The LNER Encyclopedia

A good many photos and drawings of LNER NPCS vehicles such as covered
carriage trucks and horseboxes show a block of small white lettering
at the right-hand end under the running number giving details of the
vehicle length, width, height, load and tare.

This would appear to have been introduced at some time after 1930 or
so. Can any one say exactly when this lettering came into use?

A very good question and one to which I cannot find an answer. Brian Haresnape is silent on the matter. There's nothing I recall reading in any of Michael Harris' books.

It seems to have been a practice which the ER continued after nationalisation but the other regions didn't follow AFAIK.

EdgeHill8A wrote:A good many photos and drawings of LNER NPCS vehicles such as covered
carriage trucks and horseboxes show a block of small white lettering
at the right-hand end under the running number giving details of the
vehicle length, width, height, load and tare.

This would appear to have been introduced at some time after 1930 or
so. Can any one say exactly when this lettering came into use?

1936. It was one of the livery changes of that year that included small lettering for goods stock.

Thank you very much for the information. It accords with what I had understood (mid 1930s).

In Tatlow's Historic Carriage Drawings Vol. 3 there is a photo of an ex-GE 6 wheel CCT with the large 'NE' lettering and the small dimension information. The photo is undated. Clearly application of this change was as inconsistent as the others.

I'm curious as to why horseboxes had to have internal dimensions shown. Was it just application of a general standard? I can't believe it was to check whether a specific horse would fit!

jwealleans wrote:In Tatlow's Historic Carriage Drawings Vol. 3 there is a photo of an ex-GE 6 wheel CCT with the large 'NE' lettering and the small dimension information. The photo is undated. Clearly application of this change was as inconsistent as the others.

I'm curious as to why horseboxes had to have internal dimensions shown. Was it just application of a general standard? I can't believe it was to check whether a specific horse would fit!

Yes, although the small dimension lettering may have simply been added if the vehicle did not warrant a full repaint. But I agree that it looks to be in a similar state of weathering to the N E.

Could be that the dimension lettering was introduced a few months before the cessation of the large N E. I expect that the large N E letters were still to be seen for many years after the 1936 changes.

FWITW Guy Hemingway took most of his photos in the late 1930s, around 1937-9.

EdgeHill8A wrote: Yes, although the small dimension lettering may have simply been added if the vehicle did not warrant a full repaint. But I agree that it looks to be in a similar state of weathering to the N E.

Could be that the dimension lettering was introduced a few months before the cessation of the large N E. I expect that the large N E letters were still to be seen for many years after the 1936 changes.

It's more likely that the data lettering was a RCH requirement, especially for stock that crossed company boundraries.

[quote="Bill BedfordIt's more likely that the data lettering was a RCH requirement, especially for stock that crossed company boundraries.[/quote]

If that is so why did the other companies not have similar lettering?

I'd been wondering that but my library isn't broad enough to be sure what practice was on other companies.

Even under BR the ER seemed to have a fondess for this marking: it seems to have been generally applied to CCTs, but its use on horseboxes remained an ER peculiarity as far as I can tell.

jwealleans wrote:Even under BR the ER seemed to have a fondess for this marking: it seems to have been generally applied to CCTs, but its use on horseboxes remained an ER peculiarity as far as I can tell.

Yes, indeed. But my question related to when this lettering was first introduced.