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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton
Hockley Station: gwrhd705
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Although this view is thought to have been taken in 1927 the
most remarkable thing is that not one motor lorry is in sight. The horse-drawn
wagon was the staple vehicle of the railway companies up to the beginning of
the First World War but rapidly in the inter-war period motorised transport
took its place. The onset of the Second World War and petrol rationing caused
the horse-drawn vehicle to last at least another ten years longer than would
otherwise be the case. Most of the wagons here appear to be of what was termed
the one horse trolley design. A Great Western Railway standard
design drawing (No.59981) issued in September 1920 showed 3 foot 3 inch
diameter cart wheels supported on leaf springs, with the 8 foot shafts and
front axle articulated. Driver arrangements varied between areas; the
Birmingham pattern had a box seat raised some 10 inches above the flat vehicle
floor. A canvas hood was secured to the arched framework to give some weather
protection. Two single horse vans are also visible. These have wooden sides
extending approximately 2 foot above the vehicle floor and had fixed iron hoops
supporting a canvas sheet roof. A standard two horse van designed in 1912 could
carry 4 tons 10 cwt. A single horse was expected to haul up to 36 cwt at a
speed of 6 m.p.h. and cover 20 miles in their days work.
Robert Ferris
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