Description

This was the last of the splendid booklets researched and written by George Dow, the LNER “Press Agent” (a job title which seems to have covered much wider responsibilities than press relations) to mark the centenary of different sections of the line, each of which had begun life as a separate company. Already the style and thoroughness of his historical work, destined to reach its full flower couple of decades later in his monumental “Great Central Railway”, is becoming apparent in his careful mix of text and illustrations.

The North British was not always a very happy railway. It suffered the Tay Bridge disaster, was not always wise in its choice of Locomotive Supt., often felt like the tail of a much larger dog to the south, which wanted it to “wag” with more vigour than it could manage. It went through a dreadful period in the 1890’s, when near criminal directors intrigued to secure the dismissal of the General Manage, who was seeking to curb their activities.

However, all that lies in the future. Here we see the NBR cheerfully flattening the historic remains of Berwick castle as a site for the station, and with the opening of Robert Stephenson’s magnificent Royal Border Bridge in 1850 by its partner to the south, the York, Newcastle and Berwick Railway being the last link in the chain of East Coast Railways linking the two capitals.

PREVIEW BELOW – MAY TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD.

You may also find the following of interest:

George Dow’s other books for the LNER: