ThePurplePrimer Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Hi guys I am becoming increasingly interested in the period after 1948 and what went on with British Railways I am getting a bit confused about whe British Railways became British Rail ? I thought this change came around 1968 but I think I must have this all wrong as I have seen various official publications dated in the 70s that still have British Railways at the top on the covers ( timetables for example ) I'm confused and I am struggling to find any books that seem to explain the period between say 1948 and say 1975 ish - plenty of picture books of course . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Banger Blue Posted October 7, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 7, 2014 Wasn't British Rail the name of choice when everything went corporate blue? Although I'm sure the name British Railways would still be found in a lot of places and would soldier on until the next print run or paint tin was cracked open. Edit: Just had a quick look on Wikipedia (that well trusted source ) and this was the opening line from the British Rail page: British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail,.................................... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted October 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 7, 2014 Hi folks This web site gives the story http://www.doublearrow.co.uk/background.htm And this one reflects perhaps what us modellers see as the main manifestation - loco liveries http://www.railblue.com/rail_blue_history.htm Hope that helps Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bon Accord Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 Came into being in the early 60s certainly, I've a Scottish Region timetable on my bookshelf from 1965 which bears the legend "British Rail Scottish Region". Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted October 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 7, 2014 Spot on Jan 1965 according to the above web site Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRman Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 I remember the publicity in around late 1964/ early 1965. Certainly it was before my family left Britain at the end of 1965. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Thanks for the replies Looking again at various timetable and other document covers it does seem that although the words British Railways is still used after 1965 (ish ) they seem to stop using the totem style logo around the words - ie just plain text PS - this is just me doing a quick google and not the result of any kind of serious research Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 The legal entity was the British Railways Board, and remained so until fairly recently, holding title to various residual properties. ' Briish Rail' was simply a marketing name, adopted from the mid-1960s; even if it said 'British Rail' in large letters on the front of the timetable, any small print about terms and conditions would refer to the 'British Railways Board' Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThePurplePrimer Posted October 7, 2014 Author Share Posted October 7, 2014 Another quick google might be suggesting something that tome at least is interesting. Documents for the customer seem to use the wording 'British Rail' and documentation aimed at staff seem to use the wording 'British Railways' I have seen a few like this right up to 1983 so far Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roythebus Posted October 7, 2014 Share Posted October 7, 2014 My Contract of employment in 1973 was with the British Railways Board. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Phil Bullock Posted October 7, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 7, 2014 BRB continued to exist until September 2013! Phil Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Martino Posted October 8, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 8, 2014 'Branding' took off in the sixties. British Overseas Airways Corporation became BOAC, British European Airways Corporation became BEA. Britain became swinging. The arrow of indecision was invented (superb piece of marketing graphics by the way) and British Railways became British Rail. I'm sure that had nationalisation not happened the GWR would have morphed to The Great Way West, Southern Railway would have become SouthCommute or similar. I blame us marketing types. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titan Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 'Branding' took off in the sixties. British Overseas Airways Corporation became BOAC, British European Airways Corporation became BEA. Britain became swinging. The arrow of indecision was invented (superb piece of marketing graphics by the way) and British Railways became British Rail. I'm sure that had nationalisation not happened the GWR would have morphed to The Great Way West, Southern Railway would have become SouthCommute or similar. I blame us marketing types. Nah, I reckon that like British Railways being shortened to British Rail, Southern Railway would be shortened to Southern, Great Western Railway would be just Great Western, although seeing how arrogant they were they might have prefixed it 'First' or something... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
slilley Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Just as a piece of history it was the Railway Executive set up under the 1947 Act to run the railways day-to-day who in October 1947 decided that their "short title" would be British Railways. Both the RE and the BTC were up and running in what you might call shadow form in September 1947 in order to be ready for Vesting Day on 1 January 1948. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted October 9, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 9, 2014 Interestingly the term 'British Railways' had been used on posters etc during WWII (and possibly even in the 1930s but I'm not so sure on that). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Interestingly the term 'British Railways' had been used on posters etc during WWII (and possibly even in the 1930s but I'm not so sure on that). I've seen a photo of a pre-WW2 exhibition, where a banner including the words 'British Railways' hung over a selection of exhibits. Can't remember where, unfortunately. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Welchester Posted October 9, 2014 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 9, 2014 Interestingly the term 'British Railways' had been used on posters etc during WWII (and possibly even in the 1930s but I'm not so sure on that). Wasn't it used in the 'Square Deal' campaign of c.1938? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Storey Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 BRB continued to exist until September 2013! Phil Not pedantically true Phil! BRB ceased to exist in 2001, when many of its remaining responsibilities were transferred to a (supposedly) private GoCo called BRB Residuary Ltd. That was abolished in 2013 with remaining powers and obligations distributed amongst L&CR, Highways Agency, NR, RSSB (or whatever its modern name is), and the DfT. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted October 9, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 9, 2014 Wasn't it used in the 'Square Deal' campaign of c.1938? I think so but am not certain. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Turnbull Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 As topical as it usually was, the Model Railway Constructor under the inspirational editorship of Alan Williams carried an article entitled "Let's Build XP64" in the September '64 edition. This contained a commentary on the coaches plus 4mm scale plans of the open second and the corridor first. This was followed in May '65 with a sheet of the latest station signs in Rail Alphabet in 00, TT and 000 (as it was then) gauges. Although some of the 4mm signs were immediately cut out and used on my model railway I still have several left plus all of the TT and 000 signs. I don't know if Chris Leigh was with Alan then but if he reads this he may care to comment. Regards Chris Turnbull Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.