Railway Milk Churns (or What a Coincidence!)

I wasn't sure whether to post this here or on "Things That Cheer Me Up", as either seem appropriate.

I have collected railwayana for the thick end of 50 years- anything from buttons to locos. Being a farmer, I have a special interest in railway items with an agricultural connection, I also enjoy the rare opportunity to re-connect items that have long been separated and, of course, it's even better if your prize has cost you little!

About three years ago, I found myself at a reclamation/antique yard near Colchester. Looking around and to my surprise, I found one of the 17 gallon conical churns which fell out of use before WW2 and are typical of those used on the railways, in fact they used to be called "railway churns". This example was very rusty, but water (milk!) tight and only lacked the brass plate normally soldered on to the lid, stamped with the name of the farmer or dairy, the name of the nearest station and the railway company. After a short haggle I happily parted with £60 and left with my prize.

Arriving home, I started work with the wire brush and got a pleasant surprise; stamped down the side in letters 1" high, though previously unnoticed, was the legend "D.A. EDWARDS Ltd., JOHN O' GAUNT, L.M.S. & L.N.E.R" and dated 27-9-27. Not just one of the most unusual station names, but two railways for the price of one!

Over the subsequent years I've obtained a few more 17 gall. churns, all with the brass owners plates attached to the lids, leaving the "John O' Gaunt" example looking a little plain, but imagine my surprise when looking on Ebay last week, to see an "eye" shaped brass churn plate marked- yes, you've guessed it- D.A. Edwards Ltd., John O Gaunt...etc. What's more, the seller was located over 100 miles from the location of the churn and is unconnected.

Well, I bought it, admittedly for a little over half the cost of the original churn, but it's one of the most satisfying additions to my collection for some time.

 

I can recall seeing milk churns in service at Welshpool in the mid sixties but this must have been about the end

PH

 

Late 70's to early 80's was the end of the milk churns. I can't remember if the farmer across the fields had stopped milking when I moved in 1984.

 

It's difficult to say exactly when milk churn traffic ceased on the railways, as it happened at different times in different parts of the country. In my home county, Essex, rail carriage of milk ceased before WW2, but in more remote areas of the west and north, for instance, it continued to be carried in churns at least into the 50s and in bulk until the mid 70s, being re-introduced for a short time during the lorry driver's strike of 1979.

Bulk milk tankers were first introduced by the GWR in 1927. They ran between centralised dairies in the main milk producing areas and bottling and distribution depots in major cities, particularly London. Prior to the use of bulk tankers, farmers transported their own churns (generally the large, conical 17 gallon type) to the nearest station for dispatch to the dairy. Once bulk rail transport became widespread, in the mid-1930s, the dairy companies took-on the transport of milk from the farms to their depots, where it would be processed as necessary and loaded into the bulk milk tankers. At the same time, a new design of 10 gallon cylindrical churn was introduced, which was more suitable for carriage by road lorry. A small amount of milk continued to be carried in churns by rail, right up to the end of railway milk transport; this was special milk, mainly from "Channel Island" breeds of cows, and explains why trains of milk tanks usually included one or two utility/brake vans. Coincidentally, the carriage of milk by rail and the use of churns for road transport ceased at about the same time, the mid 1970s.

Carriage of milk churns by rail may not be completely dead. 6 or 7 years ago we travelled from Chamonix to Martigny, where I was surprised to see milk churns being transhipped from a train on the other metre gauge line there, the St. Bernard, to the guard's van on the std. gauge main line train. It took a few minutes but being Switzerland, the train left on time, to the second.

 

There was an intermediate stage between churn and rail tanker, at least on the SR (and I believe the GWR). That company used tanks mounted on road wheels to transport milk between the farm and the railway goods yard (towed either by the dairy company or railway company lorry); the trailers could then be loaded onto conventional carriage trucks for onward transport. The system lasted a few years before the SR fell into line with the other companies and provided conventional milk tanker trucks.

A rather grainy view here of such a vehicle being hauled by a GWR engine: http://www.weymouthmra.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/MilkTankers.jpg

Tom

 

Yes, Didcot have one, unique I think, but looking a bit sorry for itself last time I saw it. They were used in the relatively few situations where either the country dairy or the town depot had no direct rail connection.