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.
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. 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!
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 these Rapido Trains wagons replicate wagons built following the updated specifications issued in 1907. This specification was the base standard for mineral wagons until after the grouping, when a new specification for a slightly larger wagon body was issued in 1923.
The adoption of a standard wagon and set of components allowed wagons to be built and maintained more easily, repair yards needing to stock only the standard parts would have spare parts ready available, returning wagons to traffic quickly. 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.
Almost all of the privately owned wagons operating in Britain were requisitioned at the outbreak of WW2 and at nationalisation in 1948 the new British Railways Board insisted that all wagons transferred to them were 'free from encumbrance', thereby requiring the government to settle with the wagons' previous owners. British Railways allocated number blocks prefixed P to get their former private owner, 'Ex-PO' or 'XPO' wagons numbered into a logical series. As the RCH 1907 wagons were often getting rather worn out after 30-40 years service repairs were limited to replacement planks, often leaving visible traces of the previous owners' livery. Once major repairs were needed the wagons were usually scrapped, so repainting into BR grey was rare on these older wagons.
WD No.81797
- RCH 1907 Spec 12t Open Wagon
- War Department No. 81797
- 7-plank wagon with side doors
- Oil axleboxes
- Twin-sided brakes
- Angled V-hangers
- Plain tapered buffers
- Split-spoke wheels running in metal bearings
- High level of detail above and below the floor line
- High quality livery application
- NEM coupler pockets
- 1:76 scale, (OO gauge)
- UK designed