Editing Great Western Railway (section)

===Freight services===
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left:10px;"<!--style avoids LH text overlay-->
|-
!&nbsp;Year&nbsp;!!&nbsp;Tonnage&nbsp;!!&nbsp;Train mileage&nbsp;!!&nbsp;Receipts&nbsp;
|- style="text-align:right;"
|'''1850'''&nbsp;||350,000&nbsp;||330,817&nbsp;||£202,978 <small>(£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|202978|1850|{{inflation-year|UK}}|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|UK}})</small>
|- style="text-align:right;"
|'''1875'''&nbsp;||16,388,198&nbsp;||11,206,462&nbsp;||£3,140,093 <small>(£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|3140093|1875|{{inflation-year|UK}}|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|UK}})</small>
|- style="text-align:right;"
|'''1900'''&nbsp;||37,500,510&nbsp;||23,135,685&nbsp;||£5,736,921 <small>(£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|5736921|1900|{{inflation-year|UK}}|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|UK}})</small>
|- style="text-align:right;"
|'''1924'''&nbsp;||81,723,133&nbsp;||25,372,106&nbsp;||£17,571,537 <small>(£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|17571537|1924|{{inflation-year|UK}}|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|UK}})</small>
|- style="text-align:right;"
|'''1934'''&nbsp;||&nbsp;64,619,892&nbsp;||&nbsp;22,707,235&nbsp;||&nbsp;£14,500,385 <small>(£{{Formatprice|{{Inflation|UK|14550385|1934|{{inflation-year|UK}}|r=0}}}} in {{inflation-year|UK}})</small>
|-
|colspan=4 | <small>Tonnage for 1850 is approximate.</small><ref name=GWCentenaryB/>{{Inflation-fn|UK|df=y}}
|}
Passenger traffic was the main source of revenue for the GWR when it first opened but goods were also carried in separate trains. It was not until the coal-mining and industrial districts of Wales and the Midlands were reached that goods traffic became significant; in 1856 the [[Ruabon]] Coal Company signed an agreement with the GWR to transport coal to London at special rates which nonetheless was worth at least £40,000 each year to the railway.<ref name=GWCentenaryB/>

As locomotives increased in size so did the length of goods trains, from 40 to as many as 100 four-wheeled wagons, although the gradient of the line often limited this.{{sfn|MacDermot|1931|at=Chapter 13}} While typical goods wagons could carry 8, 10 or (later) 12 tons, the load placed into a wagon could be as little as 1 ton. The many smaller consignments were sent to a local [[transhipment]] centre where they were re-sorted into larger loads for the main segment of their journey. There were more than 550 "station truck" workings running on timetabled goods trains carrying small consignments to and from specified stations, and 200 "pick up" trucks that collected small loads from groups of stations.<ref>{{cite book| last = Atkins| first = A.G.| title = A History of GWR Goods Wagons, Volume 1| publisher = David and Charles| year = 1975| page=16 |location = Newton Abbot| isbn = 0-7153-6532-0| display-authors = etal}}</ref>

The GWR provided special wagons, handling equipment and storage facilities for its largest traffic flows. For example, the coal mines in Wales sent much of their coal to the docks along the coast, many of which were owned and equipped by the railway, as were some in Cornwall that exported most of the [[kaolinite|china clay]] production of that county. The wagons provided for both these traffic flows (both those owned by the GWR and the mining companies) were fitted with end doors that allowed their loads to be tipped straight into the ships' holds using wagon-tipping equipment on the dockside. Special wagons were produced for many other different commodities such as [[gunpowder]],<ref>{{cite book| last = Atkins| first = A.G.| title = A History of GWR Goods Wagons, Volume 2| publisher = David and Charles| year = 1976| pages=109–111 |location = Newton Abbot| isbn = 0-7153-7290-4| display-authors = etal}}</ref> [[aeroplane]] propellers,{{sfn|Atkins |1976|page=23}} motor cars,{{sfn|Atkins |1976|pages=24–33}} fruit{{sfn|Atkins |1976|pages=105–109}} and fish.{{sfn|Atkins |1976|pages=79–84}}

Heavy traffic was carried from the agricultural and fishing areas in the southwest of England, often in fast "perishables" trains,<ref>{{cite book| last = Bennett| first = Alan| title = The Great Western Railway in West Cornwall| publisher = Runpast Publishing| orig-year = 1988| edition = 2nd | location = Cheltenham| year = 1990a| isbn = 1-870754-12-3 | pages=59–61 }}</ref> for instance more than 3,500 cattle were sent from {{Stnlnk|Grampound Road}} in the 12 months to June 1869,<ref>{{cite journal | last = Sheppard | first = Geof | title = A Cornish cattle census | journal = Broadsheet | issue = 52 | pages = 9–10 | publisher = Broad Gauge Society | year = 2004 }}</ref> and in 1876 nearly than 17,000 [[long ton|tons]] of fish was carried from west Cornwall to London.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Sheppard | first = Geof | title = Fish from Cornwall | journal = Broadsheet | issue = 52 | pages = 24–29 | publisher = Broad Gauge Society | year = 2004 }}</ref> The perishables trains running in the nineteenth century used wagons built to the same standards as passenger coaches, with [[vacuum brake]]s and large wheels to allow fast running. Ordinary goods trains on the GWR, as on all other British railways at the time, had wheels close together (around {{convert|9|ft|m|1}} apart), smaller wheels and only hand brakes.{{sfn|Atkins |1975|pages=46–94}}

In 1905 the GWR ran its first vacuum-braked general goods train between London and Bristol using newly built goods wagons with small wheels but vacuum brakes. This was followed by other services to create a network of fast trains between the major centres of production and population that were scheduled to run at speeds averaging {{convert|35|mph|abbr=on}}. Other railway companies also followed the GWR's lead by providing their own vacuum-braked (or "fitted") services.{{sfn|Atkins |1975|pages=12–15}}