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http://tillyweb.biz/thosed/index.htm
For Sale
Thomas Edmondson 1792 - 1851
Historical thumbnail sketch
Thomas Edmondson was born in Lancaster on the 30 June 1792. He was apprenticed to the famous Robert Gillow furniture making company and on completion became a journeyman cabinet maker. In 1836, when he was 44 years old, and after some difficult business circumstances, he was appointed as Station Master at Scotby on the Newcastle & Carlisle Railway, very quickly moving to Milton Station (subsequently named Brampton Junction, then (& now) Brampton).
Whilst at Milton, he developed the first card railway tickets, printed by a simple printing press and devised the system of accounting (for the cash). Edmondson's tickets carried serial numbers and it has been established that these tickets were the first printed item to carry serial numbers beating bank notes by several years!
Having been headhunted, Edmondson moved to Oldham Road Station on the Manchester & Leeds Railway in 1839 and made numerous refinements to his inventions whilst there. In 1841 he left the employment of the railway, and with other family members, he set up John B Edmondson Ltd. - a company created to produce his ticket printing machinery, ticket clippers, dating presses etc. Many railways throughout the world adopted his system, paying Edmondson patent royalties for the privilege. The company also printed tickets in bulk for railways and other forms of transport. Several other companies followed in Edmondson's footsteps - Waterlows, Booths, Williamson and not forgetting the railway companies themselves. Even as BR were winding down production in the 70's, hundreds of millions of tickets were still being produced by BR.
Thousands of millions of such tickets have been produced on a world wide scale - one very substantial invention............................................!
As far as can be established, 1987 was the approximate 150th anniversary of the invention and also the moment in time when British Rail started major modernization of ticketing systems with the introduction of the APTIS system. In early 1987 the Transport Ticket Society and the South Tynedale Railway Society joined forces to name the then recently restored Locomotive No 6. The STR is based at Alston in Cumbria, and is located on part of the Newcastle & Carlisle railway, within a few miles of Brampton. (Incidentally, British Rail turned down the opportunity to commemorate the anniversary, and, at the same time, publicize their move towards systems such as APTIS)
The nameplates are of unique design and were specially commissioned by the owner, and manufactured in the summer of 1987, by Newton Replicas of Nottingham, being British Rail's then nameplate manufacturer. They were attached to South Tynedale Locomotive No 6 during August 1987, on long term loan to STRy, and the locomotive formally named during a ceremony performed by the late Earl of Carlisle MC, who at that time, was the South Tynedale Railway's Patron. The naming ceremony celebrated the 150th anniversary of the invention of the card railway ticket. The ceremony was jointly arranged by the Transport Ticket Society and The South Tynedale Railway Society. Within the nameplate, 'tickets' have been cast and coloured in the standard ticket colours used in the late 1800's.
The sale
One locomotive nameplate 'Thomas Edmondson' and one subsidiary information plate are offered for sale by auction. If the auction fails to meet the reserve price then, the lot will be auctioned commercially.
Unlike most modern nameplates, they are cast in brass: (all measurements approx.)
The nameplate is 1070 x 223 mm and weighs 15.4 kg. Letters are 66 mm high (421/8" x 83/4"; letters 25/8"). The 'tickets' are scaled up to 60 x 113 mm (double edmondson size).
The subsidiary plate measures 302 x 148 mm and weighs 2.45 kg. Letters are 12 mm high (125/8" x 513/16"; letters 1/2").
Picture 1 - nameplate in ex-works condition August 1987
Picture 3 - nameplate in ex-loco condition December 2006
Picture 8 - a typical edmondson ticket
Conditions of Sale: Sensible offers by E mail to John Tilly (Delete NOSPAM from address)
The web sites of the two Societies can be accessed below and give details of their respective activities:
The South Tynedale Railway Society
"Thomas Edmondson and his Tickets", by Michael Farr, published by the author in 1991, ISBN 0 905033 13 2, outlines the history and development of Edmondson's invention and wider development or railway tickets. A free copy will be given to the purchaser.
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