Furness Railway Memorial, Barrow-in-Furness station

I can't find the right words for this post, the pictures say it all…

World War One Memorial, Barrow-in-Furness station, 10/7/14

World War One Memorial, Barrow-in-Furness station, 10/7/14

A South-western Ramble, part 4 - Farewell to Cornwall…

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge spans the River Tamar and the border between Cornwall and Devon and even partially shrouded in scaffolding it's still a magnificent sight!

The Royal Albert Bridge, Saltash, 6/8/14

Here 43151 leads* the 14.00 First Great Western service from Penzance to London Paddington 'The Royal Duchy' across the bridge and into Devon on 6 August signifying the end of my trip to Cornwall… Trains slow considerably along the single track section across the bridge and that, coupled with the tight curve leaving Saltash station make such images possible.

Built for the Cornwall Railway's 7ft ¼in broad gauge line from Truro to Plymouth the bridge was opened in May 1859, four months before Brunel's death and the lettering 'I.K.BRUNEL ENGINEER 1859' was added as a memorial by the directors of the Cornwall Railway Company.

In 1889 the Cornwall Railway became part of the Great Western Railway, a company that had operated the line since 1877 who converted the track gauge on the bridge from 7ft ¼in to 4ft 8½in in one single weekend in May 1892! A feat hard to imagine these days…

*For the record 43195 was on the rear of the train.

Driver J. Ball & Fireman C. Higgins

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.