BAYKO in Sri Lanka

I'm afraid I currently have no BAYKO related documents from the Sri Lankan market, however, an email from Roger Thiedeman has provided useful information.

His much loved BAYKO was sold off “for a pittance” prior to the move, reaffirming the fact that a buoyant second hand toy market wasn't unique to the U.K.!

Roger reports that his BAYKO sets were bought from CHANDS toys and sporting goods store and/or the CARGILLS department store in Colombo.

I can't find any reference to CHANDS on the net, but [right] is a view of CARGILLS, clearly a substantial operation, shown courtesy of superstock.com…

…an impressive facade don't you think, and an interesting skyline contrast‽

Roger started with a set #0, which was rapidly stretched to a set #3, by acquiring the necessary conversion sets. Apparently the Ceylon government introduced austerity measures in 1961/2 which banned non-essential imports, so it's possible that MECCANO era BAYKO never made it to the local shops - unless, of course, common sense prevailed and BAYKO was recognised as being an essential import!!!

I'm afraid I don't have any more information on BAYKO in Sri Lanka, but if you can help with further details, then I'd love to hear from you…