Hello,
Just came across this email group by chance and having an interest in
Ordnance Survey maps, thought I'd join.

I have a small collection of maps, in particular the One Inch Seventh
Series and the 1:50 000 First and Second Series.

I find it fascinating looking at different editions of the same map
to see how areas changed, or not, as the case may be.

A question I would like to pose concerns the depiction of railway
stations on maps, in particular on the One Inch Seventh Series. What
criteria, if any, was used to differentiate principal stations from
others? Often the choice, to me at any rate, appears rather arbitary.
Many small termini appear as a "principal station", yet larger, more
important ones do not.

In later editions, there appear to be fewer of the "principal
station" symbols being used.

Was it just by chance that one particular station was designated
as "principal", or was there more reasoning behind it?

Thanks in anticipation,
Peter