Graham Farish OO gauge pannier tanks

[Ken Shabby]

This are quite crude and basic and would probably make the Lima Pannier look good.. Both of them took a fair amount of tinkering to get them running decently. The bodies are diecast so they can pull a fair amount, but the short wheel bases mean they are rather sensitive to even the slightest imperfection in the track. The green one had been in bits for nearly five years, after I took it to bits to service it and then lost the motor and couplings. It now runs with the motor out of a condemned Railroad Black Five. I think these went out of production around 1980 when Graham Farish stopped making OO gauge stock. I've vague memories of my Dad buying me one of their slightly too tall brake vans in Beaties around 1981.

Ken

[Mike Parkes]

The 94xx was a 1961 introduction and made until 1979 although the BR black ones were only made from 1975; it was the last Farish OO loco with the others dating from 1949-1953 with very short production runs apart from a 81xx 2-6-2T which was reintroduced in 1961 with a new chassis and lasted until 1971
The wagons had three distinct ranges - 1950s metal which like the locos only lasted until 1953, 1960s plastic (1962-1964) and the 1970s range which was made between 1973 and 1981 and in addition to the brake van there were 5 and 7 planks, 16T minerals, and three different vent vans (although one probably superseded the other in 1975)
There has also been a range of coaches in the 1949-1953 period; 4 wheel, suburban and Pullmans; some of the Pullmans lasted until 1975. The suburban coaches reappeared in kit form between C1963 and 1974 joined by a "main line" coach kit c 1970.
A range of RTR suburban and mainline coaches was made between 1975 and 1981 of generalistic appearance - the suburban looked quite good in LMS / BR form and I have buried somewhre in the loft one I picked up second/third/fourth...hand that had been into autotrailer.

Info sourced from Ramsays British Model Trains Catalogue

[Bigmet]

Distribution and promotion was a major weakness of this range. I was totally unaware of their product until the late 60s, as it wasn't advertised or stocked locally to me; but then saw some in a model shop near Shoreham by Sea when visiting friends who had relocated. GF made Trix and Wrenn look like highly competent marketeers!

...A range of RTR suburban and mainline coaches was made between 1975 and 1981 of generalistic appearance - the suburban looked quite good in LMS / BR form ...

The sub coach probably the best thing they did, good subject choice and making the moulded compartment and seating interior representation the 'chassis', effective cost down technique. These may be very fragile now, the polymer used can become extremely brittle.

[Lysander]

I have a number of the GF GWR coaches. The Corridor stock, which appears to be loosely based on SR/LSWR prototypes, looks good in the full GWR livery [printed paneling] but possibly less so in the simple chocolate and cream as the cream is often just a buttery-coloured plastic [as in early Hornby GWR stock]. The full-liveried coaches are significantly better after detailing and a degree of repainting. They are also the only non-Clerestory GWR rtr coaches available in that livery.

The suburban stock is based on an LMS prototype and is rather dated but at three or four feet - and moving - looks like a GWR suburban coach [well, more-or-less].

The coaches were available in all of the Big Four liveries.

Unfortunately this is the only photo that I can find of the full-liveried coach right now.



Tony