CONCLUSION
The year 1917 terminated our Dominions' Commission work and brought to a
close the fiftieth year of my railway life. As if to mark the occasion,
Dame Fortune gave me a pleasant surprise, and what it was I will now
relate.
In an earlier chapter I have spoken of the Letterkenny to Burtonport
Railway (in North-West Donegal), with the early stages of which, in 1897,
I had something to do. Now, in 1917, twenty years later, I was to become
still more intimately acquainted with it, and, in an unexpected but
practical way, concerned in its domestic affairs.
Though the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company, which worked the
Burtonport line, was a railway of only 14.5 miles in extent, it was
entrusted with the working of no less than 85 other miles, 50 of which
consisted of the Burtonport railway--a condition of things quite unique:
the tail wagging the dog!
The total capital expenditure on the whole of the 100 miles of line
worked by the Lough Swilly Company amounted to 727,000 pounds. Of this
sum about 500,000 pounds, or 68 per cent., was money provided out of
Government funds. The ordinary stock of the Lough Swilly Company was the
exceedingly small sum of 50,330 pounds, upon which for twenty years a
dividend of 7 per cent. had been regularly paid.
The Burtonport line was opened for traffic in 1903. From the first, its
management, to say the least, was faulty and illiberal. So early in its
history as 1905 an inquiry into its working was found to be necessary,
and I was asked by the Board of Works to undertake the inquiry. I did
so, and I had to report unfavourably, for "facts are chiels that winna
ding." For some time after my report things went on fairly well, but
only for a time. The Board of Works were, by Act of Parliament,
custodians of the public interest in the matter of this and other similar
railways, and a long-suffering and patient body they were. From time to
time they complained, protested, adjured, threatened; sometimes with
effect, sometimes without. Years rolled on and matters grew worse. Loud
public complaints arose; the patience of the Board of Works exhausted
itself, and a climax was reached.
_The Railways Ireland Act_, 1896, provides that where any railway,
constructed under that Act, or under other Irish Light Railway Act, had
been aided out of moneys provided by Parliament, the Board of Works
might, at any time, appoint "a fit person to inspect and report upon the
condition of the undertaking and the working, maintenance and development
of the same," and if such "fit person" reported that the undertaking was
"not efficiently worked, maintained and developed" the Privy Council
might then make an Order appointing a manager or receiver of the
undertaking, with such powers as should be specified in the Order. The
powers thus given are, it will be observed, certainly drastic.
In April, 1917, Sir George Stevenson, K.C.B., the Chairman of the Board
of Works, asked me would I make such an inquiry for them into the
Burtonport line, and, considering myself a "fit person," I gladly
answered _Yes_. Sir George Stevenson was Tom Robertson's successor,
though not his immediate successor, as another George (Sir George Holmes)
came between. He (the reigning Chairman) was, in 1892, appointed a
Commissioner of the Board of Works; and in 1913 he attained the position
of Chairman; and the chair it is generally conceded has never been better
filled. He has the advantage of continuous experience of Treasury
business since 1886, and possesses an exceptional knowledge of all
matters, local and otherwise, affecting the development of State Railways
in Ireland.
My inquiry I may, I am sure, without immodesty, say was thorough and
complete. On the 7th of May I presented my report. The facts which I
found were such that only one conclusion was possible--the line was not
in good condition; was not and had not been efficiently worked,
maintained or developed. I will not harrow my readers with a description
of its condition. One little quotation from the summing up in my report
will suffice to indicate the state of affairs, and, to the imaginative
mind, present a picture of the whole. "Everything has for years past
been allowed to run down; the direction and management have been
characterised by extreme parsimony; and the disabled condition of the
engines is undoubtedly due to lack of proper upkeep, which must have been
going on for years. The state of the permanent way shows a want of
proper maintenance; and the condition of the stations, buildings and of
the carriages speaks of neglect."
In fairness, I ought to say that the direction and management responsible
for these things are not the direction and management that exist to-day.
Mr. Henry Hunt, the present General Manager of the Londonderry and Lough
Swilly Company, was appointed to that position in September, 1916. He
came from the Great Central Railway. This is what I said about him in my
report: "He is a good railway man, capable and experienced. He has
assumed and exercises an authority which none of his predecessors
possessed, and is keen to do all he can to improve matters and develop
the railway." Further acquaintance with Mr. Hunt has more than confirmed
my high opinion of him.
In due time my report was submitted to the Privy Council, which august
body, after hearing all that was to be said on the subject by the Lough
Swilly Railway Company and others, made an Order which is the first of
its kind--an Order which, for a period of two years, took out of the
hands of the Lough Swilly Railway Directors the management of the
Burtonport Railway, and placed it in the hands of Mr. Hunt, subject to my
supervision. The Order said: "Henry Hunt, at present the General Manager
of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company, is hereby appointed
Manager of the said undertaking of the said railway under and subject to
the supervision of Mr. Joseph Tatlow, Director of the Midland Great
Western Railway Company of Ireland." Then followed various clauses
defining the duties and authority with which Mr. Hunt, as Manager, was
invested.
This appointment, to supervise, under the Privy Council, the management
of the Burtonport line, was the pleasant surprise which Dame Fortune
brought me in my fiftieth year of railway work.
The duties of the office began on the 1st of July, 1917, and the two
years prescribed have expired; but Mr. Hunt's management and my
supervision have, by Privy Council Order, been extended for a further
period. My story may not go beyond fifty years, but this I may say, that
what Hunt and I were able to accomplish in the first six months of our
novel _regime_ was an augury of what we have accomplished since, and that
a grateful public throughout the district of North-West Donegal, which
the Burtonport Railway serves, does not stint its praise. Trains are
punctual now, engines do not break down, carriages are comfortable, goods
traffic is well worked, and delays are exceptional. Much has been done,
more would have been done but for difficulties due to the war, and a good
deal still remains to be done.
In North-West Donegal, some two years ago, the idea of writing this book
was conceived, and with North-West Donegal its pages close. As I lay
down my pen, some words which I used in my opening chapter recur to my
mind. I then expressed the hope that, in spite of all its drawbacks, my
story, if faithfully told, might not be entirely devoid of interest, and
now that I have finished my task, I humbly trust that the hope then
expressed has been attended with some measure of success, and that my
purpose has not altogether failed.
INDEX.
Accidents Compensation Act, 1846 52
Accounts, form of railway 53, 193
Acts of Parliament, general railway 49
Acworth, W M 145, 166, 183
Advertisements on railway stations 66
Alcorn, J., Great Southern & Western Railway 137
Allerton, Lord 109
Allport Commission, 1887 91, 93, 107, 109
Allport, Sir James 15, 22, 35, 39, 76, 77
Analysis of railway accounts 59
Anderson, Alexander, surfaceman poet 79
Andrews, Thomas, and the _Titanic_ 101
Andrews, Thomas, Right Honorable 100, 109, 111
Apollo Belvidera 24
"Appeal unto Caesar" 22
Arbitration, my first case 99
Ardglass Light Railway 108
Aspinall, Sir John 181, 183
Athenry and Ennis Junction, railway rates and charges, Order Confirmation
Act, 1892 138
Athenry and Ennis Railway 121, 134, 155
Atmospheric railways 195
Atock, Martin 119, 126, 127
Austria, Empress of 125
Bailey, Walter 99, 151, 193, 194
Bailie, the, Glasgow 61, 79
Baillie, G L 110
"Balfours Act"--Light railways, Ireland 107
Ballinasloe Fair 125
Barrington, Croker 179, 190
Bateman, Sir Alfred, K.C.M.G. 201
"Battle of the Gauges" 52
Beach, Sir Michael Hicks 142
Beaux 77, 98
Belfast and County Down Railway 91, 94
Belgium, a tour in 113
Benedict, a youthful 25
Benefit Society, Midland Great Western Railway 130
"Bigg's General Railway Acts" 48
Birt, Sir William 153
Block working 106
Board of Trade inquiry as to railway rates 104
Board of Trade, the 139
Bowring, the Hon Sir Edgar 202
Boyhood, pleasures and amusements 7
Boyhood, Schoolmaster "Jessie" 9
Bridge Street Station, Glasgow 47, 66
Brother to a baronet 45
Browne, Balfour, K.C 150, 155, 159, 160, 180
Buchanan Street Station, Glasgow 40
Buncrana to Carndonagh Railway 152
Burns, Mr. John (Lord Inverclyde) 73, 133
Burtonport Railway 152, 215
Bushe, Seymour 155, 159
Butterley Tunnel, the 29
Butterworth, Sir Alexander 105
Caledonian Railway Stores Superintendent 32, 44
Cambuslang, our lodgings at 42, 43
Campbell, Donald 201
Campbell, the Right Hon. Sir James, Baronet, Lord Chancellor of Ireland
180
Cane, Arthur B 192
Carlyle, Thomas 80
Carriages, four-wheeled 5
Carriages, second-class, abolition of 38
Carriers' Act, the 1830 49
"Champagne Charley" coats 19
Charles Lamb, "plumb pudding" 49
Cheap Trains Act, 1883 89
City of Dublin Junction Railway 120
City of Glasgow Bank, failure of 76
Clerks in office, Derby 23
Colhoun, R G 137, 153
Collier, Dr. 110
Committee Rooms, Westminster 135, 136
Committee, Select, 1840 50
Companies Clauses Act, 1845 51
Competitive traffic 65
Concealed bed, a 40
Connemara 129, 173
Constantinople 162
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878 88
Continuous brakes, a trial of, at Newark 87
Continuous Brakes Act, 1878 87, 106
Conveyance of Mails, Railways, Act, 1838 50
Cook, Thomas, & Son 170
Cooper, David 68
Cork, Blackrock & Passage Railway 170
Cotton, Edward John 97, 98, 115, 122
Country walks 18, 30
Cowie, James 199
Cromford Canal and Butterley Tunnel 28
Culverwell, G P 152
Curtsey, the 18
Cusack, Major H C 175, 199
Cusack, Sir Ralph 113, 116, 117, 118, 119, 129, 136, 138, 175
Cynicus 42, 43, 78, 126
D'Abernon, Lord 200
Dan Godfrey's band 62
Dargan, William 124
Delicate health 5, 17, 21, 91, 181
Dent, Charles 174
Derby, General Manager's Office 57
Dickens, Charles 8, 17, 30
Dickie, David 65
Directors, railway 34
Directorship, my first 194
Diseases of Animals Act, 1894 144
Drudgery of the desk 29
Dublin & Kingstown Railway, opposition to 195
Dublin & South Eastern Railway 157
Dundreary whiskers 19
Dunoon, bazaar at 42
Edinburgh 41, 44
Egypt and the Nile 170
Elliott, Thomas 120
Employers' Liability Act, 1880 88
Engineer, Midland Railway 32
Family album 20
Fares, first-class, reduction of 37
Farmer, Ned 22
Fashions, Victorian days 18
Father, my 4
Fay, Sir Sam 191
Fenton, Sir Myles 76
Findlay, Sir George 131, 136, 141
"First-footin'" 40
First public speech 46
Fitzgibbon, G 180
Forbes, Sir William 191
Foster, the Right Hon. Sir George 201
Franks, Temple 193
Friends in Glasgow 78
Funeral customs 20
Galloway, Andrew 86
Galway, "City of the Tribes" 129
Galway, Trans-Atlantic Steamship Service 129
Garnett, Tom 201
Garrotters 20
Gauge of railways 51
General managers' conference 191
General managers in Ireland 90
General Manager's Office, Derby 57
General Railway Acts of Parliament 49
Gibb, Sir George 158
Gill, W R 113, 114
Gillies, F H 69
Glasgow & South-Western Railway 37
Glasgow & South-Western Railway, my removal to the 47, 57
Glasgow Bailie, the 61, 79
Glasgow, Bridge Street Station 47, 66
Glasgow, Buchanan Street Station 40
Glasgow flats 41
Glasgow landlady, our 41
Glasgow, S. Enoch Station 58, 66
Golf, its introduction in Ireland 110
Gooday, J F S 192
Goods-train-delays Clerk 22
Goulding, Right Hon. Sir William 179, 180, 190
Grand Canal, arbitration 151
Granet, Sir Guy 57, 193
Great Eastern Railway 35,
Great Eastern steamer 7
Great Northern Railway to King's Cross 37
Great Southern & Western Railway 134, 156
Great Western cooking depots 44
Greene, George William 119
Gresham, Thomas Michael 195
Grierson, James 76, 83, 103
Guinness & Co., a _stout_ resistance 139
"Gumpots" 24
Gweedore Hotel 1
Haggard, Sir Rider 201
Harcourt, Viscount 198
Harding, E J, C.M.G 202
Harrison, Sir Frederick 77
Health, delicate 5, 17, 21, 28, 91, 181
Healy, T M, K.C. 180
Hogmanhay 40
Holland, Cologne and the Rhine 151
Holliday, William 157
Hopwood, Sir Francis (Lord Southborough) 139
Hornsby, John P 120
Horsemanship 5, 102
Hospitality, Ballinasloe 126
Hours of work of railway men 107, 142, 143
Hudson, George, the "Railway King" 12
Hunt, Henry 217
Imperial Development Board 213
Income Tax, 3d in the pound 45
Ingram, Joseph 179
Interference of outsiders 95
Interlocking points and signals 106
International Railway Congress 144, 150, 166
Inverclyde, Lord (Mr John Burns) 73, 133
Ireland, general managers in 90
Ireland, holiday 66
Irish Board of Works 148, 174, 180, 216
Irish Department of Agriculture 154
Irish Railway Clearing House 15, 97, 148
Irish railways abused 178
Irish railways, progress of 169, 190
Isle of Man, a steamboat service 112
Jekyll, Sir Herbert, K.C.M.G. 183
Johnstone, Mr. Glasgow & South-Western Railway 56
Jubilee, the railway 62
Junior clerk, salary 21
Kaiser, the 177
Kedleston Inn 31
Kelly, R W 85, 94
Kempt, Irvine 65
Kilkelly, John 177
King Edward, visit to Ireland 173
Kinnegar, the first golf links in Ireland 110
Knox, Vesey, K.C. 155, 180
Ladies' manners, Victorian days 18
Lands Clauses Act, 1845 51
Langerman, Sir Jan 201
Letterkenny to Burtonport Railway 152, 215
Light Railway Acts, Ireland, 1860-1883 108
Light Railway, definition of 109
Light Railways Act, 1896 150
Light railways in Connemara, Kerry, Mayo and Donegal 108
Light railways in Great Britain 109, 167
Light Railways (Ireland) Act, 1889 107
Limerick, the joybells 161
"Little Jim" 23
Littler, Sir Ralph 135, 136, 155, 157, 159
Liverpool and Manchester Railway, the 13, 50, 195
Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company 152, 215
Long Jack 26
Lorimer, Sir William 201
McCorquodale & Co 42
McDermott, Edward 141
McDermott, F 141
MacLaren, James 65
Mann, Sir Daniel 206
Martin, Robert, of Ross 128
Martin, Sir Theodore 161, 162
Mathieson, John 64
Maximum rates and charges 104, 106
Maypole, the 31
Meerschaum pipe, colouring of 20, 35, 102
Midland and Glasgow and South-Western Alliance 58
Midland Great Western Railway and "Balfour Lines" 108
Midland Great Western Railway Benefit Society 130
Midland Great Western Railway, extent of, &c. 113, 116
Midland Railway, comparison with year 1851 11
Midland Railway, present general manager 4, 57
Midland Railway, progress of 36
Midland Railway, proposed amalgamation with L & NW 12
Miller, R G 92
Mills, A E 123
Mills, W F 121, 123
Mills, W H 169
Ministry of Transport 179, 187
Money grants for light railways, Ireland 107
Monte Carlo 177
_Montreal Herald_, the 67
Moore, Charles A 99
Morris, Sir George 128, 163
Morrison, Robert 120
"My old Wife's a good old cratur" 23
Mylchreest, Joseph, the "Diamond King" 112
National Insurance Act 131
New Year's Day 44
Newcastle golf links, County Down 111
Newcomen Junction battle 120
North British Railway 75
North West Donegal 1, 218
Notice of Accidents Act, 1894 143
Nugent, the Hon Richard 153, 175, 186, 199
Nugent, Sir Walter, Bart 198
Oakley, Sir Henry 76, 77, 193
O'Connor, Sir Nicholas 163
Office hours, 1868 22
Office life, beginning of 21
O'Neill, Michael 130
Owens, Sir Charles 198
Parcel post receipts, Irish railways 137
Paris 80, 166, 198
Parker, William 22, 23
Parliament yields to popular clamour 105
Parliamentary Committee, evidence before 135, 156
Pay-day in office 26
Pease, Edward 62
Peel, Isle of Man 112
Pember, Mr. K.C. 135, 155, 159
Penmanship, imitation of 22
Pim, F W 182
Pinion, James 94, 99
Pirrie, Lord 85, 92, 183
Pitman's shorthand 29, 32
Plews, Henry 97, 150, 153
Poe, Colonel Sir Hutcheson 183
Poetical productions 6
Pope, Mr Samuel, K.C. 135, 155, 159, 160
Portrush golf links 110
Post Office (Parcels) Act, 1882 88
Power, John F 157
Practical railway work 97, 103
Pratt, Edwin A 105, 182, 193
Prince and Princess of Wales 34, 145
Privy Council Order, Burtonport Railway 217
Prize fights, trains for 54
Pullman Cars 36, 38, 58
Quirey, John 179
Railway Accounts, analysis of 59
Railway Accounts, form of 53, 193
Railway and Canal Commission 54, 120
Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1854 52
Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888 103, 113, 121, 132
Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1894 144
Railway Benevolent Institution 67, 84, 121
Railway Clauses Act, 1845 51
Railway Clearing House 15
Railway Companies (Accounts and Returns) Act, 1911, 193
Railway Companies' Association 192
Railway Companies' Powers Act, 1864 53
Railway Construction Facilities Act, 1864 53
Railway Employment (Prevention of Accidents) Act, 1900 161
_Railway Gazette_, the 141
Railway life in Ireland 115
Railway mania, 1845 14, 50
_Railway News_, the 67, 100, 141
Railway Ramblers 67
Railway Regulation Act, 1840 50
Railway Regulation Act, 1844 50
Railway Regulation Act, 1893 142
Railway Regulation (Gauge) Act, 1846 52
Railway Societies 68
Railway Statistics 59
Railway system of Scotland 63
Railways (Electric Power) Act, 1903 176
Railways Fires Act, 1905 176
Railways, Inspection of 54
Railways Ireland Act, 1896 149
Railways of the Dominions 207
Railways, Scotland, England and Ireland compared, 64, 142, 169
Railways, State purchase of 51
Railways, the future of 187
Rates and fares 32, 82
Regulation of Railways Act, 1868 53
Regulation of Railways Act, 1871 54
Regulation of Railways Act, 1873 54
Regulation of Railways Act, 1889 106
Reid, A G 65, 157
Revision of railway rates 104, 138
Roberts, William 152
Robertson, Tom 65, 91, 98, 137, 148, 150, 151
Robson, Sir Mayo 181
Rock Villa 32
Rolling stock, County Down Railway 92
Running powers 135, 156, 159, 160
Russell, George 69
Russell, Lord John 126
Ryan, Martin, cattle dealer 135
Sabbath, breaking the 41
St. Enoch Station, Glasgow 58, 66
St. Pancras Station, opening of 36
St. Rollox, Glasgow, lunch 45
Saloon, the Dargan 124
Schooldays, country walks 18
Schooldays, reading and drawing 17
Scotter, Sir Charles 180, 183
Scottish railways 63
Second-class carriages, abolition of 37
Select Committee, 1840 50
Select Committee on railway charges, 1881 82
Select Committees, 1858 and 1863 53
Settle and Carlisle line 36, 37, 38
Sexton, Thomas 183
Shanahan, George 180
Shaw, Sir Alexander 157
Shorthand, Pitman's 29, 32
Sighthill Cemetery, lunch on a tombstone 45
Sinclair, the Hon Sir John 201
Sinclair, Right Hon Thomas 110
Skipworth, W G 97, 113
Sleeping cars 38
Smiles, Samuel 141
Smoking compartments 53
Smyth, G E 179
Southborough, Lord (Sir Francis Hopwood) 140
Spain and Portugal, visit to 146
Speech, first in public 46
Spencer, Lord 158
State purchase of railways 51
Stephens, Mr Pembroke K.C. 136, 147
Stephenson, George 62
Stevenson, Sir George, K.C.B 216
Stirling, James 65
Stockton & Darlington Railway 50, 62, 195
Superannuation funds 39, 116
Swarbrick, Samuel 35
Swearing, an accomplishment 20, 26
Tailor's dummy, a perambulating 24
Tatlow, Frank 57
Tatlow, William 132
Terminals 82
Theodore Hook's old joke 22
Third-class carriages by all trains 36, 38
Thompson, Sir James 77, 138
Time-tables and train working 33
Tom 29, 70
Trade unionism 22
Trades Disputes Act, 1906 176
Trans-Atlantic steamship service, Galway 129
Ulster & Connaught Railway 174
Visinet, Tony 80
Wainwright, Mr W J 46, 56, 59, 60, 66, 73, 76, 86
Waldron, the Right Hon Laurence A. 194
Wales, Prince and Princess of 34
Walker, John 75, 133
Walklate, Thomas 22
Walks, favourite 18, 30
Warming pans 20
Waterford & Limerick Railway 134, 135, 155, 156
Watkin, Sir Edward 56, 76, 77
Way bills 21
Wells, E W 57
Workmen's Compensation Act, 1906 177
Young, Right Hon John 99
Youthful benedict, A 25
Footnotes.
{207a} White population.
{207b} If native population taken into account the approximate figure is
700 inhabitants.