Rapido Trains UK has announced that it will produce the LNER/LMS 25t machine wagon, better known as the LOWMAC to railway enthusiasts.

The LOWMAC design dates back to the Great Central ‘MAC N’ 20t machine wagon. LNER upgraded the design in 1938 into the diagram 143 ‘MAC NV’ wagon, which improved the wagon’s carry weight to 22 tonnes.

Prior to production another batch of improvements were carried out, to meet wartime demands. The 12in-by-6in main longitudinal sections were replaced with 14in-by-6in equivalents, increasing the carry load to 25t, thus creating the diagram 173 ‘MAC PV’. The all-purpose implement truck featured four binding chains and sixteen lashing rings, so could carry any load within its weight limit.

Shildon Wagon Works built the diagram 173 ‘MAC PV’ Implement Trucks in 1943 and 1944. The first batch of sixty wagons assisted with heavy freight traffic heading to the South Coast delivering materials for use in the liberation of Europe. Thirty wagons went to the LMS, while the LNER kept the other thirty. In 1945, the LNER ordered a further two batches of twenty-five wagons, meaning that Shildon had now built 110 vehicles.

The 173 ‘MAC PV’ machine wagon were reclassified as LOWMAC EP. British Railways decided to build more of them, giving them the diagram number 2/242. The contract passed to P & W Maclellan in 1950, a further thirty-eight vehicles were produced. The LOWMAC continued serving Britain’s railways as an engineering vehicle into the twenty-first century.

The Rapido Trains UK design of this long-serving wagon will be the most detailed LOWMAC model to date. It will feature a combination of die-cast metal and injection moulded plastic construction, brass bearings, moulded lashing rings, and an optional load representing a set of four replacement wheels and their carriers. These wheelsets will feature scale axles.

Rapido will produce eleven SKUs with liveries from the original 1944 design to its most modern engineering guise.

The LNER/LMS 25t machine wagon is due in the second quarter of next year. The model is currently in tooling, and samples are expected to be available soon. The LNER/LMS 25t Implement Truck is available to order now, priced RRP £39.95, either direct from Rapido Trains UK or from any Official Retailer.

It will be available in the following liveries:

• SKU 929001: LOWMAC ‘MAC PV’ No.260863 – LNER Red Oxide
• SKU 929002: LOWMAC Code U1R No.700729 – LMS Bauxite
• SKU 929003: LOWMAC ‘EP’ No.E260885 – BR Bauxite
• SKU 929004: LOWMAC ‘EP’ No.E263298 – BR Bauxite
• SKU 929005: LOWMAC Diagram 54a No.M700721 – BR Bauxite
• SKU 929006: LOWMAC ‘EP’ No.B904500 – BR Bauxite
• SKU 929007: LOWMAC ‘ZXQ’ DB904525 – BR Red Oxide
• SKU 929008: LOWMAC ‘ZVV’ DE263289 – Engineers Olive
• SKU 929009: LOWMAC ‘ZVV’ ADM700703 – Engineers Olive
• SKU 929010: LOWMAC ‘ZXW’ KDE263282 – Satlink Red/Yellow
• SKU 929011: LOWMAC ‘ZXV’ B904502 – Engineers Yellow

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