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1 of 253523 objects
The "District railway" map of London, Jubilee edition 1887. 1887
67.0 x 108.0 cm (whole object) | RCIN 1077170
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This map details the railway services serving London in the late 1880s. Printed in celebration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, the map has a suitably royal theme, emphasising the ease in which it was possible to get to Windsor Castle from the centre of London.
The map was published by the District Railway, one of the first two companies to run trains on London's underground network, and highlights stations served by District trains in red, with all other stations coloured blue. By also advertising new connections to Whitechapel and Hounslow, it is an excellent piece of marketing, demonstrating how one could travel from east to west London on one train. It is also an early depiction of London's underground network and, though informative, it could be rather difficult for the ordinary passenger to use without prior knowledge of the city. It is cluttered with text and stations served by District trains are shown much larger than others, often taking up whole blocks of the city. The map is also slightly misleading, it explicitly states on the cover that there were direct District services to Windsor via Ealing, even though that service had closed in 1885, and passengers to Windsor would instead have had to change trains several times, as they still do today.
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67.0 x 108.0 cm (whole object)
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