Dapol's Forthcoming 73

Dapol have revealed that their new N-gauge D&E model is to be a class 73 electro-diesel. I'm not sure how popular a prototype it will turn out to be; on the plus side, the prototype carried an awful lot of different liveries. On the minus side, they were very much restricted to a narrow geographical area, which cannot be modelled effectively without an awful lot of accompanying models, none of which are commercially available.

From a pure sales criteria, I don't know how much that matters. I've long suspected that prototype modellers are a minority; there are many people that mix and match all sorts of stock from different eras and regions with no regard to prototypical verisimilitude. And then there are the dreaded collectors, who aren't even bothered with layouts at all. And even hardcore prototype modellers get tempted by the odd model that runs nowhere near their chosen prototype, be it a Danish GM Nohab or a New Haven freight motor.

Unfortunately, the specification for this class 73 appears to be 15 years behind the times. According to Dapol:

• It will have a 3 pole motor, and won't have a flywheel.


• No low-friction mechanism.


• It will have directional headlights, but no tail lights


• No provision for DCC


• No NEM coupling mounts.

Unfortunately for Dapol, for everyone who compares it with 20 year old Farish products, there will be someone else who will insist on comparing it with the latest release by any one of the major continental or American manufacturers. And the latter group are likely to find it wanting.

There's an attitude amongst British modellers that we should be grateful for anything a manufacturer produces, and we shouldn't complain when something's not up to scratch; just in case the manufacturer decides to take their ball and go home. I firmly believe that attitudes like that, and the sycophantic 'Don't upset the advertisers' attitude by magazine reviewers ("It looks OK at normal viewing distances and will improve with running in ^TM") is holding British railway modelling back. That and the extreme price sensitive nature of the British outline market; if I ever state on a mailing list that I'd willingly pay Fleischmann prices for Fleischmann quality British outline models, I always get a chorus of complaints from people complaining that I want to price them out of the hobby.

I won't be buying a Dapol class 73, no matter how wonderful it may or may not be. My British modelling is focussed firmly on the south-west of the country, an area the 73s never visited. Perhaps if Dapol were to learn lessons from the 73, and later releases include things like a 150 DMU or 122 "Bubble Car"?

Update: It appears the initial reports were inaccurate in at least one respect; it will have a flywheel after all.