Class 'F' Freight Trains

[62613]

This is going back to the time when British Rail classified its train types by a letter, e.g. Class 'A', 'B', and so on. I'm generally aware of how trains would be restricted to certain types of vehicle which could be conveyed by a particular service, but one that's always baffled me is class 'F': Express freight not fitted with the continuous brake. What were the differences between this and class 'H'?

Edited June 12, 2019 by 62613

[The Stationmaster]

The simple difference was that a train could be re-classified from F to H if its intermediate stops were cancelled because 'through' in this context means 'through to destination' (of the train)..  Or it would be timetabled as H if it did not have the usual intermediate stops for freights on that route.

 

There were one or two examples on the GWR West of England route where timetable alterations show this happening and no doubt trains would be amended by notice.  In everyday working the most likely reason was if the train was going to be overload due to surplus traffic the through traffic would still be carried but the intermediate stuff would be left behind and the train would run as an H instead of - in this instance - as an F.