#boat train

[rastronomicals]

7:36 PM EDT May 15, 2026:

The Pogues - "Boat Train" From the album Peace and Love (July 25, 1989)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

[prozrel]

From the series “Passing”

[stephensmithuk]

Boat trains

Boat trains were dedicated railway services that operated from London and some other places to British ports to connect with ships. These trains did not go on the ships themselves, bar the Night Ferry, which is much later than the period we're discussing.

You could buy through tickets from London to various continental destinations (as well as places like the Channel Islands or Ireland) and these dedicated trains were indeed generally limited solely to those heading overseas. Liverpool Street, Charing Cross and Victoria were particularly associated with them:

Liverpool Street used Platforms 9 and 10 for its trains and you could actually walk into the Great Eastern Hotel directly from the platform.

Victoria used Platforms 1, 2 and 8. 2 is still commonly used for charter services and the British Pullman that connects with the Venice Simplon Orient Express, although the latter connection is stopping from 2024, partly due to Brexit.

Blackfriars had a wall showing the various destinations "served" from there, which is still on display after being cleaned up.

Once across the Channel/North Sea, you would board another connecting train operated by the relevant local company. London to Paris was therefore doable within a day. These through connections included the Orient Express, which had carriages from Calais and the various European destinations were displayed on the departure boards:

Trains also operated in connection with the ocean liners that left from places like Southampton.

As Watson does in "The Final Problem", you could register your heavier luggage subject to fees if you went over a certain weight and have this carried in a separate luggage section, it being moved between trains, ships etc. by porters. I am sure some of it got lost.

British Railways even developed a special battery-powered railcar, the Class 419 Motor Luggage Van, for the purpose of carrying registered luggage onto the quays at Dover where a third rail would cause safety issues, which would be attached to the main train until detached there.

Immigration formalities would be dealt with at the ports, but you could sometimes also deal with customs at your destination for registered luggage, Victoria having a facility for this.

Boat trains were considered the most premium expresses, using the most modern carriages, the newest engines, and the most experienced crews. They would also provide at-seat catering in some cases for first class passengers. Bradshaw's has plenty of advertisements for them.

Boat trains to Dover continued to run until the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994. You can still get through tickets from London to the Netherlands via the Harwich-Hoek van Holland ferry, but there is no longer a dedicated train, which stopped in 2007.

[stephensmithuk]

A Ferry Few Thoughts on Van Helsing's journey

@animatemush - some more info for you.

Abraham van Helsing is heading for London. He's not going to drive there - he probably doesn't have a car and in any event, the road network of Europe is nowhere near as developed as it will be 125 years later.

So, he's going via public transport. From Amsterdam, he'll get the 8.51pm train to Hook of Holland, which had a station literally next to the dockside. On arrival at 10.41pm, it will be a case of go through Dutch passport control and onto the ship, that left at 11.20pm every day in 1899.

With a 20-minute time difference (I believe) between the UK and the Netherlands, the steamer crossing takes 7 hours in reasonable weather, arriving at Harwich at 6am the following morning. Through British customs and onto a waiting Great Eastern Railway train at Harwich Parkeston Quay, specially put on just for the ferry passengers, then non-stop with breakfast available on the train, for an 8.10am arrival in London Liverpool Street.

The timetable is here:

The "up" boat trains arrived at Platform 10 at Liverpool Street, from where you could literally walk into the Great Eastern Hotel, owned by the company. Two tracks ran into the basement to bring stuff in (like fresh fish) and take rubbish etc. out.

****

As for telegrams, there were a large number of undersea cables by this point, including to the United States and also to various part of the British Empire. The successors to the cables form the backbone of the modern Internet.

[rastronomicals]

6:05 AM EDT August 28, 2019:

The Pogues - "Boat Train\" From the album Peace and Love (July 25, 1989)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last\.fm

[rastronomicals]

8:50 AM EDT July 16, 2019:

The Pogues - "Boat Train\" From the album Peace and Love (July 25, 1989)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last\.fm

[rastronomicals]

3:28 PM EDT June 12, 2026:

The Pogues - "Boat Train" From the album Peace and Love (July 25, 1989)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

[rastronomicals]

6:04 AM EST December 5, 2024:

The Pogues - "Boat Train" From the album Peace and Love (July 25, 1989)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm