“June 9th, 1833.—(Liverpool). At twelve o’clock I got upon an omnibus,
and was driven up a steep hill to the place where the steam carriages
start. We travelled in the second class of carriages. There were five
carriages linked together, in each of which were placed open seats for
the travellers, four or five facing each other; but not all were full;
and, besides, there was a close carriage, and also a machine for luggage.
The fare was four shillings for the thirty-one miles. Everything went on
so rapidly that I had scarcely the power of observation. The road begins
at an excavation through a rock, and is to a certain extent insulated
from the adjacent country. It is occasionally placed on bridges, and
frequently intersected by ordinary roads. Not quite a perfect level is
preserved. On setting off there is a slight jolt, arising from the chain
catching each carriage, but, once in motion, we proceeded as smoothly as
possible. For a minute or two the pace is gentle, and is constantly
varying. The machine produces little smoke or steam. First in order is
the tall chimney; then the boiler, a barrel-like vessel; then an oblong
reservoir of water; then a vehicle for coals; and then comes, of a length
infinitely extendible, the train of carriages. If all the seats had been
filled, our train would have carried about 150 passengers; but a
gentleman assured me at Chester that he went with a thousand persons to
Newton fair. There must have been two engines then. I have heard since
that two thousand persons or more went to and from the fair that day.
But two thousand only, at three shillings each way, would have produced
£600! But, after all, the expense is so great that it is considered
uncertain whether the establishment will ultimately remunerate the
proprietors. Yet I have heard that it already yields the shareholders a
dividend of nine per cent. And Bills have passed for making railroads
between London and Birmingham, and Birmingham and Liverpool. What a
change it will produce in the intercourse! One conveyance will take
between 100 and 200 passengers, and the journey will be made in a
forenoon! Of the rapidity of the journey I had better experience on my
return; but I may say now that, stoppages included, it may certainly be
made at the rate of twenty miles an hour.
“I should have observed before that the most remarkable movements of the
journey are those in which trains pass one another. The rapidity is such
that there is no recognizing the features of a traveller. On several
occasions, the noise of the passing engine was like the whizzing of a
rocket. Guards are stationed in the road, holding flags, to give notice
to the drivers when to stop. Near Newton I noticed an inscription
recording the memorable death of Huskisson.”
—_Crabb Robinson’s Diary_.