At the half-landing between the Boat deck and A deck, the largely plain Irish oak wall paneling gave way to a fabulously-detailed carving centered around a clock. Two figures stood to either side of the clock, symbolizing “Honour and Glory crowning Time.” Pineapple finials adorned the newel posts, while the balustrades of the staircase were decorated with wrought iron scrollwork punctuated by bronze flowers and foliage.

The remaining half-landings of the forward staircase were decorated with oil paintings, and smaller lit cherubs would have adorned the outer newel posts on each deck’s landing. The aft staircase also had a clock on it’s first half-landing,  but this was of a much less grand design. Behind the stairways forward was the bank of three elevators, which we will cover in a later tour.

Unfortunately, no photos have been discovered as yet that actually show Titanic’s staircases. We are left with several photographs of Olympic, which give an idea of how the space may have come to be modified had Titanic survived and had a similarly long career in service, and the concepts for Britannic’s upgraded staircases, which would’ve included a large pipe organ. Olympic’s staircase was modified over the years to replace brass strips along the front of the stair treads with rubber, to add handrails along the balustrades, and finally and most starkly by repainting the space a light green with gold accents late in the ship’s career to attempt to make the space feel more modern. Of these, the only alteration that may have been incorporated into Titanic during her only voyage is the rubber stripping on the treads, although there is no evidence one way or the other.