doodleticket

Fact sheet · updated

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE TICKET

A small card
that ran the railways.

Early railway tickets were written out by hand.

Follow a ticket
Rows of small old card railway tickets standing in the slots of a wooden ticket rack in a station booking office
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

1837–1989card tickets in use

In the late 1830s a station master's system of printed, numbered card tickets changed that. It spread around the world and was still in use in Britain until 1989. Here is how it worked.

At a glance

200 a minute

Tickets a skilled operator could print

Before the machine, tickets were cut out by hand. The new method let a skilled operator print 200 per minute.

SPEED · SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP

500 million+

Tickets printed in Britain in one year by the 1870s

The machines were used around the world, and by the 1870s Britain printed more than 500 million tickets in a single year.

SCALE · SCIENCE MUSEUM GROUP

TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING

Faster at the window,
bigger than anyone guessed.

Both figures come from the Science Museum Group's record
of the original printing and numbering machine.

The Science Museum Group says the original printing and numbering machine was patented in 1840. Grace's Guide dates the first production version's patent to 1850.

FOLLOW A TICKET

From blank card
to journey.

Pick a stage in a ticket's life to see which machine handled it. The bar shows how mechanised that stage was, from hand tools to the lever-driven printing machine.

Based on Science Museum Group collection records and Grace's Guide to British Industrial History.

Ticket check

Choose a stage
Printing the journeyPrinting machine

Before this machine, tickets were cut out by hand. With it, a skilled operator could print 200 tickets a minute.

Numbering each ticket0000 to 9999

The same machine numbered tickets in sequence using two wheels, each marked 00 to 99.

Waiting to be soldTicket rack

The Edmondson company's catalogue lists ticket issuing cases, and the Science Museum Group holds an Edmondson ticket rack.

Being boughtDating press

At the moment of sale a date-stamping press validated the ticket. The first dating press was a simple wooden toggle-press.

Being checkedTicket nippers

The Edmondson company's catalogue listed ticket nippers among its equipment, alongside counting and destroying machines.

Sources: Science Museum Group Collection (printing machine 1869-76, dating press 1936-641) and archive catalogue YA2013.12/1; Grace's Guide, Thomas Edmondson.

THE SHORT ANSWER

Print it, number it,
date it.

The system replaced handwritten paper bills
with small cardboard tickets pre-printed with the journey.

THE CARD

Printed before you arrived

Each ticket was a small piece of cardboard pre-printed with the journey details, instead of a handwritten paper bill made out at the window.

Follow a ticket

THE PRESS

Dated when you paid

A separate date-stamping press validated each ticket when it was bought. The Science Museum Group holds one made in 1837.

See the numbers

THE LEGACY

In use for about 150 years

The last Edmondson press was switched off in 1988, and the use of Edmondson tickets ended a year later.

How it spread
A heritage railway station platform with a steam locomotive waiting beside a brick station building on a bright morning
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

SEE THE SYSTEM YOURSELF

Old tickets
you can still see.

Card tickets and their machines survive in museum collections and on heritage lines.

  1. Visit a museum store

    Edmondson printing machines are listed in the National Railway Museum's open store. The museum suggests contacting it first to check an object is on display.

  2. Look for a dating press

    Grace's Guide says the compact cast iron dating machine can still be seen in use at some heritage railways.

  3. Browse the collection online

    The Science Museum Group Collection website lists Edmondson tickets from many railway companies, with photographs.

  4. Read the ticket

    Collection tickets record the company, class, journey and number, such as a 1898 third-class single from Whistlefield to Garelochead.

HOW IT SPREAD

From one station
to the world.

Grace's Guide says Thomas Edmondson became station master at Milton on the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway in 1836, and in 1839 chief ticket clerk at the Manchester terminus of the Manchester and Leeds Railway. His machines needed precise engineering to pick single cards about 1/32 inch thick from a stack.

After his death in 1851 his son continued the business, which produced printed tickets into the 1950s. The system's machines were used around the world, and the Science Museum Group holds a ticket issuing machine used at Downham Market station until 1991.

A cast iron ticket dating press on a polished wooden booking office counter beside a small stack of card tickets
AI-generated image, not a photograph of a real person or place.

Questions

Questions people ask

What is an Edmondson ticket?

A small piece of cardboard pre-printed with the journey details, numbered in sequence and date-stamped when sold. It replaced the handwritten paper bills used on early railways.

When were Edmondson tickets used?

From the late 1830s. The Science Museum Group holds a dating press made in 1837. The last Edmondson press was switched off in 1988 and the use of the tickets ended in 1989.

How were tickets numbered?

Each ticket was numbered in sequence, from 0000 to 9999, by two wheels on the printing machine, each marked 00 to 99. Grace's Guide says the wheels had to be precisely made.

How fast could the machines print?

According to the Science Museum Group, a skilled operator could print 200 tickets a minute, compared with tickets cut out by hand before.

Can I still see the machines?

Yes. Printing machines are in the National Railway Museum's open store, and Grace's Guide says dating presses can still be seen in use at some heritage railways.

Sources

Where the facts come from

  1. Science Museum Group Collection: Edmondson ticket printing machine (1869-76)
  2. Science Museum Group Collection: Edmondson ticket dating press no.130, 1837
  3. Science Museum Group Collection: Edmondson ticket printing machine, Downham Market
  4. Science Museum Group Collection: Edmondson ticket, North British Railway, 1898
  5. Science Museum Group Archive: John B Edmondson's Railway Ticket and Apparatus Catalogue
  6. Grace's Guide to British Industrial History: Thomas Edmondson

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