[7113]

No I haven't changed allegiance but a friend has recently decided to take up railway modelling on his retirement. He has decided to model the GWR (although I have persuaded him that a Q1 looks nice) and go down the DCC road.

He wants to buy a couple of Dean goods and asked how DCC friendly are they. I was unable to advise on two grounds, firstly I can't remember who made the model and secondly I don't know the chassis arrangement.

Can anybody advise on this?

Regards

 

[Vulcanbomber]

It's ex Dapol now Hornby
I can't recommend it though.
It is tender drive and the the main loco body is therfore too light in my view and doesn't run well.
Quite often the tender pushes the loco along without the wheels turning and also in reverse, it runs very eratically.
It is easy to convert to DCC however using an TCS M1 Decoder
Far better off with Bachmann tank loco 8750, 57xx 45xx & 56xx

 

[Noggins Friend]

Actually it was a Mainline model. Mine runs very well, although is a little noisy. I also had a Hornby one which ran well and was much quieter.

 

[Philc40]

QUOTE (Vulcanbomber @ 29 Jan 2008, 08:27) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It's ex Dapol now Hornby
I can't recommend it though.
It is tender drive and the the main loco body is therfore too light in my view and doesn't run well.
Quite often the tender pushes the loco along without the wheels turning and also in reverse, it runs very eratically.
It is easy to convert to DCC however using an TCS M1 Decoder
Far better off with Bachmann tank loco 8750, 57xx 45xx & 56xx

BRITHO,

I have to agree with Vulcanbomber he'd be better off with a pair of Bachmann Tank Locomotives, they run much smoother and alot quieter. As a matter of fact just yesterday I received a Hornby Dean Goods from Hattons, it runs so bad that I have already have ordered a Loco Chassis and Tender Chassis from Comet. That should fix it!

Regards,
Philc40

 

[7113]

Thanks for the help guys, I'll pass it on. Don't think it will change his mind though as he really does want a Dean Goods (a childhood love affair?)

Regards

 

[spongebob]

I'm surprised you've found space for a decoder as there doesn't seem much room in either tender or loco, I've currently got one in bits which needs a gearset when I can be bothered trying to fiddle them back in in the right way which is another downside the motor is straight out of the 1970's airfix range and not very good to work on.

 

[7113]

It seems I have raised some interesting points of view - all will be passed on to the prospective purchaser. The joys of modelling eh!

Regards

 

[Vulcanbomber]

QUOTE (BRITHO @ 1 Feb 2008, 14:15) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>It seems I have raised some interesting points of view - all will be passed on to the prospective purchaser. The joys of modelling eh!

Regards
spongebob
Put the decoder in the loco body, ther is a gap behind the firebox which is TCS M1 can be pushed into

 

[Philc40]

Just had to install a decoder into my new Dean Goods, so last evening I installed a Digitrax DZ143PS that I had on hand. It improved the operation of the Dean Goods, but a 3 pole Ringfield motor will not give you the smoothness of a locomotive with a 5 pole can motor. It took me some time to adjust the CV’s to get the best performance out of the little bugger.