There are few people alive who can remember when Britain’s railways made a profit, could pay a handsome dividend and still be regarded among the best employers.
At a time when British Rail, Britain’s favourite political football, is to be kicked into touch once and for all The Elegance of Edwardian Railways reminds us of the days when railway engines gleamed with pride and character. Road transport was not a serious threat, but neither were the railways at the mercy of successive governments, with their ludicrous, pro-road transport policies.
Edwardian Britain was imbued with unjustified optimism and unwarranted self- importance, while the wealthy often arrogantly portrayed a decadent image both to the world at large, and the millions living below the poverty line. This was a time when the Royal Navy ruled the waves, the country had an empire on which ‘the sun never sets’, and Britain’s railways were the best in the world. It was but a thin veneer.
The Elegance of Edwardian Railways portrays 41 railway companies, with a selection of their relevant locomotives. They range from the mighty London & North Western Railway, the largest public joint- stock company in the world, down to the minnow, the perpetually broke Lynton & Barnstaple Railway.
The camera of James Grimoldby has depicted Edwardian railway locomotives in their everyday guise - nothing added or taken away. Quite apart from the many outstanding, rare ‘action’ photographs, the most noteworthy feature is the pride taken by the employees in their, often elegant, ‘chariots of fire’. There is none of the grime or utilitarian features of the later British Railways’ steam days, let alone the purely functional ‘basic railway’ of today.
This book is no exercise in mere nostalgia.
It conveys the Edwardian ‘veneer’ of respectability, as seen at its best in everyday life on the railways, through more than 250 wonderful photographs, prefaced by a compelling commentary on each of the railway companies concerned.