London & North Eastern Railway

Finances and what might have been without nationalisation

The LNER has left behind a historical legacy for engineering excellence - the long tenure of Gresley as Chief Mechanical Engineer allowed the development of some of the most advanced and aesthetically pleasing steam locomotive designs ever seen in Europe. Setting the seal on the LNER's place in engineering history was of course the world steam locomotive speed record set by Mallard in July 1938.

However the financial dynamics driving the grouping companies is much less discussed. Was the LNER's technological lead sustainable given the commonly held view that its finances were the weakest of the Big Four? Did engineering excellence and design choices have any real impact on the LNER's bottom line? After all - despite the LNER's lead, it was the engineers of the LMS who ended up setting the nationalised British Railways engineering policy after 1948.

Review of the financial status of the LNER in the last year of peace

Comparison of financial performance with the other pre-Nationalisation firms