It just works vs it frustrates…
Two new arrivals here this week, regulars will see the connection, but today isn’t about future plans, rather the act of box opening…
This pair of N scale wonders are both equally alluring. Dripping with detail and well observed character… they have the wow factor (although the lustre of the Farish paint is much nicer, so it edges things there). Place them on the track and there is a massive divergence.
One runs absolutely beautifully, almost silent, down to a crawl.
One growls and sticks, stalls and cannot manage anything more than an abrupt start or stop.
The Dapol model, although new last year, hails from the tooling and design introduced over ten years ago… the Farish, similar vintage, has a retooled chassis and coreless motor. I’ll leave you to work out which is which, but for today that isn’t important…
Rather, these models absorb our hard earned discretional spend. We deserve character yes, we deserve detail (consummate with price point) and we deserve refined running.
The poor runner has been stripped down (damaged and repaired through poor model design), degreased/lubed (as oil was contaminating the axle pick ups) and run in for several hours. It is a better running model now, but not equal to the out of the box running of its competitor, and that has required a lot of extra work.
This sucks the energy out of a project - poor running is of course a passion vacuum in this or any scale…Character and running are equal partners in capturing the essence of a prototype in miniature. Detail is to some extent secondary and dependant on price…
Where does this leave me?Frustrated.
There will be many of you out there on the fence about N, encouraged by my writings but worried you don’t have the skill or dexterity for working in the smaller scale. Imagine if you took the plunge and bought the lemon, it would kill the project stone dead.
With that in mind, a minor public service announcement - if you’re anticipating an entry to N scale and want a small shunting locomotive to kick things off then I’d recommend looking at the Farish range. Whilst some can be stiff when new loosening the retaining plate screws a quarter turn and running in will only improve matters - they are a consistent delight.
So manufacturers, delight us! Until next time, more soon…
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Hi James. I've always struggled with shunters in N gauge. I've two Farish 08's which need a fair amount of running before they run smoothly. My only successful shunter was a Farish 04 in pre-TOPS blue. It ran as sweet as a nut and still does on my Mum's little 2ft X 2ft layout. Frustration can really hold back a project. I've recently bought some locomotion oil which I'm told is a game changer. Take care.
ReplyDeleteThe new 08s are much better… as are the new 03s, Tom, I whole heartedly recommend them.
DeleteIs Locomotion oil just like Electrolube?
Locomotion oil is by deluxe materials.
ReplyDeleteMy Dapol Pannier isn't a great runner either; It's good to see (in your more recent post and video) that you've managed to rehabilitate your example.
ReplyDeleteMine came from the Dapol stand at Ally Pally a couple of years back as a return for a "worth a punt" £20, so I expected to have to do some work on it (which I really must get around to), but I'd be pretty fed up if I'd paid full price for it. Not much point in a shunter that won't shunt...
It has taken three complete strip downs to get anywhere near decent running - I think the only thing left to do now would be to replace the motor with a coreless one with decent torque but happy to spin up quickly. This one fitted struggles to start smoothly but can be slowed once moving. Good luck! You’ll need good glasses and a lot of patience. A small cross head screwdriver and a pair if fine tweezers to lever things apart. Step one, remove cab (pop out handrails and gently pull up), step two, gently unclip the brake rigging / keeper plate - you might need to persuade the wire bits out of it, I cut these short afterwards to not interfere with it. Third, unscrew the screw at the back of the chassis in the cab. It drops down but is secured by a tab and slot at the smokebox. Don’t pull too hard, you need to unscrew the pickups from the chassis block. Now you’ve got the chassis out you can remove the wheels from one side using the tweezers behind the wheels. Be careful, the rods are delicate. Clean the bearing slots, and stub axles, I use white spirit to remove the oil. Press wheels back on and repeats for the second side. Reassemble. Test. Motor was quietened down significantly with a drop of oil -literally just a tiny drop, on the motor bearing. Anyhow, I have done this a few times and it improves each time.
Delete