Mamod was founded in Birmingham, U.K. by Geoffrey Malins in the late 1930s. Mamod initially made model stationary live steam engines, progressing to road rollers, traction engines and roadsters over the years Mamod's live steam railway first appeared on the market in 1981. The first locomotives were gauge O only and initially offered in a set, in a rather attractive, award winning package. The initial set include a green locomotive (SL-1), a open wagon (gray) and a log wagon with three Styrofoam "logs". The locomotive had double acting oscillating cylinders, with direction and throttle controlled provided by the same valve. The locomotive used the same foul- smelling solid fuel tablets as other Mamod steam engines. A loop of cast track was also included (O only).
Later the locomotive was offered separately, in both gauge 1 and gauge O. A number of other cars were then offered: a goods van (gray), a guards van (brown), a flat wagon (black) and a passenger coach (maroon). The were quite durable, made entirely from metal. All the examples I have seen were made in gauge O. After considerable technical problems, Mamod finally introduced switches for the O gauge track system. Later, Mamod offered two additional sets, a maroon locomotive with two passenger cars and the green locomotive the goods van and a guard's van.
New locomotives in light blue (SL-2) and maroon (SL-3) were offered individually, and differed from the green locomotive by having a spark arrestor stack rather than a straight "shotgun" one. The maroon locomotive's spark arrester was in shiny brass. In 1983, Mamod offered the locomotive in kit form, enabling the builder to construct either a gauge 1 or gauge O version. The locomotive was finished in satin black with red lettering. Two special versions of the locomotive were also offered over the years. One version offered in 1989 was lettered for the 50th anniversary of Mamod, painted a sort of plum color. A production run of 1,000 were made, with serialized numbers. At the time of the Charles/Diana Royal Wedding, a pair of limited run locomotives were offered, one lettered for the Prince of Wales and the other for the Princess of Wales, painted a Royal Blue color. Minor variations occurred over the production life.
One major improvement towards the end of production was the inclusion of a plastic cover over the throttle lever. On earlier locomotives, the lever acted as a branding iron for fingers! Mamod changed hands or restructured at least twice in the 1980s When Mamod finally ceased production in the early 1990s, in excess of 10,000 locomotives were made. Towards the end, I believe only the kit locomotive was in production. Sufficient supplies exist around that new locomotives and kits can still be found. There is a still a substantial industry offering after-market replacement and enhancement parts such as alcohol burners, safety valves with higher pressure settings, detail parts, etc.
