I purchased a Dapol 58xx to use as a test bed for a Deltang r/c which I have also ordered. There’s a snag, I intended to use a 3s (11V approx) battery but there are no 13v receivers available, so it’ll have to wait. I could change the motor, but I’m reluctant to do so.
I stripped it to have a look, having given it a brief run on Porth Dinllaen. It seems to suffer dreadfully from wheelslip going chimney first, though it reverses with rather more confidence.
The front axle is rigidly supported, the centre axle is lightly sprung and the rear axle is somewhat wobbly, presumably rocking equalisation, with some limited sideplay. This, of course, wastes adhesive weight on a non-powered axle, which explains the wheelslip.
The mouldings are crisp, lots of nice little details, it was supplied with 1934 shirtbutton, and a smokebox number plate, neither of which suit me, so the first was polished off with some IPA, and the latter with a scalpel. I’ll put some Great - gap - Western on later tonight, and add a crew. It also has a whistle shield which was a later addition, this looks like a more challenging fix, which may require new whistles fitting. I don’t have any, so will make or obtain before commencing that particular surgery.
It dismantles easily, two screws under each tank, two under the bunker and two in the smokebox. Don’t forget to take out the slide-in PCB for the decoder. That seems to be a neat approach, commendable IMO. Conversely, two screws were missing from the front axle retainer. They’re 10BA, bizarrely. I suppose they could be very loosely tapped M1.5...
The cab roof is magnetically attached, again, neat. I keep saying I’m going to do that on my home-built models, I must buy some magnets.
Electrically, it’s a little curious. There’s a firebox flicker device, two leds, yellow & red. You’ll like it, or not. Can turn off if you fit DCC, or open up, and unplug it if not. The left pickups are red wires, why? Pick-up on all wheels, which is good, but it would surely benefit from KA if DCC, but that might require a bit of fiddly installation given the pull-out decoder PCB, which is ready for a 21-pin decoder to be installed. There is a number of electrical components on this PCB, most of which are not readily identifiable. At least one is a mosfet, and another has 8 legs, but isn’t a spider. If the r/c works it’ll be put in the box, if not, a decoder & speaker will be fitted.
There’s nothing not to like, apart from the poor haulage. It cost £196 including postage, which was considerably less than the Springside kit I built some 20 years back. I think you’d have to really want to build a kit to not purchase some of the modern RTR. Don’t worry, I’ve got lots to build!
Atb
Simon
