London Underground engineering stock

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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 British Rail. Several types of specialist wagons have been used, which are described below.

1 Overview
2 Brake vans
3 Ballast and hopper wagons
4 Flat wagons
5 Rail wagons
6 Cranes and track machines
7 Specialist wagons

[edit] Overview

London Underground uses a numbering system, whereby the wagon number was prefixed with a letter, which designated the wagon's type. These are summarised below.

Wagon prefix	Meaning	Description
B	Brake van	Manned wagon used for guard's accommodation and for braking purposes
BW	Ballast wagon	Open wagon, for transport of ballast
C	Crane	Powerful crane for track laying/lifting and/or recovering de-railed rolling stock
DEC	Diesel-electric crane
DHC	Diesel-hydraulic crane
CM	Cement mixer wagon	Specialist flat wagon, with a cement mixer
CW	Cable drum wagon	Specialist flat wagon, with a cable drum for signal wiring
F	Flat wagon	Flat wagon, for transport of rails or sleepers
FB	Flat brake	Flat wagon, with brake van compartment
GP	General purpose wagon	General purpose wagon
HD	High deck wagon	Specialst ballast wagon
HW	Hopper wagon	Hopper, for transport of ballast
J	Jib carrier	Specialist flat wagon, for carrying the arm (jib) of a crane
JC	Jib carrier
JLE	Jubilee Line Extension	Various wagons used in the construction of the Jubilee Line Extension
MW	Match wagon	Wagons paired with the cement mixer wagons
RW	Rail wagon	Specialist flat wagon, for transport of rails
SB	"Turbot" ballast wagon	Specialist ballast wagon, that will deliver ballast to the trackbed
TMM	Tamping machine	Ballast tamper for packing ballast to make lines more durable
WPW	Well wagon	Specialist flat wagon, with lowered central section to enable larger loads to be carried

[edit] Brake vans

London Underground has used various designs of brake van. They were used for the guard's accommodation and for braking purposes (when other wagons in the consist had no 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.

Several brake vans have been preserved. These are listed below.

Number		Year built	Builder	Preserved location	Comments
B	557	1935	Hurst Nelson	Buckinghamshire Railway Centre	-
B	560	1935	Hurst Nelson	Spa Valley Railway	-
FB	578	1935	Gloucester RC&W	Buckinghamshire Railway Centre	Converted from flat wagon F330