Dapol Autocoach

[sjrixon]

https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/news/live-from-ally-pally-show-autocoach-promised-for-oo

 

About time this one got updated! 

[Dunsignalling]

It's not an update, it's a model of a different diagram from the old ex-Airfix one.

 

The tooling for that was flogged on to Hornby a good many years ago.

 

Given that it's a gas-lit type, maybe they could do a gas-tank wagon too?

 

John

Edited March 18, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[woodenhead]

So we've had the Rapido B set and now the Autocoach from Dapol - finally GWR branchlines can enter the 21st Century.

 

Just need that 14xx model and a modern 57xx to complete the set.

[Jon Harbour]

Sooner or later the 14xx will come along - or maybe it will be like London buses and three will arrive at once!

[Star-rider]

The Autocoach is very welcome and will go on the shopping list.

 

It would have been so much better if Dapol could have worked with Hattons on the 14/48XX, secured the existing body tooling and come up with more reliable underpinnings.

 

There would have been the opportunity to link the two components to give pick-up on 6-7 axles and install a shared sound decoder somewhere near the non-driving end of the coach.

Many people have complained about the running qualities of the Hattons model but mine is OK once it is running at speed, I suspect that poor starting and stalling it suffers may be more of an electronic problem…

[woodenhead]

28 minutes ago, Star-rider said:

It would have been so much better if Dapol could have worked with Hattons on the 14/48XX, secured the existing body tooling and come up with more reliable underpinnings.

 

 

You never know what else Accurascale might have gotten from Hattons...

[BMacdermott]

Hello everyone

 

Congratulations to Dapol on this announcement. We wish them every success with the project.

 

These Autocoaches have always been High Polling in The 00 Wishlist Poll and entered The Top 50 for the first time in 2022 - coming in at equal position 26 overall.

 

Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

[jamieb]

It says that one of these coaches is 'preserved' at the Telford Steam Railway.Unfortunately it's decaying at a rate of knots and has become an eyesore .Maybe Dapol could use a percentage of the profits to pay for it to go on a low loader to somewhere who can actually restore it!

[Legend]

Good move and at a reasonable price . Think a Choc and Cream one required . 

[David Bigcheeseplant]

Will there be versions with or without luggage end windows.

[Dunsignalling]

Can we perhaps hope that those 'American' bogies will be made available as spares?

 

I have a number of ideas in mind that could use some....

Edited March 18, 2023 by Dunsignalling

[D9020 Nimbus]

There are two likely routes to a newer 14xx — either Accurascale might (have) purchase(d) the tooling from Hattons and can sort it out, or Dapol might do one, given they do it in O and N. Or they both might. Or Rapido will do one to go with the Titfield Thunderbolt range…

[The Johnster]

(Hallejulia Chorus plays in background) YIPPEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!  Well done Dapol!

 

I have been steadily lobbying for this coach to be put through Dapol's 4mm shrink ray for about six years now, and while I am not convinced that my nagging has had any effect on this model's production, if it has then tx vm Dapol and in any case I am now a very happy bunny indeed.  It is a core essential for any sensible rendition of a Tondu branch in the post-1953 period, and will enable me to get rid of my Keyser whitemetal A31 lumpen placceholders.

 

Surprisingly, Tondu's four branchlines (five if you go pre-1931 when Gilfach Goch was included, and three post-1953 when Blaengarw) never featured auto-working until the introduction of the new Cardiff Valleys 'regular interval' timetable in the autumn of 1953.  I say surprising because auto-working was eminently suited to the traffic demands of the area, especially the Gilfach Goch branch which featured a run around to reverse at Hendreforgan.  The reason, though I've never seen it stated, was probably the gradients, even the pocket rocket little 64xx not appearing until 1960 when the Abergwynfi service was diverted to Blaengwynfi.  Not insignificant then, that auto work at Tondu co-incided with the introduction in 1953 of auto-fitted 4575 small prairies, capable of 3-trailer Saturday work to Abergwynfi.

 

Because of the very low speeds, especially on the Porthcawl Branch, it was considered in 1953 that auto trailers would not run far or fast enough at Tondu to reliably charge their batteries from the belt-driven dynamos, so the initial allocation were all gas-lit.  These included a Diagram J, two Diagram Ns ( W 36/7), an A10, and a Cardiff Railway gangwayed twin set, GW Diagrams A20/1, and the last surviving Clifton Downs compartment trailer, Diagram A2.  The Cardiff Railway set was earmarked for the Porthcawl Branch for some reason, but probably appeared elsewhere as well.

 

I already have the A2, W 3338, a Roxey kit and in it's own right a very interesting vehicle with a lot of character.  W 36 Wlasted in service until 1957, smack bang in my period, and Dap are going to produce it in the correct crimson unlined livery for me!  I have no excuse whatsoever not to buy this model!!!  I'll have two more, actually, as W 37 W renumbered was in crimson by 1954 and I doubt it ever appeared in crimson/cream in the area and my model will be a second W 36 Wrenumbered (though I'd be delighted to be be proved wrong about this, and might yet be persuaded to buy W 37 in crimson/cream anyway, it'll be no worse than my A30 W 189 W in the same livery) (WR were painting autos in this livery until 1950), and W 38 saw it's time out at Tondu so must have appeared in post 1956 unlined maroon.

 

It was found that electrically lit coaches were suitable for work at Tondu, and the gaslit trailers were gradually replaced.  The Cardiff Railway set was replaced in 1954 by a gangwayed TVR twinset, of which there were three, all of which successively saw service at Tondu mostly on Porthcawl workings.  The J, Ns, A2, and A10 were replaced by A30s, A38s, and compartment A43 and A44 'Cyclops' rebuilt trailers, all of which are justfied at Cwmdimbath except A38s which didn't appear until 1960 AFAICT, two years after my 1958 cut-off.

 

I am absolultely delighted by this announcement and will put an order in as soon as this is possible.  Thank you Dapol, thank you!

 

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

 

Now, that leaves Diagram J, A10, Cardiff Rly & TVR gangwayed twinsets...  Form an orderly queue, gentlemen.

 

 

[The Johnster]

Pre-order going in at Lord & Butler soon as I prise myself out of my pit Monday.  W 36 will join 4144 at Cwmdimbath as a model of something that still exists.  Dap website says to order from your Dapol stockist, though I've never had any problem ordering direct from the factory.

Edited March 18, 2023 by The Johnster

[ndg910]

Totally agree. About time this was done and I'll be in for at least one. I know this is an Autocoach thread, but what happened to the corridor Toplights?

[sjrixon]

9 hours ago, Star-rider said:

The Autocoach is very welcome and will go on the shopping list.

 

It would have been so much better if Dapol could have worked with Hattons on the 14/48XX, secured the existing body tooling and come up with more reliable underpinnings.

 

There would have been the opportunity to link the two components to give pick-up on 6-7 axles and install a shared sound decoder somewhere near the non-driving end of the coach.

Many people have complained about the running qualities of the Hattons model but mine is OK once it is running at speed, I suspect that poor starting and stalling it suffers may be more of an electronic problem…

Mine, having been chipped, and I had to really mess with the cv settings, but she runs fine. Looks smart with my upgraded Airfix autocoach.

[Craigw]

10 hours ago, Star-rider said:

The Autocoach is very welcome and will go on the shopping list.

 

It would have been so much better if Dapol could have worked with Hattons on the 14/48XX, secured the existing body tooling and come up with more reliable underpinnings.

 

 

Why would it be better? 

 

The autocoaches were in use long before the 48XX entered the scene and it is a excellent addition to the growing collection of pre grouping stock that is trickling out.

 

Craig W

[David Stannard]

1 hour ago, Craigw said:

 

Why would it be better? 

 

The autocoaches were in use long before the 48XX entered the scene and it is a excellent addition to the growing collection of pre grouping stock that is trickling out.

 

Craig W

 

 Me thinks it could be time for a 517 Class, as you know a long lived class that had various modifications made over time and could be seen virtually anywhere on the network, there was only about 8 left by my 1938-39 timeline but there was plenty left up until the early to mid 1930's which would suit a lot of modellers, that would be a better option than going through the whole 48/58/14xx family again and again and again.

[rprodgers]

Possibly a Metro tank would be better than a 517 tank, for Dapol, as it would fill in a gap for something to haul their Toplight mainline coaches  pre 1931?

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by rprodgers

[Star-rider]

12 hours ago, sjrixon said:

Mine, having been chipped, and I had to really mess with the cv settings, but she runs fine. Looks smart with my upgraded Airfix autocoach.

 

If you would be prepared to share your settings (via PM if preferred) it would be much appreciated. I realise that we would probably be using different decoders, but it may point me in the right direction.

 

Mine is a bit of an ornament in a bay platform these days.

 

Pete.

[Harlequin]

I think it would be difficult for anyone to pick up the Hattons/DJM 14XX now - not only because of the questionable mechanism but also because of all the difficult questions it would raise from disgruntled owners.

 

An 0-4-2T with an autocoach is the "iconic" combination and a 517 class would be a great choice to cover the decades of running before the 48XX's even existed! (Hoping that a manufacturer sees the value of that and doesn't ignore it for not having a BR version...)

 

However, another really great combination, that we will be able to make soon from very high quality models, is a Steam Railmotor paired with an Autocoach. Or maybe with two! In Crimson Lake! 😁

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by Harlequin

[sjrixon]

7 minutes ago, Star-rider said:

 

If you would be prepared to share your settings (via PM if preferred) it would be much appreciated. I realise that we would probably be using different decoders, but it may point me in the right direction.

 

Mine is a bit of an ornament in a bay platform these days.

 

Pete.

I'll see what I can do.... 

[Star-rider]

10 hours ago, Craigw said:

 

Why would it be better? 

 

The autocoaches were in use long before the 48XX entered the scene and it is a excellent addition to the growing collection of pre grouping stock that is trickling out.

 

Craig W

Probably because I’m fundamentally lazy and would prefer a manufacturer to do the work for me.

 

The more pick-up points the better for smooth running as far as I’m concerned. But bearing in mind the specification suggests that there will pick-ups on the new Autocoach it is probable that what I want to achieve be done fairly easily by myself. A removable roof suggests that it should also be straightforward to drop a sound decoder and good sized speaker for 4825 if I can get it to run better.

 

I’d permanently couple them together with Bachmann pipe couplers and wire across.

 

That said I know that not everyone will pair their new Autocoach with a 14/48XX…

 

Pete.

[Hal Nail]

Interesting that these are so popular given there were only 6 of them.

Probably some cut and shut potential into 70 footers for something a bit different though.

 

This is as far as I have got in 7mm!

 

Edited April 9, 2023 by Hal Nail

[Star-rider]

40 minutes ago, sjrixon said:

I'll see what I can do.... 

No rush, I'm about to go off-grid for a week in the internet-free world of my holiday chalet :)