Commemoration of Original Companies at Railway Stations

[krus_aragon]

While not technically a relic, I don’t know if anyone has seen this huge sticker which can be seen at Blackburn. In common with the stone, it simply indicates the existence of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway, nothing else. It should be compulsory for all railway stations to display the logo of the company that built them, at at least this size. For some newer ones this means a giant double arrow.

Bangor station still has the Chester and Holyhead monograms on it's original station building, though they've recently become partially obscured by anti-bird netting. There are also some nice LMS crests in the booking office (which they built in the 1920s).

Images of both are available at http://www.zen70752.zen.co.uk/bat/nwc/bang_stn/index.htm

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Manchester Victoria has a very large route map of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on one of the internal walls, near to the ticket office.

Middlesbrough has a similar map on one of the platforms, although shows the North Eastern Railway routes. The rebuilt Rowley station, now in the Living Museum of the North at Beamish, has a similar map.

All of these are painted on ceramic tiles.

 

[ainsworth74]

Middlesbrough has a similar map on one of the platforms, although shows the North Eastern Railway routes.

There's quite a few of those in varying conditions at ex-NER stations. I feel like York, Bridlington, Hull, Hexham and Newcastle all have one at the very least.

Speaking of York that has the 0 mile post for a very wide collection of pre-grouping railways. Indeed it was given a bit of TLC last year:

RESTORED ZERO MILE POST RETURNS TO YORK​

24/09/20

LNER is proud to reveal the restored Zero Mile Post has returned to York Station.

Mile posts were a historic system used by railway companies to measure lines and calculate fares, with ‘Zero Posts’ marking the start of where each line was measured from.

Ten lines or routes shared a Zero Post located at the centre of York Station although it is thought that the original may have been melted down as part of the wartime drive for scrap metal.

A replica post which was installed in 2004 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of The North Eastern Railway has now been reinstalled after being restored to reflect York’s rich railway heritage.

LNER Managing Director David Horne, said: “LNER is proud of our heritage in York, a city with a rich history steeped in the railways.

“It is wonderful to see the Zero Post return to its home in York station and looking so magnificent. Although distances between our destinations have not changed, the speed, comfort and service offered to our customers has been transformed. It is great York remains home to this important piece of history from the era of the North Eastern Railway.”

The North Eastern Railway was formed in 1854 and inherited all sorts of mile posts, sometimes measured from unlikely places. In 1905 it was decided to re-measure all North Eastern Railway lines using a standard system.

Chairman of the North Eastern Railway Association, Neil Mackay, said: “The post became a celebrity after it was installed, though many were puzzled by the line initials shown. Our association is delighted to have helped maintain the links between today’s railway and its predecessors.”

The Zero Post has been cleaned and repainted by the North Eastern Railway Association and is now displayed in the original location near the stairs between platforms 5 and 9.

Restored zero mile post returns to York

LNER is proud to reveal the restored Zero Mile Post has returned to York Station.

www.lner.co.uk

 

[Capybara]

There's quite a few of those in varying conditions at ex-NER stations. I feel like York, Bridlington, Hull, Hexham and Newcastle all have one at the very least.

And Scarborough.

 

[matchmaker]

Stirling has a Caledonian Railway crest above the main entrance, along with "CR 1913" carved in the stonework.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

Another one ... Cardiff Central still bears the name "Great Western Railway" above the main entrance, and I think there's a few other mentions inside the station. There's also a pair of restored gates inside the rear entrance, although I can't remember what the insignia on them is.

 

[alistairlees]

There's a very nice LBSCR map at the entrance to London Victoria station.

 

[The exile]

LTSR in the canopy support brackets of several District Line stations.
Think Brading has the initials of whatever company built that (IWR?)

 

[EbbwJunction1]

And another one .... it's not actually on the station, but there's an original London, Chatham and Dover Railway crest on the southernmost pillar of the original Blackfriars Bridge. It was replaced by the new bridge which, of course, is now mostly taken up by the station.

 

[O L Leigh]

I rather think that the facade of Cambridge station has the crests of the various constituent companies of the GER(?).

 

[alistairlees]

I rather think that the facade of Cambridge station has the crests of the various constituent companies of the GER(?).

Yes, this would probably win the ‘most crests’ prize!

 

[UrieS15]

there's an original London, Chatham and Dover Railway crest on the southernmost pillar of the original Blackfriars Bridge. It was replaced by the new bridge which, of course, is now mostly taken up by the station.

i remember it well, it was Blackfriars railway bridge correctly the road bridge parallels it and is famous for having 'pulpit' shaped viewing areas above the the piers., The insignia was repainted sometime between 1960/1965 and was very big. I wonder if any where there is a photo of what was a really splendid bit of railway pride. Whitby too, has a an NER map.

 

[John Webb]

Various former Midland Railway stations with platform canopies have 'MR' incorporated in the cast iron brackets supporting them. At Hellifield the ironwork also includes the 'Wyvern' which formed part of the MR's coat of arms (click on pictures below to go to the larger originals):
Hellifield Station - north side

© Copyright John S Turner and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The MR is on the left, the Wyvern on the right close to the station building.

And another one .... it's not actually on the station, but there's an original London, Chatham and Dover Railway crest on the southernmost pillar of the original Blackfriars Bridge. It was replaced by the new bridge which, of course, is now mostly taken up by the station.

i remember it well, it was Blackfriars railway bridge correctly the road bridge parallels it and is famous for having 'pulpit' shaped viewing areas above the the piers., The insignia was repainted sometime between 1960/1965 and was very big. I wonder if any where there is a photo of what was a really splendid bit of railway pride. Whitby too, has a an NER map.

It was restored as part of the rebuild of the station:
London, Chatham and Dover Railway Crest

© Copyright Len Williams and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

 

[UrieS15]

Various former Midland Railway stations with platform canopies have 'MR' incorporated in the cast iron brackets supporting them. At Hellifield the ironwork also includes the 'Wyvern' which formed part of the MR's coat of arms (click on pictures below to go to the larger originals):
Hellifield Station - north side

© Copyright John S Turner and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
The MR is on the left, the Wyvern on the right close to the station building.




It was restored as part of the rebuild of the station:
London, Chatham and Dover Railway Crest

© Copyright Len Williams and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

Thank you for that.

 

[vlad]

Stoke has the remarkable North Staffordshire Railway war memorial on platform 1, in the form of an arch you have to walk through to access the platform.

 

[Peter C]

Would a bench count as a "commemoration" of an original railway company? If so, Moreton-in-Marsh could be addition to this list. As far as I remember, it's got at least one old-style GWR bench, although whether it's original or not I don't know. I suspect it's a replica!

-Peter

 

[Mcr Warrior]

What's the vintage of the so-called "red squirrel bench seats" up in the North West at locations such as Ulverston station? Do they genuinely hark back to the days of the Furness Railway? (1922/23 or even earlier?)

 

[32475]

Newton for Hyde station in Greater Manchester (Woodhead line) has a carved stone depicting MSLR

 

[Bevan Price]

And Scarborough.

Beverley also has a NER map.

 

[Pigeon]

Would a bench count as a "commemoration" of an original railway company? If so, Moreton-in-Marsh could be addition to this list. As far as I remember, it's got at least one old-style GWR bench, although whether it's original or not I don't know. I suspect it's a replica!

-Peter

I'd reckon it's probably original given how many of those there certainly used to be along the OWW/WMR lines. Good chance of finding them at any of the stations that still have their old (if not always actually original) GWR buildings. I can't be sure how many of them are still there, because my memory fails to distinguish between old and new impressions of the stations - for instance I still think of them as being at Droitwich, along with the old Corbett station buildings, but that hasn't been the case since the early 80s - but I'd be pretty shocked to go down to WOS or WOF and find them all gone from those two.

Then of course there's the GWR crest on the railway bridge crossing Foregate Street the road, and, famously, lots of Great Westernry in the canopy supports at Great Malvern.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

It was restored as part of the rebuild of the station:
London, Chatham and Dover Railway Crest

© Copyright Len Williams and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

That's the one. I was going to say that I have an image, but I don't know how to post it here ... but you've saved me the time - thanks.!

 

[Peter C]

I'd reckon it's probably original given how many of those there certainly used to be along the OWW/WMR lines. Good chance of finding them at any of the stations that still have their old (if not always actually original) GWR buildings. I can't be sure how many of them are still there, because my memory fails to distinguish between old and new impressions of the stations - for instance I still think of them as being at Droitwich, along with the old Corbett station buildings, but that hasn't been the case since the early 80s - but I'd be pretty shocked to go down to WOS or WOF and find them all gone from those two.

Then of course there's the GWR crest on the railway bridge crossing Foregate Street the road, and, famously, lots of Great Westernry in the canopy supports at Great Malvern.

Ah cool - thanks
Worcester Shrub Hill certainly is a great example of a GWR station. I've only been a couple of times but there's plenty of GWR things around. Great Malvern is definitely a GWR-history hotspot!

-Peter

 

[Graham Hall]

(West) Hartlepool also has a NER tile map and NER cast into the roof support spandrels.

 

[UrieS15]

I don't know how many survive today, but when I lived in Cornwall many station seats with cast iron ends had CR worked into their leg areas in the same style as the GWR ones across the Tamar.

 

[DelW]

I thought that a lot of the Leslie Green design tube stations in London (the ones with the deep red tiling) incorporated the original tube company names or initials, but searching via Streetview I struggled to find any. Eventually Holloway Road came up trumps, with GN P & B R on its fascia (Great Northern Piccadilly and Brompton Railway).


The front entrance to South Kensington still advertises the Metropolitan and District Railways too.


I suspect there must be a few more too.

 

[krus_aragon]

I don't know how many survive today, but when I lived in Cornwall many station seats with cast iron ends had CR worked into their leg areas in the same style as the GWR ones across the Tamar.

On a similar vein, Cardiff Central has such cast-iron bench ends with "GWR" in them, and also "BR (W)". I don't know of many similar BR region braidings in existence.

 

[EbbwJunction1]

On a similar vein, Cardiff Central has such cast-iron bench ends with "GWR" in them, and also "BR (W)". I don't know of many similar BR region braidings in existence.

There's quite a lot of these around the former GWR system (for example in Newport), but I'm not sure whether they're all original GWR seats. However, they do commemorate "God's Wonderful Railway", so that's fine by me!

 

[krus_aragon]

There's quite a lot of these around the former GWR system (for example in Newport), but I'm not sure whether they're all original GWR seats. However, they do commemorate "God's Wonderful Railway", so that's fine by me!

It was the BR (W) variety that stood out for me at Cardiff. Have you seen any of those elsewhere?

 

[EbbwJunction1]

I have ... I think that there's some in Newport as well.

 

[Rescars]

The "S" and "R" on the end of the station canopy at Charing Cross facing Hungerford Bridge were preserved when the station was rebuilt the 1980s. These letters commemorate ownership by the Southern Railway, but were themselves salvaged at the Grouping, when the "E" and "C" (Eastern and Chatham) of the original "SECR" were removed.