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Prototype Era
Era 4 (1948 to 1956) British Railways Early Crest
Britain’s railways were developed primarily to move freight and the early railway companies employed vans of many different designs to transport goods and merchandise that required covered transport. Each railway company had its own designs, some of which were intended for specific traffic like this Fruit Van built by the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER). The fruit vans sported louvres at each end and ventilators on the roof to allow fresh air to circulate within, keeping fruit fresh during its journey.
This Branchline models depicts one of those wooden bodied vans and the planked body is replicated with fine engraving, with precision moulding to capture every detail of the sliding doors and their mechanism, topped off with a separately fitted metal door handle. On the roof, the six ventilators are each moulded in full relief before being added individually, the central pair being offset as per the prototype.
The chassis employs metal wheelsets of the 3-hole disc variety around which safety loops are added from formed metal wire, whilst the brakes, brake handles and associated gear is all included. Representing a van fitted with vacuum brakes, the brake cylinder is mounted underneath the wagon and brake pipes are fitted to each bufferbeam alongside metal buffer heads cosmetic coupling hooks.
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The Bachmann LNER 12T Ventilated Fruit Van (model 38‑385B) is a OO‑scale (4 mm) representation of an early British Railways fruit van in the original BR Bauxite (Early) livery. It depicts a wooden‑bodied van built for the London and North Eastern Railway, featuring louvred doors at each end, six roof ventilators and a metal door handle, all rendered with engraved planking and detailed mouldings.
The chassis includes metal 3‑hole disc wheelsets, safety loops formed from wire, and a full set of vacuum‑brake equipment. Brake cylinders are mounted beneath the wagon, with brake pipes along each buffer beam, metal buffer heads, cosmetic coupling hooks and NEM coupling pockets. The model measures 90 mm over the couplings and carries the running number E222078.