Despite being a model ship enthusiast, I wasn’t aware of the Dinky 51D Empress of Britain until I made its acquaintance as a 1:1800 scale diecast model, one of the six passenger liners in the pre-war No. 51 Meccano Dinky Toys Famous Liners Set.
The No. 51 Meccano Dinky Toys Famous Liners Set.
The Empress of Britain (1931–1940) was a huge ocean liner and cruise ship of 42,348 GRT (gross registered tonnage) that sailed the northern trans-Atlantic route from England to Quebec in Canada for the Canadian Pacific Line (of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, C.P.R.). When seen from the front she looked rather square, but appeared gracious when viewed from the side, with her white hull and impressive superstructure crowned by three huge but well proportioned funnels.
The Empress of Britain. circa 1931.
Image: Stewart Bale, New Zealand Maritime Museum.
The Empress of Britain was the largest, fastest, and most luxurious ship sailing between England and Canada and was just as new as the other ships represented in the Dinky 51 Famous Liners Set. She was laid down in 1928, just before the big crisis struck the world’s economy, and was entered into service in 1931. With an up-to-the-waterline reinforced stem and bow, she could easily resist any incidental ice encountered on her route.
Because the Saint Lawrence River isn’t navigable during winter, the Empress of Britain was annually converted to a first class luxury cruise ship, making cruises in warmer Mediterranean and tropical waters. Hence the all-white finish. The three yellow ochre funnels of the vessel were enormous; about 20 meters high and 10 meters in diameter. Like so many other liners, the Empress of Britain was often portrayed in art deco style travel posters.
Period travel posters showing the Empress of Britain.
Like the real ship, the Dinky 51D model is the third longest in the 51 series at 130 mm, Europa being the longest at 165 mm, followed by Rex at 152 mm. However, in reality the Rex had the largest gross tonnage. The model’s hull and superstructure are all white, like the impressive liner. The sides of the life boats are accentuated with manually applied dashes of dark brown paint. The deck hatch covers, wheelhouse roof and wire masts are painted mid-brown, and the air intakes are touched up with dots of red paint. Apparently it wasn’t feasible for Meccano to apply the tricky slim green line all along the hull and the more appropriate green tops to the life boats.
I was delighted to recently find a larger M 548 Mercator 1:1250 representation of this ship, which clearly shows the differences between the Dinky Toy and the Mercator model. Even after taking the 50% larger size and greater detail of the Mercator into account, the Dinky model appears considerably less ambitious. More details have been omitted from the Dinky model than the inevitable generalization of the model’s features for the 1:1800 scale would have demanded. The Dinky was initially sold as a relatively inexpensive and compact diecast toy, whereas the Mercator rendition is a heavier, vulnerable and more expensive collector’s model made out of white metal.
Mercator RMS Empress Of Britain 1931 Liner Model 1:1250 M‑548.
Image: Boat House Collectables.
The Dinky Empress of Britain introduced under the initial early Meccano Dinky Toys brand in 1934, is best known as part of the contents of the No. 51 Dinky Toys Famous Liners Set box, which had several variations over the course of the 1930s. A separate model, however, was also available. They were sold by the retailer from trade boxes containing twelve models, which seem considerably scarcer nowadays than the full set presentation boxes.
Like the Italian liner Rex, the Empress of Britain didn’t survive World War II. She was attacked by a German long-range bomber and subsequently torpedoed by a submarine on 26 October 1940 and finally sank on 28 October, making it the largest allied liner lost during World War II, fortunately with only few casualties. I believe many Dinky models of this ship have also perished, though less from enemy action than metal fatigue.