Carriage Plan of Royal train for Queen Victoria's funeral

Carriage Plan, Arrangement of Royal Train on the occasion of the funeral of Her Late Most Gracious Majesty The Queen, from Paddington to Windsor, issued by J L Wilkinson, General Manager and T I Allen, Superintendent of the Line, Great Western Railway, 2 Feb 1901. [Decorated]

This plan shows the seating arrangement for the funeral train of Queen Victoria. This is for the second train that transported the late Queen’s body.

Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight however, she wished to be interred at Windsor. The body was transported to the mainland via yacht. The mourning party transferred to train at Gosport, Hampshire and eventually made their way to Paddington Station where this train would depart.

This plan details were all the passengers were sat. The late Queen was positioned at the centre of the train, in what was her favourite railway carriage. In the adjoining saloon the new King Edward was sat. Also in this carriage was Queen Victoria’s eldest grandson Kaiser Wilhelm. The train was filled with royalty from across Europe. This is not only a sign of respect for a fellow monarch, but also because many of these people were related to the late Queen. Victoria and Albert had nine children, many of whom married into European royal houses. Because of this Queen Victoria has been referred to as the ‘Grandmother of Europe’.