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An Early Railway Manager - A Perpetual Failure
Cornelius Stovin is not a familiar name in railway history circles. To my surprise, he is not even well known amongst those who study the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR), the company for...
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The Social Backgrounds of Female Railway Clerks - 1875-1886
Mid-way through last year, I looked at the first sixteen female ledger clerks employed at the London and North Western Railway’s (L&NWR) Birmingham Curzon Street goods station between 1874 and...
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The Hours Victorian Railway Clerks Worked - 1856
Being employed on the Victorian railway would always mean long hours, as with most other jobs of the period. Kingsford argued that ‘in the early years [of the railways] hours of work were extremely...
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'Titanic' and the London and South Western Railway - An Intimate Relationship
The London and South Western Railway had an intimate relationship with Titanic, the ship having sailed from the company’s Southampton Docks. However, the association goes deeper than just a doomed ship...
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Archives, Artefacts, Amateurs and Academics - A Conference Report
The Conference Centre's 'Sunken Lounge'To say that my time in Derby on Friday and Saturday was stimulating is a bit of an understatement. For those who don't follow my Twitter feed, on Friday and...
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Defining the Early British Station Master
Late Victorian and Edwardian Station Masters are perceived to have been highly respected individuals. They commanded the stations at which they were based, and were pillars of the community;...
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A Misinformed but Devious Take-over of a Railway
The Somerset and Dorset Railway in 1875The ultimate point of my PhD on the London and South Western Railway’s (LSWR) management between 1870 and 1910 is to determine the quality of managers' and...
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A Brief History of the Female Railway Clerk 1830-1914
While I have written frequently about female clerks on Britain’s railways before 1914, I have never penned a complete history. Therefore, this post will provide a broad survey of the changes in women’s...
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Did the Management Ever Control Britain's 19th Century Railways?
Alfred ChandlerThe rise of what Alfred Chandler called the ‘visible hand’ of management has dominated the business history literature for forty years. Simply put, Chandler argued that managers came to...
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A Temporary End to Turnip Rail
Dear all. It is with much sadness that I write this post.On Monday I had my Thesis Advisory Panel, where, after much discussion, it was decided that I need more work on my PhD than could be done within...
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Re-start
Dear FriendsI am looking to re-start the TurnipRail Blog soon - so keep your eyes peeled!Best WishesDavid
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'It is impossible to manage a [pre-1914] railway by theory" ... or is it?
In the early 1900s the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) was one of five British railway companies that began sending its clerks to the London School of Economics (LSE) to undertake classes in...
View Article'Pretty Festoons of Holly Leaves Are Displayed' - The Decoration of Railway...
In the late nineteenth century most railway employees would find themselves at work over the Christmas period, even on Christmas Day itself. Therefore, it is unsurprising that many felt the need to...
View ArticleCounting customers - railway traffic before Christmas in the 1800s
There is no doubt that the four or five days before Christmas are some of the busiest for Britain’s railways as people travel home to see their friends and relatives, or return bleary eyed from...
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For ticket holders and dignitaries only - why I felt cheated by "Steam on the...
‘The events’ writes the Transport for London's (TfL) website ‘will explore the tube’s history and will look at the role it will play in the future – both in the lives of Londoners and the economy of...
View ArticleTeacher, Tram Manager and Entrepreneur: The Remarkable Life of Euphemia Penman
Euphemia Penman was a remarkable woman who rose to become one of the most respected managers in the emergent tram systems of late-Victorian London. In the period, given the social conventions of the...
View ArticleNote on the Dugald Drummond post
I have today post one article from Turnip Rail because, well, I don't agree with it. The post, written in 2010, was on the topic of the London and South Western Railway's Locomotive Superintendent...
View Article"One broad principal of economy"; One female booking clerk in 1903
Whenever a railway company decided to employ a woman as a clerk before 1914, the newspapers always described the event as an ‘experiment’ or an ‘innovation.’ The Caledonian Railway took such a step...
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Working City to City: The LNWR's on-train typist service of 1910
I am sure from the very earliest days of the railways passengers must have done work on the train. It is, some might say, a tradition of the travelling businessperson. However, the declining cost and...
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How drunk were late-Victorian train drivers?
Every now and again, when I go looking for such things, I find cases where Victorian engine drivers got drunk and then proceeded to operate their vehicles. A few days ago I discovered one case from...
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When Victorian railways conspired against Christmas
One of the features of the late Victorian British railway industry was competition, with railways in all parts of the nation trying to out-perform each other in order to win the patronage of...
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Railways and 'the beautiful game' before 1914: football, fans and formalisation
Recently I have been doing some work on how the railways of Britain influence the development of organised sport before 1914 and most of my investigations have focussed on the ‘beautiful game’:...
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From nothing to everything: the development of the career railway worker
It has been proclaimed in many places, at many times that before 1914 a job on the railway was a job for life. Railway workers' careers apparently followed a set course: starting out in their teenage...
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Don't Confuse Your Bradshaws
One of the questions I frequently get asked as a railway historian is “do you ever watch the Michael Portillo show? You know, the one where he goes around with a Bradshaw’s Guide?” Usually, I respond...
View ArticleBritain’s first railway? Business and Beaumont
Two lines originally thought to have been built around one year apart fight it out for the claim to be the ‘first’ British railway - this post explores the history of one of them. Huntingdon Beaumont...
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