Readers’ Forum
From the Mersey Railway to Merseyrail
In his article in the October issue Geoffrey Skelsey writes that the Mersey Railway “was the second underground railway in the world after London’s Metropolitan Railway of 1863. In fact it was the third, the first section of the Metropolitan District Railway having opened in 1868.
Michael J. Smith, Allestree, Derby
A very interesting article – and I write as someone who travelled on the Overhead and CLC lines, in fact, just about all mentioned. One small point. On p550 the author lists new stations and includes St Michael’s. This station is, in fact, still very largely original, and not new. The main change has been long ramps to the platform rather than steps. I believe these were financed by Marks and Spencer, due to their brand association with the station name, and in conjunction with a large flower/garden show in the vicinity in the 1980s.
Alistair Stuart, by email
The ‘Royal Scots’
A. J. Mullay’s eulogy (September) of the ‘Rebuilt Scots’ as ‘Britain’s Greatest Main Line Steam Locomotives’ drew on ‘Scot’ performance in the 1948 Locomotives Exchanges as objective evidence. In a way, the era of preserved steam mainline operation in the last has performed outstandingly on the northern hills, with many mould breaking sustained efforts.
