1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:10,039 Speaker 1: Lauren bog Obam. Here, would you ride a train with 3 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: undead passengers? Or if not, what about a train with 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,320 Speaker 1: actually dead passengers? From eighteen fifty four to nineteen forty one, 5 00:00:19,440 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: the London Necropolis Railway took a forty minute journey across 6 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:25,959 Speaker 1: twenty three miles that's thirty seven kilometers, carrying both the 7 00:00:26,040 --> 00:00:29,280 Speaker 1: deceased and the living who mourned them to a cemetery. 8 00:00:29,720 --> 00:00:32,960 Speaker 1: After departing a special station near Waterloo built specifically for 9 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,599 Speaker 1: the line and its passengers, the train rocked its way 10 00:00:35,640 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: across the serene countryside on a route selected for its 11 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:43,120 Speaker 1: comforting views. Once arriving at the Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, 12 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,800 Speaker 1: at the time the world's largest cemetery and built in 13 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:49,240 Speaker 1: partnership with the railroad, funeral goers would lay there dearly 14 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: departed to rest, and then have drinks and snacks at 15 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,640 Speaker 1: one of the cemetery's two train stations. So we spoke 16 00:00:54,640 --> 00:00:57,320 Speaker 1: with John Clark, author of the two thousand six book 17 00:00:57,400 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: The Brookwood Necropolis Railway. He said both cemetery stations had 18 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: refreshment rooms, usually run by the wives of the station staff. 19 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:07,840 Speaker 1: The cakes and sandwich has served would probably have been homemade, 20 00:01:08,319 --> 00:01:10,559 Speaker 1: and it would have been customary to eat this lunch 21 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: with a cup of tea at the station before returning 22 00:01:12,640 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: to London. The refreshment rooms were fully licensed, so guests 23 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,800 Speaker 1: could have alcoholic drinks as an alternative to tea or coffee. 24 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: After this brief repast, the guests then boarded the train 25 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: and returned to London, the trains passenger list a bit 26 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: lighter than before. The idea may seem odd today, when 27 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: many of us keep the dead as far from daily 28 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:33,720 Speaker 1: life as possible, but at the time it was a 29 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:38,399 Speaker 1: popular one. During its peak, London's Necropolis Railway transported more 30 00:01:38,400 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 1: than two thousand dead bodies a year. The number of 31 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,800 Speaker 1: live mourners that carried reached into the tens of thousands. 32 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:47,720 Speaker 1: Even so, riding in the same train as corpses took 33 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: some getting used to. Londoners initially wondered whether loading up 34 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: the mourners and the deceased and transporting them on the 35 00:01:53,800 --> 00:01:57,440 Speaker 1: same train was a bit too practical. The Bishop of London, 36 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 1: when appearing before the Houses of Parliament a full twelve 37 00:02:00,360 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: years before the Necropolis Railway opened, considered it improper. Clark 38 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:07,560 Speaker 1: says that the bishop stated he would consider the hurry 39 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,680 Speaker 1: and bustle connected with it as inconsistent with the solemnity 40 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,760 Speaker 1: of a Christian funeral. Plus, there were they corporeal elements 41 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:17,639 Speaker 1: with which to contend, such as the odors and potential 42 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:21,120 Speaker 1: disease transmission of the bodies. Social morays were tested to 43 00:02:21,680 --> 00:02:23,800 Speaker 1: could the rich really ride side by side with the 44 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: poor to bury their dead? And the concern wasn't limited 45 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,600 Speaker 1: only two people of different social classes. There could be 46 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: different religions aboard, each requiring its own traditions. The solution, 47 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,400 Speaker 1: at least aboard the Necropolis railway was elegant in its simplicity. 48 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:40,639 Speaker 1: Separate cars were designated by class, but all were allowed 49 00:02:40,639 --> 00:02:44,160 Speaker 1: to ride, regardless of their station in life. The cemetery, meanwhile, 50 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,600 Speaker 1: allowed the rich and poor to be buried side by side, 51 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,120 Speaker 1: but sectioned separate areas for various religions. It was a 52 00:02:50,120 --> 00:02:53,079 Speaker 1: workable solution for the time, and one driven by a necessity, 53 00:02:53,120 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: if you could argue. London's in town cemeteries were already 54 00:02:56,400 --> 00:02:59,959 Speaker 1: chock full. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Londoners 55 00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,040 Speaker 1: were being buried at a rate of about fifty thousand 56 00:03:02,080 --> 00:03:05,799 Speaker 1: a year. Previously buried bodies were sometimes removed and cremated 57 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,560 Speaker 1: to make room for new ones, until Parliament began closing 58 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:12,119 Speaker 1: admission at city cemeteries and shipping bodies to greener pastures 59 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: like the out of town Brookwood Cemetery, which encompassed about 60 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: one thousand, five hundred acres. By the nineteen twenties, motorized 61 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: horses were the vehicle of choice for moving the dead, 62 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: and many Londoners had access to either automobiles or one 63 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:26,280 Speaker 1: of the trains of the living that also made a 64 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,919 Speaker 1: stop at Brookwood Station, and in April ninety one, during 65 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:32,680 Speaker 1: World War Two, the London terminus of the funeral train 66 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,320 Speaker 1: was damaged in a German V two rocket bombing. Brookwood 67 00:03:36,360 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: no longer serves exclusively as a departure spot for the 68 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,200 Speaker 1: dead and their mourners, but remnants of these stations are 69 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:44,640 Speaker 1: still visible if you know where to look. How's that 70 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: for living history? Today's episode was written by laure L 71 00:03:52,320 --> 00:03:54,680 Speaker 1: Dove and produced by Tyler Playing. For more on this 72 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: and lots of other Lively topics, visit our home planet, 73 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works dot Com.