Dapol
| Private | |
| Industry | Model railway components |
| Founded | 1983 |
| Founder | David Boyle |
| Headquarters | Chirk, Wrexham, Wales |
|
Key people
|
Craig Boyle (Owner) Joel Bright (Managing Director) |
| Website | www.dapol.co.uk |
Dapol Ltd is a Welsh model railway manufacturer based in Chirk, Wales. The factory where design and manufacturing take place is just over the border in England. The company is known for its model railway products in N gauge and OO gauge.
Dapol's name is a play on its founders David and Pauline Boyle's names. He owned a model concern Highfield Birds & Models. In 1981 he first tried to buy the Airfix and Mainline ranges.
The Dapol brand name was first used in a Railway Modeller advert of September 1983. The first Dapol wagons (for OO) were announced to become available on the 20th November 1983. From 1 March 1984 ex Airfix railway kits became available.
Later in the year the Railway Modeller carried a two-page profile of the new concern with the upbeat title An exciting new model empire. A lot of David Boyle's background was explored. Some of Dapol's ambitions were frustrated. That article said that the Austerity 2-8-0 and the LMS Beyer Garratt were both under development for 1985 but they never appeared from Dapol. However the L&YR Pug, the Austerity 0-6-0ST and the GWR Hawksworth County which were announced early in 1984 were all produced promptly, well reviewed and have had long model lives. At this time the operation was headquartered in Navigation Road, Northwich.
During 1985 Dapol successfully bought Mainline (and thereby the former Airfix) model railway ranges from Palitoy.
It was announced in the Railway Modeller of February 1989 that Dapol had bought the former Trix/British Liliput range from Ernest Rosza. The Dapol 1989 catalogue also showed that the Model-Land building range had been bought.
In 1994, while the company was moving to its previous location at Llangollen in North Wales, a huge fire destroyed the old site at Winsford in Cheshire, and large quantities of products and historical Wrenn material were destroyed.
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Wikipedia