Title
Booklets, Magazines, Images, and Published/Printed material
Reference
GRASE/2/2
Production date
1900 - 1961
Creator
- Grasemann, CuthbertBiographyBiography
Cuthbert Grasemann (aka 'Tabs' Grasemann), was born in 1890, the son of C. E. Grasemann, Chief Goods Manager of London & North Western Railway. He attended Rugby School and then Trinity College Cambridge. He worked for South Eastern & Chatham Railway between 1912 and 1914, and was Assistant District Superintendent by May 1914. Between 1914 and 1918 he was in the Railway Operating Division of the Royal Engineers, and was demobilised at the rank of captain. He worked at Southern Railway as Assistant to the London East Division, and then as Assistant Divisional Superintendent at Exeter between 1925 and 1930. After this he became Public Relations and Advertising Officer for Southern Railway; during this time he founded its Film Division so that the company's advertising would reach a wider audience. Under Field-Marshall Slim, he assisted in forming Public Relations Department of British Rail, and continued to work as Public Relations & Publicity Officer for the Southern Region after nationalisation, retiring at the end of December 1950. During his retirement Grasemann gave lectures and wrote for publications on railway-related topics; a major hobby was yachting. He was made a freeman of the City of London, and acted as Master of the Fruiterers Company and Master of the Stationers and Newspaper Makers Company. He was awarded the Legion d'Honneur for services to tourism in 1938 and made Chevalier dans l'Ordre de la Couronne for services as Chairman of the Anglo- Belgian Publicity Committee in 1947. Grasemann died on 23rd July 1961.
Scope and Content
13 items. Printed material of various kinds, including three booklets relating to railways of Northern France in the Second World War: 'Extract from General Regulations For Signals on the Northern Railway of France', and 'Railway Operating Division. Distances and Running Times', both with Grasemann's signature on their covers. The booklet 'Extract from General Regulations Concerning Breakesmen on the Northern Railway of France', has Grasemann's nautically-themed 'Ex Libris' sticker on the verso of the inside cover, and is annotated as being issued to troops during the First World War. The series also contains a copy of engineering publication on E-Curves, 'Anleitung für das Vermessen von E-Kurven'. Bearbeitet von Verm. A. 19. (Ausgegeben am 15.5.18.), Brussels Druckeri des Generals-Gouvernments; publications containing articles by, or referring to, Grasemann; images that may be drafts for advertisements, and a poster and menu card: the last two are annotated.
Extent
1 bundle
Language
English, French, German
Level of description
FILE
Repository name
National Railway Museum, York
Associated people and organisations
- Southern Railway CompanyBiographyBiography
During the First World War the government took control of the railways to co-ordinate the war effort. After the war it was decided that the railway companies could not competitively return to their prior state, and so the 1921 Railways Act merged the 120 existing railway companies into four companies, which became known as the ‘Big Four’’. Founded in 1923, the Southern Railway took over the railways of South-East England and came to consist of five major railway companies and 14 small ones. The Southern Railway had works at Ashford, Brighton, Lancing and Eastleigh.
The first chairman of the Southern Railway was Brigadier-General Sir Hugh Drummond. Initially the general managers of the three main constituent companies, namely the London & South Western Railway (LSWR), London, Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR) and South Eastern and Chatham Railway (SECR) worked together to lead the Southern Railway during its first year of operation. From 1 January 1924 it was decided that railway would be led by one general manager and one chief mechanical engineer. The first holders of these posts were Sir Herbert Ashcombe Walker, formerly manager of the LSWR and Richard Maunsell previously the Chief Mechanical Engineer of the SECR. Walker was succeeded by Gilbert Szlumper, then Sir Eustace Missenden and the last general manager prior to nationalisation was Sir John Elliott.
The Southern Railway's operating structure was based on geographical divisions, initially these were London (East), London (West), Eastern (Dover) Southern (Brighton), Central (Southampton), and Western (Exeter).
The Southern Railway was the smallest of the Big Four, and it relied primarily on passenger traffic. The Southern Railway’s predecessors had begun the process of electrification around suburban London where there was a high volume of passenger traffic. This programme was continued by the Southern Railway and was approved by its first AGM in March 1924. A rolling programme of electrification continued throughout Southern Railway’s operation, and on 30 December 1932 the newly electrified line to Brighton was opened. Despite Southern Railway’s increasing use of electric trains, steam locomotives continued to be used, especially for goods trains, until the nationalisation of the railways in 1948.
As well as operating rail traffic, the Southern Railway owned and operated docks and harbours along the South Coast, the most important of which was Southampton Docks. It also ran passenger steamers across the English Channel to France. The Southern Railway operated air services to the Channel Islands from a number of airfields in the South-East and had stations at these airfields to allow passengers to transfer.
The 1947 Transport Act nationalised the railways, and the Southern Railway came to be run by the Railway Executive as part of the new British Transport Commission. The Southern Railway’s rail operations were taken over by the Southern Region of British Railways.
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