ABSTRACT
Of Queen Victoria’s reign it has been said that there was no greater development in social well-being than that offered by railways; in King Edward’s time it reached its zenith, in comfort and convenience, for those who could afford to travel. On some lines each compartment in a corridor train had a bell-push by which one could summon a waiter. The bell indicator in the dining-car probably did no more than show from which coach the summons had issued and the waiter had to look inquiringly into each of its six or seven compartments before he could identify his customer. When the railways adopted corridor trains and dining-cars they were lavish in providing for the hunger and thirst of the comparatively small numbers travelling. Edwardian trains, like the great sailing ships, were costly and exacting in human labour, but to travel in them had its magnificence and it is good to remember their finest qualities.
