The 1923 Grouping
Some of the railways (as can be seen in the list above) were already part of major companies by the time the Railways Act 1921 came into force on 1 January 1923. Many others were not included in the Grouping, and continued to operate independently. After his death in 1931 the surviving railways continued to be run from the Tonbridge office by Austen until most were closed due to road competition, while the rest were nationalised into British Railways in 1948.
Read more about this topic: H. F. Stephens