The Queen took a moment to remind us all how far we have come in 175 years yet how remarkably close we are tied to the past.
The Telegraph reports on Queen Elizabeth II's recent rail excursion from Slough (near Windsor Castle) to Paddington. It's a relatively short jaunt that takes all of 19 minutes, but it's wildly intriguing when you consider the impetus behind the event.
This was a recreation of a trip that took place 175 years prior by Queen Victoria-the very first rail trip by a British monarch. That particular excursion took 25 minutes, although Queen Victoria claimed in her journal that it was a 30-minute voyage.
It would seem that in almost two centuries we have managed to shave all of six minutes off this simple trip.
The report does highlight how different a train ride is in 2017, however. For one, the trip by the current monarch was delayed slightly because operators chose to take a bit longer path. A normal trip would have taken 14 minutes on today's train.
[CALLOUT]
The trains themselves also differ dramatically. Queen Victoria's rail ride came aboard locomotive Phlegethon that would meander at speeds of 40 mph whereas Queen Elizabeth enjoyed the comforts of a brand new intercity hybrid train that could reach speeds of 100 miles per hour.
LeedsEngine.info cites The Morning Chronicle that reported on the June 13, 1842, event: "Precisely at twenty-five minutes past twelve o'clock the royal special train entered the Paddington terminus, having performed the distance in twenty-five minutes, and on her Majesty alighting she was received with the most deafening demonstrations of loyalty and affection we have ever experienced."
The Telegraph quotes Victoria's journal: "It took us exactly 30 minutes going to Paddington, & the motion was very slight, & much easier than the carriage, also no dust or great heat - in fact, it was delightful and so quick."
Generations later, another queen was taking the same trip only to have the moment captured and instantly sent around the world on social media.
Another cool aspect of the story is who was on the train along with the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh: descendants of the original route operators Isambard Kingdom Brunel and Sir Daniel Gooch.
The Queen was joined by Brunel's great-great-great-grandson Isambard Thomas as well as Gooch's great-great-granddaughter, Gillian White.
LeedsEngine.info chimes in with their ancestors' duties at the time: "As well as their important duties building and running the GWR (Great Western Railway), Gooch and Brunel did the odd important footplate turn too, newspapers of the time also record them at the regulator and the shovel during the gauge trials in 1845 which used Ixion, another of the Round Foundry built Firefly locomotives."
[READMORE]READ MORE: A Luxurious First For South American Rail [/READMORE]
White said of her conversation with the Queen, via The Telegraph, "She loves trains because they are an easy way of traveling, such a lovely way of setting around."
The trains may have changed and so have the people who inhabit their cabins. Yet there continues to be nothing like a romantic trip along a British train through the country.
Almost 200 years on and the British Royalty are still very much smitten with this manner of travel.
Topics From This Article to Explore
