British Railways built (using an LNER design) a large number of fish vans (INSUL FISH) to service this once large traffic. Given the nature of the product speed was always of the essence so the wagons were built fully fitted, with a long wheelbase and through steam pipe to allow them to work in passenger trains, even being given numbers in the NPCCS series. The vans gained the name of Blue Spot fish vans after being fitted with roller bearings as this upgrade was signified by the application of a large blue spot on each side of the van.

Almost overnight the fish traffic was lost and subsequently there were a large number of fish vans looking for new work. Some wagons were taken into general goods stock while others were refurbished and put into use as parcels vans, coded as SPV. The vans lasted in this traffic until the early 1980's (gaining the TOPS code NRV), a number finding further use as barrier wagons, with the engineers departments and as internal user vehicles.

Diesel Brake Tenders were an engineering solution to a problem of reduced brake force that arose once diesel locomotives took over from steam on unfitted goods and mineral trains.

Steam locomotives invariably had brakes on the tender as well as the engine giving them a much higher brake force to control unfitted trains. Diesel locomotives didn't need to haul around a couple of tons of coal and a few thousand gallons of water and as a result had a reduced braking ability. The brake tender was designed to take the place of the steam locomotives' tender and theoretically increase the brake force available.

The design was a simple one with surplus coach bogies being used to support a frame and box that was loaded down with scrap metal and concrete to a gross weight similar to that of a steam locomotives' tender, naturally the design called for vacuum brakes. The tender themselves were hauled or propelled in front of the engine depending on operating requirements or local instructions. The effectiveness of the idea is open to much speculation with some claiming they made little difference, others stating they were effective when hauled but liable to skid and bounce when propelled.

Built from 1972 through until 1976 this 40ft long steel carrying wagon was a radical departure for British Rail after a 10 year break in building wagons for the conveyance of steel. With the deep under-frame, corrugated steel floor to dissipate the heat of hot steel loads and to aid loading operations, air brakes and a brand new bogie design, these were wagons to herald a new age. The first lot preceded TOPS and was lettered Steel AB, later gaining the TOPS code BAB due to their through vacuum pipe, later lots without vacuum pipes were lettered BAA, a code the first batch would eventually carry as their vacuum pipes were removed over the next 20 years.

Possibly the easiest way of telling the different lots apart are the changes in design of the wagon ends. Originally a high end formed of five uprights was fitted, replaced on later batches with a lower version with four uprights and no bridging section between the centre pair this too was modified later on with additional sections to raise the height. The final batch gained an end design similar to that of the larger BBA wagons. All wagons were given a variety of sockets to fit additional stanchions to control the load and could be found with high ones fitted to contain billets and small pegs when loaded with 'eye to the sky' coil loads. Many wagons were fitted with coil cradles to help avoid damage to the load, both transverse and in-line alignments were used and this saw the early wagons having their ends modified with a gas-axe to aid loading operations when in-line cradles were fitted.