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Dapol's new Class 68 locomotives


Nobby (John)
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9 minutes ago, rob D2 said:

If you've got a TPE set you'll be able to realistically park it up in a siding and switch it off soon ..

That's precisely where 'the set' has been for the last 4 months!!

I'll have them circulating for now.

Just think what those carriages will look like on the Severn Valley or NYM Railways !!

The Mk.5's'll have to go somewhere!

Al.

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2 hours ago, rob D2 said:

If you've got a TPE set you'll be able to realistically park it up in a siding and switch it off soon ..

 

1 hour ago, atom3624 said:

That's precisely where 'the set' has been for the last 4 months!!

I'll have them circulating for now.

Just think what those carriages will look like on the Severn Valley or NYM Railways !!

The Mk.5's'll have to go somewhere!

Al.

Pop by Warrington, some have been parked up for years.

 

it feels like the curse of the mk5. 
 

maybe they should have skipped it and declared them mk6.

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Well 'Splendid' is in name and nature - running brilliantly!!

One small 'negative' is it seemed to have lost one of those small handles, except not one of the ones I fitted - it was one of the locomotives which sold without the windscreen corner handles.

 

Positive is that ... I still had loads of spares!!

I soon cleaned, pin drove a couple of holes and mounted the replacement within less than 10 minutes!

All sorted - running extremely well.

 

Al.

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3 hours ago, The Meerkat said:

is there any difference with the new batch of 68s to last batches, or are they all the same just different numbers?

Stadler vs Vossloh, the vossloh embossed logo is gone from the later ones (on the front centre, just left of the number ).


Some have has an extra jumper socket, below the “0” on 68034 below, but this varies between builds and looks a later addition
 

There was some handrail mods during testing, Dapol actually modelled this difference), but the handrails were changed on the prototype.


68001

 

68001

 

 

68034

68034

 

Both flickr urls/ not mine.

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Model wise only the very first OO batch were different, they were missing the brake disc detail on the wheels and the PCB was positioned slightly differently and the etched nameplates were factory fitted.

 

The latest batch of OO models are missing the handrails under the windscreen but that was a factory booboo and not intentional.

 

 

Any other detail differences are to account for changes to the actual locomotives since introduction, for example 68008 (and 68009) are AAR fitted like the Chiltern ones so have the extra bufferbeam detail.

The TPE ones (and 68033/34) are fitted to handle the MK5A's so they have an extra plug or socket for that. Not sure if Dapol modelled the destination blind fitted to those ones.

Edited by Kaput
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Another point is that the model of 68032 has the Vossloh body, i.e. the Vossloh logo moulded into the end faces. The loco in real life doesn't have these as it was built under Stadler control. The model for 034 is accurate; haven't got any of the other Stadler ones so unsure on the rest.

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TPE 68 is a funny old model, on original release Brutus was unpopular.

As soon as the mk5’s were announced it became gold dust.

Then Achilles and Destroyer came, and people were virtually fighting over them.

Next up is Felix and Splendid which still seem to be hanging around.

 

I wonder what apetite there will be for Black Douglas and Enterprise when they arrive ?

That will be 7 TPE made then.

 

the mk5 TPE prices dont seem to have taken too much a frenzy, suggesting theres probably close to enough out there and of course, its all over at year end on the mainline, not that they ever really properly started.

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2 hours ago, The Meerkat said:

so for example the sound will be the same,  as i heard people say that the factory fitted sound don't really sound like a 68?

 

Factory sound is legomanbiffo (at least the original batches were, now that Dapol seems to prefer Zimo for factory sound I'm not sure its still true).

 

The sound is decent but I can understand why people say it doesn't sound right. The real 68 is an extremely bassy drone while biff's sound has a bit more of a rythem to it which is probably why some people claim it sounds like a steam loco.

Theres more options these days although biff is still the only one that done the full push/pull setup so if the loco is in push mode it won't make horn sounds.

 

IMO the engine sounds from the Coastal DCC project combined with everything else from biff's project would probably be the closest to perfect

 

 

1 hour ago, adb968008 said:

Next up is Felix and Splendid which still seem to be hanging around.

 

I wonder how much of that is down to the obviously missing handrails and that Dapol's offered fix was time limited.

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22 minutes ago, Kaput said:

I wonder how much of that is down to the obviously missing handrails and that Dapol's offered fix was time limited.

 

I do think that will be a factor. However....

 

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

That will be 7 TPE made then.

 

So 7 locos to potentially run with 2 sets of coaches, or whatever other minor stuff they have also done (I think they have been on intermodal, RHTT and engineering trains before).

 

2 hours ago, adb968008 said:

the mk5 TPE prices dont seem to have taken too much a frenzy, suggesting theres probably close to enough out there and of course, its all over at year end on the mainline, not that they ever really properly started.

 

Yeah, I am really pleased I got mine when I got the chance! Kinda locks me into a 2019-2023 era on my layout too.

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27 minutes ago, Kaput said:

 

Factory sound is legomanbiffo (at least the original batches were, now that Dapol seems to prefer Zimo for factory sound I'm not sure its still true).

 

The sound is decent but I can understand why people say it doesn't sound right. The real 68 is an extremely bassy drone while biff's sound has a bit more of a rythem to it which is probably why some people claim it sounds like a steam loco.

Theres more options these days although biff is still the only one that done the full push/pull setup so if the loco is in push mode it won't make horn sounds.

 

IMO the engine sounds from the Coastal DCC project combined with everything else from biff's project would probably be the closest to perfect

 

 

 

I wonder how much of that is down to the obviously missing handrails and that Dapol's offered fix was time limited.

i do like legomanbiffo sounds use were can,   did not know it was biffo sound,  cant you put biffo sound on zimo or you mean Dapol like their sound files?

 

also what about theses new 21 pins or they for pantographs?

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Biff doesn't do Zimo and changing a sound project from ESU to Zimo (or vice versa) is pretty much a case of making it again from scratch. Dapol have been mostly using Zimo sound decoders since around the release of the GWR Mogul.

 

Forgot to mention that since the 68's release biff has updated the project with totally new traction motor sounds and cab startup sounds, I have no idea if a brand new factory sound one would have that project or the original one.

 

 

Not sure what you mean about new 21 pins? The 68 has always been a 21pin decoder.

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The Digitrains sound file, for the Zimo decoder, on the 68 does indeed have a "DVT" mode, for use when pushing a train. The headlights are switched off and the tail lights are on, the horn is disabled for this also. But, it is set to only work in this mode in one direction, so you just have to make sure the right working end is coupled to the train.

I have three so equipped, so have tested it. Mine are all N gauge, but the same Zimo specific sound file has been used from the OO gauge version.

 

Needless to say, Digitrains also have a matching sound file to use in the DVT, intended for the MkV TPE sets, but would work for any DVT of course.

Edited by Brian-1c
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On 16/10/2023 at 18:07, TomScrut said:

 

So 7 locos to potentially run with 2 sets of coaches, or whatever other minor stuff they have also done (I think they have been on intermodal, RHTT and engineering trains before).

 

 

 

And nukes (flickr pic)

68019 & 68016 6M63 Hutton Moor, 24-05-2021.

 

 

 

Wagon delivery.

A Double Debut

 

Edited by AY Mod
1 image removed after copyright complaint.
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Maybe I should possibly have added more detail..this was 6M67 with 88 007 Electra and 60 019 Brutus seen at Bedminster near Bristol TM today with 4 FNA-Ds (which is certainly a personal record for me)

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2 hours ago, norfolkchinaclay said:

This one isn’t too far out, might just be the photo of the sample but the light green looks like it needs to be touch darker/greener. Hopefully Dapol already have the matter in hand 🤞 Looks good though!

IMG_8828.png.c766437f1349faa7a313c99bc22d4182.pngIMG_8827.png.c3b29de5e4382adf6a587f7f0d3cc905.png

 

 

it does look good, i have this one and the poppy on pre order,    

 

was the switchable lighting on the older batches ?

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