Icons of N gauge

[Claude Dreyfus]

Indeed - much of this list is influenced by the majority of us being British. I forgot a couple of real icons.

The Arnold V220 - There are many claims to be the first N gauge loco (amist the fog of scales in the early 60s), but this one has a pretty strong stake.
PECO track - used globally
The Kato 0 Series Bullet - chancing my arm here, but this has been in production for over 30 years in the country with the biggest N gauge market. It is a global icon, and the Japanese are hugely proud of it. Could this model be the highest selling N gauge model of all? It may have a rival in the form of the Kato class 103 EMU.

[Newportnobby]

Indeed - much of this list is influenced by the majority of us being British. I forgot a couple of real icons.

The OP did ask about 'significant British N gauge items of the last 50 years.

[railsquid]

Well the original post says "If I were to start a collection of the most significant British N gauge items of the last 50 years, what would be in it?"... Though if we're talking Japanese now, the C11 mentioned recently should probably also be there.

Back on topic, I think I can claim to have at least one representative of British N-gauge production from each of the last 5 decades 

[Claude Dreyfus]

Indeed - much of this list is influenced by the majority of us being British. I forgot a couple of real icons.

The OP did ask about 'significant British N gauge items of the last 50 years.

That's me told then... 

In seriousness, I missed that detail.

[belstone]

I have now put my money where my mouth is and bought a Peco Jubilee.  Supposedly mint, boxed, never been run and seems cheap at £50.  I'll see what actually turns up in the post.  Next target - an early Farish Pannier or Holden tank in that lovely velvet-lined clear plastic box that Farish used in the early days.  Not sure I'd dare actually try to run it though.  Bzzz, crunch, whirr, screech.

[Paddy]

The PECO Jubilee is a fantastic model especially given its age.  It looks good, runs well and is seriously well made.  Had a couple of Jubilees in my time and they were repainted in BR green.  Sold mine and replaced them with the new BachFar Jubilee which is also lovely.

Paddy

[belstone]

I'm moving to a new workshop in October and there is enough space in the office for an 8x2 roundy-roundy layout.  It might be quite fun to do a Seventies retro layout to run some of the oldies - Peco code 80 track, H&M Duette controller, Bilteezi card building kits etc etc. The Jubilee would look good with eight or nine Farish "mainline" coaches behind it.

[Paddy]

I'm moving to a new workshop in October and there is enough space in the office for an 8x2 roundy-roundy layout.  It might be quite fun to do a Seventies retro layout to run some of the oldies - Peco code 80 track, H&M Duette controller, Bilteezi card building kits etc etc. The Jubilee would look good with eight or nine Farish "mainline" coaches behind it.

Cough, cough... that sounds a lot like HOLLERTON JUNCTION! 

Paddy

[Chris in Prague]

I've got drawers full of 'em! Locos with split gears, not hairs 

Yep, definitely a British N icon.... split gears.

On ya, NPN. 

If you send them to Bob at BRLines he could, very probably, restore them.

[PennineWagons]

I'd go for the Minitrix 2-6-2 Ivatt tank as my icon of choice. Anyone who got into British N Gauge in the 70s seemed to buy this as their first loco. Looked good, ran well, lasted forever. I got mine in 1977 (I think) and it's still going strong.
PW

[apollo45115]

A really interesting topic this is turning out to be.

Steam locomotive: PECO jubillee. Introduced in 1969 the standard was way ahead of any British or continental N steam loco of the time - and remained so for over 30 years. Just a shame PECO never exploited the tender and chassis to the full for other LMS types.

Diesel Locomotive: the original farish 47 introduced in 1981. Up to that time there were no decent representations of contemporary rolling stock, most (r-t-r and kits) were designed to fit around a chassis often looking terrible, Lima being the worst offender. The 47 was the first of many from farish during the decade, which allowed modellers the chance to model the 1980's railway fairly convincingly. - Late 1960's and 1970's railways too.

Wagon: N gauge society shark brake van. Though the kit is excellent its' not why I picked it.  It pioneered more in its' production which was fairly uncommon for the time, being funded by subscription from NGS members as a private project led by Andy Calvert. Today we'd call that a crowdfunding project.

N gauge Person: Bernard Taylor. His work with TPM showed just how well you could model in N gauge. And the range still stands up well by today's standards and in some cases, better I think - take a second look at the 26 and 60 kits. And many scratchbuilt models too, such as his 150/2 sprinter.

Layout: I'm going for Acton Mainline. Again it showed how high a standard could be acheived in N; the superb buildings and redland tiles terminal, Richard Dockerill's rolling stock, especially his scratchbuilt 56, to name but three. I used to live in West London and passed through regularly on my way to work, and was always struck by how good the model was in comparison.

Manufacturer: CJM. Their models helped British N put its' best foot forward, with the likes of the channel tunnel rolling stock and layout, and their high spec bespoke locos. Many of the features we see today in mass produced N locos, like etched roof grilles were first seen on their models over 20 years ago. It also worth remembering that at one point, CJM were the only r-t-r british N gauge manufacturer producing models, until bachmann (very slowly) started graham farish production again.

Brain racked, I need a cuppa!

Carl

[D1042 Western Princess]

What about the PECO wagon kits, even my ham fisted Cousin who was a die hard 00 fan could put one together that ran, but could not build a 00 kit to save his life.

Although excellent kits (as discussed elsewhere) they suffered slightly from Peco making no transfers (or 'decals' as for some obscure reason they are called these days) for the kits and plastic wheels.
Had Peco done so, and supplied metal wheels, then yes, indeed they were very good.

[Busybee]

Acton Mainline under a different guise is still on the go, its at Lincoln and Goole next year...................Rich puts in an appearance now and again!

[belstone]

"Retro modelling" is starting to sound appealing.  Pick a date, and then build a layout using only products, materials and techniques which were available at that date.  I've always wanted to build a Settle & Carlisle layout and my Peco Jubilee looks like a good starting point.  I can probably stretch the available space to 10 x 3 which is an awful lot in N gauge.

[PGN]

My 20 N gauge iconic locomotives, in approximately chronological order:

1. Highfield freelance 0-6-0T on Minitrix T3 chassis - the first British outline RTR locomotive in N. Definitely produced in GER, Caledonian and NER liveries, and quite possibly a few more. How many of them still survive in running order, I wonder? I have one in NER livery, and I'd love to find a few more.

2. Highfield Stockton & Darlington long-boilered 0-6-0 (now available from B H Enterprises) - the first British outline locomotive kit in N, and what an inspired choice! OK, so the prototype had inside cylinders and the Arnold chassis has outside cylinders, but that's just fine details and doesn't matter, because it still manages to capture the essence of the "Hippopotamus" ....

3. Graham Farish 94xx 0-6-0T with original can motor - the first mass-produced British outline RTR locomotive in N

4. Peco Hymeck white metal kit - the first British outline diesel

5. Lima Class 86 - for many years the only RTR British outline overhead pantograph electric prime mover in N. Definitely  a model ahead of its time.

6. Peco Jubilee, because it changed the rules of the game for ever

7. Cav'n'dish GWR 0-4-0T - the first British outline kit locomotive to make use of the Arnold pug chassis (yes - they beat Peco to it - but only by a month or so!)

8. Minitrix 9F. OK, so who cares if it's just a Britannia body shoved onto a German 2-10-0 chassis, and all the dimensions are out, it STILL looked the part. I mean, just LOOK at all those wheels!!! And WHAT a performer!!

9. Graham Farish Class 47. The diesel that you just cannot be without, no matter what (unless, like me, you're only interested in kettles ... )

10. Graham Farish 4P 4-4-0 - because going 4-coupled was one heck of a bold move. And then when they did the blue ones ... well, who CARES that it wasn't an accurate prototype for either the Caley or the S&DJR? ... We'd never DREAMED we'd see either of those liveries in a mass-produced N gauge RTR locomotive, and yet here they were!

11. Graham Farish Inter City 125 ... because HSTs are iconic, end of story.

12. ABS "Flatiron" 0-6-4T kit. There is something about the "Flatiron" ... and whatever that something is, the ABS whitemetal kit captured it to perfection. It's a shame we don't see more of them at work, truly it is.

13. N Brass Locomotives RTR "Coal Tank" 0-6-2T. Never heard of it? No ... few have. Fewer than two dozen were ever produced. But ... it was the second RTR model produced by N Brass, and signalled that they were a serious manufacturer and their RTR products were here to stay ... or at least, they would have been, if only the Farish factory hadn't closed and the supply of mechanisms dried up. It was the first (and still the only) British outline RTR 0-6-2T. What more can I say?

14. Union Mills J39. The locomotive with which the Isle of Man manufacturer announced its arrival on the British outline RTR scene, still in production despite the arrival of the Bachmann Farish version. When Lima and Minitrix had gone, and Farish was relocating to China, in those dark days at the turn of the Millennium, Union Mills alone was still producing British outline RTR locomotives; and if I could only choose one locomotive to signify Union Mills, this would be it.

15. Union Mills D20. On the other hand, if I'm allowed to nominate more than one Union Mills locomotive, the D20 has to be up there as well. The first UM 4-4-0; and Colin Heard had the courage to offer it in NER livery too (when, of course, you should call it an R class rather than a D20) ...

16. Dapol Terrier. Have you ever SEEN something so small?? And it runs!! And pulls a reasonable load, too. And the steady progression of different identities in Stroudley's "improved engine green" ... what's not to like??

17. Dapol M7 0-4-4T. A new manufacturer trying to carve a niche in the market needs to offer something just that bit different ... and BOY was the M7 different. It had a round-top boiler, which was a nice change from all those Belpaires. It was a brand new wheel arrangement which we had never had in N before. And it put a smile on the faces of all those who complained that the trade never did anything for the Southern fans ...

18. Bachmann Farish 08 class diesel shunter. FINALLY we have outside frames and proper cranks for the coupling rods ... and doesn't it look AMAZING!!

19. Bachmann Farish Deltic. Because ... well, just because.

20. Etched Pixels 2-4-2T kit. A locomotive from Etched Pixels? Yeah ... it's a new departure. And here too we have a brand new departure - a wheel arrangement never before seen in N. A GER locomotive type that ran well into BR days, so any steam buff can have one ... as long as they're modeling the flat lands of East Anglia ...