The railways moved many things from people to goods and even livestock, the latter including significant numbers of horses and upon Nationalisation, British Railways inherited a variety of different types of horse box. As was the case with locomotives, passenger vehicles and many other types of rolling stock, BR soon set about introducing new vehicles to standard designs and horse boxes were not overlooked; from 1957 the BR Mk1 Horse Box was introduced using standard parts and designs shared with the Mk1 coaching stock series. The new Mk1 vehicles were express rated meaning they could run in passenger trains or in specially formed services rather than as part of goods trains, and when loaded the horse boxes would often be marshalled at the head of a passenger train, behind the locomotive.
Horses were transported around the country in these horse boxes, with concentrated traffic to and from racecourses during race events, however their introduction coincided with the growth in road transport and within a decade of their entry into traffic withdrawals had commenced. Most would be scrapped, although some found a new life in departmental use as steam heat or generator vans.
The Bachmann Branchline model is a fitting replica of this distinctive vehicle, from the profiled sides with their arrangements of doors and windows allowing not only the horse to be loaded from regular platforms but with space for the groom and all of the associated equipment too. Each door is completed with hinges, handles and separate metal handrails, along with the door bumpers on the doors and adjacent body panels and flush glazing is fitted to each window aperture. Ventilators are fitted separately to the roof while metal water filler pipes are fitted at one end to serve the groom’s toilet. Below the solebar a full complement of brake equipment and auxiliary gear, including the battery box and dynamo, is present and correct. The axleboxes are finely detailed, into which metal wheelsets are fitted and metal buffers are employed too.
At each end of the model a close coupling mechanism is built into the chassis, attached to which are NEM coupling pockets allowing simple interchange between different coupling systems. The livery application is crisp and faithful, extending beyond the basic paintwork to numbering and lettering, all reproduced using accurate typefaces and colours to add the finishing touches to this exquisite model.
MODEL FEATURES:
- Bachmann Branchline OO Scale
- Era 5
- Pristine BR (SR) Green livery
- Running No. S96374
- Accessory Pack
- NEM Coupling Pockets
- Close Coupling Mechanism
- Length 130mm (over couplings)
No extended details available.
