The London Railway of the Dead

[elYisusdelaNazza]

The only train where the satisfaction of the passengers is so complete that they never, ever, complain.

[martijnvanweele]

"Railway of the Dead" sounds like it could be a title of a Doctor Who episode...

[christophervalkoinen]

And it wasn't just the Necropolis railway. Think about it; if you died in Victorian Britain away in a different town from where you lived then how were your family going to get your body home? It might take more than a week by road; can you imagine the smell if that trip was made in a hot summer? Most of the major railway companies had special Hearse or Corpse vans for transporting bodies. It's something that continued long after the war when you could buy a ticket for your relatives body from British Rail. Winston Churchill's body had an entire special train to transport him and the mourners to his funeral.

Also don't forget that Britain's railways worked through 2 world wars. In WW1 and WW2 there were special Ambulance trains that carried the injurred and the dead back from the theatre of war to hospitals around the country. The trains were kitted out with beds, pharmacies, operating theatres, morgues and even padded cells for shell shock victims.

[jameslaidler]

Quite a morbid train of thought. A grave task indeed. I'll see myself out.

[Milesco]

The end of the line really _IS_ the End of the Line.

[thomashughes_teh]

I can imagine how this made for good closure for friends and family who went for the ride. It was one last thing they could all do together with the deceased.

[neruneri]

You know what, it sounds weird to us today but any practical method that managed to secure enough dignity in death to at least get everyone, even the poor and destitute who couldn't pay for it, a proper grave in contrast to the mass graves of old, is truly worth celebrating in my book.

[Lexbian]

imagine finding that you'd gotten on the wrong train and ended up here... at least the quiet carriage would be quiet, i guess.

[tombombadillo]

Jesus, I'm binging on these videos atm

[sydhenderson]

I did know this one because the Necropolis played a major role in the third season of "Ripper Street." I had to look it up on Wikipedia to make sure it was a real thing.

[ajuk]

What he neglects to mention was that these were just small branches off the main line, and not a purpose built 20 mile railway.

[HansFranke]

You might not know, but Vienna had a similar situation with the new Zentralfriedhof build in the 1870s. So they thought about building a railway, but in the end, tramways carried the dead until end of WW2

[AV]

Melbourne used to have (at least) two of these. One, in Springvale, was a siding that no longer exists, but the more interesting one is Fawkner, because while funeral trains no longer run, the line became a commuter line and the cemetery is just an intermediate station on the railway line, so the trains still run through it, and all still stop there.

[SwedePlaysGames]

"Would YOU like to ride the bone train?"

[uberseehandel]

It is called Brookwood, not Brockwood. It includes the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in the United Kingdom. It is still in use and many well known people are buried there.

[SollowP]

Necropolis Railway sounds like a bad ass band name honestly.

[BroonParker]

It's BROOKwood cemetery - and it is thriving. Fascinating place. Nearby Woking station is equally odd with its main entrance NOT on the town side but facing away for funerary purposes. Worth a visit.

[birdies]

It's interesting because Sydney also had a railway of the dead taking people to the largest cemetery in Australia, Rookwood Cemetery. Which even has its own postcode

[Duspende]

I feel so sorry for those bummed out tracks.

[AtoZbyLocalBus]

I like this video, with the extra bit information, about why it was stopped being used. I don’t remember hearing it in any other video, about this train service. Also I did know this before I saw any video on YouTube about it.