2-798-977 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Deposits of railway plans with the Board of Trade - the rush at the door, 1845. 'The Legislature having, probably from an oversight, fixed the 30th of November as the last day for the reception of Railway plans, sections, &c., at the Board of Trade, many parties, pressed for time, left the completion of their work to the latest possible period, and, consequently, the vicinity of the office of the Board of Trade, on Sunday afternoon, presented a scene of excitement and bustle happily very unusual on the Sabbath...As the evening advanced, the arrivals became more frequent, and at nine o'clock they poured down Whitehall [in London] most plentifully, and in the most deplorable disorder. Having disgorged their freights of parchment and paper, the cabs drew off, and the depositors exhibited unequivocal signs of joy at the triumphs they had secured'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII.