2 Likes
Thanks Bill, excellent piece, some great footage in there.
Without British Rail?
Actually, British Rail didn’t exist until 1952. The Bicentennial was the Stockton & Darlington Railway - the first public railway, where you could buy a ticket and travel by train.
Or you could turn up with your train of coal wagons and have it transported to the docks in Stockton. [Not sure about the mechanics of that. I read in the early days you could show up with your engine and drive along the S&D. They expanded to 4 tracks to handle the traffic.]
While we were vacationing in the UK, we saw the Annual Exhibition of the Guild of Railway Artists, in the museum at Kidderminster on the Severn Valley Railway. This pic was a watercolor commissioned by Friends of the Stockton & Darlington, and shows the ‘first train’ arriving at Stockton Wharf.
We thought it was great, and tried to buy it after we got home. No luck, but the artist had several prints that he signed, and he sent one to us.
Well the world would not be sipping tea without boats so I’m not sure where the British Rail fit’s in.
Brish Rail was formed 1 January 1948