These are N scale (1:148) models!

[Matthew Roberts]

'course Brit modelers are still saddled with Rapidos...

[bobcat]

I'm not sure if the black engine is Donald or Duck, but I'm sure the green engine is Henry. ;D

[absnut]

I modeled British outline during the 80's and having to contend with British prototypes made by Graham Farish and Lima with white metal cast boilers for variety, I know "crude" quite well!  British steam tended to be very "clean" looking and plain as they were not in the habit of mounting all sorts of hardware on running boards, boiler casings, and pilot decks as North American railroads did. In this respect, I suppose they could be mislabeled "crude" but, plain is a better word.  The best looking and best running British steamers I had were three Peco 4-6-0 "LMS "Jubilees", built for Peco by Rivarossi.  Looking at these two steamers and others Dapol has done, I can only wish they had been producing N scale steamers back when I was modeling the British railways.  Unfortunately, because of the buffers and for want of a good replacement, they seem to be stuck with Rapidos as is most European equipment.  I experimented with MT's when I did British outline but with minimal success and satisfaction.

Dick

[up1950s]

Ok , I am a bit perplexed :-[ . N = 1/160 so if this , that runs on N scale track is scales 1/148 , wouldn't that mean that the track that this engine ran on was narrower that 4'8.5" in real life , or have some liberties been taken ?

[absnut]

Richie,

British railraods use the same track gauge as we do here in the U.S. but, British trains are a little smaller than North American types.  This is dictated by the original loading gauge to which many of their tunnels were built.  Our stuff just wouldn't make it through.  If they built N scale models to 1:160, they would look a lot smaller than our N gauge stuff.  So, they use 1:148 which makes the models a little larger and which don't look out of place operating with European equipment, which is 1:160.  The Japanese do the same thing with an N scale of 1:150 (I think!).  Hope this makes sense. ;D

Dick

[DKS]

The Japanese do the same thing with an N scale of 1:150 (I think!).

The Japanese, I believe, do this because their track gauge is different. They use 1:150 so that they can use 9 mm track and have it scale correctly. IIRC that is.

[up1950s]

Thanks , I think I understand , but why would they give a flying rats a@s how English looks next to N.A. stuff  ? I have never seen North American prototype stuff on English rails , so why would size matter ? They drive on the wrong side of the street , and on the wrong side of the car . I will concede metric is more logical , so WE in the US use wrong measurements . Wouldn't the world be grand without this different way of thinking .  

[FrankCampagna]

I have never seen North American prototype stuff on English rails , so why would size matter ?

But there has been English prototype stuff on North American rails. More than once. The point was the need for ten wheelers in N. I'm planning on modeling one which had 20 or so of them for it's primary power. Of course, I intend to dieselize the line. Would be nice to have one around for excursion purposes. (And the line did host some epic excursions).

Frank

[up1950s]

This is a pretty high steppin' ten wheeler , but the boiler diameter may be problematic .

[sizemore]

Personally I think they look great especially for Brit. Did anyone not see the Nscale issue past that had the old Minitrix Euro stuff?

These Dapol units are equivalent to what Spectrum did for the American market with their 2-8-0....

If they are close to 1:160 in proportion I'd consider getting one plus some coaches for a Flying Scottsman!

[wes_sutton]

The other interesting thing with this model and comparing it with the way US manufacturers go about their business is that if you ran a poll on which loco modellers wanted next, these arguably wouldn't make the top 50, and my own idle speculation suggests the the highest they'd come in would be around 75, though I've no real way of knowing that. Their sphere of operation was also fairly limited to one part of the country, though just because they are a great looking model they should still sell well.

Wes     

[jmlaboda - RIP]

"No, if Bachmann, or anyone else would a). put the motor in the tender, or b). select a larger 4-6-0, maybe we'd have one in N scale. No need to change the scale."

Hey, for Bachmann it wouldn't be changing the scale... or have you forgotten about the oversized GP40 that they had early on.