Passengers Luggage in Advance

[The exile]

My younger sister went off to uni 1981-85 and we didn’t have a car - I must ask her, but I think BRS Parcels may have offered door-to-door

That fits roughly with my memory of visits from my grandmother. The last few years before she stopped a long Christmas visit (early 1980s) the case came with BRS. As well as purely financial considerations, IIRC security concerns and the privatisation of National Carriers both played their part.

 

[Gloster]

At the end of 1994 I sent a tin trunk from Denmark to France without trouble. I had tried to send it from Sweden to Denmark in mid-1993, but had to make do with sending it to Helsingborg, collecting it and then carrying it to Copenhagen.

 

[AY1975]

You were supposed to buy a rail ticket to use luggage in advance, but (in the 1960s) they did not insist of seeing your ticket when you booked luggage in advance.

In which case I suppose in theory there was nothing to stop you from using the PLA service even if you were travelling by another mode such as car or coach.

Not sure how widespread this was, but I believe that in the days when fewer people had cars some people used the PLA service when moving house, presumably if they had any large items to move that wouldn't fit into the removal van (although you'd think that a removal van would be big enough to take most if not all of their stuff) or if they only had a small amount of furniture to move so they were using an ordinary "man with a van" rather than a proper removal van but the van being used to move their furniture could not take all their stuff.

I would guess that using PLA to move house would mean having to arrange for a friend or relative who lived near your new property taking charge of your stuff that you were sending in that way, or writing to the outgoing occupants of your new home or your new next-door neighbours to ask them to take charge of any items sent by PLA if it arrived before you did.

 

[Gloster]

I dont think that PLA was used to move large items as I believe that the rules regarding the size of items was the same as luggage carried by the passenger. The 1961-1962 North Eastern Region Timetable doesn’t say, but it does say that there was an extra charge if the package exceeded 150 lb. (First Class) or 100 lb. (Second Class). You might use PLA if moving from one rented furnished flat to another or when returning home after a period working away (or doing National Service).

 

[JBuchananGB]

Only 3 weeks ago my suitcase was transported for me from Oslo to Bergen for EUR 37. While my wife and I took a scenic route including 3 trains a boat and a bus and 2 nights overnight stay en route. I have shipped suitcases in this country using ParcelForce. Back in the 70s I recall shipping my student trunk, but I think it was BRS Parcels, not a railway service. But in the 60s my parents definitely used PLA when we were going on holiday.

 

[Peter Sarf]

In which case I suppose in theory there was nothing to stop you from using the PLA service even if you were travelling by another mode such as car or coach.

Not sure how widespread this was, but I believe that in the days when fewer people had cars some people used the PLA service when moving house, presumably if they had any large items to move that wouldn't fit into the removal van (although you'd think that a removal van would be big enough to take most if not all of their stuff) or if they only had a small amount of furniture to move so they were using an ordinary "man with a van" rather than a proper removal van but the van being used to move their furniture could not take all their stuff.

I would guess that using PLA to move house would mean having to arrange for a friend or relative who lived near your new property taking charge of your stuff that you were sending in that way, or writing to the outgoing occupants of your new home or your new next-door neighbours to ask them to take charge of any items sent by PLA if it arrived before you did.

I would have thought that PLA would be used by people who were moving from one furnished home to another. If they did not have a car then it is likely that their possessions would have fitted in one or two trunks. Furniture that was too large for a road removal van would have been far too large for transport in a railway van.

As for co-ordinating some one to receive the package(s) - It seems far more likely that the service would be slow enough that if it was sent on the day (or day before) the move it was unlikely to arrive before the recipients had made it to the new address. More a case of managing for a few days without the kettle for that all important tea.

 

[The exile]

I would have thought that PLA would be used by people who were moving from one furnished home to another. If they did not have a car then it is likely that their possessions would have fitted in one or two trunks. Furniture that was too large for a road removal van would have been far too large for transport in a railway van.

As for co-ordinating some one to receive the package(s) - It seems far more likely that the service would be slow enough that if it was sent on the day (or day before) the move it was unlikely to arrive before the recipients had made it to the new address. More a case of managing for a few days without the kettle for that all important tea.

The general principle of PLA was that your luggage would be waiting for you when you got there. However, if handed over at the station late the day before the move, it would probably take longer than you would.

 

[30907]

I dont think that PLA was used to move large items as I believe that the rules regarding the size of items was the same as luggage carried by the passenger. The 1961-1962 North Eastern Region Timetable doesn’t say, but it does say that there was an extra charge if the package exceeded 150 lb. (First Class) or 100 lb. (Second Class).

And I was charged an excess when I sent a trunkfull of (mainly) books home after graduation

 

[sleepy_hollow]

Idle speculation, but could the need to transport school trunks following the demise of PLA services be one of the reasons for the popularity of SUVs amongst well-heeled town folk who never venture off-road?!!
...

I certainly recall using the service from 1970-73, but only the physical details of the trunk being collected from home, and delivered by the college porters to the bottom of the staircase, not how I booked it for collection from the porters lodge on the way home. I cannot even recall whether the trunk went home every term or just sometimes. On the first occasion I took the trunk with me, as did others, creating quite a pile on the trolley at Peterborough. In the summer of 73 my bicycle returned by British Road Services, creating an amusing episode when the porters lodge contacted us to say that BRS had come for the bicycle and they could not find it, to which I was able to reply that BRS had already delivered the bicycle to me in Goole.

On arriving in college and seeing that other students had been delivered in the family Volvo I was inclined to think that mode of travel quite effete.

 

[Geoff DC]

I remember in the 1950s my parents sending our camping gear in a mini container type contraption by BR.
The boot on a Ford Popular being far too small to fit much in. IIRC it arrived late too!!

 

[billio]

From the sixties to the late 70's a scout troop I was involved with always went to camp by train: Lakes, North Wales, Scotland, South Wales, Guernsey, Holland, and so forth. The tents, cooking equipment etc. was sent in advance. We built several wooden boxes which were filled a few weeks in advance and then carted to the railway station. It was always there waiting for us when we arrived at camp. The 'Group Booking Office', I think at Clapham Junction, was always very helpful in making the arrangements.

 

[Rescars]

I certainly recall using the service from 1970-73, but only the physical details of the trunk being collected from home, and delivered by the college porters to the bottom of the staircase, not how I booked it for collection from the porters lodge on the way home. I cannot even recall whether the trunk went home every term or just sometimes. On the first occasion I took the trunk with me, as did others, creating quite a pile on the trolley at Peterborough. In the summer of 73 my bicycle returned by British Road Services, creating an amusing episode when the porters lodge contacted us to say that BRS had come for the bicycle and they could not find it, to which I was able to reply that BRS had already delivered the bicycle to me in Goole.

On arriving in college and seeing that other students had been delivered in the family Volvo I was inclined to think that mode of travel quite effete.

Family Volvo was one option. The father of one of my contemporaries ran a haulage business. His trunk was delivered and collected by private artic!

 

[Pigeon]

When I was at school in the mid-1970s my trunk was usually sent back home by rail. All the trunks would be packed and piled up near the porter's lodge, and on the last day of term or the one before a BR or NCL lorry (or two) would pick them up. A day or two later what I think was a BR C&D van would deliver it to the house. I was usually taken back to school at the beginning of term (my parents didn't want me to do a runner) so my trunk was only sent once or twice.

Tried that once. The trunk was just left at the school, didn't see what happened to it. Possibly nor did anyone else because it then failed to appear at the other end, with my parents making repeated calls to the station without result. It eventually arrived one week before the end of the summer holidays just when they were starting to properly panic.

We didn't do it again.

Something like 0.7% of pupils are boarders, and although the number has been reasonably constant since 2000, a greater percentage of the 0.7% today are foreign pupils. Before 2000 I couldn't find figures easily, but I know that my former school, Cheadle Hulme School, MWCOS, 1970-73 had a boarding option, although I wasn't a boarder, and the school isn't a boarding school any more. I had a colleague who boarded and I used to carry letters for her to her parents in Poynton who didn't live far from me. I'm sure I'd have hated it, but hopefully it still works for the 0.7%.

Hardly exactly guaranteed. I still harbour an ambition to plant an SADM in the place, or at the very least be allowed to drive the wrecking ball when it eventually comes un-CLASPed.

 

[WesternLancer]

Tried that once. The trunk was just left at the school, didn't see what happened to it. Possibly nor did anyone else because it then failed to appear at the other end, with my parents making repeated calls to the station without result. It eventually arrived one week before the end of the summer holidays just when they were starting to properly panic.

We didn't do it again.



Hardly exactly guaranteed. I still harbour an ambition to plant an SADM in the place, or at the very least be allowed to drive the wrecking ball when it eventually comes un-CLASPed.

The 1968 film If…. Was on at my local cinema recently. More impressive as a film on the big screen than I recall from tv watching. Opening sequence involves lots of trunks being carried into school by the ‘scum’ (junior pupils doing the fagging for prefects etc). But no detail on if they’d come PLA.

 

[U-Bahnfreund]

In Germany this still exists, from 22.90€ you can send your luggage in advance and it will be there two working days later. Nowadays it's offered from your home address to wherever you want to go https://www.bahn.de/angebot/zusatzticket/gepaeckservice

 

[Rescars]

Chatting to a mate who has just returned from a trip to Switzerland. He was commenting on the loss of the PLA facilities on SBB and the consequent challenges of negotiating double-deck carriages with holiday luggage. He also had experience of BR's services in the early 1970s and tells me the luggage to be picked up from a station had to be labelled along the following lines: "A. N. Other, Paddington (or wherever), TBCF". "TBCF" being an acronym for "to be called for".

 

[AY1975]

In Germany this still exists, from 22.90€ you can send your luggage in advance and it will be there two working days later. Nowadays it's offered from your home address to wherever you want to go https://www.bahn.de/angebot/zusatzticket/gepaeckservice

The DB webpage linked above says it's available from 16.90€. Only within Germany, though. It says the service has been operated by Hermes for over 25 years, and that you can use it to send bikes. Not sure if you could send bikes using BR's PLA service: I presume you could.

 

[The exile]

The DB webpage linked above says it's available from 16.90€. Only within Germany, though. It says the service has been operated by Hermes for over 25 years, and that you can use it to send bikes. Not sure if you could send bikes using BR's PLA service: I presume you could.

I doubt many people would have risked it!

 

[65477]

As has been said the service is still available. We went on a railway holiday round Europe and to avoid having to get our luggage via Eurostar and ICE to the first hotel in Germany we used DHL

Our Guide to Sending Your Luggage Abroad | DHL eCommerce UK

Travelling with a large amount of luggage? Perhaps you have plans to move abroad? Our parcel delivery service can be used to ship your luggage securely.

send.dhlparcel.co.uk

Left our house on the morning requested and was at the hotel when we arrived.

Service also offered by

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Seems to charge £24 for next day delivery in the UK