The following announcement was published in a London periodical, dated
August 1, 1802:—“The Surrey Iron Railway is now completed over the high
road through Wandsworth town. On Wednesday, June 8, several carriages of
all descriptions passed over the iron rails without meeting with the
least obstacle. Among these, the Portsmouth wagon, drawn by eight horses
and weighing from eight to ten tons, passed over the rails, and did not
appear to make the slightest impression upon them.”