Foreman George Grumbles watches as "Buffalo" tank No. 1581 shunts a Hydra with a freshly painted parcels van. It has arrived from Swindon where major repairs and repainting of horse drawn vehicles is done.
Grumbles is wondering about that Hydra. It’s grey! Hydras should be brown, everybody knows that.
Shunter J. Redlaw knows better. It's all a bit unclear, but it does seem that Hydras weren’t painted brown until WW1.
And since this is 1912, the boys at Swindon have got it right.
Grumbles is not impressed. "This is 1912? Yesterday it was 1919 and the day before that 1904! Can’t this modeller make up his mind?"
Meanwhile, milk arrives at the loading dock.
Porter J. Cruncher is doing his party trick, rolling the churns with one hand. Learnt it on the French railways, best years of his life, talks forever about it. They call him Napoleon, secretly he likes it.
"Ahem, if I may interrupt. Pickle S. Finkerbury here, certified railway historian. I think you’ll find that at this time the GWR did not collect milk from farms. Farmers brought it themselves."
"After WW1, the GWR did introduce the “Country Lorry” service which collected milk and produce, but that was done with motor lorries."
Oh, right. Perhaps this might work then. A Farmer’s float from Dart Castings (no connection).
Nice kit with minimal flash. Built in half an hour with very little fettling.
Blue and red seems to have been among the preferred colours in Wiltshire.
So here we are, a farmer has brought in the afternoon milk. But he isn't getting much help.
In fact, looks like there's some sort of stand-off going on. Perhaps the farmer is new to the milk protection racket at Farthing.
He’d better wise up. Last time someone refused to pay, there was milk all over the place.
Eventually, the churns are loaded on a Siphon.
There does not seem to be much hurry. I thought milk traffic was urgent stuff?
“Ah, well yes, in principle. But “railway milk” wasn't quite as fresh as urban consumers thought. Below, for example, is a 1905 account by Cardiff’s Medical Officer of Health”.
Source: Walford, E. (1905). Railway transit and distribution of milk. Public Health, 18, 583-588.
Thanks, Pickle. I note that chemicals helped keep the milk fresh. A study of London's milk trade 1845-1914 says:
Source: Atkins, P. J. (1978). The growth of London's railway milk trade, c. 1845–1914. The Journal of Transport History, (4), 208-226.
All very interesting, but it looks like Grumbles is on the prowl again. Says there’s something fishy about that Siphon, says he smells a rat.
“Aha, I knew it. The doors don’t close, the roof is fixed with magnets and we've all got Tacky Wax under our feet. The whole thing is a big conspiracy. Bah, humbug!”
All right, how about this then? A fully functional Siphon to the same diagram, being shunted by No. 1581. At some point tonight, it will be attached to the Up milk train.
But what's this, Grumbles is complaining again. Says the Siphon is too clean, and the roof too thick, and where are the screw-links. Well, there's a solution to all that...
Ah, peace.