When N scale model railways first became commercially available in the UK, the major manufacturers concentrated their efforts on the track and rolling stock, leaving modellers who wanted to add a more realistic look to their layout to rely on their own skills in scratch building. Some of the more entrepreneurial saw this as an opportunity and a number of small firms grew up to meet this demand, including P & D Marsh.
White metal casting offered railway modellers the ideal means of reproducing three dimensional models covering a wide range of subjects from figures and animals through various station and lineside items and any number of scene detail parts.
Over the years many of these small businesses have ceased to exist, at least in an independent form. For some demand was insufficient to offer a full time commitment and for others, who perhaps had begun selling copies of their own models to fund their purchases, success put too much strain on a part time activity and ate up all their modelling time!
Some of the models fell by the wayside altogether but others found themselves absorbed into competitor ranges and today there are relatively few firms left selling castings.
