This photograph shows the Royal Train used by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert during their State Visit to France in August 1855. As they travelled between Paris and Amiens, they were accompanied by the Cents Gardes who 'were on guard at every station we stopped at'. Despite the speed and convenience of the train, the queen complained in her journals that 'The heat & dust, in the train, were very great — really dreadful, & I never felt hotter'.

Queen Victoria was the first British monarch to travel by train, going from Slough to Paddington in the newly-built royal saloon on 13 June 1842. For safety, the Queen imposed a speed restriction of 40 miles per hour by day and 30 miles per hour by night, and was said to have had a small signal installed that would enable her footman to alert the driver if she wished to slow down. Later in her reign, royal saloons were furnished with the latest modern comforts, including heating and hot water pipes.