News

Gold Medal Recalls Giant Among Railwaymen

A gold medal awarded in 1928 to “a giant among railwaymen” is expected to sell for up to £1,200 in a sale of fine art and antiques at Surrey’s premier auction house Ewbank Clarke Gammon Wellers on Wednesday March 17.

The George V 18 carat Institute of Transport gold medal was presented to Edwin Charles Cox CBE MVO (Member of the Royal Victorian Order) by the Railway Companies Association to mark his achievements as the man responsible for bringing electrification – and huge prosperity – to the Southern Railway (SR).

Linking London with the Channel ports, the South West and Kent, the railway was formed in 1923 by the amalgamation of several smaller railways. The Brighton Belle and the Golden Arrow were among its most famous named trains and it also controlled South coast ports including Southampton, Portsmouth and Dover. During World War Two, troops heading for Europe replaced the tourists.

With the encouragement of General Manager, Sir Herbert Walker, the SR Board of Directors backed plans to create what was, at the time, the world’s largest electrified railway system and the first electrified Intercity route – from London to Brighton. Walker said he could not have done it without Cox as his right hand man. Sir John Elliot, the SR Chairman, who later became chairman of British Railways, described Cox as “a giant among railwaymen”.

Cox was responsible for establishing all services and timetabling and by 1929, a year after the medal was presented, the entire London suburban network out of Waterloo and Charing Cross had been electrified, allowing fast, efficient commuter services in and out of the capital.

The medal is decorated with a winged Pegasus on the obverse (“heads”) and the words “Institute of Transport Incorporated MCMXX” (1920). The reverse reads “Railway Medal (Operating donor) Railway Companies Association Awarded to E C Cox CBE MVO 1928. It weighs 75gms and is hallmarked Birmingham 1928.

Further entries are invited for the Ewbank Clarke Gammon Wellers sale, the closing date for which is March 3. For further information, please contact the auctioneers on 01483 223101.