PROTOTYPE. 25 of these iconic bogie brake vans were built from new by the Southern Railway from July 1936 for operating on fast fully fitted goods trains. These vans were built to diagram 1550 but were universally known as "Queen Marys". After nationalisation they continued in general use into the 1970s and became distributed around many parts of the British Railways system.
  From 1961 vans started to receive additional air brakes. These air brakes helped the vans to have remarkable working lives beyond the 1970s on special duties and departmental service. Examples working throughout the first decade of the 21st Century. In 2008 I surveyed an example belonging to EWS and stationed in Bescot Marshalling Yard for the development of this kit.

  KIT. To try and do justice to the prototype the kit is very detailed and of a sophisticated design. The amount of work required is far more than would normally be expected for a wagon. Approach construction with the same mindset as for say a small locomotive and you should find it then provides many hours of pleasantly challenging model making and produce a brake van of distinction.
  I am happy to stand by this kit as the best work that I can achieve and its probably as good as I will ever get. I hope that you find this reflected in your modelling experience.

  Downloading the instruction booklets as a PDF print off will allow you to evaluate the kit and its construction and help you determine its suitability for yourself and your project.