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THE MIDLAND RAILWAY STUDY CENTRE
Mysteries Page
Otherwise known as the photographs
we need your help to identify

Over the years we have acquired photographs from a wide variety of sources and some of them have little or even no information about the image on the back of the print. More often than not we have been able to work out the location, but there are a few that leave even the Thursday Gang stumped! Some of them we know we will kick ourselves over (metaphorically, of course), but there are also some real stinkers here too.

Are you up to the challenge? Please let us have your suggestions via the email link at the bottom of the page.

As the answers and suggestions roll in (hopefully!), we will add what we learn to the captions below, so even if you can't help directly, please check back and see how the detective work is progressing.

On a housekeeping note: it goes without saying that if we don't know the location of an image, we generally don't know the photographer either. Therefore, in the event we are inadvertently treading on anyone's copyrights here, we apologise in advance and will remedy accordingly once notified.

Answers 1 and 2: — Luton, looking south

Jubilee No.45612 departs from an unidenited station with a passenger train. There's a goods warehouse behind

Unsurprisingly, this and its companion view below were the first to be answered... and within minutes. As suspected, it was barely a challenge to the several of you who know the southern reaches of the Midland's London line well.

Ref: 77-11611-1

Stanier 8F arrives at the same station as the image abover in the opiste direction hauling a mineral train in a snow covered scene.

Ref: 77-11611-2

Answer 3: — Hitchin, looking north

Fairburn 2-6-4T No.42174 at the head of a mixed goods enters an unidentifed station.

The suspicion that this wasn't a Midland Railway location was proved correct, though of course Hitchin was served by Midland services and indeed was their gateway to London prior to the opening of St. Pancras. The signal box in the distance is the Great Northern Railway's Cambridge Junction box.

Ref: 77-11611-3

Mystery 4:

A group of 14 men all wearing Midland Railway uniforms pose for the camera. Beside them is a grounded coach body and a Midland Railway signal box is in the mid-distance behind.

This charming group photograph is full of detail in respect of Midland Railway uniforms, but short on anything else. Anyone recognise the grounded coach body serving as a shunter's cabin and its relationship to the signal box behind? The double-post pole route may help?

Ref: pending

Answer 5: — Langwathby

Johnson 4-4-0 tender engine stands at an unidentifed station with the staff watching the photographer from a distance. The station building is on the right and is notable for its ornate bargeboards.

A great deal of detective work and analysis has been carried out, with a process of elimination narrowing the station down to a shortlist of one suspect. The final clincher was reference back to the original print and a further higher resolution scan which revealed the signal box in the far background...

A close up of the above imageconcentrating ona group of men in the middle distance standing by the train. A signal box is visible in the background

Ref: RFB30636

Mystery 6:

A stone built house with a lady and probably her daughter standing in the doorway posing for the photogrpher. A sign over the door reads North Eastern and Midland Railways Parcels Receiving Office

At least we know the approximate area we a dealing with here, but presumably there were many villages in the Yorkshire Dales that were blessed with a joint Midland Railway and NER parcels receiving office? Is there enough here to narrow this village down?

Ref: 77-11611-1

Answer 7: — Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Framed and glazed photograph of Midland Railway 2-4-0 locomotive No.104A with its crew on the footplate posing in a small goods yard.

Whilst it turned out that the answer was staring us in the face all along given that the photographer was local to Ashby, it still took some good work to identify it specifically. The engine, it turns out, is standing on the Derby line and it is the main Leicester to Burton lines we see in the foreground as we look due north. The station is to the right of the view out of sight. The deciding factor is that the house visible in the background survives today and can be picked put on Google Streetview.

Ref: RFB32052

Mystery 8:

Postcard showing a group of eight working men of varying ages, one of whom is wearing Midland Railway uniform, posing in front of a brick-built weighbridge office and a set of three-throw points in the foreground.

This postcard was sent on 11th July 1952 at West Bridgford — the sender’s address is embossed into the card and shows through onto the reverse side. One of the eight men in the view is wearing Midland Railway uniform, so clearly the sender had it lying around for a while. The three-throw points in front of what is evidently a weighbridge office (with track passing either side of it) indicates a fairly busy yard. It could easily be a colliery or other non-railway owned location given the number of men who aren't wearing a railway uniform?

Any thoughts?

Ref: RFB33115

Answer 9: — Ambergate

A Midland Railway six wheel Inspection Saloon stands in the platform at an unidentified station platform with two men in working class dress flanking a man in notably smarter attire. The Guard stands on the platform posing alongside the train.

I will name-names here as it was a brilliant piece of analysis to come up with the suggestion of Ambergate, including detailed examination of the barely glimpsed platform supports and canopy. With that suggestion, the below postcard in our own collection revealed the very same trio of advertisements! So a sincere tip of the cap to Mr. Mark Higginson.

A colourised post card view of Ambergate station taken from the footbridge looking north west showing the two Manchester line platforms. On the left, three enamel adverting signs can be seen which exactly match our mystery photo

Mark's eagle-eye even spotted what we now unmistakably recognise as Ambergate West signal box as a ghostly apparition above the Manchester hotel advertisement.

The smartly dressed man in the centre of the veranda of this six wheel Inspection Saloon had already been identified as the Midland Railway's Engineer between 1890 and 1904, John Allen McDonald. It would seem likely that he and his two associates from the Engineers Department are returning to Derby following a tour of inspection.

Ref: RFB70313

Mystery 10:

Postcard print of a photograph showing a Midland Railway permanent way gang posing for a photographer whilst two cranes are in the middle of lifting into place a cast iron bridge girder and decorative balustrade. The view includes three plank wagon No. 22556.

One of the cranes in this view of bridge replacement work can be identified as No.27 of Derby. The building behind the work reads “TURN(ers?) F(or?) DRAP(ery?)”. Perhaps the biggest clue is that the three plank wagon No. 22556 has what appears to read “Trent East // Bridge 46”, though the flowery script is such that it could equally be 76 or 96 — none of which matches the (very few) under-bridges in the Trent area.

Ref: RFB72090

Answer 11: — Upton on Severn

Photograph showing a group of Midland Railway staff, a young girl and what looks like a blacksmith posing in front of a Midland Railway dray and its horse. The location is unknown but is evidently a wide station yard with a distinctive church spire in the background.

As expected it was indeed the distinctive church spire that proved to be the key here and we are grateful to an online team of ecclesiastical architecture experts who came up with the answer. With the knowledge that the church is St. Peter and St. Paul's at Upton on Severn, reference to the map on the NLS site confirms the wide open space of the station goods yard.

Ref: RFB72133

Answer 12: — Lancaster engine shed

Midland Railway 2-4-0 No.74 stands in a small goods yard with a brick goods shed in the background. The crew and what looks like the Station Master are posing for the photographer.

Not that you'd know it from this view, but No.74 is barely a stone's-throw from the middle of Lancaster. We are looking west with the Midland's goods shed in the background. The engine shed itself is to the left and behind the camera. The line of rails crossing behind the engine leads to the turntable.

Ref: RFB72289

Mystery 13:

Photograph of workmen looking on as Midland Railway 1400 Class 2-4-0 No. 209 heads an express passenger train under a bridge that is supported by temporary timbers while it is being rebuilt.

It is customary when commenting on old photographs to lament the supposed imposition of modern day “Health & Safety”, but I can't help wonder if the somewhat dubious arrangements here triggered the taking of the photograph? The Driver of 1400 Class 2-4-0 No. 209 is certainly keeping a good eye out for the men.

No.209 was variously a Skipton then Carnforth engine and together with the style of bridge, suggests the location is probably north of Skipton, maybe on the “Little” North Western?

Ref: RFB72292

Answer 14: — Hellifield

Midland Railway Compund locomotive No.449 is posed in an unidentified rural yard, possibly a running shed, with a man in civilian clothing astride a motorcycle in the ‘six foot’ adjacent to the front of the engine.

As well as being a very popular answer, this solution came with effective proof in the form of this photo on the excellent web site about Hellifield created by Steve Rabone.  What the motorcycle is doing where it is has been explained by one of our contributors, who says; “The man on the motorbike was probably one of the drivers, firemen or cleaners. Having a motorbike in the 1920s was a really big thing for a working class man. Getting photographed on the machine was icing in the cake.”

Ref: RFB72314

Answer 15: — Lower Bentham — the bridge over the river Wenning

Photograph of a double headed Down Express at an unidentified location. The photographer is standing on a bridge crossing what may be a canal, which then passes under the railway.

Needless to say I am very impressed by everyone who has recognised or deduced these answers, but this one turns out to be quite an obscure corner of the Midland's network so the very quick answer deserves special credit. We are looking south-west at Lower Bentham Viaduct. Have a look at the site on the wonderful National Library of Scotland mapping site to see how it all fits together. It turns out that what I said about it being a Down express was claptrap as the train is clearly heading toward Settle Junction and likely onwards to London, 247 miles and 35 chains ahead of it.

Ref: RFB72336

Answer 16: — Arley Tunnel

A group of workmen have paused while a passeneger train, from which the photograph has been taken, enters the tunnel they are working in. The work is extensive as there is a temporary narrow-gauge railway laid with one of the workmen is on a small petrol driven locomotive.

We are looking at the east portal of Arley Tunnel. There's a small clue I forgot to point out in the form of the Bridge Plate No. No 25 that can just be made out. The work that is being carried out is documented at another wonderfully helpful web site, Warwickshire Railways.

Ref: 99-1266

Probable 17: — Spetchley ?

Midland Railway 0-6-0 No.1445 stands in a rural siding with the Driver and Foreman on the footplate and three other uniformed men (including one holding a shunter's pole). There is a small 10' square signal box behind the erngine.

Prolific mystery photo detective Mark Higginson has put a lot of work into this one and has narrowed it down to a “probable answer” of Spetchley on the Birmingham to Gloucester line. The crucial piece of information being that after its long stay at Burton, No.1445 became a Saltley engine around the turn of the century. The sticking point is there being no evidence currently found that a signal was ever located this close to the box. What do you think...?

Ref: 99-1268

Answer 18: — Halesowen Junction

Ex-Midland Railway 4-4-0 No.711 in its LMS guise heads a passenger train past a Midland Railway signal box on a four-track section of line. Significantly, it is on the third line away from the photographer, indicating a configuration where Goods Line are on the outside of the formation.

Another one where all the clues were all there, it just needed someone with the right knowledge and the kindness to let us know — and that turned out to be more than one person, thank you! The view is looking north-east and the train is travelling away from Birmingham and King's Norton. The line to Halesowen (and, later, the sprawling Longbridge car factory) can be seen curving away to the left. Were this view taken before 1929, the train would be about to plunge into Cofton Tunnel. However, as with several others on the network, the LMS had employed improved civil engineering techniques to open out Cofton and quadruple the line.

Ref: 99-1267

That still leaves eight mysteries for you to work on, please...

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