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This page is a companion to the Dream Steam website for those that want a little background on the original Mamod live steam railway range of the early 1980's.  The same design is still in production today under the name of MSS.  All parts and spares, along with upgrades and enhancements are available through Dream Steam at www.dream-steam.com

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Company

The Malins family started the Birmingham based Mamod company in 1939 building and selling stationary steam models and later adding mobile models such as the familiar traction engines.  In 1980 'The Mamod Railway Steam Company' range was launched, as a set at first, which had a locomotive, two wagons and some track, and later as individual units and even a kit.  Unfortunately, it was in this year that the company was sold and over the 1980's the company changed hands a number of times.  Prior to this all the Mamod product designs, many of which are still produced today, had a charm and aesthetic appeal that was carried through one generation of the Malins family to another.  The appeal of the railway range was due to the Malins' capability to design simple products that look right and the skills of their talented design engineer.  Together they understood what a steam locomotive should look like whilst being relatively simple to operate and affordable.

The railway system introduced at this time was indeed the last product line to be conceived under the guiding eye of the Malins family and one can see a distinct difference in the aesthetic look of the new products designs that have emerged under the Mamod brand name since the founding family departed.  Production of the railway range carried on through to 1989 when the company was sold yet again and production under the Mamod brand stopped.  The good news is that the former Mamod Production Manger that introduce the original railway range acquired all the tooling in the 1990s and the same design has since carried on in production under the brand name of MSS, which used to stand for Mamod Sales and Service but now stands for Model Steam Specialists. MSS, now based in Wales, have since made a few minor improvements and have extended the range.

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The Mamod Train Timeline 1979-1989

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Locomotives

The locomotives where based on the look and proportions of a Welsh narrow-gauge side tank loco and came initially in 32mm O Gauge but were later made available in 45mm G1 Gauge in kit form. They measure about 9" long, 3" wide and 5" high.

Two double acting oscillating cylinders take steam from the steam dome through a forward and reverse valve at the front. The boiler is within a combustion chamber and operates at about 12 psi to comply with safety regulations. Solid fuel blocks fire the locos as standard, but meths and gas burners are also available and popular amongst keen enthusiasts.  Indeed, a whole cottage industry evolved proving a variety of after market parts and upgrades over the years, many of which are still made by and available from Dream Steam.

The first prototype locomotive was designed in 1978 by Mamod's design engineer at the time, Barry Hares, and was shown in early 1979 at trade fares.  It was received with much enthusiasm. A year later in 1980 the first production Steam Locomotive (SL), the green SL1, was launched as a Railway Set  (RS), the RS1. Later that year a light blue SL2 loco with black spark arrester chimney was made available followed in 1981 by the maroon SL3 loco with brass spark arrester chimney. Both the SL2 and the SL3 were also available in sets (RS2 & RS3) and single units but the SL2 and RS2 were discontinued at the end of 1981.  Also in that same year the maroon SL4 'Princess of Wales' and royal blue SL5 'Prince of Wales' locos were released as limited editions and came boxed with special card face inserts to commemorate the wedding of Charles and Diana.  A black kit version (SL1K) was released in dual 32mm and 45mm gauge in 1983.  The last of the Mamod branded range, the limited edition SL6 in purple, was released in 1989 to celebrate Mamod's Golden Jubilee.

After re-establishing the production line in the 1990's MSS released the side tank loco in black with a hybrid badge featuring the original belt and buckle motif with the MSS logo, but this was soon replaced with the current gold MSS motif badge and lining.  The MSS range was then established in ready to run and in kit form in black, maroon and green. The range was extended with a special edition in pale green with brass spark arrester chimney and a Saddle Tank version, in black or pale green, was introduced in the early 2000's along with a tender. A distinctive purple and gold special boxed edition was also introduced by MSS in 2002 to mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee year.  More recently the side tank has become available in a new royal blue and gold colour scheme.

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Rolling Stock

To compliment the Locomotives and to establish the product range as a full 'Railway System' a range of rolling stock was introduced and developed over time. The first two Railway Wagons (RW) to be released in 1980 were the RW1 Open Wagon, and the RW2 Lumber Wagon.   In 1981 the RW3 Guard's Van, RW4 Goods Van, RW5 Passenger Coach, and RW6 Flatbed Truck were introduced.  In 1983, the RW3, 4, 5 and 6 were released as kits. 

The RW1 and 2 were then discontinued by Mamod in 1987 and all production of rolling stock stopped in 1989 along with the whole Railway range when the company changed hands. However, with the exception of the open wagon, all the rolling stock range were brought back into production in the 1990's by MSS in ready to run or kit form and later a new tender was added.

Mamod initially released the railway range as RS1 sets with a SL1 locomotive closely followed by the RS2 set with a SL2 locomotive. Both sets came with a RW1 open wagon and a RW2 log wagon.   The sets came in a bright eye catching red framed window box with a card face insert carrying the motif.  Each box had a polystyrene base that accommodated the loco and wagons,  4 x straight and 16 x curved pieces of track, a solid fuel burner tray and box of solid fuel blocks, a funnel, a coupling hook, and a small tube of steam oil.  Instructions and a brochure were also included.

The RW3 Guard's Van and RW4 Goods Van were included with a SL1 to make the set RS1A.  The RW3 Guard's Van and RW4 Goods Van were included with the SL3 in set RS3, and two RW5 Passenger Coaches were included with the SL3 in set RS3A. The special edition RS4 with a SL4 loco and RS5 with a SL5 loco also came with special card face inserts to commemorate the wedding of Charles and Diana. 

The track sections are about 12" long and made of cast Mazak metal with a unique interlocking design. Additional packs of straight track section (TS1) and curved section (TC1) were also made available from 1981.  Track points, TP1L (left) and TP1R (right), became available as optional extras in 1983. However, whilst Y points were considered and designed, they never made due to the cost.

Whilst MSS continue today to manufacture the original design locomotives, rolling stock and track and offer them as sets both ready to run and as kits, the distinctive red boxed sets have been replaced by more environmentally and robust packaging designed for the modern trend toward ordering on-line and sending items through the post.

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