THE THREE GREATEST FISHING PORTS 155 



specially made and equipped bogie-carriages, drawn by 

 a powerful bogie-engine of the most modern type. Each 

 van will hold about 15 tons, and an average load for 

 a fish train is 150 tons. With a length of 44^ ft., a 

 width of 7 ft., and a height of 7 ft., cemented floors 

 which slope to a drain in the centre, so that all un- 

 necessary liquid may escape, and with a system of 

 thorough ventilation, these vans make it possible for fish 

 to be conveyed in the best condition. For the carriage 

 of live fish special tank trucks are provided, the fish 

 being kept in the water in the tanks till wanted. 



"The fish special for London, leaving Grimsby at 

 5.30 p.m., reaches Marylebone at 12.20 a.m.," wrote a 

 correspondent of The Times. " Here it will be drawn 

 up at a fish wharf, where a night staff of men will be 

 waiting to unload the waggons, and to dispatch the 

 consignments, by means of drays, either to Billingsgate 

 or to the termini of other railway companies. Begun 

 within twenty minutes of the arrival of the train, this 

 work will have been finished by 3 a.m. Meanwhile, the 

 special leaving Grimsby at 7.40 p.m. will have reached 

 Marylebone at 2.15 a.m., and this will be dealt with in 

 the same way, the consignments for Billingsgate being 

 all delivered there by 5 a.m." 



In addition to the business in bulk, thousands of 

 parcels are conveyed daily from Grimsby by the Great 

 Central. This is a feature of the fishing industry which 

 has been developed enormously by firms who specialise 

 in selling parcels of fish, weighing from a few pounds 

 upward, direct to consumers in all parts of the country. 



Vast quantities of fish are smoked, the daily output 

 of smoked haddock, codling, herring, etc., being from 



