Early Railways Eras 1 & 2

Chaldron wagons were among the first types of railway wagons used in Britain, a very basic wagon designed for conveying coal and mostly owned by the colliery owners. Although replaced in regular railway service around the end of the 19th century chaldron wagons were still used around collieries and coal loading docks into the 1950s.

Number 58 'Tiger' was the sister engine to 'Lion', one of a plethora of locomotives named after animals as became the norm for the fledgling L&MR. Like its sister engine, 'Tiger' was designed as a luggage (goods) engine and was delivered from Todd, Kitson and Laird alongside 'Lion', having been constructed at the same time as part of the same order, the first two locomotives to be built at the Railway Foundry in Leeds.
Tiger is a newly tooled locomotive, designed in 2022, a Next18 decoder socket for DCC operation with a pre-fitted speaker allow this model to be enhanced on a digital layout. The locomotive itself features separately fitted brass details, a plethora of diecast and etched parts as well as a stunning electroplated boiler.

An intricately detailed third class coach model in a blue finish. The accessory bag contains two chain couplings.

The Maglight system is a new development by Hornby that provides lighting in coaches with minimum fuss and no excessive drag because power is provided on board the coach and not by a tension pick up on the axle. The Maglight system consists of an LCD strip, small button battery and a reed switch. Once installed the lights are switched on and off by just passing a ‘magnet wand’ over the coach roof. The small easily replaced button battery provides in excess of 200 hours of power making the Maglight system a simple but effective way of lighting coaches with the minimum of fuss. The new system is already fitted to many of the new six and four wheel coaches but for those who wish to retro fit the Maglight the installation is both simple and very effective. Maglight also allow the modeller to be selective as to which coach lights are on or off and without the need to install expensive decoders.

Chaldron wagons were among the first types of railway wagons used in Britain, a very basic wagon designed for conveying coal and mostly owned by the colliery owners. Although replaced in regular railway service around the end of the 19th century chaldron wagons were still used around collieries and coal loading docks into the 1950s.

The Diagram 1410 van was the most numerous ventilated van built by the London & South Western Railway (LSWR). Construction began in 1885 and more than 1,000 were built, with various detail differences introduced over the lifetime of the vans. These characterful vehicles feature outside framing, sliding doors and were built with a reduced height when compared with vans built later on. This particular model depicts one such Diagram 1410 van in original LSWR livery which is fitted with Morton Clutch brakes, Panter axle boxes and plain tapered buffers. From 1912 the LSWR built further vans to the new Diagram 1406 which were some 7 inches taller than the Diagram 1410, followed soon after by Diagram 1408 vans which featured hinged doors rather than sliding – this allowed the van body to be slightly wider, increasing the payload. Both of these further types also feature in the EFE Rail range.

The Diagram 1410 van was the most numerous ventilated van built by the London & South Western Railway (LSWR). Construction began in 1885 and more than 1,000 were built, with various detail differences introduced over the lifetime of the vans. These characterful vehicles feature outside framing, sliding doors and were built with a reduced height when compared with vans built later on. In addition to its own fleet, the LSWR also constructed ten vans for the Somerset & Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR). Curiously, the same Diagram number was assigned to this build despite the obvious difference – the lack of vents on the ends. Finished in S&DJR Grey livery, this model is fitted with a single sided brake, Panter axle boxes and plain tapered buffers.

As travel time by railway was superior to that of road travel by coach, coach companies sought new ways to compete, leading to mail coaches and stagecoaches being loaded onto the 'open carriage waggons' for onward travel to places such as Liverpool or Manchester. These connecting, or 'branch coaches' were to become the antecedent for the Branch Line railways of the future.

This flatbed wagon comes complete in a vibrant L&MR green livery. The accessory bag contains two chain couplings.