Now live! Echoes of the Line, exploring the multiracial history of Britain’s railways
The railways are integral to the story of the British Empire and migration to Britain. Yet the multiracial history of Britain’s railways is often overlooked. Echoes of the Line from The Mixed Museum offers a fresh perspective, unearthing long-buried tales from archival research and oral history interviews that challenge our notions of who worked and travelled on the trains from the dawn of commercial rail travel in the 19th century to the present day. Find out what to expect from this new project supported by Great Western Railway's Customer and Community Improvement Fund and how to listen below.
The story of Britain’s railways is also the story of empire
When we think about the history of migration to Britain, it’s easy to overlook the role of the railways. But after people arrived by boat or plane, it was often the train network that took them to the places where they would start their new lives and connect with friends or family members who had already put down roots. And it was on the trains that many new arrivals found work.
We also tend to overlook the connection between the railway age and the British Empire. But much of the wealth that flowed into Britain during the railway boom came from imperial trade — from global systems that moved sugar, cotton, tea, and, not long before, enslaved people. Empire meant that people came to Britain from around the world to trade, to work, to study: sometimes forced, sometimes voluntarily.
Yet when Britain’s railway past is depicted, it tends to be either as a story of industry and innovation, associated with names like Brunel and Stephenson, or of glamour and intrigue, as in Alfred Hitchcock films, Agatha Christie adaptations or the famous love story Brief Encounter. Multiracial rail stories – of travel for work, holidays, love and friendship – are often absent.
Echoes of the Line: a fresh take on Britain’s rail history
Echoes of the Line, The Mixed Museum’s new audio series and digital exhibition, offers an alternative perspective. The first episode draws on archival accounts to uncover stories that help us see the multiracial dimension to Britain’s railways from the dawn of commercial rail travel in the 19th century until the Second World War. The second and third episodes draw on interviews with people sharing their memories of the railways from 1945 to the present day.
Episode One of Echoes of the Line is now live. Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or search any podcast platform.
And look out for the next two episodes, released on Wednesday 22 and Wednesday 29 July 2026.
The stories unearthed in newspaper archives from the 19th and early 20th century and told in 'Episode 1: Born of Empire' offer fascinating glimpses into everyday life. Among them is the footman from Antigua who was robbed by three men while travelling from Waterloo to Southampton in 1879; the mixed couple whose relationship ended very publicly when the husband escaped onto a train with a hotel waitress in 1893; and the man from Jamaica who travelled through Mexico and America, worked as a miner in Wales and ended up, in 1920, as a railway porter.
The Mixed Museum’s Director Dr Chamion Caballero says: “One of the joys of archival research is never quite knowing what you'll find. When we were researching Tracks of a Trailblazer, our audio project following the railway journeys of Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, we kept stumbling across other multiracial rail stories that demanded attention. Echoes of the Line grew directly from those discoveries.
“Individually, these stories are fascinating; together they reveal a richer and more racially diverse railway history than many of us have been taught to imagine. They invite us to see Britain's railway age not simply as a history of engineering and innovation, but as one shaped by migration, empire and the everyday lives of the multiracial communities who travelled and worked on Britain's railways."
The post-war stories told through interviews in 'Episode 2: On the tracks' and 'Episode 3: Love and travel' cover the railways as a place of work and of leisure. There’s a glimpse of Nigerian porters working at Newcastle station in the 1950s, found in a box of family letters. There’s the story of Percival Hanniford from Jamaica, who had a happy 30-year career on the Welsh railways, told in his own words. And the story of Asquith Xavier, who fought racial discrimination by British Railways to become the first Black railway guard at Euston Station. His experiences are told by his granddaughter, who works to keep his memory alive.
Britain’s railways have always been multiracial spaces
There are tales of sipping rum with fellow train passengers on a long train journey out of London; boarding steam trains to visit the nearest Chinatown for hard-to-find foods; walking through a “dark and dingy” Kings Cross on a childhood visit to an Indian sweetshop; and even, on a train journey, writing a book that would end up on the A-Level English Literature syllabus.
The Mixed Museum’s Freelance Editorial Director Laura Smith says: “For the post-war stories, we wanted to hear from people in their own words. It’s been a joy to interview so many guests with memories of travelling by train from the 1950s onwards – the scratchy seats, the steam from the engines, seeing the seaside for the first time.
“These stories seem so ordinary and everyday, but they’re the stuff of life and they deserve to be recorded. In their quiet way, they demonstrate that, like life in Britain, the railways have always been multiracial spaces, and always will be. Thank you to everyone who gave their time and shared their experiences so generously.”
Echoes of the Line is funded by Great Western Railways’ Customer and Community Improvement Fund. Audio production is by Front Ear Podcasts and original music is by Rob Manning. The project follows The Mixed Museum’s first audio series, Tracks of a Trailblazer, which explored the life of the British Black mixed race composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and his connection to the railways. It was launched in 2025, the year that marked 200 years of Britain’s railways.
Learn more
Listen to Echoes of the Line on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or search for it on any podcast platform
Visit the Echoes of the Line digital exhibition
Experience our previous rail-related audio project Tracks of a Trailblazer