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Carriages from the old London and South Western Railway, at Sheffield Park on the preserved Bluebell Line in Sussex: see The Bluebell Line.
Introduction
In 1830, the world’s first intercity passenger line began running steam-hauled trains between Liverpool and Manchester. Half a century later, Richard Pike compiled a collection of vignettes about life on the ever-growing railway network, some about engineers and locomotives, others about the surprising things that could happen in a railway carriage.
AN incident of an amusing though of a rather serious nature occurred some years ago on the London and South-Western Railway. A gentleman, whose place of residence was Maple Derwell, near Basingstoke, got into a first-class carriage at the Waterloo terminus, with the intention of proceeding home by one of the mainline down trains.*
His only fellow-passengers in the compartment were a lady and an infant, and another gentleman, and thus things remained until the arrival of the train at Walton, where the other gentleman left the carriage, leaving the first gentleman with the lady and child. Shortly after this the train reached the Weybridge station, and on its stopping the lady, under the pretence of looking for her servant or carriage, requested her male fellow-passenger to hold the infant for a few minutes while she went to search for what she wanted.
* LSWR trains began running between Waterloo and Basingstoke in 1839. A Down train is a train travelling away from London; a train travelling towards London is an Up train.
Précis
It seems that early in the days of the Waterloo to Basingstoke railway line, a Victorian commuter returning from the capital shared a compartment with a lady and her baby. On reaching Weybridge, the lady stepped out onto the platform, promising to return shortly, and left the helpless gentleman quite literally holding the baby. (54 / 60 words)
It seems that early in the days of the Waterloo to Basingstoke railway line, a Victorian commuter returning from the capital shared a compartment with a lady and her baby. On reaching Weybridge, the lady stepped out onto the platform, promising to return shortly, and left the helpless gentleman quite literally holding the baby.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, despite, if, or, otherwise, until, whereas, whether.
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