The Railway Share Market Continues To Wear The Same Old Doleful Features

Cartoon, ink pen (stylic art), "The Railway Share Market continues to wear the same old doleful features", by C.A.S., a satirical comment on the risks of investing in railway stock, depicting miserable men buying shares, about 1838 - 1843.

This is one of a series of cartoons satirising the early railways. This illustration shows a number of angry men at a railway share market. The railways were a big business leading to a period of huge investment and speculation. This ‘Railway Mania’ came to an end in the late 1840s. During this time many people poured money into railway shares, even if they could not afford to fully pay for all the shares they bought. This drawing highlights the fraught nature of railway investment. The illustration is attributed to ‘C.A.S’. It is possible that C.A.S refers to Charles Alexander Saunders who worked for the Great Western Railway until 1863. The artist and the date of creation remain unknown.