The North-West of England is where modern railways began in 1830, with the port of Liverpool joined to the manufacturing city of Manchester by the first inter-city line in the world, and within a few decades the rail network had spread to every corner of the country. A century later the railways were carrying every imaginable type of goods from anywhere to everywhere, with a vast and varied fleet of wagons to carry any type of load you could think of. And as if this wasn't variety enough, a great many of the railways' regular customers bought or leased wagons of their own, with their own names and slogans writ large upon them. Goods trains of the steam era would have all types of wagons and vans coupled up to each other, and every colliery or mill or refinery would want their name and livery to stand out amongst all the others. In this parade of corporate machismo you can be sure that Jas.Williamson of Lancaster, Rainford Tar Products and the Mersey Docks & Harbour Board would have been no exception. The nationalisation of the 1940s swept all this into history, to be replaced by the drab austerity of the post-war era, but you can bring back the heyday of private-owner goods wagons on your layout with our North West Set.

Please note that these wagons are boxed individually.