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Prior to the class 1-10 trains there were Class A to K; these were almost, but not quite the same as the classes 1-10. There were minor differences in the headcodes too. These following were taken from a copy of the 1960 'General Appendix to Working Timetables and books of Rules and Regulations' published by the Railway Clearing House on behalf of the General Managers of the various BR regions. (This, like other such publications, gives much useful detail on the operation of the prototype. Often available at Book and Railway Fairs, swapmeets and the like - mine cost me £2.)
Using the same style of code as Gary:
x
0x0 Class A - express passenger, newspaper, breakdown train or snow plough going to clear line, light loco going to assist disabled train, inspection train not stopping in section.
0
xxx Class B - Ordinary passenger or mixed train or breakdown train not going to clear line - Branch passenger train where authorised by regional Operating Officer.
x
00x Class C - Parcels/fish/fruit/horse/livestock/meat/milk/pigeon or other perishable train with stock conforming to passenger stock requirements. Above and ballast trains with at least half of train with automatic brake on at least half the vehicles. Empty coaching stock train not authorised to carry 'A' code.
0
0xx Class D - Express freight, perishable or ballast train with at least one third of vehicles fitted with operative automatic brake.
x
x00 - Class E - as D but with only 4 vehicles attached to engine with operative automatic brake or as D but with a limited load of vehicles none of which is fitted with the automatic brake.
0
xx0 - Class F - as D but with no vehicles fitted with automatic brake.
x
x0x - Class G - Light engine or engines coupled togther, light engine with brake van
0
x0x - Class H - Through freight or ballast train not running under Class C,D,E or F headcodes.
x
0xx - Class J - Mineral or empty wagon train
x
xx0 - Class K - Freight, mineral or ballast train stopping at intermediate stations, lbranch freight train where authorised, Freight, ballast or inspection train requiring to stop in section.
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Now how do we get a minature train crew to change the headlamps when the class of a train changes at a station stop?
Using the same style of code as Gary:
x
0x0 Class A - express passenger, newspaper, breakdown train or snow plough going to clear line, light loco going to assist disabled train, inspection train not stopping in section.
0
xxx Class B - Ordinary passenger or mixed train or breakdown train not going to clear line - Branch passenger train where authorised by regional Operating Officer.
x
00x Class C - Parcels/fish/fruit/horse/livestock/meat/milk/pigeon or other perishable train with stock conforming to passenger stock requirements. Above and ballast trains with at least half of train with automatic brake on at least half the vehicles. Empty coaching stock train not authorised to carry 'A' code.
0
0xx Class D - Express freight, perishable or ballast train with at least one third of vehicles fitted with operative automatic brake.
x
x00 - Class E - as D but with only 4 vehicles attached to engine with operative automatic brake or as D but with a limited load of vehicles none of which is fitted with the automatic brake.
0
xx0 - Class F - as D but with no vehicles fitted with automatic brake.
x
x0x - Class G - Light engine or engines coupled togther, light engine with brake van
0
x0x - Class H - Through freight or ballast train not running under Class C,D,E or F headcodes.
x
0xx - Class J - Mineral or empty wagon train
x
xx0 - Class K - Freight, mineral or ballast train stopping at intermediate stations, lbranch freight train where authorised, Freight, ballast or inspection train requiring to stop in section.
