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A picture of a layout from 1956 supplied by one of the club's members taken in Cape Town.
The clockwork No 51 train set in the foreground was bought with pocket money approximately a year after import restrictions on toys were lifted by the then government in the mid nineteen fifties.
Besides the home made wooden station in the foreground, the remaining buildings and station were made from a series of paper "kits" issued by Caltex garages, and known as the "Caltexdal Series". When looking back on them now, they remain excellent representations of buildings such as hotels, shops, churches and other buildings found in the many small South African towns and villages which prospered prior to the building of the national roads network.
The loco cost (new) R4.75, tender 63c, and the coaches 75c each - total R7.63. With pocket money at 50c per week, the set took 4 months to assemble.
The remaining trains on the layout were received as presents in 1948-49, at which date the abovementioned import restrictions were placed on many so called "luxury items" as Dinky Toys and Hornby Trains. Meccano continued to be available during this period, as it was classified as an educational toy.
The only way to obtain these "unobtainable" Meccano products was as presents from relatives overseas, or from the shops found on the Union Castle ships which plied between the U.K. and South African ports.
The Dinky Toys shown were Xmas and birthday presents from the same period.
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