shot.

How did you fit these headcodes, were and what did you use? thanks,

Wiill

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Slightly off-topic but still relevant. I have a Dapol un-numbered Maroon Western with small yellow ends which I was planning on numbering/naming D1019 Western Challenger as I already have the numbers/name which I purchased last year at Warley.

I believe this was one of the early ones to be scrapped but I do not know if it still carried this livery when it was scrapped.

 

Are there any pictures of any heavily weathered, faded or bleached colour pictures of Maroon Westerns that can be used as a modelling reference? I currently do not have any books on the Westerns and the Railways Illustrated Magazine Back Issue on the Westerns is Sold Out.

I would like to weather my Western and hopefully have it bleached similarly to what usually happened to the BR Blue Westerns, a few Class 03's, and other loco's that have passed through carriage wash plants a few too many times. So, instead of making a fictional weathering job I was hoping for a more authentic look if possible.

 

The second number/nameplate which I purchased at the same time was D1057 - Western Chieftain. Although I have yet to purchase a second Western. Am I correct in thinking this was one of the few that carried a different version of BR Blue as searching the Internet says it was open to interpretation that some carried a lighter shape of blue. Was D1057 cut up in this livery of did it get repainted to BR Blue later on?

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Slightly off-topic but still relevant. I have a Dapol un-numbered Maroon Western with small yellow ends which I was planning on numbering/naming D1019 Western Challenger as I already have the numbers/name which I purchased last year at Warley.

I believe this was one of the early ones to be scrapped but I do not know if it still carried this livery when it was scrapped.

Are there any pictures of any heavily weathered, faded or bleached colour pictures of Maroon Westerns that can be used as a modelling reference? I currently do not have any books on the Westerns and the Railways Illustrated Magazine Back Issue on the Westerns is Sold Out.

I would like to weather my Western and hopefully have it bleached similarly to what usually happened to the BR Blue Westerns, a few Class 03's, and other loco's that have passed through carriage wash plants a few too many times. So, instead of making a fictional weathering job I was hoping for a more authentic look if possible.

The second number/nameplate which I purchased at the same time was D1057 - Western Chieftain. Although I have yet to purchase a second Western. Am I correct in thinking this was one of the few that carried a different version of BR Blue as searching the Internet says it was open to interpretation that some carried a lighter shape of blue. Was D1057 cut up in this livery of did it get repainted to BR Blue later on?

I think that all the Westerns were eventually painted blue before scrapping.

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  • RMweb Gold

Western Livery information is here

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/54225-western-liveries-1961-1977/

 

And here

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/54551-western-liveries-1961-1977/

 

Theres a lot of discussion on headcodes back up this thread

 

Kind regards

 

Phil

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Every Western was blue with full yellow ends by early January 1972.

 

No Westerns were withdrawn until May 1973.

 

That gives a period of 16 months when the entire class of 74 locomotives was blue with full yellow ends,

 

If you want to model a scruffy one, try searching for photos of D1020 circa 1970.

 

Geoff Endacott

Edited by Geoff Endacott
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  • 3 months later...
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I have just bought one of these from DCC Supplies at what I consider to be a good price. Now to read all about them. 131 pages to work through.

 

It is indeed an offer too good to miss......and you have a solid guarantee should things go wrong and you have to be aware that occasionally,they do.Good luck with the detailing etc.It is a superb model.Enjoy.

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Eighty-five quid. Can't say fairer than that.

Absolutely!

 

HAve just laid our last Heljan Western to rest on the back of this offer

 

RIP D1013 .... meet new D1013

 

Got the new plates in stock from Extreme etchings at DEMU - loco is fathers day/birthday pressie from Jimbo, thanks very nuch!

 

Phil

Edited by Phil Bullock
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Another one gone, at £85.00 any previous indecision was swept aside and a blue D1012 should be winging its way to me soon.

It'll replace the Heljan D1067 that I sold years ago now, though I was very tempted by D1004 in GSYP too...

 

:locomotive: I'm glad I had a quick late night look around the site now!

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Another one gone, at £85.00 any previous indecision was swept aside and a blue D1012 should be winging its way to me soon.

It'll replace the Heljan D1067 that I sold years ago now, though I was very tempted by D1004 in GSYP too...

 

:locomotive: I'm glad I had a quick late night look around the site now!

Cosmetically, the Dapol one is streets ahead of any previous effort. I rewheeled mine to P4, and it finally had a proper workout on the NLG test tracks last weekend.

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After due consideration I now have two more on order from DCC Supplies and with my thanks to contributors to this thread for alerting me to the bargain prices.  Over time the five I already have are proving remarkably robust though required some minor tweaking of user-fitted parts and coupler assemblies.  They look like Westerns and they pull like Westerns.  

 

If you want a loco to haul 16 Mk1s then these will do the job but few of us have space for a full-length summer Saturday holiday train.  Heljan ones will also do that job but will draw a lot more current and don't look quite the part to the knowing eye.

 

I shall finally have a green one in the fleet despite not recalling their days on the main line.  I'm sure I have seen some.  My memory is of 600s and 800s in green and maroon but of 1000s only in maroon until blue arrived on the scene.  Memory is fallible.  A green Western will soon grace Penhayle Bay's curving and hilly main line and will take its turn on freights and branch line duties.  The other newbie is a blue one which will carry as as-yet undecided identity with plates from the Fox etch range.  

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...

 

If you want a loco to haul 16 Mk1s then these will do the job but few of us have space for a full-length summer Saturday holiday train.  Heljan ones will also do that job but will draw a lot more current and don't look quite the part to the knowing eye.

 

...

 

Wot's wrong wif your Heljan class 128? That'll pull as many coaches as the Western! ;)  :jester:

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After due consideration I now have two more on order from DCC Supplies and with my thanks to contributors to this thread for alerting me to the bargain prices.  Over time the five I already have are proving remarkably robust though required some minor tweaking of user-fitted parts and coupler assemblies.  They look like Westerns and they pull like Westerns.  

 

If you want a loco to haul 16 Mk1s then these will do the job but few of us have space for a full-length summer Saturday holiday train.  Heljan ones will also do that job but will draw a lot more current and don't look quite the part to the knowing eye.

 

I shall finally have a green one in the fleet despite not recalling their days on the main line.  I'm sure I have seen some.  My memory is of 600s and 800s in green and maroon but of 1000s only in maroon until blue arrived on the scene.  Memory is fallible.  A green Western will soon grace Penhayle Bay's curving and hilly main line and will take its turn on freights and branch line duties.  The other newbie is a blue one which will carry as as-yet undecided identity with plates from the Fox etch range.  

A couple of the first Swindon-built batch and the first few from Crewe carried the BR green livery until the edict went out that it must be maroon.I think I remember reading a report that the design showed a "carriage-like profile" .That is to say it matched the BR Mark one roughly in shape and as they were maroon...well,you get the drift.Green did not last long. My first sighting of a green example was D1035 at Snow Hill in December of 1962 on a Paddington-bound service.They had replaced the Kings about 3 months earlier.

 

I bought green D 1002 with DCC Supplies at Demu last week.Couldn't resist at that price. Nice couple,too.It went off to Alex (Lochnagar) yesterday for detailing & plate - fixing plus a little tasteful weathering ...not too heavy.

 

Enjoy yours.

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Carriage-like profile seems to be a Southern Region speciality. The Bulleid diesels (pause to gnaw carpet & send bill to Kernow) had it and so had the Standard 4 tanks.

 

In the “Kremlin” there was initially an insistence that diesels should have bonnets in the manner of 40s to provide some protection to crews in the event of a collision. That idea was later discarded. The much-loved design of the Westerns apparently had nothing but a skin of metal to protect the crew. I believe six men died in accidents with the Westerns and I wonder how many would have survived if they had had bonnets.

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