Il Grifone Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 So they did actually exist. Are you going to build it or leave it in parts for posterity? There can't be many! At around 27 shillings, they were beyond the pockets of most people. There was also competition from Rivarossi, whose cars came ready assembled. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 There can't be many! At around 27 shillings, they were beyond the pockets of most people. There was also competition from Rivarossi, whose cars came ready assembled. I can buy a 'pre-owned' Athearn Blue Box freight car for the equivalent of 27 shillings these days! Sometimes that is - especially if it has a 'patina'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 I can buy a 'pre-owned' Athearn Blue Box freight car for the equivalent of 27 shillings these days! Sometimes that is - especially if it has a 'patina'. They're usually around £3-4* around here (South Essex), but you do find the odd bargain! I got some Rivarossi reefers for around this figure recently - sprung bogies and Kadees! *Ignoring the odd 'chancers' like Gostude & Co. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 They're usually around £3-4* around here (South Essex), but you do find the odd bargain! I got some Rivarossi reefers for around this figure recently - sprung bogies and Kadees! *Ignoring the odd 'chancers' like Gostude & Co. Well, I suppose the 27s/£1.35 ones would be a bit ropey in actual fact. £3-4 sounds more like it! What would 27s be the equivalent of these days? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted February 12, 2014 Share Posted February 12, 2014 For late 50s/early 60s, I always calculate on the rough basis 1/- = £1. (It depends what Government 'fiddle factor' you use.) As a guide "four figure man" was used in a late 50s advertisement as someone with a 'good' salary - say around £20/25K in today's money*. You needed around £400 to buy a 'cheap' car, but ten times that figure would buy a new 4 bedroom house in the Midlands (Dad paid £3950 in 1959). Electrical appliances Fridges,vacuums, TVs were around £50-100. *Not enormous, but, as the national average, more than most people get. This puts 27/- as about £30. In general, a Dublo wagon was about 5/-, Tri-ang a bit less, a Peco Wonderful Wagon kit 7/6d and again K's kits a bit less. Locomotives started at around 33/6 for a Tri-ang Jinty. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 (edited) Been doing a bit more scanning, this time 1955 MRN, and here are some more very interesting Kirdon ads etc. for your edification. Power units. Was the Minor capable of operating 2 trains with its 2 knobs? Also noticed that the US Boxcars are described as having 'sprung bogies'. Like Kadee ones perhaps? 10000 Diesel now shown as RTR and the figures are included. What are 'Griptired' wheels? Something like Tri-ang Dock Shunter ones or 'traction tyres'? Directional lights as well. The 0-6-2T loco kit in exploded view. Looks quite simple but how were 'novices' supposed to fit and quarter the driving wheels? And pickups? The 'Universal' coupling appears. I wonder what the 1% non-compatible coupling was - 3 link? A good selection of products - including prior warning of the 0-4-0 Paxman shunter. A photo from the Model Railway Hobby show showing the Kirdon products including bridges, motor bogies, boxed 10000 and the 0-6-0 and 0-4-0 Shunters. Edited February 13, 2014 by 5050 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I assume the coupling/uncoupling with 99% (or is it 90%?) of other units means couples (manually and with difficulty) and uncouples all by itself! (Peco claimed this sort of nonsense too and it didn't work with them either.) The N2 bears a strong affinity with the Trackmaster/Tri-ang product, even down to the screw hole in the cab roof. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
random Posted February 15, 2014 Author Share Posted February 15, 2014 So they did actually exist. Are you going to build it or leave it in parts for posterity? It will remain as a kit as I do not think it is quite complete. Nice to see some Kirdon bridges and 4-wheel motor bogies in the photos. I have never seen them in reality. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted March 22, 2014 Share Posted March 22, 2014 (edited) Reading "Let's Stick Together", I found a reference to clearing out the Kirdon factory. It's stated that there were lots of empty boxes for the Diesel shunter, but inside one there was a Hambling's casting, but no evidence of tooling, so it would appear that none were actually made (or did they intend to supply them fitted with the Hambling's body?). The coupling appears lifted from Fleischmann. (or was it the other way round?). Edited March 22, 2014 by Il Grifone Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagaguy Posted March 25, 2014 Share Posted March 25, 2014 Reading your post on Let`s Stick Together reminded me of the early 60`s when i bought two Hornby Dublo non powered EMU trailer coaches & converted one with a triang pantograph & a Kitmaster motor bogie!!.I could never make out what was wrong with the motor bogie,it would run ok for a while then just stop,no power getting to the armature,i used to take it apart,put it back together,all to no avail then it would suddenly burst into life again.The other problem was that the back to back was too wide,this was only cured when i got a lathe & counterbored the wheel backs.It was never a howling success even then. You certainlly wouldn`t chop up HD trailer cars today but i still have the pantograph somewhere. Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roythebus Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I chopped some Hornby Dublo EMUs to make overhead electric units following an article in the RM in 1963! I sold them about 15 years ago at IMREX when I was short of money. They cost 10/6 when new... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 It reminds a bit of the 1967 Model Railway Constructor article on converting an HD E3002 into a (fairly crude) class 73.....of more value would be an article on how to magic it back again Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sagaguy Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 It reminds a bit of the 1967 Model Railway Constructor article on converting an HD E3002 into a (fairly crude) class 73.....of more value would be an article on how to magic it back again Ray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 They weren't of great value then. Hattons, Beatties etc. were flogging off Dublo (especially 3 rail) at low prices. Presumably Tri-ang dropped their hybrid rehash of the Dublo E3002 because it didn't sell. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyman7 Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 They weren't of great value then. Hattons, Beatties etc. were flogging off Dublo (especially 3 rail) at low prices. Presumably Tri-ang dropped their hybrid rehash of the Dublo E3002 because it didn't sell. Indeed they weren't , but unlike an awful lot of Hornby Dublo where there were significant remaindered stocks, there weren't that many made, and once they were sold out, the collectors price began to rise. With the Hornby Dublo EMU, the unpowered car sold out much more quickly than the powered one (I think the assumption is that people bought pairs of unpowered cars to make up dummy sets for haulage by a single powered car). As such, powered ones could be had for under a fiver in the late sixties. Triang's overhead powered locos were not brilliant sellers - the EM2 CKD kit was still shown in the 1974 price list (unillustrated in the catalogue) presumably to shift unsold stocks made several years before - yet within a decade they were sought after rarities. I remember that in the early 80s unboxed/used s/h EM2s were normally priced at £35+ at a time when a new express steam loco was £25 - ouch! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted March 31, 2014 Share Posted March 31, 2014 (edited) IMHO, I think the problem was that boys in the fifties and sixties weren't interested in diesels and electrics (steam still ruled!) and the extra (considerable) cost of the catenary wasn't acceptable. Dublo's (and Trix's) sixties obsession with diesel models was the final nail in their coffin. Dublo's rebuilt West Country was rather poor and expensive (and a cab full of motor didn't help). On the other hand Tri-ang produced a good range of new locomotives (steam, diesel and electric) at reasonable cost. At the time collecting meant Hornby 0 gauge and upwards. I can remember a comment to the effect that Dublo would never be collectable..... Edited September 25, 2014 by Il Grifone Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
D51 Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 There is currently on a certain internet auction site what is described as a "Hornby-Dublo 0-6-2 modified tank" but which looks like a 2-rail Kirdon 0-6-2. Interestingly it has a Gaiety body casting, not the Trackmaster one. The illustrations all show the body and chassis separated so we don't know if the body actually fits the chassis! It looks as though the body might be too short! Frank Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 There is currently on a certain internet auction site what is described as a "Hornby-Dublo 0-6-2 modified tank" but which looks like a 2-rail Kirdon 0-6-2. Interestingly it has a Gaiety body casting, not the Trackmaster one. The illustrations all show the body and chassis separated so we don't know if the body actually fits the chassis! It looks as though the body might be too short! Frank It could well be. The Trackmaster (etc.) casting is scale length, whereas both the Dublo and Gaiety castings are undernourished in this department. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Grifone Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Kirdon Midgi-Pak if anyone is interested: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kirdon-Midgi-pak-power-unit-/331427645381?pt=UK_Trains_Railway_Models&hash=item4d2aa087c5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Ebay.....a depository for crap. Why anyone would want to bother with ancient rubbish is beyond me. For goodness sakes move on, save up for the latest model and let the wheeler-dealers sit on their mountains of garbage fit only for the skip. Customers used to bring garbage bought at car boot sales and flea markets thinking I had a magic wand. They came to the wrong bloke! Larry Where has your heart gone!! OK, the Modern ready to run models are superb in detail and running quality and if that was the only criteria then you would be right. But don't you have a soft spot for some of the older and what were in their days trail blazers. I bet you have a secret haul stashed away in a cupboard. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Just found this on e-bay while idly trawling through the kits section. First time I've seen one in the wood and metal. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kirdon-OO-HO-model-railway-rolling-stock-US-box-car-wagon-kit-Santa-Fe-/141557819146 An unbuilt box car kit - any takers? Not mine I hasten to add! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cctransuk Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 Just found this on e-bay while idly trawling through the kits section. First time I've seen one in the wood and metal. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kirdon-OO-HO-model-railway-rolling-stock-US-box-car-wagon-kit-Santa-Fe-/141557819146 An unbuilt box car kit - any takers? Not mine I hasten to add! .... but what's it doing with GWR plate-frame bogies - or did Swindon export to the USA ?!? Regards, John Isherwood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 .... but what's it doing with GWR plate-frame bogies - or did Swindon export to the USA ?!? Regards, John Isherwood. TBH, I can't actually see any bogies in the box. The illustration on the lid shows sprung arch bar style, which are similar to some the GWR used on some bogie freight stock. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cctransuk Posted February 6, 2015 Share Posted February 6, 2015 TBH, I can't actually see any bogies in the box. The illustration on the lid shows sprung arch bar style, which are similar to some the GWR used on some bogie freight stock. Look at the other two photos - if they aren't GWR plateframe bogies I've been wasting my time all these years, thinking that I was learning something about British railways !! Regards, John Isherwood. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
5050 Posted February 7, 2015 Share Posted February 7, 2015 Look at the other two photos - if they aren't GWR plateframe bogies I've been wasting my time all these years, thinking that I was learning something about British railways !! Regards, John Isherwood. Oh dear, sorry, yes, you're totally correct. I hadn't looked at those Wonder why they weren't in the box with the other bits? Perhaps the originals got lost over the years - or used for something else!. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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