S N Mouldings

As far as I can tell this firm is no longer in business. In the late 1970s and early 1980s they produced a small line of moulded plastic lineside kits, much like Ratio. I have two kits by them - one, a small signal box and the other a modest-sized brick goods shed. (I’m fairly sure the goods shed is S N Mouldings. I lost the packaging a decade ago so I could be proved wrong.)

I’ve noticed pictures of these models incorporated on layouts featured on the 2 mm Scale Association pages. Here is the signal box - albeit improved by the addition of a walkway and finer handrails - and the goods shed.

Generally, I was impressed by the quality of the two kits. They were very clearly handtooled mouldings - not quite as flawless as the products Ratio puts out. But they assembled nicely, had little flash, had a good level of detail. I was a bit disappointed to see that they no longer appear to exist - I haven’t seen adverts for them or listings of their products in many years, and nobody seems to be producing any further kits with their toolings. Does anyone have any other information on this firm? They were based in Salisbury.

Note that S N Mouldings is not to be confused with S D Mouldings, which produces a line of cast solid buildings, not styrene kits.

Lima, the large Italian train maker, is still a fairly significant presence in the UK OO market. They also used to produce N scale trains, though they don’t seem to do so anymore. At least, I’ve never seen it advertised. They used to produce a small line of diesel engines, one or two steam engines, a few coaches and odd goods wagons.

I’ve only really examined two Lima N models - a pair of goods wagons that I own. And frankly they’re absolutely terrible. The underframes are about twice as high as they ought to be - massive, oversized things. One of the wagons has Marylebone misspelt as Marlebone on the side; the other has two commas where there should be full stops (periods). I’ve heard of serious prototype errors - but spelling mistakes? Amazing.

Merit produced a small line of trackside details and human figures in N. They weren’t very detailed items, I’m afraid, and their products are now made by Peco.

Because we live in an absurdly litigious world, please note the following. First, I have no personal financial interest in any companies mentioned here, one way or the other. Second, all trademarked names are owned by their respective owners and are mentioned here purely for identification purposes. Third, no guarantees, express or implied, are made regarding the accuracy, fitness, whatever the hell about any of the information or opinion presented here. And finally, much of this is opinion of the author; nothing more.

Text copyright © 1997 tela design.