Friday, June 07, 2019

Graham Farish OO gauge van


Interesting vintage model railway item here - a OOgauge van from the days when Farish didn't just mean N gauge.

The body and chassis are diecast, the roof pressed metal.


Was 6/6 a lot of money in those days?

3 comments:

Duncan Young said...

It was a lot of money when you could buy Triang for 1/2 and Dublo for 2/4. But the GF model is classy and would have been seen as a special birthday treat from Grandma. Good purchase on your part and the box is lovely.

I. Cooper said...

It's Friday morning, I'm bored...

12 pennies in a shilling, so 6d = 0.5 shillings.
20 shillings in a pound, so 6.5 shillings = £0.325

Using: https://www.officialdata.org/uk/inflation/1955?amount=1 we can find uk inflation. Judging from the box artwork, are we talking about 1950's, or 60's?

I'll take a guess at 1958...

The website suggests that £0.33 decimalised pre-decimal currency in 1958 had similar buying power to £7.65 in 2019

A google brings up Hatton's website which suggests a basic 4-wheel box van could set you back £6.50 for a Dapol box van, rising to around £20 for a Bachmann "Branchline" with weathering.

On that basis it would suggest 6/6 is about inline with the cost of similar today.

The average manual worker weekly wage in 1958 was 253/2, meaning 6/6 was about 38.9th of the weekly wage. The average laborer wage in 2019 is £17,600, or £338 per week. The equivalent 38.9th of the weekly wage now would be £8.70 ...so once again it suggests things have remained fairly static.

Bill Newstead said...

Comments in my volumes of the Model Railway News show that Graham Farish wagons were highly regarded by modellers of the day. Not surprising when you compare your example with Hornby tinplate and Triang plastic.