Hornby’s TT:120 LB&SCR Third Class Four-Wheel Coach is finished in the dark red livery of the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway. This coach features the distinctive round LB&SCR crest with the coach number at its centre. A faithful representation of the everyday passenger stock that served bustling commuter routes and rural branch lines alike.

History

These four-wheel coaches are typical of the type that was operating at the end of the 19th century and into the early part of the 20th. Introduced by many of the pre-Grouping companies before the more comfortable bogie-coaches became common place. As new, more modern coaches were introduced, the four-wheelers were often cascaded down to rural branch lines and where passenger numbers were much lighter. 

Some survived into the 1950s and ‘60s, by virtue of their relative isolation from the major centres of operation, while others found further use as departmental vehicles. When these small vehicles were retired, often their bodies were bought-up by local people for use as summer homes, but especially by farmers who found they made good chicken coops or storage sheds. 

The chassis from the coaches often found further use as goods wagons. Because so many of these wooden bodies found their way into private hands, good number have survived to be saved by preservationists, who have refurbished them and mounted them onto suitable underframes for use on heritage trains.