This postcard view showing a full scale reproduction of a Southern Railway steam locomotive inside Brixton’s Bon Marche department store is something of a curiosity.

[Photo credit: mattbuck]

The caption invites the public to “see this full scale reproduction of a S.R. loco and tender, 60 feet long,” with the postcard view showing a fairly realistic locomotive lined up on track facing a mocked up tunnel.

As far as we can see, the Southern Railway never created a locomotive called the Starlight Express, and the stage play of the same name didn’t launch until 1984, so we’re guessing that the loco was there as some sort of promotional device, perhaps for some model manufacturer.

The model planes near the camera would seem to back this up.

Now, we’re no experts on the Southern Railway (the fabulous Great Western are more our thing), but a brief bit of research seems to suggest that the locomotive is modelled on the Maunsell V “Schools” class 4-4-0. The smoke deflectors on the front would date the loco from 1931 onwards. [—]

We’re not entirely confident of this, so we’d appreciate the input of more knowledgeable persons!

A bit about Bon Marché

[Photo credit: John Lewis 1958]

Brixton’s Bon Marché opened in 1877 and had the dual honour of being the first purpose built department store in the UK, and also the first steel frame building in the country.

Becoming one of Selfridges Provincial stores in 1926, before being bought up by the John Lewis Partnership in 1940, the store traded as Bon Marché up to June 1975.

See more Brixton history here.

[Bon Marche history]