Peco 9ft RCH mineral wagons

Peco’s range of N gauge steam-era rolling stock increases further still, with more liveries applied to its newest tooling of the 9ft Railway Clearance House (RCH) seven-plank side and end-door, and 9ft RCH seven-plank side door wagons.

We received six examples for review, all based around the manufacturer’s 2019 tooling of the 9ft wheelbase wooden-type chassis (NR-120), also available to purchase separately with an RRP of £5.99. This new selection of additions covers pre-grouping to BR liveries on its end-door wagon, with NE, LMS, SR and BR, and a private-owner variant in the attractive and high-contrasting yellow and red of Colman’s Mustard, with a GW livery for its side-door tooling.

What we like

All wagons supplied feature very free-running wheels on pin-point axles. Detail to wagon bodies is carried out to a high standard, with a scale appearance to plank lines, wagon strapping, hinges, and rivets. 

Importantly, none of the detail is lost through livery application, which across all models is sharp. In addition, the finely-detailed wagon brake shoes align with wheel treads.

These wagons can withstand being handled, while having a very respectable scale appearance when viewed from above. 

What we noticed

RCH buffers and the brake lever appear a little over-scale – for strength, no doubt – the ‘wall’ thickness of plastic to the upper body looks a match to scale, while interior plank detail is present, too.

Read Howard Smith's full review of these wagons in the March 2023 issue of BRM, available as a back issue with hundreds more as part of a World of Railways subscription. Discover the benefits of joining here.

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