GWR internal publications
Reference books
In addition to rulebooks, the GWR and other railway comapnies produced many books and booklets which contained either reference information or advice and guidance, as oppposed to rules. We have a few of these such books in our collection and illustrate them here. They are, by their nature, somewhat diverse in content but this is as good a place as any to group them together.
~~~~~~ ooooooOOOoooooo ~~~~~~
Click or tap on any page thumbnail to see a larger version.
~~~~~~ ooooooOOOoooooo ~~~~~~
Scale for Calculating Charges for Traffic by Passenger Train
Published in December 1927 for use from January 1st, 1928
This twelve page leaflet is a remarkable survivor. It is printed cheaply on thin paper and would not have lasted very long in daily use, so was probably looked on as a disposable item. Inside the front cover are instructions in how to calculate the charge for carrying an item, and subsequent pages contain look-up tables of charges. The tables consist of columns, one for each charge for 1cwt (one hundredweight, or 112 lbs) from 1/- in penny steps up to 10/-. Each row increments the weight from 1 to 27 lbs, then 1 to 3 quarters (one quarter weighed 28 lbs), and then from 1 to 10 cwt. By breaking down the weight of an item into cwt, qtrs and lbs one could simply look across the table to find the correct charge and then add them together as appropriate. This type of look-up table was called a Ready Reckoner and they could be found being applied to many different circumstances, for example in a shop to calculate the charge for a weighed item.
Through Booking of Parcels
This book provided all the information needed to book parcels travelling by passenger train from the GWR system to a receiving station on the system of any other railway company. Our edition from 1910 contains 312 pages and is roughly 6½" x 10" in size.
A table details the scale of charges for parcels depending upon weight and miles. An index of railway companies covered Ireland, Scotland and England, those companies in Wales (such as the Cambrian, Rhymney etc.) are listed with the English companies. Using this, or the index of stations which runs to almost 90 pages, it was possible to look up the table of distances and determine the distance of a receiving station from the nearest relevant trans-shipment point on the GWR. For example, the L&NWR station at Cambridge is 77 miles from Oxford. There is also a small section dealing with traffic to America, Canada and other parts of the world.
This edition published in 1910
Towns, Villages Outlying Works etc.
The introduction to this 896 page volume explains that it is intended to be a guide for the Company's Staff when dispatching Goods and Parcels for places served by the Company's Stations. It lists the names of places, Great Western station that goods should be sent to, the distance of that station from the destination, and the mode of conveyance from the station. Reading the three entries for Culham in Oxfordshire (there are two different places named Culham, the other is near Henley) it seems that the station had to rely on the services of a carrier. According to the book the carrier likely to have been used in the area was City of Oxford Motor Services Ltd.
This edition published by the GWR in 1938
Hand-Book Of Stations
This comprehensive book, published by The Railway Clearing House, was the official reference manual used by all railway companies. It listed not only all stations, but junctions, sidings, collieries and works on the railways of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man. Each entry indicated the type of traffic handled, crane power (where applicable), and the county, operating company and relative location on the line.
This substantial edition from 1925 contains 715 pages and is roughly 8" x 10" in size. The entry for Culham shows that has a 2 ton crane and that it is a goods, passenger and parcel station that also handles Furniture Vans, Carriages, Portable Engines and Machines on Wheeels, Live Stock, Horse Boxes and Prize Cattle Vans, and Carriages by Passenger Train. Also noted is that it is located on the line between Oxford and Didcot in the county of Oxfordshire, and is operated by the GWR. Both stations (GWR and LMS) and several sidings feature in the entry for Oxford.
This edition published by The Railway Clearing House in 1925
Our second example was published in 1956 by the British Transport Commission, and contains the same, although updated, information as the earlier one. This book has grown in size to about 8½" x 13¼" and so the number of pages has correspondingly decreased to 494. The entry for the station at Culham remains unchanged, however, there is now an additional entry for the Admiralty siding.
This edition published by The British Transport Commission (Railway Clearing House) in 1956
List of Collieries On or Connected with the GWR
This thin book contains an alphabetical index of collieries served and their invoicing stations. Details of each colliery, the type of coal produced, proprietor and postal address are arranged by geographical area. A short list of manufacturers of 'Patent Fuel', and a longer list of collieries at which washery plants are installed together with a list of 'Foundry Coke' producers is also included. A short section briefly describing those ports connected to, or operated by, the GWR together with their contact details, and a list of District Goods Managers appears at the back. A fold out map of the GWR system would have been attached to the rear cover, but is sadly missing from our example which, according to the inscription on the flysheet, once belonged to J.Hardwick Webb, District Goods Manager's Office, Cardiff.
This edition published by the GWR in 1924
