LMS Route: Rugby to Wolverhampton
LMS Route: Rugby to Leamington
LMS Route: Rugby to Tamworth
LMS Route: Rugby to Leicester
LMS Route: Rugby to Market Harborough

Rugby Station: lnwrrm894

A September 1915 view of Rugby station's down platform as a LNWR train from Euston arrives in the station. On the left of the photograph is an indicator board, a device designed to advise passengers as to when and where the next train will depart from. In this instance, it might not be in use, or if it is, the station clock isn't showing the correct time. The indicator boards pointing to the down platform bears the legend 'Coventry & Birmingham' and 'Nuneaton, Stafford, Crewe & the North' with departure times of 12:23 and 12:15 respectively whereas the clock clearly states 1:36pm. The train standing at the platform in the distance has passengers with luggage standing alongside with open doors to the carriages. The signal cabin seen on the right is Rugby No 3 signal cabin and was in control of trains departing or arriving via the scissors crossing located in the centre of the long platform.

The date of the photograph can be determined by the billboard on the newsstand next to the Daily Post's advertising board announcing 'French Air Raiders Success'. This Times billboard refers to 'The Retreat From Vilna' which was on the Eastern Front which describes the strategic withdrawal from the Galicia-Poland salient conducted by the Imperial Russian Army during September 1915 in World War One. The Russians' critically under-equipped and (at the points of engagement) outnumbered forces suffered great losses in the Central Powers' summer offensive operations, which led to a withdrawal to shorten the front lines and avoid the potential encirclement of large Russian forces in the salient. While the withdrawal itself was relatively well conducted, it was a severe blow to Russian morale. Following this retreat and in response to much criticism of the commander in chief, his uncle Nicholas Nikolovich, Tsar Nicholas II took up the reigns of command himself. This assumption of command on Nicholas's part was one of the contributing factors toward the Russian Revolution which followed a year and a half later.

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