Stobart 66 - Dapol or Farish?

[mickelmass]

Hi all

I just joined here and I have a few questions that I need to ask. Firstly, the other day, I ordered a Farish Stobart 66 from Hatton's which turned up this morning. However, in the meantime, a friend of mine who sells 00 and N Gauge on eBay, sent me a brand new Dapol Stobart 66! I had been fixing his PC for him and advising him what to get to speed it up and it worked, so for all the help I gave him, he gave me the Dapol Stobart 66 as a thank you present. Right, so now I have two Stobart 66's. Both of them run exceedingly well but there is a complete difference in the blue colour of both loco's The Dapol one is a light blue and the Farish one is considerably darker, more like the DRS blue from where the Stobart one originates. Can somebody kindly advise me just exactly which one I should keep inasmuch as, the one that is the correct colour? From the pix I have seen online, it looks to me that the Dapol one is nearer to the prototype but never having seen the Stobart loco 'in the flesh', I wouldn't really know? Any advice please?

Also, the Dapol 66's have the big metal plate at each end under the buffers built in and the coupler goes through them. I don't know what they are called so it's just a 'big metal plate' to me? Yet the Farish ones are seperate and have to be fitted by the modeller. Only how the hell does one fit the damned thing on the Farish 66? I can't see anyway of it clipping on anwhere and there was not a destruction maual to tell you how or where iot clips or glues on? But if it does, I presume it will mean that I will have to lose a coupling on that end and I don't really want to have to do that? So could anyone advise please as I am getting really confused here. Sorry about the long winded message but I had to explain it all in my terms and I do tend to waffle on a bit? Cheers in advance for any help. BTW, there will probably be a brand new Stobart 66 going very cheap soon as well as my mate has got yet another brand new Dapol one, that he is keeping to one side for me.

Mike

[TWICK9]

Hi Mike, Welcome to the forum. Sorry I can't help you with your questions as the class 66 is to modern for my layout. I think I can see a 66 in one of Richie's photos, so he may be able to help.

[mickelmass]

Hi TWICK9

Sorry but who is Richie and how to I find his pictures or possibly ask him about the Stobart class 66? Cheers for the help anyway TWICK9

Mike

[rustynath]

I cant help with the 66 problem but you can message richie from his profile page on this site:
http://www.modelrailwayforum.co.uk/member.php?u=1


To find any members just click "member list" at the top between "FAQ" and "calendar" and click their name.

hope that helps and best of luck! :)

[TWICK9]

Sorry Mike, I should have said, Richie is the founder of this forum and is on most days. If you look at the first photo in his tread "My layout so far " in the N gauge section, I think the maroon one on the right is a 66, but I don't know much about modern locos so I could be wrong.

[mickelmass]

Yes TWICK9, it look like the marron one is an EWS 66 as he also has a rake of 102T EWS bogie coal hoppers and the 66 usuall always hauls those as they are so heavy when you have about twenty odd in a rake! I shall just wait and see if he replies to my message and see? I will ask on a few of the other forums as well well as I really don't wan't two Stobart 66's flying around my layout? Thanks for you help.
Mike

[Richie]

Hi Mike, I do have the farish engine and as of yet haven't fitted the plates. I will have a look and see how they fit if I can work it out. As for colour, I haven't seen the Dapol one so can't really comment.

I like the farish one and it seems to run very well after being converted to DCC.

[mickelmass]

Hi Richie

I decided to keep both Stobart 66's in the end (how greedy is that?) LOL! The Farish one has by far, the best hauling capacity out of the two of them as I find that the Dapol 66's don't seem to have anywhere near the hauling capacity of the Fraish ones although they run just as smoothly, in fact, usually a lot smoother than the Farish one? Again, maybe just me?I also found out that putting a weight in every Stobart container (or any container for that matter), definately slows the Dapol 66's down. So I now tend to put a weight in every consecutive container but most of the time, even that is to much for the Dapols? I would like to be able to weight the Dapol 66's just a little bit more but I don't think that there is an awful lot of room inside the body and on the chassis for this? Oh well, I shall keep trying anyway. I am also seriously thinking of trying my hand with DCC now but I am afraid that just the thought of DCC confuses me no end and frightens the flying crap out of me! I wouldn't know the first place to start or the best beginners set-up to purchase so maybe I shall just stick with DC for now? Many thanks for you help.

[501STREET]

hi, dcc isnt difficult, all you need is a good entry level dcc controller and your track needs to be live. Points if insulfrog, need to have feed wires soldered , for better power and track needs soldered feed wires around the lay out, depending on how big it is. Most locos, now come with a 6 pin socket for decoders. Believe me, its worth checking out. Look on web for good advice.
Regards
Mark .

[cloughie]

Hi
I have only just joined the forum,so this my be a bit late,have a look at this link for the colour
http://www.stobartgroup.co.uk/Services/Rail/Rail-Overview/

cheers
cloughie