J.

Mayhew, British Rail Abroad: The prominence of British Rail at

the Exhibition Universelle of 1889
Britain was one of the forerunners in the conception of the railways as a
transport standard, from the creation of the world’s oldest railway system
starting in the 1560s, to the invention and development of steam trains by
Richard Trevithick and Robert Stephenson’s in the early 19 century. Meanwhile,
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other countries saw the advancements in railway technology and decided that
this was the direction in which they wanted to develop their own nations as well.
In particular, France (with whom Britain had had a long and contentious
relationship) began experimenting with their first railways 3 years after Britain
developed its first railway in 1828. The development of the rail systems and
steam engines came to be a race to demonstrate a country’s wealth and status
as a superpower, comparable to an early Space Race. In order to promote their
progress, France held an Exposition Universelle (Universal Exhibition) in 1889, at
which the railways were a major theme. Such events were great opportunities for
foreign countries to exhibit the best that they could offer, and Britain attended
with a range of its most advanced rail technologies, of which the National Rail
Museum (NRM) possesses some examples. Thanks to the museum’s collections,
both of locomotives and of written accounts, we can take a closer look at the
exhibition, and attempt to analyse further the event itself, as well as its impact.
The Exhibition itself wasn’t the first to have ever occurred. In fact, France had
held 3 prior to this one, and there were initial doubts over holding another, due
to the economic failure of previous fairs. 1867’s Exposition only attracted 7
million, and the following one in 1878, despite bringing in a much more
promising crowd of 16 million people, lost the government 30 million francs. The
Government, however, decided to go ahead with the event, as a means to
celebrate the start of the new Republic’s reign, and also to profit from the
centenary of the storming of the Bastille. Indeed, another issue that faced
organisers stemmed from this connection to the Bastille celebrations: many
countries, including Great Britain, were reluctant to lend their support to an
event seemingly glorified a revolt against a government, out of fear that it could
spark similar sentiments in their own countries. They decided to attend
nevertheless, however, not wishing to miss out on a profitable economic venture.
The event was a massive success, attracting 32 million people and turning a
profit of 8 million francs. The ‘pièce de résistance’ of the 1889 exhibition was
undeniably the Eiffel Tower, unveiled to the world as the entrance to the
exhibition, and as a demonstration of France’s engineering prowess. 
It would be hard to review the event, however, and not pay attention to the
prevalence of railway technology at the event. With Britain present at the
exposition, it made sense that the largest empire in the world also was able to
show off the largest quantity and highest quality items. Referring back to the
Plan-Guide (Guide map) for the event, we can see that large sections were
dedicated to different areas of the globe, and the British and colonial exhibits
were housed by the Dome Centrale (Central Dome). The larger machines
occupied their own building, Le Palais des Machines (Palace of Machines), in
which the foreign examples had their own corner. On show was the B1 0-4-2
London Brighton South Coast Railway Stroudley Gladstone (named after
the designer, Stroudley and the politician, William Gladstone), and a similar
locomotive may be seen in the NRM. The 214 Gladstone that is held at the NRM
was built in 1882 and served the Brighton and South Coast lines, and it is
significant to their collection, as it marks the first instance of preservation of a
locomotive by a private body, the Stephenson Locomotive Society. It is held as a
static exhibit, has been kept in its famous, original yellow livery, and also retains
the royal badges that were used for royal duties. It has been at the NRM since
the museum opened in 1975. Also presented were the F 4-4-0 South Eastern
Railway Stirling, and the Johnson 4-2-2  ‘Onward’, and these three machines
represented a diverse mix from across the country’s already well-established
railway. They portrayed an image of an ever-expanding, powerful and
prosperous industry, and, more than this, the future of travel and transport for
centuries to come.
It’s also important to remember that the engines exhibited weren’t the sole
presence of the railways at the Exposition Universelle; the railways were
essential in transporting spectators to and from the event. The Plan-Guide (Guide
Map) details the prices of tickets and the stations where the exhibition was
accessible, with two trains running every hour. At the time, a circular system
called la Petite Ceinture (literally the Little Belt), already existed, as a means to
connect the different parts of Paris to one another, and furthermore to the
greater main lines. The multiple exhibitions in Paris saw the need for a
development of these passenger services: with each new exhibition, new stops
and trains were added to the line, quickly developing it into a convenient and
very popular means of travelling around the capital. La Petite Ceinture thus
played a key role in transforming Paris into a metropolis that a superpower could
proudly hold as its crown jewel; it was a modern, animated and industrious city
with a railway network to match.
Thanks to a journal entry held at the National Railway Museum, we also have a
first-person account of John Dodd’s trip to the Exposition Universelle in 1889.
John Dodd was the station master of Tow Law at County Durham in the late
1800’s, and went to the event on 7 June, partially for business purposes, but
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mainly for a week away. 

Dodd begins his journal by detailing the route he planned to take; starting off by
travelling from London to Dover via Kent, then crossing the channel on a 70-90-
minute ferry, arriving in Calais to then take the train to Paris. He took the 19:30
London train along with other passengers whom he describes: two Scots, an
Irishman and an American Naval Officer. He describes how he chatted with the
gentlemen to pass the time, as he tends to throughout his journey. The social
aspect of his travels is very important, as it serves to remind us of the role that
the railways held in society at the time. Trains and train stations were social
hubs, where people from all walks of life crossed paths, and Dodd tells an
anecdote regarding the Penny trumpets used by the conductors that perfectly
encapsulates the sociability of the trains: “it was one of the few things that
tended to make a tiresome journey less tedious and wearisome, as whenever the
train stopped we were safe to hear the horn again and the laughing and chaffing
became uproarious.” It’s these little interactions he shares with his fellow
passengers that add a sense of togetherness.
Dodd has a flair for being able to capture the essence and ambiance of a place in
a concise way. Early in his journey, he writes: “As the train sped up through Kent
I noticed field after field of what I rightly divined to be the hop plant, growing up
long pole.” He occasionally interjects these descriptions with wit and charm, yet
often his tone is one of derision. The description of the journey itself is probably
the most in-depth aspect of Dodd’s writing, and in particular his disdain towards
third-class travel in France. His initial complaint arises from having to wait
overnight until 6am for his train from Calais to Paris. He goes into great detail
about his experience of third class itself, as it seems to mar his journey. He
describes the carriages as “miserable little affairs” and states that “no one here
present has ever rode in less comfortable boxes”. He goes on to give an even
more in-depth account of the carriage: “the compartment in which ten of us were
packed was the smallest I had ever experienced, and when the sun began to
exert its power it suggested to me a reproduction of the Black Hole of Calcutta in
a modified way: you could not stretch a leg, nor hardly stand upright, it was
almost an impossibility to dispose of your hat other than by keeping on your
head, or your knee, and to this stifling air and the dust that seemed so plentiful
and some idea may be formed of what a third class ride occupying 5 hours,
Calais to Paris, in summer, is like.”
Indeed, this acerbic critique of the French transport system extends to a broader
Franco-British rivalry. When he arrives in Calais, the diarist describes the place
as seeming “to contain few striking or modern buildings, but an abundance of
vile smells.” This attitude is strikingly British: he accords merit to many things on
the journey, yet he always manages to refer it back to Britain in some way, so as
not to offer too much praise. Later in his journal, when describing his days in
Paris, he compares the sights he sees with what he knows in England. He
compares the crowded architecture around Notre Dame to that around St. Paul’s
Cathedral; he measures the size of the Machines Gallery at the exhibition by
stating that you could store 2 Crystal palaces in it; and he even goes further by
comparing the speed of the French trains to the British: “the speed the trains run
being much short of our trains.” It’s fitting that the general relationship between
France and England, with its distinctly competitive edge, is also captured in
Dodd’s Journal.
Of course, the main event of the text is his experience of the exhibition, in which
Dodd perfectly renders the grandeur and unparalleled scale of the event. He
notes the attendance to be 75 times that of Tow Law, and he begins his
description of the exhibition by detailing how “the difficulty is what to speak of
and what to omit in connection with it, the subject is so huge.” He starts off by
introducing the Central Dome, and how it “was looked upon as one of the most
beautiful and imposing structures of the exhibition, and commended attention
second only to the tower (Eiffel)”. Of interest to us, however, is his description of
the “perfect labyrinth of machinery of all kinds” in the Machinery Hall. He doesn’t
go into too much explicit detail regarding specific items at the exhibition, but one
item does attract his attention: one of the British engines with which he was
familiar. One could almost call it emotional, the way in which he is reunited with
this machine; “one exhibit I had seen before and recognised as an old friend, I
mean the old “Locomotion Engine and tender” which stands at Darlington.” It is
the only piece that he goes into any detail about, as if it is of sole importance,
and this reflects the way in which such machines were the lifeblood of those, like
Dodd, who worked on the railways. It holds an upmost importance in his life, to
the point that he personifies the locomotive and refers to it as an old friend.
The description of the rest of the visit is quite sparse, again seeming to highlight
this final point as the climax of his trip. He goes on to briefly describe his journey
home, taking a different route via Folkestone to spend less time on the trains, in
lieu of more time at sea (somewhat understandable, given his account of the rail
travel). He finishes by saying how he’d very much like to visit Paris again, and
thus concludes his emotional and personal journal.
The NRM also holds two other important artefacts relating to the exhibition, that
greatly aid our research of it. The first is an original Plan Général (Map) detailing
the layout of the event, along with a key as to help visitors find what they were
looking for. It is presented in a mostly simple manner: a plain A4-sized sheet of
paper with simple blocks, labelled with the appropriate names/letters showing
the location of the various exhibits. It also details the location of the River Seine
and the Palais du Trocadéro (The Trocadéro Palace) as reference points.
However, the centre point of the map is the Eiffel Tower, drawn in intricate detail
so as to again highlight it as the main attraction of the exhibition. The second is
a framed Diplome Commemoratif (Commemorative Certificate) awarded to “A
North Eastern Railway Company”, dated 29 September 1889. These certificates
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were awarded to every company that exhibited their items at the event; it is an
extremely ornate artefact with detailed print work. It shows many of the symbols
and motifs related to France and the notion of a new, prosperous republic, such
as cherubs carrying plaques with Pax (Peace) inscribed on them, lions to show
courage and valour, plentiful fruits symbolising prosperity and good harvests,
and smaller plaques reading Force Domptée (a tamed force) and Europe
Renaissante (Reborn Europe). It also refers to the wider French colonies, with
colonial women walking alongside the other figures. The artwork stands as a
collage of all that is great and prosperous about the French empire, and stands
as a visual metaphor for its status as a world power. These artefacts together
combine to give us a first-hand account of the grandeur and importance of the
Exhibition to those involved.
The success of the Exposition Universelle stands as testament to the importance
of the railways to the 19th century; a cornerstone of society, a prosperous
advancement in business and leisure, and a mainstay in transportation for
centuries to come. What is more, the collections of the NRM (its machinery,
Dodd’s journal, and other original documentation concerning the exhibition) offer
a striking insight into the importance of this event on both a national and
personal scale. They allow us to document the wider popularisation and
development of railway technologies through the prism of a single event, yet
also to analyse in detail the impact that they had on the lives of those involved.