The London, Midland and Scottish Railway

A couple of days ago I visited the National Railway Museum in York. When I was looking at my photos later I realised that some were photos of trains from the old London, Midland and Scottish Railway. I remembered that my dad had made a reference to that railway company in his diary which I'd quoted in I Think I Prefer the Tinned Variety: The Diary of a Petty Officer in the Fleet Air Arm during World War II.

He wrote:

"On Tuesday 8th May (1945) the newspapers were head-lined "It’s all over in Europe" and gave histories of the last five years. Flags were flying in Sydney but no crowds surged through the streets. We made sure our rooms were booked at the British Centre and went for a drink to celebrate Victory. A couple of drunken sailors were the only signs of the momentous day it was. At seven o’clock we were steaming out of Central Station just as the city began to warm up and celebrate. Australian trains are horrible. They are uncomfortable, slow, draughty and Heaven knows what else, in fact not a patch on the good old L.M.S."

The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) was a British railway company formed on 1 January 1923 as a result of the Railways Act 1921. This Act required the grouping together of over 120 separate railway companies into just four. The other new companies were Great Western Railway, Southern Railway and London and North Eastern. The LMS was the largest of the "Big Four" railway companies and the only one to operate in all parts of the United Kingdom. The L.M.S. became the world's largest transport organisation and the largest commercial undertaking in the British Empire. It was also to become the second largest employer in the U.K, after the Post Office.

In 1938, the LMS operated 6,870 miles (11,056 km) of railway but its profitability was generally disappointing. Along with the other members of the "Big Four" British railway companies, the LMS was nationalised on 1 January 1948, becoming part of the state-owned British Railways.