British Rail coach type codes
The London Midland & Scottish Railway and the London & North Eastern Railway both developed a system of identifying carriages by means of alphabetic codes. When British Railways was formed in 1948, it decided to adopt the former LNER method of carriage classification.
Basic Principles
The codes are made up from a combination of letters, some of which can indicate more than one word; their meaning can only be determined according to their position, or the presence of other letters, in the code. The letters used are:
B : Brake van (prefix); Buffet (suffix); Battery (prefix for multiple unit vehicles)
C : Composite (i.e. more than one class of travel)
D : Driving vehicle (prefix); Disabled accommodation (suffix)
E : Either class of accommodation; End vehicle (suffix)
F : First Class
G : Guard's compartment; Griddle (when following 'R')
H : Handbrake
K : Corridor (i.e. compartments with side gangway); Kitchen (when following 'R')
L : Lavatory (usually shown only in non-gangwayed or diesel multiple unit codes);
Lounge (prefix); NB: L also part of 'SL' code
M : Motor vehicle; Miniature or Modular (when following 'R')
O : Open (i.e. no compartments, or no kitchen in Restaurant cars)
o : Semi-open (i.e. mix of compartments and open)
P : Pantograph (prefix for electric multiple units); Pantry (suffix);
Pullman (prefix); Parlour (suffix for Pullman cars)
R : Restaurant
S : Standard (formerly Second) Class
SL: Sleeper
T : Third Class; Trailer (prefix for multiple unit vehicles); Trolley buffet (suffix);
Tourist (prefix for hauled carriages; indicates 2+2 seating)
U : Unclassified accommodation
X : Six-wheeled vehicle
Y : Four-wheeled vehicle
These letters (except for 'X' and 'Y') did not usually apply to the wide variety of passenger-rated, but goods carrying vans (e.g. parcels vans, horse boxes, milk and fish vans). Their codes were an acronym of their traditional railway description, e.g. GUV for General Utility Vans.
List of Codes Used
The following list lists those codes that were actually used on British Railways, cross-referred to the comparable code used by the LMS, with the exception that the letter 'S' and word 'Standard' is used for what was referred to 'T' and 'Third' prior to 1957. Also, the codes with the suffix 'X' or 'Y' are not shown, as these could apply to almost all of these codes.
LNER Code Description LMS Code B Brake BCK Brake Composite Corridor BDMBSO Battery Driving Motor Brake Standard Open BFK Brake First Corridor BFO Brake First Open BG Brake Guard BPOT Brake Post Office Stowage van BSK Brake Standard Corridor BSO Brake Standard Open BSOT Brake Standard Open Trolley BUO Brake Unclassified Open CCT Covered Carriage Truck CK Composite Corridor CO Composite Open DBSO Driving Brake Standard Open DM Driving Motor DMB Driving Motor Brake DMCL Driving Motor Composite Lavatory DMLV Driving Motor Luggave Van DTCL Driving Trailer Composite Lavatory DTS Driving Trailer Standard DVT Driving Van Trailer FK First Corridor FO First Open FOT First Open Trolley GUV General Utility Van HB Horse Box LFK Lounge First Corridor M Motor MBRSM Motor Brake Restaurant Standard Modular MBS Motor Brake Standard MLV Motor Luggage Van MSLRB Motor Standard Lavatory Restaurant Buffet PCV Propelling Control Vehicle PFB Pullman First Brake PFK Pullman First Kitchen PFP Pullman First Parlour POS Post Office Sorting van POT Post Office Stowage van RB Restaurant Buffet RF Restaurant First RFB Restaurant First Buffet RFM Restaurant First Modular RFO Restaurant First Open RG Restaurant Griddle RK Restaurant Kitchen RKB Restaurant Kitchen Buffet RLB Restaurant Lounge Buffet RMB Restaurant Miniature Buffet SK Standard Corridor SLE Sleeper Either Class SLEP Sleeper Either Class with Pantry SLF Sleeper First SLK Sleeper Composite SLS Sleeper Standard SO Standard Open TBCK Trailer Brake Composite Corridor TC Trailer Composite TCK Trailer Composite Corridor TF Trailer First TGS Trailer Guard Standard TRFB Trailer Restaurant First Buffet TRFM Trailer Restaurant First Modular TRSB Trailer Restaurant Standard Buffet TRUB Trailer Restaurant Unclassified Buffet TRUK Trailer Restaurant Unclassified Kitchen TS Trailer Standard TSO Tourist Standard Open TSOT Tourist Standard Open Trolley