Rolling stock

A 1Co-Co1 wheel arrangement is essentially a Co-Co wheel arrangement with an unpowered, articulated pony truck attached to it. This extended bogie design is used to better distribute weight on larger locomotives.A standard Co-Co wheel...

The name 'Crab' is a nickname given to a type of 2-6-0, mixed-traffic, steam locomotive built by the LMS between 1926 and 1932. In total 245 Crabs were produced at Horwich and Crewe works and were considered to be a successful design of locomotive...

British locomotive classes 44, 45 and 46 were an early design of diesel-electric locomotive intended for mainline passenger duties. They were built between 1959 and 1963 and collectively became known as 'Peaks' thanks to early locomotives being...

Felix Pole was an ambitious employee of the Great Western Railway. Born in 1877, by the age of 27 he was working in the headquarters at Paddington Station and by the age of 44 was appointed General Manager.During that time, one of Pole's many...

A tare weight is simply a vehicle's unladen weight and is commonly displayed on the side of railway wagons.Tare weight is an important consideration for railway operators because the simplest way to calculate the gross weight of a loaded wagon...

A tank wagon or tanker is a type of railway wagon used specifically for transporting liquids or gasses.Tank wagons have been around since the mid-1800s although original designs were made from banded wood much like an old beer barrel, in the...

5 and 7 plank wagons are a type of railway wagon design dating back to the early 1900s. They are a simple design of open wagon (featuring no roof) comprising a metal framework encompassing wooden sidewalls, the height of the wagon's sidewalls is...

EMU stands for Electric Multiple Unit and is a type of passenger train where most or all of the carriages has its own electric motor negating the need for a regular locomotive to provide traction.EMUs have been around since the late 1800s and...

Open spoke wheels were a type of early railway wheel that featured double spokes, this type of wheel was commonly known as a split-spoke wheel.Open spoke wheels were a design that appeared on many wagons and some other rolling stock throughout...

A wagon's solebar is the outer longitudinal beam of its underframe or chassis.Solebars are an integral part of a wagon's frame to which several components and supporting cross members are attached. The solebar is also where you're most likely to...

Cast iron spoked wagon wheels date back to the 1830s and were the mainstay of wagon wheels for nearly 100 years.Wagon wheels of this type had a diameter of around three-foot and usually featured eight spokes. A variant measuring three-foot six...

The Great Western Railway Coat of Arms was a logo that appeared on GWR rolling stock from 1927 to 1933 and then reappeared in 1942 until nationalisation in 1947.The coat of arms replaced the previously used Garter Crest and features two shields...