Which Big Four railway company is your favourite?

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

This may seem like rather a daft question, but there is some kind of method in my madness. Don't think about it for too long! Just go with your gut feeling please.

[GBM]

Would surely depend which area you were raised in?
That said, I've been (mostly) raised in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) land, but strangely prefer the West Country and Battle of Britain Bulleids, of which I saw many at Exeter (St Davids and Central).
Never interested in any other region.

[Bob_Blakey]

Since I was not around during the lifetime of 'The Big Four' I have made a choice on the basis of my overall experience of the modern iterations, or at least as close as you can get to them, of these companies.

[Oxonhutch]

I have voted LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948) having seen, and heard first hand, the last steam workings in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom). 'Twas in Lancashire and a Stannier Black Five is still the finest steam locomotive in Creation 

[ellendune]

I was brought up in GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) land and fed on stories of it.  I also live in Swindon which is a town that still has emotional attractions to the GWR.  I have also lived in two places in LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948) land, but LMS but it never had the same attraction.  People there seemed to be more attracted to the Midland Railway or the Lancashire and Yorkshire rather than the LMS.

[lympstone_commuter]

Went with my gut feeling and am only now now reflecting on it. Agree that childhood ties (often the patch where you grew up) may turn out to be key....

[johnneyw]

I was almost tempted to vote GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) purely because I've been in the territory for so long but I've also got fond memories of other frequent non GWR journeys from before moving to Bristol.

[Andy]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) for me, too. I grew up in deepest GWR-land, albeit in the BR^▸ (British Rail(ways))(W) hydraulic era.

[Electric train]

Has to be GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), my early railway career was cast, forged, machined and honed in the former GWR Swindon Works, it was refined in GWR premier depot Old Oak Common and a final polish maintaining the grand Train Shed - Paddington.

I have work on all 3 of the 'foreign' railways in my career ........... my impressions?

LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948) - ideas of grandeur

LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) - think they are the best

SR^‡(resolve) - Its complicated

GWR - know they are the best and just get on with it

 
 

[rogerpatenall]

GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) through and through.

As a child, my reasonably frequent early trips to London were all from Templecombe. Up on the 730am from Exeter, home on the 6pm Waterloo. Twice a year for the dentist, Christmas to Bertram Mills' circus and Easter to the Schoolboys' and Schoolgirls' exhibition.

GWR I may be, but I secretly thought that unrebuilt Bullied pacifics were the best looking locomotives anywhere- and in later life I thought that the Wessex electrics were the best looking multiple units ever on the road. Thinking back, that 730 up from Exeter used to always meet the 11am outbound Brighton Belle after Clapham. Another fine sight.

Did I say? GWR through and through! 

[GBM]

Went up to Paddington from Kingswear when in my pre-teen years on the night train (no sleeper).
Dad left me at Paddington for the day while he attended an interview/works meeting(?) in London.
Caught an early evening train back.
I stayed at Paddington all alone, but perfectly safe, and nothing went wrong.
During the school holidays I'd often have a weeks local rover (by myself) between Totnes, Exmouth (or was it Sidmouth) and the Kingswear branch.
Left home early morning, returned home in the dark, usually covered in soot.  A lovely week.
Couldn't do that nowadays.

Often walked around Central sheds without permission and no challenges.

[Oxonhutch]

'Great Western Coffee Shop'. I think I might be detecting some systemic bias   

[grahame]

'Great Western Coffee Shop'. I think I might be detecting some systemic bias   

Indeed - I am watching the vote tallies, but leaving Red Squirrel to comment on what he sees in the results; for sure the sampling here is a bit skewed - I'm sure we have more members from Bath than Basildon.

[Red Squirrel]

I am keeping my powder dry until the polls close…

[Red Squirrel]

Sorry to be a bit slow getting back to this, and thanks for all your votes and input. I finally succumbed to COVID just after Xmas, and have been out of commission for a week or so. But I'm on the mend now!

The idea for this poll sprung from grahame's thread King Charles coins: coins to celebrate Windrush, NHS and Flying Scotsman. I noted that 2023 was also the centenary of the Grouping which created the LMS^▸ (London Midland Scottish - 1923 to 1948), SR^‡(resolve) and LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about), as well as being the 75th anniversary of the creation of British Rail. I may have referred (well all right I DID^» (Didcot Parkway - next trains) refer) to the LMS, SR and LNER as 'the lesser three of the Big Four'.

Grahame set out to disprove this assertion by citing figures for route mileage, numbers of passengers hauled and freight tonnage. But can greatness be measured in these terms?

I wanted to test the theory that most of us would have a favourite, despite the fact that few forum members could have any meaningful memory of the pre-1948 railway. Nearly 80% of respondents did indeed declare a favourite. And despite the fact that the forum covers the territory of the LMS, SR and GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway), the GWR was the clear winner with over half of those who had a favourite choosing it.

Does this just come down to where you were brought up, or is there more to it than that?