Hornby OO Gauge L&MR, 3rd Class Coach -Era 1 R40439

Having established the concepts of first and second-class rail travel, it was only a matter of time before railway companies created a lower fare ‘third class’ for the carriage of the working classes, especially in the densely populated industrial areas. 

Companies such as the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Railway, the Manchester and Leeds Railway, and the Sheffield, Ashton-under-Lyne and Manchester Railway all used open third-class carriages, mostly for standing passengers, but sometimes fitted with a rudimentary bench (or benches).

The L&MR considered creating a third class as early as 1839, due to market pressure from the MB&BR and M&LR, but the directors were afraid that, with its lower fares, it would draw passengers away from the first and second-class trains. 

The introduction of third-class travel on the L&MR dates to April 1844, when the Board ordered new enclosed second-class coaches to replace the older ‘blue boxes’, which were then downgraded to third class.

The first of the L&MR third-class train services ran in October 1844, departing from Manchester at 06:30 and from Liverpool at 18:30.

This is an intricately detailed third-class coach model in a blue finish. The accessory bag contains two chain couplings.