RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted October 28, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 28, 2010 This brings back memories. Back in the 1980s when I used to work at Northwick Park Hospital, I spent many happy lunchtime hours at Puffers in Kenton where Dave used to have his Crownline stuff, and John Redrupp was the finescale guy and Chris Parrish was, well Chris Parrish! Ah yes, after shows I used to have to sneak all the packets with red cardboard tops back into the house. Mum could never understand why I was sawing up and chopping bits off "perfectly good toys".... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted October 28, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 28, 2010 Mum could never understand why I was sawing up and chopping bits off "perfectly good toys".... and we're still doing it Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted October 28, 2010 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 28, 2010 and we're still doing it And still she doesn't understand! What's worse that view is now supported by SWMBO too.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold RedgateModels Posted October 28, 2010 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 28, 2010 And still she doesn't understand! What's worse that view is now supported by SWMBO too.... Actually, Mum read my Summat Colliery article in Hornby Mag the last time they babysat and seemed quite proud of her son's work Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 .... I spent many happy lunchtime hours at Puffers in Kenton where Dave used to have his Crownline stuff, and John Redrupp was the finescale guy and Chris Parrish was, well Chris Parrish! Puffers was my "local" finescale shop as well, although I had to drive up from Hendon every time! There was invariably a Perseverance "Castle" class chassis fret in a picture frame on the window display at street level. They used to stock quite a bit of Exactoscale stuff as well. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PH462 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Puffers was where I met Dave and Sheila, and started working for them on saturdays when I was at school. When they opened the first Crownline shop in Maidenhead I started with them full time and then moved to Cornwall with them in 1987. Can't quite believe that 32 years have gone by!! Paul Hill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5Bel Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Hi All, This thread is bringing back loads of memories for me. Puffers was my favourite shop as a youf. Used to go at least once a month with my pocket money. My brother managed to spill a shelf of TT locos on to the floor once though!! I used to buy a Capltalcard at Uxbridge then get the Met to Harrow on the Hill. Go to the model shop there then wallk round the corner to Puffers and spend loads of time in there. It was their finescale department that is responsible for the way I model today! Ater my visit here it was on BR from Kenton to Euston walk to Kings Cross in the shop there, then to Hadley hobbies and finish my day in Railfayre in West Ealing. All for £2.50. Happy days. I have still got my converted Hornby Spifire complete with Crownline cut down 4500 tender. It still looks the part after 20 plus years. Cheers for now, Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I seem to recall Dave King retired more often than Frank Sinatra. B) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerces Fobe2 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I have known Dave King since he had a shop in Maidenhead and still see him at model railway shows in Cornwall where he has lived for over 20 years. Dave is still making models and despite some ill health in recent times is still very active and enthusiastic about model railways Xerces Fobe Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 I used to go to Puffers at Kenton occasionally. They did a nice range of Westward diesel detailing packs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jol Wilkinson Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I only once visited the Crownline shop in Maidenhead (many, many years ago), but it seemed to be mainly an outlet for the Crownline products, rather than a model railway shop. Puffers of Kenton were the last "decent" model railway shop that I ever found. Chris Parrish re-opened Puffers in Yorkshire (is it still going?) as he was involved with the NYR. John Redrup, who I first met down in the "finescale cellar" at Puffers is the proprietor of London Road Models, the business he set up after leaving Puffers. It's down to John and his like that we have a thriving hobby for the railway model maker. There were few enough model railway shops in the 70s and 80s who catered for the kit/scratchbuild modeller (rather than the RTR variety). I don't know of one now, but then I don't look very hard as I find it easier to get what I want at exhibitions such as expoEM and S4um. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 I seem to recall Dave King retired more often than Frank Sinatra. B) Made more comebacks, though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alseyp Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 Puffers was where I met Dave and Sheila, and started working for them on saturdays when I was at school. When they opened the first Crownline shop in Maidenhead I started with them full time and then moved to Cornwall with them in 1987. Can't quite believe that 32 years have gone by!! Paul Hill Puffers was where I met Dave and Sheila, and started working for them on saturdays when I was at school. When they opened the first Crownline shop in Maidenhead I started with them full time and then moved to Cornwall with them in 1987. Can't quite believe that 32 years have gone by!! Paul Hill Hi Paul, I'm currently in possession of 7 engines all inscribed with your initials.. I have felt a bit like Poirot of recent times trying to track down the origins of these locomotives. Indeed they are all steam, manufactured by crownline and built and painted by Dave King himself. they are all boxed as original and never been run. They belonged to our grandfather Alan, who Dave knew reasonably well but sadly our grandfather is no longer with us. I've tried to contact Dave very recently in the hope he might recommend a buyer for these wonderful (and i'm not just saying it) trains. We want to keep 2 of them for the sake of nostalgia and hand them down over the years but 5 of them we will definitely look to sell. Any ideas? They are all boxed, mint etc. Maybe some of your existing customers are looking for some West Country engines. Anyway, any help is good help as far as i'm concerned. My grandfathers name is Alan Garland, i'm sure Dave will remember. Thanks in advance Alan (the grandson) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Funny I was just reminiscing about Crownline today. Back in the day the detail packs were very useful in trying to make those nasty old Hornby locos look halfway presentable. Yes some of the castings were a bit naff but the brass stuff was good. The great thing is that all the bits were in one packet with instructions on where they went (I still have a couple of packs for the Black 5). I'm sure that all the details can be obtained here and there but for those of us who are not experts, the Crownline packs were a great boon. I still have the half cab 1F I converted from a Hornby Jinty. It's now on a Bachmann chassis and works great. John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 Funny I was just reminiscing about Crownline today. Back in the day the detail packs were very useful in trying to make those nasty old Hornby locos look halfway presentable. Yes some of the castings were a bit naff but the brass stuff was good. The great thing is that all the bits were in one packet with instructions on where they went (I still have a couple of packs for the Black 5). I'm sure that all the details can be obtained here and there but for those of us who are not experts, the Crownline packs were a great boon. I still have the half cab 1F I converted from a Hornby Jinty. It's now on a Bachmann chassis and works great. Some of the later conversion kits mutated eventually into full kits - I have an unstarted Std.5 which has a resin-boiler casting, but the instructions don't mention it and still say you should use an old Hornby Black 5 body! The Peppercorn A1 also started the same way. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brossard Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 If memory serves, the old Hornby Black 5 body was significantly too short (as were the LMS coaches - grrrrr!). I had, I think 3, and none of them ran well. Seems to me to be a waste of effort to use the old body (but each to his own) when the current Black 5 is so good (I have the sound equipped one - there are a few clips of it at the link below). I also have an E Rankin Grey built brass Black 5 that I paid a lot for (just before the initial Hornby model came out- tcccchh!) - put the 2 side by side and I doubt you could see much difference. The Hornby model may even have better performance (the ERG model is Portescap). John Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 29, 2011 Share Posted August 29, 2011 If memory serves, the old Hornby Black 5 body was significantly too short ... About a scale foot too short, but Crownline got around it by using the entire length of the firebox, including the section inside the cab, just short of the backhead itself. The later resin smokebox/boiler/firebox that they then used in the full kit is also a good match against the DJH casting, and the Bachmann body. The Crownline BR Standard 5 brass etch parts do actually check out very well against the DJH and Alan Gibson efforts, and the wheelbase is correct, too. The footplate is designed so that you can build it as the ordinary version or the Caprotti one. Here's a quick mobile phone photo I took of my sample: Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Etched Pixels Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 The white metal tools btw are now in the hands of the Model Railway Club. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 The white metal tools btw are now in the hands of the Model Railway Club. ....who are no doubt scrratching their heads wondering if there's still a market for these things out there? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Puffers of Kenton were the last "decent" model railway shop that I ever found. Chris Parrish re-opened Puffers in Yorkshire (is it still going?) as he was involved with the NYR. John Redrup, who I first met down in the "finescale cellar" at Puffers is the proprietor of London Road Models, the business he set up after leaving Puffers. It's down to John and his like that we have a thriving hobby for the railway model maker. There were few enough model railway shops in the 70s and 80s who catered for the kit/scratchbuild modeller (rather than the RTR variety). I don't know of one now, but then I don't look very hard as I find it easier to get what I want at exhibitions such as expoEM and S4um. I used to visit Puffers a lot and got quite friendly with both John and Chris. And wish we had a shop like that where we could pop in and buy items other than Hornby. Harrow Model Shop also was worth a visit as it had some very usefull parts tucked away in the draws behind the counter. I still see and buy from John at the shows, and was in contact with Chris Parish buying Perseverance chassis from him up to 2 years ago, all of a sudden (about 2 years ago) he stopped replying to emails and went off the radar. There was a shop called Puffers in Pickering but all went quiet there as well Its a great pity that the Perseverance and Wesdale ranges are also not available anymore, and I think others are like minded judging by the price the chassis kits and parts sell for (Crownline packs also seem to be sought after). I still have a Dean goods chassis to build (could sell it for twice what I paid Chris for on Ebay) which is desdined to go under a Mallard loco I brought built and painted but had no loco chassis or tender wheels. Nice to know that the Crownline masters are in good hands, I guess that the whitemetal moulds could be worn out or damaged and that the turned parts were made by others (was the owner of Markits something to do with Crownline) but the artwork for the etches should be either usable / repairable. The same would go for the etched artwork for Perseverance and Wesdale ranges, it may need a bit of up-dateing but would be a very usefull resourse for modellers. Has anyone any further knowlage either about Chris or the range Edit I have found the last address I had for Chris and will drop him a line. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 Not sure what Dave King produced but I do agree Perseverance and Westward Models did produce some interesting locos and coaches in the halcyon days of kits. Tony Hammond did a few unusual coaches too when he lived in Prestatyn. My 1982 range of bogie kits was bought by Westward, the largest range available at that time and possibly even today, and ended up with Puffers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 ..... the artwork for the etches should be either usable / repairable.... Would take a bit of work, as I think Paul Hill said they were mostly hand-drawn before CAD design became really popular. They are useful, though. The Hornby "B17 to B1" conversion kit had some pretty good etches in it, and with the help of a Comet chassis you could turn out something that would get close to the Replica RTR one. The Hornby "County to City 4-4-0" conversion etches were also very ingenious - I think the artwork was done by John Marriage; where might he be now? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 I used to visit Puffers a lot and got quite friendly with both John and Chris. And wish we had a shop like that where we could pop in and buy items other than Hornby. Harrow Model Shop also was worth a visit as it had some very usefull parts tucked away in the draws behind the counter. I still see and buy from John at the shows, and was in contact with Chris Parish buying Perseverance chassis from him up to 2 years ago, all of a sudden (about 2 years ago) he stopped replying to emails and went off the radar. There was a shop called Puffers in Pickering but all went quiet there as well Its a great pity that the Perseverance and Wesdale ranges are also not available anymore, and I think others are like minded judging by the price the chassis kits and parts sell for (Crownline packs also seem to be sought after). I still have a Dean goods chassis to build (could sell it for twice what I paid Chris for on Ebay) which is desdined to go under a Mallard loco I brought built and painted but had no loco chassis or tender wheels. Nice to know that the Crownline masters are in good hands, I guess that the whitemetal moulds could be worn out or damaged and that the turned parts were made by others (was the owner of Markits something to do with Crownline) but the artwork for the etches should be either usable / repairable. The same would go for the etched artwork for Perseverance and Wesdale ranges, it may need a bit of up-dateing but would be a very usefull resourse for modellers. Has anyone any further knowlage either about Chris or the range Edit I have found the last address I had for Chris and will drop him a line. I had a very quick reply from Chris, he has moved and given me his address. ''I have not got the workshop set up yet , but can still pack chassis kits .Need a few weeks notice though .'' Very good news. According to the price list Chriss plans to start supplying Westward and Perseverance ranges again. Perseverance chassis are available, though they may take up to 28 days for delivery. Westward parts will take longer and loco kits are planned for reintroduction either in 2012 or 2013. Can forward the PDF price list if anyone wants one Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
coachmann Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Westward parts will take longer and loco kits are planned for reintroduction either in 2012 or 2013. Brian Brown (who formed Westward), a long time friend of mine, cannot remember if a whitemetal kit for the L&Y 'Belpaire 'A' class 0-6-0 was part of his range. Any ideas? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePipersSon Posted September 16, 2011 Share Posted September 16, 2011 Just looked at the old list i have for Puffers - it lists a 'L&Y Hughes 3F' - whatever that is? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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