Plarailfans Great Custom Photo Sharing Site

Plarailfan, glad to see you back and posting again!

@ Super: Yes, I’m having the same issue. If I click the image, it takes me to the upload page.

Yes, I ended up at the upload page. oh well, never mind, here's a different pic, that I posted on Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N...FPZ-R3v3jT

[Super]

That is an amazing custom P-fan. Is that a wooden body?

You have a "tub full of OO gauge wagon kit parts" , Those parts are very hard to find here in the States, well, cheaper junk ones. I imagine you could find lots of parts at train shows, swap meets or boot sales over there. Your customs inspired me to try some of those but buying the parts from the UK is way too cost prohibitive with the shipping for something I want to dismantle.

The Pendolino body is plastic and it did, originally, have a motorised plastic chassis, but there was very little clearance underneath and so, it would not run on the Tomy track.
My grandson has a Brio / Bigjigs, wooden railway, so I gave it a run out on his layout and discovered the motor was very low geared so it was a very slow runner.
Later that day, I spent a few hours (back at my home) trying different motorised, Plarail chassis, inside the Pendolino body until I found one that was a good match.
Most of the UK models intended for wooden railways have plastic wheels, but other than that, are completely made from wood, with windows being painted on them, but now and again, fully plastic models are produced and I was lucky to spot the Pendolino at the time it was available, as they are few and far between on ebay and shops sold out of Pendolino's, some time ago

This hopper wagon is incredible. The Trackmaster metal screw holds the (Hornby OO gauge) hopper body in place and looks exactly like a genuine Plarail item, as the body is an exact and precise match with the chassis in length and width https://www.flickr.com/photos/41294071@N...B8P-eUEJbL

[Super]

That one is beautiful and one I had been searching for or one like it. Is that a Duplo or Dapol?

That one is beautiful and one I had been searching for or one like it. Is that a Duplo or Dapol?

These have quite a history with them, sorry I'm a bit long - winded here. They were Hornby Dublo models originally (that was right back in the mid 1960's) Then Wrenn took over the tooling and produced more of them, then Wrenn ceased trading when the owners retired and the tools passed on to Dapol who put the body on a chassis of their own and then, subsequently sold the tools on to Hornby who still have them today so as you can see, this particular item, goes back through three previous manufacturers, over fifty years ! 
Some moulds and tools might only last a few years before they become worn out, but others like we have here can last decades, which I find a little puzzling really. I don't know if the mould was poor quality / defective, or if some injections cause more wear than others maybe ? 
I had a look at the Dapol factory in Wales many years ago, when you could pay an admission charge to walk round the site and I was amazed to see the machines squirt the plastic at high pressure into the moulds and all in about a second, or two. Then a seperate machine applied the the lettering with a quick drying paint / ink ?

[Super]

Wow, thats quite the history, thanks P-Fan. That factory tour sounds amazing.