Andy,Question:
What does limited load mean?
1. Listed is the 3:42 am from Manchester Vic to Colne going via Bolton / Blackburn, this is 1L97 MO and is a newspaper train. Limited load is mentioned here.
2. It is also mentioned for an express passenger train 1L55 from Manchester Vic at 3:55 pm SX also going this same route.
In both cases these are pulled by steam not DMUs.
Thanks,
Andy.
I've always taken it to mean that the load of the train, in other words the number of carriages in the consist, is limited, probably in terms of weight, and probably the limit is described in another publication such as the carriage working notice or whatever.
It seems to have been applied to steam trains in the 1960s, and quite likely before then, and seemed to be applicable to relatively fast services which required their loads to be limited in order to maintain their schedules.
However, there may be a more authoritative description of the term by someone else, mine comes from inference rather than from knowledge.
Jonathan.