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Looking forward to 2012 with Turniprail (and a thanks to all)
I thought that I would use this first post of the year to lay out some personal goals for the blog, my research and myself over the coming twelve months. I really hope that all come true, but I doubt...
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Explosions, Crime and Rewards - Stories From The Victorian Station Waiting Room
The waiting room was an early feature of British railway stations. The Liverpool and Manchester Railway, which opened in 1830 and was the world’s first inter-city railway, built waiting rooms at its...
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From Railway Clerk to Railway Manager - Changes in the Route to Management...
One of the questions that I ask in my PhD is how exactly did people get promoted into managerial positions within the London and South Western Railway’s (L&SWR) Traffic Department? This is...
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The Dynamics of Cab Fares from Waterloo Station in 1864
Recently, I received through the post a map of the London and South Western Railway that I suspect was published around 1863 or 1864 as part of a publically sold timetable. The map itself is very...
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"It has long been considered necessary" - The London and South Western...
In the mid-Victorian period a strong community spirit grew amongst railway workers of all grades, with one of the most community-orientated railway companies to work for being the London and South...
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"In No Way Were the Children Stinted" - The London and South Western Railway...
My last post looked at the early years of the London and South Western Railway (L&SWR) Servant’s Orphanage . The orphanage was an embodiment of the community spirit that existed within the railway...
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Guest Post by Keith Harcourt - TurnipRail's 2 Year Anniversary
For today's two year anniversary of TurnipRail, I asked a number of people who I hugely respect to write short pieces for the Blog. Many thanks to Keith Harcourt, Academic Liaison Officer for the...
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TurnipRail 2 year Anniversary - The Best of the Second Year
What a couple of years it has been. As I write, my Turnip Rail website hosts 213 posts on a range of railway history topics. However, despite what I have produced, the past year, and especially the...
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Gourvish and Wolmar - TurnipRail's 2 Year Anniversary - Guest Posts
This is the last TurnipRail Two-year anniversary post, and I am glad to say I finish off with two prestigious guest posters, Terry Gourvish and Christian Wolmar.Kevin Tennent, Me and Terry at Battersea...
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'The Railway Company do not want it.' - The L&SWR's Purchase of the...
One of the biggest events in the London and South Western Railway’s (L&SWR) history was the company’s purchase of the Southampton Dock Company (SDC) in 1892. This was not just important for the...
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"Stone Cold Ginger Beer" - The Station Refreshment Room after 1870 - Part 1
In September last year I did a post for the excellent Victorianist Blog on the subject of nineteenth century railway station refreshment rooms. Indeed, high-profile criticisms of their food and service...
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The Refreshment Rooms of Spiers and Pond - The Station Refreshment Room after...
In my last post I talked about the frequent complaints about the service and food in railway station refreshment rooms after 1870. However, there were exceptions where refreshment rooms were considered...
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Reducing Railway Industry Fragmentation in the early 1900s
Christian Wolmar has written frequently that one of the major causes of the railway industry's current woes, in terms of operational costs and passengers fares being too high, is the fragmentation of...
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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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