Changes

A Station Truck, sometimes referred to as a Pick-Up Wagon, was a goods wagon normally attached to a slow goods train or on occasions to a local stopping train. Its purpose was to cater for small consignments that were individually insufficient to form a full wagon load. The April 1935 issue of the Great Western Railway magazine carried an article on Station Trucks, using the [[Severn Valley Railway ]] as an example. The following text and accompanying pictures are copied from the magazine.

:Every Station Truck works to a pre-determined regular schedule and its stops are pre-arranged. A special label is printed for each truck, the one illustrated is for goods to and from the Hockley Transhipment Depot to stations on the Severn Valley Line, or for goods from one station to another on the line, in which case they do not go to Hockley for transhipment. The label shows all the stations being called at and shows the position of goods in the truck for each station. It is obvious that goods need to be easily found or confusion and delay will arise. The positions are such that consignments for say the first station are not covered or made inaccessible by items for stations further along the line. In addition, to ensure that all the packages are unloaded as required there is a printed Station Truck Label which lists all the stations to be called at. The members of staff responsible for unloading the truck are able to see from the label how many articles are for their station. When the truck is loaded any station with no goods for delivery is crossed out. However, if some goods is loaded en-route for that station further along the line there is space to re-enter the station name. There are also columns for filling in the number of packages for delivery at each station. Again, if any packages are added, these additional packages are listed in the extra columns. In the example shown the truck left Hockley with one package for [[Linley]], but a further three were added at one station and two at another. When the truck arrives at Linley the staff will look for six packages at the front centre of the truck. At [[Bridgnorth ]] the staff will see that their station name has been crossed off and not re-entered en route so will not find any goods for delivery there.

:At [[Shrewsbury ]] the Station Truck Label will be retained for reference. It may be that adjustments will be made depending on the quantity of goods being carried. A return truck from Shrewsbury to Hockley (now numbered 282B) will also run picking up goods for delivery to stations on the Severn Valley Line and for further afield by transhipment at Hockley."

The article notes that the Severn Valley’s station truck originated from Hockley. The GWR’s goods operation were organised into around 14 regions (the number varied over time). Geographically, the Birmingham region included the southern end of the Severn Valley Line from [[Hartlebury ]] to [[Eardington]], as well as Kidderminster, while Bridgnorth to Shrewsbury fell within the Shrewsbury region. The former region appears to have been allocated responsibility for the Station Truck serving the whole Severn Valley line. Another goods region was centred on [[Worcester]].<ref name = “Atkins” />

The station truck label from February 1935, as depicted in the article, shows that the departure from Hartlebury was at 9.30am. The [[Timetable: Severn Valley Line 1948 | BR(W) 1948 working timetable]] still included a 9.30am freight departure from Hartlebury. This was certainly a slow goods, as it did not reach [[Coton Hill Yard | Shrewsbury Coton Hill yard]] until 6.58pm. The stop at [[Cressage ]] has a note in the timetable ‘To deal with Cattle traffic and perform S.T. work only’, the S.T. referring to 'Station Truck'.

Another station truck, No 752, served the [[Tenbury Branch]]. Under the system in use in 1914, this was taken from Stourbridge Goods Depot down to Amblecote Goods yard at 6.45am, returning at 8.15am to be attached to the 9.10 Class F Goods departure from Stourbridge Junction to Hereford via Kidderminster, [[Bewdley ]] and [[Tenbury Wells]].<ref>[[Bibliography#Other References|Butcher (2004)]] p. 97.</ref>