Customers & wagonload freight

[MisterSheeps]

I am interested in how wagonload freight worked, seems easy in a computerised age, not so before. Say I ordered a wagon of specific coal e.g. Barnsley Main ... from whom? The railway co? Which one? Or the colliery? How did the order get fulfilled (pre computer & phone era)? I was reading George Dow, History of the Great Central, vol 3, p96 where he writes (shortened for clarity), about Wath gravity yards "As each train arrived ... its wagons were uncoupled in their various sections, according to destination. It was then pushed over the hump ... and the wagons descended ... to their appropriate sorting sidings". Did the train personnel carry the wagon ordered list (consist)? Were specific wagons identified in the consist (I can remember seeing unique Nos & chalked scrawl on them)? How did the hump signalman get the consist? e.g. how to know that, say, the first 3 wagons were for Ardwick, the next 1 for Wigan, etc to switch the (pneumatic) point levers? And who decided how the load was routed (e.g. Barnsley Main to Shrewsbury)? Would I, as customer, know when my order would arrive? How to price the order? etc

 

[Dr Hoo]

One thing that isn't particularly well written up is that many forwarding were surprising 'regular', even year-to-year. A lot of coal would be ordered by a local gasworks, electricity power plant or factory that just suited their process. Gas coal, for example, was predominantly produced from a small proportion of pits. Other customers might find that a particular coal was attractive in terms of ash content, not degrading, etc.

A good rule of thumb was that in rural areas many households would burn about a ton of coal per year. The local merchants would perhaps stock a range of sizes, some coke or processed smokeless fuel, etc. but order it from specific collieries with which they had developed a relationship. Many merchants and other customers had a small stud of their own private wagons.

If a wagon had "Joe Bloggs Merchants Buxton" painted in large letters on both sides it was a pretty good bet that, when loaded, it would be consigned to Buxton.

It was amazing how wagon checkers/number takers would quickly become adept at knowing how 'their' traffic divided up and was routed. A quick chalk mark for which siding the wagon needed to go into and the job's a good 'un.

Without being too cruel, it is ironic that when computers and massive sophisticated marshalling yards came along they were unable to ensure the survival of an economic wagonload freight operation. Far from being "easy", it was, in fact, "impossible".

 

[Irascible]

Other than the loads we put in metal boxes & shunt with cranes, anyway ( not that there's a lot of that end-to-end completely on the island at the moment ).

I'm interested in just how much was transshipped too.

 

[Cheshire Scot]

Without really answering the original post, all individual wagons carried labels on a clip on both sides of the wagon so at its most basic the staff on the ground could see where the wagon was going to and presumably local knowledge would tell them by what route - maybe there was a routing book? Perhaps a manual shunt list was prepared? Were train formations perhaps forwarded over the railway telegraph system so that a yard knew what was inward bound to them. Perhaps someone can assist with these questions.

By the time I was 'on the ground' TOPS was in play -albeit outward train consists were still handwritten as our TOPS terminal was for enquiries only (inputs were faxed to the 'local' TOPS office over 100 miles away), so even if there were several similar wagons for the same destination TOPS would (or should if the data had been correctly input) show who the consignee was and if not the label would confirm.

My recollection is that wagon labels were still an important element in shunting certainly at a rural location where e.g. at one TOPS destination location there were two coal merchants, so even knowing there were perhaps three wagons for one and one for the other, the wagon labels were key to ensuring they were respectively placed in the correct sidings, perhaps in a similar manner to earlier days.

 

[6Gman]

I am interested in how wagonload freight worked, seems easy in a computerised age, not so before. Say I ordered a wagon of specific coal e.g. Barnsley Main ... from whom? The railway co? Which one? Or the colliery? How did the order get fulfilled (pre computer & phone era)? I was reading George Dow, History of the Great Central, vol 3, p96 where he writes (shortened for clarity), about Wath gravity yards "As each train arrived ... its wagons were uncoupled in their various sections, according to destination. It was then pushed over the hump ... and the wagons descended ... to their appropriate sorting sidings". Did the train personnel carry the wagon ordered list (consist)? Were specific wagons identified in the consist (I can remember seeing unique Nos & chalked scrawl on them)? How did the hump signalman get the consist? e.g. how to know that, say, the first 3 wagons were for Ardwick, the next 1 for Wigan, etc to switch the (pneumatic) point levers? And who decided how the load was routed (e.g. Barnsley Main to Shrewsbury)? Would I, as customer, know when my order would arrive? How to price the order? etc

My understanding is as follows (others may be able to correct/ add more detail):

You would order coal from the colliery (either directly or via a merchant/agent).
Your order would be placed in a wagon and a wagon label would be attached. Most wagons had a spring loaded position for labels; they might also be stapled/ nailed on for extra security.
Remarkably given their exposure to wind, rain etc. these generally survived the journey.
And these labels were basically how the wagon would then be routed across the system.

At the larger yards the process would be:

On the reception road a checker would read each label and decide the appropriate siding for each wagon; he would prepare a "cut card" or "cut list" reading something like 2/5, 3/7, 1/1, 4/6 etc - first 2 wagons siding 5; next 3 for siding 7; next 1 for siding 1; then 4 for siding 6 etc.
A shunter would then split the train, in this case after wagons 2, 5, 6, 10 etc
The cut list would be passed to the hump controller who would then operate the points as necessary.

At flat-shunted yards the approach would be similar but obviously slower as the loco would need to place each group in turn.

At smaller yards it would simply be a matter of shunter and driver liaising (i.e. shouting).

Train staff would not have a consist as such, just the basic "need to know" information - length of train, some indication of weight, and braking characteristics - so "six vanfits on the front, then 22 empty minerals" for example. Driver and guard might also need to be aware of any special characteristics such as dangerous goods or (loaded) cattle wagons etc.

Finally, train routeing was set out in booklets issued to staff. So if a wagon for Abercynon (GW) turned up in York the book would indicate the route it would follow.

Hope that helps.

 

[MisterSheeps]

On the reception road a checker would read each label and decide the appropriate siding for each wagon; he would prepare a "cut card" or "cut list" reading something like 2/5, 3/7, 1/1, 4/6 etc - first 2 wagons siding 5; next 3 for siding 7; next 1 for siding 1; then 4 for siding 6 etc.
A shunter would then split the train, in this case after wagons 2, 5, 6, 10 etc
The cut list would be passed to the hump controller who would then operate the points as necessary.

that is fascinating, thank you ...
I know retarders came later, but simply pushing a string of partially uncoupled wagons over a hump would, you might imagine, cause the whole lot to bunch down the other side ... or did it need shunters pinning the brakes, running alongside? Was the brakevan also sent over? I saw it in operation, as a kid, at Colwick, seemed almost like a choreographed ballet ... can't imagine the participants would thank for that analogy

Without being too cruel, it is ironic that when computers and massive sophisticated marshalling yards came along they were unable to ensure the survival

haha, yes ... I worked all my career in IT and, while it simplified complicated processes, it needed simplification to work ... human complex manual systems could never be directly automated, only rationalised. Is analogous to the difference between records & CDs.

One thing that isn't particularly well written up is that many forwarding were surprising 'regular'

yes, I had read the railways were not very reactive in changing markets, cumbersome bureaucracy ... and wagons sometimes went astray

 

[Gloster]

I think that, as a customer, you would only deal with the colliery, or more likely the NCB, possibly at an area level. You would specify the amount and grade of coal you wanted, possibly even the colliery, and they would quote a price including carriage. In due course the wagon would arrive and the railway would tell you: I used to do this and the customer had to be notified by 09.00 or they would get an extra day before demurrage was charged. Knowing how long the coal took to arrive would often be a matter of experience: you would reckon that a letter posted on a Monday would probably mean the coal arriving, say, six working days later. A lot would be done on the basis of contracts: a regular or semi-regular customer would probably settle up with the coal board at, say, monthly or quarterly intervals.

Wagon labels would give details including destination and customer. Once the wagon had been unloaded, or at least once the merchant had found his wagon, the old labels would be removed. Once the wagon was empty it would be sent away: it would sometimes be labelled for a specific destination, but might just go unlabelled to the nearest location where empties were held.

N.b. I was only involved at a low level at the receiving end and it is over forty years ago. TOPS was just coming into effect then, but had only partly taken over from old habits. I still had to enter everything up in old-fashioned ledgers.

Before nationalisation, both BR and NCB, wagons often had indications of where they were to go to or return to. A colliery owned wagon would have ‘Return empty to...’, giving the name of the colliery or nearby railway yard. A wagon owned by a merchant would say ‘Loaded to...’, giving the name of the station they were based at.

 

[StephenHunter]

yes, I had read the railways were not very reactive in changing markets, cumbersome bureaucracy ... and wagons sometimes went astray

I believe the railway staff involved in the various Resistance movements during the war would sometimes mislabel wagons on purpose.

 

[MisterSheeps]

I think that, as a customer, you would only deal with the colliery, or more likely the NCB,

Thank you ... i was wondering generally about the whole process, only chose coal example as main traffic of Wath, but that is interesting collieries would include delivery, not simply sell at the pithead. Was there ever an attempt to unify/nationalise the coal merchants? Old Bradshaws have 'contact the railway goods manager' adverts. Once your order was placed, was there a way of checking where it was? Coal is low value, but a wagon of copper pipe might induce anxiety if it was late ...

 

[6Gman]

Thank you ... i was wondering generally about the whole process, only chose coal example as main traffic of Wath, but that is interesting collieries would include delivery, not simply sell at the pithead. Was there ever an attempt to unify/nationalise the coal merchants? Old Bradshaws have 'contact the railway goods manager' adverts. Once your order was placed, was there a way of checking where it was? Coal is low value, but a wagon of copper pipe might induce anxiety if it was late ...

The railway did offer premium services which included an element of in transit monitoring. The equivalent I suppose of Royal Mail offering recorded/ registered postage.

But, of course, the data available to such a service would be limited.

 

[Gloster]

A couple of thoughts.

I doubt if there was ever any serious plan to nationalise merchants.

It would be possible for the recipient to organise and pay for the despatch of goods, but it involves a lot of work for them. Any industry would be sending out plenty of wagons so it was routine for them to handle all the arrangements of stuff they sent out. It would mostly be small, one-off loads that the recipient would have to sort out (“I’m just selling my dad’s old steamroller. Once you’ve paid the money it is up to you to take it away.”) Larger industries that bought in often, such as scrap merchants that bought job-lots, might have a gang that would deal with transport. A small business would have to work it out.

The Goods Manager would advise and help. If you wanted that steamroller in Praze-an-Beeble transported to you in Akeld, the manager could give you advice as to the cost and any arrangements. You would still have to do the paperwork, possibly with the manager’s assistance, and get the steamroller to the loading dock.

Keeping a track on the progress of you wagon was difficult. For many years you would probably get a letter from the company sending you the pipes, which would tell you that the wagon had departed or was just about to: often the company’s bill would be included. If you received a lot of wagons you might be able to guess how long it would take, otherwise you could ask the Goods Manager, who would give you his estimate. If it didn’t turn up by a couple of days (or more) after it was expected, then the process of searching started. Generally, you just had to wait.

 

[Snow1964]

What people tend to forget with modern communications, is that a century ago the mail service was very frequent. Fairly rural areas would have had a morning and afternoon post, and some towns and cities would have had a lunchtime (or late morning) post too.

Telephones we’re not that common in business until 1930s and some smaller businesses wouldn’t have had them until 1950s.

So your order would have gone by post, and notification of wagon being despatched would probably have been posted too. Most smaller stations would only have had one freight train dropping off and collecting wagons per day, although bigger locations would have multiple trains. So a letter saying your wagon is loaded and is being despatched today would almost certainly arrive before the wagon (as post used to generally arrive before 9am)

If you were a coal merchant located at a station, would soon know from experience the journey duration of your wagons, or what time likely to arrive. These things ran to schedules so it’s not like a modern delivery turning up at your house which can be delivered at any hour depending on who else happens to be getting something on same vehicle.

In some cases deliveries might be earlier, if a marshalling yard suddenly found they had 50 wagons for say South London, or the load limit would be exceeded didn’t think twice about running an extra train as soon as possible. There was often spare locos and crews and sometimes they needed the space. Virtually every big marshalling yard built between about 1905 and 1925 was because of congestion at existing sites.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

I speak only for South Wales - pretty sure there was a coal sales office for the NCB (remember them?) , located in the verdant suburb of Llanishen which took in all orders from all customers (including no doubt the big ones like steel works etc) , and they would have communicated to the loading points the demands required and get them to despatch them. They had excellent links to "BR" (remember them ?) , possibly some clerks etc embedded in the office , who communicated with them to expedite through the system , crucially to deal with specialist wagons types for known flows coming up.

Take the Gwaun - Cae - Gurwen / Abernant colliery lines - known orders for the lucrative Concentation Coal depots on the Southern needed vacuum braked HTV,s - so Severn Tunnel Junction would be advised to send on these wagons to Pantyffynon Yard for 9B96 (the local trip working) , and the locals would know not to waste these wagons on say duff shipments to Swansea Docks ,but to make sure they were used for quality long distance anthractite flows to say Chessington South / Beckenham Junction etc where bottom discharge was available, but other lesser locations - say the splendidly named Lent Rise Sidings , Taplow - where ordinary wagons could be used - but every attempt was made to put vaccum braked wagons on these flows to expedite (hopefully) the longer distance flows for a better transit.

The key person I suppose was the local Weighbridge man (all men in those days) , who would co-ordinate with his mates the loading of wagons to best effect , and get them weighed and labelled for despatch. No mean feat really.

Being unofficially involved from say the age of 12 , I would talk to the incoming train crew on 9B96 and was eventually trusted enough to say what was on which road in the departure sidings (no PTS in those days) and they would often take on board that say no 1 had 12 Severn Tunnels for London and 15 for the Midlands, - whilst no 2 had 32 "Jerseys" - short for Jersey Marine aka Burrows Sidings Swansea Docks - often unbraked wagons with duff for NOrthern Ireland or France.

Every effort was made to send longer distance stuff (it made more money of course) , but the ultimate decision was the Traffic Assistant at Pantyffynon in keeping things going. This is how I got operational and commercial knowledge at an early age. Brakevan and cab rides freely available.

Wagon labels critically important - later on as a trainee at Radyr , going around what looked like a block load of MDV's for Llanwern from somewhere up the Valleys , spotted a rogue shunt in the middle of the consist of a wagon of domestic coal for London , which was removed with some swearing ,but frankly had that load got mixed in with the coking coal , it would probably have caused 2 claims against BR for contamination at the steel works ,and the loss of some probably valuable domestic coal.

Later on at Ipswich and Felixstowe- we did not have to label 5 sets of Freightliner sets - but take the 1027 Felixstowe South to Stratford , planned 5 Stratford , 5 Leeds , 10 Willesden* (all on TOPS of course)
- but the formation changed every day so actually labelling wagons helped the shunters at Stratford immeasurably. (and they thanked us for the initiative) - we had special stamps made for the labels in bright red - staff loved them.

(* transfers for Liverpool , Holyhead and anywhere on the WCML)

Not thought about this for many a year I have to say.

 

[Taunton]

Putting coal to one side for a moment, more general goods (say a load of crated cider from Somerset for the City of London) would be delivered to the local station. There would often be a small stock of empty wagons, likely vans, on hand, and they could be loaded directly, otherwise it was put in the goods shed and the goods porter would telegraph to the local centre (let us say Taunton), and the required wagon type would be shunted out of the wagon store yard (the one just west of the station on the Down side of the avoiding lines), taken to the goods depot, and put in the local pick-up train. On arrival it would be loaded, if easy while the pick-up waited, if not it was sent the next day. As described above the destination was scrawled on a wagon label and clipped on the side. Porter also recorded the wagon number and destination, and weight.

Taken back to Taunton Goods where the label was read, and it was shunted into say the London sorting siding. If it was going to say Manchester it went into the siding for Chester Transfers. Each railway tried to keep wagons on their own lines as far as possible. If going to Aberystwyth (unlikely for cider, I know) there would be a known transfer point, which for much of Wales on the WR was Pontypool Road. Here comes the through goods Exeter to Acton, wagons for Taunton off, those for London on.

Into Acton yard, read the label, where's this one for ? Bishopsgate Goods. OK, onto the LNER transfer siding. A lot going there today so telegraph the LNER for an extra loco and crew to come over and get them all. LNER control send an extra Stratford loco and brake van, take the rake over to Temple Mills yard, read the label, shunt for Bishopsgate, gets there. Read the label, unload into goods shed and onto LNER an lorry, deliver to final destination nearby.

I once read that after 1923 the railways in London moved quickly from horse to motor lorries (many WW1 surplus), apart from the LMS who were a significant outlier in this. If you see a photo of central London streets from the 1920s with just one horse lorry mixed in, chances are it's an LMS one.

That record of weight etc at the initial station is converted in quiet hours into an invoice to the shipper and put in the post. if they wish they can post a cheque back, or come to the station booking office window, hopefully not 5 minutes before the occasional branch passenger train is due, and pay cash, getting a receipt. Accounts of paid and unpaid invoices were kept by the booking clerk, who at smaller stations might just be a porter, all overseen and checked by the stationmaster.

Having vanished into the ether, dependent on that label, if it was lost (both sides) there were daily telegrams from control to everyone with wagon numbers etc, which shunters and porters were all to look for. Apparently they were usually found. Meanwhile someone else at Control was recording the empties and getting them back to where likely next wanted. Before nationalisation most "foreign" wagons were worked back empty to the interchange point. There was no central wagon control, and a number just vanished each year. There were periodic all-system stocktakes where everything visible was recorded and sent back to control.

We are not finished with that invoice yet, because as it was an inter-company transit it was sent to the Railway Clearing House, where it was proportionalised by mileage . Say it was for £20 to send the wagon, and it was 90% on the GWR and 10% on the LNER, then the GWR owes the LNER £2. Every wagon doing this was put into the system, and a periodic payment between railway companies was made. Not for nothing was the RCH one of the first purchasers in bulk of old mechanical accounting calculating machines.

It will be apparent what a benefit to every step here TOPS made. It's thus ironic that the implementation of TOPS in the 1970s coincided with the complete rundown of wagonload freight.

I chose the cider as an example because there would typically be a small extra open crate in addition, for the benefit of those along the way. One bottle each ...

 

[etr221]

that is fascinating, thank you ...
I know retarders came later, but simply pushing a string of partially uncoupled wagons over a hump would, you might imagine, cause the whole lot to bunch down the other side ... or did it need shunters pinning the brakes, running alongside? Was the brakevan also sent over? I saw it in operation, as a kid, at Colwick, seemed almost like a choreographed ballet ... can't imagine the participants would thank for that analogy

Yes, shunters running alongside wagons pinning down brakes were a feature of some (pre-retarder) yards...

What people tend to forget with modern communications, is that a century ago the mail service was very frequent. Fairly rural areas would have had a morning and afternoon post, and some towns and cities would have had a lunchtime (or late morning) post too.

Telephones we’re not that common in business until 1930s and some smaller businesses wouldn’t have had them until 1950s.

So your order would have gone by post, and notification of wagon being despatched would probably have been posted too. Most smaller stations would only have had one freight train dropping off and collecting wagons per day, although bigger locations would have multiple trains. So a letter saying your wagon is loaded and is being despatched today would almost certainly arrive before the wagon (as post used to generally arrive before 9am)

In addition to the efficient (with frequent collections and deliveries) postal service, the extent of the telegraph system - both the public PO network, and the railway's own system - should not be forgotten - they were much used into the 1950s and even later. (E-mail: everything the telegram always wanted to be)

I recall reading that when Freightliner (and earlier overnight container services?) were introduced, with containers being collected by consignee from terminal (rather than delivered by the railway), shippers had to be told that the post wasn't fast enough, so that notification had to be sent by telex (or the like), that the container would need to be collected the following morning...

On wagon usage, from WW1, 'standard' railway wagons from the railway various companies were all pooled, and could just be reloaded when empty, ideally I think with a load heading roughly in the right direction - more wagon types were added over time. Non-pool wagons were duly labelled 'non-pool' (or just with an 'N'). And some wagons, dedicated to particular traffics were branded 'Empty to ...'

Pre WW2 a lot of coal traffic went in private owner wagons - either colliery or merchant owned - it was a wartime measure that brought these into the main railway pools, they ended up on BR with P-prefix numbers.
One of the on going debates within the railway was the extent to which wagons should be railway or customer provided - there were arguments both ways. (And the classic compromise were the milk tanks - the railway provided the chassis, the dairies the tanks).

 

[MisterSheeps]

it was proportionalised by mileage

Thank you, very comprehensive. Is this railway, or flying crow mileage? Assuming the former, was there agreed routing (RCH coordinated), fairly using all available routes, and a big table like the fares guide? or, say, the originating GWR maximised it's mileage & ignored such as the Stratford on Avon & Midland Jc?

most "foreign" wagons were worked back empty to the interchange point

I understand that for special purpose wagons (coal, oil, etc), but was that true for general goods (the brown 'box vans')? Inefficient if so, but backloading HGVs doesn't happen as much as it could.

 

[Gloster]

Tank wagons (oil, petrol, tar, chemicals, etc.) were, except for those used by the railway for its own purposes, almost all owned by a private owner. This meant that around half of their mileage was empty and they were not common user, normally only being used for the products of their owner.

Up to the First World War railway-owned wagons had to be returned empty to their owning company unless there was goods available destined for that company: an LBSCR-owned wagon that had taken goods to the NER would be returned empty unless there was goods available destined for the LBSCR. (I have never discovered if, say, an LBSCR wagon that had unloaded in Hull could then be sent to Alnwick to collect a load for its home company. Nor have I found if it could be used to collect a load en route, say at Peterborough.)

Starting in 1915 with open wagons on the GCR, GER and GNR common user arrangements were brought into use, being effective for all companies at the start of 1917. Box vans followed in 1919 and the variety of the types widened until all but the most specialised types were common user by the beginning of World War II. There was still a tendency to send a wagon back to its owning company.

Source: GWR Goods Wagons; Atkins et al.; OPC; 2013. (I have a vague feeling I have seen an update of this information somewhere recently.)

 

[Taunton]

Is this railway, or flying crow mileage?

Two different approaches. The actual charge to the customer, mileage/tonnage combination, was by the shortest route, so you could always determine what the charge might be in advance. The percentage split between companies was based on how it actually went, hence the common use of "via" on the wagon label, and the originating railways would game this to their own advantage. In the days of the Big Four companies this accounted for some continuing indirect major flows, cutting out any company geographically in the middle. Thus traffic from the LNER to the GWR was routed a lot via the former GCR and Banbury, avoiding the LMS. Likewise traffic from the LMS to the western half of the Southern would be sent via the Somerset & Dorset line, cutting out the GWR. Shippers could insist on routing "via" a certain point, but as the freight charge was the same they tended not to bother. I've written before how coal traffic from Swansea collieries to Ilfracombe gasworks, in sight of one another on a clear day across the Bristol Channel, might be routed via Shrewsbury and Templecombe, staying on the LMS/Southern throughout, to cut out the GWR through the Severn Tunnel.

The standard charge/mileage split approach of the Railway Clearing House also applied to passenger ticket revenue.

 

[MisterSheeps]

coal traffic from Swansea collieries to Ilfracombe gasworks

Thank you for all the information ... I've never seen a good book about wagonload freight operations ... you guys should team up & write one!
I'm astonished cross Bristol Channel coal didn't go by coastal shipping, was still important into the 1960s

 

[Gloster]

Thank you for all the information ... I've never seen a good book about wagonload freight operations ... you guys should team up & write one!
I'm astonished cross Bristol Channel coal didn't go by coastal shipping, was still important into the 1960s

I would guess it was a combination of factors. South Wales ports preferring to have larger ships occupying their berths, while small harbours on the south side of the channel limited the size of the ships. There was probably a shortage of unloading equipment in those ports that could handle a collier: even if there was a grab, there probably wasn’t much dockside space to pile coal. (Heaps of coal should not be more than 10’ high due to the risk of spontaneous combustion.) Then the need for the merchants to get the coal from the port to their yard, which was often in a railway yard.

The shipowners would want to unload their cargo as soon as possible to limit port fees, etc., but as it would be rare for any single merchant or business to buy a whole load at one go this might not be possible. Much easier to have the coal arrive in relatively small loads right in to the merchants’ yards. Remember, there are no large towns along the north coast, not even Taunton or Weston-upon-Mud.

 

[Taunton]

Thank you for all the information ... I've never seen a good book about wagonload freight operations ... you guys should team up & write one!
I'm astonished cross Bristol Channel coal didn't go by coastal shipping, was still important into the 1960s

We've discussed this one before. Given that the collieries were not at the docks, it had to go initially into railway wagons anyway, so it saves one stage of rehandling, with all its associated breakage of a percentage of the coal, etc. And then the last thing you want at Ilfracombe is 2,000 tons of coal from a collier turning up and being dumped on the quay, let alone the expense of paying for it all at once. Much better it turns up by the wagonload at the station, where coal merchants and local bulk users (principally the town gasworks) can unload it as they wish, straight into coal sacks if needed. That's a second step of rehandling avoided.

The original Somerset & Dorset was going to build a wharf at Burnham, for South Wales coal to France. Onto the ship at Barry, off at Burnham, into a railway wagon. Onto the second ship at Poole, off at Cherbourg. It might have been less mileage, but avoiding that intermediate handling by shipping direct from Barry to Cherbourg was better in all respects. Burnham Wharf was never used.

** Edit ** I seem to have written a complete duplicate of the post above

 

[6Gman]

Two different approaches. The actual charge to the customer, mileage/tonnage combination, was by the shortest route, so you could always determine what the charge might be in advance. The percentage split between companies was based on how it actually went, hence the common use of "via" on the wagon label, and the originating railways would game this to their own advantage. In the days of the Big Four companies this accounted for some continuing indirect major flows, cutting out any company geographically in the middle. Thus traffic from the LNER to the GWR was routed a lot via the former GCR and Banbury, avoiding the LMS. Likewise traffic from the LMS to the western half of the Southern would be sent via the Somerset & Dorset line, cutting out the GWR. Shippers could insist on routing "via" a certain point, but as the freight charge was the same they tended not to bother. I've written before how coal traffic from Swansea collieries to Ilfracombe gasworks, in sight of one another on a clear day across the Bristol Channel, might be routed via Shrewsbury and Templecombe, staying on the LMS/Southern throughout, to cut out the GWR through the Severn Tunnel.

The standard charge/mileage split approach of the Railway Clearing House also applied to passenger ticket revenue.

Very good accounts by @Taunton. The railway companies could often "play" the system. I have been told the North Staffordshire Railway closed part of one of their routes (possibly the Knypersley line), creating two dead-end branches because it then increased the mileage over their own tracks for certain flows.

Thank you for all the information ... I've never seen a good book about wagonload freight operations ... you guys should team up & write one!
I'm astonished cross Bristol Channel coal didn't go by coastal shipping, was still important into the 1960s

Michael Rhodes' From Gridiron to Grassland. The Rise and Fall of Britain's Railway Marshalling Yards: Platform 5: 2016 is good on that part of the story. Also explains their historical and international context. Some of the yards in the USA and China were/are MASSIVE!

I'd also recommend some of the books published by Xpress Publishing in the "The District Controllers' View" series describing railway operating in the 1950s. Not sure how many are still available but Booklaw in Nottinghamshire have some available.

The book on Marylebone-Rugby describes the role of Woodford Halse (around 30 trains per day each way) as well as the surprisingly significant flows closer to London; the North London and West London books describe the complex cross-London flows; Chester-Holyhead reveals that a railway most of us think of as primarily a route to the seaside or the Irish ferry carried a lot of freight. Recommended.

 

[Taunton]

The development of Tilbury docks around 1900, contrary to first sight, was a real financial problem for the LT&S, who were presented with much freight traffic, which they had to provide yards and motive power for, but by mileage only got a small proportion of the revenue before handing over to the main trunk lines for the major haul, so it was effectively unprofitable for them. Being bought out by the Midland in 1912 allowed that railway, which served by themself most of the major industrial centres in England, from Bristol to Leeds, to get all the revenue from the complete journey.

It was for this reason that minor operators around docks etc were often joint companies owned by combinations of the major companies serving there.