Hansom cabs enjoyed immense popularity as they were fast, light enough to be pulled by a single horse (making the journey cheaper than travelling in a larger four-wheel coach) and were agile enough to steer around horse-drawn vehicles in the notorious traffic jams of nineteenth-century London. There were up to 7500 hansom cabs in use at the height of their popularity and they quickly spread to other cities in the United Kingdom (including Ireland), as well as continental European cities, particularly Paris, Berlin, and St Petersburg. The cab was introduced to other British Empire cities and to the United States during the late 19th century, being most commonly used in New York City. (Wiki)
It was only in the early years of the 20th century that they were displaced by motor taxis in the major cities, but they were still in use in small towns and in the countryside until the 1940s.
Although could be used in layouts all over the world, the model is sized for British n-scale (1:148), taking into account it’s origin. Conversion values:
Continental N-scale, 1:160 -> 92.5%
TT-gauge, 1:120 -> 123%
HO/H0-gauge, 1:87 -> 170%
OO/00-gauge, 1:76 -> 195%
S-gauge, 1:64 -> 231%
O-gauge, 1:48 -> 308%
The author marked this model as their own original creation.