1878 - THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY SYSTEM, LONDON
1878 - THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY SYSTEM, LONDON
An engraving illustration from 'The Penny Illustrated Paper' of October 26, 1878. To quote from the paper:
The illustration represents a triumph of engineering accomplished on the Metropolitan line between Farringdon Street and King's Cross, where it was found necessary to carry the Metropolitan line over the line devoted to the Great Northern and Miidland traffic.
#engraving #train #london #metropolitan #vintage
I've been hoping for more posts from the Penny book and this is a great one. The trains have a toy-like appearance in this illustration. That's quite a bridge complex.
ReplyDeleteThere were some great engineers in England then. Great post, Mike Perry!
ReplyDeleteThis engraving gives me a funny feeling !
ReplyDelete1. Farringdon station is south of Kings Cross. I wonder how the Metropolitan trains could cross the Midlands line from Kings Cross to the North
2. Neither company ever used 0-4-0 locomotives
3. The lower locomotive looks like a broad gauge, meaning GWR only !
Or maybe it's just me ...
LT
Laurent TRUILLET I'm not knowledgeable about the London trains, even though I lived my early years in west London. But the Metropolitan Railway opened using GWR broad gauge locomotives
ReplyDeleteQuote from Wikipedia:
By the 1850s, many steam-powered railways had reached the fringes of built-up London (which was much smaller than now). But the new lines were not permitted to demolish enough property to penetrate the City or the West End, so passengers had to disembark at Paddington, Euston, Kings Cross, Fenchurch Street, Charing Cross, Waterloo or Victoria and then make their own way via hackney carriage or on foot into the centre, thereby massively increasing congestion in the city. The Metropolitan Railway was built under the ground to connect several of these separate railway terminals. It opened in 1863, and was the first line of what was to become the London Underground. Marylebone was connected to the Bakerloo line in 1907,[8] however Fenchurch Street was never connected to the system - a peculiarity that remains to the present day.
Mike Perry Hello Mike,
ReplyDeleteI'll come back to you this afternoon. I have to leave now...
LT
Ann Kennedy The Metropilitan was the first line of what was to become the London Underground.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many illustrations in the book of Penny Illustrated Paper - the book was produced in 1878 and is really just all of the papers for that year combine in order. The binding is now in a poor state though.
Mike Martin There's much good to be said about the Victorian era in Britain, especially with engineering and architecture - and some not so good, of course!
ReplyDeleteMike Perry That book is special and will take gentle handling if the binding is poor. I like engravings and at one time it must have been popular to remove them from books and frame them because the flea markets here are full of them. I collect etchings that represent early domestic life so I'm always on the look-out although I rarely purchase any at this stage:-) Just don't need any more "stuff"!
ReplyDeleteAnn Kennedy The front cover is no longer attached and inside a previous owner has tried to mend a few pages with cellotape! Lots of old books over here get pulled apart for the illustrations, which are then framed. I must admit I've done this myself in the past. When our children were young we had a monthly stall in a flea market, so did a bit of trading. It was great fun and surprisingly profitable.
ReplyDeleteMike Perry I would love to have seen your stall! That sounds like a lot of fun, and a lot of work, but very enjoyable. Tape, staples, paperclips and even rubber bands ruin so many things over time!
ReplyDeleteAnn Kennedy My son used to love helping and recording the sales we made under various headings, so we knew which sort of thing sold and which didn't. He always added up the day's takings. It was fun and paid for our holidays abroad.
ReplyDelete