Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/220

 is a work which demands for its accomplishment the most perfect organisation and attention to detail. For instance, in the Metropolitan Meat Market there are no less than 230 stalls or shops, all of which receive meat from the provinces, and the railway companies are expected to deliver and hang the meat in these shops before the arrival of the salesmen. Thus, a waggon will arrive, say, from Scotland, with thirty sides of beef for delivery to as many consignees, in as many different parts of the market, while other meat will arrive simultaneously from other stations for the same consignees, and, with a view to speed and economy, the different consignments have to be brought together, and the vans loaded in such a way that, as far as possible, two vans will not be delivering at the same time to one shop. This is effected by sorting the meat into districts, according to the position of the stalls in the market, on the stage at Broad Street before it is loaded on to the vans.

Speaking more generally, the mode of dealing with "up" goods is as follows:—This part of the business is conducted, not in the arches previously described, but in the warehouse of which mention has already been made, the ground floor of which is staged, so as to form a deck, or platform, upon which the goods can be sorted and transferred from the railway waggons to the street vans. This platform is open on both sides, so that vans can be backed up to it on one side, while a line of rails extends along the other side, on which the railway waggons on arrival are placed, after being lowered from the upper level by means of the hydraulic hoists. The invoices which are received with the waggons, and which are documents containing a description of the