Trailer – On the Record: People of the Railways

Jessamy: From train staff walkouts to handwritten notes in railway timetables... the story of Britain's railways isn't just about steam engines and steel tracks. It's about the people who built them, worked on them, travelled on them, and sometimes fought for their rights along the way.

I'm Jessamy Carlson, a family history specialist at The National Archives.

This is On the Record at The National Archives, uncovering the past through stories of everyday people.

2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the first passenger railway, and we're exploring the human stories behind this revolutionary transport system.

From railway workers who went on strike...

James: it's one of the posters that says, workers keep away. The company is trying to employ people in your place. If you cross the picket line, you will be regarded as a blackleg or a scab. 

...to passengers struggling with complex timetables...

Mike: October 1848 Ben Rose's Railway Travellers guide. And in it, someone's marked up a journey they want to make. So, they've underlined amongst a mass of tiny print and numbers and all sorts. They've underlined the train times they want to make for a journey from Manton, for Uppingham to Stamford.

Jessamy: ...and families who built their lives around railway careers.

I know my mother's family always holidayed in Aberystwyth, and it's because my granny had an uncle who was employed at the station in Aberystwyth. So, when they wanted to go to the seaside, the obvious place was to go and see ‘uncle so-and-so' in Aberystwyth, because that was a kind of a key route for them. 

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