This "Large Capacity Motor Dumper" was a new model published in the 1948 1953 7- 8 instruction manual interestingly almost all the other models shown were the same as in the pre-war and 1947 post-war 7-8 manual. The model is intended to be built from the parts in the No.8 Outfit although I used additional parts to improve the build where I thought necessary. The parts I used are nearly all  from a mid 1950's No.10 Outfit. The model is powered by a No.1 Clockwork motor, although it will drive the vehicle along there was just not enough power to lift up the heavy dumper body, this can only be done by hand. The drive from the motor to the rear wheels is engaged on my model by a simple dog clutch the instructions show a rather complicated clutch, there was no dog clutch in the No.8 outfit. The final drive is through a chain not something I like. The drive for the dumper body is engaged by a sliding gear wheel engaging with a worm connected to several loops of cord.  I had never seen the model built so I thought I would give it a go! My original intention was to use two small geared electric motors but decided to stick with the original plans using clockwork, as it turned out was probably a bit of a mistake. The vehicle is so unusual looking I felt it must have been based on an original prototype after some time searching the web I came across a picture of an American HUG Dump truck from the 1930’s which has many of the characteristics of the Meccano model (picture at foot of page) and was perhaps the Binns Road Model Room’s  inspiration for the model!

Page created October 08 2025 Revised 13/10/2025