RCH WAGONS ON THE RECORD

Although published a couple of years ago, this review sample only emerged recently, having been misplaced within the depths of Model Rail’s labyrinthine headquarters during the Covid lockdown. Penned by wagon expert David Larkin, this is the third volume of a series examining the acquired wagons of British Railways.

The focus of this book is the wooden bodied mineral wagons built in their thousands to the Railway Clearing House’s (RCH) 1923 specification. Initially rated at 12‑ton capacity, the outbreak of the Second World War led to them being uprated to 13 tons, and the wagons were employed primarily at that time to carry coal or coke.

Many slight variations arose, in terms of the number of planks on the bodyshell, plus side, end and bottom discharge door arrangements, as specified by the wagons’ owners at the outset. Following nationalisation, BR inherited vast numbers of these wagons, many of which lasted in use well into the 1960s.

This is a vital resource for modellers looking to customise RTR models or finish kit‑built wagons in any scale, with plenty of detailed information and images provided, highlighting equipment and detail variations, along with a range of private owner and railway company liveries.

Most useful of all are the lists of known ‘P’‑prefixed BR numbers for each wagon type – something which has, historically, not been easy information to obtain.

Book: The Acquired Wagons of British Railways Volume 3, by David Larkin (Crécy)

Price: £25.00

Availability: www.crecy.co.uk