As much as this sounds like "clickbait" or "bait & switch," it's real:

Mamod, the long-time maker of miniature live-steam models and "toys" (think the FAO Schwartz catalogues, not Toys-R-Us) in Britain, is closing as a resuilt of British "anti-terrorism" regulations.

More specifically. the solid-fuel tablets formerly used to supply a safe fuel source for their boilers, has been outlawed due to their containing hexamine, a substance that can purportedly be used to make explosives for bombs.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... years.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/0 ... -chemical/

At least one German competitor, Wilesco, is still in business and offering the dry-fuel tabs for sale...............

Actually, the anti-terrorism aspect is only part of the issue but sounds sensational as a headline. The landlord also doubled the rent on their premises. The owner looked to move but most of the employees didn't want to relocate.

The reality is, Mamod had been making sub-par models forever. At one point in time they were just about the only game in town with a reasonable price tag, so people bought them. Their locomotives had two speeds, stopped and running like a scalded cat, usually flying off the track at the first curve. A cottage industry was born selling parts to try to tame them. They owner said they spent 20,000 GBP trying to find a liquid fuel alternative to the awful solid fuel tablets that would go out the second the safety valve would weep water on them. 40 years ago I bought an alcohol burner that was a direct replacement for the fuel tray. Seems like the were trying to reinvent the wheel.

In recent years they tried to come out with new models but enough other companies had introduced entry level locomotives that could actually run fairly well that it was too late for them to reclaim their market share.

Reality is, the terrorism angle just justifies their closing but is far from the only reason.

Roger

My small stationary Mamod from the sixties came with an alcohol burner. You were supposed to use wood alcohol but we just used rubbing alcohol and it worked fine. The only problem we had was that we kept losing the wicks. Me and my brothers just started tearing small strips off the asbestos on the ceiling above the wood stove in the basement and rolling them into wicks. Ah, those were the days of innocence!