The London, Midland & Scottish Railway consisted essentially of the London & North Western (L&NWR), Lancashire & Yorkshire (L&YR), and Midland (MR) railways in England, with their extensions into Wales, plus some smaller constituents. It also included a considerable mileage of Scottish lines, but only a few miles of the Caledonian Railway (CR) are involved in this particular subject. Beyond the Nationalisation of the railways, the LMS largely became the London Midland Region (LMR), so that is embraced in this story too.
The railmotor
For younger readers, perhaps an introduction to push-pull trains is appropriate. In the early days of conventional railways, a train was a locomotive, tender (probably) and a train of vehicles, for which at least three people would be required to operate, possibly more before a through-braking…