LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Nuneaton
LMS Route: Birmingham New Street to Tamworth

Lawley Street Goods Depot: mrls940a

Close up of image 'mrls940' some of the LMS' 2,400 cartage vehicles employed within the City of Birmingham. The traverser referred to in the article 'Modernization of Goods Depot' can be seen running across the face of the entrance to the goods shed, with a van standing on a traverser truck. Much of the railway's trade was derived from handling miscellaneous traffic arriving in small lots from all parts of the country for forward distribution and obviously in the reverse direction too. This needed to be collected or distributed by cartage vehicle, some of which can be seen above. Initially horse-drawn then steam hauled, the final evolution was petrol or diesel powered, either tractor units pulling trailers or lorries. The latter evolution - the use of petrol or diesel power - was so flexible it ultimately displaced the domination of the railways in transporting freight.

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