DAPOL’S FEAST FOR GWR FANS

Dapol has answered the prayers of many a GWR enthusiast by unveiling plans to produce two classic designs in ‘OO’: the ‘43XX’ 2-6-0 and the ‘Large Prairie’ 2-6-2T. Both models have been offered ready-to-run before. The ‘43XX’ was initially produced by Mainline and is now part of the Bachmann Branchline range, having last been offered in 2008, while the ex-airfix ‘Large Prairie’ was most recently offered by Hornby. Both models have been contenders for all-new versions by their respective manufacturers for many years. Rather than wait, Dapol has bitten the bullet and decided to give GWR fans new models now. Dapol is to offer some intriguing technical innovations. There’s a ‘slide in’ circuit board that offers ‘tool-free’ installation of a Next18 decoder and a ’no-solder’ speaker connection. This board slides through the smokebox door and connects directly to the locomotive motherboard. Leading and centre driving axles will be sprung, with the leading axle mounted on a cam arrangement to allow the 2-6-0 and 2-6-2T to negotiate second radius curves. They will also have flickering fire glows synchronised to the sound. Dapol is to model two key ‘Large Prairie’ variants, the ‘5101’ of 1929 and the ‘61XX’ of 1931, which was visually identical but with a higher boiler pressure. They will appear in mid-1930s guise with cab shutters. The ‘43XX’ 2-6-0 is a veritable minefield for model makers with lots of detail differences, so Dapol is to produce No. 5390 through to No. 7321.