LMS

This section contains information about some of the boats originally built for LMS - The London, Midland & Scottish Railway.

According to Tom Foxon (in The Industrial Canal – the Railway Interchange Trade) boats working to/from the railway interchange depots were called “station boats”, and the interchange basins “station arms”.  This would be primarily the LMS and GWR/Bantock fleets.  The issue was further confused when BTW converted 12 of the ex-LMS boats to long distance butties and (allegedly) named them after railway stations - Alsager, Birdwood, Crewe, Ditton, Exeter, Ford, Grantham, Hereford, Irlam, Jesmond, Kidsgrove and Lincoln  (except that Birdswood is named after a signal box!). 

Bantocks built boats for carriers other than the railway trade, but so many of the Bantock boats have lost their original identity it is now impossible to say whether they were built for the railway interchange trade or not.  Although Bantocks were agents for GWR and built all (most of?) their boats, at least one Bantock-built boat (Bride) ended up in the LMS fleet!

Too Many Boats - a history of British Waterways' narrow boat carrying fleets by Robert J Wilson is the 13th book in the Robert Wilson series and has more on Station boats. Published 1980.

Content is still being added from various sources.  Please contact us if you have information that does not appear in this section.