It has long had its' day. Wrenn were a downgrade from Hornby Dublo, in that there was no advance on H-D; modelling standards and mechanisms in fact retreated from H-D's standards. It is a shame that the Meccano empire was mismanaged, and the UK lost H-D. Had they survived then the UK might have had a Marklin or Fleischmann to fly the flag for a quality choice in RTR through the sixties and seventies.
But now we have decent quality UK RTR models, Wrenn and H-D is strictly a 'might have been' nostalgia trip for those who enjoy that. Nothing wrong with this, but given the choice between the best H-D or Wrenn item and its' modern equivalent, I would take the modern product every time. Take the H-D 8F or 4MTT, by general consent two of the best locos in the range: compare to the current Hornby and Bachmann equivalents. Good quality toys of the time, versus reasonable (Hornby 8F) and fine (Bachmann 4MTT) models. No contest if modelling is the interest.
But now we have decent quality UK RTR models, Wrenn and H-D is strictly a 'might have been' nostalgia trip for those who enjoy that. Nothing wrong with this, but given the choice between the best H-D or Wrenn item and its' modern equivalent, I would take the modern product every time. Take the H-D 8F or 4MTT, by general consent two of the best locos in the range: compare to the current Hornby and Bachmann equivalents. Good quality toys of the time, versus reasonable (Hornby 8F) and fine (Bachmann 4MTT) models. No contest if modelling is the interest.
