Rail Data Review Details

Title:	British Railways Wagons, A Numerical History (14 books)
Author:	Martin Hall
Publisher:	HB Publications
Format:	Book
Subject:	Wagons
Category:	Numbers - All
Spec:	A5, spiral-bound, laminated covers, 28-236 pages, colour photos (covers only)
Publication date:	2006-2009
Summary:	Not really 'what it says on the tin', this series of books was more just a list of numbers than a 'numerical history'.
Review:	Published by HB Publications during its period of co-operation with the Inter City Railway Society, this series of 14, dual-branded books was described as a numerical history of the BR wagon fleet. Having looked at a couple of the titles I felt that this was not really an accurate description. Each book considered a section of the fleet (for example volume 3 covered vans) and listed each individual number. For each batch, the builder, dates and lot and diagram numbers were given, but this was the only other information provided. The titling suggests that some of the history of each wagon would be shown, but even re-numberings are not covered. As such it is hard to see what sort of people these books were targetted at. They provided no more information than the lot listings already available elsewhere. And given that most of the wagons listed were scrapped many years ago, it is unlikely anyone would use them to mark-up wagons they had seen. The two books needed to cover the (non-hopper) mineral wagon fleet were the worst. Totalling over 460 pages, the large batches ordered of these types meant that most of the books were just pages and pages of sequential numbers. It would have helped if the layout had allowed space for users to add their own information against individual numbers, but that would of course have made the books even longer. Having said all that, I did actually buy two of the books. The first volume was billed as a 'recognition directory' but this too was a misnomer. It was actually a summary of the number ranges used in the B/DB-prefix series, followed by a list of the diagram numbers issued. All of this was already available in other books but not in such a concise format. I also bought the volume covering the private owner fleet, hoping it would fill some gaps in previously published information, most notably on early tank wagons. Some of the information had not appeared all together before, but there didn't seem to be anything new. Plus I had some other grumbles about this book, as detailed below. In case all of this has not put you off, the books are listed as still being available on the ST Publications website.
Reviewed:	03/10/2019 by Thomas Young (Comments made by others can appear in the notes section towards the bottom of this page)
Sample pages:	(Click on any image to view full-sized in a new window) The cover of Volume 1, the so-called Recognition Directory. The first 30 pages is taken up with a listing of all batches of numbers in the B/DB-prefixed series. Details include the type, diagram, lot number, builder and dates. Batches that were later changed to un-prefixed (eg HAA hoppers and Freightliner flats) are not included. Another 16 pages are used to list the BR wagon diagram numbers in diagram books 1 and 2. This includes types that do not appear in the main part of the book (such as conversions and the early Freightliner flats). The entire TOPS private-owner series (except coaches) was covered in a single book, the 160 page Volume 12. A typical page, each batch having basic details followed by a list of numbers. But A2024 is not a TOPS PO number. The build details are when the original wagon was built, not when it took the number shown. Conversely, the TOPS and design codes are those applied from 1990 onwards.
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