Hornby R40102

Open Carriage Pack containing 3x Open Carriages (Stephenson's Rocket)

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

Prototype Era
Era 1 (1804 to 1874) Pioneering

Manufacturer description

Having established the concepts of first and second class rail travel, it was only a matter of time before railway companies created a lower fare 'third class' for the carriage of the working classes, especially in the densely populated industrial areas. Companies such as the Manchester, Bolton & Bury Railway, the Manchester and Leeds Railway and the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne & Manchester Railway all used open third class carriages, mostly for standing passengers, but sometimes fitted with a rudimentary bench (or benches).

The L&MR considered the possibility of creating a third class as early as 1839, due largely to market pressure from the MB&BR and M&LR, but the directors were afraid that, with its lower fares, it would draw passengers away from the first and second class trains. The introduction of third class travel on the L&MR dates to April 1844, when the Board ordered new enclosed second class coaches to replace the older 'blue boxes', which were then downgraded to third class.

The first of the L&MR third class train services ran in October 1844, departing from Manchester at 06:30 and from Liverpool at 18:30.

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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.