Resin has revolutionised model making in recent years. Before the Second World War, the material principally used for lineside buildings was wood, with each item being individually built by hand. After the war, the ready availability of salvaged aluminium from dismantled aircraft and the new Cellulose Acetate plastics meant that lineside buildings could be mass produced and required much less labour. Polystyrene replaced both these materials in the mid 1950s and is still in use 50 years later but it has always had the disadvantage that the high cost of tooling meant that the models had to sell in their thousands to recoup the development cost. Short runs required a material that could be used at lower pressures and with less expensive tooling. Initially the answer was found with white metal but recent improvements with cold-pour resins has seen this type of material become very popular.
Hornby cashed in on this in 2003 when they introduced the first 13 models in the Skaledale range. The use of cheap moulds and short runs has resulted in a quickly changing range as early subjects sell out and new ones are designed to replace them. In consequence of this, the Skaledale range has grown to huge proportions in a period of just six years.
The new goods depot is one of the new series of models based roughly on Dent Station. Compared with previous models of goods depots, this is quite large. It straddles the track and has fixed large door, one at platform level and the other at ground level. The windows are very neat and represent decorative cast iron frames.
Model Railway Express
Run by model railway enthusiasts, Modelfair is an online shop specialising in new, pre-owned and collectable model railways. http://www.modelfair.com for friendly and reliable service.
For Hornby and spares for Hornby, Electrotren, Lima (HO), Jouef and Rivarossi visit www.hornbyspares.co.uk
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