FROM THE RM OCTOBER 1904

“Although the Lickey Incline is neither the steepest nor the longest upon a British railway, it has special claims to pre-eminence which no others possess. Where steeper gradients occur, they are invariably to be found on lines which had comparatively little traffic – but no less than 60 trains in each direction pass over the Lickey Incline in the course of 24 hours, without counting ‘specials’ or bank engines descending after assisting trains to the summit. The trains themselves are not the light ones often run over difficult sections of road; on the contrary, they are almost always heavy, especially the splendid Bristol expresses, which frequently consist of a dozen heavy bogie vehicles.”