11) In this depot, the rail-head at Lawley Street, Birmingham, the mechanical handling of small consignments is the most up to date in the world. On the left, a row of drays is backed up to the moving belt on which the man is standing. On the right are one. or two loaded trolleys, and in the background are the railway wagons. This shed deals with two kinds of traffic – what’s called town traffic, which is loaded on to drays for delivery in Birmingham and district, and transship traffic, which is loaded in rail wagons for further destinations.

Not all depots need to be so highly mechanised as this...