Introduction
The humble Railway Clearing House (RCH) brought real co-operation to Victorian Britain’s many different private railway companies, and gave yet further impetus to the country’s accelerating industrial revolution. Its success should be a reminder to private companies that they and their passengers actually share very similar interests.
BY 1840, there were some 1,600 miles of railway in Britain, operated by over forty different companies. Each was a little world, even down to observing its own miniature time zone.
Each had its own signalling conventions, so ‘go’ on one route could be ‘stop’ elsewhere. Longer journeys required a different ticket for each company’s metals and, as there were no standard couplings, buffers or brakes for wagons, inconvenienced passengers with frequent changes of train. Freight was charged by the mile, but railways were largely unmapped, which led to expensive disputes over distances.
In 1842 nine companies, led by the London and Birmingham, agreed to found the Railway Clearing House. For a percentage of its members’ profits, the RCH standardised rolling stock and tickets, mapped distances in miles and chains,* adopted Greenwich Mean Time in 1847, and handled the accounts and paperwork for trains criss-crossing the expanding system.
By smoothing the movement of freight and passengers, the RCH became one of the most important developments in industrial history.
A mile is 1,760 yards; a chain is 22 yards, or the length of a cricket pitch. There are ten chains to a furlong, and a furlong is an eighth of a mile.
Précis
The Railway Clearing House was founded in 1842 by nine private railway companies to standardise their operations, and allow both goods and passengers easy access to the whole network. The benefit to railways and the country generally was immense, from establishing GMT as a national time standard to squaring the accounts and minimising the disputes of rival companies. (58 / 60 words)
The Railway Clearing House was founded in 1842 by nine private railway companies to standardise their operations, and allow both goods and passengers easy access to the whole network. The benefit to railways and the country generally was immense, from establishing GMT as a national time standard to squaring the accounts and minimising the disputes of rival companies.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, because, despite, may, not, whereas, whether, who.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Journey. Miniature. Stock.
2 Dispute. Found. Ticket.
3 Distance. Signal. Smooth.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
Your Words ()
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