3-053-701 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Testimonial to Mr. Ramsbottom, late engineer of the Crewe Railway Locomotive Factory, 1873. 'Upon the retirement of Mr. Ramsbottom, the eminent mechanical engineer, from the management of the great works of the London and North Western Railway Company, at Crewe, the sum of £500 was voted by the shareholders to provide a testimonial in acknowledgment of his services. The general design was suggested by and carried out under the supervision of Mr. Tipping, M.P., one of the directors of the company. Upon a pedestal, supported by four plinths bearing the company's arms, Science, holding Hercules in chains, points proudly to a plan of Crewe, as one of the great centres and sources of her victory over brute force and the material forces of nature. The pedestal is enriched with four medallion portraits of George Stephenson, Henry Booth, R. Trevithick, and Mr. Ramsbottom, under whose portrait is the following inscription: "To J. Ramsbottom, in acknowledgment of great talents, rare qualities, and eminent services. The London and North Western Railway Company. R. Moon, chairman." This work was manufactured by Messrs. Elkington in oxidized silver, relieved with gold'. From "Illustrated London News", 1873.