I have not tried to emulate Elton John with that great song of his but today I was out with Mrs. Woody taking her for some lunch. I diverted, as you do in such cases, to a close by model shop. I knew they had this in stock at a very reasonable price.
If you know model railways you will have gathered that this box comes from the 1960's. It was a time when Triang put some thought into the play value of model railways as at that time they were very much aimed at children. They had all sorts of innovative operating things such as the mail carriage that picked up and dropped off mailbags trackside. Then there was the giraffe wagon where the head and neck of the animal stuck out of the top of the wagon. By means of a trackside switch the giraffe would pop its head back in the wagon to avoid an overhead obstacle such as a tunnel. There were other things too but this is something I wanted as a child but I think the twelve shillings and threepence price about £0.62 in todays money) that is still on the box was out of reach of my pocket money in those days. However many decades later I have it! I am a Rocket Man! Or, as Mrs, W would say, Child!
That's right - it is a rocket launching wagon! Inside the box is this very good condition item....
It is all there, buffers, couplings and posts on the wagon but most importantly a working missile launcher with rubber tipped missile - there was some thought about safety even in those days. To set it up, you push the spring on top of the yellow launcher back. It locks onto a protrusion from the grey leaver to the left of the red wheel. The rocket slides on the yellow launch guide. Elevation is set by loosening the red wheel, lifting the yellow launch guide to the desire position and then tighten the red wheel and it is set to be fired. To launch the rocket just pull back the grey lever like a trigger. It may all seem so simple compared to todays things that children have but back in the day these sorts of things were brilliant!
Run this at a model railway exhibition and it will upset a lot of the purists but delight many others!
Mrs. W did enjoy her lunch as I did so a good day! Maybe I'll launch a celebratory rocket!
