_RAILWAY WORKS._
A.D. 1835--1859. ÆTATIS 30--54.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY--THE BOX TUNNEL--THE BATH
AND BRISTOL STATIONS--THE PADDINGTON STATION--THE GREAT WESTERN
HOTEL--BRANCHES AND EXTENSIONS OF THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY--THE
BRISTOL AND EXETER RAILWAY--RAILWAYS IN DEVONSHIRE AND
CORNWALL--RAILWAYS TO BASINGSTOKE, TO WEYMOUTH, AND TO
SALISBURY--IN SOUTH WALES--IN IRELAND--IN ITALY--IN
INDIA--SUPERVISION OF WORKS--MR. BRUNEL’S ENGINEERING STAFF--HIS
REPUTATION AS A WITNESS--REMINISCENCES OF MR. BRUNEL, 1835-1838.
In the extract from Mr. Brunel’s diary given at the close of the last
chapter he refers to the successful issue of the contest for the Great
Western Railway Act as a very important event in his life.
As the result proved, he did not take too hopeful a view of his future
prospects; for from that time to his death he was fully employed as the
engineer of railways which, in number and importance, were not inferior
to those of any of his contemporaries. Of the main lines he constructed,
one extends uninterruptedly from London to the Land’s End, and another
to the extremity of South Wales, at Milford Haven, 285 miles from
Paddington.
* * * * *
It would be impossible to describe in detail all the engineering works
which are to be found on Mr. Brunel’s railways, the aggregate length of
which is upwards of 1,200 miles; but in this chapter it is proposed to
give a brief sketch of the lines he constructed, omitting all that can
be more properly inserted in the three chapters which follow, relating
to the broad gauge, to the Atmospheric System, and to the bridges and
viaducts.
* * * * *
The Great Western Railway was opened to Maidenhead, a distance of nearly
twenty-three miles, in June 1838, and to Twyford, eight miles farther
on, in July 1839. A description of the Wharncliffe Viaduct at Hanwell
will be found at p. 172, and of the Maidenhead bridge at p. 173.
The line from Twyford to Reading was opened in March 1840, and from
Reading to Chippenham by May 1841. Meanwhile the portion from Bristol to
Bath had been opened in August 1840. The last division, namely, that
from Chippenham to Bath, containing the Box Tunnel, was opened on June
30, 1841; and the railway was completed throughout its whole length.
* * * * *
A considerable part of the history of the Great Western Railway is
connected with the adoption on it of the broad, or 7-foot gauge, and
will be dealt with in the next chapter, in which is also given some
account of the longitudinal system of permanent way.
The bridges are described in Chapter VII.; but some of the other works
may be noticed here.
In laying out the line, Mr. Brunel endeavoured to make it as straight
and as level as possible throughout, and to concentrate those changes of
level, which could not be avoided, into short inclines, to be worked, if
necessary, by auxiliary power.
Accordingly the line is thus divided:--
Miles Yards
Level, or with an inclination not exceeding
4 feet in the mile 67 88
Above 4 feet, and not exceeding 8 feet in
the mile 47 110
Steep inclines 3 1210
The steep inclines are two in number, of a gradient of 1 in 100, or
about 53 feet in a mile, and descend towards the Bristol end of the
line.
The Wootton Basset incline, 85½ miles from London, is 1 mile 550 yards
long.
The second incline is at Box, 99 miles from London, and is 2 miles 660
yards in length. An assistant engine is still occasionally used to work
heavy trains at this point.
On this incline the line passes through the Box Tunnel. This tunnel is
the first out of London, and could only have been dispensed with by
taking a circuitous route several miles longer than that adopted by Mr.
Brunel.
The tunnel is 1⅞ mile in length, and is ventilated by six shafts.
They are 30 feet in diameter, and from 70 to 300 feet deep.
The Box Tunnel had been the subject of much criticism before the works
were commenced; and during its actual construction it did not escape the
unfavourable notice of those who were ignorant of the difficulties which
presented themselves, and the means which had been taken to overcome
them. Indeed, for some time after the opening of the line, there were
travellers who used to avoid the terrors of the tunnel by posting along
the turnpike road in that part of their journey.
Mr. Brunel never troubled himself about the ordinary gossip which is
always circulated concerning any remarkable work; but matters assumed a
different aspect when, a year after the completion of the tunnel, doubts
were expressed as to its safety by an eminent geologist, at a meeting of
the Institution of Civil Engineers. Mr. Brunel, who was on terms of
friendly intercourse with the speaker, addressed to him the following
letter:--
June 21, 1842.
I assure you, my dear Sir, that when my attention had been drawn to
the statements reported to have been made by you on this subject,
I refrained as far as possible from expressing any opinion. I
thought it my duty to read the notes taken, but I never said that I
thought your statements were correct. Indeed, I had hoped to have
avoided the necessity of making any observations upon these
statements; but as a letter to Mr. Saunders on such a subject is
almost the same thing as if it were addressed to myself, and as it
was shown to me, it would not be candid towards you if I now
refrained from saying, that the opinions you are reported to have
expressed with respect to the Box Tunnel are by no means considered
correct, either by myself or by those others who, from being
intimately acquainted with the rock as it was really found, and the
works as they were really executed, are capable of judging.
In the notes shown to me the observations alluding to this work in
particular, as an illustration of the views you were explaining,
appear to have been curtailed, and the allusions rendered somewhat
less direct; but still the inference unavoidably to be drawn from
them is, that the back joints, as we call them, and other defects
which exist originally, or which show themselves after a time, in
this rock, are not well known, and tolerably well understood and
guarded against, by practical engineers, and even by our workmen.
In this opinion I assure you you are mistaken. Ignorant as I may
probably be myself of the science of geology, I cannot have been
engaged for several years in making very extensive excavations,
probably the largest hitherto made, in this particular rock, having
also the opportunity of examining very old and large quarries in
the same rock and close to the line, having among my assistants men
not meanly acquainted with this particular branch of geology, and
surrounded by workmen of considerable experience, I cannot have
gone through such a study without acquiring a very intimate and
practical knowledge of the structure and peculiarities of the
particular mass of rock which is now in question; and I will say
frankly what I feel upon this point, which is, that I ought now to
possess a more thorough and practical knowledge of this particular
rock and its defects, and the best mode of remedying them, than
even you yourself, with your immeasurably greater scientific
knowledge of rocks generally.
The opinion you are said to have expressed of there being great
danger of some serious accident occurring in the tunnel is, I am
firmly convinced, erroneous; at all events the reason given
convinces me that you have not become acquainted with the means
which have been taken by me to examine and to ascertain the
security of every part of the rock, to remove or to support with
masonry any part not so ascertained to be secure, or with the
precautions taken to prevent any such accidents as those you have
imagined. And notwithstanding the heavy responsibility which rests
upon me, from all which you gentlemen of science are, happily for
yourselves, so free, I feel that as regards the works of the Box
Tunnel everything necessary has been done to render them secure,
and that the doubts and fears you have so easily raised, but which
it might be more difficult again to set at rest, are entirely
unfounded.
In conclusion, I must observe that no man can be more sensible than
I am of the great advantage it would be to me as a civil engineer
to be better acquainted with geology, as well as with many other
branches of science, that I have endeavoured to inform myself on
the subject, and that I have not altogether thrown away the many
opportunities afforded me in my professional pursuits; but that if
from a conviction that you possessed information far more extensive
than mine, if from doubts of the sufficiency of my abilities or the
means I was likely to bring to bear upon the subject, if from a
fear of such consequences as you now anticipate, you had kindly, on
any one of the many occasions when I have had the pleasure of
meeting you, intimated that you had any suggestions to make to me,
I should have been anxious to have availed myself of your
assistance. But after the lapse of years, the first intimation I
have of such doubts is the very public expression of a very strong
opinion, which, if weight be attached to it, must tend to alarm the
public unnecessarily, and to injure the value of the property of
individuals who have embarked several millions in that property.
Between Chippenham and Bristol the nature of the building stone enabled
Mr. Brunel, at moderate cost, to make the bridges, tunnel fronts, and
stations ornamental features in the picturesque scenery through which
the railway passes.
He took great pleasure in finishing minutely the various designs, and
making them correct in their proportions and details. One tunnel front,
near Bristol, may be singled out for especial mention. During its
construction a part of the ground behind slipped away, and it became
unnecessary to complete the top of one of the side walls. It was
therefore left unfinished, and was planted with ivy so as to present the
appearance of a ruined gateway.
The roofs of the Bath and Bristol stations are of large span, and are
handsome architectural structures. They are each in the form of a Tudor
arch; the Bristol roof is 72 feet span, and the Bath roof 50 feet span.
The framing is an example of a peculiar form of construction, somewhat
analogous to that adopted in the large shipbuilding sheds in the
dockyards. There are no cross tie-rods, but each principal of the roof
is formed of two frameworks, like cranes, meeting in the middle of the
roof; the weight being carried on columns near the edge of the platform,
and the tail ends of the frames held down by the side walls. As the two
frames do not press against each other at their meeting point at the
ridge of the roof, there is no outward thrust. The side walls being on a
viaduct could not without difficulty have been made to resist a
horizontal thrust.
At the Bristol station Mr. Brunel introduced hydraulic machinery for
working lifts. By these the waggons were lowered to and raised up from
the goods shed, which was placed at the level of the ground, about 12
feet below the railway.
Although the works already described were completed in 1841, the
permanent terminus at Paddington was not commenced till the year 1849.
It was completed in 1854. Previously to that time a temporary station
had been used, the booking offices being under the arches of the
Bishop’s Road bridge.
As the level of the railway was lower than that of the surrounding land,
no exterior architectural effect could be produced; but Mr. Brunel took
this opportunity to carry out his views as to the proper structural use
of metal in works of this description.
In the design of the ornamental details, he obtained the assistance of
Mr. (now Sir Matthew) Digby Wyatt.
The interior of the principal part of the station is 700 feet long and
238 feet wide, divided in its width by two rows of columns into three
spans of 68, 102, and 68 feet, and is crossed at two points by transepts
50 feet wide, which give space for large traversing frames. The roof is
very light, consisting of wrought-iron arched ribs, covered partly with
corrugated iron and partly with the Paxton glass roofing, which Mr.
Brunel here adopted to a considerable extent. The columns which carry
the roof are very strongly bolted down to large masses of concrete, to
enable them to resist sideways pressure.
This station may be considered to hold its own in comparison with the
gigantic structures which have since been built, as well as with older
stations. The appearance of size it presents is due far more to the
proportions of the design than to actual largeness of dimension. The
spans of the roof give a very convenient subdivision for a large
terminal station, dispensing with numerous supporting columns and at the
same time avoiding heavy and expensive trusses. The graceful forms of
the Paddington station, the absence of incongruous ornament and useless
buildings, may be appealed to as a striking instance of Mr. Brunel’s
taste in architecture and of his practice of combining beauty of design
with economy of construction.
The goods station was erected at about the same time as the passenger
station, and is remarkable for the completeness of its arrangements, and
for the great use made of hydraulic machinery. This is also applied in
the passenger station.[45]
In connection with the Paddington station mention may be made of the
Great Western Hotel, which was built at the extremity of the land
belonging to the railway company.
When, in 1854, no tenant could be found for it, a few of the
shareholders of the Great Western Railway, being unwilling that the
building should remain empty and be a loss to the proprietors, formed
themselves into a company to lease and work the hotel. Mr. Brunel became
a Director, and shortly afterwards (in December 1855) the chairman. He
occupied this post till his death, by which time the hotel had become
very prosperous. He found attendance at the meetings of the Directors
and the supervision of the management of the hotel a very agreeable
relaxation from the more important duties which took him to Paddington.
* * * * *
The branches and extensions of the Great Western Railway, as far as
their history affected the general interests of the company, are
referred to in the chapter on the broad gauge. Branches were opened to
Oxford in 1844, to Windsor in 1849, to Wycombe in 1854, to Uxbridge in
1856, to Henley in 1857, and to Brentford in July 1859.
* * * * *
The Bristol and Exeter Railway is a continuation of the Great Western
Railway, and was opened to Exeter in 1844. The two portions of it, from
Bristol to Taunton, and from Taunton to Exeter, are in marked contrast
to each other. The former part of the line is almost level, and has very
easy curves. Between Taunton and Exeter it passes over the high ground
on the borders of Devonshire, with the Whiteball Tunnel at the summit,
⅝ mile in length. On this part of the line there are long gradients of
from 1 in 80 to 1 in 120. Mr. Brunel resigned the position of engineer
in 1846, in consequence of differences having arisen between the Bristol
and Exeter and the Great Western Companies, which, in Mr. Brunel’s
opinion, made it impossible for him to continue engineer to both
railways.
The South Devon Railway, and the adoption on it of the Atmospheric
System, are described in Chapter VI. In connection with this line is the
important Torquay branch, and the railway in continuation of it to
Dartmouth. This was completed as far as Paignton during Mr. Brunel’s
lifetime.
The South Devon and Tavistock Railway branches off from the South Devon
Railway near Plymouth, and has several large viaducts.
On the Cornwall Railway from Plymouth to Truro, and the West Cornwall
Railway from Truro to Penzance, the most remarkable works are the
viaducts, and the Royal Albert Bridge.
In the case of the Cornwall Railway, it became necessary to reduce the
capital expenditure, even at the cost of increasing the charges for
maintenance. With this object the line was re-examined and modifications
introduced, principally by an increase in the extent of viaduct. These
lines pass through a very difficult country; involving the adoption of
steep gradients and sharp curves. Mr. Brunel, in a memorandum written in
1845, after having explained his reasons for considering that the
prejudicial effects of gradients and curves were commonly overrated,
gives the following opinion in reference to the proposed Cornwall
Railway:--
I must not be understood to argue against the advantage of straight
lines or large and easy curves, but I wish to show that where small
curves are unavoidable, they can in practice be so constructed as
not to be very prejudicial; and I consider that the character of
the country in Cornwall is such that no railway can be constructed
at any moderate expense without either sacrificing all
consideration for the interests of localities and the position of
the population to the mere choice of levels, or without steep
gradients and sharp curves.
The principal lines branching off from the Great Western, and since
incorporated with it, are, on the south, the Berks and Hants, from
Reading to Basingstoke and Hungerford; and the Wilts and Somerset, to
Weymouth and Salisbury. On the north-west is the Cheltenham and Great
Western Union Railway, from Swindon to Cheltenham and Gloucester. This
line passes through the Cotswold Hills at Sapperton by a tunnel 1⅜
mile in length. The Gloucester and Dean Forest Railway runs from
Gloucester to Grange Court, and thence to Ross and Hereford.
The South Wales Railway, which extends from Grange Court to Milford
Haven, contains a tunnel at Swansea ⅓ mile long, and some of Mr.
Brunel’s most important works, including the Chepstow bridge and several
other bridges of considerable size, and the viaducts at Landore and
Newport. There are also on this line four opening bridges across
navigable channels. The works at the termination of the line at Neyland,
in Milford Haven, are described in Chapter XIV. Mr. Brunel considered
that Milford Haven, with its excellent harbour, which can be entered at
all times of tide by the largest vessels, would probably become a great
port for ocean steamers, and especially for the ‘Great Eastern’ and
ships of her class.
There are also in South Wales the following railways: the Taff Vale, the
Vale of Neath, the Llynvi Valley, and the South Wales Mineral. The Taff
Vale, a line from Cardiff to Merthyr, was opened on the narrow gauge in
1841.[46] On this railway is the lofty masonry viaduct at Quaker’s Yard.
On the Vale of Neath Railway, from Neath to Aberdare and Merthyr, there
is a tunnel, near Merthyr, 1¼ mile long, and 650 feet below the summit
of the hill.
Full advantage is taken on this railway of the facilities which the
broad gauge offers for heavy traffic. The line has long steep gradients,
and the locomotives used on it, of the class known as tank engines, are
of great power. One of these gradients is 4½ miles long, with an
inclination of 1 in 50. Large quantities of coal are brought down by
this railway to the Swansea and Briton Ferry Docks. The coal of South
Wales is of a friable nature, and, in order to avoid the breakage
consequent on the ordinary mode of shipping coal, by tipping it down a
shoot, Mr. Brunel introduced on a large scale the use of trucks carrying
four iron boxes, each box about 4 feet 8 inches cube, and containing two
and a half tons of coal. At the docks machinery is provided by which
each box is lowered down into the hold of the ship, and the under side
being allowed to open, the coal is deposited at once on the bottom of
the vessel.
The Llynvi Valley Railway is a short line, leading from the South Wales
Railway at Bridgend into the coal and iron districts.
The South Wales Mineral Railway is another line of the same class. It
passes through a very heavy country, and has on it a self-acting incline
of 1 in 9, ¾ mile long, worked by a rope, and a tunnel ⅝ mile long,
and 470 feet below the surface.
In connection with the South Wales district is the Bristol and South
Wales Union Railway, a line running from Bristol to the banks of the
Severn, across which the traffic is carried by a steamer to a short
branch from the South Wales Railway on the other side. This railway had
been for a long time contemplated, and Mr. Brunel devoted much time to a
careful investigation of the Severn in order to determine the most
suitable point for the crossing. He decided that the best place would be
at what is known as the New Passage. The arrangements had to be made in
accordance with the requirements of the Admiralty. Trains run to the end
of timber piers extending into deep water, and there are staircases and
lifts leading to pontoons, alongside which a steamer can come at all
times of tide. The tide at this part of the Severn rises 46 feet.
The three railways last mentioned were not completed during Mr. Brunel’s
lifetime.
* * * * *
The Bristol and Gloucester Railway, on which is the tunnel at Wickwar,
¾ mile long, was opened in 1844, and passed into the hands of the
Midland Company in 1846.
* * * * *
The northern extensions of the Great Western Railway are the Oxford and
Rugby, constructed as far as Fenny Compton; the Birmingham and Oxford
Junction; and the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railways.
Mr. Brunel ceased to be engineer of the last-mentioned company in 1851,
and the works were completed by Mr. Fowler. The Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton line has since, under the title of the West Midland,
become a part of the Great Western Railway.
* * * * *
In Ireland Mr. Brunel was engineer of the line from Dublin to Wicklow,
round Bray Head, and of a line from Cork to Youghal.
* * * * *
He laid out two railways in Italy, the line from Florence to Pistoja,
and that across the Apennines from Genoa to Novi and Alessandria, in the
direction of Turin and Milan. He acted as engineer during the
construction of the former line; but the works of the latter were
carried out by the Sardinian Government.
* * * * *
One of the last of Mr. Brunel’s important railways was the Eastern
Bengal Railway, a line of about 100 miles in length, in a north-easterly
direction from Calcutta. He took a great interest in the work and
devoted much time to the special arrangements and designs, and to the
best way of crossing the Ganges and its branches in the future extension
of the railway; but no part of it was opened during his lifetime.
* * * * *
It was impossible for Mr. Brunel to look after all his works to the same
extent as he had done in the case of the Great Western Railway; and he
was compelled to spend a very considerable amount of time in attendance
on Committees of the Houses of Parliament on behalf of the railways to
which he was engineer. Mr. Brunel frequently regretted this, and
considered it a great evil that engineers were prevented by their duties
during the session from attending properly to the construction of their
works. He endeavoured as far as possible to superintend the execution of
his different undertakings. He availed himself of every opportunity of
examining them, and was acquainted throughout with all the designs which
were prepared. He would take advantage of two or three free days to go
down to the distant works in South Wales or in Cornwall, looking after
details, such as the pickling tanks for timber, and the masonry of the
viaducts.
He was fortunate in the selection of the members of his staff, and in
his organisation of it. He had a rare power of utilising the
capabilities of his different assistants; and although he had to deal
with a great variety of men, he managed that they should work in harmony
with him. From the complete personal supervision Mr. Brunel sought to
maintain over all his works, his assistants had not perhaps so many
opportunities of independent action as they might otherwise have
obtained, but they had, on the other hand, the advantage of constant
personal communication with their chief.
After the time when Mr. Brunel’s works became so numerous, and his time
so much occupied, that he could not exercise in person that general
supervision which he conceived to be necessary, he was ably assisted by
Mr. Robert Pearson Brereton, who, on the death of Mr. Hammond in 1847,
became the chief of his engineering staff.
Mr. Brunel rarely made any changes in the _personnel_ of his office. Mr.
Brereton had become one of his assistants in 1836; and his secretary,
the late Mr. Joseph Bennett, came to him in the same year.
* * * * *
The Great Western Railway retained its early place in his affections,
and among his most valued friends were members of the Board of
Directors, Mr. Saunders the Secretary, and other officers of the
company. When in the last year of his life he was obliged to go to Egypt
for his health, it was a matter of deep anxiety to him lest his absence
from England should cause any alteration in his relations with the
Company, and it was a source of great pleasure to him that no such
consequences followed.
* * * * *
Mr. Brunel’s position as confidential adviser of so large a number of
railway companies gave him frequent opportunities of acting as mediator
between contending parties; and his decisions were always received with
respect, for he was known to be scrupulously just.
Besides the more friendly task of reconciling opponents he had a large
practice as a referee under Acts of Parliament and orders of the
superior courts; and displayed in these matters great judicial
abilities.
In all the causes and parliamentary contests affecting the various
companies of which he was engineer, Mr. Brunel was a very important
member of the preliminary consultations, and during the proceedings
counsel relied with confidence on his suggestions.
* * * * *
One of the most arduous parts of his duty, as engineer of the Great
Western Railway Company, was connected with the conduct of the great
cases of Ranger and MacIntosh. To the former of these reference is made
in the letter printed below, at p. 478. The MacIntosh case, which was
commenced shortly after the opening of the line, was not concluded
before Mr. Brunel’s death. He was compelled to devote a considerable
portion of his time to it, even after his return home in the evening,
during the launch of the ‘Great Eastern.’
* * * * *
Mr. Brunel had a very high reputation as a witness. Mr. St. George
Burke, Q.C., has communicated a memorandum on this subject.
‘As a witness he could always be relied on as a perfect master of
the case he had to support, and he had the rare quality of
confining his answers to a simple reply to the questions put to
him, without appearing as an advocate. He was, however, extremely
particular as to the questions which should be put to him in his
examination in chief, and was therefore never satisfied to entrust
the preparation of his proof to the solicitor, without revising it
himself.
‘In his cross-examinations he was generally a match for the most
skilful counsel, and by the adroitness of his answers would often
do as much to advance his case as by his examination in chief.
‘He was almost as much of a diplomatist as an engineer, and knew
perfectly well how to handle a case in the witness-box so as to
leave no loophole for his opponents to take advantage of. At the
same time he was a perfectly honest witness, and while he avoided
saying more than was necessary for the advancement of the cause in
which he was engaged, he would have scorned to say or imply
anything by his evidence inconsistent with strict truth.
‘Although he had attained to great celebrity as a witness, the
committee room being crowded to hear him, he always declined to
engage in the very lucrative work of a professional witness. He
made a rule never to appear except on behalf of undertakings of
which he was the engineer, or with which his own companies were
interested. To help a friend, he occasionally but very rarely broke
through this resolve; but, whether he appeared in support of his
own plans or those of others, there were few, if any, professional
men whose evidence carried more weight than his did before
Parliamentary Committees.’
The following memorandum from Mr. George T. Clark, of Dowlais, formerly
one of Mr. Brunel’s assistants, contains his recollections of Mr. Brunel
during the construction of the Great Western Railway:--
‘I made your father’s acquaintance, rather characteristically, in
an unfinished tunnel of the Coal-pit Heath Railway; and when the
shaft in which we were suspended cracked and seemed about to give
way, I well remember the coolness with which he insisted upon
completing the observations he came to make. Shortly afterwards I
became, at his request, his assistant; and during the
parliamentary struggle of 1835, and the subsequent organisation of
the staff, and commencement of the works of the Great Western, I
saw him for many hours daily, both in his office and in the field,
travelled much with him, and joined him in the very moderate
recreation he allowed himself.
‘These two years, and the preceding year, 1834, were, I apprehend,
the turning points of his life. His vigour, both of body and mind,
were in their perfection. His powers were continually called forth
by the obstacles he had to overcome; and the result of his
examinations in the committee rooms placed him, in the opinion of
the members of the legislature, and of his own profession, in the
very first rank of that profession, both for talents and knowledge.
‘I wish I could convey to you even a tolerable idea of your father
as he was in those years, during which I knew him intimately, and
saw him often under circumstances of great difficulty.
‘He was then a young man, but in the school of the Thames Tunnel he
had acquired a close acquaintance with all kinds of masons’ and
carpenters’ work, the strength and cost of materials, bridge
building, and constructions under water, and with the working of
the steam engine as it then stood. It happened not unfrequently
that it was desirable to accept the tender of some contractor for
railway work whose prices upon certain items were too high, and
then it became the engineer’s business to go into the details and
convince the contractor of his error. On such occasions Brunel
would go step by step through the stages of the work, and it was
curious to see the surprise of the practical man as he found
himself corrected in his own special business by the engineer.
Thus, I remember his proving to an eminent brickmaker who had
tendered for the Chippenham contract that the bricks could be made
much cheaper than he supposed. He knew accurately how much coal
would burn so many bricks, what it would cost, what number of
bricks could be turned out, what would be the cost of housing the
men, what the cartage, and how many men it would require to
complete the work in the specified time. The contractor was
astonished; asked if Mr. Brunel had ever been in the brick trade,
and finally took and made money by the contract at the proposed
figure.
‘In the case of the Maidenhead bridge, the contractor being alarmed
at learning that the arch was the flattest known in brick, Brunel
pointed out to him that the weight which he feared would crush the
bricks, would be less than in a wall which he, the contractor, had
recently built, and he convinced him by geometry, made easy by
diagrams, that the bridge must stand. Knowledge of detail Brunel
shared with the carpenter, builder, or contractor for earthwork,
and he was their superior in the accuracy and rapidity with which
he combined his knowledge, and arrived at correct conclusions as to
the cost of the work and the time it would take to execute it.
‘In talking to landowners and others whose opposition it was
important to overcome, I have often been struck by your father’s
great powers of negotiation. The most absurd objections--and there
were many such--were listened to with good humour, and he spared no
pains in explaining the real facts, so that it sometimes happened
that he converted opponents into supporters of the railway. In the
course he took there was much skilful diplomacy, but there was no
dishonesty, no humbug. He was very frank and perfectly sincere. His
object was to impart his own convictions, and in that he often
succeeded.
I never met his equal for sustained power of work. After a hard day
spent in preparing and delivering evidence, and after a hasty
dinner, he would attend consultations till a late hour; and then,
secure against interruption, sit down to his papers, and draw
specifications, write letters or reports, or make calculations all
through the night. If at all pressed for time he slept in his
armchair for two or three hours, and at early dawn he was ready for
the work of the day. When he travelled he usually started about
four or five in the morning, so as to reach his ground by daylight.
His travelling carriage, in which he often slept, was built from
his own design, and was a marvel of skill and comfort. This power
of work was no doubt aided by the abstemiousness of his habits and
by his light and joyous temperament. One luxury, tobacco, he
indulged in to excess, and probably to his injury. At all times,
even in bed, a cigar was in his mouth; and wherever he was engaged,
there, near at hand, was the enormous leather cigar-case so well
known to his friends, and out of which he was quite as ready to
supply their wants as his own.
His light and joyous disposition was very attractive. At no time
was he stern, but when travelling or off work he was like a boy set
free. There was no fun for which he was not ready. On the old Bath
road, on a Wiltshire chalk hill-side, is cut a large horse, the
pride of the district, and only inferior in reputation to that of
the famous Berkshire vale. The people of the district, afraid to
lose their coach traffic, were violently opposed to the Great
Western Railway Bill. Talking over this one evening, some one
suggested turning the horse into a locomotive. Brunel was much
amused at the idea, and at once sketched off the horse from memory,
roughly calculated its area, and arranged a plan for converting it
into an engine. Ten picked men were to go down in two chaises, and
by moonlight to peg and line out the new figure, and then cut away
the turf, and with it cover up as much of the horse as might be
left. From the tube was to issue a towering column of steam, and
below was to be inserted in bold characters the offensive letters
G. W. R. It was, of course, not intended to carry this joke into
execution, but Brunel often alluded to it, and laughed over the
sensation it would have created.
‘He possessed a very fine temper, and was always ready to check
differences between those about him, and to put a pleasant
construction upon any apparent neglect or offence. His servants
loved him, and he never forgot those who had stood by his father
and himself in the old Tunnel days of trouble and anxiety.
‘No doubt the exertions of those three years, though they laid the
foundation, or rather built the fabric, of his reputation, also
undermined his constitution, and eventually shortened his life.
Everything for which he was responsible he insisted upon doing for
himself. I doubt whether he ever signed a professional report that
was not entirely of his own composition; and every structure upon
the Great Western, from the smallest culvert up to the Brent
viaduct and Maidenhead bridge, was entirely, in all its details,
from his own designs.’
In the press of work and the altered circumstances under which he
superintended the construction of his later railways, many changes
inevitably followed. The open britzska gave place to a close travelling
carriage, which in its turn became useless; and no time was left for fun
or practical jokes; but the same energy of mind and the same kindliness
of heart remained uninfluenced by increasing occupations or advancing
years.