The Clark Railworks LMS 42ft GUV

Because Your Parcels Are Worth It

Welcome to our LMS 42ft General Utility Van. We’ve given these dependable parcels workhorses the full Clark Railworks treatment, with sublime detail and flawless running coupled to an interesting palette of identities. Compact and elegant, the LMS GUVs were a staple of passenger and goods services from the 1930s to the 1970s and are the perfect ‘unsung hero’ for operations large and small.

A Touch of History

The LMS constructed 240 42ft bogie parcels vans between 1933 and 1937, at both Derby and Wolverton works. Classified as Non Passenger Coaching Stock, they were known as Covered Carriage Trucks (CCT) at the time and were designed to carry parcels and luggage alongside other general goods. They often ran in dedicated parcels trains but were sometimes included in passenger services, where their coach-like profile ensured they blended in well.

All vehicles wore LMS crimson lake livery when new, with those built in 1933/34 treated to bodyside lining, which was abandoned for non-passenger stock thereafter. Aluminium roofs gave them a rather dashing appearance; this lasted for a few weeks, when – in common with most of the railway landscape of the era – silver turned to soot!

The CCTs became known as General Utility Vans (GUV) when absorbed into British Railways after 1948 and are generally referred to as such today. Crimson became maroon and then blue, with many of these well-built, compact and useful vans frequenting the main line well into the 1970s. Some took up Departmental duties (including work in breakdown trains and with steam cranes) while others became permanent fixtures in sidings, yards and stations as stores vehicles. Three 42ft GUVs have been preserved, all of them in Scotland.

(c) Richard Postill

And Now for the Science Bit…

By now you’ll be familiar with the DNA shared by all Clark Railworks products. It’s good DNA. Our GUVs feature the usual Clark Railworks hallmarks of die-cast chassis, brass bearings and impeccable levels of chassis and underframe detail. They’ll be fitted with an enhanced version of our ‘ultraflex’ vacuum pipes and – like all our wagons – will be easily convertible to EM or P4 gauges.

Real-life GUVs were a varied bunch; correspondingly, no two of our eight models are the same, with subtle variations to bogies, roof vents and bodyside panelling according to how – and when – they were used.

Specifications  

• Die-cast chassis 

• Detailed weighted bogies

• Easy conversion to EM/P4 

• Sprung buffers 

• Ultraflex vac and air pipes

• Fully detailed underside

• Separately fitted grab rails and steps

• Separately fitted roof details

• Multiple body & bogie toolings 

• Removable NEM pockets

• Brass axle bearings 

The Lineup

We’ve selected an octet of entrants for our initial run of GUVs, portraying the main identities worn throughout their long and interesting lives:

C2020 (LMS Lined Crimson Lake) Vehicle no. 37714, built in 1933 and withdrawn in 1967. The model represents the prototype in mid-1930s condition.
C2021 (BR Plain Crimson) Vehicle no. 37719, representing a period from 1949 to the late 1950s.
C2022 (BR Lined Maroon) Vehicle no. 37898, as it appeared during the 1960s.
C2023 (BR Blue) Vehicle no. 37911, built in 1937 and modelled as photographed at Reading in 1968; it was withdrawn in 1978.
C2024 (BR Gulf Red) Vehicle no. ADB975241, built in 1935. Our model depicts the van after it passed into Departmental use in 1972. It was based at Ayr Motive Power Depot throughout the 1970s, where by 1981 it had been painted into Departmental yellow (see C2024).
C2025 (BR Departmental Yellow) Vehicle no. ADB975241. This is the same vehicle as C2023; it was repainted into Departmental yellow at the end of the 1970s and used as a breakdown train support vehicle for several years. It was later preserved at the Doon Valley Railway (Ayrshire).
C2026 (Denparts Blue) Vehicle no. ADB975560. This GUV was built in 1937 and by 1977 had transferred into Departmental use as a Denparts (Diesel Engineering Parts) van. Painted in BR blue, it ferried mechanical and electrical components between Crewe and Glasgow. It spent the 1980s as a stores van at Aberdeen Ferryhill before passing into preservation at the Caledonian Railway (Brechin).
C2027(BR Crimson & Cream, as preserved) This is the same GUV as C2026, modelled as preserved at the Royal Deeside Railway (Banchory), where it remains today renumbered to 37909.

Say Yes to a Guv

We’re aiming to deliver our GUVs in early 2027. They’ll be £75 each, and all variants are available for pre-order now (at no upfront cost) from Clark Railworks. 

Spanning half a century – as well as a multitude of roles – the ex-LMS GUVs were an important player in Britain’s everyday railway landscape. They travelled to almost every corner of the country behind almost every type of engine. Recreated in model form to our demanding specification, there’s never been a better time to add a GUV to your fleet – book yours today!