Luxury on the Tracks: A Look Back at Train Travel in the 1900s

In the early 1900s, train travel was the primary mode of long-distance transportation in the United States and Europe. Trains were powered by steam engines and were made up of a series of connected rail cars. Passengers would board the train at a railway station and travel to their destination, often stopping at various stations along the way.

The trains themselves were often quite luxurious, with sleeping cars that had private compartments, dining cars where passengers could enjoy meals, and observation cars where people could sit and watch the scenery go by. The trains were also equipped with amenities such as heating and lighting, which was a significant improvement over previous forms of transportation.

The experience of train travel in the early 1900s was quite different from what it is today. Train travel was considered a luxury, and many people dressed up in formal attire when they traveled by train. The trains were also slower than they are today, and the journey could take several days to complete. However, the trains provided a level of comfort and convenience that was not available with other forms of transportation at the time.

It was also common for trains to have separate cars for different classes of passengers. First-class passengers would have the most luxurious accommodations, while second and third-class passengers would have more basic accommodations.

#1 Holiday crowds taking trains at Great Yarmouth station in Norfolk, England, 1909

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#2 Scene at the 1908 Franco-British Exhibition with a locomotive in the foreground.

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#3 Elevated view of the L, or elevated, train track looking North along Wabash Avenue at East Van Buren Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1907.

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#4 Woman Reading in Traincar

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#5 Center of Tokyo street with cable car tracks in foreground, buildings and people in background, 1905

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#6 Teddy Roosevelt Campaign Train Locomotive with his Image as an escutcheon on face of the Engine

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#7 American railway car, smoking car of the Chicago Limited train by the Chicago and North Western Transportation Company-

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#8 Young African American men training in mechanical engineering at Hampton Institute, Hampton, Virginia, 1902

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#9 The crew of the steam train Newton, York, Yorkshire, 1901.

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#10 Soldiers of the 18th Hussars on the train to Pretoria, South Africa, Boer War, 1900.

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#11 Opening of the Railroad Station in Tokyo, 1900

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#12 Crown Prince Hirohito, in uniform walks beside a train at station, 1900

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#13 United States Mail

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#14 Steam locomotive & Train passes over Valley Trestle Bridge -Chicago & North Western Railway viaduct over Des Moines River, near Boone, Iowa

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#15 Train Press Car equipped with Camera, printing & Developing Equipment to expedite news imagery

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#16 Double Decker London Tram Car has signs advertising Dewar’s Whiskey & the Daily Mail Newspaper

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#17 New Yorker appreciates the new Trolleys which are so low to the street that it takes but one step to access.

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#18 Batavian Railroad Passenger Train in the city that is now Jakarta Indonesia, formerly a Dutch Colony under the name Batavia

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#19 Trans-siberian in russian railway station in Obn, 1900

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#20 London Bridge Railway Station at the turn of the century with horse drawn mail vans on the platform.

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#21 Interior of a Great Western Railway’s buffet saloon car.

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#22 Two female passengers eating a meal in a London & North Western Railway dining car, 1905.

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#23 LNWR dining car on an American boat train, 1908.

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#24 Interior of a luxury dining car, 1910.

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#25 A woman reading in a Blue Train compartment at night

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#26 Blue Train bedding attendant, Catering Department

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#27 Blue Train bedding man at work

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#28 Blue Train deluxe mattress

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#29 Blue Train shower room

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#30 Interior of a First Class compartment

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#31 Interior of couple showing sleeping accommodation

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#32 Tea in a Blue Train compartment

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#33 People used to dress up for train travel. Passengers waiting with their luggage to board the first special passenger train to London.

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#34 Furnished like living rooms, they came complete with armchairs, drapes, and carpeting. The luxurious first class lounge on board a London Midland and Scottish Royal Scot train.

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