LMS Route: Rugby to Tamworth

Tamworth Station: lnwr_tam3140

LNWR 2-4-0 Improved Precedent class No 790 'Hardwicke' stands at Tamworth with an up stopping service. On 22nd August 1895, No 790 'Hardwicke' took 2 hours and 6 minutes to cover the 141 miles from Crewe to Carlisle, at an average speed of 67.1 mph, resulting in a new speed record during the so called 'Race to the North' period. The 'Race to the North' was the name given by the press to occasions during two summers of the late 19th century when British passenger trains belonging to different companies would literally race each other from London to Scotland over the two principal rail trunk routes connecting the English capital city to Scotland's capital Edinburgh and later Aberdeen. The West Coast Main Line was operated by the LNWR and Caledonian Railway running from London Euston via Crewe and Carlisle and onwards to Scotland, whilst the East Coast Main Line route was operated by the Great Northern Railway (GNR) and the North Eastern Railway (NER), commencing at London King's Cross and stopping at York and Newcastle. The 'races' were never official and publicly the companies denied that what happened was racing at all. Results were not announced officially and the outcomes have since been hotly debated.

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