Graham Farish trains

[Keikyu]

I didn't notice there was even a more international based section here since I joined, shows how blind I am I guess.

 

I got a Graham Farish 125 from my grandad. He used to have a whole layout set up, it was awesome and probably why I have such an interest in trains.

 

Anyway, he moved houses and left me one he kept after he sold his layout due to lack of room.

 

 

Now I love the train and livery, but it has always given me trouble. On my Kato controller it requires the dial to be nearly fully up which I feel might be causing it to hurt a bit, and it derails on my super elevated curves occasionally, which strikes me as weird because it goes past some areas fine and then derails on the next loop.

 

So are those kinds of issues normal for Farish trains or is the one I got just a bit dodgy in how it was made?

[Davo Dentetsu]

Sounds like Farish to me.  Be thankful it hasn't let out the smoke yet. ;)

[Keikyu]

It smells a bit smoky sometimes. So that's typical then i assume.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

It is the gears you need to watch on these models. It looks like a second-generation model, with the black motor gears in the bogies. Farish models were/are notorious for these splitting due to (a) being too tight on the axle and (b ) made from inferior plastic that quickly becomes brittle.

 

Annoyingly, this problem persists to this day, albeit far less common.

 

Quite a frequent remedy for this was the fitting of a Kato chassis (don't ask me which, I cannot remember).

Edited November 18, 2013 by Claude_Dreyfus

[Keikyu]

I was actually going to ask if I could replace the chassis on it. Maybe measure it and send Hobby Search an email as to what they could do.

 

At the moment it's loud, smells like burning and runs incredibly slowly. Add in what you said about the splitting gears and I might do some research into replacing parts of it.

[Claude_Dreyfus]

If memory serves me right, this is a Poole (UK) model, so not compatible with the later Bachmann chassis..may need some hacking to make them fit. For replacement bits, try these guys...

 

http://www.brlines.com/

 

[Nick_Burman]

Some UK modellers stuff Green Max chassis onto their Farish equipment.

 

 

Cheers NB

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Yes, the Green Max chassis particularly suited the GWR railcar and the class 101 DMU; whose motor was infamously poor.

 

They also suited a number of kits, but not certain they would fit an HST power car, which is relatively short.

[westfalen]

The old pre-Bachmann Graham Farish HSTs were bad, a previous club member ended up with a hole melted in the roof of the powered car of his and was continually sending stuff back to Farish, however one of our present club members has a later Bachmann made version of the HST which runs quite well and even has a socket for plug-n-play DCC, not to mention better detailing.  I remember the old one had to be run at top speed (it only had two speeds anyway, stop and flat out) to get over anything other than straight track and often wondered how British N scalers put up with such things.

 

Graham Farish, like their owner Bachmann, should not be judged based on what they used to make but on their current products which are excellent, I have a 3MT tank loco and prototype Deltic which are magnificent looking and running models and have an Ivatt 2MT 2-6-0 on the way which should be waiting at the post office for me to pick up as I type this.

Edited November 18, 2013 by westfalen

[Keikyu]

So do I really have much choice then? The motor does run pretty hot, I can feel the heat through the roof of the train.

 

I was thinking about it last night. Tomytec is releasing some shorter power units, at 14m, but it still will likely be too big. What about a tram motor? Those are smaller still and maybe could work?

[brill27mcb]

I think you will find that Tomytec and tram power chassis lack sufficient pulling power for even a 7-car Intercity 125. I have such a train using its original Graham Farish 5-pole motor, also an 8-car IC 225 by Graham Farish, and they run well. Running them over a half-hour does make them warm up, in my case, but not nearly enough to melt the shell.

 

Do you have the version with a single powered loco, 8-wheel drive and the 5-pole motor, or the earlier version with one self-powered truck in each loco?

 

Rich K.

[Keikyu]

I ran mine for about 5 minutes and the roof was noticeably hot.

 

I am pretty sure I have the single powered loco and the other one is a trailer car.