New from Greenmax - Plasser & Theurer Multiple Tie Tamper

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Okay, so this is a Japanese prototype; however Greenmax are releasing a Plasser & Theurer Multiple Tie Tamper. It comes in two colours; yellow and green (the green livery being common-place around Tokyo).

 

Greenmax have an excellent reputation for quality and reliability. I'm also pretty pleased that there is some ready-to-run engineering stuff coming in N Gauge (1/150, so close enough for UK).

 

I already have a green version on order...

 

http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10285564

Edited July 26, 2014 by Claude_Dreyfus

[m0rris]

Thanks for the haeds up, that is an interesting looking item... Not a bad price as well.

[justin1985]

Very tempting! Just a shame that the import VAT and Parcel force admin charge will bump up the cost a lot

[Claude_Dreyfus]

It would... However Greenmax are not so easy to obtain outside of Japan (best bets would be Japan Model Railway in Germany - also known as Modellbahn Union - or Wellington Models in Somerset). But these are not guarenteed to stock this. The cost of the unit is about £65.00 based on current exchange rate, so it will probably be around £100.00 all told; which would not be far off the price Bachmann or Dapol would quote.

[Padishar Creel]

Hallo,

just an FYI to say that this is finally available, here in Germany €169,99 analog, €249,99 digital

 

es grüßt

pc

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Mine turned up a couple of weeks ago. Based on my experience (and that of several others), treat this model with extreme caution. I am currently arranging for it to be returned to Japan. There are a number of fundamental issues; not least the fact the motor is so loose, it becomes detached and rattles around the body. The body itself looks to be glued down at one end, so repairs cannot be easily carried out; the trailing bogie falls apart the moment you look at it and the fierce lighting bleeds through the gap in the body.

 

Those whose models have turned up working report that the motor isn't great...not very controllable at low speed; rough running and frequent stalling.

 

The QC has been really poor for this model...nowhere near to the usual standards for Japanese (and Greenmax to be honest) models. Buyer beware!

[Padishar Creel]

Mine turned up a couple of weeks ago. Based on my experience (and that of several others), treat this model with extreme caution. I am currently arranging for it to be returned to Japan. There are a number of fundamental issues; not least the fact the motor is so loose, it becomes detached and rattles around the body. The body itself looks to be glued down at one end, so repairs cannot be easily carried out; the trailing bogie falls apart the moment you look at it and the fierce lighting bleeds through the gap in the body.

 

Those whose models have turned up working report that the motor isn't great...not very controllable at low speed; rough running and frequent stalling.

 

The QC has been really poor for this model...nowhere near to the usual standards for Japanese (and Greenmax to be honest) models. Buyer beware!

 

Thanks for the honest Report. I was wondering about the quality. The Hobbytrain tamper was also not that brilliant if I remember correctly. Will be interesting to see in any of the Greenmax models are of a decent quallity

 

es grüßt

pc

[njee20]

Shame, had my eye on one of those, certainly looks the part, but too expensive to buy and stick in a siding!

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I have a JNR class 119 EMU from Greenmax, which is not bad. Some of their other models are quite excellent, so this is certainly not to their usual standards. The model has been dogged by delays (nearly two years), and I do wonder if they cut some corners in the end to get it delivered. If so, they have made a big mistake.

 

It is a pity, because this model could have sold extremely well outside of Japan.

 

Shame, had my eye on one of those, certainly looks the part, but too expensive to buy and stick in a siding!

It depends on how my return to sender discussions go. That could be its fate...

[Padishar Creel]

DM Toys posted this clip from YouTube (in Japanese)  on their FB page

 

 

es grüßt

pc

[thelochtatmonster]

It looks as though I have been lucky in numerous ways by the looks of the comments above!  

 

I only found out about these models about a month ago, literally as peoples' orders from two years ago were beginning to arrive in the UK.  People, like myself, who wanted one were saying that everywhere was sold out.  I went straight on the net and found two of the green Totetsu ones at loco1hobby.net.  I got both for £178 including the postage and didn't get ripped off by parcel farce either with them arriving in 5 days - I was very surprised.

 

I agree with the quality control.  Neither of mine worked, for a start anyway.  The small, brass "L"s which connect the motor to the buzz-bars inside had dropped out of both models.  It was a quick fix with a drop of super-duper glue and they were away.  I found the running very smooth and controllable with it becoming a little better after 10 minutes in each direction on the test track. 

 

With regards to the light bleeding issue, I intend, and did right from the start, to be adapting these units so hopefully along the line I can rectify this.  Hopefully one will be painted into NR Yellow and the other in to Balfour Beatty.  We shall see as they are quite a long way down in the ever deepening pit of kits and repaint jobs etc. etc. that we all seem to suffer with.

 

All the best, Andy.

Edited September 6, 2016 by thelochtatmonster

[Claude_Dreyfus]

Update on mine.

 

After discussions with my supplier - Hobby Search- the tamper was returned for repair. They accepted this on the basis of a short video showing some the issues, for the benefit of their support team. They offered to to repay my postage costs which, upon provision of a scan of the receipt, was refunded within 10 minutes to my Paypal account! It is reassuring that whilst it is a risk purchasing 'blind' from the opposite side of the world, HS can be relied upon to be honest and diligent.

 

It was sent out to Japan as a return item (for import duty purposes), and will be posted back to the UK as a warranty (nil value) repair. Hopefully that will not be too much for UK customs to cope with...

[chriswrightmk]

I see that Green Max have released an N (1;150 scale) model of  Plasser Theurer KS2002, track ballast profile machine  and  I am wondering if this (or similar) ran in UK/

 

Likewise,,did the previous tamper issued run in UK?

 

Chris

[Steadfast]

Neither of the types modelled by Greenmax run in the UK but there are many similar designs. I plan to convert my tamper to an 08-16 type. There is so much variation to the individual customer's spec on track machines that unless someone produced a model of a specific UK machine, it'd need modification to suit a UK prototype 100%

 

Jo