The Telpher was introduced by Sir John A. F. Aspinwall, the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway’s Chief Mechanical Engineer. It ran from the parcels office across the full width of the station. It was about 300 yards long. Over the course of an average week around 100 miles were covered moving something like 1000 baskets.
The costs included 1s 6d per day in electricity and the pay of the various, usually young, operators.
It was used, primarily, to transfer parcels between the parcels office and the different platforms. At busy times parcels could also be transferred directly from one platform to another.
Three Telpher units were used. Two were in service or available to use at any one time. The third being kept as a spare in case of breakdown. Three young men were designated as operators in normal traffic conditions and the Telpher was kept active 24 hours a day
