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GWR Route: Banbury to Wolverhampton
Moor Street Station: gwrms2739
The General Goods Office on the 1st floor of the Moor Street
Goods Office. Here predominately female clerks undertook the duties
necessary for the efficient running of the Goods Depot. Moor Street Goods Depot
predominately handled inwards traffic (that is received and either stored or
distributed goods). To understand what clerical work was necessary, below is an
extract from Pitmans Modern Railway Operation by D Lamb
published in 1926.
Inwards Traffic The operations entailed in
connection with the reception at the depot and delivery to consignee of inwards
traffic may be thus summarized 1. Trains arrive in yard, wagon
numbers taken. 2. Loaded wagons are placed by engine on the various shed and
yard roads for unloading, and subsequently drawn into position, as necessary,
by capstan. 3. Transference of goods from wagon to platform or road vehicle,
during which process they are checked with the entries on the invoices. 4.
Goods are trucked to lorry or van, or to loading space, or are transferred to
warehouse. 5. Goods are loaded on to lorry or van in district or street
order. 6. Loaded vehicles are removed from side of stage by van-setters and
parked ready for departure. 7. Vehicles are driven over cart weighing
machine and out of depot for delivery.
Delivery Office Work Actually, the first operation
concerned with inwards traffic is a clerical one, for immediately the invoices
arrive in the early morning they are passed into the delivery office, where
they are given a progressive number and entered in a pro book,
local and foreign invoices being separately treated.
The charges are
then checked, an operation which saves time that. might otherwise have
subsequently to be spent in correspondence concerning undercharges and
overcharges, and which also obviates the difficulties invariably encountered
when undercharges have to be collected after the delivery of the
goods.
The invoices are next sorted into two batches according to
whether the traffic is wait order or delivered traffic.
The former has to be put aside pending delivery instructions, while the latter
has to be immediately delivered.
Marking the Invoices Invoices of delivered traffic
are marked with a code letter, or number, indicating the delivery round or
district. This information is necessary as a guide to the clerks subsequently
engaged in marking out the delivery sheets, and to the checkers responsible for
checking the goods as they are taken out of the wagons and barrowed to the
respective lorries or loading spaces.
The items are then entered on
delivery sheets, and preferably each sheet should have a single entry, while
different coloured documents should be used to distinguish paid and
to pay entries. The delivery sheets are consecutively numbered and
are endorsed with a code number of the cartage delivery area or district. As
the delivery sheets are completed they are placed, together with the respective
invoices, in a receptacle ready for the use of the shed and cartage staff.
Discrepancies In the event of goods being received
without invoices the checker has to enter particulars on an
unentered invoice which serves as a duplicate pending the receipt
of the original. On the other hand, invoices arriving without goods must have
their entries transferred to a goods not received book, the matter
being reported to the sending station. It follows that such instances militate
against the smooth routine which is essential to efficient handling of inwards
traffic, and every endeavour should be made by dispatching stations to avoid
them.
Another important aspect is the performance of the clerical duties
which are first in the sequence of operations on the inwards side. A
well-staffed and efficient delivery office is essential.
Robert Ferris
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