Freight trains were instrumental in the transformation of many aspects of life. For example, they made possible the centralisation and standardisation of the goods, including food products, with profound impact on many aspects of both urban and rural life.
Railways were ‘common carriers' and obliged to transport any item as required by their customers. This train, illustrated in the photographs below, carried a wide variety of products.
The engine is an ‘Aberdare’ type engine, intended to work heavy coal and mineral trains and initially several went to south Wales for coal traffic. Its reign as the principal heavy freight locomotive was quite short–lived. Before the final Aberdare was built in 1907, Churchward’s 28xx 2-8-0 had arrived and took over many of the workings, thus releasing the ‘Aberdares’ for other traffic.
Many of the wagons in this train carry the initials of the railways that were amalgamated into four major groups in 1923. In due course those retained received their new owner’s identity although some of the older ones were scrapped before this was done. These images are a selection from one of Pendon’s model freight trains.
