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If you had to choose one feature that exemplifies Victorian England,
railways (or railroads as we know them in the US) would not be a bad
choice. The railway transformed everyday life for all classes of English
people, changing not only the landscape, but industry, leisure, and more.
This 1894 lithograph celebrates the 1830 maiden voyage of the locomotive
*Northumbrian, *of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, the world’s first
inter-city train system. Look how small the original locomotive was!
Passenger trains grew out of innovations in freight transport necessitated
by the Industrial Revolution. Although the technology of rail
transportation was millennia old, it took the advent of the steam engine to
bring it to its modern familiar form. Mines in Europe and England had used
short horse-drawn railroads for centuries, but with the increased demand
for raw materials, and the increased output of goods, the 19th century
required faster and more extensive rail networks. British engineer and
businessman George Stephenson pioneered early steam locomotives and founded
the world’s first multi-city railway in 1830. His Liverpool & Manchester
Railway ferried both freight and passengers along its 30-mile route between
the industrial center of Manchester and the busy seaport of Liverpool.
Early passenger carriages lacked some amenities but offered the novelty of
speed. | A.B. Clayton, *Opening Liverpool & Manchester Railway*
The changes the steam locomotive and the railways brought were immediate.
Thirty miles doesn’t sound impressive today, but before trains, travel
anywhere—even short distances—was expensive, complicated, slow, and dirty.
Only the wealthy could afford horses or time away from labor, roads were
nonexistent or poorly maintained, and less prosperous people were consigned
to the distances they might travel on foot. Some improvements to roads and
passenger coaches were made in the 18th century, but for any sort of
meaningful, affordable long-distance travel, it took the railways.
Stephenson’s train turned that 30-mile trip from a daylong journey to the
excursion of an hour.
*The Illustrated London News* enthusiastically covered Her Majesty’s
groundbreaking railway journey in 1843
By the mid-1840s railways had spread across England, and the Age of the
Rails was well underway. Queen Victoria’s own first train trip was a media
sensation.
Railway holidays gained popularity throughout the British Empire. This
exuberant poster advertises excursions to see horseracing in India.
Alongside the technological development, the lives of working people were
changing, too. The new railways needed thousands of new workers—from the
“navvies” who built the rails (the name comes from “navigator,” and was
first applied to the construction workers on canals in the 1700s), to the
“linemen” who worked aboard the trains, to the clerical staff in stations
and offices all over Great Britain.
19th century staff of the Ffestiniog & Welsh Highland Railway.
Throughout the period, the workday got gradually shorter, vacation time
became more common, and increased wages meant more people could now afford
to take holidays, ushering in the new tourism industry. *The seaside became
the destination of choice*, transforming countless coastal villages into
resort towns. Another activity reinvented thanks to train travel was* the
celebration of Christmas*. Now far-flung family members and friends could
easily gather together to celebrate.
Christmas excursionists aboard a first class compartment, circa 1860. Check
out the clever hat rack!
Although everyone benefited from the speed and convenience of train travel,
the class system prevailed, and the luxury (or lack thereof) of your
railway journey depended on how much you could pay for it. Conditions for
third-class passengers were slow to improve from the early open carriages,
but second and first class passengers soon enjoyed more amenities.
Passengers boarding a second class carriage in the 1840s (*Illustrated
London News*). The second class would eventually disappear altogether from
English railways by the 1870s as third class carriages became better
appointed.
Cover artist Brett Helquist perfectly captured the spirit of 19th century
travel posters.
In *How to Get Away with Myrtle*, Myrtle takes a rail trip aboard a private
luxury train. Excursion companies (or the otherwise very rich) could
commission railways to use their networks and employees for private trains
or to add private carriages to existing trains. The astonishing luxury of
these private carriages is hard to imagine, for those of us used to
utilitarian commuter trains or modern subways! Carriages had all the
comfortable appointments of the finest Stately Homes; modern amenities like
gaslight, electricity, and running water; and everything from barber shops
to convertible beds to fancy restaurants.
*The Illustrated London News* shows life aboard a 19th century train. The
captions point out the features like having a smoke, the “Very Refreshing”
private sink, going to bed aboard the sleeping car, a little girl saying
“Good night, Ma,” and a young woman relishing the blissful luxury of her
private room (which she was unlikely to have enjoyed at home).
But period photographs say it even better. Here are some great images of
luxury carriages from the Victorian era:
Elegant passengers in the 1880s enjoy a carriage trying to be as Victorian
as possible. The cord running the length of the ceiling could be a gasline
for the lights, or it might be the emergency signal cord.
Although England pioneered train travel, the most lavish carriages came
from America’s Pullman Company of Chicago. This car stayed in America for
the Chicago & Alton line, but railways all over the world used Pullman
carriages.
A Pullman sleeping carriage, featuring a daybed instead of their famous
convertible berths.
A lounge carriage with electric lights, plush velvet furnishings, and the
finest decorative fixtures
A dining car fancier than most restaurants!
Although such luxury trains are now mostly a bygone, there is an enduring
romance to the golden age of rail travel, a time when luxury and technology
combined to transform the landscape and the lives of people everywhere. You
can join Myrtle on her railway journey October 6.
The post #MyrtleMondays: All Aboard! Trains in Victorian England appeared
first on Elizabeth C. Bunce.