BR era customer baggage trollies

[ChilternTurbo]

I had a pang of nostalgia when I saw this fine relic of pre-privatisation era hardware at Aylesbury station recently. The trolley is still being used by the cleaning team for moving rubbish/recycling bags to the bins area.

I have memories of these being at most large stations and it was always amusing to see an errant trolley elsewhere. I remember a holiday to Scotland with my parents in the early 90's and a 'Not to be removed from Plymouth' trolley had somehow reached Edinburgh Waverley!

Did these trollies have a particular name and why did they seem to vanish from use at stations very quickly? They were pretty sturdy things with brakes which remained on until the push handle was depressed. I also seem to have memories of earlier versions with a little BR arrows flag attached to them.

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[Andyh82]

People pretty much universally have wheely suitcases now, rather than those old school ones that you had to carry by hand, which made the luggage trolly redundant

 

[Clarence Yard]

“Self Help Luggage Trolleys” is what they were called. The design was known as “kofferkuli”, which is German for baggage cart. Why did they disappear? Cases with wheels.

In service they used to disappear all over the place and every so often they used to be put into vans or guards brakes to ferry them back to their originating station. The London Termini used to have a regular road van going round dropping some back off at the proper station and picking some more up to go elsewhere in the Capital.

At KX the local ODM used to look after them and most of the work was replacing wheels or sorting out the brake mechanism. Occasionally they would need a bit of aluminium welding at their shops at Hornsey (in the old steam shed) as overloading would eventually cause the aluminium to fail. But welding did weaken the structure and they usually didn’t last too long after that.

The flags were to try and stop them being put into Taxis because they used to turn up in numbers at places like Heathrow. That didn’t entirely stop the practise and one day in 1978 the AM KX got a call from Quantas, on behalf of Sydney Airport. There were 8 BR trolleys out there and did they want them back? Apparently the airlines used to ferry around errantly placed trolleys “free on air” so I (working in the Tech Office for the AME KX at the time) got the call from the AMO to see if we could help and so I arranged for the C&W van (a LWB Bedford CF) to go off to Heathrow on the due date to collect them!

They were built in batches and the number was year of manufacture with a pro number so the one pictured here is a 1990 one. At the AME KX we used to deal with the new deliveries and so we used to know the numbers. There was a guy who used to bash these and occasionally the AMO would call down for the latest batch numbers as he had arrived at the enquiry office at KX to try and get them! Takes all sorts.

In NSE days we used to use the Terminals and Depots Equipment List (“ the TDEL”) catalogue to order this type of kit. I was actually on Thames and Chiltern, as the M&EE Finance Manager, when these were ordered but it would have been my Commercial colleague, Brian Penn, who probably paid for this particular one! A favourite time to raid the TDEL was if NSE HQ authorised any “quickspend” just before financial year end!

 

[Gloster]

I must say Sydney beats anything I have seen: perhaps one day one will be discovered at the South Pole. I have seen them at Köln Hauptbahnhof and Esbjerg (the main station).

 

[pdeaves]

I must say Sydney beats anything I have seen: perhaps one day one will be discovered at the South Pole. I have seen them at Köln Hauptbahnhof and Esbjerg (the main station).

I have heard of one in Singapore. I can't substantiate the claim, though.

 

[ChilternTurbo]

“Self Help Luggage Trolleys” is what they were called. The design was known as “kofferkuli”, which is German for baggage cart. Why did they disappear? Cases with wheels.

Ah, thank you. That does make sense that wheelie suitcases would cause their demise. Hopefully the National Railway Museum has an example in it's collection... Apart from the Aylesbury one, I haven't seen one for many years. I'd happily give this lovely trolley a home or save it for the NRM when Chiltern have finished with it. I'd hate to see a survivor like that end up in a skip.

The flags were to try and stop them being put into Taxis because they used to turn up in numbers at places like Heathrow. That didn’t entirely stop the practise and one day in 1978 the AM KX got a call from Quantas, on behalf of Sydney Airport. There were 8 BR trolleys out there and did they want them back? Apparently the airlines used to ferry around errantly placed trolleys “free on air” so I (working in the Tech Office for the AME KX at the time) got the call from the AMO to see if we could help and so I arranged for the C&W van (a LWB Bedford CF) to go off to Heathrow on the due date to collect them!

What a brilliant story! Thanks for sharing. I think the flag examples must've been replaced by the late 80's as I don't really recall seeing them very often as a child.

 

[satisnek]

“Self Help Luggage Trolleys” is what they were called. The design was known as “kofferkuli”, which is German for baggage cart. Why did they disappear? Cases with wheels.

In service they used to disappear all over the place and every so often they used to be put into vans or guards brakes to ferry them back to their originating station. The London Termini used to have a regular road van going round dropping some back off at the proper station and picking some more up to go elsewhere in the Capital.

At KX the local ODM used to look after them and most of the work was replacing wheels or sorting out the brake mechanism. Occasionally they would need a bit of aluminium welding at their shops at Hornsey (in the old steam shed) as overloading would eventually cause the aluminium to fail. But welding did weaken the structure and they usually didn’t last too long after that.

The flags were to try and stop them being put into Taxis because they used to turn up in numbers at places like Heathrow. That didn’t entirely stop the practise and one day in 1978 the AM KX got a call from Quantas, on behalf of Sydney Airport. There were 8 BR trolleys out there and did they want them back? Apparently the airlines used to ferry around errantly placed trolleys “free on air” so I (working in the Tech Office for the AME KX at the time) got the call from the AMO to see if we could help and so I arranged for the C&W van (a LWB Bedford CF) to go off to Heathrow on the due date to collect them!

They were built in batches and the number was year of manufacture with a pro number so the one pictured here is a 1990 one. At the AME KX we used to deal with the new deliveries and so we used to know the numbers. There was a guy who used to bash these and occasionally the AMO would call down for the latest batch numbers as he had arrived at the enquiry office at KX to try and get them! Takes all sorts.

In NSE days we used to use the Terminals and Depots Equipment List (“ the TDEL”) catalogue to order this type of kit. I was actually on Thames and Chiltern, as the M&EE Finance Manager, when these were ordered but it would have been my Commercial colleague, Brian Penn, who probably paid for this particular one! A favourite time to raid the TDEL was if NSE HQ authorised any “quickspend” just before financial year end!

That's fascinating - I can remember the original ones from when I was young and had always assumed that the flagpole (and latterly the yellow hoop) was for ease of recovery should one of them go over the platform edge.

 

[Ashley Hill]

Back in 1984 I was on the Skirl o the Pipes 4 railtour. I remember a blue Plymouth trolley being ceremonially transferred from train to ferry at Kyle of Lochalsh,then ferry to train at Mallaig.

 

[Dai Corner]

Back in 1984 I was on the Skirl o the Pipes 4 railtour. I remember a blue Plymouth trolley being ceremonially transferred from train to ferry at Kyle of Lochalsh,then ferry to train at Mallaig.

How did it get across Skye from Kyleakin to Armadale (assuming those were the relevant ports)?

 

[Mcr Warrior]

How did it get across Skye from Kyleakin to Armadale (assuming those were the relevant ports)?

Undoubtedly, it must have had wheels!

 

[Clarence Yard]

That's fascinating - I can remember the original ones from when I was young and had always assumed that the flagpole (and latterly the yellow hoop) was for ease of recovery should one of them go over the platform edge.

The flags could be snapped off and then you would start to lose them in taxis so the hoop was introduced as a countermeasure. It really did cut down the loss rate.

 

[Ashley Hill]

How did it get across Skye from Kyleakin to Armadale (assuming those were the relevant ports)?

The tour split at Mossend on the outward journey,one half went to Mallaig the other to Kyle. The participants then got on the ferries at the respective ports and passed each other with much bellowing en-route. The two portions were recoupled at Edinburgh. A cracking way to do two branches with one tour. That’s how the trolley got between the ports.

 

[The exile]

How did it get across Skye from Kyleakin to Armadale (assuming those were the relevant ports)?

There used to be a through service Kyle of Lochalsh -Armadale -Mallaig. Maybe the timings worked using the scheduled out and back run - or was half a trainload enough to justify a special boat?

 

[davetheguard]

There's still some on the middle platforms at Exeter St. David's.

They still have the chain that required a £1 coin to release them for use, although they can now be used without payment. They are also missing the B.R. "flag" they once had - as mentioned up thread.

However, looking at their rusty condition last week, I don't think any of them had been anywhere for quite some time!

 

[Busaholic]

They were certainly still at Penzance in the first decade of this century, when I used them many times.

 

[antharro]

Pretty sure Bournemouth has a few of these still for passenger use, on the up platform by the passenger underpass/tunnel. If I remember, I'll have a look next time I travel.

 

[route101]

Pretty sure Bournemouth has a few of these still for passenger use, on the up platform by the passenger underpass/tunnel. If I remember, I'll have a look next time I travel.

Southampton have a few too, not sure BR examples though. Never seen them used.

 

[topydre]

There's quite a few at Machynlleth

 

[Farningham]

There's quite a few at Machynlleth

Saw a couple at Derby only yesterday, labelled 'Property of Derby Station'. Coin required to release one.

 

[ecmlthrash15]

Soon as I thought of those Trollied I thought about my childhood when we were arriving at Newcastle's fantastic station.

 

[pdeaves]

Various people have mentioned trolleys currently available at stations. Are these actually the BR ones as per the first post, or other types (which are still becoming rare in their own right)?