NEW AUGUST 2016. This is a copy of the book 'The Railways Act 1921' by P. Rhys Griffiths, published by Pitman's in 1925. Its purpose was to explain the Act to railway students and to members of the public who might be concerned.

This was not the Act which set up the Big Four companies. Instead it was a plan to unify rates and conditions of carriage for freight conveyed by rail, initiated by the Railway Rates Tribunal. In 1925 its provisions had not yet come into force. In the Preface to this work the author wrote 'The passing into law of the Railways Act, 1921, is gradually creating a revolution - peaceful though it be - in the railway industry, which will not reach its climax until the "appointed day" (probably 1st January, 1927), when the curtain will finally fall upon the old order of things and the new will take its place.'

It is an 80-page book, displayed in this file as a series of two-page spreads. In five chapters it describes the essential features of the Act. A set of appendices follows. These summarise the new classifications for freight and the standard rates they will incur. They also describe the judgements in test cases which had been brought, including one from Rowland Cowper Marsh applying for an exceptional rate for the conveyance of train loads of flax straw in bundles from Clare to Yeovil.

The whole file is word-searchable. It will be available to download as soon as payment has been made. You go to your account and click on ‘Downloads’. New customers create an account as they place their order.