Railway Adverts from the Modernisation Era

This website features over 1,000 trade advertisements from the 1950s and 1960s when the British railway stock businesses were busy building for the modernisation schemes.

There are adverts from rolling stock builders, and from suppliers of components used to build the vehicles. There are also adverts from other developments such as signalling, permanent way and electrification.

Most adverts were aimed at attracting more orders at home and abroad — but many also just seemed to be just a proud statement of what some firms had achieved!

Featured Advert:

Craven-Diesel Torque Converter Rail-cars with Rolls-Royce Engines

craven-diesel-torque-converter-rail-cars-with-rolls-royce-engines

M51735 + M51760 are illustrated in this November 1961 advert from Cravens Limited of Darnall, Sheffield. They note themselves as 'Architects for Passenger and Freight Stock'. With their 8-cylinder 238hp Rolls-Royce engines and Torque Converters these DMUs would later be known as Class 113s. Twenty-five sets were built each having the four digit route indicator on the cab done, the only 50 vehicles of the 405 railcars they built for BR to do so.

This advert appears in the following categories: Traction: Class 113 ; Builder: Cravens

More Samples:

Diesel Railcar Units

Vibration Compression - the secret behind success

Gloucester Builds for the World's Railways

21 ton hoppered coal wagon by Butterley

Fire!

Wheels and Axles

For Canada's first Underground cars - 'Formica'

AEI Diesel Electric Power Equipments