Dapol

Dapol Ltd is a Welsh model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England.

The Dapol trading name is known for its model railway products in N and OO gauges.

History

In 1994, while the company was moving to its previous location at Llangollen in North Wales, a huge fire destroyed the old site at Northwich near Manchester, and large quantities of products and historical Wrenn material were destroyed.

In 1996 Dapol (pronounced 'DA' 'POL' (as in David Boyle and Pauline Boyle) sold many of its model railway lines to Hornby and Bachmann

In 1998 the company came under the control of a new board of directors headed by George Smith, who retires on 1st October 2010. The company remains in the ownership of the Boyle family who founded the company.

In 2001 Dapol sold the little-exploited Wrenn product line (bought in 1993 from G & R Wrenn) and trading name to three G & R Wrenn collectors.

For a period ending in 2001 Dapol also produced a wide range of Doctor Who models^[1]. In 2002 the BBC declined to renew the licence. The Dapol site also hosted the 'BBC Doctor Who Experience' exhibition until 2003.

In 2004 Dapol were awarded the 'UK Small Business of the Year' award.

In 2007 Dapol were awarded the Model Rail (magazine) 'N-gauge Manufacturer of the Year' award.

In 2010 Dapol were awarded the Model Rail (magazine) 'N-gauge manufacturer of the year', 'Best N gauge steam loco of the year' (Terrier), 'Best N-gauge Diesel locomotive of the year' (class 67), Best N-gauge Rolling Stock of the year (MK3 coach) making a 'clean sweep' for all the awards for N gauge.

In 2010 Dapol welcome a new Managing Director Joel Bright, director for the previous 8 years & uncle of the current Owner Craig Boyle. following the retirement of previous MD George Smith

Products

Main article: Dapol Product List

N gauge

Dapol manufactures a growing range of N gauge locomotives, coaches and wagons, and is the main competitor of Graham Farish in the British 'ready-to-run' market. Continuous improvement in model specifications has led to the introduction of 40:1 gearing in locomotive drive mechanisms, NEM couplings on all stock, and LED lighting strips for coaching stock (yellow for 'older' coaches, to represent incandescent illumination, and white for more modern coaches and EMUs to represent fluorescent fittings).

OO Gauge

In 00 gauge, Dapol manufactures ready-to-run wagons and kits.

Kits are moulded in grey plastic (polystyrene) and the range features buildings, road vehicles, wagons and locos. Some of the kits use moulds bought in 1993 from the Airfix company, some of which in turn originated with Kitmaster prior to being bought by Airfix in 1962..

Cleaning wagon

Recently, Dapol has become more well known after producing a track cleaning vehicle, which features motorised cleaning pads and a powerful vacuum cleaner. This wagon is non motorised, but to be used on a DCC layout still requires a decoder to control its motor.

References

1. ^ "Doctor Who Companions: K-9". BBC. 2008-02-08. http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A30924164. Retrieved 2008-06-02. 

• Ness St Cottage, a site with the current and past few Dapol catalogues, as well as open day images.

External links

• Dapol official website

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