Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Bogelbaum, and this is another classic episode of the show. In this one, we delve into the slightly morbid but interesting history of the London Necropolis Railway, a train line that served the dead along with the living. Hey Brainstuff, laurenvogelbaumb. Here, would you ride a train with undead passengers? Or if not, what about a train with
actually dead passengers? From eighteen fifty four to nineteen forty one, the London Necropolis Railway took a forty minute journey across twenty three miles that's thirty seven kilometers, carrying both the deceased and the living who mourned them to a cemetery. After departing a special station near Waterloo built specifically for the line and its passengers, the train rocked its way across the serene countryside on a route selected for its
comforting views. Once arriving at the Brookwood seventy in Surrey, at the time, the world's largest cemetery and built in partnership with the railroad, funeral goers would lay their dearly departed to rest, and then have drinks and snacks at one of the cemetery's to train stations. We spoke with John Clark, author of the two thousand and six book The Brookwood Necropolis Railway. He said both cemetery stations had refreshment rooms, usually run by the wives of the station staff.
The cakes and sandwiches served would probably have been homemade, and it would have been customary to eat this lunch with a cup of tea at the station before returning to London. The refreshment rooms were fully licensed, so guests could have alcoholic drinks as an alternative to tea or coffee. After this brief repast, the guests then boarded the train and returned to London. The train's passenger list a bit
lighter than before. The idea may seem odd today when many of us keep the dead as far from daily life as possible, but at the time it was a popular one. During its peak, London's Necropolis Railway transported more than two thousand dead bodies a year. The number of live mourners at care reached into the tens of thousands. Even so, riding in these same train as corpses took
some getting used to. Londoners initially wondered whether loading up the mourners and the deceased and transporting them on the same train was a bit too practical. The Bishop of London, when appearing before the Houses of Parliament a full twelve years before the Necropolis Railway opened, considered it improper. Clark says that the Bishop stated he would consider the hurry and bustle connected with it as inconsistent with the solemnity
of a Christian funeral. Plus, there were the corporeal elements with which to contend, such as the odors and potential disease transmission of the bodies. Social mores were tested too, could the rich really ride side by side with the poor to bury their dead? And the concern wasn't limited only to people of different social classes. There could be different religions aboard, each requiring its own traditions. The solution, at least aboard the Necropolis Railway was elegant in its simplicity.
Separate cars were designated by class, but all were allowed to ride, regardless of their station in life. The cemetery, meanwhile, allowed the rich and poor to be buried side by side, but sectioned separate areas for various religions. It was a workable solution for the time, and one driven by a necessity. I few could argue London's intown cemeteries were already chalk full. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Londoners were being buried at a rate of about fifty thousand a year.
Previously buried bodies were sometimes removed and cremated to make room for new ones, until Parliament began closing admission at city cemeteries and shipping bodies two greener pastures, like the out of town Brookwood Cemetery, which encompassed about one thousand,
five hundred acres. By the nineteen twenties, motorized horses were the vehicle of choice for moving the dead, and many Londoners had access to either automobiles or one of the trains of the living that also made a stop at Brookwood Station, and in April nineteen forty one, during World War II, the London terminus of the funeral train was
damaged in a German V two rocket bombing. Brookwood no longer serves exclusively as a departure spot for the dead and their mourners, but remnants of these stations are still visible if you know where to Look, how's that for living history. Today's episode is based on an article on how stuffworks dot Com that has since been lost to time, as these things sometimes are. Rain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com, and it's
produced by Tyler Klang. For four more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.