At one time Airfix had a range of railway kits including trains, buildings and figures. Around the end of the 1970s they produced a set of railway workmen, but this set disappeared almost immediately, and does not appear in any Airfix catalogue, making extant examples very rare and collectible. Why the sudden disappearance is unclear, but it seems that when Airfix sold their railway moulds to Dapol, the deal included this set. However when Dapol released the figures, they had been given a flattish round base instead of the classic Airfix square one, and may even have been completely retooled. Today these figures are still available in Dapol packaging.

The figures themselves, particularly those in civilian dress, are appropriate for quite a broad time period. High visibility vests for permanent way workers were appearing during the 1960s, and the full hi-vis suits of today would follow later, but prior to that, men wore rugged, casual clothing such as those found here. Flat caps were already popular by the start of the railway age, and while the bowler hat worn by the supervisor was only invented at the end of the 1840s, the clothing is otherwise suitable for much of the railway age, which is to say from 1825. Staff uniforms varied between the various railway companies, and over time, but those station staff here look to have typical uniforms for the whole of the Victorian period and well beyond, and the same is true of the locomotive crew, so this set is very widely usable and very accurate.

For the military modeller, those in uniform could have some use, and of course many armies employed civilian contractors for various tasks, but perhaps the main value of these is in the potential for conversions. Converters always complain that there is never enough material, so even a non-military set like this is welcome. Certainly there is no other source of flat caps and bowlers of which we are aware.

Happily the figures themselves are really nice too. Despite their age they have very well defined detail such as folds in the clothing and faces, and every figure is well proportioned and lifelike. There was almost no flash to get rid of, but the one tell-tale sign of the vintage of these figures is that each has a round mould mark on the back. The poses are all of working men, suitable both for the railways and elsewhere, but many are general enough to work in many other environments.

This is a very fine set that is still in production, and deservedly so. It serves to illustrate the value of keeping an eye on model railway products to supplement the figures available.