Oral History : John Merdith – Designer of the East Coast Mainline diversion

John Meredith was a railway engineer who started work in 1945 on the Southern Railway. After ten years he went to Kings Cross and then, when Eastern and North Eastern regions combined, he was relocated to York. He was responsible for the design of the diversion from Temple Hirst to Colton Junction. He describes the reasons for the diversion and the problems in its planning and construction. The only High Speed line before HS1 built to 140mph though restricted to 125 because of signalling limitations. John is now involved with the Derwent Vally Light Railway.

You can hear his interview here –

Part 1 Problems

Part 2 Solutions

Part 3 High Speed

Date
January 2018
Level
Item
Access status
Yes - contact York Greenways
Extent
3 audio clips saved in 'clyps' and on DVD available throiugh York Greenways at hello.yorkgreenways.org
Theme
Railway
Decade
,
  • Decade