Carriages
The LNWR built carriages according to the prevailing requirements, and a few were specifically designed for a particular service. For the convenience of the modeller we have presented the LNWR carriages available into loose groups, often on the basis that specific carriages share either common characteristic or were known to have run as sets on specific services. As these carriages were normally built for general use it is it is reasonable to assume that they would have been seen on many LNWR services. There were obviously limitations to the use a particular carriage could be put. For example, although the LNWR used the vacuum brake system, only vehicles fitted with the Westinghouse in addition would be suitable for use on an all Westinghouse line such as the Caledonian or North British Railway.

General service, non corridor suburban stock When originally built in 1903/4 these carriages were formed into the 22 trains which served the Birmingham & Manchester areas. The Manchester services ran to and from Leeds, Huddersfield, Bolton, Wigan, St Helens & Liverpool. These trains also formed the mainstay of the excursion trains to the Fylde & North Wales coasts. In 1909 these trains were remarshalled, with one of the Diagram 285 third carriages removed and either returned to general service or converted to motor driving trailers. In the late 1920's (possibly later) the sets were broken up and the carriages became part of the general fleet of ex LNWR carriages operated by the LMS and later BR.

General service, non corridor lavatory stock Originally built in 1907 for the semi fast services between Birmingham, Liverpool & Manchester via Crewe. At Crewe the trains were remarshalled to go on to their final destination by amalgamation of Liverpool and Manchester portions for onward travel to Birmingham. Alternatively trains from Birmingham were split into two portions for onward travel north. Sets were organised as two D147's with a D321 at each end. From 1922 these services were provided using the inter corridor sets and these carriages were transferred to provide services from Crewe and Birmingham to South Wales and the Northampton district & Manchester to North Wales.

General service, non corridor suburban stock These carriages provided the mainstay of the LNWR local services, built in large numbers (400+, in total of all types). The original formation of two D176 carriages in between two D333 lasted until the late 1920's. The D283 carriages were used for strengthening as required. In the late 1920's the district sets were reduced to 3 carriages. The 'orphan' carriages being returned to the general pool to work alongside other LMS constituent carriages as well as new build LMS rolling stock. This trend to mixed rakes of carriages continued under BR ownership until the introduction of the BR Mk 1 carriage in the mid to late 1950's.

Inter Corridor Sets On introduction in the 1910 these carriages ran in rakes of 4 vehicles, usually consisting of a 52'6" composite and 57' 0"composite sandwiched between two 57' brake thirds. It was not unknown for the brake thirds to be of different diagrams. Sets were made up locally as required and were known to alter from time to time. In 1922 these carriages formed the mainstay of the express services between Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester, formerly serviced by the inter district sets.

Corridor brakes The LNWR produced just three designs of corridor brake first carriages. The D126 was a four compartment design of 1906 which lasted in this form to 1922. All were converted to composite carriages by the addition of a lavatory and conversion of two compartments to third class. Two were exported to Ireland in 1948 to supplement stock on the GNR(I). The diagram 370E was one of a number of all brake designs. Ten were originally built during the Great War as ward cars and a further 16 were built for the US army but were not completed before hostilities ceased. All were fitted with vacuum and Westinghouse brake system. They were converted on return by the LNWR to all brakes and were in service until the 1950's. Three brake carriages were used in conjunction with inter corridor sets.

Motor Driving Trailers The motor driving trailer (MDT) was an adaptation of existing carriage stock allowing the use of conventional carriages on branch lines which did not have turntable or switch loops at the 'end' of the line. For the return leg of the journey the driver would simply move to the MDT and control the locomotive. The M25/M56 motor driving trailers were formed from Dgm 285 third carriage from the Manchester Exchange sets. MDT's provided local services in the South Staffordshire, Northampton, St Helens and North Wales areas. The conversion took 2 compartments with the drivers compartment, control gear & motors. The M25 is externally very similar to the M56, the main change being the conversion of 2 compartments to first class accommodation.

	Dgm 26: Prize Cattle Van These specialist vehicles ran loads, as their name suggests, to and from livestock shows, or where precious livestock was being transhipped and merited the attention of a drover.
	Dgm 436: Horse Box With nearly 700 of these wagons built, some examples survived in revenue service under British Rail. These vehicles would have been seen all over the UK railway network, not just on LNWR tracks or stations. The vehicles were well equipped with a separate luggage compartment for the groom and an additional compartment for fodder and other necessities.
	Dgm 466: Open Carriage Truck Originally designed to transport horse drawn vehicles, on the introduction of the motor vehicle another new traffic was found. Some 350 were built by the early 1900's, a number were in service still in 1953. These flat bed vehicles were quickly adopted to move any suitable freight by passenger services.

Information on London and North Western Railway rolling stock components may be found here.

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