All illustrations are from the author’s collection.
The introduction below is repeated for those readers who may not have seen Part 1 of this article.
In the early years of the 20th century, many of the then existing railway companies realised the benefits of road steam vehicles to supplement their business requirements. OGs 387/8 provided an insight of those organisations in which steam buses played a part in bringing passengers to their railway - and taking them back home again later. Equally important was the development of railway parcels services for the collection and delivery of all manner of products to and from farms and industrial premises up and down the country.
When the major shake-up of the railway companies happened in Britain in January 1923, four major organisations were formed - the Great Western Railway (GWR) and the Southern Railway (SR), both in the south - together with the London Midland Scottish Railway (LMSR) and
