Britain's “Freight Flyers.”

Freight traffic handling on the Home railways has indeed been reduced to a fine art. Something like 570 express freight trains run daily and nightly between great centres such as London, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Plymouth, etc. Goods conveyed by these trains are delivered the morning following dispatch. Accelerations varying from three to 160 minutes have been made in the running times of these “freight flyers” during the last year or so. Thousands of ordinary fast goods trains are also run daily.

Interesting developments on the freight side include the so-called “Green Arrow” system of registered transits, and the new “railhead depot” arrangement operating for the benefit of the big commercial concerns. By the “Green Arrow” system, a consignment, whether a parcel, truck load or train load, is kept under observation throughout its journey, and delivered in accordance with a pre-arranged schedule advised to the sender. A fee of half-a-crown per consignment covers this special service. The “railhead depot” arrangement enables traders to save the cost of branch depots by renting space in the railway warehouses at the larger centres. Alternatively, covered wagons may be rented for use as mobile warehouses, these being placed wherever desired. If a trader prefers, the railways themselves undertake, at a reasonable charge, the entire distribution and marketing of a firm's goods from a selected centre.