Between WWI and WWII, the Great Western Railway developed the use of containers that could be packed and locked at a client's premises, taken by lorry to a station, then carried by train and again by lorry to the final destination. Using these containers, they offered a door-to-door removals service, providing a team to pack the furniture, and a discount on fares to the destination.[1] Some containers could carry up to 72 bicycles.[2] Insulated containers, cooled by boxes of ice, were used to transport flower bulbs and other perishable items.[3]
Originally such containers were carried on general-purpose flat trucks and wagons, but from 1931 the GWR built or converted a number of special purpose flat-bedded wagons, provided with chains for securing the load. They were called by the telegraphic code Conflat, and most of them were fitted with vacuum brakes.[4][5]
In 1930 the railway introduced 100 containers primarily for building materials.[6]
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