The pre-grouping railways of the UK were famous for their style, their quality and their desire to impress. The poster above was displayed in America, encouraging their trans-Atlantic traveller to take the luxury route o London.
The company was formed on 16 July 1846 by the amalgamation of the Grand Junction Railway, London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway. This move was prompted in part by the Great Western Railway's plans for a railway north from Oxford to Birmingham.
LNWR called itself "The Premier Line"
This was justified as it included the pioneering Liverpool & Manchester Railway of 1830, and the original LNWR main line linking London, Birmingham and Lancashire had been the first big railway in Britain, opened throughout in 1838. As the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom, it collected a greater revenue than any other railway company of its era.
It certainly exuded quality ...
... and kept its trains (particularly its expresses) in top condition.
A Directors' saloon coach is preserved on the Bluebell Railway.
Despite its self proclaimed "Premier" status, the company never seemed to have the "cachet" of the Midland Railway which it eventually joined in the 1923 "grouping" to form the L M S.
The London Midland and Scottish Railway adopted the maroon colours of the Midland ...
... for some of its top link express locomotives.
Under privatisation the former L M S outer-suburban services out of London Euston became the oddly named Silverlink ...
... owned by the National Express group. Services in the Birmingham area became Central Trains ...
... also a National Express company but with a wider network than just the Birmingham area.
Then we had a rejig of the franchise areas and the London outer suburban stuff was glued to the Birmingham area to become London Midland, run by GoAhead.
Rail enthusiasts hearts were gladdened when Keith Ludeman ...
... then big boss of GoAhead announced that the new franchise would seek to offer the quality and reliability of the old L M S. He also hinted that maroon would be the main colour the London Midland's new livery ...
... just like the good old days.
It never happened. Green, black and grey adorned all suburban trains out of Euston and all local services in the West Midlands. These colours also appeared on the Parry "People Mover" buggies running between Stourbridge Junction and Stourbridge Town.
So it was that the two companies under the first blast of privatisation became one.
Of course we all know what happened last Sunday, don't we? The new franchise holder for the London Midland company would be known as West Midlands Trains.
It is owned by rail operators Abellio (Dutch State Railways) ...
... and J R East (operators of many lines in Japan including Shinkansen expresses).
Also in the mix is Japan's Mitsui Group which is a huge international conglomerate centred round "big" engineering.
Bur here's a funny thing.
West Midlands Trains will operate its franchise in two lumps; West Midlands Railway and London North Western. Or, to put it another way, Birmingham services are to be separated from the London outer suburban routes.
Back to the Future indeed!
We will explore further tomorrow.
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ADVENT CALENDAR - 14
The story is so familiar; Shepherds meet angels, leave their flocks and go down to the village to see the baby Jesus.
SPOILER ALERT
They didn't take lamb to "give" to the baby.
What can I give him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
if I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
yet what I can I give him: give my heart.
Christina Rossetti (authoress of "In The Bleak Midwinter") implies that they did.
Well the Biblical shepherds didn't. Luke explains their abandonment of their flocks in very simple words.
The shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and saw the baby lying in the manger. When the shepherds saw him, they told them what the angel had said about the child.
We keep coming across those pesky angels! Tomorrow we try to make sense of the super-natural encounter.
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Next WM Trains blog : Friday 15th December
EWr - no. The LNWR carriage on the Bluebell isn't a Directors' Saloon but an observation car, originally bult for the line to Blaenau Festiniog. Amazingly, it has now been on the Bluebell line for well over 50 years!
ReplyDeleteThe Bluebell did have a very plush "semi-royal" saloon as well, but it was sold a few years ago.
Thanks Andrew. But ever reliable (?) on-line sources tell me it is a Directors saloon. Thanks for the correction!
ReplyDeleteThe Bluebell has a GNR Directors' saloon.
ReplyDeleteIndeed it does, but that's in varnished teak livery I think.
ReplyDelete