[Note 326.2] "Who served behind a first-class bar" - Stations were designed to minimise encounters between classes with separate waiting rooms refreshment rooms etc. By using the first class facilities, the hero of the song is pretending to a higher social status.
[Note 326.3] "the Chatham and Dover Line" - The London Chatham and Dover Railway opened in 1861. Its reputation for poor service is the subject of another song, Bar227, London Chatham and Dover
[Note 326.5] "You may suppose she’d lots of beaux" - In fact the long hours worked by all railway servants, and the discipline imposed by the railway companies, would have left Belle little time for boyfriends. The flirtatious barmaid takes a leading role in several songs. In this song she meets with another frequent user of the Victorian railway, the Commercial Traveller. The possibility of being conned by a pretty girl is a recurring theme in songs from this period. Harry Clifton wrote several such songs. The price of 3 shillings suggests that the sheet was aimed at a middle-class customers.
[Note 326.4] "Or served the soup so very hot as the bell rang for the train / To “scald your mouth” or “leave the lot” / But then you couldn’t complain" - Refreshments were not available on the train so passengers had to use the refreshment rooms on the platforms. The lack of time allowed for consumption of the items bought was a common cause of complaint.
[Note 326.6] "All clothed in green with silver lace / On the collar of his coat a yard / An elegant foot for a Wellington Boot / ... the model of a railway guard" - Railway companies were enamoured of the military ethos and believed that smart uniforms bred loyalty in the staff.