977997

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Your comments

• Ben Williams

  21 August 2009, 17:24:21

  Converted from former Gatwick Coach 72613

• brian fox

  24 August 2009, 09:28:42

  ooh yay a new departmental! wonder what happens after 977999

• Dave Birchall

  24 August 2009, 16:59:35

  978001 maybe??

• Matt

  24 August 2009, 17:30:43

  "The principal numbering series for carriages with the "DB" prefix have been 975xxx, then 977xxx. The next series to be used is expected to be 971xxx, but no numbers in this series have yet been applied."

  According to Wikipedia anyway!

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Carriage_and_Wagon_Numbering_and_Classification

• Ben Williams

  24 August 2009, 17:49:38

  92114 was allocated to get DB 971000 years ago but as this van has not been used since it may be jinxed!

• Matt

  24 August 2009, 18:19:54

  Thanks Ben.

  Any idea why some coaches get assigned departmental series numbers, but others (like the rest in this set) still carry standard series numbers after their repaints? Is it just arbitrary?

• Ben Williams

  24 August 2009, 18:29:32

  977997 is the only vehicle that has been converted for technical use I believe, hence the renumbering. I think they wanted to keep the original numbers on the other three so that they can be returned back to other uses at a later stage (I think they are still unconverted inside) but no doubt some of my Derby contacts can elaborate!

• Jon Horswell

  24 August 2009, 21:00:11

  Judging by the work done to several windows on the above mentioned vehicle it would appear that Ben's statement is pretty close to the mark. It all makes sense when you know the answers!!

  However, as always nothing is ever simple. I recall certain vehicles being specifically employed as brake force runners getting renumbered when surely they undergo very little, if any, modification. But then maybe that too is classed as 'technical use'........

• Mick Bryan

  24 August 2009, 21:19:09

  Some of the brake force runners have been "modified" by ripping out the interior, I think 977983 has no interior.

  Oddballs to the renumbering include - 977986 was former exhibition coach 99664, although sister vehicle 99666 still retains it's exhibition train number........

  Why haven't the DBSO/RTOV 97xx vehicles received new numbers? They've certainly had enough mods to make them different to their previous use.

  There appears to be some sort of system, but it looks like it depends on how many spare numeral stickers are in stock :-)

  Mick

• Matt

  25 August 2009, 16:17:21

  Thanks for the explanations, it makes at least some kind of sense now!

• SD0853

  26 August 2009, 14:16:10

  As far as i'm aware, the test vehicles are renumbered so that on TOPS they appear as modified vehicles, where as the runners are unmodified, there are some modified runner that have been renumbered to demonstrate there change of usage/modification 99666 for example. The DBSO's have retained there original numbers because they are currently the only vehicles of this type in operation, whilst the rest of the DBSO's are de-registered, if however a TOC was still using DBSO's the NWR ones would have been placed into a sub class so as not to confuse them (i.e.so that 9714 couldn't be allocated to a service to Norwich etc)

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