page_title: Race to the North
section_title: 20–23 August 1895
hierarchical_section_title: Race to the North / London to Aberdeen, 1895 / 20–23 August 1895
caption_attribution_description: English: Caledonian Railway postcard showing engine driver John Souter at the end of the record breaking London to Aberdeen railway journey, 23 August 1895.
context_page_description: The Race to the North was the name given by the press to occasions in two summers of the late 19th century when British passenger trains belonging to different companies would literally race each other from London to Edinburgh over the two principal rail trunk routes connecting the English capital city to Scotland – the West Coast Main Line which runs from London Euston via Crewe and Carlisle and the East Coast Main Line route from London King's Cross via 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. In the 20th century there were also occasions of competition for speed on the two routes.
context_section_description: On the night of 20/21 August both trains made exceptionally good time. NBR had decided to split their train at Waverley with the slower part not due to reach Aberdeen until 06:25. A "considerable number of people" at Dundee station were there to cheer, even at 03:42. Approaching Kinnaber Junction just before dawn at four in the morning, the trains could be seen from each other across the Montrose Basin. North British passed Montrose signal box at 04:22 but Caledonian had reached Dubton at 04:21 and so, receiving a clear line, made its Aberdeen arrival at 04:58 with an average speed from start to finish of over 60 mph (97 km/h).
  By this time the leading newspapers had reporters at all the stations to telegraph in their accounts of the night. Crowds thronged the platforms. On 21/22 August NER put in a particularly strong performance averaging 66.2 mph (106.5 km/h) between Newcastle and Edinburgh, a distance of 124.4 miles (200.2 km). NBR were quickly out of Waverley and beat Caledonian to Kinnaber by 15 minutes, arriving in Aberdeen at 04:40. A "leading official" of LNWR stated "We don't admit that we're racing at all. We only claim that it's possible for us to arrive in Aberdeen at the same time as the trains of the East Coast Railway...". Both trains had averaged over 60 mph London to Aberdeen. NBR general manager John Conacher telegraphed his GNR counterpart Sir Henry Oakley "After this morning's achievement I think we ought to revert to advertised time ... There is a feeling here that rivalry has gone far enough already...". That afternoon the press were told that East Coast would in future arrive at 06:20 – the competitive racing was over.
  That evening (22 August) at Euston station there was the usual excitement. West Coast wanted to regain the advantage and next morning the Yorkshire Post were able to report "A Sensational Achievement by the West Coast Express". Pulling only three carriages and leaving out the stop at Stirling, Aberdeen was reached at 04:32. A Caledonian Railway publicity postcard of the time shows the figure of their engine driver John Souter standing alone by his locomotive at Aberdeen station. This picture is belied by the report in the Daily Sketch – "Driver Souter, who has all along been in charge of this engine, is the railway hero of the moment ... There was much excitement at Aberdeen on the great day, the train being waited for by a crowd of spectators. Souter and his stoker were borne shoulder-high...".
  In his 1958 book about the series of races, Oswald Nock wrote of the 22/23 August journey, "And at that astonishing average speed of 63.3 mph made sixty-three years ago the London–Aberdeen record still stands today".
caption: Caledonian Railway postcard showing engine driver John Souter and the Lambie No. 17 4-4-0, 23 August 1895.
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