The SER/SECR 5‑plank 10‑ton open wagon (SR Pre‑’36 brown, number 12998) is listed under manufacturer part number 824022 and represents the pre‑grouping period of British railway rolling stock.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, the South Eastern Railway experienced a sharp rise in freight traffic and ordered approximately 2 000 wagons from independent builders and its Ashford Works. Following the 1899 amalgamation with the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to form the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR), about 1 250 new open wagons were constructed between 1897 and 1901. These were split evenly between diagram 1340 (open goods) and diagram 1341 (open coal), built by Ashbury Railway Carriage and Iron Co, Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Co, Oldbury Railway Carriage and Wagon Co and the railway’s own Ashford Works, with subcontracting making exact builder numbers uncertain.
Both diagram types measure 15 ft 5 in in length with a 9 ft 4 in wheelbase. The principal visual difference is the end shape: diagram 1340 has rounded ends, while diagram 1341 features low‑D‑shaped ends fitted with a Williams pattern sheet rail. Many square‑ended examples were produced, and in 1912 a number of wagons were converted by removing the rounded ends. The SECR described the 1341 as suitable for both goods and coal, and they were used interchangeably throughout their service lives.
The Southern Railway inherited the majority of these wagons after the 1923 grouping. They were progressively withdrawn, the last diagram 1340 being retired in 1942 and the final diagram 1341 in 1948, by which time they had likely entered departmental stock and their running numbers were no longer recorded.
The model is supplied in 1:76 (OO gauge) scale, featuring split‑spoke wheels with metal bearings, NEM coupler pockets, a high level of detailing above and below the floor line, and a high‑quality brown livery applied in line with the SR pre‑1936 specification.
