Rapido Trains UK produce a newly tooled range of 5 & 7 plank open wagons replicating those built to the Railway Clearing House (RCH) 1907 design specifications.
This comprehensive range covers all manner of private owner, pre-grouping and big four era colour schemes as well as some special one-off fictional liveries.
A second batch of these popular vehicles has now arrived in stock - comprising a whopping 29 different variations! This new range includes pre-grouping, Big Four and War Department railway liveries, private industrial owner wagons as well as some fictitious versions depicting the Big Four Chief Engineers.
New Batch - In stock Now
Previous Batch - In Stock Now
Rails Exclusive SECR Wagons - In Stock Now
Product Features:
Highly detailed model with many separate parts including handbrake levers, couplings, buffers and more
Accurate tooling variations for 5 & 7 plank vehicles as well as many small detail differences
Metal wheels and axles with metal bearings
Intricately applied liveries & printing
NEM tension lock couplings
Prototype Information
A major part of the UK’s railway scene from the very early days, private owner wagons could be seen beyond nationalisation just about anywhere in the country, with over half a million of various types being inherited by British Railways in 1948.
In the early days, such wagons were not built to any sort of standards, leading to numerous accidents due to poor design, construction and maintenance, so in 1887, the Railway Clearing House set out the first set of standards for private owner wagon construction. These standards were updated several times, and we have chosen to model 5- and 7-plank wagons to the 1907 standards – the first time these wagons have been offered ready-to-run in 4mm scale, with several detail variations to suit the individual wagons modelled.
Many thousands of private owner wagons were built to the RCH standards and many lasted until BR started to phase out wooden-bodied wagons in the 1960s – making these wagons ideal for anyone who model pre-grouping, grouping and the early British Railways years. Those in industrial service continued to earn their keep until much later.
Individual coal merchants and companies might own as few as one wagon, up to several hundred, while collieries and coal factors could own thousands, which could be seen anywhere on the railway network that their product needed to go. It wasn’t unknown for Scottish colliery wagons to be seen in Kent!
Most owners would prominently display their names on the wagon sides as advertising, and while some wagons were fairly plain, others could be seen in bright, eye-catching liveries. We’ve tried to provide a variety to suit all tastes.