Parcels Network

[Wilts Wanderer]

Hello all,

For some time I have been wondering if there has ever been a comprehensive history written of parcels train operations. It is such an incredibly interesting and complex aspect of the historical railway, with a wide variety of rolling stock, an intricate network of inter working and connecting services and overlaps onto the passenger train timetable.

Equally, did BR ever pull its Parcels Sector operations into one timetable publication? Or was there a particular internal document, and has anyone ever seen them become available on ebay etc?

Any help much appreciated, thanks.

 

[Dr Hoo]

'Coaching class traffic' - essentially 'freight (as opposed to passengers) conveyed in passenger type rolling stock' covered a wide range. Besides classic 'anywhere to anywhere' one-off parcels it included Royal Mail, newspapers, milk, fish, horseboxes, luggage in advance, etc.

Although there were many 'parcels' trains that didn't convey any passengers there were, of course, many parcels vehicles attached to passenger trains and smaller amounts of parcels traffic loaded into brake vans.

So a purely parcels timetable wouldn't really make much sense as it would cover an arbitrary proportion of the business. It would be an operationally led as opposed to commercially led document.

For those 'pure' parcels trains that did run there were usually things called Marshalling and Loading Orders (MLOs) that specified the normal formations but in my experience these seemed to be honoured rather in the breach more than the observance because of shortages of the correct type of vehicle.

 

[gg1]

Not a definitive history by any means but there are a huge number of images (predominantly 60s and 70s) along with discussions around formations on this thread at another forum:

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/66383-modelling-a-traditional-parcels-train/

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

Thanks both.

 

[sprinterguy]

"An Illustrated History of the Travelling Post Office" is an updated and expanded version of a previous title written by Peter Johnson, "Mail by Rail", and I believe is considered fairly authoritive on this aspect of railway postal operation:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Illustrated-History-Travelling-Post-Office-Peter-Johnson/0860936201

"Mail Trains" written by Julian Stray gives a broader look at the history of the transport of mail by rail.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/Ma...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GZFDEGZGZSXRV6T47QK8

 

[EveningStar]

Been an interesting series of articles over the last few editions of Review, the journal for Friends of the NRM.

 

[Rover]

Equally, did BR ever pull its Parcels Sector operations into one timetable publication?

To my knowledge all class 1-5 workings were included in the passenger WTT which included class 1, 3 and 4 parcels and mail trains and associated class 5 parcels and mail ecs workings.

Or was there a particular internal document, and has anyone ever seen them become available on ebay etc?

I worked at a number of parcels offices around the country including Euston, Stockport, Sheffield and others. I was never issued with nor came across any officially printed timetables for Red Star Parcels in the form of WTTs.

Before the onset of privatisation parcels were loaded and unloaded by any of the railmen seeing to the train, except for larger stations like London Euston where dedicated railmen saw to parcels duties. There was never a need to issue a separate timetable as each train was attended to as a matter of course.

Leading up to privatisation in the early 90s parcels duties were separated from other station duties with Red Star having dedicated staff. Many of the busier stations found that there were too many trains and not enough staff to see to them all so some trains were not used for Red Star. Staff of course had to know which trains to attend to so used locally issued station staff timetables.

Red Star staff at larger stations had a copy of the normal station timetable issued to all rail staff but not a parcels-specific one. Whilst manager at Sheffield I issued my staff with a Red Star parcels timetable to make life easier for them but it was not an official BR publication, just printed off a pc!
I would be amazed if one turned up on ebay!

However, there was an actual Red Star Parcels timetable which included all trains on the whole of the network on which parcels could be carried but it wasn't a printed timetable it was on a computer disc or tape in them days. You could only access it through the computer terminal.

Kev

 

[341o2]

many overnight trains carried newspapers as well. Hamilton Ellis recalled on his visit to the Lynton & Barnstaple "the newspaper train" and that he and his wife were the only passengers, likewise TWE Roche recalled in "The Withered Arm" that when the goods/parcels section was full (typically a BSK), then parcels were loaded into an empty compartment. Then there were vehicles such as GUV's which could be a single goods vehicle attatched to a passenger train

Pigeon specials were another freight now consigned to history

And the BRUTE system and the tractors used to haul them at larger stations

 

[Wilts Wanderer]

That's all really interesting stuff, thanks folks. Interesting to hear experiences of those who were involved directly with the system.

Like with many things BR, it seems the whole network just sort of functioned without an overall guiding hand? How did parcels planning take place for instance. Was there a separate train planning function that dealt with it, or had the workings just existed for 'time immemorial' and gradually evolved for operational reasons? Seems surprising now, considering how business-led timetable planning offices are these days.

 

[Foxcote]

That's all really interesting stuff, thanks folks. Interesting to hear experiences of those who were involved directly with the system.

There were very few items that could not be sent by passenger train. I recall dealing with corpses, they had to have their own passenger rated van which was attached to a passenger train, and were charged on a mileage basis. Horse boxes plus groom were common travelling to races or for breeding. One rare occasion was an elephant which turned up out of the blue, the road vehicle taking it had broken down, so the elephant was walked to the nearest station. As a 'Common Carrier" the railway could not refuse it.

At a limited number of locations, special vehicles were kept to cope with such loads. A suitable covered vehicle was requested and arrived on a passenger train about two hours later. The loaded vehicle was meant to go forward by Passenger train, but Control organised a loco and brake van to work direct to destination.

Live calves in sacks were common from cattle markets. Both the front and back legs were folded up under the body and the calf was placed in a sack and a label with the address and paid parcel leger lable showing the price paid was tied round the ne k of the sack. When presented with several, I tended to weigh one -say about 80 lbs, and charge all the others the same for the weight and mileage. The calf traffic was hated by train guards, -imagine a frightened animal struggling in a sack on a journey of perhaps 100 miles or more,being lifted about by staff, perhaps with a number of changes and waits in steam days.

Shows used to attract many animals such as dogs and cats. But anything could be sent, rodents, fish, etc in their containers, charged by weight and mileage. Goats could be sent on their own with a lead attached, charged per animal and mileage. When released from the train, they often led the staff a merry dance pulling them all around the station. All animals were paid Station to Station only, delivery of them to the show, ( and most other exhibits) if performed by BR was charged extra.

 

[PeterC]

That has just reminded me of seeing stacks of racing pigeon baskets at stations in the early 60s

 

[RichmondCommu]

Apologies for going slightly off topic but I have very fond memories of seeing class 40s hauling the Cleethorpes - Manchester Red Bank newspaper empties in the early 1980's as they passed through Edale.

Of course sadly the newspaper traffic has gone forever as have almost all of the class 40s and the sidings at Red Bank.

 

[Dr Hoo]

That's all really interesting stuff, thanks folks. Interesting to hear experiences of those who were involved directly with the system.

Like with many things BR, it seems the whole network just sort of functioned without an overall guiding hand? How did parcels planning take place for instance. Was there a separate train planning function that dealt with it, or had the workings just existed for 'time immemorial' and gradually evolved for operational reasons? Seems surprising now, considering how business-led timetable planning offices are these days.

This is a pretty shrewd summary in many ways. As I see it many of the 'bones' of the system were largely fixed - a comprehensive 'everywhere to everywhere' Royal Mail network, newspaper trains only ever loaded one direction from major print centres, notably London, Manchester and Glasgow/Edinburgh, and trunk trains for 'railway' parcels (excluding Red Star).

Specials would be operated on a 'charter' basis, e.g. to move circuses, pigeon specials, horses to major race meetings and so forth but I suspect that these were often 'repeat bookings' with fairly minor variations. Seasonal extras would run before Christmas based on past experience.

The entire system was capable of operating far more 'specials' and reliefs for all classes of business in those days, having spare rolling stock, crews, paths, etc. and local managers would be empowered to ask for them without too much worrying about business cases.

There were undoubtedly larger timetable re-structurings around projects such as electrification requiring overnight possessions on particular routes or major 'concentration' schemes such as the new Curzon Street parcels depot in Birmingham associated with the rundown of the Great Western lines through Snow Hill and the rebuilding of New Street but here again it would be seen as a case of adapting what had gone before, with similar rolling stock, rather than starting with a blank sheet of paper.

Certainly when I was inducted into the industry, e.g. at Rail House in Crewe on the London Midland Region, it seemed very much an operationally led, adapting business as usual sort of model. As has been pointed out above, parcels trains were generally seen as part of the passenger timetable, albeit mostly not Class 1 or 2.

 

[G0ORC]

'Coaching class traffic' - essentially 'freight (as opposed to passengers) conveyed in passenger type rolling stock' covered a wide range. Besides classic 'anywhere to anywhere' one-off parcels it included Royal Mail, newspapers, milk, fish, horseboxes, luggage in advance, etc.

Although there were many 'parcels' trains that didn't convey any passengers there were, of course, many parcels vehicles attached to passenger trains and smaller amounts of parcels traffic loaded into brake vans.

So a purely parcels timetable wouldn't really make much sense as it would cover an arbitrary proportion of the business. It would be an operationally led as opposed to commercially led document.

For those 'pure' parcels trains that did run there were usually things called Marshalling and Loading Orders (MLOs) that specified the normal formations but in my experience these seemed to be honoured rather in the breach more than the observance because of shortages of the correct type of vehicle.

The stock itself was known as NPCCS - non-passenger carrying coaching stock...

 

[Busaholic]

The Adrian Vaughan books published by John Murray in the 1980s/1990s have quite a bit of detail on freight/parcels on the GWR and Western Region told from the perspective of a signalman, iirc.