On January 1st 1948, the former 'Big Four' railway companies: London North Eastern Railway (LNER); London Midland & Scottish Railway (LMSR); Great Western Railway (GWR) and Southern Railway (SR) were amalgamated to form the new British Railways. A total of 20,211 steam locomotives were taken into State ownership consisting of: 1,838 from the SR, 3,856 from the GWR, 6,525 from the LNER, and 7,805 from the LMSR. The rest was made up of service engines and Departmental locomotives.
(Above-Below) The heydays of the ECML! Another fine example of the artwork to be found on Don Marshall's 'Elegant Steam' website. Click here to visit the site. (Below) Sporting the LNER's 'Apple Green' livery, Class A3 2556 (BR No 60057) Ormonde heads a northbound express towards Peascliffe Tunnel on 6th June 1938. The leading vehicle is a teak passenger brake converted to a cinema coach, introduced on the Kings Cross-Leeds service in May 1935. When the 2nd World War broke out in September 1939 the cinema equipment was removed and the vehicle restored for use as a brake van again. Indeed many pre-war luxuries such as on-board hairdressing saloons were subsequently abandoned and never resumed after hostilities ceased. By and large the ravages of war had taken its toll on Britain's premier train services and the 'Big Four' Railway Companies were in poor financial straits.
(Above) After five long years the most famous steam locomotive in the world, 'Flying Scotsman' ,has been unveiled in the Great Hall at the National Railway Museum, York. Congratulations to everyone concerned for a job well done! Click here to visit NRM.org. The expectation of seeing her back in steam is a good reason to feature 60103 during BR Eastern Region days at Grantham Shed in August 1960. 
(Below) Seeking to identify the location of this interesting push-pull set, I contacted Ian McKellar who writes - 'There is a clue in the stencilled lettering on the front end of carriage No E63426E, which states that it is on the Audley End-Saffron Walden-Bartlow line in Essex. The station seems to be Bartlow...the attached link to the excellent 'disused-staions.org.uk website' link will confirm it...' Indeed it does look like the branch platform at Bartlow, which was sited 25 yards short of the junction with the Stour Valley line; a wooden hut provided a meagre shelter for passengers on the up side of the line and a raised 100 yard-long footpath linked the platform to the main line station. There was a run round loop on the down side of the line facing the platform. As long ago as 1914, James Holden of the GER began trials with auto-trains on branch line services as a means of reducing operating costs and several steam classes were push-pull fitted over the years, including F7, ex-GC F2, ex-NE G5, ex-GN C12, F5 and N7 locos. By the late Fifties most steam-operated push-pull services were replaced by diesel multiple units or rail buses introduced in the 1955 BR modernisation plan, but despite the savings in operating costs closure of rural branch lines were implemented throughout East Anglia. Diesel rail buses began service on the Saffron Walden branch on 7th July 1958, but falling passenger receipts led to the line being listed for closure on 7th September 1964 and freight facilities at the end of the year. 
(Left) Click on link to Alex (Mac) McClymont's 'Rail Cameraman' page of Eastern Region steam days at London Kings Cross station and Top Shed (34A).
Upon nationalisation in 1948, six new BR Regions were formed, their new boundaries corresponding closely to the lines of the former 'Big Four' railway companies. Britain's railway network was now made up of the Western Region (WR), Southern Region (SR), Scottish Region (ScR), Eastern Region (ER), North Eastern Region (NER) and London Midland Region (LMR) - the old London North Easter Railway (LNER) being divided amongst the two newly-formed Regions: Eastern and North Eastern, whilst the Scottish Region was composed partly of the former LMS and LNER. This page deals with the Eastern Region that was formed in 1948 to take over the southern area of the old London North Eastern Railway. When the LNER was formed in 1923 its southern network of lines belonged to three main pre-grouping railway companies with routes running into London: the Great Northern Railway (GNR) which terminated at Kings Cross; the Great Central Railway (GCR) which ran into Marylebone via the Metropolitan Railway and the Great Eastern Railway (GER) which terminated at Liverpool Street station in 1874. A separate page deals with the North Eastern Region which was responsible for the northern area of the old LNER. The North Eastern Region basically covered the same area as that of the old North Eastern Railway prior to grouping in 1923. Indeed, apart from a few minor adjustments to Regional boundaries, the resultant Eastern Region from 1967 onwards covered the same network of lines as the old LNER.
As mentioned above, BR's Regional boundaries diminished significantly over the years, therefore it is meaningless to classify any particular class of locomotive as belonging to any one Region during the transition from steam. For example, the Ivatt ex-LMSR Mogul could be found working at various locations of the Eastern Region and North Eastern Regions. To help younger readers, who were not around to witness steam days - and wonder at the complexity of its origins - the picture gallery (below) might throw some light on the subject. Doubtless some enthusiasts will disagree with my choice of steam locos - you'll have your own favourites, surely - but the gallery does illustrate the difficulty BR faced in standardising the steam fleet, particularly in view of the huge number of BR steam classes involved - many originating from pre-Grouping days. The LNER Encyclopedia site provides a wealth of information about LNER locomotives based on the old Whyte wheel arrangement - highly recommended.
PHOTO GALLERY
(Above) Thompson Class B1 No 61026 Ourebi at Grantham shed (34F) in 1960. (Below Left) Oops! All too often mistakes occur when the facts are based on the contents of the shot. For example, this photo of Class A1 No 60117 Bois Roussel (with a seemingly empty tender) is described as heading the 'up' Queen of Scots' Pullman on the last leg of its journey to the capital. However, ex-Hitchin fireman, Francis Steeley, kindly points out that the train is in fact on the 'down' main and in consequence would not be nearing the end of its journey, but about 10 minutes into its trip on the 'down' Pullman. My thanks to Francis for pointing out the error…and if anyone else spots a mistake please let me know; I am more than willing to correct them.
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(Above) Before the arrival of the more powerful B12 class 4-6-0, J Holden's GER 7ft coupled 4-4-0 was the principal express passenger engine on the Great Eastern Railway. It was an elegant design, of which 121 were built in classes D14, D15 and D16. The D16s were introduced in 1933, and became known as 'Clauds' because the first of Holden's 4-4-0s (constructed in 1900) was named Claude Hamilton in honour of the then Great Eastern Railway Chairman. This Class D16/3 No 62523 originally had a straight footplate with a slotted portion raised over the coupling rods, but this was removed and replaced by a simpler upswept footplate. Nonetheless it doesn't detract from what is considered to be one of the all-time classic British steam locomotive designs. ER Morten photograph of No 62523 was taken at Norwich shed on 7thSeptember 1952.
(Above) At the turn of the century, the pre-grouping railway companies (pre-1923) were quick to exploit the volume of traffic originating from the Yorkshire coal mines and iron and steel mills in the Don valley. The Great Central Railway started as the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway, which had a connection with the Great Northern Railway at Retford, giving access to London. The GCR came into its own when the line from Annesley via Nottingham, Leicester and Rugby was opened to London in 1898. This shot was taken in the heart of the South Yorkshire coalfield, and shows one of Robinson's ex-GCR Class '04' 2-8-0s hauling a heavy freight through Wath-on-Dearne The ownership of the Woodhead route passed to the LNER in 1923, then to BR's Eastern Region in 1948. In the foreground a pair of Class DEJ4 diesel shunters head coal wagons on the slow lines.
(Below) The former Great Central main line between Sheffield and Manchester was electrified by the LNER in 1939 using the Government recommended standard 1,500 volt dc, with overhead line current collection. Work was halted at the outbreak of World War 2, and the electrification was not completed until 1955 - the same year that the BR Modernisation Plan was announced (including in its proposal the electrification of the WCML) It was generally assumed that the 1,500 volt dc system would be the future British standard, but the BTC adopted the 25kv 50-cycle ac system as used on the French National Railways. By 1965, the non-standard equipment on the Woodhead route was becoming life expired, and in 1970 all passenger services were withdrawn. The line remained open as a dedicated freight route until July 1981. Class 04 2-8-0 No 63573 heads a westbound freight through Hazlehead Bridge station in April 1952. Hazelhead station closed to passengers in March 1950 and local goods traffic ceased in May 1964. Photo © ER Morten.
(Above-Below) The Class EM1 Bo-Bo (later TOPS Class 76s) were primarily freight locomotives originally numbered 26000-26057 in the fleet, however the final batch of 12 locomotives were fitted with a train heating boiler for passenger work, including No 26047 Diomedes, seen here heading a rake of 16-and-20 ton mineral wagons near Penistone on 1st April 1961. (Below) Another scene now gone forever is the depot at Wath-on-Dearne which stood on the perimeter of the marshalling yard. PR Batty's photo shows a line-up of Class EM1 Bo-Bos (late Class 76) Nos 26011/39/41 awaiting their next turn of duty.
BR STANDARD CLASS 'BRITANNIA' CLASS
(Above-Below) In 1948, the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission (BTC) announced its preference for developing future steam power rather than dabbling with new, untried diesel traction. This led to the Locomotive Interchange Trials, supervised by RA Riddles, then member of the BTC's Railway Executive who was responsible for mechanical and electrical engineering. He was assisted by ES Cox, then executive member of the British Transport Commission for design - both ex-LMSR men, hence it came as no great surprise that out of the twelve new BR standard classes (numbered in the 70-80,000s and 92,000s) many designs incorporated the latest features taken from LMSR practice. In 1951, the 'Britannia' Class 7MT Pacific was the first of the twelve new British Railways Standard types to appear. Designed at Derby and built at Crewe, with sections also designed at Brighton, Doncaster and Swindon, beautifying was not on the agenda, the basic ethos being simplicity in construction, lower coal consumption, and longer mileage between classified repairs. Of the first 25 Britannias built, Nos 70000-03/05-13 were allocated to Stratford and Norwich sheds on the Eastern Region in 1951. Sporting a Norwich shedplate (32A) on the smokebox door, No 70011 Hotspur heads the 'up' 'Norfolkman' past Norwich Trowse on September 5th 1952.
(Below) The new 7MT Britannia class was a straightforward 2-cylinder design, and probably more of an amalgam of former companies engines than any other Standard type. The boiler, cylinders and valve gear came from LMS practice, the main frame and trailing truck from the Southern Railway, and the crossheads and slidebars were influenced by the LNER, whilst the GWR inspired the mechanical lubrication and various 
other steam fittings. When production of the new BR standard locomotives was launched in 1949, the decision caused some controversy amongst railmen, who argued that there was no need to develop a new standard class type, since there were plenty of locomotives of equal ability already available throughout the BR Regions. It was only to be expected that many locomen had an in-built loyalty towards former company's engines, so the new BR Class 7MT received a mixed reaction, including downright complaint and criticism on the Western Region which had Class 8P 'Kings' and 7P 'Castles' available. However, the 'Britannias' received high praise on the GE section of the Eastern Region, though this is hardly surprising since locomen previously had no larger engines than the Class 5MT 'Sandringhams' and Thompson Class B1s, the latter having a fire grate area of only 27.9 sq ft compared the 'Britannias' 42 sq ft.
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TRANSITION FROM STEAM
(Above-Below) The Britannias' days were numbered on the Eastern Region following the arrival of EE Co Pilot Scheme Type 4s Nos D200, D202-5 at Stratford in 1958. Having been displaced from East Anglian services out of Liverpool Street, several Britannias were transferred to Immingham to work the Cleethorpe-Kings Cross expresses and the Grimsby fish trains. The captionless photo right was taken on 9th August 1963 and shows the transitional period at the London Liverpool Street terminus, including a glimpse of a new EE Co Type 3 (Class 37) introduced from 1961 onwards and featured below. (Below) Click on photo-links to three pages devoted entirely to the introduction of the Pioneer Diesels and the BTC's Pilot Scheme Type 1-4 locomotives.
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CJ Rush of March, Cambridgeshire writes: 'I have today, purely by chance, found your website. Pat yourself on the back for bringing back so many memories! I am an enthusiast of some 60+ years from March (31B) Cambridgeshire and to see so many 'dirty' shed scenes has made my day. I don't know if you ever came to our area but alas, like everywhere else, we lost everything, including part of our massive Marshalling Yards (largest in Europe) which was sold to the Home Office so that they could build HM Whitemoor Prison. However, in 2004 Network Rail re-built the remaining part of the yards for their process and distribution centre; it is big with (at this moment in time) some 88 km of new track. Phase Two of this operation has now begun and they are installing redundant rail cutting equipment, ballast cleaning facilities and a sleeper regeneration depot - it looks good! The yard is shunted mostly with a Class 08, and for a time we have had a Class 73 here, but namely Class 66 do the heavy stuff. Network Rail have had to close their old Temple Mills depot in North London for the new Channel Tunnel maintenance depot and, as I'm sure you're aware, the rest of the site is now undergoing re-building for the 2012 Olympics! Their loss ... our gain! Kind regards, Colin
Dennis Taylor writes: 'Visiting your site brings back many memories of the ECML. My father worked on the East Coast line for many years starting with permanent way before WW2 and as a goods guard post war. He was struck down with Thrombosis, possibly caused by sitting for so long in the old brake vans between stops. He worked out of New England and was given lighter duties looking after Castor crossing gates until it closed to passenger traffic. He then joined the East Coast Main Line again as a relief crossing keeper and general runabout; his area stretched from Corby Glen to Welwyn Garden City, and from Tinwell near Stamford to Ramsey and Turves out in the wilds of the Fens.
We lived near Peterborough and most of my early school life was spent near the ECML. After leaving school I worked for Wm Cory and Son in Peterborough They were authorised Shell and BP distributors and the depot was right next to Peterborough North station close to the old Midland Sheds which had all gone when I started work in the early 60s. The picture you have of Peterborough North station must have been taken from the old Coal Hopper (which was blown up in the late 50s) on the Midland shed site.
Where I worked in the fuel depot you could get an almost identical picture. Unfortunately in those days I didn't have a decent camera. I had a Brownie 127 for my 11th birthday and although family snaps were good, train pictures were not so good. I remember standing on the platform trying to get a picture of a speeding train racing through Wellingborough and wondered why the whistle was being sounded all through the station. Needless to say they resulting picture was just a blur but I am still alive to tell the tale.
I worked at the fuel depot from 1962 to 1969, spending most of my spare time standing on top of the tanks watching trains go by, including a blue Midland Pullman one day. I also saw a loose wagon drift all the way from New England yard right through the old Peterborough North station without a railway man or engine in sight...I often wonder who got shouted at for that one!
I worked at Baker Perkins Westwood Works when the first Scotsman was scheduled to pass through Peterborough on the newly-opened straight line. The whole works stopped and lined up next to the line to see such an historic event for the railway in Peterborough. Unfortunately it was held up by a signal south of the station and was only picking up speed as it went by the factory. There was only me and Keith 'Henry' Hall an ex-fireman watching the next day when 4472 went racing through without any hold ups whatsoever. Keith sometimes fired for a well known New England driver called 'Tubby' Lupton, and claims that 'Tubby' was so fat that he had to push him through the gap between tender and footplate to get him into the cab, however I've heard that Tubby was a real practical joker and was having 'Henry' on or having a joke with all his mates.
Many years ago along the East Coast Mainline there was a little crossing called Maxey Crossing; it had signal levers and wheels to open the gates, with some levers connected to Helpston main signal box therefore if Maxey's gates were closed to the line then Helpston also had to show their signals at danger...a failsafe method of averting a disaster (rail buffs will have a technical name for it).
One school summer holiday in the 60s my father was working Maxey crossing. I used to spend a bit of time with him and recall one particular afternoon which passed very slowly with only the odd car or tractor crossing. However, after one of these events my father tried to close the gates turning the wheel, as he had done many times before, but nothing happened! The gates went so far then stopped, the wheel locked and the harder the wheel was pushed the more solid the gates locked. After a bit of shouting I suggested that he should close the gates to the line and then start again, which he did, but ... whilst he was doing this the local bus came racing along and seeing the gates open drove up and stopped - 'Quick!' the old man shouted, 'The driver always drops off the evening paper for me. Run out, get it and tell him to get out of here...' This I promptly did and raced back into the box. With the bus gone father again turned the wheel this time the gates closed to the road and the levers were pulled.
A few minutes later a diesel-hauled Pullman train came from the direction of Helpston main crossing obviously from a stationary position. When it was level with the box the hooter was sounded and a very irritated face appeared from the cab window hands clasped together pressed against his ear suggesting that the my old man had been asleep. If only he had known the amount of panic that was going on in Maxey box in the minutes before he had arrived he may have been a bit more sympathetic. But then again top drivers always appeared to think they were the bees knees!' Best wishes, Dennis Taylor...now retired but volunteering on The South Devon Railway....no Streaks, A3s Deltics or Dub Dees, just little 'Coffee pots' but beggars can't be chooses!
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