Do You Know the History of Container Transportation? I

As early the 19th century (1801), Dr. James Anderson of the United Kingdom put forward the idea of container transportation.

In 1814, the Englishman George Stephenson made the first "leather boots" steam locomotive for the Chillingworth coal mine, which was able to pull eight open coal carriages with a load of 30 tons and a speed of 6.4 kilometers per hour. The open compartment is framed by square wood, the wooden strips are made of slats, and the top is uncovered, and the style is similar to that of the wagon trailer at the time. After that, there was a closed passenger car with doors and windows. 


In 1845, a fully enclosed freight train began to appear on the British railways, and the cabinet was made of iron and wood. 

In the second half of the 19th century, a railway tray with a movable frame appeared in Lancashire, England, for transporting cotton and cotton, commonly known as the “Lancashire Tray”. This can be seen as the prototype of a container


Until the early 20th century, due to the development of the world economy, the amount of land transportation in western countries increased rapidly, and railway transportation developed rapidly. At this time, the British Railways tried to put the furniture in a wooden container and transport it by rail flatbed. After arriving at the station, the crane was used to transfer the box to the carriage, and the carriage then transported the goods to the destination. This new type of transportation has been promoted.

Around 1920, the New York Central Railway Company and the Pennsylvania Railroad Company introduced a 9-foot steel container. Each section of the railway wagon can hold 6 containers, each with a load capacity of 5 tons. With these containers, when the railway transports goods along the way, the efficiency is greatly improved and the cost is greatly reduced.


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Annette X.//SMC Editor