The Mayoress of Watford, Mrs Jill Greenstreet, made a special train journey on Saturday on a local line which she normally uses several times a week.

The occasion was the 125th anniversary of the opening on May 5, 1858, of the Watford to St Albans branch line of the former London North Eastern Railway.

The Mayor and Mayoress were greeted at Watford Junction by the chairman of the Bricket Wood Society, Rodney Hale, and the deputy Mayor and Mayoress of St Albans, Councillor and Mrs Arthur Nowell, who had boarded the train at St Albans.

Flags and balloons decorated the special coaches attached to the normal diesel train and the traffic manager from Watford Junction, Derek Thomas, was there to accompany the train back to Bricket Wood.

There the company alighted and inspected the murals by Bricket Wood Art Club depicting the glories of the station when it regularly welcomed thousands of trippers from London who came to visit the local fairground. There was a short walk to St Stephen Parish Centre for a celebration glass of wine and a buffet lunch, served by members of the Bricket Wood Society in period costume.

One man who missed the show was Michael Korn, a former Bricket Wood resident now living in Scarborough, Ontario. A keen railway enthusiast, it was he who last year wrote to the society with ideas for celebrating te 125th anniversary and the event took off from there.

Among those who travelled on the train were Peter Burton and Sandy Walkington, the SDP Alliance candidates for Watford and St Albans respectively.

[From the Watford Observer of June 3, 1983]