A History of Graham Farish?

[josh_will]

Dear all,

As somebody who is aiming to enter academia as a medievalist, I have a passion for history. I also have a passion for model railways, and N gauge in particular.

Excellent books have been written about other major manufacturers within the hobby - I own a copy of Ian Harrison and Pat Hammond, Hornby: The Official Illustrated History. But I cannot find anything written about another major player - Graham Farish (but do correct me if I'm wrong). I'm sure many of us on here can appreciate the importance of Farish to the N gauge movement; without Farish, I doubt N gauge would ever have taken off in quite the way it did in this country.

Does anybody think that a history of this brand should now be written, which details the journey from radio parts supplier to a cornerstone of our hobby?

[keithfre]

Would be interesting!

[KevTheBusDriver]

The early years of GF were hard work (for a then-teenage N-gauge modeller); yes, you could buy a 3-plank wagon for 28p, but it's wheels were not N-gauge and the couplings didn't work! Things did get better (thank goodness!) over time. Major milestones (for me) were Class 47, Class 37, class 25, class 20.
I'm sure plenty of modellers would find this an interesting read!

[strain]

I seem to remember the Bachmann Times (The Bachmann Collectors Club magazine) included a fairly lengthy and interesting series of articles on the history of Graham Farish from the beginning to the present day.  May be 2-3 years ago.  I no longer have copies of the magazines but I guess someone will or the  articles might be available from the club.

[Platy767]

The information to chart the N gauge progress of Graham Farish should be available. Looking at announcements and advertisements in Railway Modeller (archive now online) and catalogues should give a basic outline of what models were announced and when they were released. There might even be a company archive still available that can be accessed, if it hasn't been binned.

A group of long serving and ex-employees wrote a book called "Calling the World" of our company history in Australia of WE, STC and Alcatel for our centenary celebrations in 1995 and it was a very interesting read. They had access to company archive, newsletters and employees.

Mark

[jmupton2000]

There was a website called thefarishshed or something similar that was a wealth of useful information, both historical regarding certain models of the Poole era plus useful guides to repairs and maintenance.  Unfortunately it disappeared a couple of years ago now.

[Paddy]

I thought Peter Graham Farish might write such a book when he retired? Only met him the once when he hosted my visit to the factory in Poole circa 1998/9. Absolutely delightful fellow, very friendly and easy to chat to.

The issue with British N Gauge in this regard is that there does not seem to be a significant and active collector community.

Kind regards

Paddy

[Newportnobby]

The information to chart the N gauge progress of Graham Farish should be available. Looking at announcements and advertisements in Railway Modeller (archive now online) and catalogues should give a basic outline of what models were announced and when they were released. There might even be a company archive still available that can be accessed, if it hasn't been binned.

Lots of GraFar catalogues to be found here along with many, many others...........

https://www.trovestar.com/generic/blog.php?Article=328

[Tank]

There was a website called thefarishshed or something similar that was a wealth of useful information, both historical regarding certain models of the Poole era plus useful guides to repairs and maintenance.  Unfortunately it disappeared a couple of years ago now.

This was run by @DesertHound  There is a thread here about it - https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=53625.msg705359#msg705359

[Bealman]

There was also a video about half an hour long about the manufacturing process at the Poole factory, which was posted on the forum a few years ago.

Unfortunately I can't recall where or by whom 

[railsquid]

There was also a video about half an hour long about the manufacturing process at the Poole factory, which was posted on the forum a few years ago.

Unfortunately I can't recall where or by whom 

See here: Video: Graham Farish (Poole) factory tour

[Bealman]

That's the one - and it was posted by your good self!

Thanks, Ian! 

[crewearpley40]

It's an informative video of how products were made in the day. Thanks for posting