RMweb Premium Kris Posted January 27, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 27, 2012 No problem Dave, hope the lurgy clears up quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee m22 Posted January 27, 2012 Share Posted January 27, 2012 Hey Dave, That's excellent news about the spare springs and certainly a decent example of listening to feedback! The 5 pair pack has arrived just in time for February too so I now know what I'll be treating myself to for me birthday:D I hear what your saying about stockists. It's really annoying that my local-not-so-local hasn't even started to stock the single packs yet (for the record, they have always got the catenary packs in stock and I'm now itching for an electric layout!). I do like to support their business, but if it's one of the big e-shops that's on the ball, and p&p is the same as my fuel cost to Northamptonshire - then hopefully in two weeks time I'll be showing off some Dapol magnetic couplings in my layout thread! Regards Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QRModeller Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Cheers Dave, I'll wait patiently! Matt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee m22 Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Would you believe it, I asked the manager of my local-not-so-local model shop about Dapol couplings yesterday, and he directed me to the rail guy I have spoken to since December. I was informed that Dapol haven't put them on their stock lists yet. (they clearly don't realise that Dapol talk to us directly via Dave) Dave, perhaps you need to take the water to the horse in these case...perhaps with a nice gullet-sized hose and fire pump! That or talk the listeners into doubling their stock orders, because it seems your customers will have to migrate to whoever is taking note of your stock listings! Either way, my wait is nearly over Regards Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted January 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 29, 2012 Would you believe it, I asked the manager of my local-not-so-local model shop about Dapol couplings yesterday, and he directed me to the rail guy I have spoken to since December. I was informed that Dapol haven't put them on their stock lists yet. (they clearly don't realise that Dapol talk to us directly via Dave) Dave, perhaps you need to take the water to the horse in these case...perhaps with a nice gullet-sized hose and fire pump! That or talk the listeners into doubling their stock orders, because it seems your customers will have to migrate to whoever is taking note of your stock listings! Either way, my wait is nearly over Regards Lee Dave's feed back is indeed excellent, however his efficiency is not reflected by Dapol's ordering and despatch department. My local model shop has shown me the paperwork from Dapol and it very often does not include listings of stock which is claimed on here is in stock. In three years of dealing with Dapol they are yet to recieve an order that is correct and complete. This is not an isolated incident, of the four shops local to me,all of whome I am on good terms with, none of them have very much positive to say about Dapol's ordering systems and two of them are Gold Stockists! Errors and misunderstandings will often occur with both sides at fault at times but to constantly blame the shops and stockists for not having what you want is neither helpful or accurate. Jerry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Would you believe it, I asked the manager of my local-not-so-local model shop about Dapol couplings yesterday, and he directed me to the rail guy I have spoken to since December. I was informed that Dapol haven't put them on their stock lists yet. (they clearly don't realise that Dapol talk to us directly via Dave) Dave, perhaps you need to take the water to the horse in these case...perhaps with a nice gullet-sized hose and fire pump! That or talk the listeners into doubling their stock orders, because it seems your customers will have to migrate to whoever is taking note of your stock listings! Either way, my wait is nearly over Regards Lee Hi Lee, please PM me with the name of the shop and i'll check with Kevin in the morning regarding that stores orders (if any) for the couplers, and then see if they want any. cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 (edited) Karhedron - This was using Kadees and small round magnets (called Magtrix which used to be done by Maplins), but they opened fully if the magnet was fitted partly under the rail - for photos see http://groups.yahoo....812347/pic/list (This was on the previous version of the forum) - hope it helps. NB - if you do it and then ballast, put a dot of paint, or a clump of weed, on the sleepers where the magnets are - or you will spend some time finding them! the voice of experience!!! Edited January 29, 2012 by shortliner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hi Jerry, thanks for the feedback. Basically everyone, every month is sent a stock list that is up to date and extremely accurate as we now have an 'almost' perfect stock control system in place. This shows everything (warts and all) regarding what we have lots of and what we have little of in stock at the time that the sheet was printed out. This then goes out to ALL stockists on the same day for them to get (post willing) the following day. Orders will be taken for the remaining stock from that following day, by phone, fax or e-mail (usually the first 2 of the 3) and a picking list is then generated and sent within 2-3 days (usually). However the stock list is simply that, a stock list, and not the order form that ALL stockists get sent 2 months prior to Dapol receiving product. This allows them to order immediately. If they dont , and you wont believe how many leave it weeks if at all, to order. I remember the orders for the class 26's and 22's were terrible and i was extremely worried. indeed the class 26's only had 6 or 7 stockists reply to the order form within 14 days of it being sent out. Now the couplers are another case in point............ we had only 20% of the production run pre-ordered when we released them, and indeed out of the total number of 5 pair multi packs, we have presold only 360 packs worldwide. These have been on order forms but stockists havnt ordered them. What then happens is simple, once they realise that they are populare and decide to order (if they do) then others who can see the bigger picture have ordered more and stock becomes short, or runs out temporarily This isnt acceptable for these and i know it. A new product that is designed to be cross model usable should be in stock ALL the time, and in this we have failed as we are now, i believe, out of stock of single pair multi-packs. Dont get me wrong here, i am not trying to say we are perfect, as we are most definately not and we are capable of creating a huge 'horlicks' from time to time. things are improving as we never used to send stock lists out, or as many order forms as we do now. Indeed some order forms contain items that in all good faith were put on there as we had a projected OBS (on board ship date) from China, only to find a reason for a rebuilt, or paint alteration and these items get delayed further. (example N and OO gauge signals) I would say that things are getting better, but i must admit that i am disturbed by stockists saying they have problems. If you would PM me the names of the shops, then perhaps i can get our CEO Joel to take a look at ther problems and see if there is anything we are doing that could and should be done better. cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold queensquare Posted January 29, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 29, 2012 (edited) I would say that things are getting better, but i must admit that i am disturbed by stockists saying they have problems. If you would PM me the names of the shops, then perhaps i can get our CEO Joel to take a look at ther problems and see if there is anything we are doing that could and should be done better. cheers Dave Hi Dave, many thanks for your quick response. I shant mention the names of the shops as its their place to take up problems over supply, not mine (and I know a couple at least have raised issues with the appropriate people at Dapol). The object of my post was simply to put a more balanced view of supply problems that often occur than I felt was being put accross. This I have done so I will leave it there. Jerry Edited January 29, 2012 by queensquare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 Hi Jerry, Thanks for that and I fully understand your reasoning. I will take up all you mentioned in your post tomorrow and see if we can figure out what, if anything, is going wrong. If once this is done I feel I can reply, then I will on here. Cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PaulCheffus Posted January 29, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 29, 2012 If I had a pound for every Microtrains or the Bachmann equivalent I had with the trip pin gone AWOL I'd be very rich indeed. It is a problem with ALL of this type, not just Dapol- I like the idea of the matt varnish, however. I was going to use superglue... Hi I have never ever had an issue with Microtrains couplings loosing any parts once fitted to my stock. Have you just been unlucky? Cheers Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi Jerry, Further to your mail here yesterday I can confirm that the following did and has happened. All stockists received a pre-order form for the magnets, single pair pack and the 5 pair multi pack magnetic couplers. Indeed I have just checked personally and the pre-order form for the 5 pair multi packs went out with the N gauge signals order form in November 2011. This order form also contained lots of other items (being A4 in size) We subsequently and to this date (bearing in mind these were sent to ALL stockists) have pre orders for only (as of today) at 08.30 some 450 packs of 'multi pack' couplers. All pre- orders for the couplers (single pairs) and magnets were filled in full to those that had ordered them etc and this stock started to go out in November last year. Since then we have not been out of stock of these items and ALL stockists who wanted more were and are totally encouraged to ring, fax or mail us to order 'top up' stock if they wish to. As for shortfall of stock or miss picked stock, both Kevin and Jim (sales manager and dispatch manager respectively) are away today so i cannot ask them directly yet as to complaints regarding this scenario of shortfall etc, but i can only assume any shortfall might be on items already out of stock or ordered too late from the sent out order form for them to be in stock. Of course there could also be a miss pick from the order form which would totally be our fault. I have spoken to Joel our CEO on this and he tells me that no one has contacted him directly (from a stockist) and complained about this or escalated a compaint to his desk. I would venture that these stockists please contact him, as Joel isnt one to let grass grow under his feet on such matters. I will update this tomorrow when i have more information on this. Please bear with me. cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) Hi I have never ever had an issue with Microtrains couplings loosing any parts once fitted to my stock. Have you just been unlucky? Cheers Paul I second that re Microtrains couplers. However the other ones fitted to American stock by various manufacturers have had their trip pins fall out. This is one reason why I change virtually everything to Microtrains, the exception being the Kato type on the Amtrak trains as these normally stay in fixed rakes and therfore dont need the trip pin fitted. I have still yet to fit my only pair of Dapol couplers as cant decide whats best to fit them to. Really need a few packs of the 5 pack ones so I can perhaps do the Dapol Mk 3's and class 67's. Ian Edited January 30, 2012 by roundhouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi Ian, Due to the distance back from the front valance on the 67, the coupling when fitted will be quite close to the valance. Thereby the trip pin part that sticks out of the top of the coupling knuckle might foul the moulded coupling hook. Just something you need to look out for and trim off the excess metal accordingly if the hook stops bogie rotation. cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 Dave OK thanks for that advise. That also happens with the Microtrains couplers on some American N scale rolling stock. Regards Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyChappy Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I have still yet to fit my only pair of Dapol couplers as cant decide whats best to fit them to. Really need a few packs of the 5 pack ones so I can perhaps do the Dapol Mk 3's and class 67's. Ian Hi Ian, The Class 67 was the one loco that I encountered difficulty fitting MicroTrains couplings to because, (like Dave mentions), the coupling housing is a long way back behind the valance. I waited until the Dapol coupling became available and have found that it is a perfect fit to the 67 as long as you trim the protruding top off the trip pin, (again as Dave mentions). The coupling protrudes just sufficiently from the loco's front to give a realistic coupling gap. I run my Dapol magnetic coupling fitted 67 with a rake of Farish GUV mail vans fitted with MT1129 couplings. This has proved very sucessful even though the couplings are at slightly different heights. The 'more chunky' Dapol coupling helps compensate for the in this respect. It's an added bonus that the Dapol couplings are so easy to fit. Hope this is useful to you. HC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee m22 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Dave's feed back is indeed excellent, however his efficiency is not reflected by Dapol's ordering and despatch department. My local model shop has shown me the paperwork from Dapol and it very often does not include listings of stock which is claimed on here is in stock. In three years of dealing with Dapol they are yet to recieve an order that is correct and complete. This is not an isolated incident, of the four shops local to me,all of whome I am on good terms with, none of them have very much positive to say about Dapol's ordering systems and two of them are Gold Stockists! Errors and misunderstandings will often occur with both sides at fault at times but to constantly blame the shops and stockists for not having what you want is neither helpful or accurate. Jerry Hi Jerry, I certainly don't intend to apportion the blame "constantly" at the stockists or shops - in fact I make a point of supporting this one by driving 50 miles twice a month to go looking for the couplers I keep asking about! It would be cheaper and easier to just order it from the internet, but I am a loyal customer of this model shop and have been using them since I was 9 years old. My comment is made of frustration as I know people come from as far away as me and further from the north and west to go to this particular shop as it holds a top quality N gauge range.They have a major N gauge following. This sort of product and development is revolutionary in N gauge for the mainstream modeller, and I'd like to see it do well and I'd like to buy it from my local instead of mail order. I'm sure Dapol has it's failings in the orders and dispatch of products to suppliers as well, but I can clearly see Dave working to improve it - hence in this case, I have faith in Dapol Hi Lee, please PM me with the name of the shop and i'll check with Kevin in the morning regarding that stores orders (if any) for the couplers, and then see if they want any. cheers Dave Thanks Dave but I think your inbox is full (I imagine thats the case anyway) Regards Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Hi Lee, just cleared out my inbox, sorry i dont realise it was so full. please feel free to PM me if you want. cheers Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 30, 2012 Do the Dapol couplings (which I don't have yet) work with the Microtrains magnet (which I do have)? Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted January 30, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 30, 2012 (edited) Hi Ian, The Class 67 was the one loco that I encountered difficulty fitting MicroTrains couplings to because, (like Dave mentions), the coupling housing is a long way back behind the valance. I waited until the Dapol coupling became available and have found that it is a perfect fit to the 67 as long as you trim the protruding top off the trip pin, (again as Dave mentions). The coupling protrudes just sufficiently from the loco's front to give a realistic coupling gap. I run my Dapol magnetic coupling fitted 67 with a rake of Farish GUV mail vans fitted with MT1129 couplings. This has proved very sucessful even though the couplings are at slightly different heights. The 'more chunky' Dapol coupling helps compensate for the in this respect. It's an added bonus that the Dapol couplings are so easy to fit. Hope this is useful to you. HC I am relatively new to British N scale os have held off fitting any Microtrains to this stock to try the new Dapol (and yet to be released Farish ones) to deceid best way forward. Also most of my stock is in set rakes but there will be some shunting on Banbury with maintenance trains and possibly the splitting and joining of Farish class 168's. All my Dapol stock is fitted with NEM pockets. However I do have quite a few Farish items that dont have NEM boxes so really waiting to see developments for these. In the meantime I will be dabbling with the Dapol ones. Ian Edited January 30, 2012 by roundhouse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 Do the Dapol couplings (which I don't have yet) work with the Microtrains magnet (which I do have)? Can't find the post (it might have been on the N gauge Yahoo group) but I am pretty sure they work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DapolDave Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Hi everyone and in particular Lee, Who i have been conversing with on PM, regarding his comments about a stockist of his that hasnt had any information or order information etc regarding the magnetic couplers. Now, before i start it's best to say that what im about to say doesnt absolve Dapol from any blame where other stckists are concerned as until i know of these i cannot look into the facts and sort out any problems either the customer or the stockist may have, and as i i have said before we are not without fault, of that i am sure. We know we can and do let stockists down from time to time and we are endevouring to do better. However, as promised i have looked into Lee's comments and frustrations (quite rightly justified) and now have the proof i was hoping for. I will not name said stockist as that would be wrong but let me just fill in a few gaps. Said model shop DID receive an order form from Dapol for both the coupler pairs, bulk packs and magnets in October. They faxed their order form back on 31st October at 13.00 hours (thank you fax machine for putting ther date and time on the fax). The 3 coupler items were not ordered at all, however bubble cars, class 22's, signals and a little OO gauge was ordered. The subsequent order forms except the latest have not had any orders for the couplers, however the latest one did have an order for the multipacks ( 4 in total) but no magnets at all. I hope this clears things up a little. cheers Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happyChappy Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Do the Dapol couplings (which I don't have yet) work with the Microtrains magnet (which I do have)? Happy modelling. Steven B. Hi Steven, Yes, from my experience Dapol couplings work just fine with MicroTrains magnets. Do ensure, however, that the Dapol coupling's trip pin is adjusted so as to be fairly close to, (but not exactly on), the track centre-line or they will not move sufficiently far sideways to effect the 'delayed shunt' uncouple. HC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Do ensure, however, that the Dapol coupling's trip pin is adjusted so as to be fairly close to, (but not exactly on), the track centre-line or they will not move sufficiently far sideways to effect the 'delayed shunt' uncouple. Interesting. I had to do the same with mine during my experiments with rare-earth magnets (back on page 5 I think). At the time I assumed it was because I was using my own magnets, what experiences have others had adjusting the trip pins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygif Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) i've beenplaying round with the rare earth magnets in a similar configuration to Karhedrons pic, i've used 2 more magnets so my configuration looks like this ============== | | |O|O|O| | | |O|O|O| | | ============== i've not really had much joy with the whole setup really, still cant get a reliable/consitant uncouple to take place. If you move the trip pin too close to the center line then the opposite row of magnets tends to grab it, ie the right hand magnets grab the left hand sides pin. I might just have to change the configuration to 2 rows of 4 with no offsets. i'm using 3mm dia by 2mm thick Neodymium, 50 of them for £9 I'd still like to know what the height of the trip pin should be in relation to the rail head. too low and you foul the frogs of points or the magnets grab pin and nose down the coupling altogether. Too high and nowt happens! The Dapol magnets are ok and do the job just about (but not looking forward to chopping out all the ballast and sleepers to use them if it comes to it), but even then you still have to faff about with centerline alignments and heights. As for the shunting with them on either magnetic setup, i cant manage more than an inch or two before they couple back up, probably my ropey track work i expect. Even after saying all this, they're still better than rapido's and the hand of god, (or in my layouts case it would seem, paw/arse of cat!!!) one other thing i did have a little succes with was bridging the little magnets in each row with a peco track pin, seems to help spread out the magnetic field over the sleepers. Edited January 31, 2012 by andygif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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