Apologies if this is in the wrong topic but I am thinking of a scenario using a pick-up goods train, the kind that ambled along between stations and was barely timetabled. They would have been hauled by the equivalents of 4Fs, 2MTs and the like or, later, Types 1 and 2 diesels and speed was not an issue. I can see that such trains would deliver cattle-trucks because time is no object but what about picking them up after loading and consolidating them?
- Would pick-up be done by a faster loco, such as a Black 5, so that the livestock isn't stuck in the trucks any longer than strictly necessary?
- What sort of time could the animals go without needing to be fed and, especially, watered?
- Were cattle-trucks fitted stock and what sort of speed restrictions were imposed on them?
- I guess that livestock pick-up trains would converge at a large yard and, if necessary, be consolidated for onward travel?
Thanks,
Keith