Show Us Railroad Tickets!

Railroads issued those guides as guides, not timetables... just a little nit-pick! Actual timetables changed often and I think that is why they were cheaply printed. Those travel guides, on the other hand, promoted things like popular lakes, historic attractions, mountain luxury hotels, etc. And yup, they often had nice covers and engravings. Wheat's looks like a mid-1800s one? His Bee-timetable is pretty snazzy, I rarely see any like that in my travels.

Very nice!

Fantastic!

Here are the few tickets that were found inside of the "Steele Box" that I have. I 'd have to look but the may be a few more.

I like that DETROIT CITY one!

Fantastic!

Fascinating memory, thank you for sharing!

The newest ticket posted on this thread - but there's an interesting history behind it! I bought this ticket yesterday to travel to Margate:

In the 19th century, Margate and Ramsgate developed as popular resorts in Kent. Ramsgate had been a small port and fishing town for centuries, but Margate only really came into its own in the Victorian era.

Two rival railroad companies built lines to serve both resorts. The London, Chatham and Dover Railway built a line from London via Faversham to Margate, through Broadstairs and then under Ramsgate town in a long tunnel to reach a station on Ramsgate seafront. The South-Eastern Railway built a line from London via Ashford and Canterbury to an inland station at Ramsgate, heading north to Margate and terminating by the beach.

None of this was very convenient to local passengers. Anyone wanting to travel, for example, from Canterbury to Broadstairs had to detrain at Ramsgate's SER station and walk or get a cab to the LCDR station. But there was no incentive for either railroad company to make things easier for its competitor. There were also complaints about smoke and smuts from the locomotives spoiling the beach at Ramsgate!

Things changed after World War I. Mass-produced automobiles like the Model T Ford arrived in England. In 1914 cars had been a rich man's toy: now they became affordable by the middle classes. Large numbers of soldiers returning from the War had learned to drive, and many of them bought ex-army truck chassis and started their own haulage companies, sometimes using the same vehicle to carry passengers by bolting on a charabanc body. Many women had also learned to drive trucks and buses during the War, while men had been fighting overseas, and now they bought their own cars. All this was bad news for the railroads. The Government reacted in 1923 by grouping Great Britain's railroads into four major companies. All lines in Southern England were now part of the Southern Railway.

The Southern Railway linked the two systems with a new line from Broadstairs to Ramsgate. New stations were built at Margate and Ramsgate, in an American style based on stations in the USA and Canada. The SER line from Margate to Ramsgate and the LCDR approach line to Ramsgate were closed. In addition, a new halt was opened to serve Dumpton Park, a suburb of Ramsgate.

Margate Station:

Ramsgate Station:

The new arrangement was very convenient and has remained pretty much unchanged to this day.

But what about the disused tunnel at Ramsgate? It became very useful long after the last trains ran. In 1938, with the threat of war looming in Europe, Ramsgate Town Council converted the tunnel into a giant air raid shelter, building access shafts from different parts of the town. Tens of thousands of people sheltered in the tunnel during World War II, and, although Ramsgate was heavily bombed, civilian casualties were very few. After the War, the tunnel was sealed off for many years but is now open as a tourist attraction.