Friday 8 April 2011

Merit Railway Accessories - An Impossible Task?


The company name I was struggling to recollect in my recent post about terrain was of course Merit. This information was provided by Bob Cordery for which many thanks are duly given. I must confess to not realising these were quite to long in the tooth; harking back to the 1950's as they do. I have seen a couple of sets kicking around on eBay and suspect that this may be the best place to acquire any from although checking out some model railway shops may be worthwhile. My experience of these shops (I am referring to the individual retailers - the 'one man bands' so to speak, as opposed to the chain stores) is that quite often they may have some ancient stock lurking in a forgotten corner somewhere so I shall make a point of trying this out as and when I am able. There is also a large model railway show held in Southend later in the year which may also yield some results.


In any event the acquisition of some Merit scenery will not be a simple task and so I shall need to decide at what point I will abandon the attempt and buy something more up to date and easily available.

6 comments:

Douglas said...

David, Some are stll in production, others can be found at various model railway shows.
Good luck

David Crook said...

Hi Noverre Man,

I shall certainly keep my eyes open as these are just of the quality and style that suits me. I will let you know if my search reveals anything.

All the best,

DC

Anonymous said...

The Merit range was quite extensive, covering all manner of trackside and station accessories. They were, I believe later marketed by Peco (the model railway firm) and can now be found under the 'Modelscene' label. Packaging is as the later Merit type (ie card backing and clear plastic bubble) and even the numbering is as the Merit original (ie 5xxx)

While I don't know how widely available the range is, most of the model railway shops on the net have at least some of the range.

The figures are prepainted and can be very useful, but can work out quite expensive if large numbers are required 'en masse'

The trees in the Merit range were 5047 (fir), 5048 (poplar) and 5049 (alder), with 5020 being hedges and 5090 being stone walls. Various types of fencing and gates were available, from feather edge panels (viz back garden fences)through wattles to post and rail

Just visit your local model shop and see what you can find, you'll be amazed what the railway chaps have had for years! (and keep the shops in business for the future!!

David Crook said...

Hiya,

many thanks for the heads up with this - I never new that Peco had covered these as well so that gives some further hope that I may be successful!

All the best,

DC

ryko said...

There are some on ebay NOW - thought I'd point you in their direction! Good luck

David Crook said...

Hi Ryko,

Many thanks for the heads up!

I have a small selection of these trees now but a few more is always welcome.

All the best,

DC