Take Your Dog With You By Rail poster by C Ambler

If you love dogs you’re sure to appreciate this vintage Take Your Dog With You By Rail poster! It was produced in 1923 for the GWR/LMS/LNER/SR railway companies.

The Take Your Dog With You By Rail Poster features a delightful scene featuring a fearless wire-haired fox terrier. The loyal little chap is guarding his owner’s cases that are lying on the station platform. He is holding his dog lead in his mouth and by the look in his eyes, this little scamp is determined not to be left behind!

The poster was created by the artist and illustrator Christopher Gifford Ambler in 1937. The Take Your Dog With You By Rail poster was produced jointly for the GWR, LMS, LNER, SR railway companies. The ‘Big Four’ as they were known were the four largest railway companies formed with the introduction of the Railways Act in 1921. The four companies were the Great Western Railway (GWR), the London, Midland, and Scottish Railway (LMS), the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) and Southern Railway (SR).

Can I take my dog on the train?

As can be seen in the vintage dog poster on this page, in the 1920s and 1930s railway companies actively encouraged passengers to bring their dogs with them. Hiking and walking were extremely popular pastimes. Allowing dogs onto trains encouraged their owners to escape the cities and towns and travel further afield for walks in the countryside.

This fantastic Take Your Dog With You By Rail Poster from 1937 states that Return Tickets at Single Rates are available. It doesn’t actually mention how much a single rate ticket would cost, it would be interesting to know! The poster also explains that drinking water for dogs can be obtained from station refreshment rooms, or upon request to a member of the station staff.

Today passengers can take two dogs on board a train and for free! However, taking more than two may incur an additional charge. Dog’s must be kept on a lead or in a pet carrier and they are not allowed on seats. Dogs aren’t the only animals that can travel with you on trains. You are able to take up to two small domestic animals on board as lond as they are kept in a pet carrier at all times.

Christopher Gifford Ambler

This popular Take Your Dog With You By Rail Poster was created by the artist Christopher Gifford Ambler who is best remembered for book illustrations and portraits of dogs and horses. For a short time in 1929 Ambler illustrated the Boys’ Own paper as well as writing and illustrating his own books such as Ten Little Foxhounds, Smiler and Maxims of Marquis.

Other ‘Take Your Dog With You By Railway’ Posters

In addition to Abler’s superb Take Your Dog With You By Rail Poster, several other vintage posters advertising the railway’s dog-friendly attitude have been produced. We have several of them to buy on this website such as Fred Gardner’s 1923 poster Lucky Dogs! for the GWR, there’s a Scottie dog version of this poster that was created by Mabel Gear from around 1935 and another version by an unknown artist featuring another Terrier dog. We also have a reproduction of a John Bee poster exclaiming ‘Don’t forget my ticket‘ featuring an image of a Spaniel dog.

So, whether you’re taking a weekend trip to the country or visiting your family for the holidays, it’s important to take your four-legged friend with you! Our posters are printed on high-quality satin paper, and are ready for framing. They make a perfect gift and are a great addition to any pet lover’s home.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.