Why a Royal Train Might Be Held to 40 mph
A speed limit on a royal journey was not necessarily a limit on what the locomotive could do. It was an operating choice: the engine might have more power, but the train was expected to travel at a pace its passenger could tolerate. That distinction mattered in an era when railways were still making high-speed travel feel ordinary.
Speed Was Felt Through the Carriage
A passenger did not experience speed as a number on a dial. The carriage transmitted the track’s unevenness as jolts and rattles, while wheels and machinery filled the compartment with noise. On a route with curves or rough sections, going faster could make the ride feel more abrupt. Springs and other improvements softened the motion, but they could not make every stretch of track equally smooth.
For a monarch, comfort also had practical weight. A royal train carried its passenger in a private, furnished carriage rather than in a workaday railway car, and the journey had to remain manageable as well as fast. Running more slowly gave the railway greater margin to keep the ride steady and the schedule controlled.
A Limit Set by the Passenger, Not the Engine
The 40-mph ceiling captures a change in what railways were being asked to do. Their achievement was no longer just to move people faster than a horse-drawn vehicle; they also had to make speed comfortable for passengers accustomed to more familiar forms of travel. In this case, the train’s capability was not the only measure of progress: the ride had to feel acceptable inside the carriage.
