we intend to produce the fabulous Dorfan Wide gauge range in O gauge
Since you say you are looking for feedback to gauge interest, let me be honest with you. If you do a relatively faithful job of replicating pre-war Dorfan construction and lithography, you will have yourself a winner with collectors and operators. There would be a tremendous amount of excitement and follow-through if you do this right.
Fabricating O gauge cars approximately modeled on Dorfan wide gauge stock, which never existed, with what appear to be lionel couplers from a later era, is a half-baked, hairbrained idea, honestly, which will garner you a few curiosity seekers and then fall on its face.
"In my view we represent the true spirit of Dorfan." We understand that, but if you are interested in getting feedback, put your view aside for the moment, and instead of arguing the point, listen. The people on this forum know tinplate, and know the "spirit of Dorfan". You've got an idea and you're running with it: too bad you couldn't do it right.
Thanks.
Dear Hojack,
Thank you for your comment. In the early ‘90s the Darstaed agent for the UK Ron Budd suggested I should do a replica of a Hornby loco, the 4-4-4 but in electric as Hornby only made this loco in clockwork. At the time the O gauge hobby was moribund and only originals were available at very high prices. So basically only collectors with big wallets were buying trains leaving the operators in the minority. Few could afford to play with originals that cost a fortune. I took the step to make the 4-4-4 in electric and it became a great success. O gauge playing became fun and affordable again and after Allen Levy joined as sales we developed a whole new range of products starting with the C1 coaches and expanding a line of locomotives never made before. The C1 non-corridor coaches are in the same spirit as Hornby but a next generation as it were. The problem with O gauge in Europe is that WWII stopped all the fun. Materials after the war were at a premium so the manufacturers made 00 instead of O gauge whereas in the USA the development of O gauge continued unabated until today.
What we did in the UK was continuing a line of tinplate initially in the Hornby style and make what Hornby would have made if the war had never happened. Of course nobody knows what they really would have done like nobody knows what Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo would have created if they would have a laptop. But what we got right is the tinplate spirit of Hornby and the evolutionary path it would have taken would the war not have interfered. The proof is that nowadays tinplate is thriving in Britain.
Likewise Darstaed started in 1966 making exact replicas of the Marking 40 cm coaches but soon my predecessor Marcel Darphin added a range of new variations with detailed interiors that today are very thought after.
It is not our intention to make exact replicas of Dorfan. Whereas European tinplate fell victim to WWII Dorfan was a victim of the Great Depression and of course in part of their Dorfan Alloy that disintegrated. Their products were too expensive because they wanted the best catering for the high end of the market. Their products are unique and the artwork fabulous. How would Dorfan have evolved would the Great Depression not have happened ? That is where we like to pick up the thread, we are not going to make exact replicas of what Dorfan did, we intend to produce a range of products in the Dorfan spirit as if the Great Depression would not have happened. Just like we did in Britrain.
I do believe there is a market for beautiful lithographed stock and if it is a hairbrained idea only time will tell, that is what I hope to learn from the knowledgeable members of this forum amongst others. What couplings we put is not relevant at this stage, we can put anything you like and make it interchangeable.
I hope it is a bit too early to conclude we didn’t get it right, after all we haven’t started yet.
Thank you for your contribution, I am listening…
Cheers,
Andries.
