Rail travel between London and York, early 1840s

[mab_browne]

My character is arranging the transport of a dead friend in a sealed coffin from his place of death (London) to his home in the north of England for burial. This link implies that it was possible to travel from London to York by rail by 1841 - close enough for my purposes

Comments

[thekumquat]

The York and North Midland Railway says it was part of the first trunk route from London to York via Birmingham and Derby. The East Coast Main Line doesn't seem to have been completed until the 1850s, so going direct up the east coast via the present-day route doesn't look like an option.

I'd guess it would have been 2 hours London Euston to Birmingham, then about 2 on a stopping train to Derby, then an hour or two to York, possibly with a couple hours in between some of the trains, but as it was described as a 'trunk route' that implies there were planned connexions. So most people would do it in a day, or possibly two if they wanted a break.

It wouldn't take longer than that - a stagecoach could probably do it in three days. It's only 200 miles!

[loganberrybunny]

2 hours London Euston to Birmingham

Not in the early 1840s! It's about 100 miles, and journeys with a 50mph average were some years in the future.

[stormwreath]

From what I can gather from these sites

[donald_r_oddy]

General cargo trains would take longer than the same passenger service. However it's possible that a coffin could be taken as luggage on a passenger train.

I'm not sure there would be much time saving from non-stopping trains as they still had to stop to take on water fairly frequently. The mail train would probably have priority and other services scheduled around it.

Agreed that the latest locomotives would be far faster in the 1852 than in 1840 but some railway companies would be using old ones.

[snailbones]

I don't know a great deal about specific railways that far back, but I agree with thekumquat that it could probably be done in a day, or two at most, allowing for changes, connections and transporting something a bit awkward like a coffin.