British carriage and wagon numbering and classification

A number of different numbering and classification schemes have been used for carriages and wagons on Britain's railways, and this page explains the principal systems. Carriages and wagons (either not self-propelled, or part of a multiple unit which has power units distributed throughout a semi-permanent formation of carriages) have frequently had similar arrangements for classification and numbering, so are considered together. There are also links to other pages that deal in greater depth with the particulars of individual types.

Note on classification

Carriage and wagon classification has never been quite the same as locomotive and multiple unit classification. For most railways, specific types were identified by their Diagram Number. This could simply be arranged by consecutive number, or there could be some greater organisation of numbers so that similar types were grouped together.

However, carriages and wagons have rarely been referred to in general terms by their Diagram Number. Instead, there have been a variety of other codes and designations, which have referred to generic designs rather than specific types. For instance, there were the BR (adapted from the LNER system) and LMS carriage codes, which indicated interior layout or usage. The GWR identified their non-passenger carriages and wagons through a series of animal designations, including sealife for departmental (non-revenue earning) stock, followed by a letter to illustrate detail differences, e.g. Beetle A.

Therefore the majority of the sections below deal solely with carriage and wagon numbering series, though where a particular classification system was used, this is also described.

Pre-nationalisation arrangements

Before nationalisation in 1948, each railway company devised its own numbering arrangements.

* The Great Western Railway and London, Midland and Scottish Railway (from 1933) adopted a system which allocated number ranges within one series for different types.

* The Southern Railway followed a similar approach, but used two series; one for passenger carriages and one for non-passenger carriages.

* The London and North Eastern Railway numbered its carriages so that the first digit indicated which area it was allocated to.

* The Great Western Railway Diagram Numbers included a letter to indicate the general layout or usage followed by a serial number issued consecutively.

British Railways

British Railways inherited the stock of the 'Big Four' companies upon Nationalisation in 1948, and also a substantial number of former 'Private Owner' wagons. It also inherited the stock of the Pullman Car Company, when it was nationalised in the late 1950s.

Numbering system

Arrangements at Nationalisation

After Nationalisation, the numbers of carriages and wagons inherited from the 'Big Four' companies were left unchanged, but were differentiated by the addition of a prefix letter to show where they had originated from, as follows:

Numbers 100000 to 999999 were used for non-passenger rated stock (including wagons, vans and departmental (non-revenue earning) carriages), while internal user vehicles (stock used for internal purposes (e.g. stores) at specific locations and unlikely to move) took numbers in the 0xxxxx series. For more details of these series see below.

Initially some non-gangwayed carriages were numbered in the 5xxxx series, but these were soon renumbered to 4xxxx when the Modernisation Plan Diesel Multiple Units started to arrive. Another change came when Third Class was renamed Second Class. There had been very few Second Class carriages before this change (mainly used in Boat Trains since ships still used all three classes), and most were absorbed into the larger mass of former Third Class carriages, although they had many fewer seats.

The same series was used for the 'Mark II' coaches built in the 1960s, but when the 'Mark III' carriage was introduced in the early 1970s new number ranges were carved out of the old series. These new ranges were perpetuated for the 'Mark IV' carriages in the 1980s), and were as follows:

No prefix letters were used for internal user stock. Departmental wagons (and some passenger-rated non-passenger carrying coaching stock) often kept their original revenue earning stock number, but with the addition of the "D" prefix.

By the end of the 1960s, British Rail-built carriages were entering departmental stock and being allocated one of the regional prefixes according to their location, but from 1967 the "DB" prefix was introduced for all further additions to departmental stock (regardless of origin). This prefix was itself prefixed with a letter to indicate the use of the vehicle, as follows:

The final letter indicated the braking arrangements. Nowadays almost all stock is air-braked, but when TOPS was first introduced there was much greater variety, which made marshalling trains more complicated and this information essential. The letters were:

ee also

* Coaches of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway
* [http://www.departmentals.com www.departmentals.com]