- George Dow
George Dow [http://www.steamindex.com/library/dow.htm Biography and bibliography] (30 June 1907–28 January 1987) joined
London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) as a grade five clerk atKings Cross railway station inLondon ,England . He held many offices on the LNER (particularly as Press Relations Officer throughout the Second World War) andBritish Railways .He is perhaps best known as a
draughtsman for hisdiagrammatic railway maps for the LNER andLondon, Midland and Scottish Railway and as an inspiration to celebrated designerHarry Beck on theTube map . Their work led to a style of design which has revolutionised the world ofUrban rail and metro maps .On the creation of British Railways in 1948, he was appointed Public Relations and Publicity Officer for the Eastern & North Eastern Regions. In 1949 he took the same post at the larger London Midland Region. He rose to Divisional Manager, Birmingham, and later
Stoke-on-Trent , and retired in 1968.He also wrote twenty-one railway histories, starting with studies for the LNER, and later including his 3-volume history of the
Great Central Railway and a two volume work on the carriages of theMidland Railway .He was the founding President of the Model Engineering Trade Association in 1944, and of the Historical Model Railway Society in 1950.
He died on 28 January 1987 aged 79 years.
References
Further reading
Telling the Passenger Where to Get Off by Andrew Dow, Capital Transport, London, 2005. ISBN 1-85414-291-7
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