Before the Big 4

The "Big 4" railway companies were the iconic Great Western Railway (GWR) [1], London Midland Scottish (LMS), London North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Southern Railway (SR). To many people they still evoke the classic age of steam. However the era of the Big 4 railway companies was a brief one, just twenty four years. Their formation was part of a trend for consolidation in the British railway industry, a consolidation that eventually doomed them away.

In the earliest days of the railways (as we known them now) in the early nineteenth century, railway companies were pretty small. Usually a route between two main destinations was built by a company and operated by them. Examples included the Liverpool & Manchester Railway which ran the first scheduled passenger trains powered by steam in 1930 [2] between Liverpool and Manchester.

As the railway network expanded in the mid-19th century dozens, soon hundreds of companies were formed. There were over a thousand separate railway companies in total [3]. These companies began to amalgamate to save costs and due to ambition. By the late 19th century some of these amalgamated companies such as the London North Western Railway (LNWR) and North Eastern Railway (NER) had become huge companies, the LNWR was the largest joint stock company in Britain by the end of the century. But even with amalgamation there were still around 120 railway companies by the advent of the First World War, many making considerable losses.

The companies fell under state control during the war, afterwards the government decided to remodel the industry to stem losses and remove the duplication of routes and services that had arisen during the break neck race to built lines in the 19th century. The government, after some debate, published the 1921 Railways Act which would create four regionally based groupings of railway companies [4][5], this became the Big 4. In 1923 names like the LNWR, Midland Railway and South Eastern Railway ceased to exist as they were merged into one of the four new larger companies. A new golden age of railways began?

Well not really. Railway finances were still troublesome, the LNER suffered from this more than the other companies. By the end of 1930s the LNER was a financial basket case, the LMS and GWR not that far behind. Following another period of state control in the Second World War the Big 4 were abolished at the end of 1947 and the railways were nationalised as British Railways.

Over the next few weeks we will look at some of these railway companies that existed before the Big 4. We will look how they formed, often from smaller scale amalgamations themselves and what legacy they may have left.

No. 66 of the North Eastern Railway

No. 245 of the London South Western Railway

[1] The Great Western Railway existed before 1923 (it was one of the earliest railway companies founded in 1833), although it was also amalgamated with other companies it was able to retain it's name and identity
[2] Anthony Dawson, "The First Train on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway", Back Track (Vol. 34 No. 7, July 2020). p. 380
[3] W.E. Simnett, Railway Amalgamation in Great Britain (Railway Gazette, 1923) p. 2
[4] Ibid. p. 35
[5] Not all railway companies were amalgamated, a small number survived independent. The London local railway companies were amalgamated themselves into what became London Transport at a later date.

Golden Age (12) : The Mystery at Stowe

The rather excellent Mystery at Stowe by Vernon Loder (aka John Vahey) could be the perfect Golden Age detective novel: its set in a nice country house in late 1920s England, bumbling police are set right by the keen amateur (although he apparently has some detective work before while administering the natives in some far flung corner of the Empire) and the murder weapon a mysterious artifact of the tribes from South America...

In fact it could almost be too much, in the hands of a less skilful writer it could easily have descended into self-parody but Loder produced a fine work here with some interesting detective work. Maybe it falls down on the final reveal, being a bit implausible. But then again that wasn't exactly an uncommon Golden Age trait either.

Golden Age (9) : The Pit-Prop Syndicate

The two most common themes in Golden Age detective literature were the enthusiastic amateur detective and the steady plodding police professional. Ingeniously Freeman Wills Croft has combined both in this tale of smuggling and murder.

The first part of the book (the two parts are actually titled "The Amateurs" and "The Professionals") describes how a wine merchant touring South West France comes across a mysterious English lorry which for an unfathomable reason has changed it's number plate. As he investigates further with his friend he discovers mysterious goings on in a remote yard and a coaster that regularly travels to England. Are they smuggling brandy?

Eventually in part 2 the police are called in as the plot is far too dangerous for our amateurs, especially after one of the gang members is murdered in London. A complicated plot is uncovered by our Scotland Yard detective involving secret tunnels, dedicated telephone lines and other mysterious goings on. It can be quite intricate a plot at times, maybe even rather dense but enjoyable in how it all comes together. Freeman Wills Croft really did know how to write an engaging crime novel.

The British Bus (2) : Rise of the motorbus

As we saw in part 1 of this history of the British Bus the first buses in the early nineteenth century were horse drawn, being a development of the earlier stagecoach. From 1861 until 1896 government legislation virtually banned the use of self-powered road vehicles but the law was changed in 1896 and within months experimental motor bus services were operating. The first such bus in London ran between Kennington and Oxford Circus in 1899, in 1902 the London Road Car Company began to motorise it's fleet [3]. The changeover in London was dramatic, motorbuses went from just four in 1900 to two thousand, seven hundred and sixty one in 1915 when the final horse buses were withdrawn.

In 1910 London General introduced the B Class which was the first of a long line of standard London motor buses. London General was an early driver of the new transport technology, in 1925 they introduced a double decker with a covered top deck (though the first large scale introduction was in Birmingham, see below) and in 1927 a bus with pneumatic tyres - something the authorities were reluctant to allow for some time due to fears of tyres exploding and harming pedestrians.

As with the horse buses in the mid-nineteenth century, the motorbus market was highly competitive and cut throat in the 1920s. Many bus companies were started up by returning servicemen though as the decade wore on these smaller companies began to be swallowed up by a small number of larger firms such as Tilling and National. In the larger cities municipally owned fleets dominated, such as the fleet in Liverpool which started operation in 1911 [4]. In Birmingham buses were operated by Birmingham Corporation Tramways, which later changed it's name to Birmingham City Transport, from 1913. They introduced the AEC 504 in 1924 the first bus with a covered top deck [5]. This was the beginning of the classic British double decker, a type which still dominates bus fleets to this day.

The 1930 Road Traffic Act bought new regulation to the motor bus market which saw the elimination of many smaller companies. Outside of London and the other cities with their municipal owned networks Tilling and BET dominated the market. In 1933 London bus services were nationalised in all but name with the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board. More nationalisation was to come.

Preserved B Type bus B340 at London Transport Museum

Leyland LB at Tottenham Court Road, public domain image [1]

Milnes-Daimler bus in London, public domain image [2]

Preserved LNWR Charabanc coach at London Transport Museum

[1] https://www.flickr.com/photos/stockholmtransportmuseum_commons/6081778421/
[2] https://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/27877941045/
[3] Philip Bagwell & Peter Lyth, Transport in Britain 1750-2000 (Hambledon, 2002) p. 116
[4] Martin Jenkins & Charles Roberts, Merseyside Transport Recalled (Ian Allan, 2014) p. 4
[5] Malcom Keeley, Birmingham Buses Route by Route 1924-1975 (Ian Allan, 2012) p. 7

Golden Age (8) : The Mystery Of The Mud Flats

This novel by Maurice Drake is an interesting tale of mystery, chemistry and adventure on the High Seas... or rather the North Sea and Dutch coast.

Although released as part of the Collins Detective Story Club in 1929 (after being released first as WO2 in 1913) it is not really a detective story although one of the characters does a good job in finding out what is going on - though more in the vein of a secret agent than an Inspector from Scotland Yard.

It is an engaging and atmospheric story told in the first person with an intriguing bunch of characters. Also interesting about the story is that there are no real "good guys", even our heroes are on the con to various degrees but as the book was published when it was and other lot are German then of course we are supposed to root for them!

Golden Age (7) : The Ponson Case

By Freeman Wills Crofts this is a complicated and engaging crime drama first published in 1921 involves the investigation of the apparent suicide - later declared murder - of an old businessman on his estate. There are a number of possible culprits all with motive but also alibis, Inspector Tanner of the Yard is determined to find out the truth.

So begins a complicated and meticulous murder investigation. Mostly by the professionals though as its a Golden Age novel there is some amateur sleuthing too - but Tanner leads most of the investigation. It is quite wordy (probably could have done with a bit of an edit to be honest) but the plot is excellent.

Part of the Collins's Detective Club, reissued with the original artwork and is very stylish indeed.

More from Essex... and Aden

Some more photographs from the 1920s and 30s photograph album which may have belonged to a family who lived near Clacton-on-Sea. As i mentioned last time i suspected there was a farming connection with the album's once owners due to the number of photographs of farm animals. Such as this one.

This one is entitled "Our hens 1921".

 

Now for something different. Later in the album are three photographs which have been taken in the Middle East, luckily these photographs have inscriptions on the back which have been reproduced below.

"New roads at Aden, March 1932. Work office on right at back. ME just behind camel in white". Is that M.E. or "me"?

"Works of buildings coolies making new roads at Aden, March 1932"

More from the Essex album

A few more photographs from the 1920s family album i bought on a whim on eBay. As Clacton-on-Sea features in a number of the photographs i have made the assumption it was a family from Essex who once owned the album. It might not be of course, and if you recognise any of the photos let me know!

Farm animals feature in a number of photos including these lovely cows. This makes me think the album once belonged to a farming family. We need to be always wary of assumptions of course, it could easily be the family were city folk and the photographer just liked taking photographs in the countryside!

Assuming this lovely car belongs to the family then they probably were pretty well off.

This photograph is unfortunately uncaptioned but shows a wedding cake (another photograph shows the cake a bit more clearly).

 

Finally another photograph from Clacton-on-Sea, this shows the Venetian bridge and the pier behind it. Both are still extant.

An Essex album

Completely on a whim i bought, last year, "Vintage Photograph Album Containing 92 Black & White Pictures 1920s" off Ebay. The photos were interesting though completely baffling as there was no information included as to where the photographs had come from and whom they were of. Most of the photographs had no captions though a few did and as Clacton-on-Sea figures a few times in the album i am guessing the photos are of an Essex family in the 1920s. Of course they could be from somewhere else entirely and Clacton is just where they liked to go on holiday!

I'll scan a few photos and display them here over the next few weeks. They seemed a fairly affluent family as they seemed to have a car. Farm animals figure a few times so maybe a wealthy farming family?

We'll start with the pier in Clacton-on-Sea in 1924

Also included this rather lovely bridge over a river

This little one could still be alive perhaps though would be over 100 now!

I couldn't read this, at somewhere in 1922 anyway!