Best Promotion Model Ever? Shredded Wheat's Steam Train from the 1980's | Vintage Model Railways

Back in 1989, there were many cereal promotions you could get. Perhaps one of the best was this send-away offer to get an N-Gauge 0-6-0 steam tank engine and two coaches. Shredded Wheat offered these promotional models to encourage people to buy more breakfast cereal. Commissioned from Graham Farish, this little train offered a cheap and interesting way to get into the model railway hobby. So, lets check it out and see what a cereal freebie in the 1980's looked like.
#modelrailways #modeltrains #cereal #breakfastcereal

[@timothyfwatson4752]

The promotion paid sufficiently well for Peter Farish to invest in new die casting machine, which improved the quality of subsequent Farish models. The chassis of those four wheel coaches were the underpinnings for an injection moulded train of GNR four wheel carriages that run on Copenhagen Fields.

[@ModelRailwayNewsReviews]

Good for Farish :) glad it worked for them

[@1tonyboat]

Two Shredded Wheat every morning with hot milk ,,,👍👍👍 i can remember the train set and that started my journey with Shredded Wheat .......

[@chuckmaddison2924]

Put a Diesel helper with it and it would be appropriate for today.

[@katebygrave]

I feel sure that I have seen these N gauge coaches modelled in an actual livery with those same type couplings. I think it may have been aimed at the younger market? Perhaps it was Grafar, I am not certain.

[@stuarthall6631]

Great video! Thank you for uploading! Personally, I collect Lone Star OOO push-alongs and I acquired one of the Shredded Wheat loco's with a box of this from eBay. I am guessing that the Shredded Wheat loco is a "Jinty" Fowler 3F?

[@jimbo7788]

Using my beerflation calculator, I reckon that buying the model using £3 and a tokens is @ £40 in todsys prices

[@ModelRailwayNewsReviews]

Beerflation :-D Sadly though I still remember the outrage when it became £1 a pint 😳

[@JanHenk-k1b]

If I had one of these I'd have to build a Shredded Wheat themed microlayout for it and motorize the loco :) (or maybe take a similair tank engine and give it a Shredded Wheat livery)

[@Jacy-dx6dx]

Then make the trains move corn.

[@ModelRailwayNewsReviews]

Sounds like a great idea!

[@JanHenk-k1b]

@@Jacy-dx6dx i'd probably print my own Shredded Wheat decals on some freightcars for that :)

[@thomasfrancis5747]

Have you ever done an Atlas Editions loco or something from the Hachette/D'Agostini part work ranges?

[@petermostyneccleston2884]

I sent away for the locomotive, but not the the carriages. I would like to have the full set though.

[@johntyjp]

Trouble is, the metal wheels on the engine would short out the electric power rails!🤔

[@plunkervillerr1529]

Finely there`s hope, me Hornby can be retired. Shredded what?

[@forrestrobin2712]

This was the Grafar « Jinty », so if you wanted to motorize it the simplest way would be to find one of the old electric versions and just swap the chassis. I’ve got one somewhere in its box together with the coaches and the buildings. As I remember they were printed on the shredded wheat packet itself. I remember that for a quid it was irresistible !