DEVOTED TO DUTY

When Roy the collie succeeded Newfoundland Brum at Euston he took to his duty with such enthusiasm that when the time came for him to retire he simply wouldn’t, despite being found a good home with a retired railwayman. After escaping seven times, and always being found attempting to collect money on railway stations, the Euston officials finally relented. He was taken back to the station and restored to his old kennel alongside his friend and fellow collector Rags. He happily lived there a further 10 months before his death in 1925, having collected over £3,000 during his tenure. Often asked for by name by the royals, his obituary appeared in ‘The Times’.

Many of the railway dogs continued to collect funds for charity even after death, taxidermied and placed in glass cases at railway stations. Some can still be seen today: Station Jim continues to keep an eye on Platform 5 at Slough; Laddie, who collected at Waterloo, is now in residence at the National Railway Museum in York; and London Jack I at the Natural History Museum in Tring, while his great-great-grandson London Jack V has taken up a post at the Bluebell

Railway in Sussex. He once again made headlines when his original coat colour was lovingly restored. Rather touchingly, it was said that when

London Jack I was originally placed on display at Waterloo, his son London

Jack II would always stop to greet his sire before starting work for the day.