Railway
companies needed ways to identify their various engines and so they
were all numbered in some way or another. This could be by numbers
painted on the front or on the sides of the engines cab, otherwise
by cast iron or, more usually, brass plates which were displayed on
the sides of the Loco cab. The
company that made most use of the Cabside plates was the Great
Western Railway who numbered their locos with Brass or Cast Iron
plates on either side of the cab.
Cast Iron Cabside
Front
Cast Iron
Cabside Rear
Brass Cabside
Front
Brass
Cabside rear
Some plates had GWR on top and
a number below and some locos that worked in Wales had two
digit and three digit numbers. The majority of locos had a 4
digit number.
Cast iron Plate from an RR 0-6-2 Tank
Cast iron Plate from a BPGV 0-6-0 Tank
Brass Plate from a "1400" Class 0-4-2 Tank
In 1948 when the railways were
nationalised British Railways couldn’t face the task of
removing all these cabside plates in order to use five digit
numbers, as had happened with all other regions, and so the
new Western Region kept four digit numbers and their cabside
plates.
A mix of brass and Cast iron plates were used even within
the same Class of Locos. Brass plates were however used on
all the named engines and even on the more mundane classes
brass plates sell for more than a similar classes Cast iron ones -
mainly as when polished up they are more attractive to
display.
The prices paid for Cabsides
has dropped by about 40% from the peak of around 2003-2004.
Shown below is a rough guide to the price you would have to
pay in auction to obtain a plate from a named loco. Prices
from unnamed Classes vary according to the type of loco and
the size of the Class and prices range from around £300 for
a Cast iron plate from a Pannier tank that worked in the
Welsh Valleys to around £2000 for a "1400" Class 0-4-2 Tank
that worked a branch line in the West Country.
County Class Plates around £2500
Castle Class Plates around £2000
Hall Class Plates around £1200
Saint Class Plates around £1500
Star Class Plates around £4000
Grange Class Plates around £1700
The list below shows which Cabsides were Brass (B.)
or Cast iron (C. with grey background). A few were replaced during
use when they were damaged or lost and so could be of a different
metal to the list below.
B.
1000-29
C. 1101-06
B.
1140-45
B.
1151-53
B.
1361-65
C.
1366-71
B.
1400-74
B.
1500-09
B.
1600-69
B.
1901-2019
B.
2021-2160
C. 2200-99
B.
2301-2579
B.
2600-80
B.
2700-99
B.
2800-83
C. 2884-99
B.
2900-98
B.
3000-49
B.
3100-99
B.
3200-19
B.
3252-91
B.
3300-455
B.
3400-09
C. 3600-799
B.
3700-19
C. 3800-66
B.
4000-72
B.
4073-99
C. 4100-49
B.
4150-78
B.
4160-79
B.
4200-70
C. 4271-99
B.
4300-99
B.
4400-10
B.
4500-54
C. 4555-99
C. 4600-99
C. 4700-09
B.
4900-99
B.
5000-99
C. 5100-99
C. 5200-64
B.
5300-99
C. 5300-99
C. 5400-24
C. 5500-74
C. 5600-99
B.
5700-49
C. 5750-99
B.
5800-19
B.
5900-99
B.
6000-29
C. 6100-69
B.
6300-41
C. 6342-99
C. 6400-39
C. 6600-49
B.
6650-99
B.
6700-79
B.
6800-79
B.
6900-99
B.
7000-37
C. 7200-53
C. 7300-40
C. 7400-16
B.
7417-49
B.
7700-99
B.
7800-29
B.
7900-29
C. 8100-09
C. 8300-99
B.
8400-99
B.
8700-49
C. 8750-99
B.
9000-28
B.
9051-99
C. 9300-19
B.
9400-99
C. 9600-61
B.
9662-82
C. 9700-99
Unrestored Cabsides often fetch a bit more than restored ones
so if you have one to sell I would suggest that you do not
attempt to clean it up. That way the purchaser has the choice of
restoring it or leaving it in as removed condition.
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