A question for North Britons

[Compound2632]

I've prodded a topic elsewhere back into life with a question that some members hereabouts may have some thoughts on:

 

[Caley Jim]

I have little knowledge of enemy NB wagons, but there was an article in the HMRS Journal many years ago on the subject of so-called 'illiteracy marks' generally and the conclusion the author came to was that these were what we would now called 'corporate logos'.  Merchants and traders, long before the railways, used similar marks to identify their barrels, crates etc.   The vast majority of railway company employees had to be literate in order to carry out their tasks, reading wagon labels, preparing invoices etc.

 

There is no evidence of the CR using such marks, though some photos show wagons with a small device carved into the solebar or lower plank whose purpose and relevance has yet to be established.

 

Jim