GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton

Hockley Station: gwrhd749a

Close up of image 'gwrhd749' showing the detail of several Great Western Railway lorries based at Hockley Goods Depot. In the centre of the photograph is a 4 ton Thonycroft forward control lorry, fitted with a high sided flat body and a solid removable tilt. This tilt carries the GWR roundel and an appeal poster by the Lord Mayor, which reads "Think of the wounded. Give to the Lord Mayor's fund". This lorry has a fixed windscreen and pneumatic tyres. The vehicle in the foreground has company reference number B 4268 painted on the cab side. The code letter indicates it is a four wheeled lorry and the first number indicates that it has a carrying capacity of 4 tons. It is believed that the chassis and cab with oval window were manufactured by Associated Daimler, while the lorry’s flat body would have been manufactured and fitted at Swindon works. The lorry in the background appears to be another 4 ton Thornycroft high sided lorry with the following national registration number YV 5019. These two letter prefix number plates were issued to vehicles registered between 1903 and 1932, with the first two letters indicating the county of registration. The following four numerics were then issued in series. Due to the number of vehicles being registered in their area, several authorities required more than one prefix and YV was one of the later London registration marks.

Robert Ferris

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