Hornby Railroad Coaches & Wagons

The Beatles require almost no introduction, it is hard to imagine a corner of the globe where their punchy sounds have not been heard in the almost 60 years they have achieved mainstream success. 'A Hard Days Night' is many things, it is a musical comedy film starring the Beatles, it is a Beatles themed hotel in Liverpool, and an album containing the films soundtrack. 

In 'A Hard Days Night' the Beatles are able to escape a groups of fans mad with Beatlemania onboard a train bound for London and what better way to celebrate this film and its sound track than with this wonderfully decorated licenced wagon.

The Beatles require almost no introduction, it is hard to imagine a corner of the globe where their punchy sounds have not been heard in the almost 60 years they have achieved mainstream success.'The Beatles' is the only double album released by The Beatles in all their years of producing. 

The album features an uncharacteristically plain cover, with a solid white background only broken by the album and band name, The Beatles. It is for this reason that the album is often referred to as the 'White Album'. The album is often regarded as one of the best albums of all time, and features some of the most legendary Beatles songs such as 'Back in the USSR', 'Dear Prudence', 'Helter Skelter' and 'Glass Onion'.

The Beatles require almost no introduction, it is hard to imagine a corner of the globe where their punchy sounds have not been heard in the almost 60 years they have achieved mainstream success.'1962 – 1966' is a compilation album released by the Beatles in 1973. Due to the background colour of the album cover it is sometimes referred to as the 'Red Album'. 

As a compilation, the album features some of the most iconic Beatles songs released between 1962 and 1966. In the same year the Beatles released '1967 – 1970', a second such compilation album covering the years mentioned in the title, with a background colour providing the nickname the Blue Album.

The Beatles require almost no introduction, it is hard to imagine a corner of the globe where their punchy sounds have not been heard in the almost 60 years they have achieved mainstream success.This wagon celebrates the first two albums released by the Beatles 'Please Please Me' and 'With the Beatles'. 

'Please Please Me' kickstarted the Beatles success, with the album featuring songs such as 'Love Me Do' and 'Twist and Shout'. The roaring success of the album was followed by 'With the Beatles' an album featuring such songs as 'Little Child' and 'Please Mr. Postman' a cover of the song by the same name from the ground breaking group the Marvelettes.

The SAA Steel Carrier is a type of two axle flat wagon with a very specific use which would result in their life as the SAA designation being relatively short lived. Introduced in 1966, the first withdrawals took place in 1971 following an accident at the foot of Beattock summit in Scotland. 

By 1976 over half of the wagons found themselves rebuilt and redesignated as the FPA container flat wagons, in the ten years preceding this the SAAs were under used, warranting the rebuilds. No SAA container wagons remain in service in 2023, with only a handful of the rebuilt variants still in storage.

The OAA wagon could be seen as a logical progression of the open wagons of yore, they had no explicit purpose in mind upon introduction but to haul a large amount of cargo wherever was required. Introduced in 1971 with a carrying capacity of 31 tonnes the OAA wagons had drop side doors on each side for the easy loading and unloading of cargo. 

The OAA wagons saw conversions and rebuilds within a few years of introduction as the railways undertook a move towards specific rolling stock for specific uses, and the need for general wagons became reduced. Many wagons would go on to enter departmental service. A small handful of the wagons are still in service, although these tend to be used as barrier vehicles in the modern era.

The VDA van is a type of air-braked closed van built by BR between 1969 and 1977. The vans, reminiscent of a classic vent van albeit extended served a very similar purpose to their stout predecessors. The VDA was a general use van designed to haul anything and everything. 

The VDA vans were used on 'Speedlink' services designed to quickly haul general freight around the country. The wagons were rapidly withdrawn after the 'Speedlink' service was discontinued, many of them being adopted by the engineering departments as materials carriers.
This van carries the red and yellow paint scheme applied by the Signal & Telegraph department with their SATLINK lettering and allocation to the Western region engineers.

The OAA wagon could be seen as a logical progression of the open wagons of yore, they had no explicit purpose in mind upon introduction but to haul a large amount of cargo wherever was required. Introduced in 1971 with a carrying capacity of 31 tonnes the OAA wagons had drop side doors on each side for the easy loading and unloading of cargo. 

The OAA wagons saw conversions and rebuilds within a few years of introduction as the railways undertook a move towards specific rolling stock for specific uses, and the need for general wagons became reduced. Many wagons would go on to enter departmental service. A small handful of the wagons are still in service, although these tend to be used as barrier vehicles in the modern era.