Punch,  10 (1846), 74.

Railway Explosion

Anon

Genre:

Illustration, Drollery; Reportage, Spoof

Relevant illustrations:

wdct.

Subjects:

Railways, Engineering, Commerce


    Describes the 'bursting of the Great Railway Bubble' as if it were an exploding locomotive, punning on those words common to railway engineering and commerce. Explains, for example, that 'a total exhaustion of the receiver, which created a fearful vacuum, was the immediate cause of the frightful calamity', and that although some railway lines 'felt themselves secure' in being placed on solid 'primary deposit', 'it was found that this deposit had been gradually eaten away by some birds of prey with long bills, so that these lines have since been involved in the common ruin'.



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