Before the railways were nationalised many businesses had their own fleets of railway wagons which they either purchased or leased from the Wagon Builders.
The majority served as an advert for the firm as well as a transport method for bringing in raw materials and despatching finished product so were often painted in a bright and smart livery giving the name of the firm , address , telephone number, company logo and quite often a description of their business.
Typical firms to have their own wagons in the Midlands were Chance and Hunt of Oldbury or Cadburys of Bourneville and Utility Companys such as West Midlands Electricty Board also had their own wagons . It wasnt necessary to have rail connected premises as many coal merchants had their own wagons which were sent to the collieries for loading and then sent to a public goods yard near the customers premises for delivery of the coal to be completed.
For other areas of the country a number of books have been published giving details of the firms and their wagons for example PRIVATE OWNER WAGONS of BRISTOL AND DISTRICT by Ian Pope and I was wondering if there are any similar books for the Birmingham , Black Country or Midlands areas that anyone has come across ?
The majority served as an advert for the firm as well as a transport method for bringing in raw materials and despatching finished product so were often painted in a bright and smart livery giving the name of the firm , address , telephone number, company logo and quite often a description of their business.
Typical firms to have their own wagons in the Midlands were Chance and Hunt of Oldbury or Cadburys of Bourneville and Utility Companys such as West Midlands Electricty Board also had their own wagons . It wasnt necessary to have rail connected premises as many coal merchants had their own wagons which were sent to the collieries for loading and then sent to a public goods yard near the customers premises for delivery of the coal to be completed.
For other areas of the country a number of books have been published giving details of the firms and their wagons for example PRIVATE OWNER WAGONS of BRISTOL AND DISTRICT by Ian Pope and I was wondering if there are any similar books for the Birmingham , Black Country or Midlands areas that anyone has come across ?