Victorian era saw intense competition between rival companies for traffic between London and Scotland, which reached its zenith in a thrilling series of events that were to become known as the ‘Railway Races to the North’. EVAN GREEN-HUGHES relays the fascinating story from a forgotten era of rail travel.
Above: The Great Northern Railway used its Stirling 'Single’ 4-2-2s for its fastest trains, including those in the Races to the North in the 1890s. In 1899 4-2-2 1008 approaches Hitchin South signalbox with a Down express. Dr Sellon/Rail Archive Stephenson.
The latter half of the 19th century was a time of extreme change. The industrial revolution had completely revolutionised the fabric of British society, cottage industries had been replaced by large steam-powered factories, much of the population now worked in industry rather than on the land and the introduction of railways meant travel wasnow possible even for ordinary people.
One of the benefits of these changes was that places, at one time isolated by horsedrawn coach journeys which would have taken many days to complete, were now within a few hours of each other. This included, of course, the capital cities of Britain’s constituent countries, with all the riches and b…
