Sylvan Scale Models - N-2123 - Vehicle, Marine, Container Ship - Undecorated

Specific Item Information: The Manchester Mercurio & Manchester Rapido were built in Gijon, Spain in 1971. They were chartered to Manchester Lines of England for use on the Great Lakes. Manchester's ocean going ships would deliver containers to the Port of Montreal. The containers would be reloaded onto these smaller ships for final delivery to various ports on the US side of the Great Lakes The ships were powered by a 7200BHP Sulzer 6RD68 diesel engine equipped with a reversible pitch propeller. Manchester continued this operation until about 1980 when it was discontinued. At that time the containers were brought into Halifax and transferred to rail for delivery to the US Midwest and by truck to their final destination. The charter on the ships was allowed to lapse and they were returned to the builder. They were sold to various parties over the years and operated mainly in the Mediterranean and Atlantic under different names. The Mercurio sank in 1999 and the Rapido was cut up for scrap in 2002.

Our model is suitable for most model railroads in that it is only 280 scale feet long ( 21"). It can also be used as a regular general cargo vessel.

Road Name History: Although they may be molded in color, unpainted and unlettered, undecorated products are marketed to modelers who seek to custom decorate their models for private roads and/or road and/or company names that were not commercially produced by any of the major manufacturers.

Undecorated models are frequently also unassembled or only partially assembled and required modelers to be comfortable with glue, paint and sometimes solder in order to prepare their models for display. Materials for these models can vary but often include plastic, pewter and resin. Models may or may not come with decals or other decorations such as plastic signage, railings and ladders to enhance the appearance of the final product.

Manufacturer Information: We welcome this opportunity to introduce you to our company, Sylvan Scale Models™. Our factory is located in a small hamlet 35 minutes north-west of London, Ontario, Canada. We manufacture fine quality cast polyurethane resin model railroad kits, which are prototypically accurate and finely detailed.

Sylvan Scale Models™ is owned by Clare Gilbert. Clare has been active in the model railroad hobby for over 25 years. Clare’s models have won him many awards at shows, and he has four certificates so far in the MMR program.

Clare has had articles published in Canadian Railway Modeller, NMRA Bulletin, and other periodicals. He is also the author of the book The St. Clair Tunnel: Rails Beneath the River, published by Boston Mills Press.

In addition to manufacturing cast resin model railroad kits, Sylvan Scale Models™ has built custom models for corporate customers, including Canadian National Railways, Toronto Transit Commission, Lovat Tunnel, Union Gas, Railworld Inc., Sifton Properties (London), Trojan Technologies Inc., GATX, and Freightcar America (formerly Johnstown America). Both floors of our shop have now been put into use, to meet the increasing demand for our products.