2-889-262 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Arrival of Christmas Train, Eastern Counties Railway - drawn by Duncan, 1850. Porters unloading Christmas parcels at a station. Illustration to a poem by D. Has the Parcels Train arrived?...See you not it has? What else The traffic and the strife compels?...Those countless scores of ducks and geese, Those pheasants, turkeys - prophecies, Of coming hospitalities? That Train, like a chest, so titanic in size, Is a shrine that holds Gifts for both simple and wise...There box and bandbox, and hamper and all, Will be rummaged...by big and by small - By Peter and Thomas, by Philip and Paul...Great aunt and kind cousin, et cetera - The donors of all sorts of Christmas cheer - Be named with a blessing, perhaps with a tear, For all the good things these packets contain, To the station now brought by the Parcels Train'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.