Help needed

[Harrymick]

Could anyone shed any light on this flatbed cart/trolley.
Was told it was used on the railways but unsure.

thanks in advance

 

[Pyewipecarshed]

Very likely, we used to use a similar one when I worked for an on-train catering company. We used to take fresh hot water urns and restocks out to trolley staff passing through the station on it, and we also used it to bring deliveries in from the loading bay.
The handle operated a brake; you put the handle upright to put the brake on.
I'm assuming it had been used by BR for parcels or similar before we had it, but its history wasn't known.

 

[Harrymick]

Very likely, we used to use a similar one when I worked for an on-train catering company. We used to take fresh hot water urns and restocks out to trolley staff passing through the station on it, and we also used it to bring deliveries in from the loading bay.
The handle operated a brake; you put the handle upright to put the brake on.
I'm assuming it had been used by BR for parcels or similar before we had it, but its history wasn't known.

Thanks for your reply, your spot on with the braking system. Didn't know if the number related to anything

 

[Gloster]

Even a trolley would need occasional checks to be sure it was safe, so everything was given a number when it was delivered. The number series seem to frequently be on a local basis, but at least they could be sure that a specific trolley had had its annual check, not just something vague like ‘the trolley at Buggleskelly’ (which one: the old one, the new one, the small one or the spare one?) All this got written down in ledgers and stuffed in cupboards: on the rare occasions it was needed it could be found after a search.

 

[jp4712]

The use of that stencil style leads me to lean towards this being ex-Royal Mail.

 

[Pigeon]

The use of that stencil style leads me to lean towards this being ex-Royal Mail.

I would be inclined to favour that suggestion on the basis of the colours of the stencil and its background.

I definitely think it's more likely than it being of railway origin. Certainly the railways used very similar ones but the style of construction suggests "light industry" (broadly interpreted) rather than "railway" to me.

 

[Rescars]

The use of that stencil style leads me to lean towards this being ex-Royal Mail.

This seems a likely possibility. Though owned by Royal Mail, it could well have been used by them on railway premises, so the claim that it was "used on the railways" could also be true.

 

[Brightonboy]

Am I misremembering or did the GPO (as was) use such trolleys on some large stations to move post between trains and road vehicle loading/unloading points? Not all stations/trains were suitably configured to allow mails to be transferred directly between road & rail vehicles and that might account for both the GPO style markings and the association with railways?

 

[AndrewE]

Am I misremembering or did the GPO (as was) use such trolleys on some large stations to move post between trains and road vehicle loading/unloading points? Not all stations/trains were suitably configured to allow mails to be transferred directly between road & rail vehicles and that might account for both the GPO style markings and the association with railways?

My first reaction was that it was a (Royal) mail trolley, but I'm sure that all the ones I remember had a slatted bed, mailbags not being very heavy. I also think they had slatted ends and a similar side, being driven round the platform to present the open side to the train.

However that drum braking arrangement looks a bit sophisticated: GPO ones certainly had brakes worked off the drawbar, but I think they were tread-braked.

I would guess it could be either a copy made and modified for a different user with deep pockets, or one that has been adapted after being bought out of the service.

York museum would be the place to look for one or pictures (or the drawings.)

 

[Roger1973]

Can't find an exact match, but a Flickr search using 'royal mail trolley' brought up a few examples.

This one (not my photo or Flickr account) is fairly close.

 

[Rover]

Can't find an exact match, but a Flickr search using 'royal mail trolley' brought up a few examples.

This one (not my photo or Flickr account) is fairly close.

They are Royal Mail trolleys but they're not the same, they are the slatted bed as mentioned. The OP's photograph is I believe a Royal Mail trolley but a more modern version, I have seen them at a major station but I can't remember where after all these years.

 

[Harrymick]

Great thanks for everyone's help, ill have a look into it later

 

[Brightonboy]

Can't find an exact match, but a Flickr search using 'royal mail trolley' brought up a few examples.

This one (not my photo or Flickr account) is fairly close.

They're pretty much the ones I remembered. The only photo I have with one in is at Doncaster in 1980 which has a slightly different handle but the same metal wheels, can't see the bed though and the photo is B&W so can't be sure of the colour..

 

[marsker]

That looks like a Royal Mail trolley to me. They were common on the platforms at Newcastle, where there was a subway directly into the main sorting office in Orchard Street.
In 1964 I did a week on the Christmas post and worked 12 hour night shifts loading trains so I used it then.
I think that there may have been a similar arrangement at York.