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North Eastern Railway War Memorial

North Eastern Railway War Memorial is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand North Eastern Railway War Memorial rather than just read about it. In short: The North Eastern Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial in York in northern England. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to commemorate employees of the North Eastern Railway (NER) who left to fight in the First World War and were killed while serving.

North Eastern Railway War Memorial — main illustration
North Eastern Railway War Memorial — illustration

Key takeaways

  • North Eastern Railway War Memorial belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
  • Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
  • Connect North Eastern Railway War Memorial to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
  • Reproduce the core statement of North Eastern Railway War Memorial from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The North Eastern Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial in York in northern England. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to commemorate employees of the North Eastern Railway (NER) who left to fight in the First World War and were killed while serving. The NER board voted in early 1920 to allocate £20,000 for a memorial and commissioned Lutyens. The committee for the York City War Memorial followed suit and also appointed Lutyens, but both schemes became embroiled in controversy. Concerns were raised from within the community about the effect of the NER memorial on the city walls and its impact on the proposed scheme for the city's war memorial, given that the two memorials were planned to be 100 yards (90 metres) apart and the city's budget was a tenth of the NER's. The controversy was resolved after Lutyens modified his plans for the NER memorial to move it away from the walls and the city opted for a revised scheme on land just outside the walls; coincidentally the land was owned by the NER, whose board donated it to the city. The NER memorial was unveiled on 14 June 1924 by Field Marshal Lord Plumer. It consists of a 54-foot (16-metre) high obelisk which rises from the rear portion of a three-sided screen wall. The wall forms a recess in which stands Lutyens' characteristic Stone of Remembrance. The wall itself is decorated with several carved swags and wreaths, including a wreath surrounding the NER's coat of arms at the base of the obelisk. The memorial is a grade II* listed building, and is part of a "national collection" of Lutyens' war memorials.

Background The North Eastern Railway (NER), one of the largest employers in the north of England, released over 18,000 of its employees to serve in the armed forces during the First World War, many of them joining the 17th (North Eastern Railway) Battalion of the Northumberland Fusiliers; a number of deaths occurred when the North Eastern Railway Tug Stranton sank off the south coast of England. By the end of the war, 2,236 men from the company had died on military service overseas; others were killed at home by bombardments of east coast ports, such as the raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, and in the three Zeppelin raids on York. After the war, thousands of memorials were built across Britain. Among the most prominent designers of memorials was architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, described by Historic England as "the leading English architect of his generation". Lutyens designed The Cenotaph in London, which became the focus for the national Remembrance Sunday commemorations, as well as the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing—the largest British war memorial anywhere in the world—and the Stone of Remembrance which appears in all large Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and in several of Lutyens' war memorials in Britain, including the North Eastern Railway's. The war memorial is one of several buildings and structures in the centre of York related to the NER, including the company's headquarters and the city's original railway station. The site—chosen as being immediately adjacent to the company's head office—was originally a coal depot and carriage sidings.

Inception

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

North Eastern Railway War Memorial illustration
North Eastern Railway War Memorial: The memorial viewed from Station Road with the city walls in the background; the memorial was originally to abut the wall but the design had to be modified after it proved controversial.
The memorial viewed from Station Road with the city walls in the background; the memorial was originally to abut the wall but the design had to be modified after it proved controversial.
North Eastern Railway War Memorial: Close-up of the Stone of Remembrance on its own platform set forward from the screen wall; Lutyens designed the stone for the Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves commission, but it also features in several of his war memorials.
Close-up of the Stone of Remembrance on its own platform set forward from the screen wall; Lutyens designed the stone for the Imperial (later Commonwealth) War Graves commission, but it also features in several of his war memorials.
North Eastern Railway War Memorial: The rear of the Stone of Remembrance, viewed from the main part of the memorial. The NER's former headquarters is to the right and York's city walls are to the left; York Minster is visible in the background.
The rear of the Stone of Remembrance, viewed from the main part of the memorial. The NER's former headquarters is to the right and York's city walls are to the left; York Minster is visible in the background.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with North Eastern Railway War Memorial

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what North Eastern Railway War Memorial claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to North Eastern Railway War Memorial before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about North Eastern Railway War Memorial ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of North Eastern Railway War Memorial

In research
North Eastern Railway War Memorial appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry
Engineering practice reuses North Eastern Railway War Memorial in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom
North Eastern Railway War Memorial is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics British railway war memorials, Buildings and structures completed in 1924, Grade II* listed buildings in York, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life
Look for North Eastern Railway War Memorial outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.
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How to study North Eastern Railway War Memorial in 20 minutes

  1. Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
  2. Close the page and write down what North Eastern Railway War Memorial means in your own words.
  3. Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
  4. Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
  5. Explain North Eastern Railway War Memorial out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is North Eastern Railway War Memorial in simple terms?

The North Eastern Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial in York in northern England. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to commemorate employees of the North Eastern Railway (NER) who left to fight in the First World War and were killed while serving.

Why does North Eastern Railway War Memorial matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study North Eastern Railway War Memorial?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on North Eastern Railway War Memorial.

Tags

  • British railway war memorials
  • Buildings and structures completed in 1924
  • Grade II* listed buildings in York
  • Grade II* listed monuments and memorials
  • Monuments and memorials in North Yorkshire
  • North Eastern Railway (United Kingdom)
  • War memorials by Edwin Lutyens
  • Works of Edwin Lutyens in England
  • World War II memorials in England
  • World War I memorials in England

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