Thank you to Julian Womersley for the following piece.
[A footnote from history]
In the days after the passing of Queen Elizabeth 2nd, there was much discussion about why the Royal Train was not used to convey the late Queen from Edinburgh back to London[1]. In 1901, however, there was no such reticence. The Dorking Advertiser & County Post of Saturday, 26th January 1901 tells the tale:
“… It was the privilege of a few who were on the Dorking platform of the London and Brighton line on Monday to catch a glimpse of his Royal Highness, who, as the Prince of Wales passed through to Osborne, returning to London on Wednesday morning by the same route, as the King of England …”
Perhaps more exciting still, especially for those residing in the vicinity, was this additional snippet in the same newspaper:
“HOLMWOOD
… It is a matter of interest to this village that the Royal Train stopped here on its way to London on Wednesday, and The King, accompanied by the German Emperor and the Duke of York alighted on the platform for the purpose of despatching a telegram …”
Perhaps not surprisingly, the same route was traversed by the funeral train that brought the late Queen Victoria’s body back to London from Gosport, where it had laid overnight after being brought across the Solent from Osborne. Many people turned out to pay their respects as the train passed by, as this extract from The Dorking & Leatherhead Advertiser of Saturday, 9th February 1901 records:
“CAPEL
… A large number of persons walked over to the side of the railway to see the special train pass conveying the remains of the late Queen from Portsmouth (sic) to London …”
The arrangements for working Queen Victoria’s funeral train on Saturday, 2nd February 1901 were set out in a four-page Special Traffic Notice, published the day before.
A prohibition on photography has meant that images of this special train are very rare, which makes this glass plate exposure particularly valuable. It thought to have been taken at Carshalton.
For further reading on this subject, see:
Willox, W A & Lee, Charles E – Queen Victoria’s Funeral Journey, The Railway Magazine, March 1940. The Railway Publishing Company, 1940.
[1] See, for example, The Daily Telegraph, Thursday 15 September 2022: Features, p.2.
