Dapol HST

[oreamnos]

Since in several different threads here on RMWeb the point has been made to me that what I consider to be steep and unwarranted price increases over the past 3 years or so seem to be expected and accepted by my fellow modelers who post here, I finally spoke to my wife.

 

She is British (I am not) and she keeps tabs daily on what goes on "back home." She directed me to page 13 of our latest issue of The Economist newspaper, which states the inflation rate in Britain is currently 5.2%. The rate is nowhere near that over here in the States. If that rate has been constant for the past 3 years then that would certainly account for the price increases, and when I did a few like-for-like comparisons of Hattons prices for locos I bought 3 years ago with the prices being asked for new releases of the same models now, this seems to be the case.

 

So, with this new understanding, I am even more glad I don't have to pay the 20% VAT on most things I import from the UK.

 

Matt

[BernardTPM]

It has been rising for some time, but would have been around 2 1/2% three years ago.

[MRDEEDIESEL]

With this debate about quality and price.. Im waiting for a updated class 40(all nose ends) and class 55 (all headcodes) and in doing so will expect to pay that little bit extra for the improved detail whenever Farish (or Dapol!) get round to it!! The same happened for me with the Class 67..more expensive than most other Diesels at the time but worth every penny(imo)

[RWJP]

at that price, I am not buying one.

 

So you haven't bought ANY new models for at least the last two years then? Dapol Britannia goes for about £100, Dapol HST around £130, Farish B1, usually around £80-90, Farish A1 around £110, Farish's current Western has an RRP of £90!

 

Need I go on? This is what prices in the UK are like now, and it's not going to get any better.

 

And I don't really see why you are complaining, you don't have to pay the VAT we do as you don't live here, so if Dapol's Western did release for £95 (inclusive of VAT), you'd only be paying about £80... Which for a modern tooling, considerably better model than what is currently available is an absolute steal.

 

Anyway, back on topic, the video of the full length FGW HST Rheneas posted, and the ridiculous number I saw yesterday has proved I really need some more coaches for mine. TGS is definite requirement, and maybe another TF. Does anyone know if Dapol have any plans to release individual TFs?

 

Ross

[Steven B]

As with many things in life you pay your money and you make your choice.

 

The Bachmann website gives £89.95 for the RRP of the Farish Western. I'd say the extra fiver is well worth it if only for the lights and the DCC socket.

 

There will always be people who want three older style models than two newer style ones. Personally I'd rather have fewer trains of higher quality than lots of trains that don't quite look right. Fortunatly there will be plenty of second hand locos for those who'd rather have the new models.

 

Happy modelling.

 

Steven B.

[BernardTPM]

As with many things in life you pay your money and you make your choice.

The Bachmann website gives £89.95 for the RRP of the Farish Western. I'd say the extra fiver is well worth it if only for the lights and the DCC socket.

Forget the lights (always distractingly unrealistic anyway!) or the DCC socket; it's worth the fiver to have the correct wheelbase bogies, evenly spaced grilles on the bodyside, etc. The Farish one is hopeless for that sort of price.

[Karhedron]

You could ask whats the correct price for any product!!!!

Whatever will enable them to sell the entire production run at maximum profit with no leftovers.

 

For me I guess I am willing to pay up to around £100 for a large, well specced modern loco but that is only my price point. £95 for a Western sounds a reasonable RRP and as others have noted, box shifters like Hattons are offering them for less. As a WR modeller an accurate Western will suit my layout very well.

[Robert Shrives]

Hi gang,

Time to get the money out. I have recieved the ER blue grey HST , power cars  E43076/77 TF  E41077 and TS E42151, power cars show swt 254011 power cars have roof cowl on exhaust . Livery well applied and body shell correct for it. A good pic of sister 254012 on ECML with stock , no TGS at that time! dated 16/5/1980...The coach legend is well sized and correctly positioned the shell as is know has the CDL light moulded on but not an issue when painted over.

Go on you know you want one !!

Robert  

[Dr Al]

have recieved the ER blue grey HST , power cars  E43076/77 TF  E41077 and TS E42151,

Any chance of some pics ?!

 

Cheers,

Alan

[oreamnos]

A quick question to anyone who owns one of these: Is it normal for them to growl when they run?

 

I just received a new blue/grey ER set and have only had a couple minutes to run it, so no, it hasn't been run in properly and I won't have a chance to until lthe weekend at the earliest.  Running is smooth out of the box but the gears growl loudly at all speeds.  Have others noticed this and will it quiet down with use or will this be a permanent feature warranting an exchange?

 

Apart from the noise it's a lovely model which I'm very impressed with.

 

Thanks.

 

Matt

[roundhouse]

Only had mybFGW HST running last night. It is quiet and smooth at the moment.

 

I do have a Dapol 67 which is very noisy despite regular lubrication and running on the layout at numerous shows but it does run well which it didn't at first. The other 67s are quieter.

[admiles]

Sadly the Dapol "growl" is down to their rather variable quality control. Running in may help slightly but I've always found when they're loud they tend to stay loud whatever you do.

 

Shame as (for me anyway) it tends to ruin an expensive loco. Each to their own though.

[roundhouse]

Sadly the Dapol "growl" is down to their rather variable quality control. Running in may help slightly but I've always found when they're loud they tend to stay loud whatever you do.

 

Shame as (for me anyway) it tends to ruin an expensive loco. Each to their own though.

 

Luckily with the 67 , its usually only run at a show so normally it cant be heard but yes it can be annoying when testing it at home as it just doesnt sound right.. More recent 67 releases I have are all fine.

 

Ian

[DapolDave]

Luckily with the 67 , its usually only run at a show so normally it cant be heard but yes it can be annoying when testing it at home as it just doesnt sound right.. More recent 67 releases I have are all fine.

 

Ian

Hi guys,

 

not sure this will help, but i have about 8 class 67's i use on Welham Green and 2 of them were definately growly. However lubrication and then left to their own devises doing laps on the layout (and i mean laps) while we ate lunch at shows and they are almost silent.

 

It may just be that some of the models need 'bedding in' more than others.

cheers

Dave

[roundhouse]

Hi guys,

 

not sure this will help, but i have about 8 class 67's i use on Welham Green and 2 of them were definately growly. However lubrication and then left to their own devises doing laps on the layout (and i mean laps) while we ate lunch at shows and they are almost silent.

 

It may just be that some of the models need 'bedding in' more than others.

cheers

Dave

 

 

Thanks Dave. How long were they left to run.

 

I did have it on the rolling road for about half an hour each way which loosened it up but didnt reduce the noise.

 

It does run smoothly now though.

 

Ian

[Dr Al]

Sadly the Dapol "growl" is down to their rather variable quality control. Running in may help slightly but I've always found when they're loud they tend to stay loud whatever you do.

 

Shame as (for me anyway) it tends to ruin an expensive loco. Each to their own though.

 

Generally the motors seem to settle down to be pretty quiet. But it does seem to take a bit of running. If it does have a less than perfect motor then that probably won't improve much, so might be worth deeper investigation.

 

I've got 3 HST sets now and all are fairly quiet, though not as quiet as the 86s I've found. I certainly wouldn't say they are excessively noisy in any way now run in.

 

Cheers,

Alan

[DapolDave]

Thanks Dave. How long were they left to run.

 

I did have it on the rolling road for about half an hour each way which loosened it up but didnt reduce the noise.

 

It does run smoothly now though.

 

Ian

 

Hi Ian,

 

My sound fitted 67 and HST have now had the best part of 150 hours running with about 3-4 hours continuous and you cannot hear them.

 

cheers

Dave

[roundhouse]

Hi Ian,

 

My sound fitted 67 and HST have now had the best part of 150 hours running with about 3-4 hours continuous and you cannot hear them.

 

cheers

Dave

Dave

 

Thanks

 

WIll give it a few hours run maybe this Sunday if I get chance.

 

regards

 

ian

[Dr Al]

Hi Ian,

 

My sound fitted 67 and HST have now had the best part of 150 hours running with about 3-4 hours continuous and you cannot hear them.

 

cheers

Dave

 

 

That's a fair amount! How are the motor brushes holding out, and general wear and tear after this?

 

Cheers,

Alan

[Revolution Ben]

Hi Ian,

 

My sound fitted 67 and HST have now had the best part of 150 hours running with about 3-4 hours continuous and you cannot hear them.

 

cheers

Dave

 

Hi Dave,

 

Are you quite sure you can't hear your sound-fitted locos...?

 

I think I know what you mean!

 

cheers

 

Ben A.

[DapolDave]

That's a fair amount! How are the motor brushes holding out, and general wear and tear after this?

 

Cheers,

Alan

Hi Alan, no problem at all with any of them, and apart from a wheel clean they have only been oiled twice in that time.

 

Clean track is a must mind you, but no flogging them to death, realistic speeds at all times and they crawl like good uns and accelerate smoothly holding the set top speed without and stutter, smell or heating up beyond 'warm'. Wheel treads are shiny though but that's to be expected.

 

Oh and I'm running DCC with an NCE power cab.

 

Cheers

Dave

[roundhouse]

I gave all three of my WSMR 67's a good run today, the noisy one had about 40 - 50 minutes running each direction on the rolling road and it is much quieter although it did get very hot.

 

The other two are also running quieter after about half hour each directiom.

 

They will get another run in the morning and on Sunday.

 

I will do the same with my FGW HST and some of the Dapol 66's although they already run quietly.

 

 

Ian

Edited March 1, 2013 by roundhouse

[Dr Al]

There seems to be a minor issue with the blue ER HST sets (minor!): the coach wheels seem different to earlier models as they have a raised hub in the centre, thus meaning the etched brake discs don't fit!

 

I know a lot of folk won't bother fitting them, but I rather like them fitted, so this is a bit of a pain!

 

Has anyone else noticed this on a recent HST set? Dave, have the wheels been changed or the wrong ones fitted? I've temporarily swapped the bogies from a couple of other Mk3s for now, but would like them fitted on all the coaches I have.

 

Also, have any of our cottage manufacturers considered doing an etch of brake disks for the powercars? Again, these are quite distinctive on the real units, and would be a relatively simple addition to make if they were available.

Cheers,
Alan

[roundhouse]

I havent checked my FGW buffet but the WSMR twin pack wheelsets are fine - the two sets of mine now have the brake dsics added.

[BR_Blue_1986]

When will the new run of fgw mk3's expect to be released as I have them on order?