Big Question and Little Questions:
Why are there so many people waiting for a train at this time of day?
Where is it likely that they were travelling to?
Why were there no women passengers or children at this time of day?
What kind of hats are these people wearing?
What does this kind of headgear tell you about the wearers?
What are many of these people carrying?
Can you find one man who has a different kind of hat?
How do they know that a train is coming soon?

For Information:
The E.C.R. opened a branch line to Loughton from a junction just north of Stratford in 1856. It was intended to serve the generally well-to-do residents of villages along the River Roding valley, including Leytonstone and Woodford.

The costume of these travellers, their top hats and bowlers, together with the time of day prove them to be the better-off sort. They did not need to hurry to work very early in the day. Their newspapers and umbrellas and lack of heavy luggage tell us that they were probably commuters going to the City of London to work. The City of London was then male-dominated. The E.C.R. refused to operate workmen's trains on the Loughton branch. Ordinary fares were reduced to attract more clerks, shopkeepers, managers and civil servants.

In 1864 Parliament tried to help working class travellers by insisting that special workmen's trains' be run for 'mechanics, artisans and labourers' at a return fare of only 2d. These workmen's trains had to arrive at Liverpool Street before 7.a.m. The demolition of over a thousand people's homes to make room for the new G.E.R. London terminus at Liverpool Street encouraged the government to act. Parliament insisted that these people be re-housed or special trains laid on to bring them the dozen miles or so from Enfield or Walthamstow. The first line to Walthamstow was opened in 1870. In 1872 it was joined by another line from Enfield to Bethnal Green. In 1883 The Cheap Trains Act allowed the railway company to obtain a tax refund of £27,000 a year.

Significance:
The railway and increased travel around the country changed the way time was kept in the nineteenth century. Before all towns had run by local or 'sun' time, but in the west of England this could be up to 20 minutes behind London time. A uniform time had to be adopted, which was based on Greenwich Mean Time, (i.e. the time on the meridian of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich). This was distributed by electrical signals along cables beside the railway tracks, [Whitrow,G.J.,Time in History,(1988, ISBN 0 19 215361 7),p.161]. George Bradshaw compiled his first timetables in 1839. Working patterns in England led to the development of the 'rush' hour.

Artefacts and Documents for Evidence:
E.R.O.postcard collection.