London Midland & Scottish Railway of Great Britain, map, 1925
This small scale plan of the newly formed LMSR appears as the centre of a 1925 brochure aimed at the North American market, one that the major British railways actively courted for many decades both independently and after 1934 combined as "Associated British Railways" so as to save costs. The map makes great play of the fact that the LMS was 'the only railway which serves by its own lines and steamships England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales'. It also lists the companies that were amalgamated in 1922/3 to form the new organisation, mentioning the London & North Western, Midland, Lancashire & Yorkshire, North Staffordshire and Furness Railways of England, the Caledonian, Glasgow & South Western and Highland Railways of Scotland - before running out of puff and noting 26 others! The map clearly shows the West Coast and Midland Main Lines as the spine of the network, along with secondary lines that gave some serious coverage of the south and east through both their own lines as well as joint railways and operating rights. The company also had extensive interests in Ireland with the Northern Counties Committee's lines and ports. There are a few major links here that wouldn't survive the closures of later years.
London Midland & Scottish Railway of Great Britain, map, 1925
This small scale plan of the newly formed LMSR appears as the centre of a 1925 brochure aimed at the North American market, one that the major British railways actively courted for many decades both independently and after 1934 combined as "Associated British Railways" so as to save costs. The map makes great play of the fact that the LMS was 'the only railway which serves by its own lines and steamships England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales'. It also lists the companies that were amalgamated in 1922/3 to form the new organisation, mentioning the London & North Western, Midland, Lancashire & Yorkshire, North Staffordshire and Furness Railways of England, the Caledonian, Glasgow & South Western and Highland Railways of Scotland - before running out of puff and noting 26 others! The map clearly shows the West Coast and Midland Main Lines as the spine of the network, along with secondary lines that gave some serious coverage of the south and east through both their own lines as well as joint railways and operating rights. The company also had extensive interests in Ireland with the Northern Counties Committee's lines and ports. There are a few major links here that wouldn't survive the closures of later years.