Rapido have announced their fifth (yes, FIFTH) batch of their popular OO Gauge Railway Clearing House design wagons!  

This new run includes yet another new tooling update  to cover the Gloucester 'Inside Diagonal' 7-plank variations and these happen to be the first ever RTR OO Gauge private owner wagons with internal ironwork strapping with full rivet detailing and decoration.

The range includes body tooling variants that cover wagons that had a length of 15' over their bodies, and those fitted with and without end doors. This creates a distinctly different wagon profile to add to your rakes. There are a whopping 18 variations to choose from covering all sorts of colourful private owner schemes.

The Gloucester Railway Carriage and Wagon Company were a staple of British rolling stock production for over 120 years. They designed and built a multitude of railway vehicles that were shipped across the world. Their portfolio extended way beyond the humble wagon, and included coaches, railcars and even battle tanks.

They often applied their skills to more specialist freight vehicles but continued building open wagons in their droves.

Due to the length of the company's tenure, designs inevitably evolved as railway technology improved. One that stood the test was the company's conventional 7-plank design, featuring an internal strapping design, and was 15' in length over its body. This design underwent very few changes between the 1890s and early 1920s, but versions were produced fitted with or without end doors.

Examples of these wagons were both sold and hired to private companies across the UK, with the hired versions being maintained by the Gloucester R. C. and W. Co.

After World War Two, the 10,000 wagons that made up the Gloucester R. C. and W. Co. hire fleet were nationalised. However, with newer designs being introduced by the company in the 1920s, the exact number of the 1890s 7-plank design inherited by BR remains a mystery. Sadly, no examples survived into preservation.