Date: June 1st
Category: Series Launch | Railway History | Travel & Resistance
They were never just trains.
They were escape routes, battlegrounds, printing presses on wheels, and tools of empire and defiance alike.
And this month, we’re riding the rails through some of the most remarkable, rebellious, and rarely told stories from the past two centuries.
Welcome aboard, traveller. This is Rebels of the Railway — your June 2025 destination guide through history’s most radical train journeys.
🛤️ Why Trains?
Because no other invention did more to connect — and control — a nation than the railway.
- Railways moved armies and rebels alike.
- They spread ideas (and censorship), culture (and control), and revolutions (sometimes literally).
- They were the tools of the empire — and the weapons of resistance against it.
From suffragette saboteurs to union leaders sleeping rough on the sidings, the railway has been the backdrop to hidden histories of courage, protest, and power struggles — many of which have been left off the official timetable.
đź“Ť What to Expect This Month
We’ll be stopping at:
- đźš‚ Secret networks like the French Resistance rail couriers
- ✊ Labour battles like the Great Railway Strikes
- đź‘’ The Suffragette train saboteurs who made headlines (and arrests)
- 🎨 Train-based art, poetry, propaganda & protest stickers
- 🧳 Queer railway stories, Black British porters, and rebellious holidaymakers
And we’re not just looking back — we’re also looking forward:
- Modern fare strikes & public transport protests
- Railways as climate alternatives — or battlegrounds
- How you can write your own rebel travel guide (yes, really — printables included)
🔓 Hidden History Highlights (Coming Soon)
- June 6: The Suffragettes Who Stopped the Trains
- June 11: Trains That Hid Refugees: Kindertransport & Beyond
- June 18: The Great Railway Strikes — and how they shut down a nation
- June 23: Railway Graffiti & Art in Motion
đź“š Want to Read Ahead?
- Bradshaw’s Railway Guide (any edition!)
- Fire and Steam by Christian Wolmar
- Railways and the Raj by the same
- Suffragettes and the Scottish Rail Sabotage, National Archives
đź’¬ Join the Ride: #RebelsOfTheRailway
We’ll be posting daily. You can:
- Share your own stories, railway photos, or resistance-inspired art
- Tell us which train journey changed your life
- Tag @TimeTravellersGuild and use #RebelsOfTheRailway
- Or… just quietly ride along and enjoy the view.
