International (UIC) Coach Designations

[Bletchleyite]

moderator note: posts #1-#4 originally in this thread

For dummies such as myself, were you in a declassified First Class carriage? Thameslink does that your way off-peak in the rear section (I see you're in Brighton).

Yes, the UIC designations have A at the start for first class and B for second.

UIC classification of railway coaches - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

...gives full detail, but to summarise for this one:

A = first class
p = open coach ("Pullman style") as distinct from compartment coach
m = Length of more than 24.5m and has standard rubber UIC gangway (actually 26.2m)
z = power supply from locomotive (no axle generators)

 

[Jamesrob637]

Yes, the UIC designations have A at the start for first class and B for second.

UIC classification of railway coaches - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

...gives full detail, but to summarise for this one:

A = first class
p = open coach ("Pullman style") as distinct from compartment coach
m = Length of more than 24.5m and has standard rubber UIC gangway (actually 26.2m)
z = power supply from locomotive (no axle generators)

Thanks buddy. I knew what UIC stands for having studied French but that is a great insight. In fact I have a Heris model SBB/CFF carriage and the writing on the side makes more sense now (I knew that the 160 was its maximum permitted speed in km/h - I'm not that much of a dummy )

 

[Peter Kelford]

I went on that service last October and the Ex IC coaches were fine. I've no complaints about delayed stock. Mind also good was the IC I travelled on from Frankurt to Cologne using ex Apmz as 2nd class. Nice!!!

It is worth pointing out that the Eurofima series of coaches (and French Corails) are very similar in age to the Mark 3s and Mk 4s and the UICs similar to Mk2s thus there is very little reason for them to be totally eradicated.

In fact I have a Heris model SBB/CFF carriage and the writing on the side

Along the solebars of many coaches there is a note with writing on it specifying things like speed, length, wheelbase, axle load, voltage etcetera.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Along the solebars of many coaches there is a note with writing on it specifying things like speed, length, wheelbase, axle load, voltage etcetera.

Thanks buddy. I knew what UIC stands for having studied French but that is a great insight. In fact I have a Heris model SBB/CFF carriage and the writing on the side makes more sense now (I knew that the 160 was its maximum permitted speed in km/h - I'm not that much of a dummy )

That's called a "UIC raster" and there's surprisingly little information about it in the public domain! It is mostly easy to work out what the various little pictures mean, though, I guess they're designed to allow understanding across countries with different languages.

Edit: if you search for "Wagenanschriften" in Google (and read German) you can find some definitions but not all of them!