“What's In a Name?”(Locomotive Names, Naming Ceremonies & Stories Behind the Naming)
July 2002 Meeting Report
Guest Speaker - David Newton
The July meeting of the Keyworth & District Local History Society was held on 5 July, 2002 in the Centenary Lounge. A smaller than usual audience met to hear David Newton give a talk on “What’s in a Name”. Perhaps the subject relating to the naming of locomotive engines seemed dull for some or perhaps the inclement weather deterred members but those that did attend were treated to an interesting discourse on the subject.
David Newton himself, he told us, acquired his lifelong love of railways as a youngster when growing up in Kettering in a railway neighbourhood. He did his National Service at that far-flung corner of the Empire known as Old Dalby, Leicestershire, (even managing to go home at night to sleep!). After the completion of his National Service he embarked on a career as a School Teacher. Whilst a teacher he would often take those of his pupils who were railway enthusiasts on trips to various railway sheds and stations. Some of his annual trips were for days at a time and were to the far reaches of the network in Northern Scotland.
When his teaching career ended he embarked on another enterprise, namely that of making small replicas of railway engine nameplates. From this small beginning a not insubstantial business was to blossom providing new nameplates for British Rail and it’s subsequent successors. On retirement from teaching the school presented David Newton with the nameplate, “Nottinghamshire”, from the ex L.N.E.R D.49 Shire Class engine number 62723. The plate was loaned to the school and put on display there. David Charles was somewhat annoyed to find, many years later that the plate had been acquired by Nottinghamshire County Council and is now on display at County Hall. The school allegedly sold the plate for £5,000. Given that it’s current value is in excess of £15,000 one could understand his chagrin.
The audience were then treated to an anecdotal discourse on some of the stories behind the naming of particular engines. The names themselves have been, down the years, extremely many and varies, all manner of names having been carried. Although to David Newton’s knowledge no engines have ever been named after vegetables! Many myths have been created surrounding the naming of engines; often the myth has replaced the truth. According to the bible; Genesis, chapter 2, verse 16, tells us; “If truth damages legend, ignore the truth”, and this seems to have occurred with many engine names.
Prior to the Great War many of the old railway companies had very extensive naming policies. Engines from the most prestigious passenger express to the lowliest shunter were often named. However, with the outbreak of hostilities, some of these names became decidedly inappropriate. Engines with such names as “Knight of the Black Eagle” were re-named as “Knight of Liege”, “Dachshund” became “Bulldog”, “Germanic” became “Belgic”.
After the war many railway companies named some of their engines to commemorate various aspects of the conflict. Thus engines with such names as “Remembrance” or “Valour” appeared to commemorate those railway employees who had died in the conflict. An interesting side-note on the “Valour” nameplates was that they eventually finished up in the parish church at Gorton, Manchester, from where they were stolen less than two weeks after arriving there. They have never been seen again to this day. Other names such as “”British Legion”, “Ypres”, “Mons”, “Haig”, “Somme” and “Verdun” appeared. Other engines carried the names of individuals who had been honoured for bravery. Thus engines could be seen carrying such names as “Private E. Sykes, V.C.”, “Private W. Wood, V.C.” and “Lance Corporal J.A. Christie, V.C.” This led to the strange situation of engineman Woods actually driving the locomotive with his own name carried on it whilst the guard on the train was none other than E. Sykes himself, surely a unique situation!
Another interesting problem, which beset some engines, involved those that carried place names. Thus engines could be seen arriving at stations carrying names such as “Colwyn Bay”, “Blackpool”, “Dovedale”, “Leamington Spa”, “Windemere” and “Llandudno”. Some people thought that these were destinations rather than nameplates and boarded the trains in error thinking that they would be taken to the place on the nameplate. Considerable confusion, and not a little indignation, could ensue from such mistakes.
Another class of locomotive carried the names of football teams. Several interesting anecdotes were mentioned relating to these. Whenever a team reached the F.A. Cup Final and a special train was being laid on to take supporters to Wembley the railway company would endeavour to ensure that the appropriate engine pulled the train. Thus, when Sunderland reached the 1937 Cup Final the Sunderland supporters were taken to London by an engine of that name. The engine involved was actually named “Derby County” but the nameplates carried that day had been substituted for those taken from “Sunderland”. Another engine was named “Newcastle United” but those plates were only carried for a month. When one of the Directors of the railway involved, (the L.N.E.R.), discovered what had been done he ordered the immediate removal of the plates. Apparently he was an avid Arsenal fan and was disgusted that Newcastle had beaten them in the Cup Final a few years earlier! An engine was also named “Nottingham Forest” and one of the plates from that engine eventually found it’s way into the boardroom of the club. The plate has mysteriously disappeared, no trace of it has been heard of for some years now, (the plate is probably worth between £20,000 to £30,000). An interesting point was made of the fact relating to the rocketing value of nameplates. When British Railways scrapped the old steam engines the nameplates were often disposed of for a few pounds each. Today, the highest price paid for a nameplate is in excess of £40,000 and that figure is likely to rise as speculators enter the market.
David Newton’s has relinquished total control of his company now, though he still takes a back seat when needed. Most of the engines that are operating on Britain’s railways today carry plates that have been manufactured by his company. He estimates that the total value of nameplates provided by his company for the current railway companies is in excess of £20 million! All in all those members that forsook the weather and did attend the meeting were entertained with a very absorbing talk on the subject and the evening was highly entertaining. Many thanks to David Newton and “Well Done”!