Technical and Institutional Interrelatedness in British Rail Coal Haulage: a Re-Appraisal

This article examines the nature, and economic impact, of interelatedness in British rail coal haulage prior to the Second World War. It takes issue with recent work by Van Vleck, which argues that the inefficiencies imposed by small coal wagons were not substantial and that they offered important advantages in terms of resource-saving and flexibility. Van Vleck is shown to have considerably underestimated the costs arising from Britain's rail coal distribution system, while small privately0owned wagons consituted a resource-wasting, rather than resource-saving, technology.