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Fancy sharing a little nudge then? Got a full grid but no idea who we're dealing with. Google's not helping in the slightest.

Betty (2) Google "9th April birthdays railways"

Betty2, the phrase from the extra letters is actually a cryptic clue to a name. It's a pity the preamble didn't say "these provide a clue to the person..." instead of "these identify etc"

Thanks qesue, I have it now, but I don't see how the letters "spell what the cells they fill represent in the original grid". I was looking for something similar to "diagonal". It would have been better to come up with a clearer instruction.

Dryden, I don't see how the extfa letters phrase is a cryptic clue. I have BMSR, for which I can find nothing on google and no connection to the person.

Tomsdad, The phrase from the extra letters could not be a cryptic clue to BMSR since the first word is singular, not plural. The first three words of the phrase indicate a letter; the fourth word indicates a short word; the last two words indicate an abbreviation. Put all that together and you get the thematic name.

Considering the lightweight, and possibly obscure, nature of the theme the preamble should most definitely have said that the extra letters provide a cryptic clue to the identity of the person. Not to do so means solvers just waste time looking for sources of a possible quotation.

Thanks Dryden, I get it now!