Over the years, London Underground has acquired various types of engineering stock to help with the construction of new lines and maintenance of existing lines. Some of these wagons were inherited from its predecessors, many were built new and some were acquired second-hand from the main-line railways. Several types of specialist wagons have been used, which are described below.
Overview
London Underground uses a numbering system comprising the wagon number prefixed with a letter which designates the wagon's type. These are summarised below.
Specialist flat wagon, for carrying the jib of a crane;
JC
JLE
Jubilee Line Extension
The same as General Purpose wagons (GP), used in the construction of the Jubilee Line Extension. The only difference is that the JLE's wagons have larger handbrake wheels.
MW
Match wagon
Wagons paired with the cement mixer wagons. Now used as GP wagons semi-permanently coupled together.
Specialist ballast wagon, that will deliver ballast to the trackbed. Can also be used to transfer plant, used ballast or scrap.
TMM
Tamping machine
Ballast tamper for packing ballast to make lines more durable. Numbered 771, 772, 773 and 774.
771, 772 and 773 can only be transported through deep-level tunnels in train formation. 774 is for sub-surface lines only.
WPW
Well wagon
Specialist flat wagon, with lowered central section to enable larger loads to be carried. All have prefix JLE. Commonly known as a 'Low Loader'.[citation needed]
LWRT
Long Welded Rail Train
Used for the transportation of pre welded strings of 90m rail. Consists of 4 specially modified Rail Wagons and GP wagon which is configured into the centre of the train.
Brake vans
London Transport Flat Brake Van No. FB. 578
The London Underground has used various designs of brake van. They were used for the guard's accommodation and for braking purposes (when wagons in the train were not fitted with automatic brakes).
Two brake vans of interest were numbers FB578 and FB579. These were 'flat' brake vans, converted from flat wagons. The conversion consisted of building a small guard's compartment on one end of the flat wagon. Therefore, these wagons could be used for carrying small items, such as sleepers, in addition to their role as a brake van.
Six brake vans numbered B580–5 were built for London Transport by British Railways (BR) at the latter's Ashford Works in the early 1960s. They were built to a design which had been produced for BR since 1950 (BR Diagram 1/506 and 1/507), totalling 3588 units, and were the final examples of that design to be constructed.[1]
An engineering train composed of 'SB' wagons passes through Ruislip tube station westbound on tracks shared by the Metropolitan and Piccadilly lines in July 2011. The cargo appeared to be old ballast.
Preserved 10-ton Air Braked four-wheel freight wagon F. 329.
Brake Van B558 at Ruislip depot, modified for use as a brake test instrumentation van.
A pair of 4xx-series 'RW' bolster wagons at Neasden, with some derelict A Stock behind.
Rail wagon RW814, a bogie flat wagon for carrying rails.
HW429, 1951 London Underground engineering 20T hopper wagon preserved at North Norfolk Railway
References
^Rowland, Don (1996) [1985]. British Railways Wagons: the first half million. London: Leopard. pp. 100, 182. ISBN0-7529-0378-0.
^Hardy, Brian (1978). London Underground Rolling Stock (1st ed.). Harrow Weald, Middlesex: Capital Transport. pp. 102–105. ISBN1-85414-263-1.
^Hardy, Brian (2002). London Underground Rolling Stock (15th ed.). Harrow Weald, Middlesex: Capital Transport. pp. 64–75. ISBN0-904711-01-3.
