Wagon Numbering

The system by which LNW wagons were numbered was accountancy based and started only in 1862 when the stock lists of the three divisions of the company were consolidated into a single list. Minute book references show that the approximately 17,500 wagons in stock at the time were renumbered consecutively according to type. Recent research has shown that, Open Wagons were numbered 1-12300, Covered Vans 12300 - 14500, Cattle Wagons 14,500 - 16200 and Mineral wagons 16200 - 17500. These groups are only approximate because no original list survives, but because later replacements took the numbers of the vehicle they replaced, a comparison with identifiable wagons whose numbers are in this range and which have been found in wagon records dated between 1880 and 1920 supports the assertion. As additional wagons were constructed they were given numbers at the top of the list so it is possible to predict the year in which particular groups of new wagons were built from the building records. The list developed by this approach calibrates with the various groups of special wagons whose numbers are recorded in the diagram book and whose building date is recorded in the various sources listed at the start of this work. Many of these records also cross check with official minute book references.