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New Farish Class 55


Crepello

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There are detail differences in terms of towing eyes (not on 50) and cab steps etc; not sure if 50 shared bogies with others but 55 and 37s swapped. This is accurate for the cast bogies... a number of 37s receiving them after the 55s were withdrawn and those preserved 55s getting 37 bogies instead - except for KOYLI that retains cast bogies.

As built the production Deltics had fabricated bogie frames. After a few years of high-speed running small fractures were found to be developing in them, so a cast version was made to replace them, the displaced bogies going to new-build Class 37s. The cast design was also used from new under the (also 100mph) Class 50s.

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So the question naturally is why, if Farish have in the past used tight bogie/body clearances with no ill effects, has the company elected to open the gaps up on the new the Class 55 and others, too?  It's just seems odd to me and retrograde as well.

The Peak isn't probably the best point of comparison as the wheels are completely contained within the height of the bogies, and there is no bodywork that could foul the bogies and is somewhat of a special case).

 

Better points of comparison would be the 47 (which did originally sit way to high) and the 57.

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Well, I succumbed, but almost immediately wished I hadn't.

 

I'm spending three days at the GCR Show at Quorn & Woodhouse Station- D9016 going past about every other hour- the old girl is looking a bit rough and only running on one engine.  Hopefully repairs won't be too long in coming but thats another story.....

 

So I went to see Sherwood Models on their stand and gave over the pricely sum of (quite a lot).  I was given new D9007 and trotted happily back to Furtwangen Ost to give it a quick test.   Placed loco on track.  Controller knob turned.  The lights lit at front and rear.  No movement.  Controller then reversed.  Lights reversed, but still no movement.  Loco placed on another part of track.  Same happened (a bit of a forlorn hope, this).  Desperate last forlorn hope- placed on tram track in fiddle yard and power applied.  I must say the directional lighting is superb- but still no attempt at movement, nor even a motor hum to indicate an attempt.

 

The loco lasted all of six minutes before it returned to Sherwood Models.  Naturally it had been the only one on the stand, but there is one coming from the shop in time for tomorrow's show- the only other one they have.  If this is a dud also I can see Ian and Neil collaring Dennis Lovett tomorrow.  Lets hope this second one moves under power.........

 

All the very berst

Les

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Update.

 

Ian and Neil brought the one from the shop and the exchange was made- I now have a Deltic that runs beautifully- only snag is it is a KOYLI rather than a PINZA which will mean more work needed to make it suitable for Hawthorn Dene-

 

Both of my alternatives had shorter nameplates than KOYLI but longer than PINZA, the yellow bearing boxes need to become black and the yellow warning panels will need to disappear for a start...

 

The brothers also brought the product return documentation with a view to returning the dead one direct to Bachmann at the show.  I don't know if they actually did...

 

Such is life...

Les

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It is-

 

Would have involved bogies or bogieframes as well, and Pinza's body was very tight.  Two of Bachmann's people said independently that a number are stuck together with stray glue (like my 101 was) so we didn't dare chance breaking it.   In any case none (almost) of my locos stays "out of the box"- all gain new identities, weathering etc- starting from a KOYLI rather than a Pinza just involves a little more work.

 

KOYLI is now running-in on my test track minus body- I made sure it would come off and left it off for chipping as soon as it has done an hour each way.  It is taking turns with yet another A3.....  (number nine or ten)

 

All the very best

Les

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The plates look good; I'd like to know if they cover the printed ones nicely, also which adhesive you used.

 

Hi,

 

I haven't had a chance to attach these yet but just by looking at them, it looks like the printed ones are just slightly bigger but I will know for sure once the plates are in place. I'll probably use Klear to attach the plates as this allows for a little maneuvering whereas I used super glue once and once it is on the model it can't be moved and I want them to be straight.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

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Another gorgeous model from Farish...mine arrived a month ago but has only posed as a shelf queen till just now, I just got around to testing it. I gave it half an hour running in and now she pulls a sixteen coach train at a realist full speed, but my sulzer 2, class 24 to some, runs faster. I noticed the illuminated headcode panel only lights up in one direction and similarly the tail lighs also fail to light up...seems like a chip failure so back to Bachmann it goes...anyone else had such an issue...

 

I rode footplate to KX to York on one of them, boy were these beasts noisy in the cab! Living at Oakleigh Park I remember their distinctive sound as they headed north on a clear and frosty night..you could hear that approaching humm for quite a while...a kind of magic!!

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  • 2 months later...

After debating whether to get one for several months, I bought a blue one today. Ran it for a while and it was fine, then the lights (both ends) stopped working in one direction. Anyone else had this problem? I've had it with Dapol locos but this is the first time with a Farish one. I've not investigated further but as it's both ends I assume it's a circuit board fault.

 

Looks like it's back to the shop with it tomorrow, anyway!

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After debating whether to get one for several months, I bought a blue one today. Ran it for a while and it was fine, then the lights (both ends) stopped working in one direction. Anyone else had this problem? I've had it with Dapol locos but this is the first time with a Farish one. I've not investigated further but as it's both ends I assume it's a circuit board fault.

 

Looks like it's back to the shop with it tomorrow, anyway!

 

Yup - definitely just return it to the shop.  Not worth the agro of trying to sort it yourself at the prices these things go for now.

 

Matt

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Folks,

 

I just obtained a 55, and looking at the bogies, it does seem possible to directly swap on some class 37 ones. This would only need a bit of the underframe in the centre of the chassis cut out to clear some of the higher sitting gears in the 37 bogies (would be totally invisible on track). This is definitely an improvement though the loco does sit higher on these so may need to be cut down (if that's possible).

 

Unfortunately whilst the class 37 wheels could be fitted to the 55 bogies, the frames are of a different design (the 55's have been compacted in terms of length between their clips), so it's not trivial to swap 37 wheels and bogie frames onto the 55's existing bogies.

 

Promising, but alas not so simple as getting spare new tool 37 bogies is probably not so easy....unfortunately my 37 bogies need to go back on their 37....!

 

But food for thought...

 

Cheers,

Alan

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Hi Everyone,

 

Having explored the same bogie swap procedure Dr Al described I noted that the unmodified 37 bogies looked ridiculous on the Deltic. The conclusion I came to was that Farish have decided that some sort of compromise is needed with bogies is necessary and that have probably come up with the solution that maintains the overall shape and height of the loco whilst still leaving it able to traverse 12in curves. The 37 with it's full sized bogies and oversized gap looks too tall to me and that is a compromise that can be seen from across a room. In this respect, Dapol, with their 56 and magnificent Western have managed to run their tolerances tighter with scale bogies and a correct gap so it is a shame that Farish can't try a bit harder in this respect. It will be interesting to see the bogies on the forthcoming Dapol 50.

 

For the record, my 55005 has worked faultlessly straight out of the box on DC, Lenz DCC and now Zimo with sound.

 

Peter

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Yup - definitely just return it to the shop.  Not worth the agro of trying to sort it yourself at the prices these things go for now.

 

Matt

 

I did take it back! Fortunately they had one more in stock so just swapped it. The replacement is, so far, working without problems.

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I do a similar thing and raise the bogie side frames on my 37's. I plan to do a similar exercise with my 55.

 

I don't touch the bogies, but instead lower the body, which improves things a lot (I also drop the fuel tanks too).

 

Cheers,

Alan

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Folks,

I've now played quite extensively with the possibility of fitting 37 bogies to this model.

 

The results show why Farish have been forced to compromise on this area. If you remove the base of the chassis unit and the bogies you can clip in 37 bogies no trouble and the gears will clear everything (to reinstate the baseplate, clearance slots would need to be filed out which I didn't do as I wasn't sure if the whole thing was going to be viable). This immediately improves the appearance and on the face of it looks a viable improvement, albeit with some lowering of the body needed.

 

However!

 

The problem which is immediately apparent is that because the Deltic is so long compared to the 37 the correct diameter wheels clash with the bodyshell on cornering. 9" curves are out of the question, and it's likely you could only do this with very generous curves, which most of us don't have. The 37 gets round this by being much shorter, and also by sitting slightly too high (can be lowered and with some adjustment there are just enough (fairly tight) clearances to get away with it).

 

It seems that therefore there isn't much possibilty for this method unfortunately, and I totally understand Bachmann's challenges with this model. I've instead gone into the existing bogies and painted the pickups black so that eyes are less drawn to them and stick with the original bogies.

 

It'll be interesting to see how Dapol approach this with their class 50 which has essentially the same prototype chassis.

 

Cheers,
Alan

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[edit]

 

It'll be interesting to see how Dapol approach this with their class 50 which has essentially the same prototype chassis.

 

Cheers,

Alan

 

I agree.  My hunch, however, is that Dapol will do a much better job of getting the gap down based on what it was able to do with the 58 and even more so with the 56.  Yes, I know.  Totally different bogies and shorter locos than a 50, but still, those models (esp. the 56) have remarkably tight body bogie gaps.  I actually think the biggest strength of previous Dapol diesels have been their bogies.  Compared to Farish (apart from the 37) I think Dapol's have been far superior.

 

Farish seem historically to have elected to go with gaps far larger than truly necessary (remember the first run of 47s?) when compared to Dapol so I'm actually pleased that it is Dapol who are producing the 50; a 50 with the same bogies as the new Farish 55 would have looked absolutely ridiculous.  I've run my 56s on 7.5 inch radius Kato Unitrack and there have been no clearance issues at all.

 

Matt

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Hi Everyone,

 

One of the many distinguishing features of the class 55 is the extremely long wheelbase which, on the new model is absolutely correct. I'm particularly pleased that Farish didn't use this as a point of compromise for clearance. It was a compromise on the old 55 and that is one of the reasons why I never bought one. The wheelbase should be 4.8mm longer than the class 50 and as such will probably scupper any ideas of a hybrid solution using the Dapol 50 when it appears. I did note some time ago that whilst DJ was still at Dapol, there was a struggle to fit the NEM box on to the front of the bogies of the 50 without the coupling protruding way too far (as it does on the Farish 37) He was even contemplating 8 wheel drive. I agree, Dapol seem to be able to find better solutions regarding clearance particularly with the 56 and Western.

 

Peter

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  • 2 years later...

Apologies for resurrecting this old thread.  It's just last week I finally purchased one of these models that I actually could keep - a "like new" one from Hatton's pre-owned.  It was a blue one and I paid £83.  Given that the prices for these seem to have recently been bumped up to £106, I am relieved to have paid less.

 

In the past 3 years since I returned Pinza (post #144), I've tried purchasing several "pre-owned" as well as brand-new examples of this loco in all 3 different liveries, and I've never had such bad luck ever trying to get a good one.  They were all returned.  I've had both new and used ones have their lights not work, one used one ("Like new!") quite honestly smoked (It's not a bug, it's a feature!) just like the real thing as soon as I applied power, and two new ones have arrived with quite noticeable finishing flaws on the bodies that were not acceptable.  I think I've received and returned 5 in total, 2 because of defective lights, 1 because of the electrical fault (the smoking one) and 2 because of finishing problems.
 

Did the new Farish 55 have a reputation for problems or was I just unlucky?  I agree that by buying used ones I ran a higher risk of a mechanical dud, but the upside was that I was able to see photos of the actual model I would be buying and so I could check for body finish problems in advance.  Since I live in California, trying before buying has never been an option.

 

Anyhow, the used one I now have works and looks as it should and I am quite glad to have one I can chip now without having to solder like I've done with my Class 40s and Peaks.  As the box-shifters have had "Pinza" recently on sale I just took a risk and ordered one of them too - with fingers crossed!

 

Matt

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