Historical information sought ( London - Florence/Rome)

[Jeeps]

I am writing a novel which takes place in 1877 and involves some train journeys from London to Florence and London to Rome. I have had little luck with my research on the web and wonder if anyone can help at all with historical background.

I would like to pin down the following:

How long would it have taken from London to Florence?

Would it have been from Charing Cross to The Leopolda stations?

What time of the day did departures from London take place?

Was there more than one train per day? If so how many, what times?

Would a trip from London to Rome be the same train, i.e.London - Paris - Turin - Florence - Rome?

What was the name of the station in Rome at that time? Stazione Centrale delle Ferrovie Romane?

How long would it have taken from Florence to Rome?

I'd be grateful for any help and direction pointing that any railway historians out there can muster.

Many thanks
Jeeps

 

[silvermachine]

I'll have a go...

How long would it have taken from London to Florence?
probably 48 hours, affluent travellers are likely to have stayed overnight in hotels along the route.

Would it have been from Charing Cross to The Leopolda stations?
Charing cross would have been an option, but 1870 was a time of cut throat competition amongst railway companies in england and the boat trains to the continent were available from different london stations. Competition between the London Chatham and Dover Rly and the South Eastern Rly both serving London to Dover was intense.

At the other end I think it would have been santa maria station but you'd need to get hold of a 1870 timetable.

What time of the day did departures from London take place?

Departures for boat trains varied daily with the tides ( look up about charles dickens and the staplehurst rail crash 1865 caused by confusion over tidal timetables)

Was there more than one train per day? If so how many, what times?

there will have been more than one a day on each of multiple routes, but you will need access to a bradshaw for 1870

Would a trip from London to Rome be the same train, i.e.London - Paris - Turin - Florence - Rome?

Definitely not. There would have been a change to the boat at for example Dover, a Nord train from Calais to Paris, a PLM train from paris maybe to Turin and then another change

What was the name of the station in Rome at that time? Stazione Centrale delle Ferrovie Romane?

No idea on that one, but I though the central station was built in the 1920s?

How long would it have taken from Florence to Rome?

again you will need access to a timetable but I;d guess 7 hours



Hope this helps,
Good luck with the novel.

 

[Jeeps]

Thanks Silvermachine, very helpful indeed.

On the matter of Rome's Central Station I have wikipedia (under Roma Termini entry) as saying starting construction in 1868 as a single station for Rome. I think it may have been rebuilt around the period you said.

Further research I did shows you quite right about Leopolda station in Florence, it had closed down in 1860, 17 years before my timeline!!! and Santa Maria Novella had take over.

Thanks again for the insight especially re the ferry trains. I read somewhere that Charles Dickens took eleven hours to get from London to Paris.

 

[Mvann]

There is a "new" bradshaws reprint for continental railways, but I haven't looked at what year it was for.

It's the 1913 edition. Just looked it up.

 

[Jeeps]

Thanks Mvann.
Looking into that further I discovered a copy of the 1870 edition in the NRM in York so may have to work in a trip there.

 

[Caertroia]

The British Library nxt to St Pancras will have copies of most Bradshaws and other international timetables, eg. Thomas Cook.

 

[Jeeps]

Thanks Caertroia

I'll follow that trail too.