RAILWAYS.
1812-1826.
Canals and Railways on one level--Haulage on Railways--Railways
in Scotland--Edinburgh and Midlothian, Stockton and
Darlington, and Edinburgh and London Railways--Uniform gauge
proposed--Notes on Railways for the Highland and Agricultural
Society--Letter from George Stephenson.
Great powers of observation, combined with fertile and practical
mechanical resources, enabled Mr. Stevenson in many cases to form
engineering opinions which may truly be said to have been “before their
time,” and in no subject, perhaps, was this more strikingly realised
than in his views as to railways.
Impressed with the great inconvenience of change of level in canals,
involving “lockage,” with all its expensive works and serious
obstruction of traffic, he early formed a firm belief that wherever
lockage could be avoided, by making even a considerable detour in
the line of canal, it was sound engineering to adopt the level line,
although it might be at the cost of additional length. Founding on
this general opinion, so early as 1812, he traced out and proposed
lines of canal to be carried upon _one level, without lockage_, through
the valleys of Strathmore and Strathearn, connecting Perth, Forfar,
Arbroath, and Montrose, and also by a line of canal, by Broxburn,
Linlithgow, Polmont, Castlecary, Campsie, and Broomielaw, to unite
Edinburgh and Glasgow.
His early researches on the subject of canals prepared him, about
1816, to extend the same reasoning to railways, which, with wonderful
sagacity, he foresaw must become what he termed the “British highway”
of the future. He found that his first idea of tracks of iron and
stone to improve the draught on common roads was not destined to
meet the requirements of the future; and when as yet nothing was
known of railways beyond the tramways connected with coal-fields, and
no proposal had been made to adapt them to passenger traffic, Mr.
Stevenson was engaged tracing in all directions through Scotland lines
of railway as a new mode of conveyance to supersede roads. Some of
these early proposals, extending to about five hundred miles, are shown
in hard lines on Fig. 15, and of all these railways he made surveys,
estimates, and elaborate reports addressed to Committees of subscribers
by whom the various schemes were supported.
It must be remembered that at that early period no other power than
that of horses was contemplated for performing the haulage either on
road, canal, or tramway, and Mr. Stevenson, true to his early views
as to the disadvantage of lockage on canals, spent much time in
experimenting on the prejudicial effect of steep inclines on horse
railways, and in endeavouring, in his various surveys, to discover
routes by which his lines of railway might be carried through, as much
as possible, on one level, regarding a few miles additional length
of line as quite unimportant compared to the disadvantage of a steep
gradient,--a view which was more appreciated before the locomotive
engine had taken upon itself the labour of the horse.
[Illustration: FIG. 15.]
To show the state of railway matters at the period to which I refer,
I think it may not be uninteresting to give, even at some length,
extracts from Mr. Stevenson’s report on what was called the Edinburgh
Railway. The report, which is dated 1818, was addressed to “His Grace
the Duke of Buccleuch and Queensberry, and the other noblemen and
gentlemen, subscribers for a survey of a railway from the coal field of
Midlothian to the city of Edinburgh and port of Leith.”
“In the course of a report relative to a line of canal upon one
level, or without lockage, between the cities of Edinburgh and
Glasgow, the reporter took occasion to state the practicability
of a line of railway from the coal field of the vale of the Esk
to the city of Edinburgh and the port of Leith, founded upon a
communication which he had the honour to make to Sir William Rae,
Baronet, and the Honourable Baron Clerk, so far back as the year
1812. This subject having since attracted the notice of Sir John
Hope, Baronet, and several of the other landed proprietors of
Midlothian, the reporter had consequently a correspondence with
Messrs. Gibson and Oliphant, Writers to the Signet, on the part of
the promoters of this measure.
“A public meeting was accordingly called by advertisement to be
held in the Royal Exchange Coffee-house on the 3d day of September
1817, when John Clerk, Esq. of Eldin, having taken the chair, the
reporter received instructions to survey a line or lines of railway
from the Midlothian coal field to the city of Edinburgh and port
of Leith; and he now submits the following as his report, with
reference to the accompanying map or plan, and sections of the
several lines of road surveyed.
“It is uncertain at what periods the inhabitants of Edinburgh
were generally obliged to lay aside the use of timber, from the
distance of carriage, as their chief building material, or of wood
and turf as fuel; neither have we any certain information at what
time pit coal was discovered, or the coal field of the Lothians
first opened. But it is in the recollection of some persons still
living, that, owing to the miserable and circumscribed state of
the roads, or rather the want of formed roads altogether, pit coal
continued to be conveyed in sacks and on horseback for supplying
the city of Edinburgh. These horse tracks, originally taken up
by accident, were persevered in by obstinate habit; and being
afterwards followed as the lines of our future roads, have become
the ultimate source of much of the difficulty attending their
improvement, from the soft and miry track of the pack-horse and
the sledge, to the broad and spacious _stoned_ carriage-way, in
combination with the trim footpath of the present day. But, even
here, experience shows that it would be improper to rest satisfied,
and cease from further exertion. The acclivities of the road may
still be levelled, and its asperities smoothed, by the introduction
of the more compact and durable materials of the _British Roadway_
or Iron Bail. Such, however, has been the progressive nature of
discovery in all ages, that we are only beginning to appreciate
the immense advantages which would attend the introduction of a
new system of roads or railways, laid upon a level or horizontal
base, as admirably calculated to increase the power of the horse in
a tenfold proportion by destroying friction--that bane to animal
labour as now applied on the common road.
“Wagon-ways constructed entirely of square wooden frames or rails,
laid in two right lines on wooden sleepers, appear to have been
in use at Newcastle so far back as the year 1671. The plan of
cast-iron railways seems to have been originally introduced by the
great Iron Company of Colebroke Dale in Shropshire, only about the
year 1786, as an improvement upon the tram or wooden railway; and
such are likely to be the benefits resulting from this discovery,
that we doubt not, as this system develops itself, the name of the
person who first conceived the idea will eagerly be sought after,
and honour done to him, as to one of the greatest benefactors of
his country. We might mention the name of the late Mr. Jessop,
as the first engineer of eminence who seems to have introduced
railways in the south. He was also the engineer for the magnificent
works of his Grace the Duke of Portland in Scotland, connected with
which there is a double railway from Kilmarnock to Troon, which is
ten miles in length. The other railways in Scotland of any extent
are those at the works of the Carron Company, Lord Elgin’s, Mr.
Erskine of Mar’s, Sir John Hope’s, and other coal works. A public
railway has also been projected from Berwick-upon-Tweed to Glasgow,
an extent of country of about 125 miles; and an Act of Parliament
has already been obtained for completing part of this track, viz.,
from Berwick to Kelso.
“A railway has the advantage of being formed at an average of one
third perhaps of the expense of a navigable canal; and in many
situations its first cost may even be compared with the expense of
making a common road. The result is also favourable if we inquire
into the comparative quantities of work done upon a canal and a
level railway. Upon the canals in England, a boat of thirty tons
burden is generally tracked by one horse, and navigated by two men
and a boy. On a level railway, it may be concluded that a good
horse managed by a man or lad will work with eight tons. At this
rate the work performed on the railway by one man and a horse is
more than in the proportion of one third of the work done upon
the canal by three persons and a horse, if we take into account
the more speedy rate of travelling and the facilities to general
trade in loading and discharging, together with the difference
of the first cost of a railway, which altogether give it in some
cases a decided advantage over the navigable canal. If we compare
the railway with the common road, it may be fairly stated that,
in the instance of a level railway, the work will be increased
in an eight or ten fold proportion. The best horse, indeed, with
difficulty, works with three fourths of a ton on the common road,
from the undulating line of its draught, but on a level railway it
is calculated that he will work even with ten tons. But to increase
the economy of the railway system still further, we have only to
employ one man to work two horses.
“_Line of Draught._
“With regard to the line of draught, or longitudinal section of a
railway, it may be stated as one of its great advantages that it
is more easily accommodated to the irregularities of the ground
through which it has to pass than a navigable canal; and even where
the ground is so irregular as not to admit of a uniformly level
track, or an inclined plane, there are several simple methods
which may be resorted to for lifting the wagons from one level to
another, so as to produce similar effects with lockage on a canal.
In so far, however, as the present design of the Edinburgh Railway
has been carried by actual survey, neither of these plans will be
found necessary upon the main lines. Even on the descending line,
the fall is so extremely gentle that the horses in returning may be
loaded with four or five tons. But the proposed mode of lockage may
with propriety be introduced on the several offset branches, such
as those from Leith to the main line, and from Monkton Hall and the
Cowpits to Dalkeith, and to the southern parts of the county, on
which a trade may be expected to be carried both to and from the
main line.
“Where the load or trade is all in one direction, it is a maxim in
_practice_, that the fall should be so apportioned to the rise,
that the work may be equal _down_ with the load, and _up_ with
the empty wagons. But where there is to be a trade both ways, it
is obviously much to be desired that a level in all such cases
should be obtained. This, in the Edinburgh Railway, has been found
from the declining aspect of the country towards the sea; but as
there will be less return trade on this railway in merchandise
and manure, etc., to the eastward, than the coal and building
materials, etc., carried to the city, it becomes a question of
policy how far it may be proper, in this instance, to adopt the
level line at a great additional expense.
“By the level line to Edinburgh the branch to Leith becomes also
somewhat more lengthened than by the descending line, which,
instead of preserving the level, is always falling, or approaching
towards Leith. The reporter, as before noticed, has various modes
in view, by which the branch to Leith may be made of a very easy
line of draught, or be thrown into a succession of levels, by a
species of lockage or stepping. Where sudden acclivities occur on
the line of a railway they are generally overcome by an inclined
plane, of greater or less extent, according to the particular rise,
and on this the loaded wagons are brought up by a steam-engine. But
to render railways applicable to all situations, it seems to be
necessary that the overcoming of such obstacles should be within
the reach or power of the driver and his horse; by working a kind
of _gin_ connected with an inclined plane, or by lifting the loaded
wagons perpendicularly, which may in various ways be accomplished
by the aid of pulleys, by the common lever, or the revolution of a
wheel.
“This subject has been justly considered to be a matter of so
much public importance, that the Highland Society of Scotland
has offered a premium for an Essay, with models, for lockage on
railways; and the reporter has no doubt that by this means much
additional light will be thrown on the subject.
“There are few subjects on which those conversant in the working
of draught animals are more divided than about the proper _line
of draught_. Some do not hesitate to affirm, that a level road is
injurious to the horse, and that an undulating road is preferable
to one by which the ascent is long, though gradual. Such are of
opinion, that by throwing the road into successive eminences, or
_up and down hill_, various muscles are brought into action, while
others are left at rest, and this alternation they conceive to be
the best condition of things for the animal.
“Being rather, however, at a loss in regard to that part of the
subject which relates to the operation of the muscles, the reporter
applied for a solution of the case to a distinguished medical
friend in this city [Dr. John Barclay], eminent for his knowledge
and for his great exertions in the science of _Comparative
Anatomy_. His answer to the queries which he allowed the reporter
to put contain the following comprehensive passages: ‘My
acquaintance with the muscles by no means enables me to explain how
a horse should be more fatigued by travelling on a road uniformly
level than by travelling over a like space upon a road that crosses
heights and hollows; and it is demonstrably a false idea that one
set of muscles can alternately rest and come into action in cases
of that kind. The daily practice of ascending heights, it has been
said, gives an animal _wind_, and enlarges the chest; it may also
with equal truth be affirmed that many horses lose their wind under
this sort of training, and irrecoverably suffer from imprudent
attempts to induce such a habit.’ In short, he ascribes much to
prejudice, ‘originating with the man, who is continually in quest
of variety, rather than the horse, who, consulting only his own
ease, seems quite unconscious of Hogarth’s _line of beauty_.’
“In the course of investigating the subject of the draught of
horses, the reporter has made several experiments with the
dynamometer, both upon canals and railways, with a view to
ascertain the power of horses and the best line of draught; and
he has further the satisfaction to find, that the result of
these trials agrees nearly with experiments made, and obligingly
communicated to him, from various parts of the kingdom. The
reporter therefore concludes that the force with which a horse will
continue to work is about one-sixth or one-seventh of his absolute
weight. Now, as he found the average weight of three ordinary cart
horses to be about ten cwt. it may be assumed, generally, that
a horse can continue to work with a force equal to 160 lb.; and
allowing 40 lb., or one fourth, for friction, there remains 120 lb.
to be applied to the load. In these trials, when the wagons were
put in motion, it appeared, under favourable circumstances, that a
force of about 12 lbs. only was necessary to move one ton upon a
level edge railway, which by calculation would give about ten tons
as the load of a good horse weighing ten cwt.; but, for practice,
this will perhaps more properly be taken at about eight tons. With
regard to inclined planes, it may be noticed, that for every one
fourth of an inch of rise to the lineal yard of road, the force
must be increased, or the load diminished, in a ratio or proportion
varying at the rate of about one half, one third, one fourth, one
eighth, and one ninth, etc.
“Such are the happy effects of a wise and extended policy, that,
notwithstanding the expensive war in which this country has been
engaged, more has actually been done in Great Britain, within
the last twenty or thirty years, for the improvement of the
highways, and in laying open the country by new and better lines
of road, than was effected for centuries before that period. With
such public improvements we presume to class the measure of the
proposed railway from the city of Edinburgh and its port of Leith,
calculated as it is to ramify through the various tracts of East
Lothian, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk shires, and to become,
in time, a system of the greatest importance in its consequences to
the advancement of the commerce and agriculture of this part of the
kingdom. Under impressions of this kind, the noblemen and gentlemen
who now come forward as promoters of this measure are actuated; and
with this in view, the reporter lays before them the accompanying
survey, and will now endeavour to state the consideration which
he has given the subject, by describing the several lines he has
surveyed, and estimating the probable expense and advantages of the
measure.”
Mr. Stevenson then describes the proposed line, which he estimated
at £52,000, and terminates his report by giving some remarks on the
construction of railways, which are interesting as noticing the use of
cast and malleable iron rails, and George Stephenson’s experiments on
locomotives.
“_Construction of the Railway._
“In giving some general description or outline of the construction
of the proposed railway, it may be observed, that the formation
of railways, or roads of cast iron, is comparatively but a recent
discovery, which, however, is likely to be attended with immense
advantage to this commercial and agricultural country. From the
great traffic to be expected upon the Edinburgh Railway, two sets
of wheel-tracks will require to be laid,--one for the wagons or
carriages coming to town, and another for those going to the
country. This double railway, with the necessary allowance for
driving-paths, etc., will occupy at least twenty feet of space in
its cross-section, viz., four feet three inches for each set of
tracks; a space of four feet between the respective wagon-ways; and
three feet nine inches on each side for a driving-path, fences, and
gutters. The horse-paths, or spaces between the waggon-tracks of
the railway, as proposed above, will be four feet three inches in
breadth, or the width of the _square part_ of the common cart axle,
it being also a great advantage for the convenience of loading,
etc., and for the stability of the railway, to have broad and
rather low wagons. But from the general use to which this public
railway is applicable, it may be found advisable to acquire even
a greater breadth than twenty feet. The space between the tracks
will be made up with stones, broken very small, and blinded or
covered with gravel, as in the best description of road-making.
The footpath for the drivers may be made with gravel, coal dust,
pan ashes, or brick-dust, as may be found most convenient in the
district of the railway.
“_Cast Iron Rails._
“The cast iron tracks of the earlier railways were made flat, or
about four inches in breadth, with a projecting ridge or _flange_,
upon the outer verge, and are technically called _plate rails_.
But the reporter is led from his own observation, and the opinion
of the following professional gentlemen obligingly communicated
to him, viz., Mr. Wilson of Troon, Mr. Bald of Alloa, Mr. Landale
of Charlestown, Mr. Grieve of Sheriff Hall, and Mr. Buddle of
Newcastle, who are not only scientifically but practically
conversant in this matter, to conclude that the plate rail not only
induces greater friction, but is more exposed to have the wheels
clogged and interrupted with gravel or small stones than that
called the _edge rail_, which, in its best construction, of cast
iron, consists of a bar of about 1½ inch in thickness or breadth,
for the _seat_ of the wheel, and of a depth corresponding to the
weight to be carried. This bar is set upon edge instead of being
laid flat. In this manner the edge rail presents less friction,
and, weight for weight, is much stronger for the load than the
plate rail; upon the same principle as, in modern carpentry, the
beam is now set on edge, instead of being laid on its side as
formerly. The Reporter is therefore to recommend an edge rail
warranted to work with two tons, including the wagon, of the weight
of 140 lb. per lineal yard of finished double railway. Lighter
dimensions might indeed be found to answer; but for a public
railway, the rails should be made of a greater strength than is
barely sufficient for a given weight, as this cannot always be
kept within bounds, or regulated to a nicety. The expense of a
little additional weight of cast iron, in the first instance, will
be greatly compensated in the end, by avoiding frequent repairs,
and will thereby be amply repaid, while the expense of laying the
road, and other contingencies, are much the same in the light as
in the heavy rail. The mode of fixing is another point of great
importance in the construction of a substantial railway. In the
early practice of laying railways, the value of this new discovery
was for a time lost to the public, owing to the intricacy and
difficulty of this part of the design. Much trouble and expense
have in this way been occasioned, in consequence of using, for the
underground fixtures, soft and friable stones, liable to be acted
upon by the alternate changes of the weather, from their being
necessarily placed so near the surface. A method has been adopted
of making the cross fixtures under ground, with bars wholly of
cast iron, to which the rails are attached, with iron pins. Much,
however, depends upon the nature and tenacity of the ground to be
passed over. At the works of Lord Elgin and the Carron Company,
the use of the sleeper or cross iron bar is laid aside, and other
alterations are daily suggested as improvements, in the method
of laying and fixing the rails, and also in the construction of
the wheels and wagons. With regard to the construction of _cast
iron rails_, they are, in general, made in the lengths of from
three to four feet; but the reporter is inclined to think that
the perfection of the cast-iron railway will be found to consist
rather in shortening the rails very considerably than adopting even
the shortest of those lengths; but this and similar matters will
fall more properly to be matured in the practical details of the
business.
“_Malleable Iron Rails._
“One point, however, deserves particular notice here, as likely
to be attended with the most important advantages to the railway
system, which is the application of malleable iron instead of cast
iron rails. Three miles and a half of this description of railway
have been in use for about eight years on Lord Carlisle’s works
at Tindal Fell in Cumberland, where there are also two miles of
cast iron rail; but the malleable iron road is found to answer the
purpose in every respect better. Experiments with malleable iron
rails have also been made at Mr. Taylor’s works at Ayr and Sir John
Hope’s at Pinkie; and, upon the whole, this method, in the case of
the Tindal Fell Railway, is not only considerably cheaper in the
first cost than the cast iron railway, but is also much less liable
to accident. In the use of malleable iron bars the joints of the
railway are conveniently obtained, about twelve feet apart, and
three pedestals are generally placed between each pair of joints.
“_Locomotive Engine._
“Some of the most striking improvements in the system of railways
are the patent inventions of Mr. Stephenson of Newcastle,
particularly his _locomotive engine_, by which fifty tons of coal
and upwards are at one load conveyed several miles along a railway
by the power of steam.”
Acting on the same general principles, Mr. Stevenson surveyed and
reported on such lines as the “Montrose and Brechin Railway,” the
“Strathmore Railway,” and the “East-Lothian Railway,” which, as has
been shown, embraced a large portion of the principal business part
of Scotland. But at that time Scotland was not ready either to take
up his enlarged views, or to find money to carry them out, and the
prospectuses issued by the different Committees who zealously promoted
these railway schemes did not meet sufficient support to enable
the promoters to form Companies to apply to Parliament for their
construction. We all know that in England, at a later date, our British
Railway system was first inaugurated, but it is a fact that redounds
greatly to Mr. Stevenson’s credit as an engineer, that all of these
Scottish lines, originally surveyed by him, have, with or without
deviation, been now carried out.
Mr. Stevenson, in his researches for adapting railways to the general
communication of the country, had made a great advance in bringing
the subject before the public; and he was requested to visit the coal
districts in the north of England to advise as to establishing a
railway between Stockton and Darlington, with extensions to the coal
fields of Bishop-Auckland; which he did in 1819, meeting with Mr.
Pease, Mr. Backhouse, and other influential men there, to whom, after
making a survey, he reported on the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
In making these various researches, Mr. Stevenson was enabled to
suggest many proposals which can only be regarded as valuable for
the period at which they were made, but he gave many opinions, which
undoubtedly have come wonderfully true in the history of railway
communication.
The Right Honourable Sir John Sinclair, Bart., proposed, in 1823,
certain queries to Mr. Stevenson relative to a proposal for the
construction of an iron railway between the cities of London and
Edinburgh, and the following is an extract from his reply, showing,
that while he fully appreciated the value of _ship-canals_, he
entertained the conviction that “iron railways” would become, as I have
already said, the highway of the future.
“Regarding the practicability of such a scheme, it may be noticed
that the late eminent James Watt entertained an idea of the
eligibility and great advantage which might accrue to the public
from the formation of a central and considerably elevated line
of inland navigation constructed so as to ramify through the
interior districts of England, and communicate with the principal
manufacturing and populous towns in the kingdom.
“In any comprehensive view of a measure of this kind there can
be no doubt that an iron railway would not only be much more
practicable, but more commodious and useful for general intercourse
than a canal. And the comparative expenses of the two operations
would probably be in the ratio of about one to eight in favour of
the railway. Again, if the advantages of carriage by the railway
and the _common road_ be compared, it will be found that the
proportion is at the rate of about one to seven, also in favour of
the railway.
“The economy of carriage on the railway, when fully contrasted
with that of the canal, is also much greater. It may now, indeed,
be considered as a generally received opinion, that, unless for
enabling sea-borne ships to pass from one side of the coast to
another, so as to avoid a tedious or dangerous circumnavigation,
the railway in every other case is preferable. It is at the same
time to be noticed that when Mr. Watt suggested the idea of a
central line of canal many years since, the railway system was then
neither so well known nor so much acted upon as now.”
Mr. Stevenson’s belief that railways would ultimately be the general
highways of the world, led him to regard with distrust their
_immediate_ introduction into Britain in absence of some public Act
for their proper regulation, and accordingly, on 29th January 1825, he
writes to Lord Melville in the following terms:--“It seems necessary at
this time, even before any Act is proposed for a public railway, that a
Committee of the House should take the subject of regulating the width
according to the number of tracks, and perhaps the strength of rails
and weight to be carried on four wheels, in a public Act, otherwise
much confusion will ensue. It will be a great loss if these railways,
like the common road, should require to be altered that they may
communicate with each other.
“All the engineers I have spoken with, including Mr. Telford, agree in
this. I have noticed it to Mr. Home Drummond and Mr. Gladstone.
“I put the specification of the bridge at Melville Castle in train
before I left home.”
Had it been possible to carry out the spirit of this suggestion,
made at that early period, in an Act of the Legislature, I think, in
the retrospect of much that took place during our “railway manias”
and “railway company competitions,” it might possibly have proved
advantageous to the community.
* * * * *
The Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which has ever been
foremost to encourage everything that tends to the improvement of the
country, regarded the introduction of railways as a matter of great
importance, and considering it a subject that came legitimately within
their province, offered, in 1818, a premium of fifty guineas for the
best essay on the construction of railroads. Many competing treatises
were given in, and the Society placed the whole of them in the hands
of my father for his opinion and report on their merits, “together
with such remarks of his own as he might judge useful.” The result of
his examination is given at great length in the Transactions of the
Society,[9] accompanied by “notes,” in which he makes several valuable
suggestions. Before the period alluded to, the rails in use had been
almost invariably made of cast iron or timber; but my father in his
notes says--“I have no hesitation in giving a decided preference to
malleable iron formed into bars from twelve to twenty feet in length,
with flat sides and parallel edges, or _in the simple state in which
they come from the rolling-mills of the manufacturer_.” He also
recommends that they should be fixed into guides or chairs of iron
supported on props placed at distances in no case exceeding three feet,
and that they should be connected with a clamp-joint so as to preserve
the whole strength of the material. It is not a little singular that
this description, given about forty years ago, may, to use engineering
phraseology, be not inaptly called a “specification of the permanent
way” of our best railways at the present day.
I close this chapter by giving a letter which shows the value that
George Stephenson attached to my father’s researches on railways,
while it is at the same time interesting as showing the very moderate
estimate which the great Railway Engineer at that time entertained of
the performance of the locomotive engine--a machine which was destined
ultimately to become, under his skilful management, so important an
agent in changing the inland communication of the whole civilised
world:--
“KILLINGWORTH COLLIERY,
_June 28, 1821_.
“ROBERT STEVENSON, ESQ.
“SIR,--With this you will receive three copies of a specification
of a patent malleable iron rail invented by John Birkinshaw of
Bedlington, near Morpeth. The hints were got from your Report on
Railways, which you were so kind as to send me by favour of Mr.
Cookson some time ago. Your reference to Tindal Fell Railway led
the inventor to make some experiments on malleable iron bars, the
result of which convinced him of the superiority of the malleable
over the cast iron--so much so, that he took out a patent. Those
rails are so much liked in this neighbourhood, that I think in a
short time they will do away the cast iron railways. They make a
fine line for our engines, as there are so few joints compared with
the other. I have lately started a new locomotive engine, with some
improvements on the others which you saw. It has far surpassed my
expectations. I am confident a railway on which my engines can work
is far superior to a _canal_. On a long and favourable railway
I would stent my engines to travel 60 miles per day with from
40 to 60 tons of goods. They would work nearly fourfold cheaper
than horses where coals are not very costly. I merely make these
observations, as I know you have been at more trouble than any man
I know of in searching into the utility of railways, and I return
you my sincere thanks for your favour by Mr. Cookson.
“If you should be in this neighbourhood, I hope you would not pass
Killingworth Colliery, as I should be extremely glad if you could
spend a day or two with me.--I am, Sir, yours most respectfully,
“G. STEPHENSON.”