NEW MARCH 2017. This is the 'Standard Codes for Telegrams', issued by British Railways in July 1958. The scans are of a working copy of the 88-page book, shown here as two-page spreads.

The railway used a lot of telegrams. These were charged by the word, so unnecessary words wasted money. The things they needed to ask or say frequently were therefore to be replaced in messages by one-word codes, and this book was a kind of dictionary which explained what each one meant. The single word 'meteor', for instance, meant 'Person knocked down at following place. Have all your locomotives which passed between undermentioned points examined to see if any traces thereon and wire result.' Anyone who failed to make good use of the codes should be reported.

There was also a phonetic alphabet given (N for Nellie, etc.). Standard codes were listed for types of rolling stock. If you are not sure of the difference between a BSO and a BSK carriage or between a lowfit and a hybar, you will find the answer here.

The file will be available to download as soon as payment has been made. You go to your account and click on ‘Downloads’. New customers create an account as they place their order.