Computers click as Tartan Arrow tests parcels run
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DAILY trial of parcels containers railed by Tartan Arrow Service Ltd. at Kentish Town for road delivery ex-Bridgeton in Glasgow began this week.
Containers loaded at Tartan depots at Hackney Wick and Townmill Road are transferred by gantry crane at Kentish Town on to railway wagons. These are coupled to scheduled trains but Tartan will run its own special trains early next year.
The company has given broad details of the operating system envisaged. The special Tartan Arrow trains will be drawn up in each depot in two halves, each 650 ft. long. One half will comprise vans for parcels and packages weighing up to one ton. The other will consist of flat trucks for containers which have been packed by the consigner and collected by Tartan Arrow vehicles or delivered direct to the depot by customers. Discounts encourage customers to bring in their own goods.
Trains will be loaded between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. daily. They will be made up to customers' requirements and refrigerated and other specialized containers will be available.
Consignment note details. perhaps as many as 25,000 in any one night, are fed into a computer and the complete loading record is automatically transmitted from London to Glasgow (or vice versa) by landline, being available at the other terminal five minutes before the train leaves.
The computer in Scotland (or London) prints the delivery notes automatically. Parcels may be destined for up to 20 different areas in Glasgow and area cards produced by the computer will determine the number of vehicles required for each day's deliveries.
It is planned to off-load the trains between 5.30 a.m. and 8.30 a.m., by which time all delivery vans will be away. To facilitate offloading the trains will again be broken into
halves. Containers will be transferred to waiting lorries by crane, and parcels will be off-loaded by mechanical handling gear and moved on ar automated conveyor to destination vehicle bays.
Off-loading will be directed by a controller in a control room equipped with closed-circuil television. He will be able to observe the progress of the operation and will be in touch with three assistant controllers on the unloading bays.