The Bizarre Victorian Obsession With Railways | How The Victorians Built Britain | Absolute History

Michael Buerk jumps on board an original locomotive to discover the effect that the burgeoning rail network had on Victorian Britain.
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[@pbasswil]

Calling the Victorian Obsession With Railways 'Bizarre' is like calling the early 21st century's obsession with the internet, bizarre. Both have transformed their eras.

[@markscott554]

I'm waiting for the Bazar special.

[@Efferheim]

Early days of the Internet, people using it and it itself was absolutely looked on as bizarre.

[@DrMerle-gw4wj]

And it is the U.S. that gets credit for the internet. After all, Al Gore claims to have invented it.

[@exharkhun5605]

​@@DrMerle-gw4wj If you like a bit of an eye-opener you should read the article "Al Gore and Information Technology" on wikipedia. Personally I was amazed at how much he actually DID help to sponsor and promote the creation of the internet. The real inventors give him a lot more credit than you'd think. Don't get me wrong, the man is still a dweep but there's really a lot of story hidden behind the words "Al Gore claims to have invented the internet".

[@DrMerle-gw4wj]

@@exharkhun5605 Get serious. Al Gore's knowledge of anything technical is absolute zero. He was a phony well before he even became a senator because his father was a big phony as a senator and used little Al as part of it.

[@donmcpezorello7172]

16:51 let's just admire the fact: the first telegraph cable was in 1839 - and I'm watching this documentary (which is stored digitally somewhere on this planet) on my smartphone via a wireless network with Bluetooth headphones! The human's mind is just pure ingenuity!

[@shananagans5]

It's amazing how fast technology is changing the world. My great grandmother was born in 1878 and passed in 1977. Granted, she had a longer than average life but as a child she traveled all summer across the US in a wagon pulled by oxen. Before she died she could have made that same trip five miles in the sky at 500 miles per hour in safety and comfort.

[@pbasswil]

Huh, I've never thought about that: the age of electronic signals thru wires (including everything that superceded telegraph) may be drawing to a close - it's turned out to have only been an early stage of the wireless, I.T. age. 'Course, devices of all types don't seem to be going anywhere; but even within them, soldered wires are now at an absolute minimum.

[@perceive8159]

I asked a train engineer how many times his train had derailed. He said, “I’m not sure, it’s hard to keep track.”😁

[@Romin.777]

ghehehe

[@johnboys4697]

🙄🙄🙄🙄

[@davidanalyst671]

this took me entirely too long to get!!!

[@billymule961]

Time to uncouple and go make some popcorn.

[@sahasmahogha6399]

A+ pun lol

[@MichaelAndersxq28guy]

In the early 1970s Britain, and Europe, still had pre-War railway cars. I loved riding them.

[@DopravniPoradce]

This documentary and the whole series with Michael Buerk is absolutely marvelous!

[@thedaggonator]

Agreed. The Host is awesome. Without him this series wouldn’t be as good as it is.

[@jimtalbott9535]

I don't see how the Victorian love of railways is "bizarre" at all - without roads, and with cheap steel and iron in quantity, it makes complete sense.

[@kailavarjames6974]

Plus the nature of steam power

[@theexchipmunk]

And look at our times. I will bet people in a century will look back and think "those weird 20th and early 21th century people and their obsession with cars.

[@quattrobajeena1689]

@@theexchipmunk except the obsession with cars IS bizarre, and harmful more so.

[@OstblockLatina]

Especially since it was funded thanks to robbery and enslavement of about one third of the world.

[@the4tierbridge]

@@quattrobajeena1689 Except it isn't.

[@janethayes5941]

Well even if I thought I wouldn't really care or be interested in the subject, after I watch one of these, I find I got terribly interested. So well done, so well presented.

[@harmony8195]

I love watching videos like this while it’s rainy outside. Perfect combination!

[@maretripp6412]

Exactly, perfect for this rainy late summer afternoon 👌

[@kaptainkaos1202]

I’ve got ice tea and chips. Let’s binge watch together next time!

[@MrManniG]

Early autum afternoon, sunny, quite warm but I,m also sitting in the back yard

[@Bloatlord_the_Magnificent]

The way the British paint their trains really is quite lovely.

[@sweetlikehoney5216]

For some reason all I can think about is “ please mind the gap between the train and the platform” lol😂 I miss the UK

[@barunghosh]

Was a treat to watch and learn from this episode, I never thought about how the postal system was invented due to the railway penentration and how the telegraph system grew and later the telephones too by laying its cable besides the railway tracks. Hope you realise how this technology had an immense impact on a land as vast as India. Will look forward to the next episode about the Victorian ships with great anticipation.

[@thestudentofficial5483]

Even today, large portion of internet optic cables are laid next to railways

[@ShaneyElderberry]

The programme is partly simplifying the history about the post. Before the locomotives, the canals fulfilled the same functions of transporting industrial supplies, the post, finished products, produce, people, etc.

[@CaptainMera]

Ahh, a good documentary to put on in the afternoon 😊 I love these victorian themed documentaries!

[@Doc-Holliday1851]

I can't express how much I enjoy your channel. Thank you for making this content available. Without your channel I wouldn't have been introduced to any of these incredible series'.

[@Doc-Holliday1851]

@Celto Loco “never on KZbin” that’s my point.

[@chrisnorman9980]

Is the KZbin title an editorial comment? The documentary itself doesn’t judge the building of Britain’s railways as “bizarre” - quite the opposite.

[@1234cheerful]

just click bait to get you to actually open the video. Once you're in, as you say, it's the opposite attitude

[@nuggetsaurusrex]

This channel is like what the history channel used to be before pawn stars and the like. I'm hooked

[@thetechnocrat4979]

Who wouldn't be obsessed with the greatest mode of transport ever!

[@scallopohare9431]

There are still heritage railways that actually serve villages and small towns. West Somerset Railway offers a course for drivers, which was a lot of fun. The Watecress Line runs from Alresford, though I don't recall the other terminus.

[@vernahrris5601]

I've been looking for an understandable history of England's trains. Wonderful

[@jailtonnascimento5217]

Beautiful documentary! The over water tram in Brighton blew me away! ❤❤❤

[@valor101arise]

This is my favorite series so far. Excellent. Thankyou for posting

[@av8tor261]

One of the best documentaries ever. Thank you.

[@williamchristopher1560]

The man said that post office/car was the oldest in the world , in the 1880s. The Hannibal & St Joseph Mo RR had a mail sorting car in 1860

[@tony8074]

Canada used to have mail cars. The mail was loaded in Montreal and was sorted by time the train Toronto. That is 6 to 7 hour train journey.

[@rickhobson3211]

Nothing about how the Victorians enslaved entire regions of the world, caused squalor at home and ultimately how the whole thing came crashing down. Nostalgia is good as long as it includes the truth.

[@rickhobson3211]

@mgenigma5 I guess we have to bring it up "lest we forget." If there's always been good AND bad, then any discussion of history should include both.

[@dariusanderton3760]

its a history of railways in England, not a history of the planet earth in the 19th century. Do stay on topic.

[@goupigoupi6953]

You should try the Mount Washington cog railway.

[@OldNew45]

Good lord, the "resident expert" on the North Wales rail line could be David Mitchell's brother!

[@taylorteal2485]

I scanned everywhere for this comment! I had to rewind to check if it wasn’t his cousin or something!! Sounds just like him it’s eerie!

[@Klutech]

I too was looking for anyone who noticed this. It’s downright uncanny how similar they sound and look.

[@Brianrockrailfan]

great video

[@ssake1_IAL_Research]

Well-done!

[@MrAlexdoesmovies]

"I like trains" (proceeds to be run over by train)

[@wintersbattleofbands1144]

"Dr. David Turner." That must be olde English for "Bad Hair Guy."

[@NoraTSS2077]

Are people really getting upset over a word on the title...

[@bobveinne2439]

"wOw, I cAnNot BeLieVe ThEy sAid 'bIzZaRe' i'M iNtAntLy DiSliKing, cAn'T BeLieVe ThEy sAiD tHaT!"

[@Klosepin]

Leave it to the Victorians to create something as ridiculously inventive as the Daddy Long Legs

[@briggsahoy1]

Excellent.

[@okiebuzzj]

Well considering that most people had never traveled any faster than a horse's pace trains must have seen like a traveling at mach speed.

[@jamesbowden4871]

At 3:30 and 14:48, he does his best impression of Jeremy Clarkson ... in the world.

[@veiledrecalcitrance4314]

“Paid for by Victoria herself”, again, I think he misspoke there, it should be “paid for by the subjects of Victoria herself”, quite a nice gift for the queen from her people, especially considering they probably weren’t aware of it until it was on the tracks

[@steffenrosmus9177]

Why bizarre? It was the fastest transport medium at this time, same today with planes and Highspeed Rail.

[@markscott554]

I remember an old train in the park in Dunfermline. We used to clamber all over it as kids. I think it's still there.

[@N00N01]

Insanely , what brunel saw as usefull was put as center piece only 130 years later with BR centralising signal boxes into signalcontrolcenters

[@N00N01]

Smug smug smug, smug smug.... (After getting litteraly 1 like)

[@Romin.777]

After watching this i want to steam up my Hornby Rocket. :)) But don't forget Mr. Trevithick (probably spelled it wrong) But this gentleman was equaly important to steam engine innovation. I had fun watching this excellent documentary nonetheless. (Hated the adds though) God bless.

[@maxwellwagoner-watts4747]

Is “steam” really a source of power?? Isn’t coal technically the /source/ of the Power?

[@qiblik]

Yes and no in a sense. Coal is a source of Energy, but the much-needed Power (like horsepower i.e.) comes from the water being turned into steam (you wouldn't get anywhere if there was no steam actually) therefore the steam is the source of power and coal is the source of Energy needed to turn water into steam.

[@marks6663]

If you want to go that route, then what produces the coal? The sun. The sun is the ultimate source of the energy of the coal.

[@veiledrecalcitrance4314]

“The most lavish railway carriage ever built”, I think the term he meant to use was gaudy, or maybe he forgot to just use the word gaudy “the most lavishly gaudy railway carriage ever built”

[@ReaverLordTonus]

Just when I think I can't hate King Edward VII enough, I find out he wanted to burn Queen Victoria's rail carriage. Guy was a real piece of work.

[@Axelgear2006]

"Built by fearless men and women who dreamt big." - No, it was built by workers, many of them hideously exploited.

[@kaptainkaos1202]

I’ve really enjoyed Mr. Buerk hosting these documentaries. Wonderful host. When I see something/someone I like I normally read up on the subject to get a better understanding. With that said Mr. Buerk is quite the misogynistic, homophobic and quite a few other ‘ic words. Seeing a number of his statements regarding women and overweight people I don’t think I can continue to watch him without bile coming up. No I’m not a snowflake or candy ass I just have a strong opinion on what is right or wrong. A person is the sum of all they do and if their sum goes against my ideals they are dead to me, as is Mr. Buerk.

[@johnstudd4245]

Kind of funny how the last couple generations who have largely espoused the mantras of things like "there are no absolutes", "'right and wrong are relative" and "who are you to force your values on me", certainly have no qualms about telling others what we can say and how we can act.

[@ShaneyElderberry]

@@johnstudd4245 I think the point is that past presenters wouldn't go out of their way to become rude for no reason. I have never heard an overtly rude phrase made with the intention of belittling an actual target from James Burke's or Jacob Bronowski's programmes.

[@kaptainkaos1202]

@@johnstudd4245 I’m not saying he can’t have his own opinions nor speech it’s a matter of I disagree with them. I disagree strongly enough I’d rather not watch any of his videos now matter how entertaining. I’m a veteran and have always believed in upholding a persons right to free speech within the boundaries of law.

[@josephturner4047]

Twizzle was not on the Magic Roundabout.

[@edwardoleyba3075]

Yeah it was that creepy thing on kids tv, in black & white.

[@AHufflepuffAndASwiftie]

Actually, the very first time Albert took Victoria by train, she didn't really like it; she thought it was going WAY too fast! 😅 It was Albert that convinced her that "this was the future" of travel! So it was really thanks to Albert, not Victoria that the train "took off" as the main mode of long-distance travel.

[@sambelle5545]

Victorias children really did her dirty destroying all her stuff when she died

[@dariusanderton3760]

somewhere I read about Princess Margaret destroying some of the Queen Mother's letters and correspondence, even before the Queen Mother had died.

[@admiralradish]

Is it me or did the title change on this?

[@brokeannbroken2547]

I love how England kept its history still working, even after WW2. Although they lost a lot, they kept on going. 👍

[@lookoutforchris]

Lol whut? Mohamed is the most popular boys name in England today and has been for several years. England is over, the demographic trends are inescapable at this point.

[@timohuhnholz]

@@lookoutforchris What's bad about that? History isn't static, it's about change. Always has been.

[@Dune1884]

david mitchell!

[@barbarabrooks4747]

It's sad that two world wars stopped most of the great progress.

[@anaterka231]

lovely

[@Packless1]

12:15...like in the 1980s... ...VHS vs. Betamax vs. Video2000... ...VHS was the least advanced system, but it won...! ...it's not always the best who wins...! :-(

[@thedaggonator]

Meanwhile in America: CARS BABY!!!!! CARS CARS CAAAAAARS!!!

[@ShaneyElderberry]

I think most of the energy supplies are transported via pipelines, trains, and commercial vehicles across the continent. Expedited post is usually flown to a large city, then delivered by vehicle. If you have a fetish for trains and ships, look no further than East Asia.

[@marvwatkins7029]

A nation of train spotting anoraks? Certainly not!

[@arvinderkuar3030]

If anybody harmful for me they have no needed for me.

[@normoloid]

What if the locomotive would be powered by a closed circuit turbine generator, imagine how much less fuel it would need then when the efficiency is multiplied by at least ten-fold.. Sure in certain way calculated it would be less efficient than modern fully electric train, but then again there are obvious advantages if the locomotive is not tied to a wire and power plant...

[@brandonklein6782]

They couldnt get over the rail system, but somehow Built all the beautiful monuments and prehistoric homes....Or did they?...

[@bilbobaggins5408]

Wonderful subject but terrible photography/editing. The camera flashes about all over the place. What a waste!

[@kittyb275]

Ohhh man. Now i can't unsee it. It hurts my eyes lol

[@jamestheredenginefan5268]

YEA BOI SNOWDON

[@OprichnikStyle]

27:24 27:24 27:24

[@Tom_Cruise_Missile]

I like the video, but the clickbait is offputting.

[@garryferrington811]

You mean steam locomotives, not trains.

[@stevenherrold5955]

we sit up on our high tech high horse with a view of the past and wonder what the future has instore for us i really am not in to modern aviation i prefer a slower pace as i don't need to fly at supersonic speed to get there in 4 hrs much less would i pay for it

[@bobveinne2439]

okay that is good to know mr herrold, I can tell you are used to the typewriter because you use double spaces

[@symarvel4836]

The fairies had a few problems

[@pim1234]

So, what still have to change in England now is using the metric system and driving on the right side of the road and they are up to dat with the rest with the modern western world ....

[@grundergesellscahftmkii6196]

Based obsession

[@jamestheredenginefan5268]

It's Not a Steam Train It's a Steam Engine

[@bobveinne2439]

The Bizarre Absolute History Obsession With the Victorian Era / How Absolute History Built their Channel

[@dariusanderton3760]

A history channel's bizarre obsession with shows about history. Go figure.

[@bobveinne2439]

@@dariusanderton3760 lol

[@thorstenwanoth6774]

Ja, I agree with the English being an early part of the New World. You ous tried hard and persevered - then carried on to export your values to the rest of our world. I think the Germans had you beat for a good while though a long time ago. Never could understand the french fries - though the British and Deutscher remain closer to my heart. We have slap chips here in SA when the ANC wannabee freedom fighters ain't looting. My apology. I started watching watching and see the underlying value of this contribution is something very historical that I know not much about. Die Dampf-Lok hat wieder gewonnen. Awesome guys!

[@thomaseriksson6256]

On the broken back of poor working men and women

[@tp8077]

A

[@kaptainkaos1202]

Totally off topic but damn, Dr. Turner ditch the horrible glasses and haircut!

[@kiritanJ]

oh these script dialogs

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

🚂🙂

[@caitlintiulenev9156]

Nothing bizarre about it. I wish people would become obsessed with them again in US

[@OstblockLatina]

I wish they English or American shows added subtitles in the bottom whenever there is something speaking in drawl. Not everyone can understand their mumbling and the automatic subtitles don't recognize this muttering either.

[@Romin.777]

Way too many adds..

[@williamchristopher1560]

AH, He said that railway postal car was the oldest in the world dating to 1884. In the Pattee House Meusium in St Joseph Mo, is the first ORIGIONAL Railray mail car hooked to an 1860 Locomotive and tender. The Railray car is dated 1860

[@markgreiser464]

And now America has a president, with the same obsession.

[@ReclusiveEagle]

When Victorians started building a railway on the Tsavo river in Kenya in 1880s, Lions and animals roamed Africa in their millions. Today (because of European "hunters") there are less than 20,000 left and the only mass migrations you see on TV are all in 1 place across 2 rivers.

[@ReclusiveEagle]

Great video! Just slight correction. Really minor, won't affect anything: "By the time she died, we had unleashed a reign of terror, hardship, poverty, racism and bloodshed across the entire world"

[@SBCBears]

As if that was not already the case throughout the world. The only "reign" unleashed was the reign of knowledge of how the British adjusted to local conditions.

[@dariusanderton3760]

its about trains in England, not the entire history of the world in the 19th century. Do stay on topic

[@stefansoder6903]

No, steam was NOT the *source* of power. Coal was!

[@OstblockLatina]

I wish the English or American shows added subtitles whenever there is somebody speaking in drawl or some illegible accent. Not everyone can understand it and the automatic subtitles don't recognize it either.

[@maxwellwagoner-watts4747]

Ok so not sure I understand your meaning, but “drawl” is a perceived feature of speech, not a type of speech. So for instance “southern drawl” is a characteristic feature of the Southern American English dialect. Drawl is not a feature or characteristic of speech in any of the accents or dialects used in this particular program. I also “illegible” distinctly means “unable to be read”. In this case you’re correct in that the automatic captioning is illegible. However, the issue you appear to have is that you find some of the accents spoken or dialects used to be “unintelligible”. Unintelligible meaning it can’t be clearly understood.

[@thedaggonator]

Just because your too stupid to understand a minor accent doesn’t mean the world has to bend its ass over to help you. Besides this is obviously a British Tv Show

[@jjameson3035]

Excessive adveetisements

[@townes_]

It's ony 'bizzarre' to non-whites

[@weeb3277]

On the next episode: The Bizarre Liberal and Progressive Obsession With Minorities.

[@erikziak1249]

They should have used the metric system and choose a gauge of 2 meters for heavy trains. And 1 meter for all other "narrow gauge" uses e.g. trams, industrial small-scale rails like logging, mining, etc. These two standards would become universal all over the world. Sadly this did not happen. The 1435 mm gauge is just the width of "two horses going side by side". I still cannot get why the UK did not adopt the metric system way back. But I do not get Brexit either, for that matter.

[@Thesungod95]

based on blood of indians and africans.

[@valor101arise]

So are the clothes youre wearing... probably. As long as the sun rises oppression will be with us

[@Thesungod95]

@@valor101arise triggered 😂😂😂

[@prevost8686]

Cry us a river.

[@dariusanderton3760]

If the video was about the British Empire, or even about the railways in the British Empire, your comment might be applicable. But this video is about trains in the UK.

[@OstblockLatina]

I am aware Victorians were famously tasteless, but good heavens - that venomous blue monster of a train coach is literally hurting my eyes. And all that fabric padding is giving me dustmite allergy just from looking at it. How would one even try to keep it clean or dust it? UGH.

[@felixwankel3989]

There are less individual rights recognized in the UK today than in Victorian times.

[@ShaneyElderberry]

Not familiar with the history of factory laborers and underpaid service help, are you?

[@bobveinne2439]

You have the right to express your opinions on the internet, be grateful

[@patriley9449]

The most important and powerful country in the history of the world is England, not the US. Okay, England is not the most powerful today, but she once ruled a huge portion of the world. Combine that former glory with all of the things invented and discovered by English people and England stands at the top of all past or present countries.

[@caseywebb410]

Well, good for you... good for you 🙄

[@ShaneyElderberry]

I think you are trying to say the UK. More than half the inventions you are thinking of were Scottish, and the literature was frequently Irish or Welsh, e.g. the master of ghost stories was Welsh M.R. James.

[@shotforshot5983]

Bizarre?? What an idiotic title/bait line. This has to be stolen content. Thumbs down

[@TheNightshadePrince]

Actually America made the modern world not England.

[@PaulfromChicago]

lol. Yeah no. Listen, we're amazing. But the change from 1800 to 1900 is the most dramatic in human history. Utterly incomprehensible. And that's mostly the UK leading the way.

[@TheNightshadePrince]

@@PaulfromChicago who invented the modern world? That was America.

[@thedaggonator]

@@TheNightshadePrince dude you gotta bring out evidence. Allow me. Democracy, personal transportation, internet, television, telephone, planes and cotton. Cotton especially. Britain’s wealth was fueled by cotton in the American Southeast.

[@TheNightshadePrince]

@@thedaggonator I thought the cotton craze was after the revolution, Smoking tobacco was one of America's biggest exports along with wood, Hemp products and other natural goods during British enslavement.

[@thedaggonator]

@@TheNightshadePrince Cotton became popular because Tobacco was dying, in fact slavery was beginning to die out as well. But in 1793, Eli Whitney invented the Cotton Gin. This made it incredibly easy to make cotton into something that could be manufactured. Eli Whitney was an American. Tobacco was important in the Colombian Exchange, but by the turn of the century Tobacco was replaced by cotton. And before you say some bullshit, the Industrial Revolution was centered around the Textile Industry. Needless to say, textiles require cotton. The Victorian Era was happening in England while America was having there issues with slavery. In fact, even though Britain had abolitionist movements, they were still supporting slavery by buying there cotton and came really close to supporting the confederacy in the Civil War. However to give credit to the British they decided not to because they decided that abolishing the evils of slavery was more important than getting their cotton. In conclusion, yes America funded the Industrial Revolution, and it was Cotton. Not Tobacco.

[@OstblockLatina]

I wish they English or American shows added subtitles in the bottom whenever there is something speaking in drawl. Not everyone can understand their mumbling and the automatic subtitles don't recognize this muttering either.