At nationalisation in 1948, the newly formed British Railways inherited the coaching stock of the ‘Big Four’ and continued to build new vehicles based on their designs until 1951. This is the second of two volumes dealing with that inheritance.
This book provides a complete listing of all the coaching stock absorbed by BR from the SR and the LMS, the previous volume dealt with passenger rolling stock which from the GWR and the LNER. Both volumes also record any pre-grouping stock from constituents of the companies covered which came into BR ownership in 1948.
The information in this volume is divided into separate sections covering SR and LMS rolling stock. The entry for each individual vehicle contains details of when it was built and when it was subsequently withdrawn from service. The book includes not just passenger carriages but sleepers, buffet, griddle, kitchen and other catering vehicles and also non passenger stock permitted to be used in passenger train formations such as horseboxes, fitted vans and milk tanks. Vehicles converted for use as Departmental stock are also recorded.
