In a local discussion group, someone reminisced of their grandmother dying in Tebay and her body being put on the train to Shap in order for the funeral and burial to take place (this was in 1947). This sounds extraordinary but I suppose in those days the railways were designated a common carrier and had to take all sorts. How did this work out - did they have to be in a casket already? Was the charge by weight or could they be carried as a person on a ticket as though they were still alive? Did the dead person have to go in a guards' van, covered wagon or what?
I recall a few years ago someone tried to take a body on an EasyJet flight from Manchester to Poland and tried to pass the corpse off as just being a bit under the weather and needing helping, because a living person could be carried much cheaper than cargo! Did this ever happen on trains?
I recall a few years ago someone tried to take a body on an EasyJet flight from Manchester to Poland and tried to pass the corpse off as just being a bit under the weather and needing helping, because a living person could be carried much cheaper than cargo! Did this ever happen on trains?