The New York Times, June 6, 1897:
ENGLISH RAILWAY TRAVELComforts and Discomforts Met with
in a Trip from London to Liverpool.
Comparison of American and English
Methods in Managing Railway Travel--
First-Class and Third-Class Compartments in the Same Car.
LIVERPOOL, May 22.--The Londoner is not only a careful saver of distances by cutting off corners, but a careful saver of breath as well, by abbreviating all the commonplace sentences that will bear it without danger of misunderstanding...
So in setting out for Liverpool a few days ago I had only to say "Euston" to the driver, and hear his reply of "Very good, Sir!" And away we went like the wind; and, although the distance was a good half mile, it seemed hardly five minutes before we were bowling between the big pillars in front of Euston Station, into the courtyard, and under the glass roof that makes the place tenable in all weathers.
And what happens when one reaches an English railway station? No experienced English traveler will ask any questions about Euston Station, but there are still several people in America who are not familiar with London and its ways. The first thing, then, that happens is the ever-present and ever-willing porter. He comes even before the shilling to cabby. He is on hand the moment the hansom stops, and next moment he has the satchel in his hand and the big coat over his arm, and waits patiently till cabby's little bill is paid.
"To the booking office" I tell him, which being translated means the ticket office, and away we go to the left into a large room, fenced off into offices, with many high partitions.
"What clawss, Sir?" the porter asks.
"First class" I tell him, and he stands by the ticket window while the clerk inside hands me out the smallest bit of pasteboard I ever received for a two-hundred-mile journey and return. The whole thing is not half as large as our American tickets, but thicker, and it is divided into two half sections by a perforated line through the middle. One half of the little card is for the outward journey, the other half for the return.
Then off porter and I start for the trainshed, where my train is standing, and porter hunts up a first-class smoking compartment and puts my things in it, and goes off well-satisfied with two or three pennies. And in a minute more I am walking up and down the long platform with a companion, who attracts as much attention from the waiting passengers as if he were the Lord Mayor in his robes. They fall back to make an open way for him, and stare at him well, and nudge one another with the elbow. All of which I am glad to see, as it goes to show that a prophet is not always without honor in his own country, for my companion is Hall Caine, and the people all seem to know him, and the staring does not disconcert him in the least.
British Compartment Cars.
And the trainshed? It is so much like one of our big ones in America that there is nothing to tell about it. Many tracks wide, many hundred feet long, roofed with an arch of glass, with platforms between the tracks, and the usual news stands, telegraph offices, and refreshment rooms. It all looks homelike, except the cars. They are so much smaller than ours, and so entirely different in shape, that they could not possibly be mistaken for Americans. But the American is likely to find himself mistaken in his estimate of them. Their comfort is not to be gauged by their size; they are as comfortable as so many Pullmans, barring the lack of space.
"Will you keep an eye on my luggage for a few moments?" I asked one of the platform porters.
"Aye, Sir," said he, with his finger to his cap. He was on the lookout for a job, and that was as good as another. The Englishman seems to leave his baggage lying about as if all men were strictly honest, but our check system deprives a man of that sort of confidence. A satchel in the hand is worth two in the bush.
There were various trains standing about, composed of many sorts of cars. Some were vestibuled trains, connecting saloon carriages, so that the passengers could move from car to car. The vestibuling arrangement looks more awkward on these cars than on ours on account of the small size of the cars. And what is a saloon carriage? perhaps you ask. It is a carriage made in one or two large compartments, with a table in the centre, and with very large windows, and with very soft cushions, and very good springs, the whole resembling a Pullman as much as this style of car will allow. And there were dining cars; and afterward, when under way, I saw people sitting in them eating as comfortably, apparently, as if they were on an American road.
Most people know, I suppose, that the first and third class passengers on these English roads travel not only in the same train, but in the same car. Second-class is very much out of vogue, though there are still second-class compartments, and corresponding tickets to be bought. The first compartment in a car is generally labeled third-class, because that is over the wheels. Then come two or three first-class compartments, in the middle of the car, where the motion is least felt, and another third-class compartment at the other end.
Third Class Cars and Passengers.
A third-class compartment on a good road like the London and North Western is not to be confused with what we call third-class or emigrant trains in America. The seats are well cushioned and upholstered, the floor carpeted, the windows clean, and everything snug and comfortable. It is no wonder that so many Englishmen travel third-class, particularly as going third-class here excites no such comment as would follow a well-to-do American's traveling in one of our cheap emigrant trains. It is one of those things an American has to learn here, that the third-class passenger is just "as good" a man, and is treated with the same consideration as the passenger who goes first-class. There is no odium attached to it.
|
| | |
UK News Pages: UK - London - Wales - Scotland - Northern Ireland
|
|
All of the UK is one time zone at
GMT, with British Summer Time
(DST) from late Mar to late Oct
|
BBC World Service
|
England News
London Weather Forecast & Current Conditions
England Links and Reference
Wikipedia: England
EarthCam: England Webcams
BBC WebCams
London Underground subway map, .pdf
MultiMap aerial photos & maps
UK Ordnance Survey: Get-a-Map
United States Embassy, London
Canadian Embassy, London
Gov'ts on the WWW: UK Gov't Links
London News Sites
The BBC World Service website includes a searchable archive of over 1 million news stories. You can view the site in 43 languages.
The Times of London
|