Graham Farish 374-788A BR Mk1 NPV (Ex-CCT) Covered Carriage Truck 'Red Star Express Parcels' No.M94590

Expected Delivery Feb/Mar 2025 (Subject to Change at Manufacturer's Discretion).

Upon Nationalisation, British Railways inherited a number of different types of Covered Carriage Trucks (CCTs), but all shared a common purpose – they were designed to carry a motor vehicle, and with the growing trend of car ownership, BR sought to boost its inherited fleet by building 822 CCTs to its own design. Classified as the Mk1 CCT, the vehicles were essentially shorter, 4-wheel versions of the bogie Mk1 General Utility Vehicles (GUVs) and the two types shared many common features; from their body profiles, the pair of full width doors at each end, and the pairs of large loading doors on each side which allowed the vehicles to be used to convey much more than motor vehicles – namely parcels, mail and general merchandise. Being express rated, the CCTs could run at speed and were often included as part of passenger trains. Whilst their use to move vehicles declined, particularly from the mid-1960s when BR opted to use only larger vehicles on Motorail services to make loading and unloading more efficient, the CCTs remained in traffic carrying parcels and other goods and more than 800 were still in use towards the end of the 1970s. The last revenue earning vehicles were withdrawn in 1988, but several soldiered on in departmental use and today, they can be found at many a preserved railway where they carry everything from the pushchairs of preservation's youngest enthusiasts to firefighting equipment to respond to lineside fires.

The Red Star Parcels service was established in 1963, and in many ways it was very similar to the ‘Click and Collect’ services that we are so familiar with nowadays, with parcels dropped off at pre-determined points – Red Star Parcels offices, which were more often than not at or aside a railway station – and then collected from the office at their destination, with trains conveying the parcels between their origin and destination. To promote the service, several vehicles associated with parcels traffic were decorated in a special Red Star Express Parcels livery during the 1980s, before its demise following Privatisation in the 1990s.

The Graham Farish model is highly detailed and makes a fine replica of this distinctive vehicle, from the flat sided profile to the end doors that were crucial for loading and unloading motor cars – these are moulded faithfully including hinges, door locking mechanisms, and even the safety chains are replicated in miniature. The double doors on each side are also neatly represented, complete with hinges, handles and handrails, along with the door bumpers on the doors and adjacent body panels and flush glazing is fitted to each window aperture. Ventilators and rain strips are moulded onto the roof, whilst below the solebar a full complement of brake equipment and auxiliary gear, including the battery boxes and dynamo, is present and correct. The axleboxes are finely detailed, into which metal wheelsets are fitted and metal buffers are employed too. The livery application is crisp and faithful, extending beyond the basic paintwork to numbering and lettering, all reproduced using accurate typefaces and colours.

MODEL FEATURES:

• Graham Farish N Scale
• Era 8
• Pristine BR Blue ‘Red Star Express Parcels’ livery
• Running No. M94590
• Accessory Pack
• NEM Coupling Pockets
• Close Coupling Mechanism
• Length 91mm (over couplings)