Frank Jones

Kevin P. Jones

At the suggestion of Geoffrey Hughes, I am placing this incomplete file on the Internet until such time, if any, that it is possible to publish it more formally. It must be stressed that this account is far from complete and that much more awaits attention in the loft in West Runton and in my father's diaries located in Cornwall!.

My father, Francis (Frank) Lovett Jones was born in Dundee on 12 May 1901 in South Tay Street. As is self-evident from the name, neither of his parents were Dundonians, and neither had any direct connection with the railway industry, but sometime during the First World War when my grandfather's income from teaching music was suffering from the effects of the War, my father was forced to leave school and start work on the North British Railway at Tay Bridge station. This was always a source of resentment to my father whose three bothers and two sisters had enjoyed, or were to enjoy, some form of further education. After the War when my grandfather's income recovered my father was offered the possibility of going on to university, but this was declined. It is strange to think that he was probably involved in some eway in the special traffic arrangements described by Alistair Nisbet in BackTrack 14 p. 194. He certainly worked with people who had been on duty on the night of the Tay Bridge disaster. Although my father was to try for a place as a traffic apprentice on the LNER his application was unsuccessful and this tended to colour his view towards the railway industry, and possibly towards some of those who had been fortunate to follow this favoured route towards becoming a railway officer. My father was never a railway enthusiast and he thoroughly disapproved of his son's activity in this connection, especially anything to do with the numbers on locomotives. As a young man he became interested in golf and First Aid, and studied for examinations (at St Andrews University on railway economics) and left dull books on railway accounting, etc.

It is not clear to me when my father became involved in public relations work, as distinct from advertising. He left Scotland for London to get married in the early 1930s. He was probably working for Dandridge at the outbreak of the Second World War and was living in Bexleyheath to be near my grandmother who lived in Charlton. Originally they had lived in rented properties in Kenton and Eastcote to be near Marylebone, and had contemplated house purchase in Chorley Wood, but strangely ended up in Bexleyheath. During the War the office was moved north to Hadley Wood and we moved to Potters Bar where my sister was born in 1941 (died 26 December 2005). It is clear from Diary entries from much later that he had never liked work in advertising.

They had been moved there from London and were in effect redundant as advertising was in short demand except for propoganda. In fact during an interview he was told that now the waste of paper was banned Mr Dandridge the Advertising Manager was redundant to requirements which Dad said would be news to him. The only thing you were allowed to use paper for was to light the fire but there were dire threats against using it to wrap left over food etc. When refused more pay he applied for the Station Master's position at Roydon, but was unsuccessful. He turned down a move to the Goods Division and requested a move back to Scotland on health grounds. James Ness the Divisional General Managers Asst said he could place "Jones somewhere in Scotland". My father's response [Diary 7 August 1942]: I called to see the Chief Clerk late this afternoon and showed me a letter from James Ness [KPJ as my father used "James" he must have known him from NBR/LNER days in Scotland, which may influence later events] saying  "I do not anticipate any difficulty in placing Jones somewhere in Scotland". There is something significant in the phrase "somewhere in Scotland" that I care not for overmuch. Scotland is extensive & has Districts in which I would not care to live. On the previous day [6 August 1942] he had noted "The children's environment, outlook, pronunciation will be altered". [KPJ has never regretted that initial introduction to Scotland at the age of seven, and by the time he left for the first time was sufficiently "Scottish" to rejoice in the nickname of MacTavish].

Subsequently Diary entries include: [17 August] expenses limited to three months; [18 August advised to travel to see Mr Dunlop]; [19 August] "Saw Mr White (presumably man who was, or was to become, Advertising Manager: see Steam Wld, 218, 56.) and Mr N. Francis together this morning" (presumably one was Chief Clerk). Prior to this he had noted [9 July] "Typists asked to indicate whether any would like a change of work to another Department to faciltate travelling or for any other reason. 3 of them elected to go. It is rumoured the Department may be closed down" and 30 July "There has been a heavy falling off of the amount of work to do at Hadley Wood, where I imagine, I will not remain much longer. The article in Steam World No. 228 pp. 36-7 by Andrew Dow's on his father's paper schemes for cross-London railway routes, published in The Star on 14 June 1941 are probably indicative of this sense of "nothing-to-do" at that time..

At this point it is worth noting that my father's diaries were sporadic and that there were none written during the Edinburgh years. I suspect that Dunlop's first name was "James" and I know that he lived in Corstorphine, near to the tram terminus in a typical Scottish bungalow. We lived in Slateford (Allen Park Crescent) in a rented semi-detached bungalow within earshot of the LMS marshalling yards across the sports fields. My father was in the Home Guard. I assume that Dunlop was in charge of Public Relations for the LNER in Scotland, and I also assume that it was at this time that he brought home railway literature in a briefcase from which I gained a love for this obscure branch of railway activity. It was at this time that I travelled on the Balerno branch and saw both the LMS streamlined Pacifics and Cock o' the North before its destruction (although this may have been on a trip to Dundee in 1941). It is possible that Frank may have assisted George Dow in some of the research for The Story of the West Highland possibly in checking contemporary newspaper reports in Edinburgh.

Andrew Dow in Perception and statistics: meeting the LNER's public relations success (J. Rly Canal Hist. Soc., 2005, 35, 175-7) mentions that Dow's total staff numbered eleven in 1944: four in London, two in Manchester, two at York and three in Edinburgh. KPJ knows for certain that Frank was one of the two in Manchester; one of the four (or possibly more by then in London), and may have been one of those in Edinburgh where he presumably assisted with the brief histories of the NBR and West Highland lines. He received signed copies of most of Dow's LNER historical booklets..

Due to the complexities of life following the War (we were evicted from our temporary home upon the demob of its occupant) my mother, sister and self returned to London, but Dad did not follow until 1946 when he joined George Dow's office in 11 Blandford Square, where he was to remain until late 1948.  

During the period at Blandford Square he encountered Michael Bonavia (for whom he had a high regard). A few of the Diary entries give some feel for his activities: [22 July 1947]: This morning I went to King's Cross with a Film Unit making a documentary film. The subject was the motion of a locomotive at work and a Pacific "Felstead" No. 89 was selected for the "shooting". The light was not satisfactory, but three "shots" were taken and one may prove satisfactory. He was also very friendly with Roy Vincent, the photographer.(see Steam Wld, 2005 (222), page 38 for portrait of him: at that time he was Traffic Costing Officer to the Traffic Manager at Liverpool Street)

In August 1947 we had a family holiday in Dundee where he noted that we were invited onto the footplate of a [Y9] in Dundee Docks and Dad talked to driver about mutual acquaintances (he had worked in Dundee from 1917 to about 1935 and had collected medals for his First Aid and golfing activities.

Wednesday 18.6.47
Met Mr Vincent at lunch time at Kings Cross, and mert his wife and baby a dear little girl with a winning smile perhaps a year old..

1947: Lots of telephone inquiries which he found hard due to deafness.

5.6.47. Farewell cocktail party for Sir Charles Newton CGM at which FLJ consumed too much liquor.

Diary entry: Tuesday 27. 4. 48
Today during a trial run over the Western Region..."Mallard" holder of the World's record for steeam traction of 125 miles per hour in 1938 and in actual fact achieving 126 m.p.h. on its record breaking run at that time today developed a mechanical defect at Savernake on its run from Plymouth to Paddington &; was withdrawn — a GW locomotive hauling the train for the remainder of the distance arriving 41 minutes late. I am sorry about this for the Gresley Pacifics are wonderful steam locomotives but were subjected to heavy wear and tear during the War years.

Diary entry: Tuesday 4. 5. 48
This afternoon Mr Dow wished me to go to the Gaumont British Film House in Wardour Street to see a set of Pinschewer Films (pronounced Pinshaver Films for obvious reasons as the English pronunciation could lead itself to caricature of an unkind nature

In late 1948 he became the Eastern Region's Public Relations Representative in Manchester with an Office in the old Great Central side of London Road Station. As houses were in short supply at that time we did a complex swap of houses with T.A. Germaine who had been the former incumbent in the Manchester office and was promoted back to London as PPRD. He moved to our former home in Bexleyheath, which had been purchased in the late 1930s, and we rented Ladbrook in Ladcastle Road, Uppermill, just below Saddleworth Golf Course and next to a disused stone quarry. It was approximately 750 feet above sea level.

This move provided first class travel for the family and enabled me to briefly savour the Manchester trams before their final demise. Although the vehicles were far less old than many of the ex-LCC cars running in London, their state was quite unbelievable as they appeared to have had no maintenance for at least twenty years. Similar comments could be made about the state of the railway infrastructure where dilapidated was far too spruce a term to be used. This was especially true of the LMS where nothing appeared to have ever been painted or cleaned: the LNER was markedly more caring. Crossing the road from Oldham Clegg Street, maintained by the LNER to Oldham Central, built by the L.&Y.R. at some distant time was like crossing the Styx. Clegg Street had a passimeter booking office and a colour light signal. Central was rotten through and through: this is not just superficial observation as was shown by the tragedy at Bury Knowsley Street when a footbridge collapsed under the weight of a football crowd.

One of the delights of our new location was the proximity of Moorgate Halt and Delph Junction signal box occupied half the time by the friendly Mr Bill Hobson who allowed me to pull-off the signals, especially the motorized distant. It was a typical LNWR box with pull down locks on the levers. One view shows Bill at the top of the stairs and another receiving the staff from the driver of the Delph Donkey. Diary entry for Monday 30 January 1950: FLJ had intended to catch the 07.53 from Delph at Moorgate Halt to connect with the 08.07 from Greenfield to Manchester but due to frozen points the Delph Donkey was stuck on the branch, so Bill Hobson stopped the 08.07 at Moorgate Halt where my father and three others boarded the train to the amazement of the regular passengers from Huddersfield. FLJ was due to meet press at Gorton to inspect what he called an 0-4-4-0 electric locomotive. Unfortunately FLJ elected to travel to Gorton by electric traction (trolleybus) and this experienced traction problems of the snow and he got to Gorton after the press party.

When making a final retirement move my father instructed me to look out for some papers which he had retained and these form the basis for this potential series of articles. The papers were official press releases, some faded photographs, a few booklets, a few letters, cards etc, some press cuttings, and an extremely useful paper by George Dow. This last forms the basis for the introduction as it is vastly superior to anything contained in histories of the LNER or of the early days of British Railways.

The paper entitled Railway public relations was presented by George Dow to the North Staffordshire Group of the Institute of Transport on 12th November 1954. It gives a concise history of this somewhat neglected topic and shows the complex task of reconciling the several systems inherited by the Railway Executive, its Regions, and the British Transport Commission. In the nineteenth century most of the functions now embraced in public relations work were performed by the general manager, although paid-for advertising was often placed by the secretary or one of the commercial officers. It was not until the early 1900s that the Great Central Railway established the first railway department to deal with matters which today are almost universally regarded as falling within the scope of public relations and publicity. The general manager of the line, Sam (later Sir Sam) Fay, created a publicity department as an integral part of his own office: its main function was to promote travel, with the aid of press and poster advertising, and booklets, etc. The department also dealt with press editorial matters, and it was fairly lavish with its "handouts" including numerous free passes, to encourage the press to write-up various aspects of what was then a growing system.

All the leading British railways possessed publicity or advertising departments at the Grouping in 1923, but subsequent developments did not follow in parallel. On the grouped railways the titles of the departmental officers all differed, and the organizations varied considerably by the last years before nationalization. On the L.M.S. the Advertising & Publicity Officer reported to a Vice-President and to the Chief Commercial Manager, and although it was the largest system, he had. no district organization of his own and no commercial advertising responsibilities whatsoever, this latter work being performed by outside contractors under the aegis of the Chief Commercial Manager. On the LNER the main functions of public relations were divided and the Press Relations Officer and the Advertising Manager, both possessing district organizations, reported to the Chief Genera1 Manager. On the Southern the Public Relations & Advertising Officer reported directly to the General Manager, as did the Great Western s Chief Officer for Public Relations, but the first named, unlike his colleagues, was also responsible for all public signs at stations.

One of the many tasks of unification which confronted the Railway Executive when the railways were nationalised was, therefore, that of evolving a public relation. and publicity organisation possessing, broadly speaking, common functions both at the Executive itself and in the six Regions of British Railways which had come into being. At the same time the new organisation had to be related to that functioning at the headquarters of the British Transport Commission. At the Commission the organisation was headed by a Chief Public Relation & Publicity Officer, assisted by a Public Relations Officer, a Publicity Officer and, in addition, a Commercial Advertisement Officer who was responsible for the selling of advertising space throughout the railways (as well as other parts of the nationalized undertaking), the. Regions performing the servicing and maintenance (such as bill-posting and provision of display equipment). as indicated earlier, the former L.M.S. system afforded a notable exception, for here the whole of commercial advertising, the selling of space, the servicing and the maintenance, was performed by contractors whose agreements did not expire until the end of 1953.

The Railway Executive accordingly appointed officers for public relations and publicity, whose work was co-ordinated by the Chief Officer (Administration), who was in turn responsible to the Chairman. In the Region the two functions were co-ordinated by the Public Relation & Publicity Officer, the division between his two assistants being identical with that applied at the Railway Executive, and this Officer was responsible to the Chief Regional Officer for the day-to-day work and, for functional matters, to the Railway Executive. The new arrangements came into being on 5th April 1949 but, with the disappearance of the Railway Executive at the end of September 1953 the latter s organisation was duly merged with that of the Commission and the Regional Public Relations and Publicity Officers became responsible solely to the Chief Regional Managers.

At this point in his presentation George Dow turned towards the specific structure of the London Midland Region, but as indicated earlier my father had been employed initially as the representative of the Eastern Region in Manchester. This was eventually to be the cause of problems and the eventual move of my father to the Scottish Region in Glasgow. Before leaving Dow, however, it is worth noting what he regarded to be the key elements of the job as managed within the London Midland Region, and making some notes on these criteria, as perceived from personal experience in a very different industry.

Dow defined public relations as relations with the press (that is newspapers and other journals),the news agencies (such as the Press Association and Reuters), the BBC (this has grown greatly since then), authors, free lance journalists and film (including newsreel) companies, both as regards dissemination of news and information and arrangement of facilities. Obviously, newsreel has since ended, but was significant then: the arrangement of facilities for filming remains an object of great interest to railway enthusiasts and there is a growing literature on some of the delightful absurdities of railways as portrayed on the "silver screen". These "faults" are solely due to the activities of the film companies and not to the provision of the facilities, although many writers have noted how the railway companies were unwilling to participate in the portrayal of head-on crashes and similar cinematographic whims.

Co-ordination of arrangements for public ceremonial (e.g. opening of installations) may seem a trifle arch nearly fifty years later, but it does convey a vital ingredient of the work and one which impinges upon railway enthusiasm. BackTrack included an evocative illustration of the naming of a Gresley V2 as XXX XXXX. Locomotive naming ceremonies were a typical part of such ceremonial, especially if a royal or military figure was involved in the ceremony, and it is a matter of personal regret that the author failed to record much of this material in his own sole bibliographical effort. Such ceremonies were especially important in the case of buildings and other major works as plaques might be left for future generations to be able to identify key events.

The next of Dow's criteria, dealing with public complaints in the press and applications from the public for railway information (other than of a commercial service character), photographs and drawings, will be well known to many enthusiasts, and some will have participated in the first-named sport, although the responses from our balkanized railways now seem quaint as compared with the concerted effort of an industry. One recent effort which made the contrast seem so great related to either the accidental division of trains in service or to the failure of automatic doors. In this the Train Operating Company publically sought to defend itself by transferring the blame to the rolling stock leasing company. One wonders what the great railway managers of the past would have made of this priggish behaviour which would have been more appropriate for the purveyor of faulty knickers. The quality of information has also declined and the enthusiast now has to rely upon unofficial sources, or museums.

Other activities recorded by Dow included: arrangements for public talks and co-ordination, where necessary, of public visits; distribution and exhibition of films, film strips and lantern slides (the production of which had been taken over by the B.T.C. Films Division); and production and distribution of the staff magazine (in the case of my father's activities this specific item did not impinge upon him until his arrival in Glasgow, where Norman MacKillop was to be an interesting colleague).

In the main my father was to be less concerned with publicity, although in Manchester he was in-charge of some of the bill-posting. Dow identified the following specific tasks: preparation and placing of press advertising; design, production and distribution of posters, train departure sheets, handbills and literature, and distribution of timetables; design, production and. distribution of window displays, and of display stands and enquiry offices at shows, exhibitions; siting, design and provision of public signs, indicators and. advertising disp1ay equipment and regulation of siting of automatic machines at stations, and responsibility for appearance of stations and property so far as these matters are concerned; and decoration of stations and property for special events.

Dow noted that "It will be observed, that the Railway Executive had wisely assigned to one department responsibility for the appearance of stations and property as regards signs, indicators, advertising display and siting of automatic machines, a step which only the Southern had had the courage to take some years before nationalisation. In anticipation of the change the Railway Executive had already standardised upon Gill Sans type for general publicity and for signs (in this it followed L.N.E.R. practice), had evolved a brief and simple basic code for signs (including regional colours) and had devised a trade mark or symbol in the form of a totem (not to be confused with the B.T.C. lion on wheel emblem)." It should be noted that the public image of the railway in those years running towards the "end of steam" which seems to hold a peculiar fascination for many railwayacs (using a useful anachronism) was a consequence of George Dow's policy for signage.

Until 1949 my father's occupation had had little affect upon domestic life. We travelled free, or at very little cost, but we always had. My father brought home a briefcase which might contain interesting literature, such as The Railway Gazette and Modern Transport, but work was work and home was home. Like many we lacked a telephone at home and television was far away in the future: listening to concerts and plays on the radio was the main domestic pastime. With the new position, we acquired a house with a telephone, and it soon became clear that this useful instrument could be highly intrusive, although we could only hear one half of the conversations. Every time that there was some minor accident the ‘phone would ring and in many cases it was obvious that the press were seeking to apportion blame in which case my father would have to reply that he was unable to state whether the signal had been at red, or that the driver had driven at excessive speed. In some cases these exchanges would extend over a considerable period, and it has tended to colour my views on the impartiality and lack of responsibility of the national press.

Sometimes our bungalow, high in the Pennines, would be informed of major events long before they became news. Thus we were to be privy to the distress of the Princess Victoria before it sank although its sphere of operation was well outside my father's remit. Sometimes, local events were sufficiently severe for the main press response to moved further up the chain of command, and in these cases statements tended to be made through the press agencies. The Irk Valley accident in which one of the Bury electric trains was displaced off a viaduct by the impact of a steam locomotive which had failed to stop was an episode in this category.

It will be obvious to most readers that the railways in the early 1950s were very different from today, but it may be less evident that the media were also very different. Television had yet to reach the North of England. People went to the cinema regularly, and newsreels were watched with interest. In the case of villages, like Uppermill where we lived, the newsreels might be out-of-date, but they, like the old films, were enjoyed as nothing else was available without a lot of effort. The radio was a major source of news and entertainment and much was produced nationally. There were far more newspapers, especially evening ones, and many titles have disappeared, notably the Daily Herald, or have changed in character. Manchester was a major regional news centre and produced Northern editions of many national dailies. At that time the Manchester Guardian was just that: a major regional newspaper.

My father's "territory" tended to change with time, but on appointment extended across to Doncaster, and perhaps even to the Lincolnshire Coast, down the Great Central to Leicester and across the CLC to Liverpool and Southport. Until extremely late in his career he retained his LNER conditions of service which gave twelve free passes per annum as against eight for others in his position. These journeys had to be made on LNER routes: thus the 10 a.m from Marylebone (first stop Harrow-on-the-Hill) became our normal means of travel from London, although for some obscure reason we had been allowed to use The Comet from Euston on our first journey north. The locomotive hauling the train, a Royal Scot, was painted black and this served as a suitable prelude to all that was bad about things L.M.S. as distinct from the more colourful LNER or Southern where important trains were hauled by coloured, streamlined engines. Although this initial journey would be in a first-class compartment, I was shocked to find that the kitchen car was gas lit, and exuded gas fumes. For some reason, and David Jenkinson may hate this, the double doors to the compartment seemed less convenient than the single doors to which I was used.

The office was a small one and the only other member of the office staff was a clerk/typist, a Ms Biggs who came from a farm in Derbyshire. There was a typewriter, and presumably two telephones, one for the railway network and one through the Post Office to communicate with the press, or to state that "he would be working late". There was an excellent view down the ramp to the trams and the general squalour of central Manchester. There was a small amount of pre-War publicity material which would have enhanced my personal library, but pleas for its removal fell on my father's deaf ear.

The "big event" of my father's period in Manchester was the construction of the new Woodhead Tunnel and the related electrification of the former routes between Manchester and Wath-on-Dearne and Sheffield. It is difficult to believe that so very little of this vast engineering project survives in service, although to someone like myself who had always questioned the long-term viability of coal-burning it should not be so surprising. Many of the metaphors used to describe the route, such as a coal conveyor, stressed the pre-eminent requirement, namely the need to carry coal across the Pennines; once this need had passed there was no need for the modernized railway. It is considered that the best way of illustrating my father's involvement in this doomed project is to reproduce some of the press releases which he issued with some of the response which these engendered in the newspapers published at the time.

Frank with wet fawn raincoat is looking to right towards press photographer at Woodhead Tunnel breakthrough:

Clearly one of the highlights of this activity was the breakthrough in the new tunnel. The text from the official press release is reproduced below.

WOODHEAD NEW TUNNEL
COMPLETION OF PILOT TUNNEL

A further definite step towards completion of the new double line three-mile long railway tunnel between Woodhead and Dunford, on the Manchester - Sheffield main line, will be the joining up on 16th May 1951 of the pilot tunnel which has been driven, during the last two years, through the rock and shale of the Pennine hill country.

A simple ceremony will be staged to mark the occasion, when Mr. J.C.L. Train, M.C., M.I.C.E.., Member of the Railway Executive responsible for Civil Engineering, will fire the shot to complete the break-through. The charge will be detonated from the bottom of No.2 Shaft, in the presence of a small group of engineers which will include Mr. J.I. Campbell, Civil Engineer, Eastern Region, under whose direction the general scheme for the tunnel was prepared; Sir William Halcrow, head of the firm of consultants who are supervising the construction; and Sir Andrew MacTaggart, Director of Messrs. Balfour Beatty and Company Limited, the contractors.

Representatives of the workmen employed on the tunnel will also be present. The point of break-through will be about one mile from the Woodhead end of the tunnel.

Completion of tho pilot tunnel, which is about one fifth of the sectional area of the final tunnel, will be followed by excavating to the full size of 31 ft. in breadth and 24 ft. in height, throughout the total length. Lined with concrete and twin tracks laid, the new tunnel is expected to be completed towards the end of next year.

The effort was fully rewarded by an extensive article, "Woodhead pilot tunnel sections linked" in the Manchester Guardian on the following day. Befitting the gravitas of this paper all the key figures are featured in the account. Note is taken of Mr J.C.L. Train of the Railway Executive who pressed the switch which fired the shot in the presence of Mr J.L. Campbell, civil engineer of the Eastern section [sic The Grauniad has been at it for a long time] of British Railways, Sir William Halcrow and Mr Peter A. Scott, principals of the consulting engineers, and Sir Andrew MacTaggart, director of Balfour, Beatty and Co. Ltd., the contractors for the work. This section reads like a court circular and certainly confirms the importance of what Dow termed "ceremonial".

The Daily Dispatch in a short piece entitled "Tunnel men work to -inch" presented the human interest side of the story and may have relied upon interviews, or material made available by the contractors. The men actually involved at the rock face in the breakthrough were featured, namely 50-year-old Walter ("Wattie") MacColl and 43-year-old Harry Fowler. The "Foreman in charge of the job is a Scot: "Sandy" Wivell of Methil, Fife, but most of the workmen are Poles. They earn about £11 for a 72-hour week, plus a 2s. Bonus a week for every foot more than 75ft." "Walter, meet Harry!" was the Daily Herald's headline. In this description the breakthrough was only 400ft underground as against 500ft in the Dispatch. The statement made by Sir Andrew McTaggart, who represented the contractors, who claimed that when the tunnel is completed "one of the worst transport bottlenecks in Britain... will have been abolished" has an especially poignant quality in the light of subsequent events and the continuing problem of the state of the road infrastructure between Manchester and Sheffield.

Obviously, it was necessary to maintain press interest in the project, and visits were arranged for groups of journalists. Such a visit produced a short feature entitled "Cold job under the hills" in the Yorkshire Post on the 2nd December, 1950. This was written when approximately two thirds of the pilot tunnels had been completed. The reporter had obviously met Mr J.D. Dempster, the Resident Engineer. Although the journalist had been impressed by the mud, cold, damp, gloom, noise, the million tons of soil and rock, and the cost of £2,800,000, the human interest aspects predominated: "Why did they come to work in the bowels of the lonely moors...Money. That is the answer for five out of six men. Some of them in a week can earn nearly £20". Clearly, it is essential to adjust oneself to the finances of the 1950s: the Woodhead Tunnel would have been a minor Millennium Project!

Sometimes, it is not possible to find a direct correlation between a particular press release and the remaining press cuttings. This is the case with a press statement concerning wiring trains.

MANCHESTER-SHEFFIELD -WATH ELECTRIFICATION SCHEME
A WIRING TRAIN" AT WORK

Introduction:

The Manchester - Sheffield - Wath electrification scheme approved by the Directors of the former L.N.E.R. in 1936 had made some progress when the outbreak of War in 1939 necessitated suspension of work. In the late summer of 1947 the Minister of Transport gave approval for work to be resumed.

The scheme is being carried out in several stages:— 1 — Wath Marshalling Yards, near Barnsley, to Dunford Bridge. 2 — Dunford to Manchester (London Road), and 3 — Sheffield to Barnsley Junction, near Penistone Station.

Tracks are being equipped on the overhead line system at 1500 volts direct current, similar to the equipment used on the Manchester — Altrincham, and Liverpool Street — Shenfield electrifications.

The return current to the sub-stations is taken through the track rails and each rail joint is provided with a stranded copper bond welded to the rail heads.

The above extract was dated 4th November 1950, but a story entitled "Tug-o'-war on Dinting Viaduct" appeared in the Glossop Chronicle and Advertiser on the 17th August in the following year. Reporters, even from such desolate locations as Glossop, appear to be ill-prepared for the elements: "Cold, damp air blew on our faces on Sunday morning as we stood on Dinting Viaduct and watched 22 men play tug-o'-war." The men were heaving a pilot cable into position on behalf of W.T. Henley Telegraph Works - control cable for switchgear operated from Penistone control station.

Drivers change from steam in 3 lessons. Sheffield Telegraph, 1951-07-10.

Human interest story
Wath-on-Dearne
one week theory
one week on locomotives on four mile Wath-Wombwell stretch
Back to steam: then eventually work up to Penistone
"new drivers unrestricted by any age bar"
Six drivers sent to Liverpool Street-Shenton [sic] electric line to qualify as "leading motormen".
"Three main advantages, they all agree, are cleanliness, comfort of operation and protection from the weather"

ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE FOR FESTIVAL OF BRITAIN

British Railways Gorton built electric locomotive No. 26020, is to be exhibited at the Festival of Britain Exhibition in London. This class of locomotive is one of a number designed and built for use on the Manchester! — Sheffield — Wath electrification scheme, and is capable of dealing with all classes of traffic on the route whether express or local passenger services, fast freight, heavy mineral or goods trains,

The mechanical parts for the locomotives, consisting of the bogies and bodies, are built and assembled at Gorton Locomotive Works, and at Dukinfield Factory the electric motors and other electrical equipment are installed by Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company Limited0

This engine will form one of a trinity of motive power employed by British Railways representing steam, electric and diesel-electric traction, and all three are to be on exhibition ut the South end of Charing Cross Railway Bridge.

Access will be from within the grounds of the South Bank Exhibition.

One of the least promising documents to be found is a "Filing Index" which had been started on the 1st March, 1949. The index is in a quite extraordinary order, yet parts of it, especially that relating traffic, demonstrate some of the priorities of the time. The first heading is "stories", that is press releases, and this was subdivided into those issued by the Railway Executive; by the London Office (Eastern Region Headquarters); the York Office; and by the Manchester Office. A Weekly Report was demanded. There were files for all the usual office routines (stationery, sickness, accounts, etc), but one file was given over to: Letters of Complaint and Bad Publicity. There were files for Train Services, and sections within these for train service alterations, new timetables, and for High Speed and Named trains. The notion of high speed trains in 1949 must have been a carry-over from the pre-war Coronation era. Were the many complaints about journeys on The Master Cutler and The South Yorkshireman filed with the sub-files for the specific trains or with the letters of complaint?

Following a sub-file for Seat Reservation, there was an extraordinary melange: Cartage (horses, lorries, etc); BBC; films; photographs; exhibitions; lectures; Press and Public visits to Railway property; and individual files for goods depots; marshalling yards; and locomotive sheds and staff. At this point which is less than one third of the way through this list, it is worth noting that the arrangement appeared to break every single convention for establishing a filing system and clearly it would be tedious for the reader to enumerate all the reamining headings and a few further examples will suffice. There was a file for Mishaps, which included instructions regarding press facilities at accidents. Contemporary events were reflected such as the interchange of locomotives which had been conducted in part on the Great Central Section. The files relating to freight included out-of.-gauge loads, large and special consignments and thirty files later Freight Traffic with sub-files for glass traffic; the carriage of agricultural machinery; poultry traffic; beer traffic; conveyance of animals; fish traffic; pitch traffic; and sugar beet and potato traffic. The absence of coal, steel and chemicals is remarkable. The presence of pitch is equally extraordinary. There were files for the Best Kept Station Awards and several for what would now be termed safety at work. About half way through the list was a file for pilferage. The formerly coherent nature of the business is reflected in the files for hotels; docks; ferry services, and railway workshops.

Part 2

My father moved to become Public Relations Assistant, British Railways, Scottish Region in August 1955, in succession to John Bathgate who had retired. Bathgate had joined the Caledonian Railway in Edinburgh in 1909 and had enjoyed a varied career including service with the Cameron Highlanders during the First World War, when he was awarded the Military Medal; employment in the Commercial Department in Edinburgh; tutoring at the L.M.S. School of Transport in Derby prior to his appointment to the Advertising & Publicity Section in the Commercial Manger's Office in Glasgow. In 1949, as a consequence of nationalization, he acquired the position to which my father succeeded. My father reported to Hunter, who in turn was responsible to James Ness, the General Manager. Following Hunter's retirement in XXXX my father reported to a former journalist Colin Neil Mackay.

This move came as a great personal shock as I was performing National Service at the time in Cyprus and had expected to return to the North of England, instead of the strange city of Glasgow, made stranger by the first leave being spent in a time of thick November fog! During this period a trip was made to Arrochar & Tarbert on the push & pull: I suspect that we travelled first class as my parents enjoyed a Scottish Region all-line pass (first class travel on push & pull units was rare at that time). Once again, modernization of the railways was a major feature and this included the introduction, and subsequent problems, with the "Blue trains", although other facets also made an impact, notably the Inter City diesel multiple units between Edinburgh and Glasgow, and eventually the heavy impact of the Beeching Report and its closures. It did, however, enable me to explore much of the remaining Glasgow tramway network, including some of its inter-urban routes, and on the last Edinburgh trams, and to participate in that glorious folly of the preserved Scottish steam locomotives.

As in the case of Manchester, it is necessary to note the nature of the Scottish media which it that time enjoyed a considerable independence. The two "heavy" papers were The Scotsman and The Glasgow Herald, but both Aberdeen and Dundee enjoyed their own newspapers, and The Daily Record was the working class paper. Many national papers, such as The Express, produced Scottish editions in Glasgow. Glasgow had two evening papers and television had both become a national facility and had entered the domestic environment.

The office was situated in the nether regions of St Enoch's Station in Glasgow's insalubrious Saltmarket. The buffet in the Station formed a suitable place for lunch and the location for several meetings with Norman McKillop, whom at that time was the Editor of the British Railways Magazine. The fascination of the buffet to this notable character was the ready availability of draught Bass, a commodity which at that time was noticeably absent from Scotland. The colour transparency taken by T.J. Edgington on 9 May 1959 (reproduced Backtrack, 2006, 20, 462) includes the building, and further down the platform (out of view) was the buffet.

It had been tempting to write a letter concerning John Macnab's interesting article on Glasgow's "Blue trains" especially as it clearly demonstrated the vast gulf between the formerly integrated railways and the ludicrous and dangerous system produced by the Tory scrap metal merchants. Macnab showed the versatility of the former system which enabled electric services to be replaced by steam in an incredibly short time, whereas the Hatfield disaster led to the replacement of most of the train service for a period extending to nearly two months, and nobody (especially anyone? responsible for public relations was able to state why).

It would have been helpful if Macnab had cited his sources and had discussed the nature of the faults which caused the protracted, temporary withdrawal of the blue trains. The extensive and rather florid quotation was taken from a brochure written by George Blake¹. My initial reaction to the prose was that it belonged to my father, but such writing was normally proscribed. George Blake was a well-known writer about Scotland and a typical product of his was The Heart of Scotland published in 1934, but there were many others. The preparation of the brochure certainly involved my father, and he was particularly impressed by the working methods of the free-lance photographer who took most of the photographs for it. He accompanied him on the photographic expeditions. Unfortunately, my father's reaction to George Blake escapes me, but I have no doubt that he would have wished to emulate such activity. He frequently expressed his appreciation for those who possessed "private means" which enabled them to write and travel: Hamilton Ellis was probably one such paradigm, George Blake may have been another. The brochure was an unusually lavish production and featured a cover by Cuneo (with an electric train passing steam tugs at Bowling and a steam-hauled freight). One of the interior shots with young ladies dressed in polka dot dresses with vast skirts brings back happy memories of courtship. It would now be difficult to be certain whether the flouncey dresses and the bulbous shape of the Blue trains made a common fashion statement.

The early suburban electrifications in both Glasgow and in London involved working at twin voltages: 6.25kV and 25kV: the lower voltage was used where headroom was restricted and switches between the two voltages had to be achieved whilst the trains glided through neutral sections. Eventually it was found the clearances for the higher voltage could be reduced and the 6.25kV sections were gradually eliminated, the last one being on the very constricted approach to Fenchurch Street. Initially, it had been intended that the approach to Euston would have to be at the lower voltage.

The failures were mainly in the transformers which led to serious explosions, in one of which a guard was seriously injured. The fault was mainly due to design of the transformers, inadequate venting, and to some extent failings in the mercury arc rectifiers and circuit breakers which caused the transformers to be highly stressed, especially during voltage changeovers, or through pantograph bounce. The most serious faults occurred in Glasgow, but the North East London electrics were not immune, but did not have to be withdrawn. To some extent the more advanced rolling stock (in electrical terms) for the LTS electrification saved the day.

In retrospect, it seems extraordinary that mercury arc rectifiers, of the sort which caused so much amazement in the television documentaries on the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, were ever used in multiple unit electric trains, and it is fortunate that germanium and silicon rectifiers became available to enable the mercury arc devices to be replaced. I would agree that the units have worn well: I last travelled on one returning from viewing the "tall ships" in Greenock. They still run well, although the Gresley bogies impart a somewhat old-fashioned motion, but which was vastly better than that provided by the BR Mark 1 bogies. Mr Macnab is perhaps incorrect to imply a link with the Liverpool rolling stock: the Shenfield units were perhaps more similar, and there is some similarity with the Metropolitan line A60 stock, notably the generous width; this stock has enjoyed similar longevity. The forward view was marvellous whilst it lasted.

One of the items which has survived was a simple brochure produced to mark the introduction of diesel locomotive hauled three-hour express trains between Aberdeen and Edinburgh. The launch date was 4 April 1960. The service was launched with the departure of 07.30 from Aberdeen waved off by the Lord Provost who had breakfasted with James Ness in the Station Hotel. The General Manager of the Aberdeen Journals travelled on the train with the District Traffic Superintendent, breakfasted on the train , left the train at Dundee, and returned in time for lunch with Cameron of Locheil and James Ness. It almost sounds Victorian in its splendour: what does the local bus-train company offer when new-liveried stock arrives?

A copy of the Beeching Report Part 1 is marked with Frank's jottings in ink on the cover and pencil inside and on page 126 the total number of Scottish stations to be closed (435) is underlined thrice. Clearly Beeching was intended to be savage in its cuts. Sadly much of the publicity material related to closures: most follow a uniform patterrn, but a rare exception was Ernest Marples' statement concerninng his refusal to consent to the closure of the North of Scotland Lines. This was the subject for a press release on 16 April 1964 where Mr William G. Thorpe added some pointed remarks to the statement which included: "If only half of the people who have sent in protests about the proposed closures will regularly and frequently use the railway the prospects of the future can look much brighter".

One of the obscure, but delightful, episodes which happened on the Scottish Region was the restoration and running of several preserved pre-grouping locomotives. There was an extensive correspondence between my father and Mr Hogg the archivist in Edinburgh concerning this locomotive which led to a slender brochure printed by McCorquodale to mark a run on 18 March 1958 from Perth to Edinburgh. The cover is reproduced below:

	Frank on right (had not realized that walking poles had been invented then): who he was with, and why he was there will remain a mystery until his Diaries are examined
Presumably with James Ness, GM Scottish Region, either on way to Caledonian Princess junketing or for launch of Inter-City DMUs	Inauguration of Stranraer Larne service with Caledonian Princess (Frank far right)

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Actual Diary extracts

17 10 52 Met George Dow at Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool: not home until 8 pm.
19 10 52 [following Harrow disaster]: There is a great deal of open discussion in the newspapers upon the subject of "Automatic Train Control", a device which gives audible warning to the driver of a locomotive together with a partial application of the brake should he pass a signal at danger. Sir Felix Pole, a former distinguished officer of the former Great Western Railway attacks in the "Sunday Express" today the attitude of the Railway Executive [and the former main line companies] for their non-adoption or opposition to the safety method adopted by the Great Western Railway since 1906. [FLJ then anticipated opposition from Treasury for lack of funds even following Harrow disaster]
2 10 52
Comment on station indicators at London Road station: Eastern Region for Platforms A. B and C and numbers for London Midland Region destinations.
Same meeting: interview with reporter from "Manchester Evening News" on vandalism in trains