ROBERT STEPHENSON CONSTRUCTS THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.
Of the numerous extensive projects which followed close upon the
completion of the Liverpool and Manchester line, and the Locomotive
triumph at Rainhill, that of a railway between London and Birmingham was
the most important. The scheme originated at the latter place in 1830.
Two committees were formed, and two plans were proposed. One was of a
line to London by way of Oxford, and the other by way of Coventry. The
simple object of the promoters of both schemes being to secure the
advantages of railway communication with the metropolis, they wisely
determined to combine their strength to secure it. They then resolved to
call George Stephenson to their aid, and requested him to advise them as
to the two schemes which were before them. After a careful examination
of the country, Mr. Stephenson reported in favour of the Coventry route,
when the Lancashire gentlemen, who were the principal subscribers to the
project, having every confidence in his judgment, supported his decision,
and the line recommended by him was adopted accordingly.
At the meeting of the promoters held at Birmingham to determine on the
appointment of the engineer for the railway, there was a strong party in
favour of associating with Mr. Stephenson a gentleman with whom he had
been brought into serious collision in the course of the Liverpool and
Manchester undertaking. When the offer was made to him that he should be
joint engineer with the other, he requested leave to retire and consider
the proposal with his son. The father was in favour of accepting it.
His struggle heretofore had been so hard that he could not bear the idea
of missing so promising an opportunity of professional advancement. But
the son, foreseeing the jealousies and heartburnings which the joint
engineership would most probably create, recommended his father to
decline the connection. George adopted the suggestion, and returning to
the Committee, he announced to them his decision; on which the promoters
decided to appoint him the engineer of the undertaking in conjunction
with his son.
This line, like the Liverpool and Manchester, was very strongly opposed,
especially by the landowners. Numerous pamphlets were published, calling
on the public to "beware of the bubbles," and holding up the promoters of
railways to ridicule. They were compared to St. John Long and similar
quacks, and pronounced fitter for Bedlam than to be left at large. The
canal proprietors, landowners, and road trustees, made common cause
against them. The failure of railways was confidently predicted--indeed,
it was elaborately attempted to be proved that they had failed; and it
was industriously spread abroad that the locomotive engines, having been
found useless and highly dangerous on the Liverpool and Manchester line,
were immediately to be abandoned in favour of horses--a rumour which the
directors of the Company thought it necessary publicly to contradict.
Public meetings were held in all the counties through which the line
would pass between London and Birmingham, at which the project was
denounced, and strong resolutions against it were passed. The attempt
was made to conciliate the landlords by explanations, but all such
efforts proved futile, the owners of nearly seven-eighths of the land
being returned as dissentients. "I remember," said Robert Stephenson,
describing the opposition, "that we called one day on Sir Astley Cooper,
the eminent surgeon, in the hope of overcoming his aversion to the
railway. He was one of our most inveterate and influential opponents.
His country house at Berkhampstead was situated near the intended line,
which passed through part of his property. We found a courtly,
fine-looking old gentleman, of very stately manners, who received us
kindly and heard all we had to say in favour of the project. But he was
quite inflexible in his opposition to it. No deviation or improvement
that we could suggest had any effect in conciliating him. He was opposed
to railways generally, and to this in particular. 'Your scheme,' said
he, 'is preposterous in the extreme. It is of so extravagant a
character, as to be positively absurd. Then look at the recklessness of
your proceedings! You are proposing to cut up our estates in all
directions for the purpose of making an unnecessary road. Do you think
for one moment of the destruction of property involved by it? Why,
gentlemen, if this sort of thing be permitted to go on, you will in a
very few years _destroy the noblesse_!' We left the honourable baronet
without having produced the slightest effect upon him, excepting perhaps,
it might be, increased exasperation against our scheme. 1 could not help
observing to my companions as we left the house, 'Well, it is really
provoking to find one who has been made a "Sir" for cutting that wen out
of George the Fourth's neck, charging us with contemplating the
destruction of the _noblesse_, because we propose to confer upon him the
benefits of a railroad.'"
Such being the opposition of the owners of land, it was with the greatest
difficulty that an accurate survey of the line could be made. At one
point the vigilance of the landowners and their servants was such, that
the surveyors were effectually prevented taking the levels by the light
of day; and it was only at length accomplished at night by means of dark
lanterns. There was one clergyman, who made such alarming demonstrations
of his opposition, that the extraordinary expedient was resorted to of
surveying his property during the time he was engaged in the pulpit.
This was managed by having a strong force of surveyors in readiness to
commence their operations, who entered the clergyman's grounds on one
side the moment they saw him fairly off them on the other. By a
well-organised and systematic arrangement each man concluded his allotted
task just as the reverend gentleman concluded his sermon; so that, before
he left the church, the deed was done, and the sinners had all decamped.
Similar opposition was offered at many other points, but ineffectually.
The laborious application of Robert Stephenson was such, that in
examining the country to ascertain the best line, he walked the whole
distance between London and Birmingham upwards of twenty times.
When the bill went before the Committee of the Commons in 1832, a
formidable array of evidence was produced. All the railway experience of
the day was brought to bear in support of the measure, and all that
interested opposition could do was set in motion against it. The
necessity for an improved mode of communication between London and
Birmingham was clearly demonstrated; and the engineering evidence was
regarded as quite satisfactory. Not a single fact was proved against the
utility of the measure, and the bill passed the Committee, and afterwards
the third reading in the Commons, by large majorities.
It was then sent to the Lords, and went into Committee, when a similar
mass of testimony was again gone through. But it had been evident, from
the opening of the proceedings, that the fate of the bill had been
determined before even a word of the evidence had been heard. At that
time the committees were open to all peers; and the promoters of the bill
found, to their dismay, many of the lords who were avowed opponents of
the measure as landowners, sitting as judges to decide its fate. Their
principal object seemed to be, to bring the proceedings to a termination
as quickly as possible. An attempt at negotiation was indeed made in the
course of the proceedings in committee, but failed, and the bill was
thrown out.
As the result had been foreseen, measures were taken to neutralise the
effect of this decision as regarded future operations. Not less than
32,000 pounds had been expended in preliminary and parliamentary expenses
up to this stage; but the promoters determined not to look back, and
forthwith made arrangements for prosecuting the bill in the next session.
Strange to say, the bill then passed both Houses silently and almost
without opposition. The mystery was afterwards solved by the appearance
of a circular issued by the directors of the company, in which it was
stated, that they had opened "negotiations" with the most influential of
their opponents; that "these measures had been successful to a greater
extent than they had ventured to anticipate; and the most active and
formidable had been conciliated." An instructive commentary on the mode
by which these noble lords and influential landed proprietors had been
"conciliated," was the simple fact that the estimate for land was nearly
trebled, and that the owners were paid about 750,000 pounds for what had
been originally estimated at 250,000 pounds.
The landowners having thus been "conciliated," the promoters of the
measure were permitted to proceed with the formation of their great
highway. Robert Stephenson was, with the sanction of his father,
appointed sole engineer; and steps were at once taken by him to make the
working survey, to prepare the working drawings, and arrange for the
construction of the railway. Eighty miles of the road were shortly under
contract, having been let within the estimates; and the works were in
satisfactory progress by the beginning of 1834.
The difficulties encountered in their construction were very great; the
most formidable of them originating in the character of the works
themselves. Extensive tunnels had to be driven through unknown strata,
and miles of underground excavation had to be carried out in order to
form a level road from valley to valley, under the intervening ridges.
This kind of work was the newest of all to the contractors of that day.
Robert Stephenson's experience in the collieries of the North rendered
him well fitted to grapple with such difficulties; yet even he, with all
his practical knowledge, could scarcely have foreseen the serious
obstacles which he was called upon to encounter in executing the
formidable cuttings, embankments, and tunnels of the London and
Birmingham Railway. It would be an uninteresting, as it would be a
fruitless task, to attempt to describe the works in detail; but a general
outline of their extraordinary character and extent may not be out of
place.
[Picture: Rugby to Watford]
The length of railway to be constructed between London and Birmingham was
112.5 miles. The line crossed a series of low-lying districts separated
from each other by considerable ridges of hills; and it was the object of
the engineer to cross the valleys at as high, and the hills at as low,
elevations as possible. The high ground was therefore cut down and the
"stuff" led into embankments, in some places of great height and extent,
so as to form a road upon as level a plane as was considered practicable
for the working of the locomotive engine. In some places, the high
grounds were passed in open cuttings, whilst in others it was necessary
to bore through them in tunnels with deep cuttings at each end.
The most formidable excavations on the line are those at Tring, Denbigh
Hall, and Blisworth. The Tring cutting is an immense chasm across the
great chalk ridge of Ivinghoe. It is 2.5 miles long, and for 0.25 of a
mile is 57 feet deep. A million and a half cubic yards of chalk and
earth were taken out of this cutting by means of horse-runs and deposited
in spoil banks; besides the immense quantity run into the embankment
north of the cutting, forming a solid mound nearly 6 miles long and about
30 feet high. Passing over the Denbigh Hall cutting, and the Wolverton
embankment of 1.5 mile in length across the valley of the Ouse, we come
to the excavation at Blisworth, a brief description of which will give
the reader an idea of one of the most difficult kinds of railway work.
[Picture: Blisworth Cutting]
The Blisworth Cutting is one of the longest and deepest grooves cut in
the solid earth. It is 1.5 mile long, in some places 65 feet deep,
passing through earth, stiff clay, and hard rock. Not less than a
million cubic yards of these materials were dug, quarried, and blasted
out of it. One-third of the cutting was stone, and beneath the stone lay
a thick bed of clay, under which were found beds of loose shale so full
of water that almost constant pumping was necessary at many points to
enable the works to proceed. For a year and a half the contractor went
on fruitlessly contending with these difficulties, and at length he was
compelled to abandon the adventure. The engineer then took the works in
hand for the Company, and they were vigorously proceeded with.
Steam-engines were set to work to pump out the water; two locomotives
were put on, one at each end of the cutting, to drag away the excavated
rock and clay; and 800 men and boys were employed along the work, in
digging, wheeling, and blasting, besides a large number of horses. Some
idea of the extent of the blasting operations may be formed from the fact
that 25 barrels of gunpowder were used weekly; the total quantity
exploded in forming this one cutting being about 3,000 barrels.
Considerable difficulty was experienced in supporting the bed of rock cut
through, which overlaid the clay and shale along each side of the
cutting. It was found necessary to hold it up by strong retaining walls,
to prevent the clay bed from bulging out, and these walls were further
supported by a strong invert,--that is, an arch placed in an inverted
position under the road,--thus binding together the walls on both sides.
Behind the retaining walls, a drift or horizontal drain was provided to
enable the water to run off, and occasional openings were left in the
walls themselves for the same purpose. The work was at length brought to
a successful completion, but the extraordinary difficulties encountered
in forming the cutting had the effect of greatly increasing the cost of
this portion of the railway.
The Tunnels on the line are eight in number, their total length being
7336 yards. The first high ground encountered was Primrose Hill, where
the stiff London clay was passed through for a distance of about 1164
yards. The clay was close, compact, and dry, more difficult to work than
stone itself. It was entirely free from water; but the absorbing
properties of the clay were such that when exposed to the air it swelled
out rapidly. Hence an unusual thickness of brick lining was found
necessary; and the engineer afterwards informed the author that for some
time he entertained an apprehension lest the pressure should force in the
brickwork altogether. It was so great that it made the face of the
bricks to fly off in minute chips which covered his clothes whilst he was
inspecting the work. The materials used in the building were, however,
of excellent quality; and the tunnel was happily brought to a completion
without any accident.
At Watford the chalk ridge was penetrated by a tunnel about 1800 yards
long; and at Northchurch, Lindslade, and Stowe Hill, there were other
tunnels of minor extent. But the chief difficulty of the undertaking was
the execution of that under the Kilsby ridge. Though not the largest,
this is in many respects one of the most interesting works of the kind in
England. It is about 2400 yards long, and runs at an average depth of
about 160 feet below the surface. The ridge under which it extends is of
considerable extent, the famous battle of Naseby having been fought upon
one of the spurs of the same high ground about seven miles to the
eastward.
Previous to the letting of the contract, the character of the underground
soil was examined by trial-shafts. The tests indicated that it consisted
of shale of the lower oolite, and the works were let accordingly. But
they had scarcely been commenced when it was discovered that, at an
interval between the two trial-shafts which had been sunk, about 200
yards from the south end of the tunnel, there existed an extensive
quicksand under a bed of clay 40 feet thick, which the borings had
escaped in the most singular manner. At the bottom of one of these
shafts the excavation and building of the tunnel were proceeding, when
the roof at one part suddenly gave way, a deluge of water burst in, and
the party of workmen with the utmost difficulty escaped with their lives.
They were only saved by means of a raft, on which they were towed by one
of the engineers swimming with the rope in his mouth to the lower end of
the shaft, out of which they were safely lifted to the daylight. The
works were of course at that point immediately stopped.
[Picture: The Shafts over Kilsby Tunnel]
The contractor, who had undertaken the construction of the tunnel, was so
overwhelmed by the calamity, that, though he was relieved by the Company
from his engagement, he took to his bed and shortly after died.
Pumping-engines were then erected for the purpose of draining off the
water, but for a long time it prevailed, and sometimes even rose in the
shaft. The question then presented itself, whether in the face of so
formidable a difficulty, the works should be proceeded with or abandoned.
Robert Stephenson sent over to Alton Grange for his father, and the two
took serious counsel together. George was in favour of pumping out the
water from the top by powerful engines erected over each shaft, until the
water was mastered. Robert concurred in that view, and although other
engineers pronounced strongly against the practicability of the scheme
and advised its abandonment, the directors authorised him to proceed; and
powerful steam-engines were ordered to be constructed and delivered
without loss of time.
In the mean time, Robert suggested to his father the expediency of
running a drift along the heading from the south end of the tunnel, with
the view of draining off the water in that way. George said he thought
it would scarcely answer, but that it was worth a trial, at all events
until the pumping-engines were got ready. Robert accordingly gave orders
for the drift to be proceeded with. The excavators were immediately set
to work; and they were very soon close upon the sand bed. One day, when
the engineer, his assistants, and the workmen were clustered about the
open entrance of the drift-way, they heard a sudden roar as of distant
thunder. It was hoped that the water had burst in--for all the workmen
were out of the drift,--and that the sand bed would now drain itself off
in a natural way. Instead of which, very little water made its
appearance; and on examining the inner end of the drift, it was found
that the loud noise had been caused by the sudden discharge into it of an
immense mass of sand, which had completely choked up the passage, and
prevented the water from flowing away.
The engineer now found that there was nothing for it but to sink numerous
additional shafts over the line of the tunnel at the points at which it
crossed the quicksand, and endeavour to master the water by sheer force
of engines and pumps. The engines erected, possessed an aggregate power
of 160 horses; and they went on pumping for eight successive months,
emptying out an almost incredible quantity of water. It was found that
the water, with which the bed of sand extending over many miles was
charged, was to a certain degree held back by the particles of the sand
itself, and that it could only percolate through at a certain average
rate. It appeared in its flow to take a slanting direction to the
suction of the pumps, the angle of inclination depending upon the
coarseness or fineness of the sand, and regulating the time of the flow.
Hence the distribution of the pumping power at short intervals along the
line of the tunnel had a much greater effect than the concentration of
that power at any one spot. It soon appeared that the water had found
its master. Protected by the pumps, which cleared a space for the
engineering operations--carried on in the midst, as it were, of two
almost perpendicular walls of water and sand on either side--the workmen
proceeded with the building of the tunnel at numerous points. Every
exertion was used to wall in the dangerous parts as quickly as possible;
the excavators and bricklayers labouring night and day until the work was
finished. Even while under the protection of the immense pumping power
above described, it often happened that the bricks were scarcely covered
with cement ready for the setting, ere they were washed quite clean by
the streams of water which poured from overhead. The men were
accordingly under the necessity of holding over their work large whisks
of straw and other appliances to protect the bricks and cement at the
moment of setting.
The quantity of water pumped out of the sand bed during eight months of
incessant pumping, averaged 2,000 gallons per minute, raised from an
average depth of 120 feet. It is difficult to form an adequate idea of
the bulk of the water thus raised, but it may be stated that if allowed
to flow for three hours only, it would fill a lake one acre square to the
depth of one foot, and if allowed to flow for one entire day it would
fill the lake to over eight feet in depth, or sufficient to float vessels
of 100 tons burthen. The water pumped out of the tunnel while the work
was in progress would be nearly equivalent to the contents of the Thames
at high water, between London and Woolwich. It is a curious circumstance
that notwithstanding the quantity thus removed, the level of the surface
of the water in the tunnel was only lowered about 2.5 to 3 inches per
week, proving the vast area of the quicksand, which probably extended
along the entire ridge of land under which the railway passed.
The cost of the line was greatly increased by the difficulties
encountered at Kilsby. The original estimate for the tunnel was only
99,000 pounds; but before it was finished it had cost more than 100
pounds per lineal yard forward, or a total of nearly 300,000 pounds. The
expenditure on the other parts of the line also greatly exceeded the
amount first set down by the engineer; and before the works were finished
it was more than doubled. The land cost three times more than the
estimate; and the claims for compensation were enormous. Although the
contracts were let within the estimates, very few of the contractors were
able to complete them without the assistance of the Company, and many
became bankrupt.
The magnitude of the works, which were unprecedented in England, was one
of the most remarkable features in the undertaking. The following
striking comparison has been made between this railway and one of the
greatest works of ancient times. The Great Pyramid of Egypt was,
according to Diodorus Siculus, constructed by 300,000--according to
Herodotus, by 100,000--men. It required for its execution twenty years,
and the labour expended upon it has been estimated as equivalent to
lifting 15,733,000,000 of cubic feet of stone one foot high. Whereas, if
the labour expended in constructing the London and Birmingham Railway be
in like manner reduced to one common denomination the result is
25,000,000,000 of cubic feet _more_ than was lifted for the Great
Pyramid; and yet the English work was performed by about 20,000 men in
less than five years. And whilst the Egyptian work was executed by a
powerful monarch concentrating upon it the labour and capital of a great
nation, the English railway was constructed, in the face of every
conceivable obstruction and difficulty, by a company of private
individuals out of their own resources, without the aid of Government or
the contribution of one farthing of public money.
The labourers who executed this formidable work were in many respects a
remarkable class. The "railway navvies," as they are called, were men
drawn by the attraction of good wages from all parts of the kingdom; and
they were ready for any sort of hard work. Some of the best came from
the fen districts of Lincoln and Cambridge, where they had been trained
to execute works of excavation and embankment. These old practitioners
formed a nucleus of skilled manipulation and aptitude, which rendered
them of indispensable utility in the immense undertakings of the period.
Their expertness in all sorts of earthwork, in embanking, boring, and
well-sinking--their practical knowledge of the nature of soils and rocks,
the tenacity of clays, and the porosity of certain stratifications--were
very great; and, rough-looking though they were, many of them were as
important in their own department as the contractor or the engineer.
During the railway-making period the navvy wandered about from one public
work to another--apparently belonging to no country and having no home.
He usually wore a white felt hat with the brim turned up, a velveteen or
jean square-tailed coat, a scarlet plush waistcoat with little black
spots, and a bright-coloured kerchief round his herculean neck, when, as
often happened, it was not left entirely bare. His corduroy breeches
were retained in position by a leathern strap round the waist, and were
tied and buttoned at the knee, displaying beneath a solid calf and foot
encased in strong high-laced boots. Joining together in a "butty gang,"
some ten or twelve of these men would take a contract to cut out and
remove so much "dirt"--as they denominated earth-cutting--fixing their
price according to the character of the "stuff," and the distance to
which it had to be wheeled and tipped. The contract taken, every man put
himself on his mettle; if any was found skulking, or not putting forth
his full working power, he was ejected from the gang. Their powers of
endurance were extraordinary. In times of emergency they would work for
12 and even 16 hours, with only short intervals for meals. The quantity
of flesh-meat which they consumed was something enormous; but it was to
their bones and muscles what coke is to the locomotive--the means of
keeping up the steam. They displayed great pluck, and seemed to
disregard peril. Indeed the most dangerous sort of labour--such as
working horse-barrow runs, in which accidents are of constant
occurrence--has always been most in request amongst them, the danger
seeming to be one of its chief recommendations.
Working, eating, drinking, and sleeping together, and daily exposed to
the same influences, these railway labourers soon presented a distinct
and well-defined character, strongly marking them from the population of
the districts in which they laboured. Reckless alike of their lives as
of their earnings, the navvies worked hard and lived hard. For their
lodging, a hut of turf would content them; and, in their hours of
leisure, the meanest public-house would serve for their parlour.
Unburdened, as they usually were, by domestic ties, unsoftened by family
affection, and without much moral or religious training, the navvies came
to be distinguished by a sort of savage manners, which contrasted
strangely with those of the surrounding population. Yet, ignorant and
violent though they might be, they were usually good-hearted fellows in
the main--frank and openhanded with their comrades, and ready to share
their last penny with those in distress. Their pay-nights were often a
saturnalia of riot and disorder, dreaded by the inhabitants of the
villages along the line of works. The irruption of such men into the
quiet hamlet of Kilsby must, indeed, have produced a very startling
effect on the recluse inhabitants of the place. Robert Stephenson used
to tell a story of the clergyman of the parish waiting upon the foreman
of one of the gangs to expostulate with him as to the shocking
impropriety of his men working during Sunday. But the head navvy merely
hitched up his trousers, and said, "Why, Soondays hain't cropt out here
yet!" In short, the navvies were little better than heathens, and the
village of Kilsby was not restored to its wonted quiet until the
tunnel-works were finished, and the engines and scaffoldings removed,
leaving only the immense masses of _debris_ around the line of shafts
which extend along the top of the tunnel.
In illustration of the extraordinary working energy and powers of
endurance of the English navvies, we may mention that when railway-making
extended to France, the English contractors for the works took with them
gangs of English navvies, with the usual plant, which included
wheelbarrows. These the English navvy was accustomed to run out rapidly
and continuously, piled so high with "stuff" that he could barely see
over the summit of his load, the gang-board along which he wheeled his
barrow. While he thus easily ran out some 3 or 4 cwt. at a time, the
French navvy was contented with half the weight. Indeed, the French
navvies on one occasion struck work because of the size of the English
barrows, and there was an _emeute_ on the Rouen Railway, which was only
quelled by the aid of the military. The consequence was that the big
barrows were abandoned to the English workmen, who earned nearly double
the wages of the Frenchmen. The manner in which they stood to their work
was matter of great surprise and wonderment to the French countrypeople,
who came crowding round them in their blouses, and, after gazing
admiringly at their expert handling of the pick and mattock, and the
immense loads of "dirt" which they wheeled out, would exclaim to each
other, "_Mon Dieu_, _voila_! _voila ces Anglais_, _comme ils
travaillent_!"