Available from rapidotrains.co.uk. List price £99.95 (approximately $121.50 as of this writing) Item no. 922004
Pluses
Highly detailed models of standard British railroading wagons (freight cars) decorated for fictional privet-owner cars inspired by the 1953 Ealing Studios film, The Titfield Thunderbolt. Models feature NEM coupler pockets with hook and loop couplers, free-rolling metal wheels, separately applied brake details, and crisp paint and lettering.
Minuses
Cars decorated for fictional businesses related to the movie.
Overview
Rapido Trains UK Titfield Thunderbolt-inspired wagon 3-pack: Rapido Trains UK has released a 3-pack of freight cars as part of its limited-run release of models celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Ealing Studios film, The Titfield Thunderbolt. Unlike Rapido’s Titfield Thunderbolt train set, which models the locomotive and rollingstock as used in the movie, this 3-pack of cars features liveries inspired by the film, but not actually used in it. The pack includes one each of a 1907 RCH private owner 5-plank and 7-plank open-topped wagon (gondola), as well as a Great Western diagram V6 iron-bodied “Mink” goods van (boxcar). The models feature a wealth of separately applied details and are both fun and festive in their bright colors and billboard lettering.
The cars are made from plastic and metal and include free-rolling metal wheels, crisp paint and lettering, and non-working doors. All three feature separately applied brake detail. The models have NEM coupler pockets and come with hook-and-loop couplers, the standard for British model trains. If you’re like me, you can covert the hook-and-loop couplers to Kadee’s NEM couplers quickly and easily. Coupler height matches other Rapido UK stock, including the rest of the items from its Titfield Thunderbolt line.
Private-owner Wagons
The two open-topped cars in the set are based on a Railway Clearing House 1907 standard design for private-owner wagons. Private owner wagons are just as they sound – freight cars owned by private companies to exclusively carry their finished goods and raw materials. To ensure conformity, the Railway Clearing House (RCH) provided standard designs for cars designated the plan by the year. No matter who owned them, cars built to RCH standards could be used and interchanged on all standard-gauge rail companies in England.
Before 1948, these cars with their colorful liveries could be found all over England. After nationalization, which consolidated the 4 remaining major railroads into the government-run British Railways, private ownership of freight cars disappeared, and the colorfully painted wagons eventually did too. At its creation in the late ‘40s, British Railways (BR) inherited more than a half-million former private owner wagons. Some were refurbished and repainted into standard BR colors while others were scrapped due to age and deferred maintenance. All wood freight cars were phased out of the BR system in the 1960s.
Open-topped wagons were used to haul raw materials, including gravel, sand, coal, and scrap iron, as well as finished goods, such as lumber or machinery, which was sometimes protected under tarps. This type of wagon is referred to by the number of boards, called planks, used to make the sides. In addition, wagons could include doors on the sides or ends, as well as no doors at all.
5- and 7-plank wagons
Rapido’s Thunderbolt set includes a 5-plank car with side doors and a 7-plank wagon with doors on both sides and one end. The 5-plank wagon is decorated for Pearce & Crump, a business featured in the movie, and it is lettered for hauling scrap metal. It’s bright blue paint and white lettering with red drop shadows is crisply rendered.
The 7-plank wagon is decorated for the fictious Titfield Coal company and features a dark green body with black accents and white lettering with red drop shadows. In a nod to the movie, it features a picture of the Titfield Thunderbolt locomotive on its side doors.
The vast majority of private owner wagons were owned by Collieries, and even in the 1950s, the time period of the film, every small town received carloads of coal to heat its homes and businesses. Having a private owner 7-plank wagon for Titfield coal fits right in with the era.
Both wagons feature Morton V-hanger brake gear, nicely rendered as separately applied parts. The 5-plank wagon has brakes on both sides, and the 7-plank wagon has the brake gear on just one side. Installing brakes on a single side of the car provided owners a cost-savings option.
The wheels on the Pearce & Crump car feature white-lined tires, which was commonly applied at the factory for a car’s builder’s photo. Although it is esthetically pleasing, the white paint would soon wear off or be covered in dirt. The wagons also feature a painted interior, simulating the exposed wood inside the car body.
Iron-bodied goods van
The third car in the set is an iron-bodied goods van, based upon the Great Western Railway’s V6 “Iron Mink” design. A goods van is essentially a small boxcar and can have two fixed axles or be mounted on a pair of two-axle bogies (trucks to those in the US). It is completely enclosed to protect its cargo.
As explained in the Rapido literature, facing a shortage of wood to build freight cars in the 1800s, the GWR used metal to build this series of vans to the V6 design, hence the “iron” designation. The GWR’s plans were shared to private owner car builders as well, essentially using the design’s metal body and roof, but then mounting it atop the builder’s own underframes and running gear.
The name “Mink” comes from the Great Western’s names for telegraphic codes to identify its cars. Mink was a general term used for goods vans. Often a letter followed the name to indicate a particular type of van, such as Mink C, which meant it was a goods van with ventilators.
The set’s goods van is decorated in a striking light blue and red paint scheme for Valentine & Taylor Wines & Spirits. In the film, Titfield’s railroad is financed by the wealthy Mr. Valentine, who also spends most of his time at the local pub along with Dan Taylor, the small railroad’s lone fireman.
Like the wagons, the goods van features a Morton V-hanger brake system, and it also has white painted tires on its wheels.
Verdict
Although not actually used in the film, for those who have purchased the other Titfield Thunderbolt 70th anniversary models from Rapido Trains UK, these film-inspired cars complete the set. As a plus, the decoration of the models mirrors the look and feel of authentic private owner cars found on British railroads until the late 1940s, allowing them to blend in well with their prototypical cousins.
While the models themselves are well detailed examples of their prototypes, it’s the paint schemes that really sell this set of cars. For those who are fans of both British railroad modeling, as well as the 1950s film, having the cars on your layout leaves great Easter eggs for others to find. I find the Pearce & Crump car particularly amusing, as it is named for the trucking and bus company that tried to put Titfield’s railway out of business. Being extremely limited run, if you want a set, you’ll need to catch the express and get to your local shop quickly. They’re already out of stock at Rapido Trains UK.
David: As a kids we would boo/hiss at Pearce &Crump and cheer whenever the “Thunderbolt” would pass through the scene… heck might just to watch it tonight and relive old memories, thanks for the review (might have to get a set) and for bringing back old memories.