George Dow

For other uses, see George Dow (disambiguation).

George Dow (30 June 1907 – 28 January 1987) was a British employee of the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and British Railways known for his public relations work and railway maps produced for his employers, and also a writer of railway literature, in particular his three-volume history of the Great Central Railway.

Biography

George Dow joined London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) as a grade five clerk at Kings Cross railway station in London, England. He held many offices on the LNER (particularly as Press Relations Officer throughout the Second World War) and British Railways.

Vision for London's Rail Infrastructure

On 14 June 1941, Dow published an article in The Star proposing a series of electrified, underground main-line routes to interconnect London's termini. He argued that "London suburban lines cannot play their full part in meeting, together with London Transport, the travelling demands of the capital until they have been interconnected across London and electrified".^[1][2] This visionary concept presaged the core philosophy that would eventually drive the development of Thameslink, which opened as a through-running service in 1988, creating the north-south cross-London route that Dow had envisioned nearly five decades earlier. His vision was further developed in the post-war County of London Plan (1943) and Greater London Plan (1944).^[1]

Railway Maps and Design

He is perhaps best known as a draughtsman for his diagrammatic railway maps for the LNER and London, Midland and Scottish Railway and as an inspiration to the celebrated designer Harry Beck on the tube map. Their work led to a style of design which has revolutionised the world of urban rail and metro maps.

British Railways Career

On the creation of British Railways in 1948, he was appointed Public Relations and Publicity Officer for the Eastern and North Eastern Regions. In 1949 he took the same post at the larger London Midland Region. He rose to Divisional Manager, Birmingham, and later Stoke-on-Trent, and retired in 1968.

He also wrote twenty-one railway histories, starting with studies for the LNER, and later including his three-volume history of the Great Central Railway and a two-volume work on the carriages of the Midland Railway.

He was the founding President of the Model Engineering Trade Association in 1944, and of the Historical Model Railway Society in 1950.^[3]

He died on 28 January 1987 aged 79 years.

Bibliography

• The Third Woodhead Tunnel. British Railways (London Midland Region). 1954.
• Great Central. Loco. Publishing Co., London., 3 Volumes
  • The Progenitors, 1813–1863. Vol. 1. 1959.
  • Dominion of Watkin, 1864–1899. Vol. 2. 1962.
  • Fay Sets the Pace, 1900–1922. Vol. 3. 1965.

Republished by Ian Allan 1985: Vol.1 ISBN 0-7110-1468-X ; Vol.2 ISBN 0-7110-1469-8 ; Vol.3 ISBN 0-7110-0263-0

A fuller bibliography is given in: "George Dow & son", www.steamindex.com