Insp. Hornleigh Goes to it / Night Mail

Dave Buckley after identifying screen grab insho204 as a direct “lift” from Night Mail believed that the facilities were at Harrow and Wealdstone Station. However, he subsequently spoke to a friend, Peter Scott,  who has written a book¹ about the LMS railway and between them they came to the conclusion that it is not H & W as the background “clutter”, telephone posts behind the postman and apparatus with buildings and signals in the left background does not match photo’s that are included in the book.

Additionally, in the previous shots the postmen are shown descending a path on a bank. At H & W, access to the TPO apparatus was via a gate in the bridge over the end of the platform (towards Euston), then down steps to the lines. H & W was the first pickup/drop off point outside London with the northbound pickup apparatus “61 yards before reaching the Outer Home Signal”, probably about 500 yards or so before the station, while the southbound set down apparatus was “613 yards after the station”. These distances were to allow time for the train apparatus to be deployed clear of any obstructions. The book contains three photos of the northbound apparatus in use (in the 1930’s) and there is no telegraph pole visible.

The next TPO apparatus was at Watford, so it is believed that the location could be there, but only a guess!

1  The London and Birmingham Railway Through Harrow 1837-1987

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Peter Scott; 1st Edition (July 1987)
• Language:English
• ISBN-10: 0901034118
• ISBN-13: 978-0901034113

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