PECO NARROW GAUGE SLATE WAGONS

The movement of slate was a prime factor in the development of the narrow gauge railway, so it’s fitting that Peco has chosen to add a slate wagon to its rapidly expanding range of ‘OO9’ rolling stock. The Festiniog was the first railway in the world to employ narrow gauge steam locomotives, so it’s also fitting that Peco’s new model is of an FR type. According to author and narrow gauge expert James C. Boyd, the Festiniog Railway (it was only in preservation that the double ‘f’ spelling was adopted) had 1,095 slate wagons on its books, which were split into three types: wooden (introduced in 1832), small iron (2t capacity, introduced in 1857) and large iron (3t, also introduced in 1857). The pack received for review is of the unbraked, small iron type (of which the FR has 522). Also available is the braked small iron (117 built) although don’t get any ideas about vacuum or air braking - the brakes were all hand-operated!

HOOK AND LOOP

The wagons come in packs of three and they have a simple hook and loop coupling. This is useful as the FR ran lengthy trains of wagons, so the idea of relying on the Bemostyle coupling would be, perhaps, a bit optimistic. Don’t despair however, for you can couple your FR slate wagons to other Peco stock, thanks to the two supplied Bemo couplings that replace the hook and loops in their NEM pockets. Peco’s narrow gauge stock is good looking but basic, and the slate wagons are no exception. They look like the prototype, which is enhanced by the numbers and owner colour codes. The FR served many different quarry companies, so each organization was identified by a colour code, introduced in 1911. This pack contains a wagon from Maenofferen (white on black), Oakley (blue) and Greaves (red) quarries. It’s a nice touch and beautifully executed. The slate loads are removable but a bit basic, and the whole fleet would be enhanced by some judicious weathering. That said, they’re well produced and, despite their origins, ideally suited to most Welsh narrow gauge layouts. (RF)