Did you get what you needed? was the question from Mrs. Woody as I returned from a model railway shop that I had stopped off at to pick up some DCC harnesses and sockets. Yes, was my reply.
Had the question from Mrs. W been slightly differently phrased, such as, did you get what you wanted? I might have had to admit to also getting this!
It was just sitting there on a shelf in amongst the blue Bachmann and red Hornby models and to be frank it was the box that struck me as rather attractive! Having seen the rather reasonable price I was tempted to pick it up and have a closer look.
What I did not know at the time is that this is an example of the first crowd funded model railway loco in the UK done by DJ Models as confirmed on the instruction leaflet.
The crowd funding was started in 2014 and the Class 71 loco was finally released in mid 2017. I must admit that this is a model that passed me by at the time. I can recall Hornby issuing a Class 71 but not this one. However a test run on the shops track convinced me that this was s great model at a price that I later found out was significantly less than the 2017 price! Bargain!
I just think that it is a stunning looking loco and the various lights and that pantograph just highlight the beauty of it.
Unfortunately for DJ Models, despite their successes with several locos that they released, they went into receivership in mid 2019.
Now whether Mrs. W will see it as an item of beauty is an unknown factor at the moment but I guess I really ought to start some crowd funding of my own to ensure my future is safeguarded when she does find out!
