3 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SECR PMV 132: Michael Roots· CC BY 3.0
- 2. Cavell van restored: Michael Roots· CC BY-SA 3.0
- 3. SE&CR PMV No.153: Michael Roots· CC BY 3.0
what is it?
The Diagram 960 PMVs were a series of Parcels and Miscellaneous Van (PMV), previously designated Passenger Luggage Van (PLV), built by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SE&CR) from 1919. The prototype van was used to carry the bodies of Edith Cavell, Charles Fryatt, and The Unknown Warrior from Dover to London, and has been preserved by the Kent and East Sussex Railway. The SE&CR vans were known as the Cavell Vans for this reason.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 107 years ago, in 1919.
- 9.8 m long: about 2 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 67 years (1919–1986).
carriage / wagon: Unpowered passenger coaches or freight wagons, pulled by a locomotive.
spec sheet
- built
- 1919
- in service from
- 1919
- retired
- 1986
- status
- retired
- number built
- 979
- kind
- carriage / wagon
- origin
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- builders
- Ashford Works
- operators
- Southern Railway, Southern Region of British Railways, South Eastern and Chatham Railway
- top speed
- —
- power
- —
- length
- 9.8 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q16986420, Wikipedia: SE&CR Diagram 960 PMV (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.