WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Did London Once Have a Train for the Dead?

0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:07.400
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:10.600
<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Bogelbaum, and this is another classic episode of

0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.280
<v Speaker 1>the show. In this one, we delve into the slightly

0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:19.119
<v Speaker 1>morbid but interesting history of the London Necropolis Railway, a

0:00:19.239 --> 0:00:22.080
<v Speaker 1>train line that served the dead along with the living.

0:00:24.280 --> 0:00:27.960
<v Speaker 1>Hey Brainstuff, laurenvogelbaumb. Here, would you ride a train with

0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:32.040
<v Speaker 1>undead passengers? Or if not, what about a train with

0:00:32.240 --> 0:00:37.199
<v Speaker 1>actually dead passengers? From eighteen fifty four to nineteen forty one,

0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:40.760
<v Speaker 1>the London Necropolis Railway took a forty minute journey across

0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.839
<v Speaker 1>twenty three miles that's thirty seven kilometers, carrying both the

0:00:43.960 --> 0:00:47.040
<v Speaker 1>deceased and the living who mourned them to a cemetery.

0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:50.879
<v Speaker 1>After departing a special station near Waterloo built specifically for

0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.559
<v Speaker 1>the line and its passengers, the train rocked its way

0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:56.480
<v Speaker 1>across the serene countryside on a route selected for its

0:00:56.520 --> 0:01:00.840
<v Speaker 1>comforting views. Once arriving at the Brookwood seventy in Surrey,

0:01:01.080 --> 0:01:03.720
<v Speaker 1>at the time, the world's largest cemetery and built in

0:01:03.760 --> 0:01:07.160
<v Speaker 1>partnership with the railroad, funeral goers would lay their dearly

0:01:07.200 --> 0:01:09.640
<v Speaker 1>departed to rest, and then have drinks and snacks at

0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.640
<v Speaker 1>one of the cemetery's to train stations. We spoke with

0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.280
<v Speaker 1>John Clark, author of the two thousand and six book

0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:19.399
<v Speaker 1>The Brookwood Necropolis Railway. He said both cemetery stations had

0:01:19.440 --> 0:01:22.600
<v Speaker 1>refreshment rooms, usually run by the wives of the station staff.

0:01:22.959 --> 0:01:25.919
<v Speaker 1>The cakes and sandwiches served would probably have been homemade,

0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:28.440
<v Speaker 1>and it would have been customary to eat this lunch

0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:30.560
<v Speaker 1>with a cup of tea at the station before returning

0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:34.160
<v Speaker 1>to London. The refreshment rooms were fully licensed, so guests

0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:38.240
<v Speaker 1>could have alcoholic drinks as an alternative to tea or coffee.

0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:41.120
<v Speaker 1>After this brief repast, the guests then boarded the train

0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.760
<v Speaker 1>and returned to London. The train's passenger list a bit

0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:47.160
<v Speaker 1>lighter than before. The idea may seem odd today when

0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.320
<v Speaker 1>many of us keep the dead as far from daily

0:01:49.360 --> 0:01:51.640
<v Speaker 1>life as possible, but at the time it was a

0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:56.320
<v Speaker 1>popular one. During its peak, London's Necropolis Railway transported more

0:01:56.360 --> 0:01:59.040
<v Speaker 1>than two thousand dead bodies a year. The number of

0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:01.720
<v Speaker 1>live mourners at care reached into the tens of thousands.

0:02:02.600 --> 0:02:05.640
<v Speaker 1>Even so, riding in these same train as corpses took

0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:09.360
<v Speaker 1>some getting used to. Londoners initially wondered whether loading up

0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:11.680
<v Speaker 1>the mourners and the deceased and transporting them on the

0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.360
<v Speaker 1>same train was a bit too practical. The Bishop of London,

0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:18.160
<v Speaker 1>when appearing before the Houses of Parliament a full twelve

0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:22.800
<v Speaker 1>years before the Necropolis Railway opened, considered it improper. Clark

0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.480
<v Speaker 1>says that the Bishop stated he would consider the hurry

0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.640
<v Speaker 1>and bustle connected with it as inconsistent with the solemnity

0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:32.680
<v Speaker 1>of a Christian funeral. Plus, there were the corporeal elements

0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:35.560
<v Speaker 1>with which to contend, such as the odors and potential

0:02:35.600 --> 0:02:39.240
<v Speaker 1>disease transmission of the bodies. Social mores were tested too,

0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:41.720
<v Speaker 1>could the rich really ride side by side with the

0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.840
<v Speaker 1>poor to bury their dead? And the concern wasn't limited

0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.480
<v Speaker 1>only to people of different social classes. There could be

0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:51.600
<v Speaker 1>different religions aboard, each requiring its own traditions. The solution,

0:02:51.800 --> 0:02:55.320
<v Speaker 1>at least aboard the Necropolis Railway was elegant in its simplicity.

0:02:55.680 --> 0:02:58.560
<v Speaker 1>Separate cars were designated by class, but all were allowed

0:02:58.560 --> 0:03:02.119
<v Speaker 1>to ride, regardless of their station in life. The cemetery, meanwhile,

0:03:02.160 --> 0:03:04.600
<v Speaker 1>allowed the rich and poor to be buried side by side,

0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:08.040
<v Speaker 1>but sectioned separate areas for various religions. It was a

0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:11.040
<v Speaker 1>workable solution for the time, and one driven by a necessity.

0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.919
<v Speaker 1>I few could argue London's intown cemeteries were already chalk full.

0:03:15.720 --> 0:03:18.280
<v Speaker 1>By the middle of the nineteenth century, Londoners were being

0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:20.280
<v Speaker 1>buried at a rate of about fifty thousand a year.

0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.960
<v Speaker 1>Previously buried bodies were sometimes removed and cremated to make

0:03:24.040 --> 0:03:27.080
<v Speaker 1>room for new ones, until Parliament began closing admission at

0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.360
<v Speaker 1>city cemeteries and shipping bodies two greener pastures, like the

0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.200
<v Speaker 1>out of town Brookwood Cemetery, which encompassed about one thousand,

0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:37.160
<v Speaker 1>five hundred acres. By the nineteen twenties, motorized horses were

0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.640
<v Speaker 1>the vehicle of choice for moving the dead, and many

0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:42.400
<v Speaker 1>Londoners had access to either automobiles or one of the

0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:44.600
<v Speaker 1>trains of the living that also made a stop at

0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:48.080
<v Speaker 1>Brookwood Station, and in April nineteen forty one, during World

0:03:48.120 --> 0:03:50.800
<v Speaker 1>War II, the London terminus of the funeral train was

0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.400
<v Speaker 1>damaged in a German V two rocket bombing. Brookwood no

0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.400
<v Speaker 1>longer serves exclusively as a departure spot for the dead

0:03:57.400 --> 0:04:00.360
<v Speaker 1>and their mourners, but remnants of these stations are still

0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:02.680
<v Speaker 1>visible if you know where to Look, how's that for

0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:12.200
<v Speaker 1>living history. Today's episode is based on an article on

0:04:12.240 --> 0:04:15.400
<v Speaker 1>how stuffworks dot Com that has since been lost to time,

0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.200
<v Speaker 1>as these things sometimes are. Rain Stuff is production of

0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.960
<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com, and it's

0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:24.760
<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. For four more podcasts from my

0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:28.119
<v Speaker 1>heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:29.640
<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.