One of the LNER’s constituent companies was the North Eastern Railway, which was heavily reliant upon mineral traffic. Its former management team was able to offer its experience on improving the utilisation of the wagon fleet. A Central Wagon (Control) Authority was established at York and arrangements for returning empty, private owner wagons were changed.
The Nottinghamshire to London flow of coal more than equalled that from Yorkshire, most of which passed through Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire en route to Temple Mills, in East London. To enable trains of empty wagons to be sent directly to their owning colliery, the LNER decided to sort the wagons at the earliest, rather than latest, stage of their return journey.
On the ex-Great Central Railway’s London Extension, this arrangement meant that Woodford Halse assisted the flow of northbound empties. Some trains could by-pass Annesley entirely, rather than working into Annesley yard.
The LNER favoured a numeric system for identifying trains in the Working Timetable. Either three or four numbers, the system allowed identification of routes as well as trains themselves. For example, odd numbers
