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----==Station Trucks on the SVR==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.
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[[File:Station Truck 1.jpg|thumb|300px400px|right |Map of the Station Truck's route]][[File:Station Truck 2.jpg|thumb|300px400px|right |Station Truck loading diagram]][[File:Station Truck 3.jpg|thumb|300px400px|right |Example of a Station Truck label]]
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.
<div style="background:#fcfcfc; border-style:solid; border-width:2px; border-color:#895920; margin:20px 10px; padding:5px;">
:"The 'Station Truck' is a goods vehicle which is sent off on a journey from one defined part of the line to another to discharge and pick up goods at stations along the route. More than 600 Station Trucks operate daily.
: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 GWR’s GWR's use of Station Trucks had begun as early as the 1860s, and was still in use in BR days as noted below. The [[Timetable: Severn Valley Branch 1876|1876 service timetable]] (before the opening of the [[Kidderminster Loop Line]]) refers to station trucks operating between Worcester and Shrewsbury and others handling goods for the [[Tenbury Branch]]. Between around 1910 and the mid-1920s station truck workings were included in the rear pages of service timetables; thereafter separate books were produced which listed all station trucks and the trains involved in their haulage.<ref name = “Atkins”Atkins>GWR Goods Services[[Bibliography#Other References|Atkins, an Introduction, Atkins & Hyde, (2000)]].</ref>
The article notes that the Severn Valley’s 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” 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 'To deal with Cattle traffic and perform S.T. work only’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>
Although Station Trucks provided a useful service, the weight they carried formed only a fraction of total freight, less than 0.5% in this summary of the total loading of wagons from the Birmingham district for the 4 weeks ended 14 April 1929: <ref name = “Atkins” Atkins />
{| class="wikitable"
|<b>Total</b> || style="text-align:right;" | <b>36,667</b> || style="text-align:right;" | <b>154,012</b> ||
|-
|}
===Station Trucks in use in October 1893===
Some 603 daily workings of station trucks took place, including the following station trucks which served or travelled via the Severn Valley and Tenbury branches<ref name=Atkins2B>GWR Goods Services Part 2B, Tony Atkins, Wild Swan publications, ISBN 978-1-905184-69-9, pp. 330-341.</ref>:
{| class="wikitable"
! <b>No</b> !! <b>From</b> !! <b>Dep</b> !! <b>For</b>
|-
|1 || Paddington|| 9.50pm || Ironbridge (via Berrington)
|-
|35 || Paddington|| 11.55pm || Tenbury
|-
|36 || Paddington|| 11.55pm || Bridgnorth
|-
|478 || Shrewsbury || 1.50pm || Wolverhampton (via SVR)
|-
| 483 || Ironbridge || 4.30pm || Hockley
|-
| 483 || Ironbridge || 4.30pm || Paddington
|-
| 487 || Woofferton || 3.30pm || Wolverhampton
|-
| 488 || Tenbury || 6.35pm || Worcester
|-
| 489 || Tenbury || 6.35pm || Hockley
|-
| 544 || Hockley || 5.30am || Tenbury
|-
| 545 || Hockley || 5.30am || Birkenhead (via SVR)
|-
| 581 || Worcester || 8.00am || Shrewsbury
|-
| 585 || Worcester || 10.28am || Bridgnorth
|-
| 597 || Hartlebury || 3.20pm || Manchester (via SVR)<ref group="note">Truck no 526 made the 10.48pm return working to Worcester; the timetable did not state whether this was via the SVR.</ref>
|}
===Station Trucks in use in June 1923===
In 1923 the numbering sequence, which was formerly organised by geographical regions starting from Paddington, became alphabetical, with some 768 trucks now in operation. The following station trucks served or travelled via the Severn Valley and Tenbury branches in June 1923<ref name=Atkins2B/>:
{| class="wikitable"
! <b>No</b> !! <b>From</b> !! <b>Dep</b> !! <b>For</b>
|-
|92 || Bridgnorth|| 1.50pm ex Hartlebury || Shrewsbury
|-
| 111 ||Bristol ||10.50pm || Bridgnorth
|-
| 345 ||Hockley ||3.15am ex Moor St || Tenbury Wells
|-
| 356 ||Ironbridge ||10.15am ex Salop || Hockley
|-
| 357 ||Ironbridge ||8.15am ex Salop || Paddington
|-
| 358 ||Ironbridge ||8.15am ex Salop || Small Heath empties (Mon/Wed)
|-
| 359 ||Ironbridge ||8.15am ex Salop || Worcester
|-
| 362 ||Kidderminster ||7.03am || Shrewsbury
|-
|508 ||Paddington ||12.08am || Bridgnorth
|-
|584 ||Paddington ||12.08am || Tenbury Wells
|-
| 711 ||Shrewsbury ||8.15am || Kidderminster
|-
|757 || Tenbury Wells ||5.45pm ||Hockley
|-
|758 || Tenbury Wells ||5.45pm ||Wolverhampton
|-
|759 || Tenbury Wells ||5.45pm ||Worcester
|-
| 840 || Worcester ||5.50am || Shrewsbury
|}
==See also==
*[[The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership]]*[[Country Lorry Service and Cartage Service]] ==Notes==<references group="note"/>
==References==
<references />
[[Category:The Severn Valley Railway under GWR/BR ownership]]
[[Category:Featured articles]]