The Man Who Went Everywhere

[Calthrop]

Thoughts generated after a recent thread in which I mentioned in passing, the 19th / 20th century British railway enthusiast T.R. Perkins, who is renowned for having travelled during his long life, allegedly over all passenger rail routes throughout the British Isles (and recorded much about his travels, largely in material submitted to railway magazines). Google seems to yield sadly little about Mr. Perkins – from what I’ve seen here and there: people’s reckoning of the period of time which his mission took him, is anything between forty, and sixty, years.

He covered Ireland as well as Great Britain: it’s well-attested that he finally completed his great undertaking in 1932, by travelling over the Kilmessan to Athboy branch. Fancy cannot help painting his arrival at Athboy terminus -- his proudly telling the stationmaster of his achievement, and that official humouring him with things like “Ah, sure, sir, that’s grand,” – while sidling off to his office to phone the main Dublin lunatic asylum to enquire about recently escaped patients...

A matter concerning “TRP” which bothers me somewhat, is – there were closures of railways throughout the railway age: few in its earlier decades, more as time wore on. Obviously Perkins could not have bagged absolutely everything that there ever was – for instance, there’s no way to see him covering Great Chesterford to Six Mile Bottom, which ran only from 1848 to 1851. With mission-completion in 1932, one takes it that as of then, re “everything”, he had either travelled on it; or it “had already been closed from under him”. It niggles rather, to wonder – which lines (not outrageously before his life-span) did he miss? Did he make it to the Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore; or the Campbeltown & Machrihanish; or the Sand Hutton? – all variously short-lived. From about the mid-1920s, it began to happen that lines in some quantity lost their passenger service, but remained active for freight. What did TRP do in cases like this, if he had not yet covered the line? – just write it off; or seek ways to travel on it without its having passenger trains? Did railway undertakings countenance brake-van trips on freight-only lines by individual enthusiasts, ninety-to-a-hundred years ago? Had our hero really managed already, to cover all the victims of the September 1930 “Beeching-presaging” purge of minor branch passenger services?

To be perplexed by these questions, probably indicates a surplus of time one one’s hands – nonetheless, they get mused on. A biography of Mr. Perkins is an interesting thought; it would, seemingly, take a lot of researching. Any further information about this apparently enigmatic gentleman, would be received with interest.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Looks as though I'm the only Perkins fan on the board ! Ah, well, there we are.

Dare I say -- hoping it will not be regarded as too-over-the-top cheek on the part of one who's been a member for just a month -- that I'm not keen on the "double post prevention system" in force on this board (something that I've encountered nowhere else on the Net). May I just indicate, to clarify, that my original post (first four paragraphs in this "window") was made on Jan. 3rd; subsequent material, on Jan. 6th.

 

[DarloRich]

surely he could only travel on what was there at the time of completion ( covered all lines in his book by date X) and must have taken the view that if something closed it never existed - otherwise you would be driven mad!

 

[Calthrop]

That does make sense; but the guy did seem pretty "driven", about his project. Say that as at September 1925, he'd never got round to doing the Great Western's Limpley Stoke -- Camerton -- Hallatrow branch (of later "Titfield Thunderbolt" fame), and was overtaken by the GW's, that month, withdrawing passenger services over the whole line, and abandoning Camerton -- Hallatrow. I envisage him brooding over this, thinking furiously, "there must be something I can do... write to GWR headquarters requesting permission to travel on the LS -- Camerton goods? Just turn up at the scene, prepared to try and bribe the train crew to let me travel?"

Though perhaps he was more-nearly sane, than fancy might tend to suggest...

 

[Springs Branch]

I wonder how much this whole escapade cost Perkins (as a multiple of a typical annual salary of the time)?
Given these were the days before ALRs, Savers, PTE rangers and the like, and presumably almost all his journeys were made with Edmonson card tickets bought at the booking office window.

 

[Calthrop]

I gather that for his times, he was pretty fortunate as regards both financial capacity to afford his gricing; and leisure time in which to do it. He owned a chemist's shop, which was presumably modestly remunerative; and third-class rail fares were cheap enough. He was married (no kids), and seemingly had an amicable arrangement with his wife, by which she looked after the shop while he was off on his travels. The two of them took separate holidays: he tended the business while Mrs. P. took her fair turn at doing her own leisure thing. Seems a bit of an unusual marital set-up -- but people are endlessly various, and apparently-unlikely arrangements can work well for those who operate them.

 

[DarloRich]

That does make sense; but the guy did seem pretty "driven", about his project. Say that as at September 1925, he'd never got round to doing the Great Western's Limpley Stoke -- Camerton -- Hallatrow branch (of later "Titfield Thunderbolt" fame), and was overtaken by the GW's, that month, withdrawing passenger services over the whole line, and abandoning Camerton -- Hallatrow. I envisage him brooding over this, thinking furiously, "there must be something I can do... write to GWR headquarters requesting permission to travel on the LS -- Camerton goods? Just turn up at the scene, prepared to try and bribe the train crew to let me travel?"

Though perhaps he was more-nearly sane, than fancy might tend to suggest...

hopefully he was -that or suffering some vast obsessive compulsive disorder!

 

[Calthrop]

Or -- trying to err on the side of charity toward TRP -- if he had wanted, and tried, to pursue lines which he'd missed in their days of regular passenger service, but which still had freight and maybe occasional passenger specials: he'd have had to accept that he'd probably never complete his mission in his lifetime. World War II would have badly messed such doings up for him; I'd assume that in reality, World War I annoyingly clipped his wings.

(I must indeed have too much time on my hands, with all this speculating about what this long-dead bloke might or might not have done...)

 

[Bevan Price]

Even in the BR era, groups were allowed to travel in the brake van of scheduled freight services - on payment of a fee. So, that might not have been a major problem. A big problem would be that, on some rural lines, especially in Ireland, the services were very sparse, sometimes no more than one or two per day.

From the 1922 Bradshaw reprint as an example, just to do the 48 miles from Ennis to Kilkee, and its 4 mile branch from Moyasta Jn to Kilrush would have required 2 days to complete, including an overnight stop in Kilrush.

 

[Calthrop]

In the late 1960s and early '70s, I did a fair amount of scheduled-freight-services-brakevanning -- both with organised groups, and privately arranged. I just wonder pessimistically, whether roughly a century ago -- before railway enthusiasm was a mass phenomenon -- the idea would have seemed so outlandish that railway companies would turn down flat, requests to engage in such exploits. (Or perhaps some companies would have been more co-operative than others !)

The "old" (steam-worked) West Clare seems always to have been a tough proposition for the enthusiast, thanks to its very sparse schedules. The late J.I.C. Boyd tells of his doing this line in 1950, on the then one-each-way-per-day passenger service: departure from Ennis 1655, overnight at Kilkee, back to Ennis on the 0800 ex Kilkee next morning. Even in this two-day itinerary, it needed to be "one branch or the other": Boyd had to forego the Moyasta -- Kilrush section.

I find it a bit amazing that with Perkins's electing to cover Ireland as well as Great Britain; he managed to "polish everything off" as early as 1932. Speculation mechanism working overtime: though I have no precise info on Perkins's date of birth, I pick up inferences that as at World War I, he would likely have been too old for front-line service, but might have served in the Forces in some back-up capacity. If so -- one wonders whether he might conceivably have been stationed in Ireland for much of the war; and spent all his leaves gricing the Irish railway system??

 

[Bevan Price]

See:-
http://www.steamindex.com/locomag/lcwr38.htm#450-trp

" Mr. T. R. Perkins. 450
of Henley-in-Arden, had recently completed his self-imposed task of travelling over the whole of the railway system of the British Isles, aggregating some 22,000 miles. It had taken him nearly forty years of systematic travel to enable him to say he has been over every mile of railway that is regularly used by passenger trains. Most of his journeys have been made in his annual holidays, with a few odd trips, when opportunity occurred. On several occasions Perkins had contributed articles on various little-known railways to our pages, while for the entertainment of his railway-enthusiast friends he compiles, after each of his journeys, a most informative account of his observations. He also writes a second chronicle of more general interest for private circulation. By profession Mr. Perkins is a chemist, and therefore has very little opportunity for travel in the course .of his business, but he prepares the itinerary of his tours WIth the utmost attention to detail, and the arrangement of the time-table is quite a fine art. . "

If it took him nearly 40 years, and he started in his late teens, he was probably born in the early to mid 1870s, so probably too old for active service in WW1. And as a chemist, he was probably considered more valuable "at home" than as a soldier.

 

[Calthrop]

Thanks for the given info. Your surmise re approximate birth date and age, tallies with such that I'd made. Unless the Royal Army Medical Corps had a use for TRP's skills -- I concur that he'd most likely have spent the war on the home front. In that event, one sees him having various extra duties and responsibilities, to help fill the gap left by the millions who were away; and presumably during the war, copious self-indulgence in frivolous hobbies was frowned on. One envisages 1914 - 18 putting a big crimp in his gricing.

The whole feat in slightly less than forty years, though -- say 1893 - 1932 -- my word, that's some travelling. I wonder whether he stipulated that he had to cover everything in daylight? In my period of attempting an equivalent mission some half a century later, I counted a line as "bagged" only if done in daylight, so that I could see what I was travelling through. A friend of mine at that time, who had the same objective; would sometimes, when it worked out that he could traverse a hard-to-get line only after dark, "decree it to be light" re that particular line !

 

[Busaholic]

Could it be that Mr Perkin's role as a chemist meant he had a 'reserved occupation' during World War One? My grandfather, born 1879, had one such, with the Inland Revenue. Indeed, he joined the IR on leaving school at 14 and eventually retired (forced to, I suspect) on his 80th birthday, so had virtually 66 continuous years with the IR.

 

[Calthrop]

Could indeed have been so for TRP, I reckon. Interesting to learn of your grandfather's experience in that episode of history.

My own male forbears seem to have been, then, more fortunate than the norm -- so far as I know, none of them lost their lives in World War I. In point of fact, few of them were in harm's way during that conflict. My maternal grandfather (whom I never knew: he married late, and died not at a great age -- this not in any way as a result of the war) had four brothers; none of the five-in-toto were WWI casualties -- one died in 1915, but for reasons nothing to do with the war. The others' "making it through", would seem, to some extent, likely a function of health factors. Two, including my grandfather, were rated unfit for military service. The other two were in the Army, and the Navy, both in a very much "sorta-kinda" way. The former was, I believe, judged not fit for combat; but served as an orderly in the RAMC. The latter worked for the Mercantile Marine Office of the Board of Trade, in a fairly senior position involving liaising with merchant shipping personnel. He was in his late thirties, and not in the best of health: was retained in his BOT role, with he and his colleagues being technically part of the Royal Naval Reserve 1914 - 19.

 

[Tim R-T-C]

I just wonder pessimistically, whether roughly a century ago -- before railway enthusiasm was a mass phenomenon -- the idea would have seemed so outlandish that railway companies would turn down flat, requests to engage in such exploits. (Or perhaps some companies would have been more co-operative than others !)

As I understood it, people would use the brake van rides to get to a remote destination, not worthy of a passenger carriage, so provided he had a vague place to go at the end of the route, he might well be able to pay his fee and get a brake van ride with no reason to tell that he was doing it for 'route bagging' purposes.


It is a fascinating story and I would love to know more about it. It mentions in the quote above that he travelled all of the lines "regularly used by passenger trains", I wonder if he researched PSUL trains to bag unusual routings, or if he ignored these in favour of purely the major routes.

The 22,000 mile figure is impressive, compared to the current 9,790 route miles. Is there really less than half of our network left?

I wonder what he would have made of the BLS and their cross-over and siding bagging tours?!

 

[Calthrop]

As I understood it, people would use the brake van rides to get to a remote destination, not worthy of a passenger carriage, so provided he had a vague place to go at the end of the route, he might well be able to pay his fee and get a brake van ride with no reason to tell that he was doing it for 'route bagging' purposes.

Interesting -- I sort-of had the picture that "grey areas" like this didn't much happen in on-the-whole very proper and regulation-bound Great Britain: obtained more, in other parts. I may well be wrong.

However, I recall reading of an episode on the Shropshire & Montgomeryshire, circa 1914: the vicar of -- Melverley? Criggion? and a couple of members of his family, travelling home, found the Kinnerley Jun. -- Criggion branch train formed solely of the tiny loco Gazelle, nothing else: they had somehow to tuck themselves into corners of loco's rear end, and suffer holes burnt in their clothes from smuts / cinders thrown out by the loco. The vicar wrote a letter of complaint to the railway company. Impression is got, that the S & M was totally mad -- even by Colonel Stephens's "relaxed" standards.

It is a fascinating story and I would love to know more about it. It mentions in the quote above that he travelled all of the lines "regularly used by passenger trains", I wonder if he researched PSUL trains to bag unusual routings, or if he ignored these in favour of purely the major routes.

Who knows? -- and other questions... as mentioned previously, I feel that a biography of the guy begs to be written: but the research concerned, would be daunting.

The 22,000 mile figure is impressive, compared to the current 9,790 route miles. Is there really less than half of our network left?

As the Yanks say, "I suck at figures" -- but I can find "less than half", eminently believable: with closures of not only daft back-of-beyond branch lines, but of so many secondary-main-line routes.

I wonder what he would have made of the BLS and their cross-over and siding bagging tours?!

I suspect: he'd feel that he'd died and gone to heaven...

 

[341o2]

This reminds me of Rogers E.M. Whitaker or E.M. Frimbo. (his pseudonymn) his goal was to travel every railroad and trolley line in the US and when he had achieved this...the world

On his death, he had travelled just short of 2.75m miles in his quest

 

[Calthrop]

Long ago, I read this chap's book All Aboard with E.M. Frimbo. Found it entertaining and interesting, but very little of it seems to have stayed with me (I'm not greatly au fait with American railroads).

The impression is got, that Perkins and Whitaker were very different kinds of guy. My inference has always been that the former seems to have been a quiet, low-key sort of bod; whereas Whitaker alias Frimbo was a colourful, larger-than-life character: when not in gricing mode, a big New York socialite and man-about-town, with many show-business friends and associates. For sure, it takes all sorts...

 

[Bevan Price]

Thanks for the given info. Your surmise re approximate birth date and age, tallies with such that I'd made. Unless the Royal Army Medical Corps had a use for TRP's skills -- I concur that he'd most likely have spent the war on the home front. In that event, one sees him having various extra duties and responsibilities, to help fill the gap left by the millions who were away; and presumably during the war, copious self-indulgence in frivolous hobbies was frowned on. One envisages 1914 - 18 putting a big crimp in his gricing.

!

The latter part of WW1 would definitely have been a problem - passenger services on a lot of "less busy" lines were suspended from January 1917. Many reopened in about 1919, but some never regained their passenger services.

 

[Calthrop]

One line thus affected, is a big favourite of mine: the Bideford, Westward Ho! & Appledore. Must, I feel, have been very charming -- but a priceless example of a crazy rural light railway which should never have been inaugurated. This line, and a fair number of its fellows, would -- I feel -- never had existed, if their promoters had had the slightest inkling of how soon and how rapidly road motor transport would take off.

As mentioned by me upthread -- I wonder whether Perkins ever managed to get to the BWH!&A, with its very short life: opened 1901, except for the short final section Northam - Appledore which opened only in 1908; and, at the behest of the government / military, closed completely in spring 1917, and locos and rails shipped off for use on the Western Front.

Even had there been no World War I, it's hard to imagine the BWH!&A lasting a great deal longer than it actually did: I gather that as at 1917 it was in bad financial trouble, and its owners were basically glad to be rid of it. The only speculative long-term hope for it that I can imagine: one gathers that when Captain J. Howey and associates were looking in the early 1920s, for a venue for a decent-length 15in. gauge line which would actually fulfill some kind of transport need -- they contemplated various possibilities, including perhaps seeking to acquire the West Sussex line (Chichester - Selsey) and convert it from standard to 15in. gauge. If the Bideford line had still been running in the early '20s, maybe Howey & co. would have had similar ideas concerning it; and fixed on it to convert to 15in., rather than -- as in fact happened -- inaugurating the completely new Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway.