Author : John M. Clarke
ISBN : 9780853616559
Cover : paperback
Price : £19.95

The fascination continues in what must surely have been one of the most unusual train services to operate on a British railway – the service operated from London Waterloo to Brookwood Necropolis, near Woking. The book tells how the railway conveyed the deceased and their accompanying mourners to their final resting place, the Brookwood Necropolis, which at one time was the largest cemetery in the world. The Necropolis was originally promoted as concerns about public health in the nation’s capital and elsewhere had increased, London having suffered its first cholera epidemic in the mid-19th century. The service finally ceased shortly after the Second World War. The railway has been the inspiration for two novels, read the full true story of this remarkable railway which author John Clarke has been studying for more than 25 years.

The Brookwood Necropolis Railway had many unusual features – in the cemetery there were two stations: one for the Anglican section and another for the Non-Conformists, and even after death class distinctions were made with first, second and third class coffin tickets available. Somewhat surprisingly there were licensed premises at the stations. Visitors to the station bars have said that there were notices displayed stating ‘Spirits served here’!

A5 format, 192 pages, 115 photographs/maps/building plans/ etc.