Abandoned stock

[vidal]

Is there any kind of list of abandoned rolling stock that hasn't been withdrawn? From memory there used to be several wagons outside Bolton that had been there many years and were cut up on site rather than being withdrawn and taken for scrapping. Certainly there used to be sidings full of wagons and coaches that never turned a wheel for many years.

So what's out there on various bits of the network? Surely everything must be asset tracked and will need to be accounted for? What's the longest anything has been abandoned?

James

 

[Merthyr Imp]

There used to be an old brake van at the end of a disconnected siding at Ancaster which must have been there for 30-40 years. It was still there in 2023 but I haven't been that way since so I don't know if it still is.

 

[sad1e]

There are still quite a few old royal mail wagons sitting in the now very overgrown willesden Brent sidings, they've been there for so long they have trees growing around them.

(Photo attached is from about 15 years ago, much more overgrown now)

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jul 2025 ==

There used to be an old brake van at the end of a disconnected siding at Ancaster which must have been there for 30-40 years. It was still there in 2023 but I haven't been that way since so I don't know if it still is.

On the topic of brake vans there was a Very rusted up one in a siding by Shenfield station for a long while.

If I remember correctly it had to be cut up on site as it was so rusted and stuck to the rails that any loco they tried to use to move it wouldn't budge it an inch.
(Attached photo of the brake van)

 

[Tracked]

There are still quite a few old royal mail wagons sitting in the now very overgrown willesden Brent sidings, they've been there for so long they have trees growing around them.

(Photo attached is from about 15 years ago, much more overgrown now)View attachment 184347

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jul 2025 ==

Are the Royal Mail PCV's still up at Hellifield, haven't been that way for ages and I seem to remember talk of scrapping them a while back?

 

[Tractor37]

Are the Royal Mail PCV's still up at Hellifield, haven't been that way for ages and I seem to remember talk of scrapping them a while back?

They were moved into the shed for when Colas used it as a timber loading point a couple of years ago. Half of them then disappeared. Four or five of them are still present.

 

[Elecman]

I’m sure tgere is still an old wagon in the undergrowth at the old Ince Moss Tip Sidings near Wigan

 

[wickham]

There are still quite a few old royal mail wagons sitting in the now very overgrown willesden Brent sidings, they've been there for so long they have trees growing around them.

(Photo attached is from about 15 years ago, much more overgrown now)View attachment 184347

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Jul 2025 ==


On the topic of brake vans there was a Very rusted up one in a siding by Shenfield station for a long while.

If I remember correctly it had to be cut up on site as it was so rusted and stuck to the rails that any loco they tried to use to move it wouldn't budge it an inch.
(Attached photo of the brake van)View attachment 184349

Can anyone quote the numbers of the vehicles stored in the undergrowth at Willesden Brent please.

 

[Forty29]

Apparently there is an old wagon completely covered in undergrowth to the east of Reading station near the old gas works.

 

[uglymonkey]

There was a lone OBA in rail freight livery in Welwyn Garden City yard for 15+ years, then one day it was gone.

 

[trainswitheddy]

The mk3 at Doncaster is worth a mention. Used by Wabtec for sliding door Mk3 testbed iirc? Not there anymore now, scrapped maybe?

 

[Obar123]

DS55945 Break van at Manea, on an old disused siding.

 

[High Dyke]

There used to be an old brake van at the end of a disconnected siding at Ancaster which must have been there for 30-40 years. It was still there in 2023 but I haven't been that way since so I don't know if it still is.

Still there. The only way to remove, if anyone is brave enough to try, would be to crane it onto the running line and then remove in the station yard. I'm not sure that would really be feasible or even worthwhile though.

 

[150249]

There are plenty of old disused wagons stored north of Exeter St Davids station.

 

[Southern Dvr]

Used to be some coveted car transporters in Micheldever Yard.

Some of the Hellifield vehicles are now at Bolton Embsay Railway.

 

[Bikeman78]

There is a wagon in the bay platform at Maidstone West. It has been there well over 30 years.

There was a grubby mark 1 in the goods yard at Horsham during the 80s, 90s and 2000s. It's gone now. I wonder where it went.

The link shows a picture of the goods yard at Horsham in 1988, including the carriage mentioned.

Railway yard at Horsham (1) © Peter Shimmon

TQ1731 :: Railway yard at Horsham (1), near to Horsham, West Sussex, England by Peter Shimmon

www.geograph.org.uk

 

[D6130]

There is a wagon in the bay platform at Maidstone West. It has been there well over 30 years.

There was a grubby mark 1 in the goods yard at Horsham during the 80s, 90s and 2000s. It's gone now. I wonder where it went.

The link shows a picture of the goods yard at Horsham in 1988, including the carriage mentioned.

Railway yard at Horsham (1) © Peter Shimmon

TQ1731 :: Railway yard at Horsham (1), near to Horsham, West Sussex, England by Peter Shimmon

www.geograph.org.uk

That looks like a Mark 1 BSK converted for departmental use....or possibly a spare for the Chipman's weedkiller train, which was based at Horsham. Some of their green and yellow vehicles can be seen on the extreme left of the photo

 

[Bikeman78]

That looks like a Mark 1 BSK converted for departmental use....or possibly a spare for the Chipman's weedkiller train, which was based at Horsham. Some of their green and yellow vehicles can be seen on the extreme left of the photo

I don't think it ever left the yard. It spent weeks or months in exactly the same spot. It did move from one siding to another sometimes, so it's possible that it went off somewhere and came back. I don't think it was to do with Chipman's but happy to be corrected. I can't be certain about timescales but I think it was still there after the weedkilling operation switched to multi purpose vehicles.

 

[vidal]

Who actually owns "abandoned" stock? Will the owners be stung for a huge track access bill? I assume that there must be some form of accounting somewhere?

James

 

[317362]

Apparently there is an old wagon completely covered in undergrowth to the east of Reading station near the old gas works.

As far as I know it's still there, it's North side in the undergrowth near Tesco to

It was only visible in winter from the train. But I always forget to look when I am passing.

Although I do always remember to look for the 317 carriage at the Oracle offices slightly to the East of that.

 

[starlight73]

There used to be an old brake van at the end of a disconnected siding at Ancaster which must have been there for 30-40 years. It was still there in 2023 but I haven't been that way since so I don't know if it still is.

I think the Ancaster brake van might be this one? (Video should start at 1:13)

 

[trainmania100]

I think the coalfish at Haywards heath is still there. Don't know what the number is

 

[satisnek]

I think that those short wheelbase wagons and vans still exist in the remains of the sidings at Hartlebury Trading Estate, Worcestershire, although I haven't checked recently. The main line connection was removed in 2005, following some quarter century of disuse.

There used to be a wonderful reminder of pre-efficiency BR in the north end bay at Oxford, in the form of a bogie GUV and a four-wheel CCT, both in all-over blue livery. They were evicted when that part of the station was refurbished for the Chiltern service. Whether they were scrapped or they continue to rust away on a heritage line, I don't know.

 

[swt_passenger]

There used to be a wonderful reminder of pre-efficiency BR in the north end bay at Oxford, in the form of a bogie GUV and a four-wheel CCT, both in all-over blue livery. They were evicted when that part of the station was refurbished for the Chiltern service. Whether they were scrapped or they continue to rust away on a heritage line, I don't know.

Cut up for scrap where they stood according to reports at the time.

 

[CarltonA]

There's a rake of DB car wagons (sorry, don't know the designation) at Didcot that don't seem to have moved for years. I think they are the type used for the Cowley Mini traffic.

 

[yorkie]

Who actually owns "abandoned" stock? Will the owners be stung for a huge track access bill? I assume that there must be some form of accounting somewhere?

James

I understand @deltic08 used to own some old coaches that for years were rotting/rusting at the sidings near Neville Hill depot, so maybe he is in a position to answer that?

 

[zwk500]

Who actually owns "abandoned" stock? Will the owners be stung for a huge track access bill? I assume that there must be some form of accounting somewhere?

James

You can be fairly sure that nobody's chasing bills if the stock has just been left to rot. I presume that unless they've been specifically sold on, ownership would lie with the last owner of them in traffic, or any successor organisation. And any storage/access charges would be owed to the owner of the infrastructure (not necessarily NR!). Given any vehicle so abandoned would probably need special dispensation from the Fitness to Run exam to run on the mainline to get to a repair shop, anything that's been left too long is most likely to be cut up on site the next time the site is being remodelled or redeveloped.

 

[Tester]

Here's one that won't be going anywhere in a hurry! Near Longport, Staffordshire, April 2022.

[Photo shows a rail wagon surrounded by trees]

 

[Western 52]

There's a couple of HAA hopper wagons with trees growing from them at Alexandra Dock Junction, Newport. I think there may still be coal in them.

 

[birchesgreen]

There is a car transporter wagon at the end of a siding near Small Heath, been there for well over 10 years.

 

[trainswitheddy]

There's a couple of HAA hopper wagons with trees growing from them at Alexandra Dock Junction, Newport. I think there may still be coal in them.

Are these the ones the NWPG want?