To London By Sleeper poster – Flying Scotsman vintage railway poster – Alexandre Alexeieff 1932
Perhaps, one of the most unusual railway posters ever created is this intriguing To London By Sleeper poster. It was created by the filmmaker, artist, and book illustrator Alexandre Alexeieff. Although born in Russia, Alexeieff mainly lived and worked in Paris. He is probably best known in filmmaking for the invention of the pinscreen as well as his artistic films such as Night on Bald Mountain, The Nose, Three Moods, and Pictures at an Exhibition.
Before his pioneering animation and career as a filmmaker, the British London and North Eastern Railway Company (LNER) sought his innovative artistic skills to create two posters for them. The first titled ‘Dine on the LNER’ was produced in 1928 and depicted a surreal image of an LNER dining table set with plates, cutlery, and a bottle of wine. The table is presented speeding along the railway track along with reflections of mountains and lakes ghosted in the background.
Alexeieff’s second poster for the LNER, titled ‘To London By Sleeper’ that appears on this listing, followed four years later in 1932. The poster was designed to advertise the LNER’s Sleeper Train service From Edinburgh to King’s Cross. It is slumber that inspired the artist to devise a fanciful, surreal scene. In a dreamlike vision, he captured the imagination with a flying locomotive floating across an ethereal sky on a beautiful starlit night. The fantastical train takes flight, defying the laws of gravity and reality. The Flying Scotsman is pictured moving past the serene lakes and majestic peaks of the Scottish Highlands. Bathed in the gentle glow of a luminous full moon, the landscape below comes alive with an almost supernatural radiance. The mesmerizing portrayal encapsulates the essence of the night, the mystique of moors, the wild landscapes, and the allure of fairy tales, all expertly rendered in light tones reminiscent of his animated films. Alexeieff’s meticulous attention to detail captures the very essence of the night—the quietude of the hour, the enigmatic allure of the moors, and the untamed beauty of the Scottish wilderness.
How much is an original 1932 Alexandre Alexeieff To London By Sleeper poster worth?
The rarity and significance of ‘To London by Sleeper’ cannot be overstated. In 2015, it fetched an impressive price of £30,000 at auction, reaffirming its enduring appeal and historical importance. As a part of Alexeieff’s surreal dreamscapes, this poster stands as a remarkable fusion of art and advertising, reminding us of the limitless creativity that can be achieved when imagination takes flight.
Other Flying Scotsman Railway Posters
The Flying Scotsman passenger train service began in 1862 as the Special Scotch Express. The Flying Scotsman train was officially named in 1923 after the passenger service from London King’s Cross to Edinburgh Waverley on the East Coast mainline. Its unmissable green livery, record-breaking achievements, and iconic railway posters soon made the train extremely popular with the British public.
The Flying Scotsman continues to be a symbol of British engineering and a beloved piece of railway history, captivating enthusiasts and tourists worldwide. This famous train has left its mark in various forms of media, gracing the pages of books, the screens of films, and even adorning coins, postage stamps, and jigsaw puzzles. Its iconic presence extends to everyday items like cups, mugs, and coasters, making it a beloved symbol that permeates both history and popular culture.
Vintage posters featuring the Flying Scotsman are especially popular among collectors due to their rarity and nostalgic appeal. These posters capture the essence of the train and are highly valued by those who appreciate history and art. The posters are a testament to its enduring legacy, the Flying Scotsman continues to inspire and captivate generations, becoming a cherished symbol of the golden age of rail travel.
Some of our favorite Flying Scotsman posters include an anonymous poster for the LNER who in conjunction with the Cunard shipping line produced a poster to encourage transatlantic travel from America and Canada to the British shores and onto the Continent. The Cunard LNER poster depicts the famous train waiting patiently on Liverpool docks while its passengers disembark from the RMS Aquitania.
Another well-known and popular poster was produced in 1932 by the British artist A.R. Thomson. The Take Me By Flying Scotsman poster depicts a small child standing on a railway platform looking up at a train driver in his cab. The poster mimics Southern Railways ‘Early Holiday poster‘ by Charles Brown. However, the size of the child compared to the locomotive, and the train driver needing to use a megaphone to communicate with the child, seems to be a playful way to show that LNER trains were bigger and faster than Southern’s.
Leo Marfurt‘s 1928 Flying Scotsman poster is an Art Deco classic that barely features the famous locomotive or train. Instead, the bright and contemporary graphic, almost abstract design depicts a large crowd of passengers leaving the platform having alighted the train whilst others wait patiently to board. The image accompanies the message that the train leaves Kings Cross station in London at 10 a.m. every weekday.
A personal favorite features the iconic train winding its way through the rugged Scottish scenery in the Monessie Gorge in Inverness-shire, Scotland. The stunning By Rail to the Highlands print was created by the renowned artist Terence Cuneo who was renowned for his incredible railway posters and fine art paintings.
For our final highlight, we have chosen a series of posters that were created to celebrate the Flying Scotsman turning 100 years old. Each of the twenty Centenary posters marks one of the mainline centenary runs that took place between March and December 2023. The runs include East Lancashire, Royal Duchy, Keighley and Worth Valley, Cardiff Express, the Cheshireman, the Portsmouth Flyer, the Salisbury Express, the East Coast Mainline, and the Highland Express.
We currently list over 200 vintage railway posters in our collection with new ones introduced on a regular basis. More than a dozen of these include superb reproduction prints and original Flying Scotsman posters. Take a trip over there and see where the journey takes you!
