Model railway company Dapol Ltd has revealed that it has received provisional decorated samples of the O Gauge 6 Wheel Milk Tankers that it announced recently.

The design team for the company, which is based in Chirk, near Wrexham in Wales, will now review the model samples in detail.

Dapol expects these model milk tankers to be available to buy in shops during the first quarter of next year (2027), and is encouraging model railway enthusiasts to ask their preferred Dapol stockist to pre-order models for them.

The new models are six-wheel milk tankers.

1931 saw the start of the transportation of milk in bulk quantities. Initially, this was done with four-wheeled tankers, built by the SR for United Dairies. However, they proved to be unsuitable and had to run slowly, so the six-wheel tanker was developed to replace them. More than 630 were built between 1932 and 1948, and they were put into use transporting milk across the country.

After the Second World War, governments prioritised road haulage, and by the 1980s, the tankers were no longer in use, with milk mostly being transported by road instead of rail. Some of the tankers were taken into preservation. 

Dapo plans to make five different models of six-wheel milk tankers. Each model will be extremely detailed, with an accurate body shell and chassis. Many fine details will be added separately. The models will have sprung metal buffers, a metal sprung coupling hook and a metal screw coupling. The wheels will be finely profiled, and axles will have brass bearing pockets. The chassis on each model is partially compensated for smooth running free of trouble.

Each of the six-wheel milk tanker models will sell at a recommended retail price of £87.50.

Dapol has supplied the artworks for the models to its partner factory, which is located in China. The company is now waiting for decorated samples of the new liveries to be prepared.

More details about the project are available from Dapol’s website.