Good point. Fowler's 'Modern English Usage' suggests it didn't enter British English until the 1930s, so your original point stands. Sorry for introducing confusion.
I believe that first class passengers were entitled to a higher level of compensation in the event of injury. Placing them in the safest part of the train makes a kind of grim economic sense.
Random locomotive parts on display seems to be a Stokie thing. I came across a crank axle by the roadside in Tunstall. I think it was from a class 08 diesel shunter.
In 1986 I took a car from Dover to Calais on the Herald of Free Enterprise. My travelling companion and I were convinced that with a name like that the vessel was doomed.
I agree with the OP that the locomotive appears to have 'GWR' on the tank sides. This would date the photograph to after 1942 1942 or after.
Miss Prism's excellent site.
When I was a boy, around Guy Fawkes night, we used to put bangers in the 'country pancakes' in the fields behind my parents' house. Fresh cowpats were the best as they were softer and dispersed farther.