The L&NER Delivers the Goods: Volume 1 General Considerations

It may not be generally recognised but the London & North Eastern Railway derived almost two-thirds of its total income from the conveyance of mundane goods traffic, compared with only one third from the more glamorous carrying of passengers and their luggage. This work, by well-known railway author Peter Tatlow, sets the record straight by describing how the L&NER served the nation by delivering the goods and minerals entrusted to it. In this volume, the first of three, attention is given to general considerations applicable system wide, and will be followed in Volumes 2 and 3 by the description of goods activities in the Company’s three areas during its existence (1923-1949). This was an era before motorways, HGVs loaded with ISO containers and centrally generated electricity, caused the once numerous humble steam-hauled goods train to be swept away.