X-Nico

unusual facts about British Railways



Bexhill West Branch Line

Kenneth Robinson answered that British Railways were prepared to transfer ownership of the viaduct to any group willing to take it, but that maintenance costs were considerable.

Class 5MT

Class 5MT is a steam locomotive power classification used by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and British Railways.

Isle of Wight Railway

Despite the Island's popularity as a holiday resort after World War II, British Railways closed the Bembridge branch in the 1950s and the Shanklin - Ventnor part of the IWR main line in 1966.

LMS Stanier Class 5 4-6-0 44686/7

The last two of the 842 LMS Stanier Black Fives, numbers 44686 and 44687 were constructed by British Railways at Horwich Works in 1951.

Misha Black

Earlier association with railway design was the external styling of British Railways Southern Region British Rail Class 71 electric locomotives of 1958 and Western Region British Rail Class 52 diesel locomotives of 1961.

MV Western Belle

In 1955 she was briefly charter to British Railways for use on their Dartmouth - Kingswear Passenger Ferry, afterwards she resumed service from Plymouth.

Night Ferry

It was operated by the SNCF and the Southern Railway then, following nationalisation on 1 January 1948, the Southern Region of British Railways.

Preserved GWR Modified Hall Class locomotives

The locomotive was built by British Railways to GWR specifications at Swindon in January 1949, and named after the Yorkshire stately home.

Sheppey Light Railway

This particular example survived into British Railways days and is still preserved, albeit as a static exhibit, in Canada's National Railway Museum.

Snowdrift at Bleath Gill

The 10 minute-long film presents a first-hand account of a team of British Railways workmen freeing a goods train stuck in a snowdrift on the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railway at Bleath Gill in the Pennines on the border between County Durham, Yorkshire and Westmoreland.

SR V Schools class

It was purchased from British Railways for Lord Montagu's National Motor Museum when it was withdrawn for scrapping in 1962.

The Old Ride School

In 1959, the school's buildings at Horwood House, Little Horwood, were sold to British Railways, and the school merged with Kingwell Court Preparatory School, a separate boys' school, joining it at Kingwell Court on the northern outskirts of Bradford on Avon.

Tightlock coupling

TypeH couplers have also seen very limited use on British Railways electric multiple units (EMUs) such as the Bombardier "Electrostar", though recently, Dellner or Scharfenberg couplers are being used instead.

TSS Duke of Rothesay

Along with her sister ships the TSS Duke of Lancaster (1956) and the TSS Duke of Argyll she was amongst the last passenger-only steamers built for British Railways (at that time, also a ferry operator).

Winsford and Over railway station

The station was the terminus of the Winsford and Over branch operated by the Cheshire Lines Committee and later British Railways.


see also

Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company

The self-funded prototype Lion main line locomotive was a particular disappointment, powered by a Sulzer 2,750 hp diesel engine, it was pitted against another self-funded prototype, Falcon, built by Brush at Loughborough which had twin 1,400 hp Maybach engines; after trials British Railways preferred the BRCW approach, but ordered them to be built by the Brush company.

British Rail Class 99

British Railways ships for details of all ships operated by British Railways and Sealink.

British United Traction DMUs

The turbo-charged versions were not used by British Railways, but they were used by Ulster Transport Authority.

Holt Junction railway station

Taken over by Nestlé, milk trains were dispatched via the GWR and latterly British Railways to London on a daily basis.

LMS Princess Coronation Class 6229 Duchess of Hamilton

The third preserved member of the class 6235 City of Birmingham was donated by British Railways to Birmingham City Council for preservation within the Birmingham Industrial Museum.

MiddlePeak Railways

MiddlePeak Railways specializes in the spot-hire and long term lease of shunting locomotives similar to the ex-British Railways Class 08 and NS 0-6-0 600 Class shunting locos.

Samuel James Thomson

Thomson went on to serve on the British Railways Board, Scottish Committee, from 1989–94; as a consultant to British Railways Railfreight Distribution from 1994–96; and consultant to the English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) from 1997–98; and to Freightliner, Scotland, in 1999, being also a Director, from 2001-02.

SECR N1 class

 1876 was the first locomotive to emerge from Ashford works with "British Railways" painted on the tender in Gill Sans lettering.