Heading south, this cross-country train was brought by an LNER loco, an ex-GCR Atlantic or, later, a Footballer B17, into Banbury General (GWR) station where a GWR loco took over. It has recently come to light that "during the 1920s and '30s a large GWR Prairie tank was used as far as Oxford". This picture was taken by Maurice Earley and it's one of his earliest (it says No.10 on the back). My estimate for the date is 1926-27, but the location has defeated me: any suggestions?
- Bob Humphris has suggested c1923 but a better location has come from Martin Crane, who says that it's Tilehurst, where Maurice Earley took several pictures . A former signalman, Martin adds that key indicators are the Stop signal with a lower Distant, and a Shunt arm lower down the post. The train is on the Up main line with the relief lines further away, and the River Thames in the background.
Tilehurst is the last wayside station between Didcot and Reading and shows that the "Prairie" tank worked all the way from Banbury to Reading. At the time, the off-peak Newcastle-Bournemouth was a medium-sized train and the gradients were modest and many, falling. Whether or not a similar loco worked the Down train I cannot say, but 4-6-0s from Reading were certainly in charge later. I can't help musing that according to one expert on the GWR, the company treated the cross-country expresses as "secondary", and having looked at them in some detail, I consider that to be quite charitable!
The service itself got heavier from 1927 when, for five years, extra coaches were added to the train, from Leeds, and then Bradford as well. I would suggest that use of a "Prairie" tank ended that year. These coaches from the West Riding formed part of a Leeds-Bournemouth express and a write-up is in hand.
