The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-10-16
EARLY TIME i .A4,lEs
THE FIRST RAILwaxeuipE THAT WAS
ISSUED IN ENGLAND.

Il
ISSUED IN ENGLAND.
nradshaw.s Modest yafurae ana the
Dinicuttiess the. aianche.ter Quaker
Had 10 Oycrcome-rra,ciins In the
Ola Time Pioneer Trains.
1t was an inspired moment when Il
occurred to George Bradshaw. the Man
chester Quaker and map engraver. to
publish his time table In 1880. and even
u his intricate pages. ms has been sng.
gested, have helped to drive many a
IMAM out OF his wits, It IS quite certain
that John Bull could never do without
his Bradshaw.
In the early days OF this friend OF
those who travel by rail Punch pub
lished an amusing, IL not very truthful,
skit entitled "Bradshaw-A Mystery"
In which two young lovers, severed by
Leagues of railway, plan TO meet by
the friendly assistance OF Bradshaw
But. after consulting his pages until
they We're on the verge OF lunncy, the
lady, in despair, exclaims, Bradshaw
has nearly maddeRed me-" And me-"
rejoins Orlando.
He, talks of trains arriving that never
start,
OF trains that seem to start and necr mr..
rive.
or functions where no union Is effected.
1 or coaches meeting trains that never
come.
and so on, but the genial Quaker only
smiled and went on his way.
In these days, when the United King
dom is covered with an intricate net
work of many thousands of miles of
railways and when Its time tables
spread over considerably more than
thousand densely packed pages of
type. II seems impossible to Imagine
time when you could count all tile rail.
ways on the fingers of one hand and
when the only guide was medal car
rled in the pocket, on which We're en-.
graved the times Of stnrting of dozen
trains OF the Grand Junction railway.
This was the condition of things In
the year of Queen Victorla's accession.
and two years later. on Oct. 10. 1890.
Bradshaw published his first halfway
Time Table. u tiny pamphlet four aud
a half inches long and three inches
wide. bound In green cloth with gold
lettering. 1t was nothing more than II
collection of the monthly time tables
issued by the seven railway companies
then Ia existence and was as modest n
volume as ever came from the press.
or this pioneer Bradshaw there are
only four copies now In existence. Of
which two are In the Bodleian library
at Oxford. and IL by chance one OF
them were to come into the market II
would certn!.'y fetch many times its
weight In gold.
The success of his Time Table en-.
couraged bradshaw to more ambl-
tious effort. and he inaugurated the
year 1910 by publishing his Railway
Companion, n twin volume of but thir.
ty-eight pages. including maps, and
sold at shilling. This was quite indie.
pendent of his Time Table and publish.
ed concurrentty for eight years, when
the two volumes were merged in the
Guide.
These original Bradshaws were
published Mt irregular intervals and
were kept up to date by the Issue of
monthly time sheets, which often fail
ed to make their appearance until the
9th or 9th of the month. from the dicl.
Guilty Id learning the changes In times
from the railway authorities.
The companies, indeed. strongly re.
sented Bradshuw's innovation and put
every possible obstacle in his way. Bat
their obstinacy was not proof against
the Quaker's ingenuity and persistence.
and at last they capitulated and nctu.
ally agreed. at his request, to adjust
their time tables for the beginning OF
each month. 1t was on Dec. l., 1911.
that Bradshaw began to publish his
Guide monthly .'under the direction
and with the assistance of the railway
companies" and from this date things
begun to run smoothly for him.
The first monthly Guide was OF thlr.
ty-two pages and contained forty-two
or forty.three lines of railway, to such
an extent had they multiplied In four
or five years. 1t was published both In
volume form and displayed OH a single
large sheet, price threcpence, which
could be mounted on stIff board and
hung up in offices and business houses.
In 1913 Bradshaw had blossomed
into the Monthly General Railway
and Steam Navigation Guide, with
elaborate tables containing '.list OF
shares. exhibiting ut one view the cost.
traffic length. dividend and market
value of the same"
These early railway guides are most
interesting reading. The trains are de-
scribed as first class, second class,
mixed, fast and mail. Third class trav-
elers had the choice of travelling on the
roof or in open wagons resembling cat.
tie trucks, while gentlemen riding in