While the Second World War saw most internal air services grounded, apart from those across the Irish Sea to Dublin, the railways nevertheless were active in buying out the smaller airlines and in 1944 published a plan for the development of post-war European air transport. The SR went further, and even acquired land in Kent for the construction of a post-war airport for London. All of these plans came to nothing when a Labour administration was elected in 1945. Nevertheless, British Railways retained air transport powers until 1993.

Alexandra (Newport & South Wales) Docks & Railway

As the name implies, this was originally a dock company, formed in 1865 to build a new dock at Newport. It took ten years to complete the work because of the company’s financial weakness, but once it was finished local business interests argued that a railway connection with the Rhondda would enable it to attract a share of the booming South Wales coal traffic. In 1878, the Pontypridd Caerphilly & Newport Railway was established, with running powers over the lines of five other railways to bring coal to Newport docks, and this opened in 1884. In preparation for the opening of the new railways, the Alexandra changed from being a ‘docks’ company to a ‘docks and railway’ in 1882, and in 1887 it purchased the Pontypridd Caerphilly & Newport Railway. While freight, and especially coal, was the predominant traffic, a passenger service between Pontypridd and Newport was introduced, but this passed to the Great Western in 1899, leaving the Alexandra’s passenger services confined to a service between Pontypridd and Caerphilly.

Meanwhile, the docks prospered and grew, with further expansion in the years leading up to the outbreak of the First World War, when the company managed to pay a dividend of 5 per cent. The actual railway route mileage owned by the company amounted to just 9.5 miles, making it the smallest of any of the constituent companies covered by the Railways Act 1921.

Allen, Cecil J, 1886-1973

One of the most prominent writers on railway matters of his day, Allen trained as an engineer before joining the Great Eastern Railway as a draughtsman in 1903, He was later transferred to the Permanent Way Department, and by 1908 was inspector of materials. He remained in the PWD until retiring from the London & North Eastern Railway in 1946. He had started writing in 1906 with a piece for the Railway Magazine, and in 1909, was one of four contributors to the long-running series ‘British Locomotive Practice & Performance’, becoming the only contributor in 1911 until the baton passed to O S Nock in 1958. He continued writing for Trains Illustrated. He started writing books in 1915, eventually writing 38, of which 8 were for children.

Allport, Sir James Joseph, 1811-1892

After joining the Birmingham & Derby Junction Railway in 1839, James Allport became manager in 1843, before moving to become manager of the Newcastle & Darlington Junction Railway in 1844, Manchester Sheffield & Lincolnshire Railway (predecessor of the Great Central) in 1850, before settling on the Midland Railway in 1853, but even here he was away from 1857 to 1860, managing a shipyard. Allport takes much of the credit for the MR’s rapid growth. He found a railway whose boundaries were Derby, Leeds, Lincoln, Bristol and Rugby; he left a railway that reached Carlisle, Swansea and London, while jointly-owned lines took it to Bournemouth, Liverpool and Lowestoft. He introduced third-class accommodation on all MR trains from 1872, and in 1874 abolished second-class and withdrew third-class carriages, marking a major step forward in the welfare of the third-class passenger. He also introduced the first Pullman cars into the UK. On the debit side, he resisted interlocking for as long as possible. He was knighted in 1884, after retirement – another first as he was the first railway manager to be so recognised.

Arrol, Sir William, 1839-1913

Apprenticed to a blacksmith, in 1868 Arrol established a contracting business in Glasgow, and quickly gained a reputation for building iron railway bridges. In 1878, he was contracted to build a bridge over the Clyde and into the Caledonian Railway’s Glasgow Central Station, but the contract awarded for a bridge across the Forth the following year was cancelled after the Tay Bridge disaster. Nevertheless, in 1882, his firm, by this time Tancred Arrol, was successful in gaining the contract for the new Forth Railway Bridge and he was knighted on completion in 1890. His firm had by this time a worldwide reputation and handled contracts around the world, including, closer to home, the Tower Bridge in London. Arrol was also a director of the Union Castle steamship line, a bank and a steelmaker.

Ashfield, Albert Henry Stanley, Lord, 1874-1948

The Knattries family migrated from Derby to the USA, and Albert Knattries started work as a messenger with the Detroit Street Railway in 1888. He moved to scheduling in 1893 on the first electrified line and by 1902, was general superintendent. The following year, he moved to the Public Service Corporation of New Jersey, and then in 1907 became general manager of the Underground Electric Railways of London, replacing the first general manager, Gibb, and given the task of making the Metropolitan District and the group’s three tube lines profitable. He had adopted the surname Stanley in 1897.

During his first seven years in London he reorganised the Underground group and also acquired the London General Omnibus Company in 1912, creating an organisation referred to as the ‘Combine’. He recognised the value of good publicity and appointed Frank Pick. He became a naturalised British subject in 1913, and in 1916-1919 he was President of the Board of Trade in Lloyd George’s wartime government, for which he was knighted. Post-war, he returned to the Underground group as chairman and managing director, and began a process of coordination of bus and railway operations in London that effectively paved the way for the formation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933, a nationalised concern created by a Conservative government. He headed the new LPTB, but was disappointed that while the four mainline railway companies had to pool their suburban receipts with the LPTB’s railway operations, there was no common management or coordination. Post-nationalisation of the railways, he became a full-time member of the British Transport Commission.

Aspinall, Sir John Audley Frederick, 1851-1937

Trained at Crewe, he moved to become locomotive superintendent of the Great Southern & Western Railway of Ireland in 1883, making a significant contribution to the efficiency of the vacuum brake. He moved to the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway in 1886, completing the new works being built at Horwich, and where he completed the prototype of his famous 2-42 tank engines in 1889. Later he built his ‘Highflyer’ 4-4-2 locomotives with inside cylinders and 7 ft 3 in wheels. The L&CR promoted him to general manager in 1899, and he was active in promoting electrification starting with the Liverpool and Southport line in 1904, and then the Manchester-Bury line in 1915. He was appointed Associate Professor of Railway Engineering at Liverpool University, and after retirement in 1919 was in demand for his expertise, including conducting the enquiry into the Sevenoaks railway disaster in 1927.