I know next to nothing about railway tickets, Caley or otherwise, but was interested to come across this workman's ticket issued between Perth and Errol, listed in a forthcoming auction:
taylor-bros-errol-perth.jpg (12.52 KiB) Viewed 6614 times
Does anyone have more information on who Taylor Brothers were and why it was worth their while arranging for special tickets for their employees to Errol? There was a Dundee coal merchant of that name, but I can't think why they would have such a need.
regards
Graham Roberts
Edit: I realised I have this the wrong way round: the ticket is issued Errol-Perth-Errol which seems even stranger. Was there a firm in Perth of that name large enough to issue workmens' tickets for its employees from surrounding villages? Was the Caley a big issuer of workmens' tickets outside the Glasgow conurbation?
The ill-fated Errol Station Trust issued a detailed history of the station and its people, written by John Beech, before the project failed in 2000 and I recall the level of detail was such that if there's no mention of Taylor Brothers in this book, there's unlikely to be any easily accessible access to such information. I don't know if John Beech is still about but he'd be worth asking if he was.
I have no direct answer, but it probably relates to the brick industry in the area. Taylor Brothers operated the Pitfour brickworks at Glencarse and as a Coal Merchant in Dundee were also the local distributor of building materials, lime, cement and fireclay products including the Pitfour Patent bricks and tiles. The other major brickworks in the area was at Inchcoonans near Errol. Both were connected to the Dundee - Perth line by sidings. It seems likely that the ticket was issued in relation to this industry.
I suspect that this is what was known as a "Traders' Ticket". These were tickets issued to traders who conducted business with the railway. I believe the number of tickets issued to each trader was proportional to the amount of business conducted. I have never been able to establish if the tickets were issued at a discounted price or were free issue - I suspect the latter.
Many thanks Ed, John, and Michael, for all these replies - all very interesting. I will have to try to chase down a copy of the Errol Station history.
regards
Graham