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Sugar details added from GWR mags
The opening of the West Midlands Sugar Co (later British Sugar Corporation) factory at [[Foley Park sidings]] in 1925 began sugar beet trains to Foley Park, which ran until closure of the factory in 1982. The processing season ran from mid-September to mid-January, during which time up to four complete trains per day would arrive at Kidderminster. Tripping these loads from Kidderminster yard along the [[Kidderminster Loop Line|Loop line]] required a locomotive to be available 24 hours per day.<ref>[[Bibliography | Turley (2005), p72.]]</ref>
Outside the regular beet season, the factory was kept supplied by train loads of sugar cane from Newport or Cardiff docks. Tank loads of molasses, a by-product of the refining process, were shipped from the factory to Avonmouth docks.<ref>[[Bibliography | Turley (2005), p74.]]</ref> From the early operations, special cartage facilities were placed at the disposal of sugar beet growers. The most suitable vehicles were an AEC 3 and a half ton lorry with special sides and a 5 ton tip trailer working with Fordson tractor.<Ref Name = "GWR27">Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1927</ref> Additional holding sidings for sugar beet and other traffic were added at Kidderminster in 1925.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, September 1939</ref> By 1927 a shunting spur and additional siding were provided at Foley Park and a loading bank at Bridgnorth in connection with increased traffic.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, June and August 1927</ref> The following year the GWR reported '' "a large contract has been secured for the cartage of sugar beet to the Kidderminster and Allscott factories." ''<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, November 1928</ref> *In 1926, 10,000 tons were moved.<ref name=GWR27/> *1930 was a record with 100,000 tons of sugar beet carted by the GWR's vehicles.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1931</ref>*1933 saw 115,000 tons of sugar beet traffic handled by GWR following increased collection from farms - 70% of overall tonnage.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1934</ref>*In 1934, contracts for sugar beet delivered to Kidderminster and Allscott<ref group="note">Allscott factory was situated at Wrockwardine, Telford, Shropshire</ref> factories were upwards of 200,000 tons representing 80% of traffic.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1935</ref>*In 1935, GWR secured conveyance of beet for sugar making required at Kidderminster and Allscott factories of 150,000 tons, notably some by road using GWR vehicles.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1936</ref>*In 1938, the factory received 75,000 tons of sugar beet, 70,000 tons of raw sugar and 37,000 tons of coal via the GWR, and despatched nearly 27,000 tons of refined sugar and 7,000 tons of pulp and molasses.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1926</ref>*The GWR forwarded 149,700 tons of sugar beet to Kidderminster in 1946 and 145,048 tons in 1947.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, January 1948</ref>
==Cattle==
A number of the stations on the branch had 'cattle docks' from which loaded cattle wagons could be collected. The 1936 GWR 'General Appendix to the Rule Book' stated that "''In dealing with Live Stock, including horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and goats, care and patience must be shown, not only in loading and unloading, but also in their treatment during transit, and in or about the yards, pens, sheds and stations, in order to avoid fright or injury, and consequent suffering on the part of the animals.''"<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Vanns (2017)]] p. 37.</ref>
A 1903 newspaper report mentions 60 truck loads of stock being taken away from Kidderminster market<ref>[https://postimg.cc/GB22LcDh Worcestershire Chronicle]</ref>
Post-War, cattle trains ran on market days as required from Bridgnorth on alternate Mondays and Tenbury on alternate Tuesdays to Bordesley via Kidderminster<ref>[[Bibliography#Books|Turley (2005) p. 80.]]</ref>
==Bricks and tiles==
A number of the brick and tile works in the Ironbridge Gorge had their own private sidings or made use of the extensive [[Jackfield sidings |sidings at Jackfield]]. [[Maw and Co's Siding| Maw and Co]]'s factory opened in 1883 and became the largest tile works in the world, employing almost 400 people and producing 20 million tiles annually. They had their own privately owned railway wagons and for many years made extensive use of the Severn Valley Branch to transport almost the whole of the factory's output. The 1922 working timetable showed that it was served by the Down goods train from Hartlebury (the 'Salop Goods') arriving at 4.13pm and the Up goods from Shrewsbury arriving at 3.45pm. The GWR transported 6000 tons of roofing tiles from Ironbridge and Coalport in 1938.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, September 1939</ref> The siding continued in use until 1959.
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There were a number of private sidings including H. Whitehouse's sidings at [[H. Whitehouse's Sand Siding|Kidderminster]] and [[Wilden Sand Siding|Wilden]], and those accessed via the Foley Park sidings.<br>
When [[Gravel Pit at Foley Park | Kellett's Gravel pit]] at Foley Park closed in 1904, the sale included 51 ballast wagons and a 5000 ton stockpile, suggesting that many thousands of tons of ballast had been carried on the SVR on its way to Frankley, Birmingham, in the two and a half years the pit was open.<ref>[https://postimg.cc/7GNzLSn8 Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer - Monday 18 July 1904]</ref>
==Crane trial at Kidderminster==
In 1925, a petrol-electric mobile 2 ton crane was trialled at Kidderminster. The trial was a success and it was decided to obtain similar cranes for use at other depots.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, May 1925</ref>
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File:Kidderminster Crane 1925.jpg
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==Examples of references to goods traffic==
*Sixty truck loads of cattle and sheep from Kidderminster market in 1903<ref>[https://postimg.cc/GB22LcDh Worcestershire Chronicle - Saturday 28 November 1903]</ref>
*A steamer discharged coal at Sharpness which was delivered to [[Foley Park sidings | Foley Park]] the next day in 1926.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, November 1926</ref>
*25000 tons of carpets annually from Kidderminster in 1939.<ref>Great Western Railway Magazine, September 1939</ref>
==Bewdley Consignment Notes from 1965==
*Alton Glasshouses sending 19 lbs of timber to Derby. [https://postimg.cc/tZLfnF8v Image]
*Alton Glasshouses sending 4 lbs of timber to Bude, Cornwall. [https://postimg.cc/Z0dXtDyG Image]
*Stocklands Estate Nursery, Bewdley, sending a 21 lb bundle of shrubs to Duffield, Derbyshire . [https://postimg.cc/V0nhqd8f Image]*19 lb parcel to Great Universal Stores, Wigan. [https://postimg.cc/TK4bWHQw Image]*Forestry Commission sending 240 lbs of venison to Hertfordshire. [https://postimg.cc/Y4LWNfyx Image]
===Other consignment notes and way bills===
*In 1889 a 14 lb parcel was sent from Stourport to Bootle Rectory.
*An undated GWR luggage label for live birds to Tenbury by passenger train.
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Stourport way bill 1889.jpg|1889 way bill from StourportLive birds to Tenbury.jpg | Luggage label for live birds to Tenbury
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==Goods offices==
Before the SVR opened, the GWR had an office in High Street, Bridgnorth, where 'passengers, parcels &c.' could be booked through to 'most parts of the kingdom' by a horse drawn omnibus to meet the GWR train at Shiffnal Station. [https://postimg.cc/tsnSNzZk Image]<br>
The LNWR had a goods office at Bridgnorth by 1871<ref>[https://specialcollections.le.ac.uk/digital/collection/p16445coll4/id/218324/ Cassey & Co.'s Directory of Shropshire, 1871]</ref>, and at Kidderminster and Stourport.
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File:Limekiln Chandlers Mart Lane - geograph.org.uk - 1052908.jpg | Former LNWR and SURCC depot at StourportFile:LNWR depot 2.jpg | LNWR depot at Kidderminster
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