A one way ticket on the Necropolis Railway to Brookwood Cemetary

[Andy_T]

in London from 1854 there was a dedicated platform at Waterloo station for transporting the dead to Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey. It was developed in response to a cholera epidemic and congested London cemeteries could not cope with so many burials.   
At it's peak the Necropolis line from the late 1880's and until the early 1900's serviced around 170 burials a month that were sent to Brookwood Cemetery and the train transported the body and sometimes mourners as well. Coffins were loaded onto a separate carriage to passengers and mourners.     

Presumably arrangements were made by undertakers and people did not take grandad to Waterloo Station in a wheelbarrow?
I am curious to know what would be the package cost of a funeral like this and how much would the additional charge have been for the freight cost to move a coffin with a body on this journey?

Also does anyone know if the train could be used to move a dead body between the counties, say Derbyshire to Leicestershire and if so what would the procedure be and the cost compared to a living person buying a ticket for the same journey?

Andy_T

[Edward Scott]

Lots more information and the costs here http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20161018-the-passenger-train-that-carried-the-dead.

st & 2nd class tickets for the deceased were available.

The platform was not at Waterloo station, it was about 500 yards before Waterloo with the station on Westminster Bridge Road - the facade still exists as Westminster Bridge House (no 121). The old track line can be seen on Google Earth.

Oddly I cannot find a map of London that shows the branch line of the station.

rgds

Edward

Update, the original platform as adjacent to Waterloo and moved in 1902.

[ThrelfallYorky]

Yes, quite apart from moving defunct royalty, many lesser mortals went by train to the town where they were to be buried.

[Edward Scott]

An estimated 203,041 people were buried at Brookwood Cemetery.

[tillypeg]

A good read: By Catharine Arnold - Necropolis, London and its dead. Pub. 2006.

[hanes teulu]

1878 map - Necropolis Term marked

http://london1878.com/stanford20b.htm

[Edward Scott]

A map from 1920 with the new location

https://maps.nls.uk/view/102345864#zoom=6&lat=1995&lon=5488&layers=BT

[Mart 'n' Al]

The original facade still stands, near the back of Waterloo.  I also enjoyed The Necropolis Railway - A Novel of Murder, Mystery and Steam, by Andrew Martin.

Brookwood is an amazing place to visit.

Martin

[Edward Scott]

The original facade still stands, near the back of Waterloo.  I also enjoyed The Necropolis Railway - A Novel of Murder, Mystery and Steam, by Andrew Martin.

Brookwood is an amazing place to visit.

Martin

Not the original, this is the 1902 facade and, as I said earlier, is on Westminster Bridge Road

Edward