Posted by Owen Roberts on November 13, 2013 at 20:41:22 user OwenRoberts.
In Reply to: Re:Schools & Trunks was NLCS posted by Roger Wardale on November 13, 2013 at 01:49:22:
PLA was a valuable feature and allowed you, once you had purchased your ticket, to take up to 1 cwt (51kg) of luggage for 1shilling (1932 prices). This system enabled luggage to be collected, by a railway van, before the start of the trip and to be delivered before the passenger arrived or to arrive on the same train.
However there were porters everywhere, if you travelled with your luggage. At the time of the Callums’ train journey, the LMS – who ran the services out of Euston to Windermere- had about 9,500 porters over the system.
They would wheel your luggage on a 2 wheel barrow rushing through the crowded platform with their shout of “mind your backs, please” to all in their path. They would find your compartment and load the luggage on racks. Although they were paid by the railway, most passengers would tip them, probably sixpence or a shilling in those days.
Porters were even on the platforms of underground stations that connected with the mainline stations. Thus your train could arrive at Euston underground and you could find a porter to take you luggage to your mainline train.