Many of us include some sort of harbour, the attractions are obvious, particularly freight traffic and even boat trains. But where are the ships and boats in the principle model railway scales? I suspect nuclear powered US fleet aircraft carriers are a non starter (perhaps we could build the layout on the flight deck!) but there are literally hundreds of coasters, smaller passenger ferries, tankers - all kinds of vessels under 300 feet long (say 2' long in "N", around 4' in "OO"), just the thing for our harbours and quaysides. Ship building is a popular hobby in its own right so both hobbies will benefit. At the moment we have a couple of hard to find ships in "N" and only a few World War Two gunboats and a Corvette in "OO". Airfix's new RNLI lifeboat is perfect for a modern layout but if, like me, it's 1970 (or before, such as the steam age railway) we are virtually shipless.
Is it just me, or is there a vast, untapped market for ship models in the popular railway scales? Meanwhile our docks and quaysides lie empty.
Greg Heathcliffe
Is it just me, or is there a vast, untapped market for ship models in the popular railway scales? Meanwhile our docks and quaysides lie empty.
Greg Heathcliffe