Rental and hire purchase were commonplace in the pre-nationalisation coal industry. A considerable proportion of the estimated 500,000 strong fleet of private owner coal wagons were either rented or on h.p. - although prominantly painted with the colliery name or with the colliery company name, they bore cast iron plates clarifying actual ownership - which was often wagon rental companies or wagon building companies. No surprise that lamps could be obtained on a similar basis.