Collector Notes
Replica Railways by Pat Hammond With acknowledgement to the work done by Graham Smith-ThompsonA History
When General Mills decided to cease toy production in Europe, Dapol acquired the stock, intellectual assets and the former Airfix tooling from Palitoy. The tools for Palitoy’s own Mainline Railways belonged to Kader of Hong Kong, their manufacturer.
Godfrey Hayes of Railwayania sold Mainline models and spares and ran a sideline of repaints, transfers and detailing components under the name of Replica Railways. Discovering that the Mainline tools belonged to Kader, Hayes approached them in 1984 with a view to taking over the distribution of models made by them. In May 1985 Hayes was invited to Hong Kong to discuss the project
A production plan was worked out and in the autumn of 1985, the first sample wagons arrived. Advertisements were placed in the model railway press to launch the new range. Dapol, who owned the intellectual assets of the Mainline system were unhappy with the arrangement and a court case followed. Replica, however, weathered the storm, and more wagons and some coaches were available by Christmas. A steady stream of models appeared over the next few years.
Godfrey Hayes set very high quality standards and every item brought in from the Far East was unpacked and inspected. After testing for running qualities and finish the models were repackaged in the green Replica boxes and rejects were returned to Kader.
In 1987, Kader took over the American toy company of Bachmann, for whom they were a primary manufacturer and this effectively signalled the end of the Replica range. In order to expand into Europe, Kader formed Bachmann Industries Europe and the former Mainline range became the core of their products for the British market. Kader could not manufacture for their new European company while at the same time produce models for a rival and so further access to the Mainline tools was denied Replica.
Further Reading
There has been a series of articles by Graham Smith-Thompson, in Model Railway Collector magazine (formerly Model Railway Enthusiast), profiling the Airfix and Mainline ranges and other systems that later used the tools. There were three parts devoted specifically to Replica Railways published in the December 1999 and January and February 2000 issues of the magazine.
Ramsay's Catalogue
For the fuller story of this and some 43 other brands of model railways made for the British market, buy a copy of Ramsay's British Model Train Catalogue (5th Edition).I can supply signed copies at the cover price of
£22.95 + a contribution towards postage od £2. Cheques made out to 'Pat Hammond'
should be sent to me at PO Box 199, Scarborough YO11 3GT.
You will find a comprehensive listing of locomotives for about 44 vintage and current
systems for the British market. This includes Hornby, Hornby Dublo, Bassett-Lowke, Wrenn,
Graham Farish and many more including current manufacturers such as Hornby, Bachmann,
Graham Farish, Ace, Heljan and Dapol and manufacturers of the past such as Leeds, Bowman,
Milbro, Exley and Bonds. The lists include dates, details, catalogue numbers, together
with value ranges. There is also some advice on rarer items of rolling stock, sets and
accessories. The book contains a number of pages on the history of manufacturing,
collecting and publishing. There are 700 photographs, half of which are in colour.
Strongly supported by many of the principal auction houses specialising in toy sales and
with contributions from 70 of the country's leading experts on toy and model trains, this
ihas become the standard work in the UK. Don't miss out on this opportunity to have a
signed copy.