Perambulator tickets

[mike57]

This has cropped up in a post on Facebook...

So can anyone on here spread any more light on this subject. You certainly dont need them today, but when did they die out, or were no longer required?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Apparently, perambulator tickets started to be issued in or around 1858 and a court case later that same year upheld the railway's position (i.e. that prams couldn't really be considered to be ordinary luggage and so were chargeable). Not sure, though, when the charges ceased.

 

[Merle Haggard]

I can recollect from my time in a booking office in the late 1960s that folding pushchairs were not chargeable, This implies that non-folding ones still were.
The distinction was sometimes the cause of argument at the barriers around whether a folding pushchair had to be folded before boarding a train; presumably the exception was on the basis it was, and so took up less room.

 

[Rescars]

It does make sense that they should be chargeable, like bicycles. At a purely practical level, would a non-folding pram be narrow enough to pass through an ordinary carriage door, or would it only fit the double doors of the guard's van / brake? A non-folding pram in a compartment or vestibule would be quite an inconvenient obstruction for everyone else.

By the by, in the OP, what is a child's mail cart? Was I deprived of such a thing in my youth?

 

[WesternLancer]

By the by, in the OP, what is a child's mail cart? Was I deprived of such a thing in my youth?

I would assume something for posting un accompanied children in

But then I actually found this link (no pic but a useful description) - so it 'was a thing'

Powerhouse Collection - Mail-cart type baby's pram

Baby carriage, 'mail-cart' type, wood and fabric with metal undercarriage, maker unknown, England, wheels supplied by Hughes, Birmingham, England, c 1880

collection.powerhouse.com.au

This type of nineteenth century baby carriage or pram is known as a mail-cart. The date of the first mail-cart is unknown and originally had two wheels. The design was based on the handcarts used by the Post Office in Great Britain to deliver letters and small parcels and was intended to carry a toddler or older child in a seated position. Mail-carts are distinguished by having a long pair of handles, two large wheels at the driving end and a small pair of wheels at the other end to improve manoeuvrability. This example dates from around 1880. The popular mail-cart was produced in a variety of models and improvements including a convertible version in which the occupant could lie flat. Sales of the mail-cart overtook other versions of prams and although a best seller in Victorian times, they had fallen out of favour in the Edwardian era, almost disappearing by 1914.
Further descriptive info on the link

No doubt an entry for the thread on 'archaic things you no longer see' elsewhere on the forum!

But yes, sounds like you were indeed perhaps deprived of this method of transport

 

[Trackman]

Child's mail carts- I'm sure they called them Go-Carts as well. Saw a ticket on eBay ages ago. Something like, Bicycles, Perambulators and Go-Carts. Go-carts (as we know them) weren't invented to the 1950's

 

[Taunton]

Various items have gone from charging to not over time. Prams, dogs, etc. Bicycles seem to have gone back and forth. These were typically placed in the luggage van, which all trains used to have (separate discussion!).

In Newcastle, on the Tyneside Electrics, there were separate vehicles built called Perambulator Vans, which had wide doors, and wooden longitudinal seats where mama could sit with baby alongside. They were only used on summer weekends on trains to the coast. It rather sounds like they were designed to be easily hosed out at the end of the day! Presumably Perambulator Tickets were required.

 

[D6130]

Perambulators were certainly no longer charged for when I joined the railway in November 1975.

 

[Rescars]

I would assume something for posting un accompanied children in

But then I actually found this link (no pic but a useful description) - so it 'was a thing'

Powerhouse Collection - Mail-cart type baby's pram

Baby carriage, 'mail-cart' type, wood and fabric with metal undercarriage, maker unknown, England, wheels supplied by Hughes, Birmingham, England, c 1880

collection.powerhouse.com.au

This type of nineteenth century baby carriage or pram is known as a mail-cart. The date of the first mail-cart is unknown and originally had two wheels. The design was based on the handcarts used by the Post Office in Great Britain to deliver letters and small parcels and was intended to carry a toddler or older child in a seated position. Mail-carts are distinguished by having a long pair of handles, two large wheels at the driving end and a small pair of wheels at the other end to improve manoeuvrability. This example dates from around 1880. The popular mail-cart was produced in a variety of models and improvements including a convertible version in which the occupant could lie flat. Sales of the mail-cart overtook other versions of prams and although a best seller in Victorian times, they had fallen out of favour in the Edwardian era, almost disappearing by 1914.
Further descriptive info on the link

No doubt an entry for the thread on 'archaic things you no longer see' elsewhere on the forum!

But yes, sounds like you were indeed perhaps deprived of this method of transport

Many thanks for the info about mail carts. I'm not so sure I missed out that much then, especially if they disappeared by 1914. I may be old, but I'm not that old!!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 25 Sep 2024 ==

Various items have gone from charging to not over time. Prams, dogs, etc. Bicycles seem to have gone back and forth. These were typically placed in the luggage van, which all trains used to have (separate discussion!).

In Newcastle, on the Tyneside Electrics, there were separate vehicles built called Perambulator Vans, which had wide doors, and wooden longitudinal seats where mama could sit with baby alongside. They were only used on summer weekends on trains to the coast. It rather sounds like they were designed to be easily hosed out at the end of the day! Presumably Perambulator Tickets were required.

Perambulator vans eh? An ideal solution to the "children should not be heard" conundrum. I bet there are plenty of airline passengers who wish a similar option could be made available these days!

 

[Cantab26]

By the by, in the OP, what is a child's mail cart? Was I deprived of such a thing in my youth?

But then I actually found this link (no pic but a useful description) - so it 'was a thing'

The attached image shows a mail cart on the left, the one with two wheels

 

[WesternLancer]

The attached image shows a mail cart on the left, the one with two wheels

View attachment 166234

Just what I was looking for!

 

[Rescars]

The attached image shows a mail cart on the left, the one with two wheels

View attachment 166234

My goodness, quite a thing! These look very up-market - priced in guineas. But they do look quite bulky. Definitely destined for the luggage van.

 

[Tester]

In the 1960s I recall tickets marked 'Dog, Bicycle or Pram'.

 

[Ashley Hill]

In the 1960s I recall tickets marked 'Dog, Bicycle or Pram'.

Come the 80s it was AAA,accompanied articles and animals.