1:76 Scale

Southern Railway Mechanical Horse Van Trailer.           

MORE INFORMATION

Some months ago I purchased one of your Code 76MH008 Southern Railway mechanical horse semi-trailers with a 'Petter' livery trailer because I had been associated with the engine company for over four decades.

Your article 'N Gauge' with its ref to the history of the Scammell mechanical horse prompted me to provide the following info:-

In the fifties and sixties I was general manager of Shawcraft Models Ltd of Iver and Uxbridge who made precision special effects for the film industry but also 1/8th scale promotional model cars for the Ford Motor Co. In c1958 we received an enquiry from Scammell followed by an order for a 'working coupling' model of their mechanical horse which was I believe was still on the drawing board at that stage. The model, as far as I recall, was about 30ins long including the trailer and on completion, I personally delivered it to the Scammell's Harefield works.

In the mid-sixties I became PRO for Petters Ltd at Staines and subsequently wrote the official history of the Company covering the period 1895-1986 which was published as 'A Path to the Door' in 1995 and is still available from international book collectors at $120. On page 121/122, I mention and show a photograph of the new Petter PC range of air-cooled, high-speed diesels of 3,000r/min producing 20hp installed in the mechanical horse. Petters had long wanted to break into the mass automotive market with their engines and when the British Transport Commission ordered 10,000 three-wheel urban delivery tractors and 25,000 trailers from Scammell, the PC was offered to power the prototype. Unfortunately, the PC developed a history of unreliability due to cooling problems that affected the performance of the injectors and so the PC automotive application never got past the trial stages.

The Petter logo on your model is similar to the design the Company used for their vitreous enamel metal signs used extensively for advertising on railway platforms and embankments throughout the west country in the 1930s. The metal sign I had produced from 1964-1978 was made of vitreous enamel aluminium and showed the established (1947) black/red Petter diamond trademark within a rectangular shape. They were sent mainly to the Company's 450 agents/stockists in 168 countries.

Ken D'Maurney Gibbons

Norfolk. 3rd December 2009