Hamblings Met Railway 4-4-4T

[roythebus1]

Many years ago, 1973 to be precise, a friend acquired some old stock from Hamblings including a Met Railway 4-4-4T, a GWR 0-4-2T and something else I forget what it was. They were all hand-built 00 gauge fine scale.

 

At the time I lived in Northampton and ran GS Models, producing white metal kits and didn't really have time to look at these models so I advertised them in RM for sale. Someone came round to have a look at them and took them away saying he'd fix them. Of course I never saw him or the locos again. I was daft enough to trust people in those days.

 

So if anyone ever sees a scratch-built Met tank for sale, the chances are it's mine, there can't be many around. In a similar vein, an S gauge 4-4-4T disappeared from the Thame layout at an exhibition at Covent Garden in the 1980s. It was hand built by the late Alec Cruicshank and just vanished. Maybe someone thought i would be nice on his son's train set, not realising it was S gauge. Needless to say the exhibition insurance paid out to have a replacement built, but it was not the original even though it may have been better in some respects than the original.

[Camperdown]

I remember there was a feature in Model Railways on the building of the replacement for Alan Cruickshank.  I can't think who the builder was, but it was a well known name.

 

If the Hamblings models really disappeared nearly 50 years ago, then they may turn up on ebay, when the widow or children of the original taker has a post-death clearout.

Edited June 15, 2022 by Camperdown

[roythebus1]

This is true I suppose. I was too trusting of people in those days! With the Alan Cruikshank loco theft, I was on the MRC committee at the time. We had a bit of chuckle with the thought that unless it was stolen to order, someone may have been very disappointed to find it wouldn't run on his Hornby track.