. . vans between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool andother places. The van was run on the turnpike roads at aquick speed, and took small parcels and the more valuable freight. Pickfords van was as well known and as popular as the oldstage coaches. When railway trains began to run, the old carriers saw thattheir occupation, like Othellos, would soon be gone, and theyput themselves in the way of doing the terminal work for therailway companies, more particularly the collection and deliveryof freight in London and other large c
. . vans between London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool andother places. The van was run on the turnpike roads at aquick speed, and took small parcels and the more valuable freight. Pickfords van was as well known and as popular as the oldstage coaches. When railway trains began to run, the old carriers saw thattheir occupation, like Othellos, would soon be gone, and theyput themselves in the way of doing the terminal work for therailway companies, more particularly the collection and deliveryof freight in London and other large cities, and this business ina short time became immense, requiring thousands of men andhorses to do the service. Some thirty-two years ago, about the time that the GrandTrunk railroad was opened from Montreal to Toronto, twointelligent and enterprising young Scotchmen called at the officeof the Grand Trunk Eailway in Montreal to see Mr. S. P. Bidder,General Manager, and the author, when they stated that theyhad commenced a railway cartage agency in Hamilton and. The Pickfords of Canada. 105 London; that their object was to collect and deliver freight inthe towns and cities for the railways in Canada, similar to whatwas done by Pickford & Co. in the Old Country ; that they infact aimed to be the Pickfords of Canada. These youngmen were Mr. Wm. Hendrie and Mr. John Shedden, who had thesagacity to see that an important adjunct of the great Canadianrailways would be an efficient and well-managed cartagesystem. Mr. Wm. Hendrie came to Canada in 1854, and was for atime in the general freight office of the Great Western Eailway atHamilton. Previous to that he had been employed on railwaysin Scotland. Mr. John Shedden, for some time before coming toCanada, was, although a very young man, a railway contractorin Pennsylvania and Virginia. In 1855, Messrs. Hendrie &Shedden commenced the cartage agency for the Great WesternRailway, by arrangement with Mr. C. J. Brydges, its managingdirector
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookidrailwaysothe, bookyear1894
