Today, these preserved railways offer us, for the most part, an experience of steam travel that has benefited from over a hundred years of improvement and technological advance. The early-Victorian traveller, on the other hand, had a very different experience. The carriages in which they sat were short-wheel-based and fitted without suspension, which meant that they often bounced and jerked around violently. There was no corridor running the length of the carriage, so whichever door or compartment you boarded, you were trapped in it for the duration of the trip. If you wanted anything to eat
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