An important development for which William Marriott’s skill and experience was responsible was the application to railway work of concrete. He laid out a concrete shop at Melton and patented a machine for making blocks. He had introduced concrete fencing posts in 1909 and had patented and registered 135 inventions and designs using both concrete and reinforced ferro-concrete. These included signal posts, girders, gate posts for level crossing gates, fittings for gate houses, platforms, walls, sleepers, bridging blocks and station buildings and name boards. Tests were carried out at Melton and at the factory of Messrs. Ellis at Leicester, and from June 1916 to May 1917 concentrated particularly on signal posts. The set of signals guarding the western approaches to Melton was supposed to be one of the largest concrete signals in the world. Concrete signal posts made at Melton were also later supplied to the Great Northern Railway, Great Central Railway and Midland Railway. Concrete sleepers first appeared on running lines in June 1916 in Melton and the road bridge at Melton station was of Mr. Marriott’s design replacing the original L&F brick structure.

Various tints and liveries had been used by the various small companies eventually forming the Joint, but on its formation the M&GN had to adopt its own distinctive livery. Mrs. Marriott suggested that as the Joint lines traversed so much of beautiful Norfolk framed in great areas of gorse on many heaths, what better colour for a locomotive or lengthy pedigree than golden gorse? So the deep lustrous tint of golden gorse when seen in bloom by the acre was adopted.

Melton Constable Works was perhaps a unique settlement in the British Isles being not a railway town but a railway village. Its growth is shown by the census figures, where in 1881 the population was 118, in 1891 393, in 1901 934, and in 1911 was 1,157. The Works closed in October 1936 and the Melton Gasworks finally closed on 3rd March 1962.
National Railway Museum