Up until the Second World War, the 7-plank coal wagon was the province of private industry and vast quantities were in use on our railways. Some were owned by the mines, some by coal factors operating on a large scale and some were owned by local coal merchants meeting domestic needs with one or two wagons each. The impracticality of private ownership of coal wagons had been realised in the First World War but it was not until the Second World War that they were pooled under the Ministry of War Transport. With the nationalisation of the mines, many ended up in the ownership of the National Coal Board but others were taken over by the nationalised railway industry in 1948. These were painted grey and allotted a British Railways number prefixed with the letter 'P'. Bachmann have repeatedly produced models of these 'P' prefixed wagons and the latest is illustrated here. This is numbered P38099.
Model Railway Express
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