Metropoltitan Railway lampcodes

[eheaps]

A complete set of District locos wearing different lampcodes

 

[Engineer]

     

I apologise for only intermittent visits to RMWeb so missed this at the date of origin.  Top marks for all the Metropolitan creativity on show in this and the related threads.  I can only add some side notes which may help others for the future, based on publications and on some limited research.  Long ago a former Metropolitan employee told me that the Metropolitan lamp codes included purple lights, particularly for Hammersmith and City services.  This nugget stuck in my mind and much later, I was further intrigued to notice evidence that the Metropolitan's electric stock built from the 1920s had three head lights each with an internal disc that allowed clear 'White', blank, then 'Purple' and 'Red' glasses in front of the lamp.

 

More relevant to topic, the 1922 Metropolitan and GC Appendix to the Working Timetable shows engine head lamp and light codes, together with two special codes for Metropolitan trains.  The 1921 Metropolitan Appendix to the Working Timetable (reprint was ISBN 1 905014 65 1, Dragonwheel Books) has a much fuller list of codes, including the District and a few of these include use of the five lower positions.  I recall, but can't locate, a longer and  older list with even more head lamp codes that made use of the lower positions.  

 

The various sections of the 1921 Appendix cover the basic patterns as in the M&GC Appendix but extended for more of the destinations and routes on the Metropolitan 'patch' (showing both steam and electric formats), plus a section for lamp and disc codes for Midland, Great Northern and South Eastern and Chatham Companies' trains (with their many various destinations around London) and a section for the District Company's (electric) trains.  The White above Purple code is for trains to 'GW Main Line', with a likely Purple above White code for complementary inbound trains, and this information may be useful for those investing and running the Dapol GW City Stock models.  It seems there were requirements for some trains on the Metropolitan 'Main Line' to change codes en route at either Baker Street or Harrow, consistent with the need to present appropriate information for destination and route in different sections.
 

[Michael Hodgson]

2 hours ago, Engineer said:

It seems there were requirements for some trains on the Metropolitan 'Main Line' to change codes en route at either Baker Street or Harrow, consistent with the need to present appropriate information for destination and route in different sections.

 

 

That's a valid point for a number of services across the country, not just the Met/GC. 

 

Modellers tends to think of trains as being "an express" or "a stopping passenger", but their classification was not necessarily consistent across the whole of the route.  For example some of the loco hauled trains to Norwich via Ely ran as express Passenger to Ely then stopped at intermediate stations.  So it would under class 1 but change to Class 2 en route, different headcode and bell code.

[eheaps]

On 09/04/2023 at 17:25, Engineer said:

     

I apologise for only intermittent visits to RMWeb so missed this at the date of origin.  Top marks for all the Metropolitan creativity on show in this and the related threads.  I can only add some side notes which may help others for the future, based on publications and on some limited research.  Long ago a former Metropolitan employee told me that the Metropolitan lamp codes included purple lights, particularly for Hammersmith and City services.  This nugget stuck in my mind and much later, I was further intrigued to notice evidence that the Metropolitan's electric stock built from the 1920s had three head lights each with an internal disc that allowed clear 'White', blank, then 'Purple' and 'Red' glasses in front of the lamp.

 

More relevant to topic, the 1922 Metropolitan and GC Appendix to the Working Timetable shows engine head lamp and light codes, together with two special codes for Metropolitan trains.  The 1921 Metropolitan Appendix to the Working Timetable (reprint was ISBN 1 905014 65 1, Dragonwheel Books) has a much fuller list of codes, including the District and a few of these include use of the five lower positions.  I recall, but can't locate, a longer and  older list with even more head lamp codes that made use of the lower positions.  

 

The various sections of the 1921 Appendix cover the basic patterns as in the M&GC Appendix but extended for more of the destinations and routes on the Metropolitan 'patch' (showing both steam and electric formats), plus a section for lamp and disc codes for Midland, Great Northern and South Eastern and Chatham Companies' trains (with their many various destinations around London) and a section for the District Company's (electric) trains.  The White above Purple code is for trains to 'GW Main Line', with a likely Purple above White code for complementary inbound trains, and this information may be useful for those investing and running the Dapol GW City Stock models.  It seems there were requirements for some trains on the Metropolitan 'Main Line' to change codes en route at either Baker Street or Harrow, consistent with the need to present appropriate information for destination and route in different sections.
 

 

Unfortunately that reprint doesn't seem to be available to buy anywhere. Unless anyone has a copy and they can share a few pages from it, I think the best approach may be to contact the London Transport Museum...