Category:Romford Model Ltd

The main product line of the Romford Model Ltd. was a range of solid and well-respected electric motors sold to hobbyists for inclusion in kit-built or home-made model railway locomotives.

The market for model railway motors

Although the availability of 00-gauge Hornby, Triang and Trix locomotives after the 1930s meant that smaller-scale railway modelling was no longer solely the preserve of people prepared to build their own locomotives, there was still a "home-build" market consisting of people who wanted a working model of a loco not available from the main manufacturers, who wanted to hand-engineer a model to greater accuracy that was available from commercial models, or who simply enjoyed building.

A small but significant market existed after WW2 for "white metal" model kits, produced by small companies such as Wills Finecast using hand-made moulds, supporting more unusual locomotive models and rolling stock that larger companies would find it difficult to justify putting into mass-production, and these loco models usually required wheels and motors. Some plastic model kits (from Kitmaster and Airfix) could also be motorised to turn them into "proper" working model railway locos.

While one option was to cannibalise standard motors from commercial model locos, these increasingly tended to be designed for minimum production cost, and aimed at the toy mass market, rather than at enthusiasts who might be running their engines for hours a day, each week, or showing them at exhibitions running eight hours a day for days on end. While some motors in earlier "commercial" locos were good for transplanting (some early Triang motors were overengineered and especially suitable), increasing manufacturing sophistication replaced nuts and bolts with rivets and bent parts, making these motors less servicable. While this wasn't a problem for commercial locos (if an owner ran their loco into the ground they could always buy another one), for homebuilders who might spend sixty hours lovingly recreating an engine and tender with the intention of then running it for a long time, throwing it away and buyign another one was not really an option.

This created a market for new, solidly-engineered motors that could be run for years and which represented a long-term investment, aimed at a market who would see and appreciate the engineering of the mechanism they were fitting, and who would not be scared to take the thing apart again for servicing or for the replacement of parts.

In this market, Romford did very well. Kitmakers were happy to recommend Romfords as it lessened the likelihood of their having to get involved in technical support issues. Romfords were repeatedly name-checked in model railway loco construction articles, and if someone was considering building a model railway loco and didn't know what to fit, a Romford, though more expensive than some other alternatives, was the "peace of mind" option.

1953 description

The Romford Mechanism

Now in use all over the world, the famous "Romford" mechanism is available to all who demand trouble free running, availability of spares, and an efficient service department.

When purchasing a mechanism for your locomotive we cannot too strongly emphasise how essential it is to choose a power unit that you know will be on the rails for years ahead. It is a considerable item in the modeller's budget, and whilst the "Romford" will not perhaps be the cheapest mechanism available at the time of purchase, it will prove to be so ultimately, as it will still be running when many others are obsolete or scrapped.

We would point out that no post-war "Romford" mechanism is obsolete. Despite the many improvements carried out since its re-introduction after the war – and we call to mind the new Alcomax magnet, ball race bearings, enclosed oil bath and gear-box, improved brushes, and the 7-pole armature – these have all been designed to ensure them being interchangeable with existing parts, thus owners of a "Romford" purchased since the war have been able to incorporate these improvements when introduced, and 1946 models can be as up to date as the extremely efficient 1952 version.

On pages 4 and 5 will be found full particulars of these mechanisms, and it will be noted that 23 different axle spacings and four sizes of wheel are available, i.e. 92 standard types. This very wide choice enables a "Romford" to be fitted to all popular models, but for the unusual or freelance locos it is still possible to have specially made frames at a small extra charge.

Parts for your "Romford" can be purchased separately, and we list these below. Any replacement is easily fitted, as the entire unit is secured by nuts and bolts and no soldering of any kind is necessary or desirable.

— , -, , Walkers and Holtzapffel catalogue, , 1953