Marshall Stewart & Co. Ltd Information Wanted

[Xerces Fobe2]

A fellow RMweb member contacted me over the Christmas period to tell me that he had just become the proud owner of a HO 3.5mm ex LN&WR Oerlikon EMU. After exchanging photos it became clear that this is the same model which I purchased from another RMweb member @ 3-4 years ago.

 

It appears that this model had some information with it, that indicates it was made in the late 1920:s by a company called Marshall Stewart & Co. Ltd. I have trawaled the web and found references to this company but no real details.

 

Have any fellow RMweb members any information on this company and their products?

 

As an aside I may well have the oldest working model train that has been DCC chipped as it the Oerlikon may well be over 80 years old. I thought this unit might of been @ 60 years old so this news came as bit of a surprise. This unit is already popular when we are at shows with Croxley Wiggenhall Road Depot as she makes an appearance on the layout at some point

 

 

 

XF

Edited December 28, 2012 by Xerces Fobe2

[sagaguy]

I believe that the Marshall part of the name was Percival Marshall,the founder of the Model Engineer magazine in 1898,not certain about the Stewart part of the name.

 

 

Ray.

Edited December 26, 2012 by sagaguy

[roythebus]

It's an interesting model and quite well detailed for its time, even though the detailing is a bit crude by today's standards. It shows what could have been achieved by others had they shown the same sort of willing.

 

Sorry I can't help with the original question!

Edited December 28, 2012 by roythebus

[shortliner]

I believe that the Marshall part of the name was Percival Marshall,the founder of the Model Engineer magazine in 1898,not certain about the Stewart part of the name.

 

 

Ray.

Could it possibly have been Stewart Reidpath?

[Xerces Fobe2]

Could it possibly have been Stewart Reidpath?

 

Yes you may have point, as 32A's Oerlikon has a Reidpath motor bogie my had one that in bits and it was replaced with a Tenshodo spud.

 

Thanks

 

XF

[Xerces Fobe2]

The motor bogie on your unit has the original frames, note the outside third collector cutout.  Any chance of close ups of that and the motor car non-motorised bogie.

 No problem, I will dig my Oerlikon out later today

 

XF

[BernardTPM]

The company described themselves as 'The Pioneers of HO Gauge', but the unit I have is slightly larger than 3.5mm, but definately smaller than 4mm.

Sounds like 1:80, the scale Trix (among others) used. The Japanese use it too, for the 3' 6" gauge lines in 'H0'.

[PhilJ W]

Almost certainly 1/80 scale. I have the complete sets of 'Railway Magazine' from Jan 1928 to Dec 1939 and I will have a trawl through the ads to see if I can find anything.

[Xerces Fobe2]

Hi Andrew -as promised

 

 

 

XF

[Xerces Fobe2]

Many thanks for the close ups.  These are definately the original bogies, somehow converted to fit the motorising unit and secondary pickups, marvellous job.

 

Note the identical paintwork for our units.

 

Andrew

 

Hi Andrew,

 

Happy to share how I modified the unit a very delicate job that had been started before I purchased my unit, The raised roof section on the motor car is metal and lifts out giving you limited access to the inside of the unit. Fitted a DCC chip was a little difficult but doable.

 

I had to fit 8 wheel picks In order to go over all the point work around the depot however so far the unit gas performed well. I also fitted dummy air vacuum pipes to the trailer car and I noticed your unit had these missing too. I think there is a distint possibility that the motor and trailer cars were at least assembled in different places given that the buffers are on the 2 cars are different too.I think it might take a little while however I hope we can unravel the full story behind our Oerlikons!

 

Nigel

[Andrew Emmerson]

I believe that the Marshall part of the name was Percival Marshall,the founder of the Model Engineer magazine in 1898,not certain about the Stewart part of the name.

 

 

Ray.

With respect, I don't think Percival Marshall had any involvement. Stewart was "Archie" Stewart Reidpath. The first Marshall Stewart catalogue had exclusively 7mm scale products but under Stewart Reidpath's direction, he refocussed the firm's direction to 3.5mm scale. He was certainly the first person to sell 3.5mm products commercially. He also proved that it was perfectly feasible to fit motors into (most) H0 locomotives, regardless of what Henry Greenly claimed. By the way, the Oerlikon in question was previosuly mine. I bought it from Peter Corley but I do not know who owned it previously.

Andy Emmerson.

[D51]

Further to the information above, there is an article in the 2014 Railway Modeller annual about the firm of Marshall Stewart, its HO products and its various addresses in the 1920s. It became Stewart-Reidpath Ltd in 1932.

[Xerces Fobe2]

It would be nice to have a definitive answer on the parentage of these lovely units.

 

Thanks to all that have provided I information so far.

 

Nigel

[alanhkemp]

With reference to the topic of Marshall Stewart & Co. Ltd Information Wanted; Andrew Emmerson Posted 12 February 2013 and D51 Posted 27 November 2013. My grandfather Harold Herbert Hudson was a partner in this firm with Archibald Marshall Reidpath and Archibald Stewart Reidpath, probably between 1920 and 1924 when this dissolved by mutual consent on 14 June. I understand that he made model trains and all accessories, although unfortunately, I have no photographs of his work. I am also very interested in the contents of any Marshall Stewart catalogue and a copy of the article in the 2014 Railway Modeller Annual, which I understand is being sent to me. I look forward to hearing any comments.

 

 

Thanks and regards,

 

Alan Kemp

[Boldon Boy]

Sorry to come late to the party, but Census returns show that Archibald Marshall Reidpath was the father of Archibald Stewart Reidpath, who was born in 1894.   Father was a stockbroker and member of the London Stock Exchange.   The Marshall Stewart firm was probably just father and son in partnership before the son, who had been in the RNVR during the war, struck out on his own.  

[NCB]

https://www.binnsroad.co.uk/railways/reidpath/index.html

 

Partnership between the Reidpaths and Harold Hudson, dissolved 1924.

[Il Grifone]

By coincidence (I was looking for something else!), I found this in October 1998 MRE, p39. Possibly it adds a little further information:

 

    "We have learnt so far that they claimed to be the pioneers of H0 gauge although this has been disputed. The Company was based in South London with the actual address changing several times during the 1920s.

    The early advertisments (sic) were for their own make of track as well as coach and wagon parts for modellers who built their own stock. By the late 1920s the Company was advertising locomotives starting with an 0-6-0 tank. Others included a Southern EMU and an L1.

    By 1930 Marshall Stewart were making a range of private owner wagons but this was to be the Company's swan song as, by 1931, they had gone out of existence."

 

The article is illustrated by a picture of a c.1930 GWR Castle (in blue! - Sir Felix must have missed this one!) and a coach in blue and white, with a note that ficticious (sic) liveries were quite common before the war.