Rapido OO Gauge LMS Dia1666 5-plank open

[AY Mod]

Rapido UK announces all-new LMS Diagram 1666 open wagon

 

·       Widely used prototype

·       Multiple detail versions produced

·       UK designed

 

 

It’s well known that the newly formed London, Midland & Scottish Railway perpetuated many Midland Railway locomotive designs. However, it’s less well known that the LMS also did the same with some of its wagons too.

 

The LMS selected the MR’s final open wagon design, a five-plank four-wheel open, as its new standard and between 1923 and 1930 built a staggering 54,450 of them. There were more of what the LMS would call Diagram 1666 than the Southern Railway’s entire wagon fleet. Despite this, only a handful survive.

 

Sales & Marketing Manager Richard Foster said, “We’re delighted to add the Dia. 1666 to our growing range of steam-era wagons. It’s our intention for there to be complementary wagons for our locomotives – and vice versa – and the Dia. 1666 gives something for our forthcoming ‘Jones Goods’ to pull.”

 

The Dia. 1666 is another UK designed Rapido product. It will feature three different types of wheel (disc, spoked, and split-spoked) but only the independent brake version is being tooled (some batches received Morton brakes).

 

 

 

The wagons are available to order now, either from Rapido Trains UK stockists or from www.rapidotrains.co.uk

 

Model Factfile: ‘OO’ gauge LMS Dia. 1666 wagon

What liveries are we making?

·        937001: No. 24361, LMS grey

·        937002: No. 247185, LMS grey

·        937003: No. 134946, LMS grey

·        937004: No. 356761, LMS grey

·        937005: No. 268515, LMS grey

·        937006: No. 304008, LMS grey

·        937007: No. 217624, LMS bauxite

·        937008: No. 139905, LMS bauxite

·        937009: No. 304417, LMS bauxite

·        937010: No. M156572, BR grey

·        937011: No. M234421, BR grey

·        937012: No. M133488, BR grey

·        937013: No. M101524, BR grey

·        937014: No. DM29719, BR grey

·        937015: No. 84, Internal User livery

 

·        Price? £32.95

What stage is it at? Engineering prototype

When’s it due? 2023

Where can I find out more? www.rapidotrains.co.uk

[MrTea]

Nice. I like it how the NEM pockets are mounted in board a bit so the tension locks don’t stick out ludicrously. 

[Dunsignalling]

Brilliant choice. probably the commonest wagon on UK metals for part of its career. Hopefully the 10'wb fitted version will follow.

 

Looks like the screw holding the NEM mount is in the same position as on the GPV and the SECR wagons too, making it easy to remove it and fit my preferred #146 Kadees.

 

Only one decision for me to make; how many to buy!

 

Full marks. 

 

John

Edited November 26, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[gwrrob]

3 minutes ago, Dunsignalling said:

Only one decision for me to make; how many to buy!

 

I've built a few of the Cambrian kit but I'll still be wanting some of these.

[Dunsignalling]

The ICI livery (authentic) as portrayed by Airfix/GMR on their generic 5-plank would be a nice addition, though I'm not certain it should be the LMS wagon rather than RCH.*

 

Photo (credited to Don Rowland) on page 17 of

"Private Owner Freight Wagons on British Railways" by David Larkin

(Bradford Barton 1976)

 

John

 

* On closer inspection, that particular one is RCH, though I think some of the LMS wagons ended up with new owners as the "big railway" made progressively more use of fitted stock.

Edited November 26, 2022 by Dunsignalling

[Bucoops]

This is one I am amazed hasn't been tackled before - if you model any of the big 4 or later you need several. Having said that, the Cambrian kit is nice enough - perhaps to be seen cheap on ebay now? 

[farren]

Oh yes finally something I’ll be ordering a few of from Rapido. 

[Wheatley]

31 minutes ago, Bucoops said:

Having said that, the Cambrian kit is nice enough - perhaps to be seen cheap on ebay now? 

They aren't that dear new. 9 quid, plus around 3 quid for wheels and as easy as it gets for wagon kits. 

[57xx]

A slam dunk for a  long missed gap in RTR wagons. Even though I've already built at least half a dozen of the Cambrian kits, I'll probably still get one of these.

[MarkSG]

Good choice. I do like a nice 5-plank open wagon. I'll definitely be getting one of these. Possibly more than one. As has already been pointed out, their ubiquity makes them a no-brainer for practically any steam era layout set anywhere in the country.

[BMacdermott]

Congratulations to Rapido for these very useful vehicles!

 

They were Middle Polling in The 00 Wishlist Poll 2019 (and were not far out from High)

 

Brian (on behalf of The 00 Poll Team)

[Wickham Green too]

4 hours ago, Dunsignalling said:

The ICI livery (authentic) as portrayed by Airfix/GMR on their generic 5-plank would be a nice addition, though I'm not certain it should be the LMS wagon rather than RCH.

Probably 16'6'' long RCH ....... Looks like the Oxford one's not available https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/collections/oxford-rail/products/ici-lime-ltd-buxton.

[Zunnan]

Nice! And it leaves room for the Cambrian kits I have stashed to be built with Morton brakes.

 

I wonder if/when LMS vans will follow, those are a huge hole to fill too...😇

[Dunsignalling]

56 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Probably 16'6'' long RCH ....... Looks like the Oxford one's not available https://www.oxforddiecast.co.uk/collections/oxford-rail/products/ici-lime-ltd-buxton.

Yes, after I found the magnifying glass and had another look, I'm inclined to agree. 

 

John

[Compound2632]

This has to be the RTR announcement of the year. No GWR BLT should be without three or four.

[Wickham Green too]

1 minute ago, Compound2632 said:

... No GWR BLT should be without three or four.

Indeed - but one retailer e-mailed to tell me about these ( and some other stuff of no consequence  ) saying every Midland Region layout should have one ........... a slight understatement ! 🙄

[Compound2632]

6 minutes ago, Wickham Green too said:

Indeed - but one retailer e-mailed to tell me about these ( and some other stuff of no consequence  ) saying every Midland Region layout should have one ........... a slight understatement ! 🙄

 

Quite so. If I was in Rapido's shoes I would only be making them available in bulk packs of a dozen.

 

I saw the pre-production samples on the Rapido stand at the Warley show today. They are exquisite. I particularly noted the care that has been taken to represent the inset joggle in the brake vee-hanger at the bottom of the solebar, a distinctive feature of LMS wood-framed wagons. 

 

That's one thing you don't get with the Cambrian kit, which with all due respect to those who have sung its praises is not, I think, one of the best injection-moulded kits around. Their D1667 kit is better - though it uses their RCH steel underframe, so one does have to scrape off the PO wagon registration plate! But D1667 is an obvious direction to go in for a next development - and a highly numerous design in its own right, with 8,200 built. 

 

Rapido's blurb undersells D1666 - it was not simply more numerous than the entire Southern Railway wagon fleet, but 1.6 times as numerous (taking 31 Dec 1931 figures). Lumping D1666 and D1667 together, 1.8 times as numerous, or equal to almost three-quarters of the entire Great Western wagon fleet. However they constituted only a mere one-fifth of the LMS wagon fleet.

 

The D1666 was the single most numerous rolling stock design between the Midland Railway's D299 8-ton open and the BR 16-ton steel mineral wagon. The Midland wagons were built over a twenty year period, whereas D1666 was built over a mere seven years.

 

Producing a model of this wagon is an obvious no-brainer.

 

My only fear is that, because it is not a model of a unique prototype with a very restricted range of operation, there are many to whom it will have no appeal.

[57xx]

13 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

My only fear is that, because it is not a model of a unique prototype with a very restricted range of operation, there are many to whom it will have no appeal.

 

That's their loss, meanwhile everyone who actually appreciates them for what they are will be snapping them up.

[Wickham Green too]

20 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

...  D1667 is an obvious direction to go in for a next development ...

In the absence of anything else LMS on the same same timber chassis you're probably right ...... then leave the 10' WB timber chassis wagons for Accurascale/IRM who can do the dia.2073 at the same time.

[Aire Head]

40 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

D1667 is an obvious direction to go in for a next development

 

Strangely a D1667 would still mean a retool due to the differences in the corner plates. I never noticed it until I was looking at converting a 7mm D1667 into a D1666.

[MartinTrucks]

I assume that Rapido is/are aware that LMS grey changed in 1934 from a mid grey to the lighter bluey grey with which we are all familiar?

Regards,

Martin

[The Johnster]

Oh, yes, I’ll be ‘aving one of these, in late LMS or early BR livery, probably both.  Probably the most common 5-plank design at the grouping, the start of my nominally 1948-58 layout timeframe. 
 

Not if Rap only make them available in packs of a dozen though; what do you have against us poor pensioners, Compound2632?  I’ll have to wait until they start turning up singly on eBay at about £50 a pop, no thanks…

[Aire Head]

2 hours ago, MartinTrucks said:

I assume that Rapido is/are aware that LMS grey changed in 1934 from a mid grey to the lighter bluey grey with which we are all familiar?

Regards,

Martin

 

I suspect for the sakes of practically you are going to get one shade of LMS grey.

[Compound2632]

59 minutes ago, Aire Head said:

I suspect for the sakes of practically you are going to get one shade of LMS grey.

 

For now... Talking to the guys on the Rapido stand, I gathered that their thining is that this is a model that can run and run.

 

3 hours ago, MartinTrucks said:

I assume that Rapido is/are aware that LMS grey changed in 1934 from a mid grey to the lighter bluey grey with which we are all familiar?

 

I'm not sure I'd see the one as more familiar than the other?

 

The change you mention was followed within a couple of years by the change to bauxite, in May 1936. I wonder how many D1666s would have been repainted in that period? They were built at a steady rate over the period 1923-1930. Suppose, for the sake of argument, that one believes that wagons were repainted on average once every seven years.* Then wagons built in the period 1927 to early 1929 might be repainted in the later shade of grey, roughly two-sevenths of the D1666 fleet, at most.

 

A much greater variation in the shade of grey would arise from the chemical weathering of the white lead-based grey paint used up to the change to zinc white.

 

*I don't, myself; I think it more likely that the first time most of these wagons saw fresh paint it would have been bauxite; I would not be surprised if many of them received the 1936-style lettering without a repaint. 

[Aire Head]

12 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

For now... Talking to the guys on the Rapido stand, I gathered that their thining is that this is a model that can run and run.

 

Having researched D1666s extensively I can say they are the gift that keeps on giving as you just cannot help but find more of them!.