Train Ride for the Dead

Most of us think of trains as a thing to take the living to work or for pleasure. But that wasn’t always the case.

When cholera epidemic in 1848-49 struck, the cemeteries of London were full, and the dead had to be taken elsewhere. So they built a railway for the dead, complete with a luxury lounge for the first class mourners.

I stumbled over this while looking for funeral arrangements in the 1800s, and the more I read the more interesting I though it. The articles I read were more interesting than any I can lay before you, so the links are below.

Necropolis Also worth a look for the photographs of the mourners lounge, it’s an exterior view but the image just shows the great care and workmanship that went into the building. Now admittedly I’ve always had a soft pot for glazed bricks, I think they finish a building beautifully, and I mourn the lost of such things in the modern era. Still, taste and time moves on, but it’s always worth keeping an eye on history and this might interest some of you.