Dapol N Terrier - Comments and Concerns

[Trainmaster64]

Hello all,

 

Not sure if this is the place to post this; I thought I'd have a go at it and see. I've recently been developing my N scale universe, and have been captured by the British N-scale stuff - recently, I've been wondering about Dapol's Terrier tank in N scale. Their latest issue of No.83 'Earlswood' looks to be a nice locomotive, with nicely applied paintwork and a decent shape for a tooling as old as it is. My concern is with some of the issues I've heard about Dapol's locomotives over the past few years here and elsewhere - overheating motors, out-of-quarter wheels, take your pick it would seem.

 

As a result, I wanted to set up a general thread to discuss these locomotives and their faults - what are these locomotives' strong points? Shortcomings? Have they been improved or changed from their initial releases, or are all their faults and feats still applicable on the newest engines? Are they good locomotives to buy?

[daftbovine]

I'm probably not the best person to answer your questions as I'm a Terrier fanatic with nine in 00 and four in N. My experience of the Dapol N scale Terriers is generally good. I have two that were perfect from the word go, one that had a bit of a wobble because the quartering was slightly out and one that was a real wobbler and was immediately replaced under guarantee for an excellent example.

 

Number three with the quartering issue was an easy fix, it just need one wheel tweaking to solve the problem. As far as I know there haven't been any upgrades to the model. One design fault can cause quartering issues, the wheels are a push fit on to the axles and can slip and cause the quartering to go out. This certainly doesn't happen on all of them though.

 

I have found that recent N gauge purchases from both Dapol and Farish have needed a fair bit of running in. In Dapol's case they recommend oiling the loco but be very careful not to overdo it.

 

If you have relatively steep gradients on your layout you might find they battle to pull a load up the inclines. Mine go flying up light engine.

 

You don't say where you are from but if you live outside the UK, I would find a supplier willing to test any purchase before despatch, I do that as a matter of course anyway. Also remember that Dapol locos have a good guarantee so if you are unlucky enough to get a dud it can be replaced.

 

I for one will always be very grateful to Dapol for producing my favourite loco in N gauge, I didn't think it could ever be done.

 

Regards

 

Veronica.

[Trainmaster64]

Thanks for the heads-up, Veronica - that's a very good insight into the Dapol Terriers. Is it difficult to fix the quartering issues on them, or can it be done relatively easily at home? I'm thinking about the after-warranty period of these engines, or of earlier examples, in case something goes wrong with them.

 

My line has no gradients at the moment; it might down the road but not yet. My line is only able to hold one medium-sized diesel locomotive and three 40' cars or similar sizes. Permutations of this are acceptable; I've got a Davenport diesel switcher from Roco that is able to take four cars of similar length in the same space, albeit a very tight fit. Hence my need for a small engine like the Terrier to work this sort of line.

 

I don't live in the UK, sadly; wish I did for the modelling I like to do though. I mainly run North American stock in N scale; the only exceptions are a few tipper wagons from Arnold, four coaches from Lima and Minitrix (all DB), and a Lima DB Class E.410 locomotive. Everything else is typical American. For myself, the best supplier is Britannia Models in Canada; they have the best selection of Dapol in the continent short of purchasing from a place like Hattons.

 

One question - upon closer examination it seems that all of the Terriers currently in stock anywhere have only one smokebox style - this being the BR version with the numberboard on the front. Is this the only version available, or were there non-BR smokebox fronts made as well that happened to be missed on these releases? I noticed the splashers on the Terriers varied between sandboxed and non-sandboxed versions, and so was wondering if this smokebox front issue is atypical of them?

[daftbovine]

The quartering issues can usually be fixed by gently rotating the offending wheels on their axles to re align them. Sometimes the wheels are a loose fit on the axles and may need very careful application of a small amount of superglue but that has not happened to me.

 

I will have to check on the smoke box styles but I think that Dapol may have done a 'generic' Terrier to save costs. There are differences in coal bunkers too, I will get my models out and have a look.

[Trainmaster64]

Ahh; it sounds similar in terms of the smokeboxes to what they did with the OO scale versions back in the day - one style to save costs. Odd in my eyes, considering they also cater to bunker variants in them as well (with three different styles), but c'est la vie.

 

Ad thanks for the tip on quartering; I'll see if I need to do that. Fingers crossed I won't need that if the Terrier works out for me.