Over 50,000 traders’ wagons were registered by the Scottish railway companies post-1889, and many more built prior to registration remained in traffic into the 20th Century. In this and two accompanying volumes an attempt has been made to identify every Scottish user of traders’ wagons in the period c1845 to 1948.
The latest publication from Lightmoor Press will be of interest to Caledonian Railway Association members. We have purchased a supply of the books at a discounted and price and will offer our usual member discount alongside the public sale.
This, the second of the three-volume series, covers Scottish traders whose business names began with the letters E to M. It describes and illustrates the wagons owned or hired by more than six-hundred businesses at over one-hundred locations from Inverness in the North all the way down to Dumfries and Berwick upon Tweed. As well as more than one-hundred coal and ironmasters, there are entries for very nearly 400 individual coal and lime merchants. In addition to these traders, wagons on the traffic of brewers and distillers, brick and earthenware goods manufacturers, quarry owners, iron founders, flour millers and grain storage, oil and chemical manufacturers, paper makers, public works contractors, textile and jute manufacturers and municipal utilities all appear, adding another 100 + entries. Some businesses were large – the Fife Coal Company grew by takeover to have a fleet of over 7,000 wagons. While generally small scale in their operation, some coal merchants were relatively large concerns too – the G&SWR approved just under 400 wagons of Logan Sons & Co. Ltd for traffic between Ayrshire collieries and Paisley stations; in 1898 R.Y. Pickering secured a 5-year contract to maintain 174 wagons currently on the traffic of Thomas Muir, Son & Patton of Dundee. Wagon hire was a significant feature. Many of the photographs in the Hurst, Nelson and Pickering collections depict wagons in liveries that only lasted a few years until they were repainted and re-lettered before going on hire to other businesses. These changes are documented and cross-referenced. While ‘brown oxide’ (like this cover) was the predominant body colour, followed by various shades of grey, examples have been found of wagons painted Midland Railway engine red, as well as green, black and blue including two wagons painted ‘three coats of best peacock blue, with white letters and vermilion shading.’
304 pages. 275x215mm. Printed on gloss art paper, casebound with printed board covers. ISBN13 : 9781915069610
Publishers’ usual price for the book: £35.00 + £5.00 p&p
Caledonian Railway Association members enjoy a special discount price of £30.00 for the book only, plus £5.00 p&p to a UK address.
Mail orders can be placed using the button below for online payments or by post using the order form here.
Overseas buyers - Postage to non-UK addresses can be significant. Please contact the Sales Officer for Postage and Packing Costs before ordering.