If you register, you can do a lot more. And become an active part of our growing community. You'll have access to hidden forums, and enjoy the ability of replying and starting conversations.

Engineering wagon names and telegraph codes

Discussion in 'Heritage Rolling Stock' started by Yorkshireman, Jun 13, 2017.

  1. Forestpines

    Forestpines Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2009
    Messages:
    1,681
    Likes Received:
    2,438
    Gender:
    Female
    Location:
    Somewhere in the UK
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    The RUDD wagons on the SVR date from the 1980s.
     
  2. burmister

    burmister Member

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2008
    Messages:
    283
    Likes Received:
    281
    We have a couple of these modern RUDDs and they are very useful powerful braked wagons for works trains.

    Off topic but we also have a WELTROL which now has the nickname WENDY and their is only one name possible for our SALMON wagon it has to be NICOLA
     
    Shaggy and Yorkshireman like this.
  3. D1039

    D1039 Guest

  4. Robin

    Robin Well-Known Member Friend

    Joined:
    May 7, 2012
    Messages:
    1,393
    Likes Received:
    1,747
    Location:
    Stourbridge
    They were originally built as Coal hoppers in the mid to late 50s, but began to be withdrawn in the 1980s for conversion into Rudds. The SVR ones were all converted in the early 1990s .

    http://www.svrwiki.com/BR_'Rudd'_Ballast_Wagons
     
    Wenlock, Forestpines and D1039 like this.
  5. Romsey

    Romsey Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 14, 2007
    Messages:
    3,618
    Likes Received:
    1,636
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Retired SPM
    Location:
    Close to Spike Island
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Code names for wagons are still used when planning engineering works. It can cause serious confusion by using TOPS wagon codes. ( I know, I've tried .... )
    Traffic terms like OPPOS, FABRIC and LEFTPAS are still used in the conditions of travel for out of gauge loads. CAPE, PINE and WARNPASS still appear on control log.

    Cheers, Neil
     
    Shaggy, Wenlock and Yorkshireman like this.
  6. cav1975

    cav1975 Member

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2009
    Messages:
    520
    Likes Received:
    634
    We have two of the ex-LT hoppers on the Isle of Wight. Although they share their 20T capacity with BR Herrings http://paulbartlett.zenfolio.com/brrivetherring/h15f7a5f7#h15f7a5f7 that is all. The LT ones are a 1935 air braked design specially for the UndergrounD and have centre and side doors. When we reconditioned our 1965 built examples we decided not to paint any Fishkind code on them as it would not have been appropriate. http://www.ws.vintagecarriagestrust.org/ws/WagonInfo.asp?Ref=8335 . (To be fair the BR black livery is not appropriate either...................)
     
    Yorkshireman and pmh_74 like this.
  7. M59137

    M59137 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2009
    Messages:
    1,330
    Likes Received:
    2,113
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Carriage & Wagon
    Location:
    Sheringham
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Strange that these LT hoppers should come up. We have two at the North Norfolk and painting them pseudo BR livery has come up in conversation.

    My suggestion was to paint and letter them BR style so as to make them fit in, but to give them a new name so as to remain true to the fact that they are a unique design of hopper unlike any BR equivalent.

    The proposed name for them? "KIPPER". The reason? 1) A nod to the local kipper trade in Great Yarmouth tying in to local history and 2) Kippers are smoked, and the LT hoppers were used in "the smoke" after all!!

    We obviously had too much time to think into the idea, and alas it remains an idea! :)

    Sent from my HTC Desire 620 using Tapatalk
     
    OldChap, Yorkshireman and gwalkeriow like this.
  8. Yorkshireman

    Yorkshireman Part of the furniture

    Joined:
    Jul 6, 2014
    Messages:
    4,486
    Likes Received:
    5,045
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Comfy chair occupant!
    Location:
    No moaners please!
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    No I do not currently volunteer
    Thanks to you and all the other contributors. Very much appreciated.
     
  9. olly5764

    olly5764 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2006
    Messages:
    1,887
    Likes Received:
    1,015
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Normally in a brake van somewhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Of course the more educated here would say it is unsuitable because it is not CLEAR and DISTINCTIVE and so could be misheard for the word you are driving at as that was part of the point of using code words.
     
  10. Wenlock

    Wenlock Well-Known Member Friend

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2008
    Messages:
    2,027
    Likes Received:
    1,319
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Bus Driver
    Location:
    Loughton Essex
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    Well actually, in the case of railway telegraphic codes, it wasn't about voice communication so not what you hear. It was more about sending messages using the minimum number of words as telegrams were charged by the word. Hence the code words had to be real words, or the telegraph companies would have refused them.

    Notably some of the later code words are not "real words" but presumably by that time transmission was within the one railway's control and charging.
     
  11. olly5764

    olly5764 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2006
    Messages:
    1,887
    Likes Received:
    1,015
    Gender:
    Male
    Occupation:
    Engineer
    Location:
    Normally in a brake van somewhere
    Heritage Railway Volunteer:
    Yes I am an active volunteer
    There is that too, however the wagon codes were also used to identify them and therefore would have been spoken. There is potential for someone being requested to move a number of wagons to miss hear pollock for his SM making an error and uttering B***ocks
     
  12. pmh_74

    pmh_74 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2009
    Messages:
    2,217
    Likes Received:
    1,456
    There's plenty of scope and opportunity for most railwaymen to make an error and utter b***ocks regardless of any fishkind names painted on any wagons. I don't think I've ever met one who was so sensitive that this would have caused a problem.

    As an aside, an idea has just occurred to me:
    Control: "Shunter, have you got any Grampus wagons in your yard"
    Shunter: "No, sorry, can't help you with those. I've got Crabs..."

    (I'll get my coat...)
     
    olly5764 likes this.
  13. pmh_74

    pmh_74 Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2009
    Messages:
    2,217
    Likes Received:
    1,456
    Oh and on a completely unrelated note (other than pertaining to the sensitivity or otherwise of railway staff) train operator's plungers on LU (and possibly elsewhere) have always been universally known as "donkey cocks". If you've seen one you'll understand why.
     
    John Baritone and Yorkshireman like this.

Share This Page