Merco wagons

[Ken Shabby]

I think these date back to the 50's, I bought them for £1 each late last year. A company called Merco sold sheets with wagon sides and ends printed out , you cut them out and glued them onto thin card or wood to make wagon bodies. I assume parts where available to build your own chassis, but these 3 are fitted to 1950's Triang under frames . One of them has the paper sides glued straight on to a slightly filed down Triang body,
Very basic , but nice all the same.

Ken

[Bigmet]

Very neat. Hamblings handled the distribution of these, and a couple of other makes of similar printed wagon sides. They also supplied a supporting range of components from which to build the running gear. (If you had the cash to afford marquetry veneer in a suitably fine grained wood it was possible to build open wagons with a proper unpainted wood interior, suitably distressed to represent use.) The Peco 'Wonderful Wagons' range was effectively the continuation of this wagon construction method, but conveniently with all the required parts in the box.

[windcutter9f]

How i miss Merco smokey brick brickpaper today!.
Ray.

[Bufferstop]

The little backstreet modelshop that was my supplier for about ten years, had this marvelous box full of printed sheets, for just about anything. I bought a sheet of PO coal waggon sides for a few pence. What amazed me was that when I got it home, they exactly fitted the Hornby Dublo tin plate open waggons that I had. Now HD weren't great on dimensional accuracy so they were obviously made that length as it was as good as any other, anyone wanting super accuracy wouldn't be buying litho printed card anyway. From time to time I've found litho covered tin plate waggons in the trays that are inevitably stored beneath the tables at trains fayres. Usually the ones that weren't applied well in the first place. Some of the old designs appear along with the likes or Bilteezi at exhibition sales stands.

[21C1]

You can still get Merco lithos and Bilteezi sheets from Freestone Model Accessories. http://freestonemodel.co.uk/

[Bufferstop]

Thanks that was the exhibition stand I was thinking of.

[Ken Shabby]

Not Merco, bit of a similar vintage. I found this scratch built GWR van recently for £1.50. It has the date 29/11/60 written in pencil on the under side. It's made of wood and card, with metal buffers, wheels and under frame parts. I replaced the brake gear which was missing , and managed to get the wheels turning freely as they were very stiff. It now needs brake levers and couplings.
It says 'MICA A' on the side, which I assume was a meat van (?) , although I thought the GWR meat vans were painted white.
It will be nice to see this 61 year old wagon back in service.

Ken

[Bigmet]

That's a find. Might well be from a model railway club's exhibition stock, the no. enabling identification when making up trains.

By the time I was old enough to join a club in 1970, not only was there a reference number but an address and all in permanent ink, written on the underside of the club stock. Several models having gone missing at exhibitions...

[Mountain]

To me, that model should be worth many times more then a RTR version. It is lovely. Beautifully made!