2-798-550 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Third class passengers, 1844. Railway travellers exposed to the elements: 'The rattling pig-pens upon wheels, misnamed third-class carriages (before the late alterations), were despicable affairs, with the wonderful property of always meeting the rain in whatever quarter the wind might be blowing. They were a species of horizontal shower-bath, from whose searching power there was no escape....There was no escaping the rain. If you turned your back to it, it filled the nape of your neck; if you faced it, you had overflowing pockets, with an additional cataract from the front rim of your hat, which before long was as limp as wet brown paper...Everything was ruined from your health downwards, and these were called"cheap excursions"'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol V.