1929 Minutes-weekend puzzler+CLUES

[Jingling Geordie]

As usual part 1 questions, I know thw answers to, part 2 I dont.

At a meeting og the finance committee held on the 21.02.29 the committee agreed to pay: -

A)Part 1-£2,968 to an external body-who were they. (The payment was based on the1927 turnover at a rate of 5p (one old shilling) per £1000

Part 2-what did this body do for a living?

B) They also reserved £257,492 to cover the cost of (HOW MANY[to the nearest 10] ) replacement boilers

C) It was estimated that it would cost £1,143 to transfer (WHAT) from Blaydon to Darlington Top Bank Loco Shed

421

[Solario]

A)Part 1-£2,968 to an external body-who were they. (The payment was based on the1927 turnover at a rate of 5p (one old shilling) per £1000

By my reckoning, that equates to a sum involved of nearly £6 million; big, big money in those days. I wonder if it was to someone like the Railway Clearing House or maybe a charity (widows & orphans?)

[Jingling Geordie]

Yes your right regarding the £6m, I wonder what that would be in "todays money"

Was the Railway Clearing House known by any other name as that is not the name given in the minutes?

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[Jingling Geordie]

A) The body concerned was the Railway Companies Association is that the same as the Railway's Clearing House?
B) The average price of a new boiler works out at £2742
C) Whatever it was, was 7% longer than the one it replaced.

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[52D]

C- coaling stage

[Jingling Geordie]

Watto 52D,

whatever it was replaced one that was 3ft shorter and that might in turn have gone somewhere else. Around about this time many of these items were replaced by longer ones. Today's railways have little or no need for them.

421

[61070]

A turntable then?

[Jingling Geordie]

Spot on L1.:45ft replacing 42ft.

By the way there were 312 boilers.

But was the Railway Companies Association the same thing as the Railway Clearing House and if not what did it do for a living,

421

[61070]

The Railway Companies Association seems to have been an organisation through which the railway industry represented its collective view to parliament and the government of the day (and maybe to other bodies). I'd not been aware of them but have just found the following:

From a website on which there is a study of the political angle on the grouping:

The Government pledged themselves in 1918 to consult the Railway Companies Association as to the future of railways before any Bill was Presented Parliament dealing with the matter.

(http://www.york.ac.uk/inst/irs/irshome/ ... ouping.htm)

Just found this too: A temporary committee of directors of certain railway companies met on the 30th March 1854 to consider legislative proposals arising from the Select Committee's Report of 1853. Further meetings were held to deal with other matters, and on the 26th June 1867 a new organisation, the United Railway Companies' Committee was formed. In May 1869 this committee assumed the name of the Railway Companies' Association.
The Association ceased to function upon the nationalisation of railways under the Transport Act 1947.

(http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/cata ... s=True&j=1)

Thanks to this little competition some of us are a bit wiser at the start of a new week!

[Jingling Geordie]

Watto LI and I most certainly am. I've just picked this up from the Wickie.

"The Railway Companies' Association was a co-ordinating body for British railway companies from 1867 until nationalization in 1948. Its purpose was to protect the interests of the companies and their shareholders, chiefly against parliamentary interference. It was an early example of what we now know as a lobby organization."

Thanks for your time and contributions,

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