Peco wagons.

[Stanier fan]

I was just reading the latest issue of Railway Modeller. In the news section it mentions that Peco are planning to retool the N gauge wagon range, including the 5 plank, 7 plank and box vans. I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else. Does anyone know what they are planning to do?

I remember pre 2000 when the competition included Minitrix, Lima and Poole made Graham Farish the Peco wagon models stood out as head and shoulders above the rest. But since the introduction of Chinese Farish, Matheson and Dapol 8 plank wagons with the correct chassis lengths and separately applied brake gear, it made the Peco models look out of date. It would certainly be nice to see Peco making models of the same quality.

[Bealman]

G'day from Australia, Stanier fan, and welcome to the NGF! 

If what you have read is true, then that certainly is great news. It would be nice to see their wagons with the correct dimensions.

I've always been very fond of the Peco wagons, though, and have a huge fleet of them. As you correctly point out, at one time they were the best of the bunch!

Welcome aboard, mate. 

[MalcolmInN]

Oh dear, if that is true I think we can probably then expect a huge price rise ?
I am a big fan of the present Peco range, it suits my unsophisticated needs economically.

All power to those who need ultimate detail and perfection ( and who have the eyes, and knowledge, to see it )

but

but fairynuf if they plan to offer two ranges ? Doubt it.

[Bealman]

Well, you do have a point there, the low cost (especially the kits) is one of their more attractive features.

I've always thought that a long train of Peco mineral wagons looks perfectly acceptable, as does a long train of their fish wagons.

I was never a big fan of their grain wagons though - the ones with the sticky labels on them that fall off.

[MalcolmInN]

(especially the kits)
I've always thought that a long train of Peco

zacterly so !



I may have to go shopping tomorrow and buy up some stocks,,,
hmmm,,,, is that part of their cunning plan one wonders ? !

[BobB]

If re-tooling occurs then maybe we will get NEM sockets. We can only hope.

[Bealman]

That's another positive, although I have seen a video of their magnetic lift arms working perfectly with their Elsie couplings.

[NeMo]

Well, you do have a point there, the low cost (especially the kits) is one of their more attractive features.

Agreed. The kits are probably the best for beginners, being cheap, straightforward, and covering a variety of very useful designs. If the price went up substantially, even if certain details were improved, they'd end up competing with, say, Parkside Dundas kits, or N Gauge Society kits, which produce substantially finer models, but at a higher cost. I feel the Peco kits plug a useful gap, allowing modellers to learn the skills, including painting and weathering, that more expensive kits might not.

I've always thought that a long train of Peco mineral wagons looks perfectly acceptable, as does a long train of their fish wagons.

Definitely true, and taking the mineral wagons, mixing them with the Farish or Minitrix ready-to-run models introduces some useful variegation to train formations, reflecting the mix of 'patterns' (or designs) that existed for even things as basic a 4-wheel steel mineral wagon. Painted and weathered such a train can look charming, evoking effectively the nature of such trains during the 1950s-70s even if some of the wagons aren't precisely 'right'.

Cheers, NeMo

[Bealman]

Totally agree. Excellent comment. 

[Chris Morris]

I also think the current Peco wagons are finet as they are. I certainly wouldn't want to see the price go up.

The kits are brilliant for the money and possibly the only means of creating a long train for many of us. A train of Peco kit wagons will be about one third of the price of an equivalent Farish train. Yes the Farish wagons are better but who studies each individual wagon as it passes in a long train?

The ready to run wagons are fine when mixed in with similar Farish wagons. My rake of over 20 vans has different versions of Farish vans and a few Peco mixed in. The Peco ones don't stand out as being inferior in the rake but do add important variety. They are really good wagons for the price. The couplings work fine and I wouldn't want to see them changed as I use the electromagnetic uncoupling system.

I do like to support Peco as they kept their manufacturing in the UK and they are good products. I'm all for improvement but not if it ends up with a massive price hike.

[Bealman]

Another excellent observation. 

[Bealman]

Perhaps Peco will produce the New range, but keep the old range (or at least the kits), similar to the Hornby OO range?

[middlefour]

It would be good if the kits had metal wheels rather than the plastic ones.

[Newportnobby]

Like Bealman, the bulk of my 'block' trains comprise Peco wagons which I've had since the old King died, it seems. Having had my mineral wagons weathered to within an inch of their lives by forum member mk1gtstu I will be sending him my box vans for some 'medium' weathering in the not too distant future. (The pic below was taken by Stu on his own layout before he sent them to me)



Sure, they have plastic wheels and tend to come uncoupled at times but I've never found the need to re-wheel them and some 'Tacky Wax' solves the random uncoupling. I can forgive some lack of detailing as, from my viewing point, I won't miss such detail

Every now and then they do a special and this is one I just had to have as it forms part of my working history.....



I think any rise in price could be detrimental to Peco sales so urge them to be careful and not 'spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar'

[Bealman]

Yeah, the plastic wheels pick up the dirt, but in the days of huge flanges, they did not draw attention to them the way shiny metal ones did.