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Bachmann 39-614

SE&CR 60ft Birdcage Composite Lavatory SE&CR Wellington Brown

Manufacturer catalogue image - please note that pre-release images may be CAD renders or CGI/AI images rather than photographs

Prototype Era
Era 2 (1875 to 1923) Pre-grouping

Manufacturer description

Highlights

• both bodyside window configurations tooled for
• flush-glazed
• correct window corner radii
• fully detailed interior with partitions 
• saloon tables 
• lavatories appropriate to prototype
• fully decorated seating painted in accurate colours
• exquisite underframe detailing
• finely mounded brake details
• 4 sets of very finely moulded queen post truss rodding and turnbuckles
• Dynamos and battery boxes fitted to the SE&CR composite as prototype
• Dynamos fitted to the SR / BR Composite and the Brake Third as per prototype
• all new well detailed 8ft Heavy Fox coil spring bolster bogies 
• metal wheels sets and pin point axles running in metal bearings 
• Detachable couplings in NEM pockets 
• close coupling mechanism

Separately applied fittings include:

• roof vents
• vacuum pipes
• handrails 
• grab handles 
• lamp irons and brake control apparatus (Brake coaches only)

 

History

 

Sixty-two 60ft three coach ‘birdcage’ sets were introduced by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR) between 1912 and 1915. The characteristic birdcage lookouts over each of the guards compartments give these sets their name and typify standard SE&CR non-corridor coaching stock. With their distinct character, being of pre-grouping origin, these sets were long lived and little modified during their lifetime, so have a wide applicability to modellers.

 

The sets comprised  2nd/ 3rd class composite Brake Lavatory (later declassified to Brake Lavatory Third), a 1st / 2nd (later declassified to 1st/ 3rd) Lavatory Composite  and Brake Third. The Composites were built in batches with two distinct body side variations. The initial order had two wide windows on each side for the saloon, and the later examples had one wide and one narrow window for the saloon.

 

Catalogue listing

Model details

Prototype information

^* Class names often change over the lifespan of a locomotive, so this is not necessarily the class name used by the operator in the period modelled.

Bachmann South Eastern & Chatham Railway 60‑ft Birdcage Composite Lavatory, livery Wellington Brown, is a 260 mm model in pristine condition. It represents a pre‑grouping SE&CR 60‑ft birdcage coach, classified as CL (Composite Lavatory) and fitted with both directional and interior lighting, passenger figures and period‑accurate detailing.

The model includes accurate bodyside window configurations with flush‑glazed panes and correct corner radii, a fully detailed interior with partitions, saloon tables, and lavatories matching the prototype. Seating is painted in the correct colours and the underframe shows fine brake and truss rod detailing. Dynamos, battery boxes, metal wheels, pin‑point axles in metal bearings and detachable NEM couplings are modelled to prototype standards, together with eight‑foot Heavy Fox coil‑spring bolster bogies.

Historically the SE&CR introduced sixty‑two 60‑ft three‑coach birdcage sets between 1912 and 1915. These non‑corridor coaches featured the distinctive birdcage look‑outs over the guard’s compartments and were built in two bodyside window variants. The composite coach was originally a first/second class Lavatory Composite and is reproduced here with the original Wellington Brown livery.