621 Bedford RL 3 ton Army Wagon (195463)

This is the side profile of the 621 previously submitted. I will leave it to you to work out when the base plate change took place. According to my Meccano drawing of the 621, the driver was added to Job No. 13940 on 11 June 1954.The Base was Job No. 13944 and there are no comments concerning its alteration. Actually you already have these details! My drawing has some corrections with the length in red, as well as some blue biro changes, so it must have been used by the design staff. Regards Bruce

Bruce, I have a copy of this drawing and the change of the base plate is not mentioned. The date of the change in the folding must be on the base plate drawing job 13 944 but where is this drawing ? All these drawings were together when some body not very clever (what can you expect from a politician) auctionned them in Bourges without keeping copies. This was a huge mistake as now these important documents are all over the world and nobody knows where. Dam him.

Jacques Hopefully one of these days, we may yet see these drawings appear on auction when the individual needs the cash, or he is about to meet his Maker! Until then, all we can do is keep alive the interest in obtaining these invaluable items of a unique part of the toy history of the 20th Century. In the meantime, the image below is of my 621 drawing office print of Job 13940 which clearly shows the corrections that were made in the Drawing Office. Also attached is a copy of Job No. 13892 for the 623 Army Covered Wagon which shows the model was originally intended to be Sales Number 153c. Bruce

Bruce, If you could provide colour scans of these two drawings and any others in actual size, I would be pleased to add them to the Encyclopaedia. The 153 series came in at the time of re-numbering, only the Jeep was issued with a 153 number. 153 a Jeep US 153 b Scout car 153 c Bedford army covered wagon 153 d Daimler armoured car 153 e Austin Champ army vehicle

The best thing for the DTCA community would be to upload your (and everyone else's) factory drawings full-size to the Members' Menu - Document Archive! Best regards, Jan

dinkycollect wrote:Re:621 - 3 ton army wagon. 2 Months agoKarma: 2 Karma+ Karma- Bruce, If you could provide colour scans of these two drawings and any others in actual size, I would be pleased to add them to the Encyclopaedia. The 153 series came in at the time of re-numbering, only the Jeep was issued with a 153 number. 153 a Jeep US 153 b Scout car 153 c Bedford army covered wagon 153 d Daimler armoured car 153 e Austin Champ army vehicle janwerner wrote: 'The best thing for the DTCA community would be to upload your (and everyone else's) factory drawings full-size to the Members' Menu - Document Archive! Best regards, Jan' Dear Jacques and Jan Up-loading full size factory drawings to the Member's Menu has caused me considerable concern. Unlike those that have already been up-loaded in the Factory Drawings section of the Member's Menu, I have had to pay a considerable sum of money to acquire these drawings which no doubt is applicable to other members who have purchased similar items. The DTCA was indeed very fortunate that Mike Richardson provided the Association with access to these to be up-loaded into the DTCA website prior to them being sold through auction such as Sotherby's. One should also bear in mind that these were freely gathered from the factory at the time of its closure that in effect saved them from destruction for which we as collectors owe Mike a deep sense of gratitude, and good on him for having ultimately made a considerable amount of money as a result of their ultimate sale. However, at some point in the future I will be selling my collection, if anything to hopefully fully, if not partially offset what they cost me. Having them available online would in effect make these worthless as most are factory die-line prints and not the original drawings, although I do have several of the latter which may still retain their value. I do not like making it appear that I am cash-starved - simply stating a fact. This conservative approach has not deterred me from sharing these drawings on this website, although at a size which would preclude any copying. To be seen in the Forum and not in the Member's Only may in fact result in a visitor to this site becoming a member. Then of course adding them freely to any product that is sold without some form of recompense, would be quite unfair. I am open to any comments or suggestions. Bruce

Dave I thoroughly enjoyed your article in the Xmas issue of Model Collector magazine, 'A tale of two Bedfords'. The Great Train Robbery was a major news story in 1963 even in Australia, and I read every newspaper and magazine story on this event. It would have been more 'glamorous' had the robbers not inflicted terrible injuries on the train driver. But I wonder how Reynolds and Biggs were able to autograph these models! Congratulations on acquiring a piece of history! I could not think of a better home for it to reside than yours! I often had thoughts of being able to visit where the robbery took place, and eventually on 11 October 2013, after navigating our way to Buckinghamshire my wife and I (plus my trusty 192 Desoto Fireflite!) finally reached the Bridego Railway Bridge which is now known as the Mentmore Bridge. (Why the name change I have no idea unless it was a play on the words that the robbers meant to take more cash!) In the photo below, the bushes on the left are growing over the track used by the robbers to carry their haul down to their waiting vehicles. Ronnie Biggs fled eventually to Australia in 1966 where he stayed, moving from Sydney to Adelaide and then Melbourne, but with Interpol closing in on him, he fled to Panama and finally to Brazil in 1969. He died in London just two months after our visit to the site of the robbery. But a great acquisition Dave! Top marks! Bruce0cm;line-height:10.9pt](150)20160311/831/2120

I have today been shown a very near-mint, boxed 621 by a friend. The unusual thing about the model is that it has the blue and yellow insignia transfer normally found on the Ambulance. Not a significant variation, of course, but evidence of perhaps a little carelessness on the assembly line which also escaped the inspectors. I will try to get photographs, and check the box, tyre and baseplate style. I don't recall ever seeing another with this transfer.