Have you ever watched wagon after wagon of a goods train thunder past and wondered where it is heading, what it is carrying, and how it works its way between the passenger services? While goods services now tend to be shrouded in anonymity, in past times they were celebrated, prominently advertised, and in many cases were the raisons d’\u00c3\u00aatre for a rail route. Throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth century, goods trains were the lifeblood of the nation, transporting precious raw materials, construction and industrial items, and fresh produce from coastal areas and farms into the centres of bustling cities. This informative illustrated history shows how rail freight has been carried since Victorian times, and how systems have been organized, from the train itself to the sidings, railway clearing houses, goods sheds and final destinations – whether villages, towns, cities, factories or docks. It also examines the basic rolling stock of these trains, from the humble coal wagon to today’s hi-tech containers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Though trains are now used primarily to carry passengers, the earliest railways in Britain were created to move goods, and a teeming and efficient infrastructure made railway the dominant freight transport system until the road haulage revolution. Throughout the nineteenth century these trains were the lifeblood of the nation, transporting precious raw materials, construction and industrial items, and fresh produce from coastal areas and farms in to the centre of bustling cities. This informative illustrated history shows how cargoes were carried and how the system was organized, from the individual goods containers, through whole trains, to sidings, railway clearing houses, goods sheds, and the final destination, whether it was a town, city or harbour. Author Tim Bryan also examines the basic rolling stock of these trains, from the humble coal wagon to high-tech chemical containers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"product_brand":[],"product_cat":[142],"product_tag":[1607,3947,790,4047],"class_list":{"0":"post-92301","1":"product","2":"type-product","3":"status-publish","5":"product_cat-general-non-fiction","6":"product_tag-industrialisation-industrial-history","7":"product_tag-railway-transport-industries","8":"product_tag-trains-railways-general-interest","9":"product_tag-transport-general-interest","10":"pa_book_author-bryan-tim","11":"pa_cover-paperback","12":"pa_dewey-385-240941-edition23","13":"pa_imprint-shire-publications","14":"pa_language-english","15":"pa_pages-8490","16":"pa_publisher-shire-publications","17":"pa_readership-code","19":"first","20":"instock","21":"taxable","22":"shipping-taxable","23":"purchasable","24":"product-type-simple"},"yoast_head":"\n