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A bank holiday sketch (Punch – 1901): 'Change 'ere, 'ave we? Then kindly oblige me with a sardine-opener.' Travelling to the sea-side was a popular outing, enhanced by the provision of 'Parliamentary trains', which had to run daily at a cut-price fare so that everyone could afford to travel, though not necessarily in first-class comfort.
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First-class train (above) and second-class train (below) on the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, 1837. The third-class carriages were even more basic. It is an interesting commentary on society of the time that three classes of travel were thought necessary.
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Notwithstanding the obvious success of the Stockton-Darlington line, the company running the Liverpool-Manchester canal made no attempt to improve their service. The Liverpool & Manchester Railway was therefore projected, marking the true beginning of railroad enterprise in Britain. As became usual, a prospectus was issued in proper form and a Parliamentary Committee sat on it for a considerable time. The successful opening of the Manchester & Liverpool line on 15 September 1830 was succeeded by a plethora of railways – many projected, some built. Opposition to new lines, however, continued to be strong and influential. Surveys ahd to be made when property owners were away and when parsons were at church. Northampton would not have the proposed line at any price, so the line had to be run through the hill in which the celebrated Kilsby Tunnel became a monument to the ability of Robert Stephenson. Oxford and Eton distinguished themselves by opposing Brunel and his Great Western Railway. Well-known figures vowed that they would never travel by rail; people made wills leaving relatives money provided that they would not travel by rail; one testator directed that none of the promoters of a certain railway should ever be entertained in his house after his death, nor should their sons have any food or drink there. |
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For anyone with an interest in the subject, another book, recently published contains a further, in-depth story of The Birth of the Steam Locomotive click here for more information…
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