New name for train commemorates town’s role in historic railway first

A train running on one of the world’s shortest branch lines has been named to commemorate a Black Country town’s role in building the first locomotive to run in the US.

“The Stourbridge Lion” was selected by a West Midlands Railway judging panel for the train’s new name after being suggested by a customer in a community competition.

The name comes from an early steam train built in the town in 1829 which was shipped to New York and became the first locomotive to run in the United States.

The train will make the journey between Stourbridge Town and Stourbridge Junction every day, one of the world’s shortest branch lines at 1.3km long.

A name plate for The Stourbridge Lion was affixed to unit 139001 earlier this month.

The new name makes The Stourbridge Lion the second train on the route with a feline-inspired name. The other shuttle was officially named “George The Station Cat” earlier this year after the ginger tom cat who lives at Stourbridge Junction station.

The two trains have been running on the line since 2009 and are maintained and operated by Pre Metro Operations Ltd on behalf of West Midlands Railway.

Jonny Wiseman, WMR customer experience director, said: “We are proud to be at the heart of our communities and this new name for our popular Stourbridge Shuttle reflects the long-standing connection between the Black Country and the railway. We’re almost coming to the end of Railway 200, a year-long celebration of two centuries of the modern railway, so we felt this name suggestion was a particularly timely reminder of Stourbridge’s industrial history.”

As part of the naming competition, WMR received a number of requests to honour the life of Ian Clee, a long-serving member of staff at Stourbridge Junction ticket office who died last year following a short battle with cancer. A memorial plaque in Ian’s memory was installed at the station earlier this month, next to the ticket office.