OPENING OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY, AND EXTENSION OF THE
RAILWAY SYSTEM.
The directors of the railway now began to see daylight, and they
derived encouragement from the skillful manner in which their
engineer had overcome the principal difficulties of the undertaking.
He had formed a solid road over Chat Moss, and thus achieved one
"impossibility;" and he had constructed a locomotive that could run
at a speed of thirty miles an hour, thus vanquishing a still more
formidable difficulty.
A single line of way was completed over Chat Moss by the 1st of
January, 1830, and on that day the "Rocket," with a carriage full of
directors, engineers, and their friends, passed along the greater part
of the road between Liverpool and Manchester. Mr. Stephenson continued
to direct his close attention to the improvement of the details of the
locomotive, every successive trial of which proved more satisfactory.
In this department he had the benefit of the able and unremitting
assistance of his son, who, in the workshops at Newcastle, directly
superintended the construction of the engines required for the public
working of the railway. He did not by any means rest satisfied with
the success, decided though it was, which had been achieved by the
"Rocket." He regarded it but in the light of a successful experiment;
and every successive engine placed upon the railway exhibited some
improvement on its predecessors. The arrangement of the parts, and the
weight and proportion of the engines, were altered as the experience of
each successive day, or week, or month suggested; and it was soon found
that the performances of the "Rocket" on the day of trial had been
greatly within the powers of the improved locomotive.
The first entire trip between Liverpool and Manchester was performed
on the 14th of June, 1830, on the occasion of a board meeting being
held at the latter town. The train was on this occasion drawn by
the "Arrow," one of the new locomotives, in which the most recent
improvements had been adopted. George Stephenson himself drove the
engine, and Captain Scoresby, the circumpolar navigator, stood beside
him on the foot-plate, and minuted the speed of the train. A great
concourse of people assembled at both termini, as well as along the
line, to witness the novel spectacle of a train of carriages drawn
by an engine at the speed of seventeen miles an hour. On the return
journey to Liverpool in the evening, the "Arrow" crossed Chat Moss at a
speed of nearly twenty-seven miles an hour, reaching its destination in
about an hour and a half.
In the mean time Mr. Stephenson and his assistant, Mr. Gooch, were
diligently occupied in making the necessary preliminary arrangements
for the conduct of the traffic against the time when the line should
be ready for opening. The experiments made with the object of carrying
on the passenger traffic at quick velocities were of an especially
harassing and anxious character. Every week, for nearly three months
before the opening, trial trips were made to Newton and back, generally
with two or three trains following each other, and carrying altogether
from two to three hundred persons. These trips were usually made on
Saturday afternoons, when the works could be more conveniently stopped
and the line cleared for the occasion. In these experiments Mr.
Stephenson had the able assistance of Mr. Henry Booth, the secretary of
the company, who contrived many of the arrangements in the passenger
carriages, not the least valuable of which was his invention of the
coupling screw, still in use on all passenger railways.
At length the line was finished and ready for the public opening,
which took place on the 15th of September, 1830, and attracted a vast
number of spectators from all parts of the country. The completion
of the railway was justly regarded as an important national event,
and the ceremony of its opening was celebrated accordingly. The Duke
of Wellington, then prime minister, Sir Robert Peel, Secretary of
State, Mr. Huskisson, one of the members for Liverpool and an earnest
supporter of the project from its commencement, were among the number
of distinguished public personages present.
Eight locomotive engines, constructed at the Stephenson works, had
been delivered and placed upon the line, the whole of which had been
tried and tested, weeks before, with perfect success. The several
trains of carriages accommodated in all about six hundred persons. The
"Northumbrian" engine, driven by George Stephenson himself, headed
the line of trains; then followed the "Phoenix," driven by Robert
Stephenson; the "North Star," by Robert Stephenson senior (brother of
George); the "Rocket," by Joseph Locke; the "Dart," by Thomas L. Gooch;
the "Comet," by William Allcard; the "Arrow," by Frederick Swanwick;
and the "Meteor," by Anthony Harding. The procession was cheered in its
progress by thousands of spectators--through the deep ravine of Olive
Mount; up the Sutton incline; over the great Sankey viaduct, beneath
which a multitude of persons had assembled--carriages filling the
narrow lanes, and barges crowding the river; the people below gazing
with wonder and admiration at the trains which sped along the line, far
above their heads, at the rate of some twenty-four miles an hour.
At Parkside, about seventeen miles from Liverpool, the engines stopped
to take in water. Here a deplorable accident occurred to one of the
illustrious visitors, which threw a deep shadow over the subsequent
proceedings of the day. The "Northumbrian" engine, with the carriage
containing the Duke of Wellington, was drawn up on one line, in order
that the whole of the trains on the other line might pass in review
before him and his party. Mr. Huskisson had alighted from the carriage,
and was standing on the opposite road, along which the "Rocket" was
observed rapidly coming up. At this moment the Duke of Wellington,
between whom and Mr. Huskisson some coolness had existed, made a sign
of recognition, and held out his hand. A hurried but friendly grasp
was given; and before it was loosened there was a general cry from the
by-standers of "Get in, get in!" Flurried and confused, Mr. Huskisson
endeavored to get round the open door of the carriage, which projected
over the opposite rail, but in so doing he was struck down by the
"Rocket," and falling with his leg doubled across the rail, the limb
was instantly crushed. His first words, on being raised, were, "I
have met my death," which unhappily proved true, for he expired that
same evening in the parsonage of Eccles. It was cited at the time as
a remarkable fact that the "Northumbrian" engine, driven by George
Stephenson himself, conveyed the wounded body of the unfortunate
gentleman a distance of about fifteen miles in twenty-five minutes, or
at the rate of thirty-six miles an hour. This incredible speed burst
upon the world with the effect of a new and unlooked-for phenomenon.
The accident threw a gloom over the rest of the day's proceedings.
The Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel expressed a wish that the
procession should return to Liverpool. It was, however, represented to
them that a vast concourse of people had assembled at Manchester to
witness the arrival of the trains; that report would exaggerate the
mischief if they did not complete the journey; and that a false panic
on that day might seriously affect future railway traveling and the
value of the company's property. The party consented accordingly to
proceed to Manchester, but on the understanding that they should return
as soon as possible, and refrain from farther festivity.
As the trains approached Manchester, crowds of people were found
covering the banks, the slopes of the cuttings, and even the railway
itself. The multitude, become impatient and excited by the rumors
which reached them, had outflanked the military, and all order was
at an end. The people clambered about the carriages, holding on by
the door-handles, and many were tumbled over; but, happily, no fatal
accident occurred. At the Manchester station the political element
began to display itself; placards about "Peterloo," etc., were
exhibited, and brickbats were thrown at the carriage containing the
duke. On the trains coming to a stand in the Manchester station, the
duke did not descend, but remained seated, shaking hands with the women
and children who were pushed forward by the crowd. Shortly after, the
trains returned to Liverpool, which they reached, after considerable
delays, late at night.
On the following morning the railway was opened for public traffic. The
first train of 140 passengers was booked and sent on to Manchester,
reaching it in the allotted time of two hours; and from that time the
traffic has regularly proceeded from day to day until now.
It is scarcely necessary that we should speak at any length of
the commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Suffice it to say that its success was complete and decisive. The
anticipations of its projectors were, however, in many respects at
fault. They had based their calculations almost entirely on the heavy
merchandise traffic--such as coal, cotton, and timber--relying little
upon passengers; whereas the receipts derived from the conveyance of
passengers far exceeded those derived from merchandise of all kinds,
which for a time continued a subordinate branch of the traffic. In
the evidence given before the Committee of the House of Commons, the
promoters stated their expectation of obtaining about one half of the
whole number of passengers which the coaches then running could carry,
or about 400 a day. But the railway was scarcely opened before it
carried on an average about 1200 passengers daily; and five years after
the opening, it carried nearly half a million of persons yearly. So
successful, indeed, was the passenger traffic, that it engrossed the
whole of the company's small stock of engines.
For some time after the public opening of the line, Mr. Stephenson's
ingenuity continued to be employed in devising improved methods for
securing the safety and comfort of the traveling public. Few are
aware of the thousand minute details which have to be arranged--the
forethought and contrivance that have to be exercised--to enable the
traveler by railway to accomplish his journey in safety. After the
difficulties of constructing a level road over bogs, across valleys,
and through deep cuttings have been overcome, the maintenance of the
way has to be provided for with continuous care. Every rail, with its
fastenings, must be complete, to prevent risk of accident, and the
road must be kept regularly ballasted up to the level to diminish
the jolting of vehicles passing over it at high speeds. Then the
stations must be protected by signals observable from such a distance
as to enable the train to be stopped in event of an obstacle, such
as a stopping or shunting train being in the way. For some years the
signals employed on the Liverpool Railway were entirely given by men
with flags of different colors stationed along the line; there were no
fixed signals nor electric telegraphs; but the traffic was nevertheless
worked quite as safely as under the more elaborate and complicated
system of telegraphing which has since been established.
From an early period it became obvious that the iron road, as
originally laid down, was quite insufficient for the heavy traffic
which it had to carry. The line was in the first place laid with
fish-bellied rails of only thirty-five pounds to the yard, calculated
only for horse-traffic, or, at most, for engines like the "Rocket," of
very light weight. But as the power and the weight of the locomotives
were increased, it was found that such rails were quite insufficient
for the safe conduct of the traffic, and it therefore became necessary
to relay the road with heavier and stronger rails at considerable
expense.
The details of the carrying stock had in like manner to be settled
by experience. Every thing had, as it were, to be begun from the
beginning. The coal-wagon, it is true, served in some degree as a
model for the railway-truck; but the railway passenger-carriage was an
entirely novel structure. It had to be mounted upon strong framing,
of a peculiar kind, supported on springs to prevent jolting. Then
there was the necessity for contriving some method of preventing hard
bumping of the carriage-ends when the train was pulled up, and hence
the contrivance of buffer-springs and spring-frames. For the purpose
of stopping the train, brakes on an improved plan were also contrived,
with new modes of lubricating the carriage-axles, on which the wheels
revolved at an unusually high velocity. In all these contrivances
Mr. Stephenson's inventiveness was kept constantly on the stretch;
and though many improvements in detail have been effected since his
time, the foundations were then laid by him of the present system of
conducting railway traffic. As a curious illustration of the inventive
ingenuity which he displayed in contriving the working of the Liverpool
line, we may mention his invention of the Self-acting Brake. He early
entertained the idea that the momentum of the running train might
itself be made available for the purpose of checking its speed. He
proposed to fit each carriage with a brake which should be called
into action immediately on the locomotive at the head of the train
being pulled up. The impetus of the carriages carrying them forward,
the buffer-springs would be driven home, and, at the same time, by a
simple arrangement of the mechanism, the brakes would be called into
simultaneous action; thus the wheels would be brought into a state
of sledge, and the train speedily stopped. This plan was adopted by
Mr. Stephenson before he left the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
though it was afterward discontinued; and it is a remarkable fact,
that this identical plan, with the addition of a centrifugal apparatus,
was recently revived by M. Guérin, a French engineer, and extensively
employed on foreign railways.
Finally, Mr. Stephenson had to attend to the improvement of the power
and speed of the locomotive--always the grand object of his study--with
a view to economy as well as regularity in the working of the railway.
In the "Planet" engine, delivered upon the line immediately subsequent
to the public opening, all the improvements which had up to this time
been contrived by him and his son were introduced in combination--the
blast-pipe, the tubular boiler, horizontal cylinders inside the
smoke-box, the cranked axle, and the fire-box firmly fixed to the
boiler. The first load of goods conveyed from Liverpool to Manchester
by the "Planet" was eighty tons in weight, and the engine performed
the journey against a strong head wind in two hours and a half. On
another occasion, the same engine brought up a cargo of voters from
Manchester to Liverpool, during a contested election, within a space of
sixty minutes. The "Samson," delivered in the following year, exhibited
still farther improvements, the most important of which was that of
_coupling_ the fore and hind wheels of the engine. By this means the
adhesion of the wheels on the rails was more effectually secured, and
thus the full hauling power of the locomotive was made available. The
"Samson," shortly after it was placed upon the line, dragged after it a
train of wagons weighing a hundred and fifty tons at a speed of about
twenty miles an hour, the consumption of coke being reduced to only
about a third of a pound per ton per mile.
The rapid progress thus made will show that the inventive faculties of
Mr. Stephenson and his son were kept fully on the stretch; but their
labors were amply repaid by the result. They were, doubtless, to some
extent stimulated by the number of competitors who about the same time
appeared as improvers of the locomotive engine. But the superiority
of Stephenson's locomotives over all others that had yet been tried
induced the directors of the railway to require that the engines
supplied to them by other builders should be constructed after the same
model. Mr. Stephenson himself always had the greatest faith in the
superiority of his own engines over all others, and did not hesitate
strongly to declare it. When it was once proposed to introduce the
engines of another maker on the Manchester and Leeds line, he said,
"Very well; I have no objection; but put them to this fair test. Hang
one of ----'s engines on to one of mine, back to back. Then let them go
at it; and whichever walks away with the other, _that's the engine_."
The engineer had also to seek out the proper men to maintain and
watch the road, and more especially to work the locomotive engines.
Steadiness, sobriety, common sense, and practical experience were the
qualities which he especially valued in those selected by him for that
purpose. But where were the men of experience to be found? Very few
railways were yet at work, and these were almost exclusively confined
to the northern coal counties; hence a considerable proportion of
the drivers and firemen employed on the Liverpool line were brought
from the neighborhood of Newcastle. But he could not always find
skilled workmen enough for the important and responsible duties to be
performed. It was a saying of his that "he could engineer matter very
well, and make it bend to his purpose, but his greatest difficulty was
in engineering _men_." He often wished that he could contrive heads and
hands on which he might rely, as easily as he could construct railways
and manufacture locomotives. As it was, Stephenson's mechanics were in
request all over England--the Newcastle workshops continuing for many
years to perform the part of a training-school for engineers, and to
supply locomotive superintendents and drivers, not only for England,
but for nearly every country in Europe--preference being given to them
by the directors of railways, in consequence of their previous training
and experience, as well as because of their generally excellent
qualities as steady and industrious workmen.
The success of the Liverpool and Manchester experiment naturally
excited great interest. People flocked to Lancashire from all quarters
to see the steam-coach running upon a railway at three times the speed
of a mail-coach, and to enjoy the excitement of actually traveling
in the wake of an engine at that incredible velocity. The travelers
returned to their respective districts full of the wonders of the
locomotive, considering it to be the greatest marvel of the age.
Railways are familiar enough objects now, and our children who grow up
in their midst may think little of them; but thirty years since it was
an event in one's life to see a locomotive, and to travel for the first
time upon a public railroad.
In remote districts, however, the stories told about the benefits
conferred by the Liverpool Railway were received with considerable
incredulity, and the proposal to extend such roads in all directions
throughout the country caused great alarm. In the districts through
which stage-coaches ran, giving employment to large numbers of persons,
it was apprehended that, if railways were established, the turnpike
roads would become deserted and grown over with grass, country inns
and their buxom landladies would be ruined, the race of coach-drivers
and hostlers would become extinct, and the breed of horses be entirely
destroyed. But there was hope for the coaching interest in the
fact that the government were employing their engineers to improve
the public high roads so as to render railways unnecessary. It was
announced in the papers that a saving of thirty miles would be effected
by the new road between London and Holyhead, and an equal saving
between London and Edinburg. And to show what the speed of horses could
accomplish, we find it set forth as an extraordinary fact that the
"Patent Tally-ho Coach," in the year 1830 (when the Birmingham line
had been projected), performed the entire journey of 109 miles between
London and Birmingham--breakfast included--in seven hours and fifty
minutes! Great speed was also recorded on the Brighton road, the "Red
Rover" doing the distance between London and Brighton in four hours and
a half. These speeds were not, however, secured without accidents, for
there was scarcely a newspaper of the period that did not contain one
or more paragraphs headed "Another dreadful coach accident."
The practicability of railway locomotion being now proved, and its
great social and commercial advantages ascertained, the extension
of the system was merely a question of time, money, and labor. A
fine opportunity presented itself for the wise and judicious action
of the government in the matter, the improvement of the internal
communications of a country being really one of its most important
functions. But the government of the day, though ready enough to spend
money in improving the old turnpike roads, regarded the railroads with
hostility, and met them with obstructions of all kinds. They seemed
to think it their duty to protect the turnpike trusts, disregarding
the paramount interest of the public. This may possibly account for
the singular circumstance that, at the very time they were manifesting
indifference or aversion to the locomotive on the railroad, they were
giving every encouragement to the locomotive on turnpike roads. In
1831, we find a Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire
into and report upon--not the railway system, but--the applicability
of the steam-carriage to common roads; and, after investigation, the
committee were so satisfied with the evidence taken, that they reported
decidedly in favor of the road locomotive system. Though they ignored
the railway, they recognized the steam-carriage.
But even a Report of the House of Commons, powerful though it be, can
not alter the laws of gravity and friction; and the road locomotive
remained, what it ever will be, an impracticable machine. Not that
it is impossible to work a locomotive upon a common road, but to
work it to any profit at all as compared with the locomotive upon a
railway. Numerous trials of steam-carriages were made at the time by
Sir Charles Dance, Mr. Hancock, Mr. Gurney, Sir James Anderson, and
other distinguished gentlemen of influence. Journalists extolled their
utility, compared with "the much-boasted application on railroads."[75]
But, notwithstanding all this, and the House of Commons' Report in its
favor, Stephenson's first verdict, pronounced on the road locomotive
many years before, when he was only an engine-wright at Killingworth,
was fully borne out by the result, and it became day by day clearer
that the attempt to introduce the engine into general use upon turnpike
roads could only prove a delusion and a snare.
Although the Legislature took no initiative step in the direction of
railway extension, the public spirit and enterprise of the country
did not fail it at this juncture. The English people, though they
may be defective in their capacity for organization, are strong in
individualism, and not improbably their admirable qualities in the
latter respect detract from their efficiency in the former. Thus, in
all times, their greatest national enterprises have not been planned by
officialism and carried out upon any regular system, but have sprung,
like their Constitution, their laws, and their entire industrial
arrangements, from the force of circumstances and the individual
energies of the people. Hence railway extension, like so many other
great English enterprises, was now left to be carried out by the genius
of English engineers, backed by the energy of the British public.
The mode of action was characteristic and national. The execution of
the new lines was undertaken entirely by joint-stock associations of
proprietors, after the manner of the Stockton and Darlington, and
Liverpool and Manchester companies. These associations are conformable
to our national habits, and fit well into our system of laws. They
combine the power of vast resources with individual watchfulness and
motives of self-interest; and by their means gigantic undertakings,
which elsewhere would be impossible to any but kings and emperors
with great national resources at command, were carried out by the
co-operation of private persons. And the results of this combination
of means and of enterprise have been truly marvelous. Within the life
of the present generation, the private citizens of England engaged in
railway extension have, in the face of government obstructions, and
without taking a penny from the public purse, executed a system of
communications involving works of the most gigantic kind, which, in
their total mass, their cost, and their public utility, far exceed the
most famous national undertakings of any age or country.
Mr. Stephenson was, of course, actively engaged in the construction
of the numerous railways now projected by the joint-stock companies.
During the formation of the Manchester and Liverpool line he had been
consulted respecting many projects of a similar kind. One of these was
a short railway between Canterbury and Whitstable, about six miles in
length. He was too much occupied with the works at Liverpool to give
this scheme much of his personal attention; but he sent his assistant,
Mr. John Dixon, to survey the line, and afterward Mr. Locke to
superintend the execution of the works. The act was obtained in 1826,
and the line was opened for traffic in 1830. It was partly worked by
fixed engine-power, and partly by Stephenson's locomotives, similar to
the engines used upon the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
But the desire for railway extension principally pervaded the
manufacturing districts, especially after the successful opening of the
Liverpool and Manchester line. The commercial classes of the larger
towns soon became eager for a participation in the good which they
had so recently derided. Railway projects were set on foot in great
numbers, and Manchester became a centre from which main lines and
branches were started in all directions. The interest, however, which
attaches to these later schemes is of a much less absorbing kind than
that which belongs to the early history of the railway and the steps by
which it was mainly established. We naturally sympathize more with the
early struggles of a great principle, its trials and its difficulties,
than with its after stages of success; and, however gratified and
astonished we may be at its results, the interest is in a great measure
gone when its triumph has become a matter of certainty.
The commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester line were so
satisfactory, and, indeed, so greatly exceeded the expectations of its
projectors, that many of the abandoned projects of the speculative year
1825 were forthwith revived. An abundant crop of engineers sprang up,
ready to execute railways of any extent. Now that the Liverpool and
Manchester line had been made, and the practicability of working it
by locomotive power had been proved, it was as easy for engineers to
make railways and to work them as it was for navigators to find America
after Columbus had made the first voyage. Mr. Francis Giles himself
took the field as a locomotive railway engineer, attaching himself to
the Newcastle and Carlisle and London and Southampton projects. Mr.
Brunel appeared, in like manner, as the engineer of the line projected
between London and Bristol; and Mr. Braithwaite, the builder of the
"Novelty" engine, as the engineer of a line from London to Colchester.
The first lines, however, which were actually constructed subsequent to
the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway were in connection
with it, and principally in the county of Lancaster. Thus a branch was
formed from Bolton to Leigh, and another from Leigh to Kenyon, where it
formed a junction with the main line between Liverpool and Manchester.
Branches to Wigan on the north, and to Runcorn Gap and Warrington on
the south of the same line, were also formed; and a continuation of
the latter, as far south as Birmingham, was shortly after projected,
under the name of the Grand Junction Railway.
The last-mentioned line was projected as early as the year 1824,
when the Liverpool and Manchester scheme was under discussion, and
Mr. Stephenson then published a report on the subject. The plans
were deposited, but the bill was thrown out on the opposition of the
land-owners and canal proprietors. When engaged in making the survey,
Stephenson called upon some of the land-owners in the neighborhood
of Nantwich to obtain their assent, and was greatly disgusted to
learn that the agents of the canal companies had been before him, and
described the locomotive to the farmers as a most frightful machine,
emitting a breath as poisonous as the fabled dragon of old; and
telling them that if a bird flew over the district when one of these
engines passed, it would inevitably drop down dead! The application
for the bill was renewed in 1826, and again failed; and at length
it was determined to wait the issue of the Liverpool and Manchester
experiment. The act was eventually obtained in 1833, by which time
the projectors of railways had learned the art of "conciliating" the
landlords--and a very expensive process it proved. But it was the only
mode of avoiding a still more expensive Parliamentary opposition.
When it was proposed to extend the advantages of railways to the
population of the midland and southern counties of England, an immense
amount of alarm was created in the minds of the country gentlemen. They
did not relish the idea of private individuals, principally residents
in the manufacturing districts, invading their domains, and they
every where rose up in arms against the "new-fangled roads." Colonel
Sibthorpe openly declared his hatred of the "infernal railroads," and
said that he "would rather meet a highwayman, or see a burglar on his
premises, than an engineer!" Mr. Berkeley, the member for Cheltenham,
at a public meeting in that town, re-echoed Colonel Sibthorpe's
sentiments, and "wished that the concoctors of every such scheme,
with their solicitors and engineers, were at rest in Paradise!" The
impression prevailed among the rural classes that fox-covers and
game-preserves would be seriously prejudiced by the formation of
railroads; that agricultural communications would be destroyed, land
thrown out of cultivation, land-owners and farmers reduced to beggary,
the poor-rates increased through the number of persons thrown out of
employment by the railways, and all this in order that Liverpool,
Manchester, and Birmingham shop-keepers and manufacturers might
establish a monstrous monopoly in railway traffic.
The inhabitants of even some of the large towns were thrown into
a state of consternation by the proposal to provide them with the
accommodation of a railway. The line from London to Birmingham would
naturally have passed close to the handsome town of Northampton, and
was so projected. But the inhabitants of the place, urged on by the
local press, and excited by men of influence and education, opposed the
project, and succeeded in forcing the promoters, in their survey of the
line, to pass the town at a distance. The necessity was thus involved
of distorting the line, by which the enormous expense of constructing
the Kilsby Tunnel was incurred. Not many years elapsed before the
inhabitants of Northampton became clamorous for railway accommodation,
and a special branch was constructed for them. The additional cost
involved by this forced deviation of the line could not have amounted
to less than half a million sterling; the loss falling, not upon the
shareholders only, but upon the public.
Other towns in the south followed the example of Northampton in
howling down the railways. When the first railway through Kent was
projected, the line was laid out so as to pass by Maidstone, the
county town. But it had not a single supporter among the townspeople,
while the land-owners for many miles round continued to oppose it. A
few years later the Maidstone burgesses, like those of Northampton,
became clamorous for a railway, and a branch was formed for their
accommodation. In like manner, the London and Bristol (afterward the
Great Western) Railway was vehemently opposed by the people of the
towns through which the line was projected to pass; and when the bill
was thrown out by the Lords--after £30,000 had been expended by the
promoters--the inhabitants of Eton assembled, under the presidency of
the Marquis of Chandos, to rejoice and congratulate themselves and the
country upon its defeat. Eton, however, has now the convenience of two
railways to the metropolis.
During the time that the works of the Liverpool and Manchester line
were in progress, our engineer was consulted respecting a short
railway proposed to be formed between Leicester and Swannington, for
the purpose of opening up a communication between the town of Leicester
and the coal-fields in the western part of the county. Mr. Ellis, the
projector of this undertaking, had some difficulty in getting the
requisite capital subscribed for, the Leicester townspeople who had
money being for the most part interested in canals. George Stephenson
was invited to come upon the ground and survey the line. He did so,
and then the projector told him of the difficulty he had in finding
subscribers to the concern. "Give me a sheet," said Stephenson, "and
I will raise the money for you in Liverpool." The engineer was as
good as his word, and in a short time the sheet was returned with the
subscription complete. Mr. Stephenson was then asked to undertake the
office of engineer for the line, but his answer was that he had thirty
miles of railway in hand, which was enough for any engineer to attend
to properly. Was there any person he could recommend? "Well," said he,
"I think my son Robert is competent to undertake the thing." Would
Mr. Stephenson be answerable for him? "Oh yes, certainly." And Robert
Stephenson, at twenty-seven years of age, was installed engineer of the
line accordingly.
[Illustration: MAP OF THE LEICESTER AND SWANNINGTON RAILWAY.]
The requisite Parliamentary powers having been obtained, Robert
Stephenson proceeded with the construction of the railway, about
sixteen miles in length, toward the end of 1830. The works were
comparatively easy, excepting at the Leicester end, where the young
engineer encountered his first stiff bit of tunneling. The line
passed under ground for a mile and three quarters, and 500 yards
of its course lay through loose running sand. The presence of this
material rendered it necessary for the engineer, in the first place,
to construct a wooden tunnel to support the soil while the brick-work
was being executed. This measure proved sufficient, and the whole was
brought to a successful termination within a reasonable time. While
the works were in progress, Robert kept up a regular correspondence
with his father at Liverpool, consulting him on all points in which
his greater experience was likely to be of service. Like his father,
Robert was very observant, and always ready to seize opportunity
by the forelock. It happened that the estate of Snibston, near
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was advertised for sale, and the young engineer's
experience as a coal-viewer and practical geologist suggested to
his mind that coal was most probably to be found underneath. He
communicated his views to his father on the subject. The estate lay
in the immediate neighborhood of the railway; and if the conjecture
proved correct, the finding of the coal must necessarily prove a most
fortunate circumstance for the purchasers of the land. He accordingly
requested his father to come over to Snibston and look at the property,
which he did; and after a careful inspection of the ground, he arrived
at the same conclusion as his son.
The large manufacturing town of Leicester, about fourteen miles
distant, had up to that time been exclusively supplied with coal
brought by canal from Derbyshire, and the Stephensons saw that the
railway under construction from Swannington to Leicester would furnish
a ready market for any coals which might be found at Snibston. Having
induced two of his Liverpool friends to join him in the venture, the
Snibston estate was purchased in 1831, and shortly after Stephenson
removed his home from Liverpool to Alton Grange, for the purpose of
superintending the sinking of the pit.
Sinking operations were immediately begun, and proceeded satisfactorily
until the old enemy, water, burst in upon the workmen, and threatened
to drown them out. But by means of efficient pumping-engines, and the
skillful casing of the shaft with segments of cast iron--a process
called "tubbing,"[76] which Stephenson was the first to adopt in
the Midland Counties--it was eventually made water-tight, and the
sinking proceeded. When a depth of 166 feet had been reached, a still
more formidable difficulty presented itself--one which had baffled
former sinkers in the neighborhood, and deterred them from farther
operations. This was a remarkable bed of whinstone or greenstone, which
had originally been poured out as a sheet of burning lava over the
denuded surface of the coal measures; indeed, it was afterward found
that it had turned to cinders one part of the seam of coal with which
it had come in contact. The appearance of this bed of solid rock was
so unusual a circumstance in coal-mining that some experienced sinkers
urged Stephenson to proceed no farther, believing the occurrence of the
dike at that point to be altogether fatal to his enterprise. But, with
his faith still firm in the existence of coal underneath, he fell back
on his old motto of "Persevere!" He determined to go on boring; and
down through the solid rock he went until, twenty-two feet lower, he
came upon the coal measures. In the mean time, however, lest the boring
at that point should prove unsuccessful, he had commenced sinking
another pair of shafts about a quarter of a mile west of the "fault,"
and, after about nine months' labor, he reached the principal seam,
called the "main coal."
The works were then opened out on a large scale, and George Stephenson
had the pleasure and good fortune to send the first train of main coal
to Leicester by railway. The price was immediately reduced there to
about 8_s._ a ton, effecting a pecuniary saving to the inhabitants
of the town of about £40,000 per annum, or equivalent to the whole
amount then collected in government taxes and local rates, besides
giving an impetus to the manufacturing prosperity of the place, which
has continued to the present day. The correct principles upon which
the mining operations at Snibston were conducted offered a salutary
example to the neighboring colliery owners. The numerous improvements
there introduced were freely exhibited to all, and they were afterward
reproduced in many forms all over the Midland Counties, greatly to the
advantage of the mining interest.
Nor was Mr. Stephenson less attentive to the comfort and well-being of
those immediately dependent upon him--the work-people of the Snibston
Colliery and their families. Unlike many of those large employers
who have "sprung from the ranks," he was one of the kindest and most
indulgent of masters. He would have a fair day's work for a fair day's
wages, but he never forgot that the employer had his duties as well as
his rights. First of all, he attended to the proper home accommodation
of his work-people. He erected a village of comfortable cottages,
each provided with a snug little garden. He was also instrumental in
erecting a church adjacent to the works, as well as Church schools
for the education of the colliers' children; and with that broad
catholicity of sentiment which distinguished him, he farther provided a
chapel and a school-house for the use of the Dissenting portion of the
colliers and their families--an example of benevolent liberality which
was not without a salutary influence upon the neighboring employers.
[Illustration: STEPHENSON'S HOUSE AT ALTON GRANGE.]
FOOTNOTES:
[75] Letter of Mr. John Herapath in "Mechanics' Magazine," vol. xv., p.
123.
[76] Tubbing is now adopted in many cases as a substitute for
brick-walling. The tubbing consists of short portions of cast-iron
cylinder fixed in segments. Each weighs about 4-1/2 cwt., is about
three or four feet long, and about three eighths of an inch thick.
These pieces are fitted closely together, length under length, and form
an impermeable wall along the sides of the pit.
[Illustration: (Robert Stephenson.)
_Engraved by W. Hall, after a photograph by Claudet._
NEW YORK, HARPER & BROTHERS.]