What is the difference between an open wagon and a mineral wagon?

[Nearholmer]

Going about the same distance as coal, but in the opposite direction: “blue boulders”, which are large flint pebbles of a particular blue-grey colour (pink-red ones and yellow ones contain unwanted iron), from the beaches of West Kent and East Sussex, and even imported from French beaches directly opposite, to the potteries in Staffordshire for making glazes and adding ‘body’ to clay.

 

Shale oil paraffin from the Scottish lowlands to almost anywhere, ditto I think candles made from it. Prices Candles went from Vauxhall in London to everywhere too.

 

Sausages by the entire van load from Birmingham to Glasgow by passenger train. Tobacco products for export, again vans in passenger trains, from Nottingham to I think Milford Haven and Plymouth, and from Bristol to all over the place. Soft fruit from deepest Hampshire to Glasgow and Edinburgh, again vans in passenger trains.

 

Imported frozen meat from Liverpool to London, oodles of it. The big brand biscuit and chocolate makers shipped large tonnages long distances too.
 

Overall, there was a fair bit of long distance traffic, but I guess that a lot of it had been through “break bulk” somewhere along the way before it turned up by the box-load on the W&U.

Edited November 15, 2023 by Nearholmer

[Bernard Lamb]

2 hours ago, Compound2632 said:

 

 

But this was passenger-rated traffic, not goods.

I havn't got a clue how things were classified around 150 years ago as I was not about at the time.

I was just mentioning that there were trains that took things ove a distance of around 400 miles.

Bernard

[Compound2632]

21 minutes ago, Bernard Lamb said:

I havn't got a clue how things were classified around 150 years ago as I was not about at the time.

I was just mentioning that there were trains that took things ove a distance of around 400 miles.

 

Fair enough; I was merely pointing out that some things that we might think of as "goods" generally went by passenger train. Apologies if I cam across as cutting you down.

[corneliuslundie]

Also sausages from Calne in Wiltshire to as far as Yorkshire regularly, with vans carrying boards stating the route.

And a one-off: a slaughterhouse in Llanindloes had its allocated van which ran regularly to London (Hamer's Mutton Van).

Jonathan

[Buhar]

4 hours ago, Nearholmer said:

Sausages by the entire van load from Birmingham to Glasgow by passenger train.

Upon crossing the border they were immediately designated "link" to avoid confusion with the square or Lorne variety.

Alan 

[johnofwessex]

1 hour ago, Buhar said:

Upon crossing the border they were immediately designated "link" to avoid confusion with the square or Lorne variety.

Alan 

 

Top Link?

[Compound2632]

13 hours ago, Buhar said:

Upon crossing the border they were immediately designated "link" to avoid confusion with the square or Lorne variety.

 

Sausage import inspection officers will be an added burden to the Scottish exchequer come independence.