Darstaed is the name of a train manufacturer with an acclaimed heritage. The original Darstaed line was founded in 1966 by
Marcel R. Darphin of Zug, Switzerland. Original production of Darstaed items took place in Switzerland. In addition to a less known fine scale line
of 'O' gauge model train wagons produced in very limited quantities, primarily of Swiss and French prototypes, Darphin also manufactured excellent
reproductions of the classic Märklin 40 cm tinplate #1941 series 'O' gauge (1:43.5) coaches, and then he also produced
models in the #1941 style that Märklin never made, most of which have become classics in their own right.
In the mid-1930’s Märklin pushed tinplate train construction to its zenith with their 'O' gauge #1941 series of passenger cars commonly referred
to as the 40 cm coaches. Märklin produced nine different passenger, baggage, and postal wagons in their #1941 series in Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR)
green, Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) blue, and MITROPA burgundy-red liveries. Five cars with Swiss SBB markings were also produced.
Features on these cars included doors that opened and optional detailed interior fittings and lights were available. Today these Märklin wagons
are highly sought after and draw steep prices in auctions. From the late 1960’s until 1987 Darphin, along with his friend Marcel Rossi, under the
Darstaed name produced 31 types of passenger, baggage, and postal wagons replicating this style. The expanded range included Rheingold, Swiss SBB,
French SNCF, KPEV (Prussian State Railways) and early CIWL teak-sided cars. They were all very attractive train wagons. But only 6000 of these
cars were produced and today these original Darstaed wagons are highly sought after and come with high price tags.
In 1993 Andries Grabowsky, of the Netherlands bought the Darstaed Tinplate line of products including the tooling, dies and
brand name from Marcel Darphin. Darphin had only sporadically produced an occasional model and some accessories. Grabowsky had been engaged in model
train manufacturing starting in 1991. Originally based in Taiwan, he designed and manufactured two models in HO scale for the Dutch market. These
were the NS 2400 and the NS DE-2 (diesel electric 2-coach motor units). Both of these models won the first prize at the Nuremberg toy show for Dutch
models in 1991 and 1992.
Grabowsky planned to again produce and expand the famous line of Darstaed tinplate coaches. In 1994 Andries paid a visit to the U.K. and
spent time with a former distributor of Mr. Darphin's products, Mr. Ron Budd. Budd was a well-known and respected collector as well as a founding
member of the Hornby Railway Collectors Association (HRCA). In the course of their discussions, Ron put forward an idea to Andries, that of
manufacturing an 'O' gauge replica of the Hornby 4-4-4 clockwork locomotive originally produced in the 1920's but this time
with an electric motor. The 4-4-4 electric was subsequently made. In 1995, Grabowsky partnered with Allen Levy, and a company originally called
Allchem Trains Ltd. to distribute the 4-4-4 locomotive in Great Britain. The name changed later to ACE (The initials of Allen,
Charlotte and Emily Levy) and the company began producing other tinplate trains in British style. Andries Grabowsky was the creator of the line of
ACE trains that were produced first in Taiwan and starting in 1996 in Madras, India. Another manufacturing facility was opened
in January 2000 in Bangkok, Thailand. The success of the ACE product line delayed the start of reproduction Darstaed coaches.
Among Andries Grabowsky’s creations designed and manufactured by him and sold under the ACE Trains brand can be counted the 4-4-4 locomotive, a 4-4-2
locomotive, an A3 and A4 locomotives, an 0-6-0 locomotive, a 4-4-0 locomotive, Castle class locos, a Station Canopy as well as all coaches and
tankers made until 2009. In August of 2008, the arrangement with Allen Levy and ACE Trains ended. Andries Grabowsky returned to his original company
name, Vintage Trains, and continued to manufacture trains in Bangkok. Under the Darstaed name, Grabowsky began to produce Pannier Tank engines, 3F
Jinty tank locomotives, an A1 Peppercorn Tornado, a Castle Class 4-6-0 express passenger locomotive, and a die-cast A4 Pacific locomotive in coarse
scale 'O' gauge.
Grabowsky's array of Darstaed tinplate locomotives also included an 0-6-0 Tender engine, the LNER (London North Eastern Railway)
J-Class 0-6-0 in five different LNER and British Rail liveries. These locomotives were a derivative of the ACE 0-6-0 tender locomotive manufactured
for ACE by Grabowsky in Thailand. A tinplate 'O' gauge 2-6-2 Prairie tank locomotive was also offered in a wide variety of British,
French, Australian, New Zealander, Dutch and German liveries. It sold for $445. Locomotives were made of die-cast metal and ran natively on 12-24
volt DC current fitted with Mabuchi motors and gearbox. AC conversions were available on request for an extra $25. Locos also feature working
headlamps and sequential lighting systems.
In 2009 a series of 35 cm British Pullmans including models of the Southern Railway's electric powered luxury train the Brighton
Belle which ran from Victoria Station, London to Brighton on the Sussex coast were produced. Production included a limited number of 35 cm 1st Class
Parlour Pullmans to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Hornby Railway Collectors Association (HRCA). Regular Brighton
Belle production consisted of 3 rakes of 5 cars each with full interior details, working table lamps, working tail lamp and route indicators and
sprung bogies. Nine Pullman sets and 4 bar cars in other British liveries were also available. These included the Golden Arrow, Cunarder,
New Century Bar, Queen of Scots, Devon Belle, The Hadrian Bar, Yorkshire Pullman, South Wales Pullman, The Trianon Bar, Thanet / Kentish, Tees /
Tyne Pullman, Daffodil Bar and Torbay / Bournemouth Belle.
35 cm British Pullmans
Modern Darstaed production also included the introduction of a series of 'O' gauge 4 wheel tinplate Advans. These original Darstaed Advans bore
classic British advertisements from products available during the golden age of railroading based on the little tinplate advertising signs sold by
Bassett-Lowke and others from 1904 until the second world war. The vans are adorned with detailed lithography, and sold
for $49 each. 8 different vans were modeled in the first series, including Rowntree's Cocoa for the North Eastern Railway, Melrose's Teas for the
Caledonian Railway, Wright's Coal Tar Soap for the South Eastern & Chatham Railway, Bass Ale for the Midland Railway, Henry A. Murton LTD.
Waterproofers for the North Eastern Railway, Rocket Lubricating Oil for the Great Eastern Railway, Wood Milne Rubber Wheels for the London North
Western Railway and The Captain Magazine for the Great Western Railway. Only 500 of each livery were made. Additional series soon followed,
including a Burgoyne's Australian Wines for the Great Eastern, Spratt's Dog Food for the SECR, and Player's Airman Cigarettes for the MR. Another
Ad Van release was the Horton Private Owner Series that included brands such as Ovaltine, Weetabix, Lyons Swiss Rolls, Heinz 57 Varieties and
Cydrax. Modern Darstaed also manufactured die-cast metal 'O' gauge mineral wagons packaged in a set of six with different numbering on each wagon
in the set. These sold for $225 per set.
Darstaed 'O' gauge Tinplate Advans
Darstaed 'O' gauge Horton Series Private Owner Vans
Darstaed had gone into a slumber in 1996 but was revived by the summer of 2008 and was then able to look
back on very successful years, not only in the British market but also in the U.S.A., Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand and
subsequently appointed nine distributors and numerous agents world-wide. All sales are through these distributors. Production was moved
out of Thailand in 2009 to Xiamen, China. All production takes place on-premises using on-site facilities which include metal stamping,
tin printing, plating and spraying, always striving to achieve the very highest of production standards. Darstaed attempts to recreate models of
the classic British locomotives from the golden age of British railroads. Products are produced in batches based on customer demand, but any one
of the company’s range could be brought back into production. It is the company's policy to never artificially limit production numbers to actively
drive up the values of the products.
It seems that in this company's history, there have been a few ambitious plans that experienced starts and stops. In January of
2013 it was announced that Darstaed would produce a model of the Peppercorn A1 Tornado as its first engine released exclusively under the Darstaed
name, in an arrangement with the A1 Steam Trust. The model was planned to be for 3-rail 'O' gauge tinplate and be British built and guaranteed with
Mike Green of Wynford Classics in Somerset. The prototype #60163 Tornado is a mainline 21st century steam locomotive built in
Darlington, England. Completed in 2008, Tornado was the first such locomotive built in the United Kingdom since Evening Star, the last steam
locomotive built by British Railways, in 1960. It is the only example of a LNER Peppercorn Class A1 class locomotive still in existence as the
entirety of the original production batch (built in the 1940's after WWII) was scrapped without preservation. The locomotive's namesake is the
Panavia Tornado, a combat aircraft flown by the Royal Air Force. Preproduction models were created by Darstaed, and utilized extensively for
marketing purposes. Before release however, Darstaed put the project on hold. Also in 2013, Darstaed announced that they would be issuing
reproductions of the famous Dorfan Wide gauge line of lithographed tinplate freight cars in 'O' gauge as part of their
Trains de Luxe line. The targeted delivery of these new cars was 2015, but to date, no reproduction Dorfan cars have ever been delivered. In
September 2019 it was announced that Darstaed was partnering with Ellis Clark Trains to develop their first ready-to-run finescale 'O' gauge
locomotive to model the fleet of 842 Stanier 'Black Five' 4-6-0's. Progress towards delivery of this product was hampered by the Covid Pandemic.
By October of 2020 Ellis Clark Trains announced that the 'Black Five' would now come solely under the Ellis Clark Trains brand, as opposed to
Ellis Clark Trains/Darstaed.
Darstaed Lithographed Engine Sheds
Around 2015 Darstaed issued two different styles of 'O' gauge lithographed tinplate engine sheds. These were the ES-1 single
track and ES-2 double track sheds. Along with these accessories they also offered extension sheds in the form of the ES-1E and ES-2E. These
structures were detailed on both the exterior and the interior, featured opening and closing double doors at each end, and interior lighting.
The structure detail with illustrated water spouts and intricate brickwork is generic enough to allow for them to be placed on any type of layout,
not just a European one. The double track version is fitted with chimneys to facilitate venting of smoke, so that creative hobbyists can install
smoke generators into the untis if they opt to do so for the sake of realism on their layouts. The extensions are designed
to lengthen the buildings, as they come in 350 mm (13.8") long sections. Locomotives without tenders will fit into the sheds as constructed,
but tender locos would require an extension. Width of the single track ES-1 is 5", while the double track ES-2 is 9".
Darstaed 50th Anniversary 40 cm Coaches
In 2016 Darstaed celebrated its 50th birthday and to commemorate this occasion
finally reissued the celebrated Darstaed 40 cm coaches based on the ones originally made by Märklin in the late 1930's.
Using the original tooling of the Darstaed 40 cm coaches acquired from Marcel Darphin as the basis of his works, Andries Grabowsky both reproduced
the original Darstaed line and expanded the line to model famous trains of the past such as the Fleche d’Or and the Rheinpfeil. The new line
of coaches featured compensating bogies, fitted seating and corridors, fitted interior lighting by state of the art SMD (Surface Mount Device)
technology and Märklin type hinged roofs. These cars are suitable for track curve radius down to 2'.
In 2018 Darstaed announced the issue of the well wagon. After the diecast tooling for the 3-rail version was completed however
their two main distributors backed out of the commitment to purchase the minimum quantity so they switched production to a 2-Rail version in ABS
instead with Slater wheels. This proved very successful. Darstaed then decided to venture furhter into the realm of 2-rail. Locomotives were issued
in either 2-rail or 3-rail. The 3-Rail locomotives are suitable to run on all 3-rail track from 2' radius tinplate tubular track and larger and the
2-rail locomotives are suitable to run on all commonly used 2-rail track down to PECO code 124 and LENZ. Darstaed rolling stock is suitable to run
on everything, and 2-rail conversion kits are also available for purchase. Darstaed refers to their 2-rail products as Finescale, and their 3-rail
products are catalogued as Coarse scale. A decision was made at this point to move their warehouse/factory outlet for all British 3-rail coarse
scale models from The Netherlands to the UK, and place David Upton in charge.
In 2021 Darstaed partnered with Ellis Clark Trains of Toller
Court, Shortbank Road, Skipton North Yorkshire, to issue Pullman all steel type Ks 7mm Finescale passenger carrying stock. All design work was
handled by Ellis Clark and all production was handled by Darstaed. The release schedule included 33 individual Pullman cars, each with different
numbers/names, as well as a series of themed carriage packs including 'Bournemouth Belle' (1966) packs, 'Ocean Liner' sets, two different
'Queen of Scots' packs, a 'Yorkshire Pullman' pack and a Keighley and Worth Valley presentation pack.
Darstaed 'O' gauge BR Mk1 57' Coaches
The success achieved from the collaboration with Ellis Clark on the BR Mk 1 corridor and non-corridor coaches led to further
partnerships between them and Darstaed. Utilizing the Darstaed Mk1 Mainline coach chassis and newly tooled bogies, 63' BR Mk1 Carflats were created
in-house at Ellis Clark Trains, with a very limited amount being produced. The carflats were available in 3 Liveries, including BR Bauxite, BR Blue
& BR Blue ‘Motorail’. 2023 witnessed the arrival of an all-new collection of ready-to-run finescale 'O' gauge Thompson corridor
coaches - another collaboration with Ellis Clark. These featured brass sides, compensated die-cast bogies, magnetic coupling corridor connectors,
roller-ball wheel bearings, sprung buffers, a detailed chassis and interiors. Fully installed lighting can be powered by either DC or DCC track
power. 68 different models across 5 liveries were offered.
Bogie Tank Wagons
Since the 1993 acquisition and resurgence of Darstaed, the firm has offered a complete range of different British outline
locomotives, including a Jinty tank, Pannier locomotive, 2-6-2 locomotives, A4 locomotives, Castle Class locomotives and J-Class locomotives.
A line of rolling stock to complement these locomotives includes Darstaed coaches and goods wagon rolling stock. Initially Darstaed was only
offering their products through authorized distributors. Distributors in the United Kindom included Ellis-Clark Trains,
WJVintage and Raylo. As of
late, customers can place orders for Darstaed products directly from their website.
Click here to visit the Darstaed web site.
