John Cooke Bourne

Sonning Cutting, close to the scene of an accident in 1842 caused by a slip in the bank. Workmen are repairing bank-slips on the southern side of the cutting at left. Print by JC Bourne published in 1846.

Landslip on Wolverton viaduct during construction of the London and Birmingham Railway

John Cooke Bourne (1814–1896) was an artist and engraver. He is best known for his lithographs showing the construction of the London and Birmingham Railway and the Great Western Railway. Each set of prints was published as separate books, and became classic representations of the construction of the early railways. Prints were often hand coloured for a vivid picture of events.

Lithographs

Clues as to the problems encountered can be seen for example in his print of Sonning Cutting where a terrible train accident had occurred in December 1842. The train had collided with a landslip and killed nine stonemasons returning from work in London to the West Country. The picture shows labourers working to clear further slips in the bank.

Another of his famous prints shows a large landslip on the London and Birmingham Railway just north of Wolverton railway works which occurred during the construction of the Wolverton viaduct over the River Ouse.

References

• Peter R Lewis and Alistair Nisbet, Wheels to Disaster!: The Oxford train wreck of Christmas Eve, 1874, Tempus (2008)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to John Cooke Bourne.

• Works by John Cooke Bourne at Project Gutenberg
• Science Museum source