Garden Railway Forum

Now Accucraft UK have decided that they will not be producing any more RTR rolling stock I am exploring the possibility of producing a book of the drawings that my late father, Donald Pearse, did for our Accucraft UK carriages and wagons. I have been asked many times about the possibility of supplying individual drawings for various models. We would be very happy for individuals to use the information for non commercial use, such as 3D printing of models and other parts. All the drawings would be at 16mm scale, therefore the book would be rather large, A3 size. I have over 150 drawings, including those that Donald did for the early Accucraft locomotives. If anyone is interested please let me know on this forum. I'm sorry if this is not allowed here because its slightly commercial, but I need to know if there is any interest.

Definitely! Any collection of drawings is more than welcome methinks.

Rik

strettonsteamer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:28 pm Now Accucraft UK have decided that they will not be producing any more RTR rolling stock I am exploring the possibility of producing a book of the drawings that my late father, Donald Pearse, did for our Accucraft UK carriages and wagons. I have been asked many times about the possibility of supplying individual drawings for various models. We would be very happy for individuals to use the information for non commercial use, such as 3D printing of models and other parts. All the drawings would be at 16mm scale, therefore the book would be rather large, A3 size. I have over 150 drawings, including those that Donald did for the early Accucraft locomotives. If anyone is interested please let me know on this forum. I'm sorry if this is not allowed here because its slightly commercial, but I need to know if there is any interest.

I would be interested - a great keepsake as well as valuable information for producing rolling stock.

I too would be very interested. Great idea.

strettonsteamer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:28 pm Now Accucraft UK have decided that they will not be producing any more RTR rolling stock I am exploring the possibility of producing a book of the drawings that my late father, Donald Pearse, did for our Accucraft UK carriages and wagons. I have been asked many times about the possibility of supplying individual drawings for various models. We would be very happy for individuals to use the information for non commercial use, such as 3D printing of models and other parts. All the drawings would be at 16mm scale, therefore the book would be rather large, A3 size. I have over 150 drawings, including those that Donald did for the early Accucraft locomotives. If anyone is interested please let me know on this forum. I'm sorry if this is not allowed here because its slightly commercial, but I need to know if there is any interest.

This is very confusing. I cannot find any mention, at least recently on Accucraft UK site of cessation of production of all 16 mm scale stock. In fact the latest news for September seems to imply the opposite, with only a few types shown as discontinued. Have I missed something ? Max

Tingewickmax wrote: ↑Mon Oct 18, 2021 7:37 pm

strettonsteamer wrote: ↑Sun Oct 17, 2021 9:28 pm Now Accucraft UK have decided that they will not be producing any more RTR rolling stock I am exploring the possibility of producing a book of the drawings that my late father, Donald Pearse, did for our Accucraft UK carriages and wagons. I have been asked many times about the possibility of supplying individual drawings for various models. We would be very happy for individuals to use the information for non commercial use, such as 3D printing of models and other parts. All the drawings would be at 16mm scale, therefore the book would be rather large, A3 size. I have over 150 drawings, including those that Donald did for the early Accucraft locomotives. If anyone is interested please let me know on this forum. I'm sorry if this is not allowed here because its slightly commercial, but I need to know if there is any interest.

This is very confusing. I cannot find any mention, at least recently on Accucraft UK site of cessation of production of all 16 mm scale stock. In fact the latest news for September seems to imply the opposite, with only a few types shown as discontinued. Have I missed something ? Max

You're not missing anything. Its pending formal announcement. I've known this was happening for weeks at this point. RTR Rolling stock just is not profitable anymore at a price people are willing to pay without huge amounts being stuck in a warehouse for a very long time.

Jon

Nobody's missing anything. It is pure economics. When Sandy and I started the Accucraft UK plastic range of rolling stock there was no real RTR stuff around. We had been asked many times about producing some UK style stock as people had seen what Accucraft US were doing for that market. To produce the tooling for a decent W&L wagon costs around £20,000 and you have to take at least a run of 500 units. This is why it took a huge leap of faith when we committed our own money to do this.
Now there are so many laser cut wooden kits on the market and this can be done much more cheaply, and on much smaller runs, is does not make commercial sense to try to invest huge sums of money for no return.
I think it is great that there are so many new rolling stock producers coming to the market, both in laser cut wood and 3D printing. Variety is the spice of life and I am extremely grateful for all the new products around. It allows us to invest in the live steam models and give other people the chance to build their businesses and become successful.
I have been asked for copies of Dons drawings for some time now so as I am now in retirement I decided to test the water.

This shows just how useful a forum like this can be - not only to disseminate information but also to garner views and reactions.
I'm sorry to see the demise of Accucraft's RTR range, it filled a huge gap in the market but, as you say, things have moved on a lot since it was introduced.

Rik