NEW DECEMBER 2021. This is the first time we have been able to offer full details of the major 1947 LNER renumberings. The good news is that we can now supply scans of Ian Allen's 1947 ABC of the Locomotives of the LNER, which lists all their new numbers along with the previous ones.

The bad news is that the book available for scanning is what might politely be described as a working copy. It was originally owned by a six-year old boy who cheerfully scribbled in it in pencil. The covers are missing, and so too are all but two of the pages of photographs. Nevertheless all the key information is still present and remains totally readable.

The first five of its 66 pages contain a comprehensive summary of all the renumberings carried out by the LNER throughout its history. The engines are then listed class by class in the order of their new numbers, with the old number shown alongside. The stock is stated to be complete as at 22 February 1947.

A section next lists the named engines. The book concludes with tables giving details about each class, such as the building dates and the boiler pressure.

The young owner marked locomotives spotted at the time around Wymondham and Norwich Thorpe. New B1's which appeared are written in, and so too are the numbers of a few WD 2-8-0's which were not part of LNER stock but on loan to them and presumably working from March.

The book is mostly shown as two-page spreads. The file is word-searchable and fully bookmarked. It will be available to download as soon as payment has been made. You go to your account and click on ‘Downloads’. New customers create an account as they place their order.