A fascinating look at the historical practice of transporting the dead by train, both as a means of conveyance, and as a mark of ceremony.
Prior to 1988, when British Rail discontinued carrying coffins on their trains, carriage of the deceased was an important, through little talked about, undertaking associated with the railway.
Since the early days of train travel it had become a standard way of transporting the body to the area where the deceased was to be buried and in times of war trains were a major means for relocating the remains of soldiers killed overseas.
Today trains are generally associated with the transportation of coffins connected to royal funerals, or those of well-known figures such as Winston Churchill and Florence Nightingale, but in the past other coffins often conveyed by train were of people killed in railway accidents. In this book the author, Nicolas Wheatley, looks at this mix of social and railway history and explores a wide range of topics related to all aspects of this subject.
89 black & white illustrations, 17 colour photographs. 304 pages.