sanspareil

If anyone is interested i put a short video up of the new 68's on show at Warley.

I was told at Warley by Dapol that they expect the 59 to be out by or for Warley 2018 (so further delayed).

We regards to the NEC yes the (poor) lighting has been an issue but also widths of the aisles. Obviously Warley MRC are charged for the space used and whilst say a 1/4 of the hall remains fully unused everyone is channelled down aisles not as wide as they could be for the large volume of punters. The Bachmann returns stand (now moved to the back of the hall tucked away) generally seems a shadow of its former self. Personally I find the pricing now too close to the box shifters new price where at least you get all the detail parts plus a warranty. I have had some good and bad buys from it over the years. I find the 'new' members lounge thing a bit odd, but maybe thats just me Despite the above its always a good show, looking forward to another year at the NEC. My father is sadly unable to attend due to hospital attention. I am selling his ticket on ebay if anyone's interested, I am trying to get some money back for him with part of the sale also going to charity. Am I allowed to post this last bit, i dont know but I am sure i will be told very swiftly either way! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263323658505

Personally I am going to DRS Kingmoor but still unsure on OOC. For me OOC does seem a bit steep at £20 compared to what we have been used to, if it was say Crewe or Toton then maybe. London prices I didnt get to go to Bristol sadly (but did in 1991?) so not sure how much that was, I hear it was a good event though. Update someones already PM'd me to say entry was £12.50 last year at Bristol and was over subscribed.

Tickets are on sale now. £20 each! I know its 'all profits go to charity' etc but was a little surprised at the price, obviously open days too are now affected by privatised railway inflation busting price rises Either a lot is going to charity or FGW are saying this is an expensive event to stage (or a cynic might say they are pocketing a little?). I also assume insurance is substantial these days though. Having said that I understand DRS charge just £5 for their charity open day..........

Another video here of the pre-production unit, doing doughnuts at the London Festival of model railway modelling for anyone interested:

The chap that told me end of 17 was giving a ball park figure, he wouldnt/couldnt say for sure. What we take from this is the loco is running later than was predicted just a few months ago. We might see it end of this year but in all reality the date will change probably several times over the coming months and maybe it could end up being summer 18!! Lets see....

Today at Ally Pally a Dapol chap told me on asking that more DRS livery 68's are hopefully going to be produced before the year is out (numbers not yet known). Also he suggested Dapol were quite embarrassed about the DRS livery saga and should be corrected on the next batch. No decision had been made on the nameplate situation on the next batch as he suggested everyone is asking for something different.

A chap on the Dapol stand today told me that the 59 has a new ball park release date of 'late this year'. So looks like its delayed as previously it was summer?

For information can people confirm if they are removing the glue too without taking the paint away? I had heard that the plates come off easy but the glue remains. If you take off the glue then the paint comes with it. If you cant take the glue off you cant resolve this issue (but possibly could resolve wonkyness)??

Kind of goes back to the question i was asking the other day. Wonder what happens to all these returns, especially if not actually sold to the public and especially if Dapol thinks all is well!?! Maybe some more 002/005 models might be appearing for sale again or appear for sale on the Dapol stand at shows... From what people are saying the nameplate glue issue is not really resolvable without a repaint. So Dapol either chuck the whole lot in the bin or source new body shells or sell them as they are somehow/somewhere.

It is impressive how Dapol managed to get the details like logo differences between locos correct but managed to get the general loco livery 'swoosh' so wrong on one side! I know these things take time to setup and sort out but I assume Dapol will be trying to get more DRS locos manufactured as soon as they can given the speed of sell out etc. I guess we could easily be looking at 6 months to year (or more) for batch 2 depending on if their production line is full?

One wonders what Dapol (and others excluding Bachmann who as many know sell theirs cut price at big shows) do with their returns. I guess legally they cant send them back out to retailer network if repairable as 'new' items again?

So one of the most successful (sales wise) models of recent times I guess, given how fast the shelves are clearing?

Slightly off topic but odd how we are told all this separate fitted detail costs loads to fit/justifies high price models then when they don't fit it we don't see much of a drop in price Back on topic, maybe two requests to Dapol for any second batch: 1) Let the purchaser fit the nameplates! 2) Sort the DRS livery! Here's hoping

I wonder if any more of the first batch locos will follow or if that's it? I don't think there was much doubt the DRS livery variants were going to be anything but popular. Most will have ordered/pre-ordered before any awareness of any issues. I don't think the 73's sold anywhere near as fast (despite retailer predictions to me they would). I guess its a tricky game predicting but to see pretty much all main traders sell out of the DCC ready DRS models within a few days (before any of the big shows coming up) suggests Dapol seriously underestimated demand. Maybe real sales figures of the 73 were used to predict the 68 production levels? Who knows.

I find the biggest difference is 'warmth' of the loco if that makes sense. They will run faster on warm days (if layout is outside of house/in loft) or after say running for about 10-15 mins every session the loco will be a bit faster once warmed up. I have never found that running in generally improves the speed of the loco itself.

So assume they are selling out rather than being pulled? Hattons normally says when items are of stock rather than just nothing showing, I see nothing now for 68005 for instance, seems a bit odd. If selling out in just days seems someone got the demand figures a bit wrong!?! Maybe its all the returns/swaps for wonky plates etc

Given we are told new models now are a 6 figure investment by manufacturers I never cease to be amazed how many school boy errors there are and as has been proven here even when the community helps manufacturers they still get it wrong/don't listen. This only hurts their sales/profit/turnover that they constantly remind us is required to keep the hobby viable. Some of the issues are very basic and doesn't require vast levels of prior investment/staffing/skill or time to get right, they are just basic. I am now worried what issues (and I am sure there will be plenty) there will be on the class 59! They don't seem to have learnt an awful lot sadly since the 73 and what they tell you at shows seems just hot air. I think there is quite a bit of almost arrogance with some manufacturers, they hate consumers (rightly in some cases) nit picking their new products and all too often they have a monopoly on the product so are they really that bothered (thinking that whilst we whinge we will still in the end buy) - they just think we are all being unrealistically obsessive/demanding and there's not big issue. There isn't too much duplication in modelling so for example if you want a 68 you have to go with Dapol take it as is at the fixed high price or leave it. If there was competition and say Bachmann were producing a better version then in all likelihood this version wouldn't be touched.

Just the kind of info i was wanting, thanks very much for that! So its confirmed whilst it would seem to be a bit faster than the 73 still quite a bit down on where it should be. Giving Dapol benefit of the doubt (as opposed to design inaccuracy for want of a better phrase) I would assume they have gone this way to give better low speed running, probably the desire of the majority.

Can anybody comment on the top end speed of the model yet please? My Dapol 73 only obtains a max scale speed of around 60mph, generally ok for a 73 and what it does, however a 68 is a different beast so for a very large layout like mine I would hope to have the ability to run a loco at prototypical speed where appropriate. When I asked Dapol about the speed some time back they did say 100% that the 68 would have a higher geared speed that then 73. Its odd how Dapol under scale their locos top speed (well in the case of my 73 anyhow) as most other manufacturers are normally the opposite. Guess you can never win!

Maybe an idea is china ship models in just a kit of parts to complete ourselves, 1) to cut model RRP's and 2) to ensure high standards of build quality that are often lacking? Just a tongue in cheek idea......however......

I don't think it is sounding too negative to be cautious/concerned given some of our experiences of with the 73. I am this time holding off a bit to see what the feedback is from other 68 'pioneers' before I part with a reasonable amount of hard earned cash. While the 73 does generally look pretty stunning it had far too many niggles than it should (or bigger than niggles in same cases) for a model priced as it is. To end on a positive note I am hopeful Dapol have learnt from the 73 and whilst no doubt there will be some imperfections it will be a better overall product than the 73.

sorry if already mentioned but Oxford say the internal seating layout will be be prototypical to each carriage produced, thats good rather than one size fits not many. So while the images on their site show an IC MK3 with all tables I assume one with a mix of tables and airline will appear in time? I must admit (and I assume I am wrong) i dont recall any all tables STD class IC swallow mk3's? The site images might just be pre-production mock ups etc.

Slightly off topic but I notice the usual discount retailers are all discounting the 68 down to the same exact amount (to the very same penny!), coincidence or do Dapol operate a minimum price fixing system like with Bachmann out of interest?