(TRIVIA) Five of a kind

[norbitonflyer]

How recent was this? I thought 455 726 had been scrapped after being roaded out from Wimbledon last December to Long Marston and later went to Sims in Newport? @Siemens Staines maintains a list of these somewhere, I think? He'd be interested if it has in fact returned instead.

Maybe it wasn't that recently...... I used to ride it regularly in my commuting days. If it's gone, then 55555 may have outlived it.

Anything numbered 12345 or 54321?

12345
The LMS had one - a former Lancashire & Yorkshire "3F", built in 1896 and scrapped (as 52345) in 1962

I can't find any others
Coaching stock - would be a Mark 4 Open Standard (Disabled) but the highest numbered one is 12331

ex-SR electric stock: there is a gap between S12276S from 6PAN unit 3037, and S12351S from 4SUB unit 4378

BR 1948 numbering - the 12xxx series was allocated to LMS-design shunters, later known confusingly as Class 11, but their numbers only reached 12138. Had they continued building them instead of starting on the very similar 13000 series (later D3000, and then Class 08), the locomotive that was actually numbered D3205 (08137) - for many years Lincoln's station pilot, would have had that distinction.

TOPS Class 12 (Former Southern Railway Shunters) never got their TOPS numbers, and there were only 24 of them anyway (15211-15236). Note that the antepenultimate one (15234) did have all the right digits, but (to paraphrase Eric Morecambe) not necessarily in the right order.

54321.
Can't find any at all, which surprises me

Coaching stock - 54321 woold have been a 1st generation DMU driving trailer. These were all originally numbered in the 56xxx range, but renumbered in the 54xxx range to avoid duplicating Class 56 locomotives. However, there is a gap in the numbering between Class 100 No 56319 and Class 101 No 56332 (presumably a cancelled order). Because of the withdrawal of Gloucester RCW driving trailers in classes 100 (and 122) without renumbering, the gap in the 54xxx series actually ran from Class 121 54289 to class 101 54331

BR 1948 numbering - The LMS had used the 14xxx range for passenger locomotives built by its Scottish constituent companies, and these were renumbered by BR into 54xxx range). However, the lowest number taken into BR stock was 54363.

TOPS Class 54 has never existed

 

[Islineclear3_1]

Now imagine if we'd had a Class 66 numbered 66.666

 

[xotGD]

Now imagine if we'd had a Class 66 numbered 66.666

Give it time...

 

[norbitonflyer]

BR steam locos (all ex GWR)
2222 (0-6-0 built 1940)
3333 (4-4-0 Bulldog - withdrawn before 1948)
5555 (2-6-2T built 1928)
6666 (0-6-2T built 1928)
7777 (0-6-0PT built 1930)

For completeness, I looked for locos of the other three of the "Big Four"
My source is Hugh Longworth's book, which "only" lists locomotives which were inherited by British Railways, plus some lists on t'Internet, so my list will be incomplete.

Southern
Ex SECR locos were numbered in the Axxx range and later in the 1xxx range. SECR No 111 (a class O1 0-6-0) was initially numbered A111 by the SR, and was withdrawn in 1929. It is not clear whether it ever carried "1111"
Ex LBSCR locos were numbered in the Bxxx, and later 2xxx ranges. That comapny's Class D 0-4-2T No 222 "Cuckmere"would have become SR 2222, but was withdrawn in early 1923
Other than Bulleid's idiosyncratic alphanumeric numbering system applied to new locomotives from 1940 onwards, the highest numbered Southern loco was 2333 "Remembrance", named to commemorate the LBSCR railway servants who died in WW1.

LMS
Ex-Midland locos were numbered in the range 1-4999, and LNWR locos in the range 5000-9999, with separate blocks in each case for tender and tank, and freight and passenger locos. Many of these were later renumbered in the 2xxxx range to clear blocks of numbers for new locos. (Locos from smaller constituent companies were numbered in the 1xxxx range.
1111 Class 4P 4-4-0, became BR 41111
2222 Class 4MT 2-6-4T, became BR 42222 The number had previously been used by the Midland for an American-built 2501 class 2-6-0 withdrawn in 1913
3333 ex-MR Class 3F 0-6-0, became BR 43333
4444 Class 4F 0-6-0, became BR 44444 (so discussed already!)
5555 Class 6P5F "Jubilee" 4-6-0, "Quebec", became BR 45555 (the ex-LNWR "Experiment" Class 4-6-0s had previously been numbered in a range ending at 5554)
6666 ex-LNWR Class 1P 2-4-2T, became BR 46666
7777 ex-LNWR Class 1F "Coal Tank" 0-6-2T. Many of these were renumbered in 1934 into the 27xxx series, and a few (but not 7777) by BR into the 58xxx range - Nos 7773 and 7780 becoming 58919/58920

LNER
The LNER underwent a comprehensive renumbering of all (but two!) of its locomotives in the 1940s. I will list both holders of the numbers where known. The second number will have had 60,000 added to it when taken in to BR stock

1946 numbers
1111 Class B1 4-6-0
2222 (22xx number series used by 4-4-0s, but none between 2215 and 2225 existed in 1948. It may have been a former GNSR Class D41 - those still extant in 1948 started at 2225, (ex 6878 - GNSR No78)
3333 ex-NER Class Q5 0-8-0 formerly 773
4444 ex-GCR Class J11 0-6-0 formerly 5016 (GCR 16)
5555 ex-GER Class J17 0-6-0 formerly 8205 (GER 1205)
6666 (6xxx number series allocated to electric locomotives - the LNER possessed fourteen, all numbered in the 64xx series except 6701)
7777 Class L1 2-6-4T
8888 ex-GNR Class J52 0-6-0T formerly 4289 (GNR 1289)
9999 class U1 2-8-8-2T Garrett formerly 2395

1923 numbers
1111 ex NER Class D20 4-4-0 became 2396 in 1946
2222 ex NER Class Q6 0-8-0 became 3379 in 1946
3333 ex GNR Class J3 0-6-0 became 4132 in 1946 (original GNR No 333)
4444 ex-GNR Class C1 4-4-2 became 2874 in 1946 (original GNR No 1444)

I cannot find any record of GCR No 555, which would have become 5555 under the LNER
The LNER would not have had a 6666, as the highest numbered locomotive in the GCR fleet was 1484 (which became 6484).
7777 would have been the number applied by the LNER to GER 2-2-2 No 777 had it not been withdrwan in 1905

8888 ex-GER "Claud Hamilton" Class D16 4-4-0 - became 2511 in 1946

The North British Railway's highest number was 926, which became LNER 9926. A handful of locos on the NBR's "duplicate" list (1000 upwards) received five-digit numbers on absorption by the LNER..

GNR 1111 0-6-0, LNER Class J3, became 4111 - withdrawn before 1946. J3s were still numbered 41xx in the 1946 scheme, but the gaps were closed up so only 4124 kept its original number.
GCR 1111 4-6-0, LNER Class B9, became 6111 and then 1475

 

[150249]

If we're going for 4s there's 158888,153333 and 91111

 

[xotGD]

If we're going for 4s there's 158888,153333 and 91111

Plus 31111 (aka "sticks" iirc), 47777 and Gateshead's 08888.

A pity that a new sub-class of Cromptons wasn't created; we could have had a 33333.

 

[Richard Scott]

Going abroad again I believe Renfe have 333333?

 

[eastwestdivide]

If we’re going abroad, then DB’s 111 111-1 must be a winner. Photo at:

File:DB E-Lok 111 111-1 in Stuttgart Hbf.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

commons.wikimedia.org

from a google image search lok 111111

 

[D6975]

A pity that a new sub-class of Cromptons wasn't created; we could have had a 33333.

It was, 33/3 was the sub-class of 33s for shunting on and off the ferries at Dover. Only 3 of them though, and I believe that one of them didn't actually receive its new number before the sub-class was disbanded.

 

[Gloster]

B123456 was (probably) one of the standard Diagram 1/108 16 ton Mineral Wagons. FM12345 was a Diagram 3/200 insulated container.

 

[D6968]

Anything numbered 12345 or 54321?

Black 5 45321 has those digits, to quote Eric Morcombe ‘just not necessarily in the right order’

 

[M-Train]

FM12345 was a Diagram 3/200 insulated container.

Hang on…? Not a vehicle…

 

[150249]

Black 5 45321 has those digits, to quote Eric Morcombe ‘just not necessarily in the right order’

And 45231 is still around

 

[MacCookie]

We seem to be going off on a tangent, but...

SBB has an Re 4/4'' as 11111 (although officially 420 111-7 now).

RhB has a Tm 2/2 number 111

SNCB has an HLR 77 number 7777

ÖBB has 1116 111-6

Cheers,
Ewan

 

[Wyrleybart]

If there was a 54321 it would be a first gen.

There's plenty of mirrored ones though like 54045.

Just checked my DMU book and sadly there doesn't seem to have been a 56321. 56319 was the last vehicle of a batch of GRCW class 100, original partner being 51127.

56332 partnered 51174 a Met Camm class 101 two car

Has someone mentioned BR Mk 2c TSO 5555 ?

 

[Gloster]

Swedish State Railways (SJ) had a 1111 of type Rc2. It is now a Green Cargo Rd2R.

Going back to binary, a 33 would be 100001, if my memories of maths half a century ago are correct.

 

[Richard Scott]

And 45231 is still around

As is class 45 45132.