This could this possibly be the oldest old new stock ever.

[cypherman]

Hi all,

I went in to my local model shop last week to buy a track rubber and some other things. They had just had a delivery of a dozen or so engines that were being tested to make sure they were working. One of them was a Mainline Manor. Hinton Manor. The model shop I use buys up old stock and collection for resale. I am not sure if this engine had come from some ones collection or had been sat in some shops shelves. But it is immaculate. The wheels have no marks on them to show it had been run. The extras pack was still unopened. All the original paperwork was still their and looked as if it had never been opened. The box is in perfect condition. To put it in a nutshell it looks like it had just left the factory. Plus when tested it ran perfectly. Well here it is

[Nova Scotian]

Wow, first 1980 release.

 

Amazing how well the mainline and airfix tooling stands up today. Even the mechanisms, but for their longevity.

[jjb1970]

Mainline was a bit of a false dawn for OO RTR, they really moved the game on (models like the Mk.1 buffet are still good today) but when they folded much of the momentum was lost until Lima moved things on (except for the crude mechanisms) but to me it was Bachmann that really picked up the baton in the 90's to give OO a kick up the pants and pull it up to the standards of HO models.

[cypherman]

Hi JJB,

Yes Bachmann did improve things quite a bit. But they did it by using as a starting point quite a few Mainline engines.

[Captain Slough]

Airfix's 1977 LMS suburban coach mouldings are the equal of anything made this century,so it wasn't just Mainline,but their stuff was amazing

 

Your job for now is to find a Hornby motorised GWR tender so you can still continue to run it when the Mainline motor eventually disintegrates or grenades itself... which it will...

[cypherman]

Hi Captain,

Contrary to popular belief. I have at least 20 Mainline engines all still running with their original motors. Only Mainline engines I really had a problem with were the 4mt 4-6-0s. And that was with the axels failing and the quartering going out the window. Replaced their chassis with newer Bachman ones. Which ended up with their own problems of wheel warpage. So I fixed that problem. But that's another story.....😄

[andyman7]

10 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Mainline was a bit of a false dawn for OO RTR, they really moved the game on (models like the Mk.1 buffet are still good today) but when they folded much of the momentum was lost until Lima moved things on (except for the crude mechanisms) but to me it was Bachmann that really picked up the baton in the 90's to give OO a kick up the pants and pull it up to the standards of HO models.

 

10 hours ago, cypherman said:

Hi JJB,

Yes Bachmann did improve things quite a bit. But they did it by using as a starting point quite a few Mainline engines.

 

Mainline models were contract manufactured by Kader who made things for Bachmann, so the relationship with Bachmann was always there. I would argue that Mainline wasn't a false dawn, just a drawn out one as it was the Mainline range (and later Replica Railways releases using the same tooling) that gave Bachmann the insights needed to set up Bachmann Branchline, with the involvement of key Mainline personnel

 

10 minutes ago, cypherman said:

Hi Captain,

Contrary to popular belief. I have at least 20 Mainline engines all still running with their original motors. Only Mainline engines I really had a problem with were the 4mt 4-6-0s. And that was with the axels failing and the quartering going out the window. Replaced their chassis with newer Bachman ones. Which ended up with their own problems of wheel warpage. So I fixed that problem. But that's another story.....😄

If you know their foibles and how to deal with them, many of the models can be kept running indefinitely. The main issue apart from quartering/split gears are things like plastic slide bars disintegrating. A number of my Mainline 'heritage collection' models are operational because two broken models have been used to make one working one. 

[Flying Pig]

5 hours ago, Captain Slough said:

Airfix's 1977 LMS suburban coach mouldings are the equal of anything made this century,so it wasn't just Mainline,but their stuff was amazing

 

Your job for now is to find a Hornby motorised GWR tender so you can still continue to run it when the Mainline motor eventually disintegrates or grenades itself... which it will...

 

They were a revelation at the time - correctly proportioned, right shape, proper bogies etc - but they really aren't as good as, say, the newer Hornby Period III non-gangwayed stock.  I'm not sure the difference is worth forty years though.

 

Also they aren't suburban stock - an odd choice by Airfix.

[Halvarras]

You may be lucky that the Manor is still in perfect working condition after 40 years - I bought a Mainline Class 03 when it first appeared in 1983 and it didn't take long for one of the axles to split, breaking the sockets on the backs of the wheels rendering them useless, while it was still in its box.

[melmerby]

2 of my Mainline locos disintegrated in their boxes, having never been run since buying new when they were first released.

One was a Pannier - chassis turned to dust.

The other was a Mogul where the chassis also self destructed as well as the axles splitting.

A Manor lasted just long enough to be replaced by a couple of Accurascale ones.

[Steamport Southport]

12 hours ago, jjb1970 said:

Mainline was a bit of a false dawn for OO RTR, they really moved the game on (models like the Mk.1 buffet are still good today) but when they folded much of the momentum was lost until Lima moved things on (except for the crude mechanisms) but to me it was Bachmann that really picked up the baton in the 90's to give OO a kick up the pants and pull it up to the standards of HO models.

 

It was more that General Mills wanted out of the toy market so they closed down or sold all their toy manufacturers.

 

It's a total myth that Palitoy or Mainline went bust.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palitoy

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Mills

 

 

Jason

[Colin_McLeod]

47 minutes ago, melmerby said:

A Manor lasted just long enough to be replaced by a couple of Accurascale ones.

 

That sets a 40 year target for the Accurascale version. 😀

 

Nice find @cypherman  Enjoy!

 

 

[cypherman]

Hi all,

I must admit that as Andyman has said the plastic slide bars are another area where they could self destruct quite easily.

[Steamport Southport]

2 hours ago, Flying Pig said:

 

They were a revelation at the time - correctly proportioned, right shape, proper bogies etc - but they really aren't as good as, say, the newer Hornby Period III non-gangwayed stock.  I'm not sure the difference is worth forty years though.

 

Also they aren't suburban stock - an odd choice by Airfix.

 

Downgraded to suburban stock pretty quickly though when the LMS had built enough corridor stock to replace them.

 

Commonly used on local trains around places like Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham. Quite noticeable on photos due to the lavatory windows.

 

 

Jason

[D9020 Nimbus]

2 hours ago, melmerby said:

A Manor lasted just long enough to be replaced by a couple of Accurascale ones.

You need TWO Accurascale ones to take the place of ONE Mainline one? 😀

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, D9020 Nimbus said:

You need TWO Accurascale ones to take the place of ONE Mainline one? 😀

You can't have too much of a good thing........😉

[kevinlms]

Hattons used to advertise new Hornby Dublo items long after they'd cleared the factory. Mostly track items at the end.

They were also in largish quantities, not a one off like the OP's post.

[Captain Slough]

In 1997 I bought, new, a boxed set of Trix Twin trackwork. It was unused, and included the track layouts and operation tips book by Henry Greenley, print date 1949

 

it had been found in a warehouse somewhere. There were dozens of them to be had. Still got it, never unpacked.

[5050]

My Manor is in the same condition.  It's a Black one.  Original intention was to build a new P4 chassis for it but (so far!) that hasn't happened.  It's in my Round Tuit pile along with a Mogul (which I do have a chassis kit for!).

 

One day perhaps................................

[34101]

On 08/01/2024 at 11:45, andyman7 said:

 

 

Mainline models were contract manufactured by Kader who made things for Bachmann, so the relationship with Bachmann was always there. I would argue that Mainline wasn't a false dawn, just a drawn out one as it was the Mainline range (and later Replica Railways releases using the same tooling) that gave Bachmann the insights needed to set up Bachmann Branchline, with the involvement of key Mainline personnel

 

If you know their foibles and how to deal with them, many of the models can be kept running indefinitely. The main issue apart from quartering/split gears are things like plastic slide bars disintegrating. A number of my Mainline 'heritage collection' models are operational because two broken models have been used to make one working one. 

I seem to recall that Godfrey of Replica was approched by Kader with a view to him running the new Bachmann Branchline as MD but he declined as he wanted to keep Replica independent.