GNRI - Road Merchandise Service.

The Road Merchandise Service was the title given to the lorry and cartage operations of the G.N.R. These activities actually started a year before the company began runnning its own buses,in 1928,in fact. A local contractor was appointed to convey GNR rail traffic transhipped from rail wagons at Ballyward Station in County Down to the town of Rathfriland. Similar contractors were employed to provide a cartage service to the GNR in towns and villages all over the system by 1931.

The Irish Free State government introduced the 1933 Transport Act which provided for the Railway Companies to compulsorily acquire road freight licences on application to the Minister of Industry and Commerce. The result was that the GNR Road Merchandise Service enjoyed rapid expansion as many independent freight carriers were bought up from this period onwards. In fact the company pooled its resources with the Great Southern Railway in areas where both companies operated to buy up the independents. There are many examples of this happening in Counties Meath and Cavan.

Leyland Beaver Lorry seen at Dundalk May 1938

In January 1935 the GNR and GSR bought out the Drogheda road freight business of Paddy McCloskey. The McCloskey fleet of 9 lorries,3 tractors,5 trailers and two cars were split between the two railway administrations. The GNR immediately appointed Paddy McCloskey as its first Road Merchandise Supervisor a post he was to hold for many years. A garage in Scarlett Street,Drogheda was also part of the McCloskey acquisition which had at one time been the town prison and was to serve as the GNR and its successor (CIE) garage right up until a couple of months ago.

Drogheda provided the GNR with the greatest volume of road freight traffic particularly after the opening of the Cement Works in the town in 1938 and had by far the largest fleet of lorries. The Irish Free State government embarked upon a road building programme to open up parts of rural Ireland. Contracts were awarded by the County Councils for the conveyance of ground limestone in connection with the project. The GNR won several contracts in the Louth,Monaghan and Cavan areas and purchased Ford and Bedford tipper lorries for the limestone.

In Northern Ireland the cartage contractors were all dispensed with by about 1932 as the Great Northern's fleet of lorries expanded rapidly providing a service from railhead to factory or farm gate. In 1935 the company's lorry and bus fleet was nationalised by the Northern Ireland Road Transport Board. Fifty-eight lorries were handed over to the NIRTB who continued to provide lorry and cartage services to the GNR under contract.

Lorry 149 started life as a Leyland Lion bus seen here in Talbot Street Dublin 1953.

A wide variety of lorries were bought by the company although in the early days Leyland predominated withserial purchases of its Beaver model. Albion lorries were bought new before and after the second world war emergency and gave excellent service. The company also purchased and acquired second hand five Beardmore Tractors of ten and twelve ton payload capacity. Two 1930 vintage Leyland Beaver lorries were converted into tractors in 1948 for the transfer of bags of wheat from the GNR Goods Depot in SherrifStreet to the Dublin Port Milling Company at Alexandra Quay. A number of time-expired buses were converted into lorries for continued service in the road merchandise fleet including two Leyland's which were rebodied as horse boxes. In latter years large numbers of Bedford's and AEC lorries were bought many of which were tractors used with the GNR fleet of about 70 trailers. Specialist trailers for the conveyance of cooking oils and bulk cement were bought in the early 1950's as lucrative contracts were awarded to the company.

New Ford V8 lorries seen at Barrack Street Goods Depot Dundalk 1945.

Ivor McCullough who had started his GNR career as a pupil apprentice became the Road Merchandise Superintendent in the 1940's and was principally responsible for the development of the bulk cement tankers and containers.

Ivor McCullough

About 100 lorries were acquired by Coras Iompair Eireann from the Great Northern including a number of new AEC Mercury vehicles which had been bought by the GNR and were in storage at Dundalk Works. The Road Merchandise Service was a profitable arm of the railway as was the Road Motor Service. Alas the revenues generated by the two distinctive elements of the railway were not sufficient to guarantee its future beyond 1958.