Transient Communities: Travel, Knowledge, and the Victorian Railway Carriage, 1840-90

摘要

This paper explores the temporary connections formed between passengers within the Victorian railway carriage during the development of Britain's early railway systems. Railway travel has long been established as a democratising experience. Yet the role of the passengers is not well understood. The prevailing viewpoint contends that inter-carriage communication died out over the century, but with the amalgamation of second-and third-class travel, the opportunities for mixing became much greater. The opportunities for experiencing new mobilities as a group established temporary bonds between passengers, made stronger by delay or accident.