The Snailbeach District Railways system was located in Shropshire and was built to carry lead ore over a narrow gauge route with a gauge of 2ft 4 inches. The mines were located at Stiperstones and theytransferred their ore to a connection with the Great Western Railway at Pontesbury. A fleet of various hopper wagons was used to transportthe ore and it is one of those wagons that is the subject of our new model. Opened in 1877 the railwaywas finally closed in 1959, latterlyusing tractors to move the hoppers after the end of steam.