Americans React: Inside Britain's Royal Train

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]What's going on, guys? Welcome back to the channel. Today, we're going to be taking a look inside the royal train. To be honest, I didn't realize the royal family had a royal train, >> but it makes sense that they would travel separate from most people.

[00:00:13]>> Yeah, it does. I think what I'm going to find most interesting is how opulent it is cuz I can already tell >> based on the little thumbnail picture, look at this.

[00:00:22]>> This is That's what I'm saying. This thumbnail, the still, I guess. Um, just all the detail. And I guess it shouldn't surprise me because all the carriages see them riding in the ceremonies and stuff are just beautiful.

[00:00:37]>> You know, I'd like to look deeper into the carriages as well cuz I expect there's probably carriages we haven't seen. And we really haven't ever seen them close up inside and whatnot. So, that'd be interesting as well.

[00:00:49]>> Guys, if you've been following along with us for quite some time now, you probably realize just how much we've enjoyed learning about trains in general. That is something we have very little experience here in the US because get on a train means that we have to travel like I think 3 hours from here just to get on the nearest train >> that goes a long distance. Like there's small local trains that we've kind of ridden on for an hour or so.

[00:01:13]>> Like the one that we take at Christmas sometimes that goes like 10 or 15 miles down the track.

[00:01:19]>> Yeah. Polar Express.

[00:01:20]>> Polar Express train for for kids and whatnot. But we really never had much experience like actually traveling on trains and it looks so much fun.

[00:01:28]>> But I'm expecting to see something quite opulent and uh just beautiful in general. Uh but guys, before we get started, this video comes to us from the National Railway Museum. So, honestly, I'm not sure if we're going to be seeing a train that is still used by the royal family or if this is a train that >> maybe it's been retired.

[00:01:48]>> Maybe. And I if it is if it has been retired, I'm guessing they probably have another one at this point. Uh but so far, what I'm seeing here looks incredible. So, enough rambling, guys.

[00:01:59]Let's go and jump in here and check out the inside story of Britain's Royal Train.

[00:02:06]>> The invention of the railway in the mid-9th century completely transformed Britain, connecting the country in ways that hadn't been possible before. Steam locomotives crisscrossed the country, pairing millions of people with relative ease. Man, >> imagine that change.

[00:02:21]>> We love the steam train.

[00:02:22]>> For the royal family, it was an allgether more luxurious affair.

[00:02:28]>> MAKES SENSE.

[00:02:29]>> FOR OVER Britain's royal family have traveled in these elegant palaces on wheels.

[00:02:34]>> Wow.

[00:02:35]>> Palace on wheels.

[00:02:36]>> From the earliest days of the >> through to the Second World War and beyond, >> these carriages tell a fascinating story. Wow.

[00:02:44]>> Of technological innovation and exquisite craftsmanship.

[00:02:53]>> The detail.

[00:02:54]>> Yeah.

[00:02:56]>> Royals on rails.

[00:02:58]>> Okay. Looks quite opulent.

[00:03:01]>> Even the outside.

[00:03:02]>> Very much so.

[00:03:04]>> The story of the royal carriages begins here with Queen Adelaide's saloon.

[00:03:09]Adelaide was the first wife of William IV, the uncle of the future Queen Victoria.

[00:03:16]>> And in 1842, she became the very first member of the royal family to travel by rail.

[00:03:22]>> Wow. 1842.

[00:03:25]Is this car from 1842? Surely not. That that that would be incredible.

[00:03:30]>> I mean, >> it does look older.

[00:03:31]>> They're talking about her and her saloon car. So, >> wow, man.

[00:03:35]>> Since that's the one they're showing, >> I guess so. This carriage was made by Hooper & Company, who had been making horsedrawn carriages for the royal family since the late 18th century.

[00:03:46]>> A that's cool.

[00:03:48]>> It really shows how early passenger carriages mirrored the look of horserawn coaches. I >> I can see that. Yeah.

[00:03:56]>> Looking inside, >> oh, >> we can see that it's not a very large space.

[00:04:01]>> Wow.

[00:04:01]>> But it would have been quite comfort.

[00:04:03]>> Yeah, it is very cushy.

[00:04:06]It even has a pull out bed, something that may have been fitted later to accommodate.

[00:04:11]>> That seems like very ahead of his time.

[00:04:13]A >> as the 19th century drew on, railway technology continued to advance at a rapid rate, and the royal carriages led the way.

[00:04:26]Towards the end of Queen Victoria's reign, the royal train had a serious upgrade.

[00:04:33]Queen Victoria first traveled by rail in 1842 with her husband, Prince Albert.

[00:04:37]And from then on, she was a regular rail user, traveling around the country to visit places, visit friends, meet her subjects. This was a carriage that was built in 1869 by the London and North >> 1869.

[00:04:49]>> Designed by Richard B.

[00:04:52]It's fitted out as you can see in the high Victorian style with its ornate chairs >> decoration in bird's eye maple and blue watered silk.

[00:05:03]>> I love the blue silk >> and writing tables because she also worked in here as well.

[00:05:09]While traveling by first class could be pretty luxurious. This is another step again in terms of the the decor, the fittings and of course the service that Queen had.

[00:05:18]>> You can see a little button here. She pressed that and one of the attendants would come and she would if she pressed this one her dresser would come.

[00:05:25]>> That's kind of mind-blowing to me to think she had push button to get the attention of a dresser or an attendant in 1869 I think is when they said this was built.

[00:05:36]>> That is incredible.

[00:05:37]>> Yeah, I see ahead of it time.

[00:05:39]>> It does. And maybe my head just can't wrap around like it seems like this wouldn't have been during that time period. I don't know. Oh, that's >> No, that seems way ahead of his time.

[00:05:50]And a bed in a train, the initial one from I think it was 1840s.

[00:05:54]>> Uh, that seems ahead of his time as well.

[00:05:56]>> I mean, I would expect that the royal family would get the top of the line treatment and would have some things that maybe the average people in the public didn't have.

[00:06:06]>> Um, but can you imagine? I I I can understand why all of a sudden the queen would have been taking a train a lot because this would have been not only a comfortable way to get around but also probably much faster than up until that point they had been getting around. So I can imagine this was like a game changer for them.

[00:06:24]>> Yeah.

[00:06:25]>> But we do know that she enjoyed traveling in this coach. It was her favorite of all her royal carriages. It was the one in which she took those long journeys up to Balmoral in Scotland. We know at one time, for example, that she read Jane Air while traveling on this coach.

[00:06:40]>> But it's not just the decoration that makes this carriage special. It also embraced the new inventions of the time.

[00:06:46]>> Wow.

[00:06:47]>> Queen Victoria wasn't always enamored of some of the latest technologies. For example, the LNWR, London and Northwestern Railway, fitted this carriage with electric lighting, but she didn't like it.

[00:06:57]>> Back to the old oil lamps and candles that she preferred.

[00:07:00]>> Wow. She also wasn't so keen on traveling at high speed. She preferred to travel at 40 mph during the day maximum or 30 mph uh during the night, but trains at that time could travel much faster than that.

[00:07:15]>> Do you think it's because of the way it felt?

[00:07:19]>> Probably.

[00:07:19]>> I'm sure, especially back then, I'm guessing it was much more bumpy >> of a ride.

[00:07:23]>> Yeah. So, if you slow it down, it's going to be a much more comfortable ride, which would mean which makes sense why she would want to slow it down at night. She's trying to sleep and so slow it down a little bit more is less bumpy.

[00:07:32]That's my That's my guess anyway.

[00:07:35]>> So, one of the things the railway companies wanted to show off when they built carriages for the royal family was the quality of their >> Look at that wood, man. Oh my goodness.

[00:07:45]>> And they fitted them out to the highest uh style.

[00:07:48]>> Looks like, >> for example, something you wouldn't have got in every uh toilet in the 1860s.

[00:07:54]>> This is a royal toilet.

[00:07:55]>> That's crazy.

[00:07:56]>> Is a sink.

[00:07:58]So although in the 1860s, we're not so sure that Queen Victoria ever used it because she didn't like eating. She didn't like going to the toilet. She didn't like moving between carriages on on the train.

[00:08:08]>> So she was a little bit wary of some of the new technology.

[00:08:12]>> But despite her slight reluctance, Victoria was a regular traveler and her long relationship with the railways helped define how the monarchy would use them into the 20th century.

[00:08:31]Queen Victoria's eldest son, Edward IIIth, took the throne in 1902, becoming the first monarch to have been born into the railway age.

[00:08:41]>> He wanted something more modern than his mother's now very dated carriage and so commissioned this vehicle.

[00:08:49]>> Wow.

[00:08:49]>> Wow. The outside is gorgeous. Yeah.

[00:08:51]Sorry. Say, look at the doors.

[00:08:52]>> We particularly remember very much. Now he's the current queen's greatgrandfather.

[00:08:56]But in relation to the royal train, he's one of the most important. Unlike Queen Victoria, trains are part of his life from the very beginning.

[00:09:06]This is one of five vehicles that make up a rake of royal train carriages.

[00:09:10]>> The idea was that the train would function as a as a base of operation for the mosque.

[00:09:15]>> Hold on. Sorry guys. I want to see what was that. Let's see if I can.

[00:09:18]>> The idea was that the train >> What is this?

[00:09:21]It looks like electronic, doesn't it?

[00:09:24]>> Yeah.

[00:09:24]>> If anyone >> is a radio.

[00:09:26]>> That's what I was thinking. If anyone knows what this is, let us know in the comments, please.

[00:09:31]>> Function.

[00:09:31]>> I love how large the windows are in this >> for the monarchy traveling around the country for both leisure and for business.

[00:09:40]It's based on the Duke of Southerntherland's carriage which had been in the 1890s and which um Edward when he was Prince of Wales is intensely jealous of >> and it's also done up to be reminiscent of the Royal Yachts of which Edward IIIth was so fond. So from the same furnishing company's wearings of London.

[00:10:00]Okay, I'm just my mind is blown on these are these are very early train cars and just seeing the technology that's there in this timeline is just is mind-blowing to me. Uh like fans, uh toilets, uh I saw a phone. I was just shocked to see that that's this is 1902 supposedly or maybe a little after. But >> was he born in 1902 or was this >> No, that's when he took that's when he took the throne.

[00:10:24]>> So he had this commissioned shortly after. I don't know if I remember hearing an exact date, but the fact that this would have probably been the very early 1900s having a phone there looked like a radio. I have no idea what that was. It's just kind of interesting cuz my mind doesn't perceive technology like that being on a train.

[00:10:42]>> Yeah.

[00:10:43]>> You know, at that point, >> but this would have been top of the line.

[00:10:46]>> This would have been top of the line.

[00:10:47]So, I suppose that would make a lot of sense.

[00:10:50]There are a number of features in here that you'll recognize from Queen Victoria's carriage. um particularly the sort of ornate light switches, the ornate summoning buttons as well that are here set into all of the walls, but also newer features. So, um an electric fan ventilation as well, something which never featured on the 19th century royal train.

[00:11:12]>> And similarly, this white box here, which is a speaker for the wireless set, which was installed just down here.

[00:11:20]>> Oh my goodness. So this is a train that is of a time where generations are becoming more used to train travel.

[00:11:27]>> So this is a sort of part of the monarchy which is completely embedded in the railways. It's a >> Do you get how big of a deal that is?

[00:11:36]>> The speaker now granted I don't know when that was installed. Was that right when this was commissioned in the very early 19 that I don't know that just that's mind-blowing to me. That really is >> modern train for a modern monarchy.

[00:11:51]So now we're in the rather sumptuous smoking room.

[00:11:55]Edward the 7th's a very important person in seeing the royal train as part of the sort of diplomatic ceremonial part of monarchy. So he would entertain lots of guests within this space. man cave of the times. Other monarchs, politicians who were sort of prominent in Britain at the time would be invited onto these trains often on trips to go hunting or shooting or racing. If you could place a bet on that, Edward IIIth was in favor of it. It was a man of enormous appetites and it was quite a privilege to enter this quite private space with the king as well. So, it's a sort of blending of public and private, of leisure and work that's happening here, but it's made to the king's absolute demand.

[00:12:38]>> It's really nice.

[00:12:39]>> Oh, yeah. I like that.

[00:12:42]>> Edward regularly used this carriage, but it was during the First World War that the royal train really came into its own. M >> during the war, King George V and his wife Mary were determined to tour the country to keep morale high, visiting factories, troops, and hospitals.

[00:13:05]>> George V and Queen Mary were inveterate visitors. They made it their mission to almost be constantly on the move. And a train became a sort of working office and a base. Imagine that increased morale during that fertile war.

[00:13:19]>> The household were also very media savvy in the way that we'd think of it now. A separate press train might go ahead of the royal train so that the reporters and the film crews would have time to set up and capture the ceremonial moments where the king and queen stepped off the train.

[00:13:33]>> It's amazing we have moments like this on film.

[00:13:36]Together they updated many of the royal saloons, bringing them most firmly century, including this one designed by Sir Nigel Grizzly, the engineer perhaps most famous for designing the record-breaking locomotive Malard.

[00:13:53]>> Turned the train into a mobile base of operations. It was fitted with new additions such as a wireless and telephones.

[00:14:02]After the war, the carriage was used almost exclusively for daytime journeys by Queen Mary, who took a particular interest in the interior design.

[00:14:17]When this space was built, it was originally quite dark and quite masculine. And one of the things that Queen Mary does is sort of light in it.

[00:14:24]So you've get you get these absolutely lovely sort of more art deco panels, a lighter set of furniture in here as well, >> but also this like move towards a sort of more domestic color. So the tea surface out on a a side table and fairly sort of high quality but quite standard setup for like a highass drawing room of the time.

[00:14:47]>> You know, I must say I definitely prefer the lighter colors than the dark color.

[00:14:51]not a fan of the really dark like uh >> it makes it makes faces feel bigger when it's lighter and brighter.

[00:14:59]>> They're just happier when they're brighter and lighter. Yeah.

[00:15:02]>> So, when this carriage was built for Edward IIIth in 1908, it had two very large day rooms. When Queen Mary takes over the carriage, she has this space remodeled. And you can see this sort of partition wall is extended down towards where the camera is. So, this becomes more of a private space. As you can see, there's a dressing table in here.

[00:15:21]There's more of a sort of private space in her attempts to create more of a sort of feminine dressing space. And she has the windows in this part of the carriage frosted with royal emblems and her own coat of arms.

[00:15:44]By the time of the Second World War, it was decided that the Royal Trains needed updating. The old wooden carriages weren't deemed safe from potential attacks from German bombing rings.

[00:15:57]And so under the supervision of Sir William Stania, this once armorplated base of operations was built for use by King George V 6 and subsequently his daughter Queen Elizabeth II.

[00:16:11]New welding techniques meant this carriage could be made of steel and at 56 tons, it was one of the heaviest passenger vehicles to ever work on the network.

[00:16:22]The new train, which entered service in 1941, wasn't just new on the outside. It also continued the trend of including cuttingedge gadgets and design features in the interior.

[00:16:39]>> You can see something of the wartime nature of the carriage in its furniture and its fittings. It definitely looks different here. That said, the designers who were commissioned to actually fit out this carriage were among the best.

[00:16:52]So, the carpets are by Marian Dawn and the furniture was all made by Gordon Russell. And it did cost £35,000 to fit out. So, it was expensive by the terms of of the Second World War. So, a couple of features here. uh a lovely little writing desk with a with a clock, but also you've got a phone here with little buttons depending on who you might call including the footman lady in waiting.

[00:17:19]>> The Duke of Edinburgh.

[00:17:20]>> Okay. What exactly is a lady in waiting?

[00:17:22]I know that term.

[00:17:24]>> Lady in waiting.

[00:17:25]>> Yeah. I don't know what it is, but I just know that >> maybe like next in command. I don't know.

[00:17:31]>> I don't think that's it. I I >> Lady and waiting.

[00:17:34]>> I don't know what that is. Queen's footman. What's a footman?

[00:17:38]>> I don't I don't know. H you know it's interesting.

[00:17:40]>> Maybe like a messenger >> maybe. You know when you look at this this whole this whole uh setup here built in the 40s.

[00:17:52]>> This has a very 50s style.

[00:17:54]>> Yeah.

[00:17:54]>> It the whole whole thing is very and I'm kind of shocked at how low the price of of this is.£35,000.

[00:18:01]>> Well, but then >> during the war >> Yeah, I understand that. But it's just like Yeah.

[00:18:06]>> You know what the decor reminds me of in this carriage?

[00:18:09]>> What?

[00:18:10]>> It reminds me of like an old 50s motel kind of >> really >> a little like a higher class than that, >> but I'm just saying like that the style reminds me of that.

[00:18:22]>> This one isn't quite as opulent as the others.

[00:18:25]>> That's what I'm saying. It's not quite as >> paired down, but I think that's to reflect on the the war >> period. Yeah, >> the war. Yeah, that's that's interesting.

[00:18:34]clock, but also you've got a phone here with little buttons depending on who you might call, including the footman, lady in waiting, and for this one, the Duke of Edinburgh. This shows its postwar use.

[00:18:46]>> This phone here could be connected to the post office network when the train was stationary. This was all premo phone, of course.

[00:18:54]>> You can see that this cabinet was fitted with a radio. And right here are the instructions on how to use it and how to get the light program whether it's on medium wave or long wave depending on where you are in the country.

[00:19:08]>> Wow.

[00:19:10]>> This carriage in later use became the favorite of the Queen Mother. One of the features of this carriage is that it was air conditioned.

[00:19:17]>> It's quite a complicated air conditioning system that required great slabs of ice. But you can see here switches to set the temperature to your particular choice. So you could sleep in perfect comfort.

[00:19:29]>> That's cool.

[00:19:30]>> Bedroom >> is an onuite bathroom >> with a sink, a toilet, >> and a bath. Quite unusual on a train.

[00:19:38]>> Perhaps the most interesting feature on it is this little red line here which shows the depth of water that you were to fill the bath to.

[00:19:46]>> Some say that was because of wartime austerity that the king, the queen wouldn't use too much water. But there's quite a practical reason as well. If there was too much, it comes sloshing out over the bath. That's what I was thinking.

[00:19:58]>> And actually, there were instructions given to the drivers not to go too fast >> when the king or queen would be taking a bath.

[00:20:11]>> From the elaborate decoration of a Victorian palace on wheels, I love that one.

[00:20:15]>> That one is incredible. armorplated wartime vehicles. The royal carriages tell a story not only of the monarchy, but of the evolution of Britain's railways.

[00:20:25]>> And it's all preserved for future generations here at the National Railway Museum.

[00:20:30]>> I guess they are retired.

[00:20:33]>> Wow.

[00:20:33]>> I wonder what like the current ones look like.

[00:20:37]>> I know. Surely they still have special >> railway cars for >> it would it would make sense.

[00:20:45]Oh, I'm trying to see that again. Oh well, can't seem to get it. But um where's the blue one? I want to see the blue one close up again if I can. There we go.

[00:20:54]>> Wow, that is my favorite.

[00:20:57]>> Details just beautiful.

[00:20:58]>> But I am blown away by the technology that each um era had. Mhm.

[00:21:06]>> Like it seemed like it was ahead of his time, even to the point that in the latest one, uh, the one Yeah. Um, >> he had air conditioning.

[00:21:18]>> And it sounds like it would have been a very complicated, >> laborintensive process to be able to Yeah. slabs of ice used >> and it's just like early on being able to make a phone call from a train.

[00:21:32]>> Um, it just I don't know. I in my head I just did not think back going back a hundred years ago that was something that you know was was done.

[00:21:43]>> Um but but yeah it's very cool and uh this definitely goes to show the different transitions in the way uh you know style was and and the technology obviously and whatnot. Um this was incredible guys. I would love to visit not only these train this train. I think this is one train with a bunch of different cars. That's what I that's what it seems like going in. I didn't know exactly what it was, what they meant by the Royal Train, but it sounds like this is just different cars within this long line >> um >> throughout the museum or something.

[00:22:16]>> Yeah, if I'm not mistaken. But I definitely want to visit this museum.

[00:22:19]>> Yeah, I know too.

[00:22:20]>> Yeah, I am getting more and more interested in trains. Um, you know, like I said, we've we have very little experience with trains. Um, we we rode on a train most recently was when was that like 6 months ago or maybe maybe a little longer than that. Um, >> maybe almost a year ago.

[00:22:37]>> I guess it was I guess it was about a year ago we rode on the um Spirit of Jasper train. And uh it's very interesting because the cars I think it's four cars, three cars. Yeah.

[00:22:47]>> Um but they they all have a unique history. For example, one of the cars was a World War II morg morg car where it carried uh the bodies of fallen soldiers.

[00:23:00]>> Um I guess they were coming back from overseas and they and they were transported on this train. There's also a hospital car >> and I can't remember what the other one was, but they were very unique um in terms but they look >> renovated.

[00:23:12]>> They've been renovated and they look nice. Um, they were all from like the I guess around I think one was from the 20s and then 1940s for the World War II layer of cars. But, um, anyways, um, guys, absolutely incredible. Let us know in the comments what you think we should check out next. Maybe it's something about the royal family or maybe it's something else about trains or or whatnot. Really enjoying looking at uh, pretty much anything you guys suggest.

[00:23:36]It's always pretty interesting. Um, but I think that's it for us today. Thank you so much for stopping by. Please click that like button. Feel free to drop your comments or suggestions about this video or others. And don't forget to subscribe to continue to follow us on our journey. Until next time, peace.