BrendanPKaufmann Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Hello all This one's a challenge - post-war, Woolworths produced many metal toys, amongst which was a small petrol mine loco, and a rake of tipper trucks. Many of you familiar with the pioneering layout of the late PD Hancock will recall that he regauged a number of the tippers to run on the Craig and Mertonford, and they can be seen trundling about in many photos of his layouts over the years. On my last trip to the UK, I found both the mine loco and some of the tippers (most unexpectedly) in an antiques place, tucked away amongst the Matchbox and Dinky toys, and recognising them instantly from old copies of Railway Modeller, grabbed them at what I thought to be a great price. My questions are: (a) can anyone tell me who manufactured the set for Woolworths, and when? And (b ) are they based on any particular prototype? The tippers seem large, with quite generous ground clearance - if there is a prototype, what commodity would they have carried? I've noted that Mr Tebee over at the Shapeways site is producing a reproduction rake of the tippers, and I'm seriously considering picking up a set to run on my 009 rails - a small tribute to a modelling pioneer, perhaps! Cheers - BPK Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
decauville1126 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 They were manufactured by a firm called Condon and whilst the loco seems to have been influenced by the types of platform tractors used at main line railway stations, the wagons are more credible although I've never found an exact prototype. They come in a variety of colours and some variation in the packaging. Have a look at: http://www.dream-tintoys.com/index.php?page=detail&nr=920 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Neil Posted June 7, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 7, 2015 I've always thought that there are shades of this Jung diesel about the Woolworths/Condon mine loco. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunwurken Posted June 17, 2015 Share Posted June 17, 2015 An article about the Condon ballast trains appeared in the Feb 2007 British Railway Modelling and in the following April issue a letter headed ' A highly respected scale modeller responds' PD Hancock admits that 'I had always wondered about the provenance of those hopper wagons which I adapted for use on my Craig and Mertonford Railway'. He always referred to them as Woolworths because that is where he purchased them from. A full history by Roy Link appeared in the Narrow Gauge and Industrial Modelling Review issue 95 p329 and he provided this interesting link http://www.dream-tintoys.com/index.php?page=detail&nr=920 Five of the original CMR 'Woolies' put in an appearance at the 009 Society 40th Anniversary Convention in 2013 and a photograph of them being 'admired' by Paul Windle can be found in the Roving Reporter's blog: https://picasaweb.google.com/Mick6126/009Society40thAnniversaryConventionKegworth2729September2013Part4#slideshow/5935108507731990146 The same photo is repeated in the 'Whatever Happened to Craigshire' article in the April 2015 Railway Modeller. A further photo of them taken shortly after they had been donated to the Edinburgh & Lothians MRC can be found at:- https://picasaweb.google.com/112904466287746079405/WooliesAtDundreich?noredirect=1#5902734013583540738 A sixth one is known to exist but 3 of the CMR 'Woolies' are missing. They had been re-gauged by PD to standard gauge and a photo does exist of one of them in that condition at Altbeg mine. Nonneminstre also produce the tippers http://www.nonneminstre.co.uk/resources/Nonneminstre%20Models%202014%20Price%20List.pdf Malcolm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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