History UsefulNotes / NationalRail

British Railways operated a [[SchizoTech collection of rolling stock]] from Victorian-era six-wheelers and locomotives still eking out an existance on branch lines[[note]]At least partially due to the disruption of the Second World War, which probably kept many older designs that would otherwise have been scrapped around for at least a decade past their intended replacement dates[[/note]] to the top-link express locomotives of the big four and their predecessors, their own advanced designs and the harbingers of modernisation such as the electric blue and bespeedwhiskered Deltic prototype and GWR railcars. The late '50s to early '60s were probably the golden age of [[RailEnthusiast trainspotting]] as a result.

* And indeed ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends''[=/=]''Literature/TheRailwaySeries''. The island's railway is a fictional region of British Railways with a greater degree of operating independence accorded to it and the island's baronet as Controller, which is why the mainland dieselization order didn't affect it. Since the railway still turns a profit, well enough has been left alone. The engines are mostly based on British locomotives, for example Gordon is an LNER A3 [like Flying Scotsman], Henry became an LMS Black 5MT after his rebuild, and Thomas himself is an LBSCR E2; in real life, these were all scrapped, making Thomas the LastOfHisKind.

In the late 1960s, British Rail bought the TOPS computer system from Southern Pacific to keep track of its rolling stock. They allocated numbers to their locos, ships (yes, they did own some ships through their Sealink ferry business) and multiple units in a numbering system that survives with some changes to this day - Wiki/TheOtherWiki has [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_locomotive_and_multiple_unit_numbering_and_classification more information]]. In addition, the Southern Region inherited a multiple unit system from the Southern Railway that still sort of survives today in unofficial form and you will generally hear the Southern classification used for these units in favour of the TOPS one.

* London Marylebone. Only six platforms, it provides Chiltern Railways' all-diesel services along the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham and beyond - it is the only non-electrified London terminus. It was the historic terminus of the Great Central Railway (GCR), formerly known as the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire until its ill-advised and never remunerative construction of a new line from Sheffield to London, the last British main line to be constructed. The route was closed under Dr. Beeching's "axe", although some of it is now a heritage route. British Rail coopted the ornate hotel at 222 Marylebone Road as their corporate headqurters.

* London Marylebone. Only six platforms, it provides Chiltern Railways' all-diesel services along the Chiltern Main Line to Birmingham and beyond - it is the only non-electrified London terminus. It was the historic terminus of the Great Central Railway (GCR), which was built to European loading gauge standards and in anticipation of a connection to the Channel Tunnel that never came to fruition. The GCR was closed under Dr. Beeching's "axe", although some of it is now a heritage route. British Rail coopted the ornate hotel at 222 Marylebone Road as their corporate headqurters.

London has several major railway stations, referenced in media (there's even a case from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' where engines argue about which station is London, not realising they are all correct). In all, at least ''twelve'' stations in Central London open today can be counted as being "major" termini - rather more than the number in other large cities (for comparison, Paris has six, Berlin four, and New York two[[note]]Although the low number for New York can be attributed in part to the general decline of rail travel in the United States and in part to the American mania for "union stations" - that is, single stations to host multiple railroads (New York Penn presently plays host to three, even with the decline) - the fact that the rail-crazy Europeans also have fewer stations just goes to show how strange London is.[[/note]]). This is in large part because of the aforementioned bit with the large number of railway companies in Britain; each liked to operate its own smaller station rather than gather together in a few larger ones. In many major European cities railway stations were consolidated in the 19th or 20th century and there was a further push in the 21st century in Vienna, Berlin and (still ongoing) Madrid to transform the hodgepodge of terminus stations built by different private railroads into a single thru-station. Paris and London are the big exception to this rule and thus whoever is unfortunate enough to have to change from one long distance train to another in those cities has to schlep from one terminus to another. Maybe not coincidentally, those cities tend to have the most "imperial" approach to the "provinces" among European capitals west of Moscow. So London now has twelve big stations. In clockwise order from the West direction, these are the current ones:

* London King's Cross. Home of the East Coast Main Line (current operators London North Eastern Railway and two open access operators, Hull Trains and Grand Central). UsefulNotes/TheLondonUnderground station, King's Cross St. Pancras, is a six line station and the busiest on the network. It's been claimed, probably inaccurately, Boudica is buried there. Underwent a major renovation in the late 2000s/early 2010s, which saw the removal of a much-maligned 1972 extention that obscured the station's facade.

London has several major railway stations, referenced in media (there's even a case from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' where engines argue about which station is London, not realising they are all correct). In all, at least ''twelve'' stations in Central London open today can be counted as being "major" termini - rather more than the number in other large cities (for comparison, Paris has six, Berlin four, and New York two[[note]]Although the low number for New York can be attributed in part to the general decline of rail travel in the United States and in part to the American mania for "union stations" - that is, single stations to host multiple railroads (New York Penn presently plays host to three, even with the decline) - the fact that the rail-crazy Europeans also have fewer stations just goes to show how strange London is.[[/note]]). This is in large part because of the aforementioned bit with the large number of railway companies in Britain; each liked to operate its own smaller station rather than gather together in a few larger ones. In many major European cities railway stations were consolidated in the 19th or 20th century and there was a further push in Vienna, Berlin and (still ongoing) Madrid to transform the hodgepodge of terminus stations built by different private railroads into a single thru-station. Paris and London are the big exception to this rule and thus whoever is unfortunate enough to have to change from one long distance train to another in those cities has to schlep from one terminus to another. Maybe not coincidentally, those cities tend to have the most "imperial" approach to the "provinces" among European capitals west of Moscow. So London now has twelve big stations. In clockwise order from the West direction, these are the current ones:

London has several major railway stations, referenced in media (there's even a case from ''Literature/TheRailwaySeries'' where engines argue about which station is London, not realising they are all correct). In all, at least ''twelve'' stations in Central London open today can be counted as being "major" termini - rather more than the number in other large cities (for comparison, Paris has six, Berlin four, and New York two[[note]]Although the low number for New York can be attributed in part to the general decline of rail travel in the United States and in part to the American mania for "union stations" - that is, single stations to host multiple railroads (New York Penn presently plays host to three, even with the decline) - the fact that the rail-crazy Europeans also have fewer stations just goes to show how strange London is.[[/note]]). This is in large part because of the aforementioned bit with the large number of railway companies in Britain; each liked to operate its own smaller station rather than gather together in a few larger ones. So we now have twelve big stations. In clockwise order from the West direction, these are the current ones:

* London Moorgate: Has 10 platforms, but 5-6 are disused following the withdrawal of Thameslink services from Farringdon when platform extension there severed the line, which is now used for storage. Of the rest, UsefulNotes/LondonUnderground operates from 1-4 and 7-8, with the only National Rail services being from platforms 9-10, with Great Northern operating full size dual-voltage trains using third rail up to Finsbury Park on what was a branch of the Northern Line until 1975, where it was the site of the worst peace time disaster in the network's history, after a train failed to stop at Platform 9 and ploughed into the end wall of the tunnel beyond, killing 43 people - the precise reason the driver failed to stop remains unknown. These two platforms (and indeed, the rest of the branch) are still laid out in their 1990s appearance under the British Rail [=Network SouthEast=] brand and are currently served by trains built in the mid-1970s.

* London Paddington: Departure point for the Great Western line, which is non-electrified bar a section that serves the Heathrow services from there, it's a visually impressive station. The Great Western line is currently operated by Great Western Railway, and suburban services to Reading operated by TfL Rail. Originally dubbed "Worst Great Western" and "Worst Late Western" by many, it suffered a fare strike in 2007-08, once had the worst punctuality record in the country (until Thameslink and Great Northern came along) and once had the government considering pulling the franchise. [[TheEngineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel]] would not approve.

** There are finally long overdue plans in progress to electrify the GWML to Reading, Oxford, Bristol, and South Wales; this will also include electrifying the Valley Lines around Cardiff.

* Pacers - What you get when you stick a Leyland bus body on train wheels. Unpopular, uncomfortable, ugly and have been around a lot longer than planned; they aren't really suitable for modern use (unless refurbished, they can't be used after 2019 due to the Disability Discrimination Act) and their crash protection is dubious. Intended for rural use, they're now common commuter units in the North, Wales and the South West.

* Class 43 (HST) power car - the world's fastest diesel locomotive, the '[=InterCity=] 125' (always operated as two power cars with a number, varying between franchise, of Mark 3 coaches between them) is nearing the end of its life despite new engines, but is still very common, especially on the Great Western line.

* On the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight, there's a quirky set of trains that aren't seen anywhere else on the Network, and are ''the'' oldest class of trains still in use on the mainline to date. These are the '''Class 483'''s, a class of [=EMUs=] that were constructed by renovating old 1938 London Underground stock from 1989 to 1992. The main reason why these trains still rumble reliably down the line from Ryde to Shanklin is that they can fit through a tunnel in Ryde that has a raised track bed to avoid being flooded. They are due for retirement in the 2020s, to be replaced by the Class 484s, which - like the 483s, will be rebuilt from retired Tube stock. This has become a tradition, as the 483s themselves replaced the earlier Class 485 and 486 trains, built from 1923-vintage "Standard" tube stock.

* Mark 3-based units such as the Class 442 Wessex Electrics, formerly used on the London - Brighton line as part of the Gatwick Express service. These trains are the fastest third-rail electric trains in the world, and are set to return to the Portsmouth Direct Line in 2018 after being relieved of their duties on the London - Brighton line.

*** However, there is a half a trolley sticking out of the wall of the building near platforms 9, 10 and 11 at King's Cross... which is now a tourist trap with long queues to get your photo taken wearing a scarf.

* And indeed ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine''[=/=]''Literature/TheRailwaySeries''. The island's railway is a fictional region of British Railways with a greater degree of operating independence accorded to it and the island's baronet as Controller, which is why the mainland dieselization order didn't affect it. Since the railway still turns a profit, well enough has been left alone. The engines are mostly based on British locomotives, for example Gordon is an LNER A3 [like Flying Scotsman], Henry became an LMS Black 5MT after his rebuild, and Thomas himself is an LBSCR E2; in real life, these were all scrapped, making Thomas the LastOfHisKind.

* Class 66: A version of an American (EMD) design, these are nicknamed 'Sheds', because, well, they look like one. Very distinctive shapes, due to the pointed roof corrugated sides and large windows. Also notable at their introduction for hardly ever breaking down. Carry a number of liveries, including Freightliner, EWS, GBRF, Railfreight Services and DB Schenker (which, along with their virtual omnipresence, also makes them beloved of railway modellers).

* Class 42/43 (Warship Class) - diesel-hydraulic locos introduced in 1958, these were licenced modifications of the West German V200s for the smaller loading gauges of the UK. All bar two were named after Royal Navy ships, Their career was short; BR became prejudiced against hydraulic and they couldn't haul new coaching stock - they left service in 1971.

* On the UsefulNotes/IsleOfWight, there's a quirky set of trains that aren't seen anywhere else on the Network, and are ''the'' oldest class of trains still in use on the mainline to date. These are the '''Class 483'''s, a class of [=EMUs=] that were constructed by renovating old 1938 London Underground stock from 1989 to 1992. The main reason why these trains still rumble reliably down the line from Ryde to Shanklin is that they can fit through a tunnel in Ryde that has a raised track bed to avoid being flooded. They are due for retirement in the 2020s, to be replaced by the Class 484s, which - like the 483s, will be rebuilt from retired Tube stock.

London has several major railway stations, referenced in media (there's even a case from the ''WesternAnimation/ThomasTheTankEngine'' where engines argue about which station is London, not realising they are all correct). In all, at least ''twelve'' stations in Central London open today can be counted as being "major" termini - rather more than the number in other large cities (for comparison, Paris has six, Berlin four, and New York two[[note]]Although the low number for New York can be attributed in part to the general decline of rail travel in the United States and in part to the American mania for "union stations" - that is, single stations to host multiple railroads (New York Penn presently plays host to three, even with the decline) - the fact that the rail-crazy Europeans also have fewer stations just goes to show how strange London is.[[/note]]). This is in large part because of the aforementioned bit with the large number of railway companies in Britain; each liked to operate its own smaller station rather than gather together in a few larger ones. So we now have twelve big stations. In clockwise order from the West direction, these are the current ones: