Railway Posters

Railway posters were extremely popular in the UK from the late 19th century through to the 1960's, advertising rail networks and holiday destinations to the general public. The travel posters often used slogans such as ‘It’s quicker by rail’ and ‘See Britain by train’ to encourage people to use the rail network to holiday around the UK (and further afield, with many posters promoting travel by boat to Ireland and Europe).

Vintage travel posters were in their heyday throughout inter-war years, which can be seen by looking through our collection. The travel posters we have range from the 1800’s, right up until the 1990’s, although the vast majority of artwork you will see is from the 1920’s, 1930’s and 1940’s.

Many of these vintage posters promote specific holiday destinations in the UK. The vintage railway posters often had a highly romanticised view of post war rural Britain. Many depict landscape scenes, while others show holiday makers having fun on the beach in British seaside towns.

There are also many industry posters available, some of which show work on the railways, and how the rail industry was changing. Some railway posters advertise trains, for example, the Coronation Scot and ‘King Class’ locomotive, while other travel posters promote British Industries, from the steel industry and brick making to fishing and ship building.

British Rail produced these rail advertisements to encourage travel by train, and there were a wonderful group of talented artists who would submit their artwork to be used by the rail networks.

There are many artists who you will come across again and again searching through the collection of vintage travel posters, including Ronald Lampitt, Norman Wilkinson and Frank Henry Mason. These artists were commissioned by the UK rail companies, (such as Great Northern Railway [GNR], Great Western Railway [GWR], London, Midland and Scottish Railway [LMS], North Eastern Railway [NER], London and North Eastern Railway [LNER], British Rail [BR]) to create vintage rail posters advertising certain areas around the UK. The art they created was of varying styles, from art deco to art nouveau and everything in between.

At RailwayPosters.co.uk we are constantly growing our collection of travel posters, sourced via the National Railway Museum archives. We are able to provide a truly unique service, as we print your products to order. Each image on our website is available on a wide range of items.

We offer beautiful art prints in six different sizes, starting at only £6.99. We also have a huge range of gift products. You can have your favourite design printed on a mug, magnet, tote bag, postcard, greetings card, mousemat, or canvas.

These products make wonderful gifts, and not just for rail enthusiasts. Our customers often remark that our vintage railway posters bringing back happy memories of holidays and family visits.

Enjoy browsing through RailwayPosters.co.uk