In the mid-19th century London faced a crisis of the dead. This was nothing very sinister: London had just been growing so fast that it was simply running out of space, in particular space for cemeteries.

The London Necropolis Railway opened in 1854 as a response to this problem. It aimed to use recently developed railway technology to move as many burials as possible to the newly built cemetery out at Brookwood in Surrey. This location was within easy travelling distance of London, but distant enough for the dead not to pose a risk to public hygiene.

The railway mostly ran along the tracks of the London and South Western Railway (LSWR) but had its own branches from the main line at London and at Brookwood. Trains carried coffins and passengers from the London Necropolis Railway Station -- near Waterloo -- on to the LSWR tracks. On reaching the cemetery, the trains reversed down a dedicated branch line to two stations in the cemetery, one for Anglicans and one for those who did not want a Church of England funeral. The station waiting rooms and the compartments of the train, both for living and for dead passengers, were partitioned by both religion and class to prevent both mourners and cadavers from different social backgrounds from mixing.

There were two locations for the Necropolis station; the first was in operation until 1902, the second until 1941 when it was destroyed by the Luftwaffe.

The photograph is of the Clinton Monument, Brookwood cemetary.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org