Rapido Trains UK have announced a newly tooled range of LMS Diagram D1832A and D1663 12 ton Goods Vans in OO Gauge!
These all new OO Gauge models of the LMS D1832A and D1663 12-Ton Vans will feature the usual wealth of detail that you've come to expect from Rapido, including tooling variants covering prototypes with and without ventilators, numerous separately-fitted parts, 3-hole disc and spoked wheel varieties, brass bearings for smooth friction-free running, NEM coupling pockets, and a high-quality livery application.
The LMS D1832A and D1663 12-Ton Vans have 23 different liveries for you to choose from and they are available to pre-order now!
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Product Features
Highly detailed model with separately fitted parts
Tooling variations for vans with or without ventilators fitted
3-hole disc or spoked wheel variations
Brass bearings for smooth, friction-free running
NEM tension lock couplings
High quality livery application
Prototype Information
Following the grouping of the railways in 1923, the newly-formed London,Midland and Scottish Railway inherited a whole host of ageing and dilapidated freight stock from their pre-grouping predecessors.
To remedy this and remain competitive, the LMS undertook a massive modernisation programme of its freight stock. Though many of the designs were either adapted or simply copied from pre-grouping companies, a swathe of brand-new prototypes started rolling off the production line in late 1923. The humble box van was no exception.
Production of the newly-conceived 9ft wheelbase Dia.1663 12-Ton Vansbegan in 1924 and 850 wagons were produced over two years. Standing outamongst a sea of hinged doored and wooden-ended vans, the Dia.1663 vansfeatured a stylish sliding door, corrugated steel ends and internal steel crossbraces at one end to facilitate the clearance of the sliding doors.
The LMS had a habit of applying new diagram numbers to almost identical prototypes that featured only minor differences and the sliding door 12-Ton vans of the 1920s and 30s were no different.
Much like their earlier counterparts, the Dia.1832A 12-ton vans had the same sliding door, 9ft wheelbase, corrugated steel end and cross-brace design, however, they also featured a single ventilator bonnet at either end. Somevariants were produced with roof vents for extra ventilation.
The Dia.1832A were then fitted with different headstocks and buffers. With added ventilation, a greater variety of freight traffic could be transported throughout the LMS network and beyond.
This later diagram clearly refined the design as a whopping 3,450 vans were built between 1929 and 1931.
Surviving into the late years of Nationalisation, both the LMS D1832A and D1663 12-Ton Vans could be found up and down the country, some still soldiered on in departmental use way into the 1970s.