October 31 saw Dad and I once again taking advantage of London Midland’s ‘The Great Escape’ offer of one day’s unlimited travel on the London Midland network for just £15 each, this year’s trip taking us from Lichfield Trent Valley to Rugby, Stafford, Liverpool and Crewe.
I'd never been to Liverpool before and although I enjoyed the journey I didn't find much of interest at Lime Street station itself other than this…
Plaque commemorating Driver J. Ball and Fireman C. Higgins
The plaque refers to the crew of the 13.15 Liverpool to London Euston express on May 20 1937 who were seriously burned after a collapsed smokebox deflector plate in their London Midland & Scottish Railway Princess class locomotive caused a blowback that turned the footplate into a furnace. Driver Joseph Ball and Fireman Cormack Higgins stayed at the controls and brought the train safely to a stand outside Primrose Hill Tunnel just north of Euston station but sadly died in hospital the following day.
The memorial originally stood in the lobby at Edge Hill locomotive shed (where the men were a 'top link' crew) and a smaller plaque notes that it was removed upon the depot's closure, being rededicated by British Rail staff at its new location on platform 1 in 1986.
Interestingly the legendary railway photographer (and later Bishop of Wakefield) Eric Treacy was Vicar of St. Mary's Church in Edge Hill at the time and held a memorial service to the two men that became an annual event for many years.
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