{4a} I have known a barge of (apparently) fifty tons burthen, come up
the whole length of your canal, with nothing but fourteen tons of coal to
land at your basin.
{4b} In his Report on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, Mr. Walker
states the price of the 40,000 tons of coal, which he supposed might be
required for the locomotive engines, at 5_s._ 10_d._ per ton. The 25,000
tons which he supposed might be required for the stationary engines, he
states at the price of 2_s._ 6_d._ per ton.
In their review of this Report, Messrs. Stephenson and Locke state the
price of coal at 4_s._ 6_d._ per ton for 37,222 tons.
{5} The capital requisite to complete this railway was first announced
to be a million and a half. Then it was raised to two millions. Then it
was raised to three millions, in order to admit of a “quadruple line”
(that is, eight lines of rails,) being laid down. And credit is now
taken for its _cheapness_, because, after announcing that three millions
would be sufficient to lay down a “quadruple” railway, two millions and a
half are stated as the _estimated_ expense of a “double” railway. That
is, after having, by advertisement upon advertisement, announced that
three millions would be enough to lay down eight lines of rails, credit
is taken for finding out that four lines will cost two millions and a
half: when the fact is, that the estimated expense is reduced only
one-sixth, while the work which said three millions were stated to be
enough to do, is reduced one half. In other words, twopence-halfpenny is
charged for _half_ the loaf, after it had been, in every possible way
trumpeted forth, that the _whole_ loaf would be sold for threepence:
while even this twopence-halfpenny is liable to additions such as the
following pages advert to.
{6} I believe that the average width is not the half of 66 feet: and
that it is, in parts, _much_ less than half, is proved by various
circumstances; one of which is the following account of an “Accident on
the railway.—An accident fatal to a poor man named Thomas Ryans, took
place on the railway on Monday last. Ryans was employed by the Railway
Company as a breaksman; and was engaged in his business on a small train
of goods drawn by the Vulcan engine. When within a short distance of a
bridge, he, for some purpose, projected his head over the side of the
waggon, and, melancholy to relate, it came in contact with the buttress
of the bridge. The poor fellow’s brains were knocked out on his cheek;
but he lingered some time before death ended his sufferings.—_Manchester
Courier_.”—_Morning Herald_, 27th Sept. 1831.
{8} Mr. Badnall’s recent patent may make it advisable to state that this
paragraph, as well as the far greater part of the Letter, was written
prior to, and got ready for delivery at a meeting of the Kensington Canal
Company, which was fixed for the 26th of September, 1832. Owing,
however, to this meeting having been deferred, _sine die_, by an
advertisement in the _Times_ of the 21st of that month, opportunity has
been given for additions; though the paragraph to which this note refers,
has neither been added to, nor altered, since it was first written.
{10a} The decision of the Committee reported to the House of Lords, was,
that “It does not appear to the Committee that the promoters of the bill
have made out such a case as would warrant the forcing of the proposed
railway through the lands and property of so great a proportion of
dissentient landowners and proprietors.”
{10b} “The London and Birmingham Railway, in seeking an act, spent
50,000_l._: and, as they did not get the act, that sum was lost to them.”
Mr. Hodgson’s speech, at the Liverpool and Birmingham Railway meeting,
held at Liverpool on the 21st of September last.
{11} 488_l._ per mile, per annum.
{13} Vide Grahames’ Letter to Wood on Chapter IX. of his Practical
Treatise on Railways: and his “Letter to the Traders and Canal Carriers,
on the Navigations connecting Liverpool and Manchester.”
{14a} This allusion is to the number of miles between Brighton and
London: which was the _comparative_ length of what they saw.
{14b} Member for Lewes, and principal ground landlord of Brighton.
{14c} Baronet and magistrate for the county.
{14d} Vicar.
{14e} Curate.
{18} This word “cylinder” means the tunnel.
{20} That is, between three and four hundred thousand gallons.
{22a} That is, 11.3 feet in diameter.
{22b} In the best of the large stationary engines now made, a bushel of
coal will do the work of 44 horses for an hour. Therefore to make a
current of air which should be capable of conveying 10,000 tons 100 miles
in an hour, would require 43 bushels of coal: which is not twice so much
as some steam vessels burn in the same time.
{26} The proposed London and Birmingham Railway is to be sixty feet wide
in the narrowest places; notwithstanding that it is to have only the same
number of lines of rails which you must have; while, in some parts, it
will be between two and three hundred feet wide. The average width of
its _whole_ line will be 92 feet.
{29a} An idea of the amount of these cuttings and embankments may be
given by the following statement. Every one remembers what our school
days taught us, relative to the “Great Pyramid:” the many years it was in
building: the multitudes of workmen employed: and the vast sums expended
to supply those workmen with merely “garlic and onions.” The excavations
of the Liverpool and Manchester railway, would, if put in one lump, have
formed a mass larger than that of the “Great Pyramid:” its cubical
contents being only 2,983,263 yards; while the excavations for that
railway amount (according to its treasurer’s statement) to 3,405,000
cubic yards: or 11,386,899 cubic _feet_ more than the whole mass of the
“Great Pyramid.”
{29b} “A locomotive engine of ten-horses power will draw 120 tons at
the rate a draught-house generally travels; or 50 tons at the rate of
six miles an hour. I may here remark that the rate of travelling may
be increased to surpass that of mail coaches; and that the locomotive
engine will as readily convey 25 tons (including its own weight) at
the rate of twelve miles an hour, as double the weight in twice the
time.”—Mr. Jessop’s Second Report to the Committee of the Proposed
Railway from Cromford to the Peak Forest Canal, at Whaley Bridge.
Dated 29th November, 1824.
“An engine of four horses’ power, employed by Mr. Blenkinsop,
impelled a carriage, lightly loaded, at the rate of ten miles an
hour; and when connected with 30 coal waggons, each weighing more
than three tons, it went at about one-third of that
pace.”—_Observations on a General Iron Railway_, _by Thomas Gray_.
1825.
“They saw two locomotive engines, for drawing along these roads; but
they were not at work. The boilers of these engines were eight feet
long, and four feet diameter: and they usually took down fourteen
waggons, carrying 53 cwt. of coals each, at about four miles an hour.
The engineer said that he once took nine loaded waggons, one mile in
five minutes and a half, which is equal to eleven miles an
hour.”—Report of a number of gentlemen, who were deputed to inspect
the rail-roads in the north of England, relative to the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway. 1824.
“The Company are also fully persuaded, that by means of the same
power, they will be enabled to convey passengers with perfect
security, and at a speed of at least twelve miles an hour.”—Report
relative to the Liverpool and Birmingham Railway given in Cumming’s
“Illustrations of the Origin and Progress of Rail and Tram Roads, and
Steam-Carriages.” 1824.
“It is estimated, that on a level railway, a well-constructed
locomotive engine of ten horse power will, without difficulty, convey
fifty tons of goods at the rate of five miles an hour, and lighter
weights at a proportioned increase of speed. A powerful engine will
work goods over an elevation of one-eighth of an inch in the yard.
Nor is there the least doubt but carriages for the conveyance of
passengers, or light packages, may, with perfect ease and security,
be propelled at the rate of twelve miles an hour.”—_Cummings’
Illustrations of the Origin and Progress of Railways_. 1824.
“By the locomotive engine, fifty tons of goods may be conveyed by a
ten-horse-power engine, on a level-road, at the rate of six miles an
hour; and lighter weights at a proportioned increase of speed.
Carriages for the conveyance of passengers, at the rate of twelve or
fourteen miles an hour.”—Courier’s preliminary remarks to the
“Memorial of the Subscribers to the projected Railway between
Liverpool and Manchester:” dated 1st June, 1824.
“One of the railway companies at present contemplates a speed of only
eight miles an hour; but another, in its prospectus, speaks of
conveying passengers at _twice_ the speed of the present
stage-coaches; and we look forward, pretty confidently to the
attainment, in a few years, of a velocity of 20 miles an hour.
Several millions sterling are already subscribed for accomplishing
these great projects.”—_Leeds Mercury_, 24_th_ _December_, 1824.
{30} “The railway a little beyond Wavertree-lane is carried through
a deep marle cutting, under several massive stone archways, thrown
across the excavation to form the requisite communications between
the roads and farms on the opposite sides of the railway. Beyond the
marle cutting is the great rock excavation through Olive Mount, about
half a mile to the north of the village of Wavertree. Here the
traveller passes through a deep and narrow ravine, 70 feet below the
surface of the ground, little more space being opened out than
sufficient for two trains of carriages to pass each other; and the
road winding gently round towards the south-east, the prospect is
bounded by the perpendicular rock on either side, with the blue vault
above, relieved at intervals by a bridge high over head, connecting
the opposite precipices. At night, when the natural gloom of the
place is further deepened, the scene from the bridges above will
readily be imagined to be novel and striking. The light of the moon
illuminating about half the depth, and casting a darker shade on the
area below—the general silence interrupted at intervals by a noise
like distant thunder—presently a train of carriages, led on by an
engine of fire and steam, with her lamps like two furnaces, throwing
their light onward in dazzling signal of their approach—with the
strength and speed of a war-horse the engine moves forward with its
glorious cavalcade of merchandize from all countries and passengers
of all nations. But the spectacle is transient as striking; in a
moment the pageant is gone—the meteor is passed; the flaring of the
lamps is only seen in the distance, and the observer, looking down
from the battlement above, perceives that all again is still, and
dark, and solitary.
“Emerging from the Olive Mount cutting, you approach the great Roby
embankment, formed of the materials dug out of the excavation we have
described. This embankment stretches across the valley for about two
miles, varying in height from 15 to 45 feet, and in breadth at the
base from 60 to 135 feet. Here the traveller finds himself affected
by sensations the very reverse of what he felt a few minutes before.
Mounted above the tops of the trees, he looks around him over a wide
expanse of country, in the full enjoyment of the fresh breeze, from
whatever quarter it may blow.
“This vast embankment strikingly exhibits how much may be
accomplished when our efforts are concentrated on one grand object.
There is a feeling of satisfaction by no means common-place, in thus
overcoming obstacles and surmounting difficulties, in making the high
places low and the rough places plain, and advancing in one straight
and direct course to the end in view; while the pleasure afforded by
the contemplation of this great work is further enhanced, when
considered in contrast with ordinary and every-day impressions.” p.
50–52.
“A few miles beyond Newton is the great Kenyon excavation, from which
about 800,000 cubic yards of clay and sand have been dug out, part
being carried to form the line of embankment to the east and west of
the cutting; and the remainder, deposited as spoil banks, may be seen
heaped up, like Pelion upon Ossa, towering over the adjacent land.”
p. 55.
“Beyond Chat Moss we traverse the Barton embankment, crossing the low
lands for about a mile between the Moss and the Worsley Canal, over
which the railway is carried by a neat stone bridge.” p. 57.
{32} In evidence that the observations which will be found in the course
of this letter, relative to the effects of momentum, are not of such
recent origin in my mind, as Mr. Badnall states his idea relative to this
“undulating railway” to have been in his, I beg to direct attention to
the testimony given by the Appendix.
{33} I give this latter doubling to “excite the energies” of a renowned
steam-coach proprietor; who, in answer to the question, “If your
steam-coach has, as you say, gone at the rate of between thirty and forty
miles an hour over common roads, how fast would it run on a rail-road?”
replied, “_At least_ 250 miles an hour.”
{34a} By heading their prospectus, “Capital, 3,000,000_l._”
{34b} There is one manifestation of “_skill_ and experience” {34c} in
the manner in which the Committee have been induced to lend their
sanction to statements in their Report, which merits observation. The
paragraph immediately preceding the abstract of the estimate, states that
“The locomotive engines will, in no part of the line, have to surmount an
inclination greater than 1 in 340; and for the first 50 miles out of
London, none greater than 1 in 528. This degree of approach to a level,
will render the locomotive engines much more effective, and subject them
to less wear and tear than they are on the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, part of which has an inclination of 1 in 98.”
At page 60 of Mr. Treasurer Booth’s “Account of the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway,” is given a “Section of the line of Railway, from
Liverpool to Manchester,” which states that for 5-9ths of a mile (_from_
Liverpool) it is “level;” that for the next 5⅛ miles it has a fall of 1
in 1092; for the next 1½ mile, a rise of 1 in 96, &c. &c. according to
the following table:—
MILES.
5/9 Level.
5⅛ Fall, 1 in 1092; or 1 foot in about l-5th of a mile.
1½ Rise, 1 in 96; or 1 foot in 96 feet.
1⅞ Level.
1½ Fall, 1 in 96.
2½ Fall, 1 in 2640; or 1 foot in half a mile.
6½ Fall, 1 in 880; or 1 foot in 1-6th of a mile.
4½ Rise, 1 in 1200; or, 1 foot in about ¼ of a mile.
4½ Level.
Now as it appears from this, that, with the exception of the mile and
half which rises at the rate of 1 in 96 (up from l-6th to l-3rd of which
their momentum carries them) the part of the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway over which the locomotive engines work, has no rise that is half
so sharp as the 1 in 340, nor any which is near so sharp as the 1 in 528,
adverted to on the Bristol line, it surpasses my comprehension to
conceive what there can possibly be to “render the locomotive engines
much more effective, and subject them to less wear and tear than they are
on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway”; while I am beyond measure
surprised, that the confidence of gentlemen could be so misled, as to
expose them to a refutation so palpable, as the statement they have thus
been betrayed into admits of.
{34c} “Confound that word! my unfortunate pen
Had well nigh prefixed to it _i_ and _n_.”
{38a} “_Extraordinary Performance by Steam Power_.—On the occasion of a
scientific gentleman lately visiting the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, some very extraordinary performances were effected. On two
occasions, a load amounting to 100 tons, was drawn by one engine from
Liverpool to Manchester, a distance of above 30 miles in an hour and a
half; being at the average rate of 20 miles an hour. It is said no
former performance effected on the rail-road has come near this
result.”—_Liverpool Advertiser_.—_Times_, 25_th_ _June_, 1832.
{38b} The tunnel which I constructed at Brighton, was strong enough to
bear the pressure thrown on it by one-third of a vacuum. One-fourth of a
vacuum would move above 4000 tons in a tunnel 8 feet in diameter, while
any tunnel I might now lay down, would be ten times stronger than that I
laid down at Brighton.
{40} Dr. Hutton, at the end of a table of resistances to bodies moving
through still air, at rates varying from two to thirteen miles an hour,
says, “The resistance to the same surface is nearly as the square of the
velocity; but gradually increasing more and more _above_ that proportion
as the velocity increases.”
{41} A hint on this point. The engine with which Watt first proved his
principle was not equal to a _dog’s_ power. There is one now in Cornwall
said to be of 1000 horses power.
In our first steam-boats, engines of only two or three horses power could
be employed; and the proposition to use larger ones was met by the usual
exclamation, “Impossible!” We have now many steam vessels in which
engines of 200 hones power are employed; while there is one in which they
are above 300 horses power.
{45} The average produce per acre, throughout the island, is estimated
at 2½ quarters for wheat, 4 for barley, and 4½ for oats; average, 3⅔rds.
{46} “_Steam-Engines_.—It has been ascertained that there are now in
Great Britain not less than 15,000 steam-engines at work; some of
almost incredible power. In Cornwall there is one of one thousand
horses power.”—_New Monthly Magazine_, _for July_, 1831.
Independent of the large air-pumps which the iron masters themselves use,
those I put up to exhaust air from the tunnel which I constructed at
Brighton would, if worked at an extraordinary rate, have pumped five
hundred thousand gallons per minute through it.
{48a} The limits of the page render it necessary that the scale of
length should be in hundredths of an inch; but as the width would have
been imperceptible had the same scale been observed, tenths are adverted
to for it.
{48b} “Having performed what was due to his country, Columbus was so
little discouraged by the repulse which he had received, that,
instead of relinquishing his undertaking, he pursued it with fresh
ardour. He made his next overture to John II. king of Portugal, in
whose dominions he had been long established, and whom he considered,
on that account, as having the second claim to his service. Here
every circumstance seemed to promise him a more favourable reception.
He applied to a monarch of an enterprising genius, no incompetent
judge in naval affairs, and proud of patronising every attempt to
discover new countries. His subjects were the most experienced
navigators in Europe, and the least apt to be intimidated, either by
the novelty or boldness of any maritime expedition. In Portugal, the
professional skill of Columbus, as well as his personal good
qualities, were thoroughly known; and as the former rendered it
probable that his scheme was not altogether visionary, the latter
exempted him from the suspicion of any sinister intention in
proposing it. Accordingly, the king listened to him in the most
gracious manner, and referred the consideration of his plan to Diego
Ortiz, bishop of Ceuta, and two Jewish physicians, eminent
cosmographers, whom he was accustomed to consult in matters of this
kind. As in Genoa, ignorance had opposed and disappointed Columbus;
in Lisbon, he had to combat with prejudice, an enemy no less
formidable. The persons, according to whose decision his scheme was
to be adopted or rejected, had been the chief directors of the
Portuguese navigations, and had advised to search for a passage to
India, by steering a course directly opposite to that which Columbus
recommended as shorter and more certain. They could not, therefore,
approve of his proposal, without submitting to the double
mortification, of condemning their own theory, and of acknowledging
his superior sagacity. After teasing him with captious questions,
and starting innumerable objections, with a view of betraying him
into such a particular explanation of his system, as might draw from
him a full discovery of its nature, they deferred passing a final
judgment with respect to it. In the mean time, they conspired to rob
him of the honour and advantages which he expected from the success
of his scheme, advising the king to dispatch a vessel secretly, in
order to attempt the proposed discovery, by following exactly the
course which Columbus seemed to point out. John, forgetting on this
occasion, the sentiments becoming a monarch, meanly adopted this
perfidious counsel. But the pilot, chosen to execute Columbus’s
plan, had neither the genius, nor the fortitude of its author.
Contrary winds arose, no sight of approaching land appeared, his
courage failed, and he returned to Lisbon, execrating the project as
equally extravagant and dangerous.”—_Robertson’s America_, _Vol._ I.
_p._ 86–88.
{52} Items: up to the 31st May, 1830.
_£_ _s._ _d._
Bridge account 99,065 11 9
Fencing 10,202 16 5
Chat Moss account 27,719 11 10
Cuttings and Embankments 199,763 8 0
Formation of Road 20,568 15 5
Land account 95,305 8 8
£452,625 12 1
And this, exclusive both of the 300,000_l._ (nearly) which has been
expended since, and of the 130,000_l._ which is the _estimated_ expense
of the tunnel now in course of construction.
{53a} “_Railway Accident_.—We are sorry to have to mention a very
serious accident, which occurred on Saturday, on the railway between
Kenyon and Bolton. The locomotive engine was going up the lower
inclined plane, with a heavy load of goods, and at the turn-off at
Colonel Fletcher’s colleries, ran off the road, and was unfortunately
overturned against a bank, and fell upon the engineer and fireman,
who were killed on the spot. Two other men were riding on the
tender, one of whom was dangerously hurt, the other scalded. This
engine, we understand, was the only one which was ever worked on a
railway with wheels of six feet diameter; and, on that account, had
never been allowed to take the coaches.”—_Times_, 26_th_ _July_,
1831.
“On Wednesday morning, the engine drawing the first-class train of
carriages from Manchester to Liverpool, on the railway, had the
misfortune to break an axle-tree, when at full speed, near Chat Moss;
which, after ploughing the ground for some time, went off the rails,
and drew the whole train over the embankment, {53b} when, most
providentially, out of two hundred passengers, not a life was lost,
or a limb broken. Several persons were bruised, and some
seriously.”—_Morning Herald_, 9_th_ _December_, 1831.
{53b} There, only a foot or two above the ground.
{62} The average number of passengers drawn by the locomotive engines
between Liverpool and Manchester during the most successful half year
since that railway has been opened, is 87 each journey.
These boats can and _have_ carried 110 passengers at one time, though 100
may be considered an average number.
{69} Air of only three-fourths, two-thirds, half, and in Joliffe and
Cornillot’s ascent, of less than half the usual density (the barometer
sinking to 12.15) has frequently been respired, without any serious
consequences.
{72} “Railroads, in many instances lighted with gas for a
considerable distance (in one instance for sixteen miles) are, more
or less, traversing every district of the country.”—_New Monthly
Magazine_, _July_, 1830.
“_The Liverpool and Leeds Railway_.—A bill is now under the
consideration of a select committee of the House of Commons, for the
purpose of connecting by rail-roads Liverpool with the ports on the
Humber, and thereby to bring the German Ocean and the Irish Sea, the
eastern and western sides of the island, within six hours’ journey of
each other. It is proposed to have four lines of railway, two for
swift carriages, going and returning with light goods and passengers,
and two for slower carriages, with heavy goods and animals. The
whole is to be lighted with gas, so as to be traversable by night as
well as day, and the plan of the iron rails will secure the carriages
from obstructing one another.”—_Times_, 17_th_ _March_, 1831.
“The outline of a plan has been stated to us, for lighting up the
intended line of railway from this city to London with gas. Our
correspondent says, ‘Of the practicability of the thing there can be
no doubt; and it certainly would be an improvement, and create a
great demand for coals; as the gas might be continued from the parent
line to any extent.’”—_Felix Farley’s Bristol Journal_, 3_rd_
_August_, 1833.