Dapol

Last updated

Dapol Ltd.
Type Private
IndustryModel railway components
Founded1983
Founder David Boyle
Headquarters Chirk, Wrexham, Wales
Key people
Craig Boyle (Owner)
Joel Bright (managing director)
Website www.dapol.co.uk

Dapol Ltd is a model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where some of the design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railway products in N gauge, OO gauge and O gauge.

Contents

History

Dapol's name is a play on its founders David and Pauline Boyle's names. He owned a model concern Highfield Birds & Models. In 1981 he first tried to buy the Airfix and Mainline ranges. [1]

The Dapol brand name was first used in a Railway Modeller advert of September 1983. [2] The first Dapol wagons (for OO) were announced to become available on 20 November 1983. [3] From 1 March 1984 ex Airfix railway kits became available. [4]

Later in the year Railway Modeller magazine carried a two-page profile of the new concern with the upbeat title 'An exciting new model empire'. [5] A lot of David Boyle's background was explored. Some of Dapol's ambitions were frustrated. That article said that the Austerity 2-8-0 and the LMS Beyer Garratt were both under development for 1985 but they never appeared from Dapol. However the L&YR Pug, the Austerity 0-6-0ST and the GWR Hawksworth County which were announced early in 1984 were all produced promptly, well reviewed and have had long model lives. At this time the operation was headquartered in Navigation Road, Northwich.

Dapol also dabbled in the slot car sector. It acquired stock's of Matchbox's Powertrack slot car system when that brand exited the slot car market in 1982. Dapol set up a subsidiary called CounterLane Limited and reissued Powertrack under that brand name in similar boxes to its model railway range. [6]

During 1985 Dapol successfully bought Mainline (and thereby the former Airfix) model railway ranges from Palitoy. [7]

It was announced in the Railway Modeller of February 1989 that Dapol had bought the former Trix/British Liliput range from Ernest Rosza. [8] The Dapol 1989 catalogue also showed that the Model-Land building range had been bought. [9]

In 1994, while the company was moving to Llangollen in North Wales, a fire destroyed the old site at Winsford in Cheshire, and large quantities of products and historical Wrenn material were destroyed.

In 1996 Dapol sold many of its inherited model railway lines to Hornby. [10]

In 1998 the company came under the control of a new board of directors headed by George Smith. The company remains in the ownership of the Boyle family who founded the company.

In 2001 Dapol sold the little-exploited Wrenn product line (bought in 1993 from Wrenn) and trading name to three Wrenn collectors.

From 1988 to 2001 Dapol also produced a wide range of Doctor Who action figures. In 2002 the BBC declined to renew the licence. The Dapol site also hosted the 'BBC Doctor Who Experience' exhibition until 2003.

In 2004 Dapol was awarded the 'UK Small Business of the Year' award.

In 2007 Dapol was awarded the Model Rail magazine 'N-gauge Manufacturer of the Year' award.

In 2010 Dapol were awarded the Model Rail magazine 'N-gauge manufacturer of the year', 'Best N gauge steam loco of the year' (Terrier), 'Best N-gauge Diesel locomotive of the year' (class 67), Best N-gauge Rolling Stock of the year (MK3 coach) making a clean sweep for all the awards for N gauge.

In 2010, following the retirement of managing director George Smith, Dapol welcomed his replacement, Joel Bright, a director for the previous eight years and uncle of the current owner, Craig Boyle.

Products

N gauge

Dapol manufactures a growing range of N gauge locomotives, coaches and wagons, and is the main competitor of Graham Farish in the British 'ready-to-run' market. Continuous improvement in model specifications has led to the introduction of 40:1 gearing in locomotive drive mechanisms, NEM couplings on all stock, and LED lighting strips for coaching stock - yellow for 'older' coaches, to represent incandescent illumination, and white for more modern coaches and EMUs to represent fluorescent fittings.

OO Gauge

Dapol B26 OO scale wagon 10 ton BR meat wagon 090612 Models b 183 Dapol B26 OO scale wagon 10 ton BR meat wagon.jpg
Dapol B26 OO scale wagon 10 ton BR meat wagon

In 00 gauge, Dapol manufactures ready-to-run locomotives, wagons and kits.

Kits are moulded in grey polystyrene and the range features buildings, road vehicles, wagons and locos. Some of the kits use moulds bought in 1993 from the Airfix company, some of which in turn originated with Kitmaster prior to being bought by Airfix in 1962. Others have come from the Lines Brothers Model-Land range.

The first OO scale locomotives to be entirely originated by Dapol were the L&YR Pug 0-4-0ST, the Austerity 0-6-0ST and GWR County 4-6-0 generated in 1984/5. [11] [12] The next was the LB&SCR Terrier. This was shown in the 1988 catalogue having been announced at the 1987 Toy Fair. [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OO gauge</span> Model railroad gauge

OO gauge or OO scale is the most popular standard gauge model railway standard in the United Kingdom, outside of which it is virtually unknown. OO gauge is one of several 4 mm-scale standards, and the only one to be marketed by major manufacturers. The OO track gauge of 16.5 mm corresponds to prototypical gauge of 4 ft 1+12 in, rather than 4 ft 8+12 in standard gauge. However, since the 1960s, other gauges in the same scale have arisen—18.2 mm (EM) and 18.83 mm (Scalefour)—to reflect the desire of some modellers for greater scale accuracy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Airfix</span> UK manufacturer of injection-moulded plastic scale model

Airfix is a British brand and former manufacturing company which produced injection-moulded plastic scale model kits. In the UK, the name 'Airfix' has become practically synonymous with plastic models of this type, often simply referred to as "an airfix kit" even if made by another manufacturer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">OO9</span>

OO9, often also denoted as 009 or 00-9 is a model railway scale and gauge combination of 4 mm scale and 9 mm gauge tracks, which models a prototype track gauge of 2 ft 3 in. It is a common choice in the United Kingdom for the modelling of narrow-gauge railways whose prototype gauges lie approximately between 2 ft and 2 ft 6 in. The 9 mm track gauge is used by N gauge model railways, a common commercial scale, which means that a selection of wheels, track, and mechanisms is readily available.

Hornby Railways is a British-owned model railways manufacturing company. Its roots date back to 1901 in Liverpool, when founder Frank Hornby received a patent for his Meccano construction toy. The first clockwork train was produced in 1920. In 1938, Hornby launched its first OO gauge train. In 1964, Hornby and Meccano were bought by their competitor, Tri-ang, and sold when Tri-ang went into receivership. Hornby Railways became independent again in the 1980s, and became listed on the London Stock Exchange, but due to financial troubles reported in June 2017, became majority owned by British turnaround specialist Phoenix Asset Management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BR Standard Class 9F</span> Class of 251 two-cylinder 2-10-0 locomotives

The British Railways Standard Class 9F2-10-0 is a class of steam locomotive designed for British Railways by Robert Riddles. The Class 9F was the last in a series of standardised locomotive classes designed for British Railways during the 1950s, and was intended for use on fast, heavy freight trains over long distances. It was one of the most powerful steam locomotive types ever built for British Railways, and successfully performed its intended duties. The 9F class was given the nickname of 'Spaceship', due to its size and shape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LMS Royal Scot Class</span>

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Royal Scot Class is a class of 4-6-0 express passenger locomotive introduced in 1927. Originally having parallel boilers, all members were later rebuilt with tapered type 2A boilers, and were in effect two classes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST</span> Class of steam locomotive

The Hunslet Austerity 0-6-0ST is a class of steam locomotive designed by Hunslet Engine Company for shunting. The class became the standard British shunting locomotive during the Second World War, and production continued until 1964 at various locomotive manufacturers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LNER Class J94</span>

The London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) J94 Class is a class of steam locomotive that was formed when 75 former "Austerity" 0-6-0STs were purchased by the LNER in 1946 from the War Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LMS Fowler Class 3F</span>

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Fowler 3F0-6-0T is a class of steam locomotives, often known as Jinty. They represent the ultimate development of the Midland Railway's six-coupled tank engines. They could reach speeds of up to 60 mph (97 km/h).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LMS Fowler Class 4F</span> Class of steam freight locomotives

The London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) Fowler Class 4F is a class of 0-6-0 steam locomotive designed for medium freight work. They represent the ultimate development of Midland Railway's six coupled tender engines. Many trainspotters knew them as "Duck Sixes", a nickname derived from their wheel arrangement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GWR 6100 Class</span>

The GWR 6100 Class is a class of 2-6-2T side tank steam locomotives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L&YR Class 21</span>

The L&YR Class 21 is a class of small 0-4-0ST steam locomotive built by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway for shunting duties. They were nicknamed Pugs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">W. G. Bagnall</span> Locomotive manufacturer based in Stafford, England

W. G. Bagnall was a locomotive manufacturer from Stafford, England which was founded in 1875 and operated until it was taken over in 1962 by English Electric.

G&R Wrenn was a toy company specialising in the manufacture of model railways. It was founded in 1950 by George & Richard Wrenn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">GNR Class N2</span> 0-6-2T locomotives designed by Sir Nigel Gresley for suburban services in and around London

The Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class N2 is an 0-6-2T side tank steam locomotive designed by Nigel Gresley and introduced in 1920. Further batches were built by the London and North Eastern Railway from 1925. They had superheaters and piston valves driven by Stephenson valve gear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heljan</span>

Heljan A/S is a Danish model railway company based in Søndersø. Originally specialising in decorations and accessories for model railways, it has now also developed a substantial range of rolling stock. It has diversified into modelling the British scene, and since 2002 has released several OO gauge diesel locomotives, and several O gauge models. British Outline now forms the biggest part of the Heljan business and UK operations are run from Denmark through an agent. In line with other model train companies and to keep costs to a minimum models are manufactured in China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosebud Kitmaster</span>

Rosebud Kitmaster is the brand name of a short-lived but critically acclaimed range of plastic assembly kits, manufactured in the United Kingdom by Rosebud Dolls Ltd of Raunds, Northamptonshire. Introduced from May 1959, the range rapidly expanded to include 34 models of railway locomotives and coaches in OO, HO and TT scales, and eventually, one motorcycle in 1:16 scale.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British N gauge</span>

British N gauge is a model railway scale and gauge, rolling stock is to a scale of 1:148, track is 9 mm width as with all other N gauges making track and rolling stock approximately 10% out of scale with respect to each other. The 9 mm track width derives from a scale of 1:160 for 1,435 mmstandard gauge rails.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hattons Model Railways</span>

Hattons Model Railways is a British retailer and manufacturer of model railway paraphernalia founded in Liverpool, England in 1946 by Norman Hatton (1918-2005).

Presflo and Prestwin were the designation for two types of goods wagon designed by British Railways in the 1950s for the carriage of powdered goods. The Presflo design was specifically for carriage of powdered cement but wagons to this design were subsequently used to transport other powdered commodities. The later Prestwin wagons were designed to overcome problems encountered with using the Presflo design for certain powdered commodities. Both types of wagon were loaded by gravity but unloaded using compressed air.

References

  1. Ramsay's British Model Trains catalogue edition 6, by Pat Hammond, 2008 p101.
  2. Railway Modeller magazine September 1983 issue page 6a.
  3. Railway Modeller magazine advert November 1983 p12a.
  4. Railway Modeller magazine March 1984 p25a advert.
  5. Railway Modeller September 1984 p364ff.
  6. https://www.matchbox-powertrack.co.uk/dapol-counterlane/
  7. Model Railway Constructor magazine June 1985 page 328 and November 1985 page 565 describe the transition.
  8. Railway Modeller magazine February 1989 page 91.
  9. Dapol 1989 catalogue page 50ff where the model are labelled Dapoland.
  10. Rail Express magazine October 1996 page 65 report.
  11. Railway Modeller magazine January 1984 issue p40.
  12. Ramsay's British Model Trains catalogue edition 6, by Pat Hammond, 2008 p102-103
  13. Model Railway Constructor magazine March 1987 p127.
  14. Ramsay's British Model Trains catalogue edition 6, by Pat Hammond, 2008 p102.