OK, here's a poser for you. At the weekend, I spent a whopping £2.50 on some string. Great Western Railway string.
We know it's GWR string because the name is printed on it every 10 inches.
Possibly more ribbon than string, it's 3mm wide and made of a sort of fibreous material that reminds me of baskets some fruit is delivered in, or raffia.
What I don't know is why it exists.
Consulting a couple of relevant societies at Bristol show, they weren't sure either. Our best guess is that this is intended for parcels, but why bother? Surely normal string would have been fine. Why go to the expense of producing bespoke string?
Also, why was I the only one daft/curious enough to buy this. There were two packets and the second remianed unsold as far as I know. Railwayana doesn't have to be expensive it seems.
1 comment:
Short answer, Phil.
Anyone possessing anything railway marked without authority is legally established as being in possession of stolen property. Police on my railway have charged those found in such possession with "possession of stolen property". A railway employee may of course face more serious ramifications.
Not sure if the GWR had experienced a rash of string theft; maybe Arthur Daley of "Minder" was in on this? ;)
Steve Lucas
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