Between the 1930s and the 1960s, special trains transported milk from dairies all around the UK.

An Express Dairies milk train, preserved at Didcot Railway Centre. (Image: David Merrett, CC BY 2.0)

The process became so smooth that, at Vauxhall station in central London, milk trains would arrive from dairies in the South West of England at night. The milk would then be pumped directly from the platforms through pipes to the United Dairies creamery which was just across the road from the station. From there, the milk would be delivered across London.

A milk train unloading its milk into the pipes at Vauxhall station, 1975. (Image: Kevin Lane)