LTSV Wagons - Resources - Other websites

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Other websites
As well as the Fotopic sites outlined here, there are many other websites containing information and photographs of UK wagons. If you encounter any dead links, or have suggestions for other sites to include, please use the feedback button at the bottom of the page.

	Barrowmore Model Railway Group I have added this site to the top of the list despite it not being primarily about wagons. However, on the Prototype page are a set of downloadable files that should be of great interest. The four files comprise most of the BR Wagon Diagram books from the early 1980s. Together they contain 730 pages and no less than 640 drawings of wagons. TOPS groups covered are B, CA, C, F, H, J, K, M, O, P, R and S (i.e. not I, T, U, V, X, Y and Z). Besides the drawings a lot of information about builders, lots, numbers, etc is included. As usual with diagram books, the accuracy and scaleability of the drawings varies a lot, but the key dimensions are provided. A few types are missing, while others are covered in depth (for example there are no fewer than 79 pages of OHx Open High wagons). Highly recommended. Update December 2009:There are now 8 wagon diagram books available here.

	Inter City Railway Society - Wagon Updates For number crunchers, the ICRS (Inter City Railway Society) website has an archive of monthly wagon update sheets going back to April 2003. These provide varying amounts of detail for the changes in the wagon fleet each month. Some list just wagons added to or removed from TOPS, while others have all recodings, pool changes etc. Note that a lot of the hyperlinks on the page are broken. If you get a 'page not found' message, try changing the URL by adding '/Site' so that it matches the later links. If that doesn't work, try also changing the file extension (typically from .doc to .pdf).

	Wagons on the Web This site, run by Gareth Bayer (of Rail Express and DEMU fame) is often quoted as the best resource for anyone interested in wagons. It is mainly a large (and growing) collection of photographs, sorted into groups based on TOPS codes. It was recently upgraded to a blog-style layout, with some interactivity, and it also now includes sections on European and North American wagons. As with similar sites, some of the early pictures are on the small size, but the captioning is clear and informative. However, other than some text associated with each dated update, there is not much in the way of supporting information and the pages can be very slow to load.

	Goods & Not So Goods Subtitled 'An overview of railway freight operations for modellers', this site will also be of interest to non-modellers. Mainly text based but with loads of fine diagrams and photos (the latter often of models), the site attempts to cover all aspects of the movement of freight by rail. The rolling stock pages describe the development of wagons from the earliest days, while other useful nuggets can be found in sections headed 'Unit Loads', 'Freight Operations', etc. This site is much bigger than it at first appears and represents a tremendous amount of work and research by Mike Smith. Highly recommended.

	Electric Nose A weird name but a great site, particularly if you like model railways and have a sense of humour. The gallery section includes a large number of wagon photographs, organised by general types. Subjects are from the 1980s onwards, with some of the earlier types in particular being of interest.

	Huw Millington's Wagons collections on Flickr I was very pleased to see Huw's photos back on line, an earlier website having been closed down. Most of the pictures were taken during the 1980s and most are of private owner wagons, including many types no longer with us. The flickr layout takes a bit of getting used to but offers a lot of options.

	Railfaneurope.net This is a fantastic site with a huge number of pictures and lots of general railway fleet information for all the countries in Europe and some beyond. The galleries are nested and some of the headings are confusing (wagons are in 'car'/'freight'). There aren't a huge amount of UK wagon pics but, if your railway interests are more general and/or international, then this site is recommended.

	Freightmaster On line A lot of people will be put off this site by the fact that you have to pay for a subscription before using, and these can seem expensive. However, for your money you get access to regularly updated freight timetables for a wide variety of locations and to the Freightmaster On line Forum. Some of the membership evidently have access to TOPS, and the forum postings includes yard lists, movements and fleet reports as well as timetable changes, sightings, freight service news, location tips, photographs and general freight-related chat.

	NWG The Forum Another paysite but at the other end of the price range, the annual subscription being around £3. Like several of the forums, a lot of the content is lists of wagons that people have spotted. However, there is also quite a bit of news (about freight services and individual wagons) and fairly regular reports from TOPS on specific types and locations.

The next three sites are all forums hosted by Yahoo groups. As well as forum postings, most also have a files section with a few photographs and/or lists. With most groups, you need to join before you can start reading the messages. However, this is free and just requires an e-mail to the moderator. You will find that some people post the same message or report to two or more different forums!

	Midlands Wagons Midlands Wagons appears to be the busiest forum and, despite the title, is not restricted to the midlands region. Many of the postings are reports of wagon sightings, usually comprising just lists of numbers. Although hard to decipher, these can be useful when working out which wagons types are used in a particular area or traffic. Other posts cover a wide variety of wagon-related topics.

	BR Wagon Research As the name suggest, this forum is more for wagon enthusiasts than spotters. Only recently started, and with a nominal cut-off date of 1999 (i.e. the subject matter is BR wagons up to 1999), this is the place to go to ask (or answer) any questions about wagons in the BR era. Several of the threads so far have been about the real identities of some preserved wagons.

	Railfreight Pretty much as per Midland Wagons but not quite so busy.

Page added: 22/01/2008

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Last edited: 06/12/2009