mbox2000 wrote:Nice duo,George. As I was checking my castings against Dan's finds and studying the code timelines, I'm struck again by the placement of the GPW codes further in the timeline instead of at the top of the list. Was it intentional by Lesney to insert the GPW models later after the model started with BPW or was it a time of assembly decision to use up old GPW stock or because they ran out of BPW? This occurred with several other castings (Dans 20c Chevrolet Taxi for one). Just curious what the prevailing wisdom is. I am sure it has been discussed before but could not find the thread. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Jay
It is a fact that the fine tread grey wheels (with 36 or 45 treads) were produced well after their black counterparts with the same tread patterns had been introduced. This was therefore not a case of using up old stock.
There are some models on which those fine tread grey wheels are common - for example 23c (9x36), 74a (9x36), 65b (10x36), 69a (10x36), 34b (11x45) and 13c (11.5x45). All of those are later issues of older models which had had grey wheels with knobby treads (20 or 24) in earlier years.
I assume that those wheels were primarily made for those models which were intended to keep the same wheel colour as before, and that they just happened to be used on other models occasionally. That is basically no different from what also happened with black or any other wheels.