June 2025: GWR Parcels Van Model
Great Western Railway Parcels Van Model
June’s Object of the Month is this lovely model of a horse-drawn GWR parcels van from our recently redisplayed GWR Horse Power area.
Model of Horse-Drawn GWR Parcel Van
The GWR relied on vast numbers of horses and horse-drawn vehicles until the middle of the 20th century to operate the efficient running of the railway network. One of the many tasks they carried out was the collecting and delivering of goods such as parcels.
This model was made based on the 1909 photograph below. The side of the van is packed with lettering that made it clear what the vehicle was transporting, not unlike delivery vans today.
Photograph of GWR horse-drawn parcels van, 1909. (Image available to purchase on steampicturelibrary.com).
In 1904, the GWR owned 2,700 horses. Just five years later, this had risen to over 3,000. The weekly order for food for all the horses across the GWR network was as follows:
- 1,000 sacks of oats
- 220 sacks of beans
- 480 sacks of maize
- 110 tons of hay
- 16 tons of oat straw
- 18 tons of bran
In addition to this, the weekly bedding requirement for the GWR horses in 1909 was 40-50 tons of wheat straw!
In the 1880s, the GWR built a centralised Provender Store at Didcot to keep these huge quantities of hay and straw and distribute them across the network.
Interior view of Provender Store at Didcot, 1906. (Image available to purchase from steampicturelibrary.com).
Even though, by 1948, the GWR had been using motor vehicles for many years, they still owned more than 8,000 horses. Without horse power, the GWR would have simply struggled to operate its vast and complex passenger and goods network.
GWR Horse-Drawn Express Parcel Van. (Image available to purchase on steampicturelibrary.com).
These images of GWR horse-drawn parcel vans and more are available to purchase on steam picture library.
