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diff --git a/27710-h/27710-h.htm b/27710-h/27710-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..dfbb131 --- /dev/null +++ b/27710-h/27710-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,17429 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII" /> +<title>Lives of the Engineers, by Samuel Smiles</title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%;} + H1, H2 { + text-align: center; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + H3, H4, H5 { + text-align: left; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; + } + BODY{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + .blkquot {margin-left: 4em; margin-right: 4em;} /* block indent */ + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .pagenum {position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + color: gray; + } + + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + div.gapline { height: 0.8em; width: 30%; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + img.floatleft { float: left; margin-right: 1em; } + img.floatright { float: right; margin-left: 1em; } + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg eBook of Lives of the Engineers, by Samuel Smiles + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Lives of the Engineers + The Locomotive. George and Robert Stephenson + + +Author: Samuel Smiles + + + +Release Date: January 5, 2009 [eBook #27710] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS*** +</pre> +<p>This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/fp.jpg"> +<img alt= +"George Stephenson" +title= +"George Stephenson" +src="images/fp.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h1><!-- page i--><a name="pagei"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +i</span>LIVES<br /> +<span class="smcap">of the</span><br /> +ENGINEERS.</h1> +<p style="text-align: center">THE LOCOMOTIVE.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON.</p> +<p style="text-align: center">BY SAMUEL SMILES,<br /> +<span class="smcap">author of</span> ‘<span +class="smcap">character</span>,’ ‘<span +class="smcap">self-help</span>,’ <span +class="smcap">etc.</span></p> +<blockquote><p>“Bid Harbours open, Public Ways extend;<br +/> +Bid Temples, worthier of God, ascend;<br /> +Bid the broad Arch the dang’rous flood contain,<br /> +The Mole projected break the roaring main,<br /> +Back to his bounds their subject sea command,<br /> +And roll obedient rivers through the land.<br /> +These honours, Peace to happy Britain brings;<br /> +These are imperial works, and worthy kings.”</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">Pope</span>.</p> +</blockquote> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>A NEW AND REVISED +EDITION</i>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p style="text-align: center">LONDON:<br /> +JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET<br /> +1879.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><i>The right of Translation is +reserved</i>.</p> +<h2><!-- page iii--><a name="pageiii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. iii</span>INTRODUCTION.</h2> +<p>Since the appearance of this book in its original form, some +seventeen years since, the construction of Railways has continued +to make extraordinary progress. Although Great Britain, +first in the field, had then, after about twenty-five +years’ work, expended nearly 300 millions sterling in the +construction of 8300 miles of railway, it has, during the last +seventeen years, expended about 288 millions more in constructing +7780 additional miles.</p> +<p>But the construction of railways has proceeded with equal +rapidity on the Continent. France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, +Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, have largely added to their +railway mileage. Austria is actively engaged in carrying +new lines across the plains of Hungary, which Turkey is preparing +to meet by lines carried up the valley of the Lower Danube. +Russia is also occupied with extensive schemes for connecting +Petersburg and Moscow with her ports in the Black Sea on the one +hand, and with the frontier towns of her Asiatic empire on the +other.</p> +<p>Italy is employing her new-born liberty in vigorously +extending railways throughout her dominions. A direct line +of communication has already been opened between France and +Italy, through the Mont Cenis Tunnel; while <!-- page iv--><a +name="pageiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. iv</span>another has +been opened between Germany and Italy through the Brenner +Pass,—so that the entire journey may now be made by two +different railway routes (excepting only the short sea-passage +across the English Channel) from London to Brindisi, situated in +the south-eastern extremity of the Italian peninsula.</p> +<p>During the last sixteen years, nearly the whole of the Indian +railways have been made. When Edmund Burke, in 1783, +arraigned the British Government for their neglect of India in +his speech on Mr. Fox’s Bill, he said: “England has +built no bridges, made no high roads, cut no navigations, dug out +no reservoirs. . . . Were we to be driven out of India this +day, nothing would remain to tell that it had been possessed, +during the inglorious period of our dominion, by anything better +than the ourang-outang or the tiger.”</p> +<p>But that reproach no longer exists. Some of the greatest +bridges erected in modern times—such as those over the Sone +near Patna, and over the Jumna at Allahabad—have been +erected in connection with the Indian railways. More than +5000 miles are now at work, and they have been constructed at an +expenditure of about £88,000,000 of British capital, +guaranteed by the British Government. The Indian railways +connect the capitals of the three Presidencies—uniting +Bombay with Madras on the south, and with Calcutta on the +north-east—while a great main line, 2200 miles in extent, +passing through the north-western provinces, and connecting +Calcutta with Lucknow, Delhi, Lahore, Moultan, and Kurrachee, +unites the mouths of the Hooghly in the Bay of Bengal with those +of the Indus in the Arabian Sea.</p> +<p><!-- page v--><a name="pagev"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +v</span>When the first edition of this work appeared, in the +beginning of 1857, the Canadian system of railways was but in its +infancy. The Grand Trunk was only begun, and the Victoria +Bridge—the greatest of all railway structures—was not +half erected. The Colony of Canada has now more than 3000 +miles in active operation along the great valley of the St. +Lawrence, connecting Rivière du Loup at the mouth of that +river, and the harbour of Portland in the State of Maine, +<i>viâ</i> Montreal and Toronto, with Sarnia on Lake Huron, +and with Windsor, opposite Detroit in the State of +Michigan. During the same time the Australian Colonies have +been actively engaged in providing themselves with railways, many +of which are at work, and others are in course of +formation. The Cape of Good Hope has several lines open, +and others making. France has constructed about 400 miles +in Algeria; while the Pasha of Egypt is the proprietor of 360 +miles in operation across the Egyptian desert. The Japanese +are also making railroads.</p> +<p>But in no country has railway construction been prosecuted +with greater vigour than in the United States. There the +railway furnishes not only the means of intercommunication +between already established settlements, as in the Old World; but +it is regarded as the pioneer of colonization, and as +instrumental in opening up new and fertile territories of vast +extent in the west,—the food-grounds of future +nations. Hence railway construction in that country was +scarcely interrupted even by the great Civil War,—at the +commencement of which Mr. Seward publicly expressed the opinion +that “physical bonds—such as highways, railroads, +rivers, and canals—are vastly <!-- page vi--><a +name="pagevi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. vi</span>more powerful +for holding civil communities together than any mere covenants, +though written on parchment or engraved on iron.”</p> +<p>The people of the United States were the first to follow the +example of England, after the practicability of steam locomotion +had been proved on the Stockton and Darlington, and Liverpool and +Manchester Railways. The first sod of the Baltimore and +Ohio Railway was cut on the 4th of July, 1828, and the line was +completed and opened for traffic in the following year, when it +was worked partly by horse-power, and partly by a locomotive +built at Baltimore, which is still preserved in the +Company’s workshops. In 1830, the Hudson and Mohawk +Railway was begun, while other lines were under construction in +Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and New Jersey; and in the course of +ten years, 1843 miles were finished and in operation. In +ten more years, 8827 miles were at work; at the end of 1864, +35,000 miles; and at the 31st of December, 1873, not less than +70,651 miles were in operation, of which 3916 had been made +during that year. One of the most extensive trunk-lines is +the Great Pacific Railroad, connecting the lines in the valleys +of the Mississippi and the Missouri with the city of San +Francisco on the shores of the Pacific, by means of which it is +possible to make the journey from England to Hong Kong, via New +York, in little more than a month.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p>The results of the working of railways have been in many +respects different from those anticipated by their +projectors. One of the most unexpected has been the growth +of an immense passenger-traffic. The Stockton <!-- page +vii--><a name="pagevii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +vii</span>and Darlington line was projected as a coal line only, +and the Liverpool and Manchester as a merchandise line. +Passengers were not taken into account as a source of revenue, +for at the time of their projection, it was not believed that +people would trust themselves to be drawn upon a railway by an +“explosive machine,” as the locomotive was described +to be. Indeed, a writer of eminence declared that he would +as soon think of being fired off on a ricochet rocket, as travel +on a railway at twice the speed of the old stagecoaches. So +great was the alarm which existed as to the locomotive, that the +Liverpool and Manchester Committee pledged themselves in their +second prospectus, issued in 1825, “not to require any +clause empowering its use;” and as late as 1829, the +Newcastle and Carlisle Act was conceded on the express condition +that the line should not be worked by locomotives, but by horses +only.</p> +<p>Nevertheless, the Liverpool and Manchester Company obtained +powers to make and work their railway without any such +restriction; and when the line was made and opened, a locomotive +passenger train was advertised to be run upon it, by way of +experiment. Greatly to the surprise of the directors, more +passengers presented themselves as travellers by the train than +could conveniently be carried.</p> +<p>The first arrangements as to passenger-traffic were of a very +primitive character, being mainly copied from the old stage-coach +system. The passengers were “booked” at the +railway office, and their names were entered in a way-bill which +was given to the guard when the train started. Though the +usual stage-coach bugleman could not conveniently accompany the +passengers, the trains <!-- page viii--><a +name="pageviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. viii</span>were at +first played out of the terminal stations by a lively tune +performed by a trumpeter at the end of the platform; and this +continued to be done at the Manchester Station until a +comparatively recent date.</p> +<p>But the number of passengers carried by the Liverpool and +Manchester line was so unexpectedly great, that it was very soon +found necessary to remodel the entire system. Tickets were +introduced, by which a great saving of time was effected. +More roomy and commodious carriages were provided, the original +first-class compartments being seated for four passengers +only. Everything was found to have been in the first +instance made too light and too slight. The prize +‘Rocket,’ which weighed only 4½ tons when +loaded with its coke and water, was found quite unsuited for +drawing the increasingly heavy loads of passengers. There +was also this essential difference between the old stage-coach +and the new railway train, that, whereas the former was +“full” with six inside and ten outside, the latter +must be able to accommodate whatever number of passengers came to +be carried. Hence heavier and more powerful engines, and +larger and more substantial carriages were from time to time +added to the carrying stock of the railway.</p> +<p>The speed of the trains was also increased. The first +locomotives used in hauling coal-trains ran at from four to six +miles an hour. On the Stockton and Darlington line the +speed was increased to about ten miles an hour; and on the +Liverpool and Manchester line the first passenger-trains were run +at the average speed of seventeen miles an hour, which at that +time was considered very fast. But this was not +enough. When the London and <!-- page ix--><a +name="pageix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. ix</span>Birmingham +line was opened, the mail-trains were run at twenty-three miles +an hour; and gradually the speed went up, until now the fast +trains are run at from fifty to sixty miles an hour,—the +pistons in the cylinders, at sixty miles, travelling at the +inconceivable rapidity of 800 feet per minute!</p> +<p>To bear the load of heavy engines run at high speeds, a much +stronger and heavier road was found necessary; and shortly after +the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester line, it was entirely +relaid with stronger materials. Now that express +passenger-engines are from thirty to thirty-five tons each, the +weight of the rails has been increased from 35 lbs. to 75 lbs. or +86 lbs. to the yard. Stone blocks have given place to +wooden sleepers; rails with loose ends resting on the chairs, to +rails with their ends firmly “fished” together; and +in many places, where the traffic is unusually heavy, iron rails +have been replaced by those of steel.</p> +<p>And now see the enormous magnitude to which railway +passenger-traffic has grown. In the year 1873, 401,465,086 +passengers were carried by day tickets in Great Britain +alone. But this was not all. For in that year 257,470 +periodical tickets were issued by the different railways; and +assuming half of them to be annual, one-fourth half-yearly, and +the remainder quarterly tickets, and that their holders made only +five journeys each way weekly, this would give an additional +number of 47,024,000 journeys, or a total of 448,489,086 +passengers carried in Great Britain in one year.</p> +<p>It is difficult to grasp the idea of the enormous number of +persons represented by these figures. The mind is <!-- page +x--><a name="pagex"></a><span class="pagenum">p. x</span>merely +bewildered by them, and can form no adequate notion of their +magnitude. To reckon them singly would occupy twenty-five +years, counting at the rate of one a second for twelve hours +every day. Or take another illustration. Supposing +every man, woman, and child in Great Britain to make ten journeys +by rail yearly, the number would greatly fall short of the +passengers carried in 1873.</p> +<p>Mr. Porter, in his ‘Progress of the Nation,’ +estimated that thirty millions of passengers, or about eighty-two +thousand a day, travelled by coaches in Great Britain in 1834, an +average distance of twelve miles each, at an average cost of 5s. +a passenger, or at the rate of 5d. a mile; whereas above 448 +millions are now carried by railway an average distance of +8½ miles each, at an average cost of 1s. 1½d. per +passenger, or about three halfpence per mile, in considerably +less than one-fourth of the time.</p> +<p>But besides the above number of passengers, over one hundred +and sixty-two million tons of minerals and merchandise were +carried by railway in the United Kingdom in 1873, besides mails, +cattle, parcels, and other traffic. The distance run by +passenger and goods trains in the year was 162,561,304 miles; to +accomplish which it is estimated that four miles of railway must +have been covered by running trains during every second all the +year round.</p> +<p>To perform this service, there were, in 1873, 11,255 +locomotives at work in the United Kingdom, consuming about four +million tons of coal and coke, and flashing into the air every +minute some forty tons of water in the form of steam in a high +state of elasticity. There were also <!-- page xi--><a +name="pagexi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xi</span>24,644 +passenger-carriages, 9128 vans and breaks attached to +passenger-trains, and 329,163 trucks, waggons, and other vehicles +appropriated to merchandise. Buckled together, buffer to +buffer, the locomotives and tenders would extend from London to +Peterborough; while the carrying vehicles, joined together, would +form two trains occupying a double line of railway extending from +London to beyond Inverness.</p> +<p>A notable feature in the growth of railway traffic of late +years has been the increase in the number of third-class +passengers, compared with first and second class. Sixteen +years since, the third-class passengers constituted only about +one-third; ten years later, they were about one-half; whereas now +they form more than three-fourths of the whole number +carried. In 1873, there were about 23 million first-class +passengers, 62 million second-class, and not less than 306 +million third-class. Thus George Stephenson’s +prediction, “that the time would come when it would be +cheaper for a working man to make a journey by railway than to +walk on foot,” is already verified.</p> +<p>The degree of safety with which this great traffic has been +conducted is not the least remarkable of its features. Of +course, so long as railways are worked by men they will be liable +to the imperfections belonging to all things human. Though +their machinery may be perfect and their organisation as complete +as skill and forethought can make it, workmen will at times be +forgetful and listless; and a moment’s carelessness may +lead to the most disastrous results. Yet, taking all +circumstances into account, the wonder is, that travelling by +<!-- page xii--><a name="pagexii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xii</span>railway at high speed should have been rendered +comparatively so safe.</p> +<p>To be struck by lightning is one of the rarest of all causes +of death; yet more persons are killed by lightning in Great +Britain than are killed on railways from causes beyond their own +control. Most persons would consider the probability of +their dying by hanging to be extremely remote; yet, according to +the Registrar-General’s returns, it is considerably greater +than that of being killed by railway accident.</p> +<p>The remarkable safety with which railway traffic is on the +whole conducted, is due to constant watchfulness and +highly-applied skill. The men who work the railways are for +the most part the picked men of the country, and every railway +station may be regarded as a practical school of industry, +attention, and punctuality.</p> +<p>Few are aware of the complicated means and agencies that are +in constant operation on railways day and night, to ensure the +safety of the passengers to their journey’s end. The +road is under a system of continuous inspection. The +railway is watched by foremen, with “gangs” of men +under them, in lengths varying from twelve to five miles, +according to circumstances. Their continuous duty is to see +that the rails and chairs are sound, their fastenings complete, +and the line clear of all obstructions.</p> +<p>Then, at all the junctions, sidings, and crossings, pointsmen +are stationed, with definite instructions as to the duties to be +performed by them. At these places, signals are provided, +worked from the station platforms, or from special signal boxes, +for the purpose of protecting the stopping or passing +trains. When the first railways <!-- page xiii--><a +name="pagexiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xiii</span>were +opened, the signals were of a very simple kind. The station +men gave them with their arms stretched out in different +positions; then flags of different colours were used; next fixed +signals, with arms or discs of rectangular or triangular +shape. These were followed by a complete system of +semaphore signals, near and distant, protecting all junctions, +sidings, and crossings.</p> +<p>When Government inspectors were first appointed by the Board +of Trade to examine and report upon the working of railways, they +were alarmed by the number of trains following each other at some +stations, in what then seemed to be a very rapid +succession. A passage from a Report written in 1840 by Sir +Frederick Smith, as to the traffic at “Taylor’s +Junction,” on the York and North Midland Railway, contrasts +curiously with the railway life and activity of the present +day:—“Here,” wrote the alarmed Inspector, +“the passenger trains from York as well as Leeds and Selby, +meet four times a day. No less than 23 passenger-trains +stop at or pass this station in the 21 hours—an amount of +traffic requiring not only the utmost perfect arrangements on the +part of the management, but the utmost vigilance and energy in +the servants of the Company employed at this place.”</p> +<p>Contrast this with the state of things now. On the +Metropolitan Line, 667 trains pass a given point in one direction +or the other during the eighteen hours of the working day, or an +average of 36 trains an hour. At the Cannon Street Station +of the South-Eastern Railway, 627 trains pass in and out daily, +many of them crossing each other’s tracks under the +protection of the station-signals. Forty-five trains run in +and out between 9 and <!-- page xiv--><a name="pagexiv"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xiv</span>10 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, +and an equal number between 4 and 5 <span +class="smcap">p.m.</span> Again, at the Clapham Junction, +near London, about 700 trains pass or stop daily; and though to +the casual observer the succession of trains coming and going, +running and stopping, coupling and shunting, appears a scene of +inextricable confusion and danger, the whole is clearly +intelligible to the signalmen in their boxes, who work the trains +in and out with extraordinary precision and regularity.</p> +<p>The inside of a signal-box reminds one of a pianoforte on a +large scale, the lever-handles corresponding with the keys of the +instrument; and, to an uninstructed person, to work the one would +be as difficult as to play a tune on the other. The +signal-box outside Cannon Street Station contains 67 +lever-handles, by means of which the signalmen are enabled at the +same moment to communicate with the drivers of all the engines on +the line within an area of 800 yards. They direct by signs, +which are quite as intelligible as words, the drivers of the +trains starting from inside the station, as well as those of the +trains arriving from outside. By pulling a lever-handle, a +distant signal, perhaps out of sight, is set some hundred yards +off, which the approaching driver—reading it quickly as he +comes along—at once interprets, and stops or advances as +the signal may direct.</p> +<p>The precision and accuracy of the signal-machinery employed at +important stations and junctions have of late years been much +improved by an ingenious contrivance, by means of which the +setting of the signal prepares the road for the coming +train. When the signal is set at “Danger,” the +points are at the same time worked, and <!-- page xv--><a +name="pagexv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xv</span>the road is +“locked” against it; and when at +“Safety,” the road is open,—the signal and the +points exactly corresponding.</p> +<p>The Electric Telegraph has also been found a valuable +auxiliary in ensuring the safe working of large railway +traffics. Though the locomotive may run at 60 miles an +hour, electricity, when at its fastest, travels at the rate of +288,000 miles a second, and is therefore always able to herald +the coming train. The electric telegraph may, indeed, be +regarded as the nervous system of the railway. By its means +the whole line is kept throbbing with intelligence. The +method of working the electric signals varies on different lines; +but the usual practice is, to divide a line into so many lengths, +each protected by its signal-stations,—the fundamental law +of telegraph-working being, that two engines are not to be +allowed to run on the same line between two signal-stations at +the same time.</p> +<p>When a train passes one of such stations, it is immediately +signalled on—usually by electric signal-bells—to the +station in advance, and that interval of railway is +“blocked” until the signal has been received from the +station in advance that the train has passed it. Thus an +interval of space is always secured between trains following each +other, which are thereby alike protected before and behind. +And thus, when a train starts on a journey, it may be of hundreds +of miles, it is signalled on from station to station—it +“lives along the line,”—until at length it +reaches its destination and the last signal of “train +in” is given. By this means an immense number of +trains can be worked with regularity and safety. On <!-- +page xvi--><a name="pagexvi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xvi</span>the South-Eastern Railway, where the system has been +brought to a state of high efficiency, it is no unusual thing +during Easter week to send 600,000 passengers through the London +Bridge Station alone; and on some days as many as 1200 trains +a-day.</p> +<p>While such are the expedients adopted to ensure safety, others +equally ingenious are adopted to ensure speed. In the case +of express and mail trains, the frequent stopping of the engines +to take in a fresh supply of water occasions a considerable loss +of time on a long journey, each stoppage for this purpose +occupying from ten to fifteen minutes. To avoid such +stoppages, larger tenders have been provided, capable of carrying +as much as 2000 gallons of water each. But as a +considerable time is occupied in filling these, a plan has been +contrived by Mr. Ramsbottom, the Locomotive Engineer of the +London and North-Western Railway, by which the engines are made +to <i>feed themselves</i> while running at full speed! The +plan is as follows:—An open trough, about 440 feet long, is +laid longitudinally between the rails. Into this trough, +which is filled with water, a dip-pipe or scoop attached to the +bottom of the tender of the running train is lowered; and, at a +speed of 50 miles an hour, as much as 1070 gallons of water are +scooped up in the course of a few minutes. The first of +such troughs was laid down between Chester and Holyhead, to +enable the Express Mail to run the distance of 841 miles in two +hours and five minutes without stopping; and similar troughs have +since been laid down at Bushey near London, at Castlethorpe near +Wolverton, and at Parkside near Liverpool. At these four +troughs about 130,000 gallons of water are scooped up daily.</p> +<p><!-- page xvii--><a name="pagexvii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xvii</span>Wherever railways have been made, +new towns have sprung up, and old towns and cities been quickened +into new life. When the first English lines were projected, +great were the prophecies of disaster to the inhabitants of the +districts through which they were proposed to be forced. +Such fears have long since been dispelled in this country. +The same prejudices existed in France. When the railway +from Paris to Marseilles was laid out so as to pass through +Lyons, a local prophet predicted that if the line were made the +city would be ruined—“<i>Ville traversée</i>, +<i>ville perdue</i>;” while a local priest denounced the +locomotive and the electric telegraph as heralding <i>the reign +of Antichrist</i>. But such nonsense is no longer +uttered. Now it is the city without the railway that is +regarded as the “city lost;” for it is in a measure +shut out from the rest of the world, and left outside the pale of +civilisation.</p> +<p>Perhaps the most striking of all the illustrations that could +be offered of the extent to which railways facilitate the +locomotion, the industry, and the subsistence of the population +of large towns and cities, is afforded by the working of the +railway system in connection with the capital of Great +Britain.</p> +<p>The extension of railways to London has been of comparatively +recent date; the whole of the lines connecting it with the +provinces and terminating at its outskirts, having been opened +during the last thirty years, while the lines inside London have +for the most part been opened within the last sixteen years.</p> +<p>The first London line was the Greenwich Railway, part of which +was opened for traffic to Deptford in February 1836. The +working of this railway was first exhibited as <!-- page +xviii--><a name="pagexviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xviii</span>a show, and the usual attractions were employed to +make it “draw.” A band of musicians in the garb +of the Beef-eaters was stationed at the London end, and another +band at Deptford. For cheapness’ sake the Deptford +band was shortly superseded by a large barrel-organ, which played +in the passengers; but, when the traffic became established, the +barrel organ, as well as the beef-eater band at the London end, +were both discontinued. The whole length of the line was +lit up at night by a row of lamps on either side like a street, +as if to enable the locomotives or the passengers to see their +way in the dark; but these lamps also were eventually +discontinued as unnecessary.</p> +<p>As a show, the Greenwich Railway proved tolerably +successful. During the first eleven months it carried +456,750 passengers, or an average of about 1300 a-day. But +the railway having been found more convenient to the public than +either the river boats or the omnibuses, the number of passengers +rapidly increased. When the Croydon, Brighton, and +South-Eastern Railways began to pour their streams of traffic +over the Greenwich viaduct, its accommodation was found much too +limited; and it was widened from time to time, until now nine +lines of railway are laid side by side, over which more than +twenty millions of passengers are carried yearly, or an average +of about 60,000 a day all the year round.</p> +<p>Since the partial opening of the Greenwich Railway in 1836, a +large extent of railways has been constructed in and about the +metropolis, and convenient stations have been established almost +in the heart of the City. Sixteen of these stations are +within a circle of half a mile radius from the Mansion House, and +above three hundred stations <!-- page xix--><a +name="pagexix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xix</span>are in +actual use within about five miles of Charing Cross.</p> +<p>To accommodate this vast traffic, not fewer than 3600 local +trains are run in and out daily, besides 340 trains which depart +to and arrive from distant places, north, south, east, and +west. In the morning hours, between 8.30 and 10.30, when +business men are proceeding inwards to their offices and +counting-houses, and in the afternoon between four and six, when +they are returning outwards to their homes, as many as two +thousand stoppages are made in the hour, within the metropolitan +district, for the purpose of taking up and setting down +passengers, while about two miles of railway are covered by the +running trains.</p> +<p>One of the remarkable effects of railways has been to extend +the residential area of all large towns and cities. This is +especially notable in the case of London. Before the +introduction of railways, the residential area of the metropolis +was limited by the time occupied by business men in making the +journey outwards and inwards daily; and it was for the most part +bounded by Bow on the east, by Hampstead and Highgate on the +north, by Paddington and Kensington on the west, and by Clapham +and Brixton on the south. But now that stations have been +established near the centre of the city, and places so distant as +Waltham, Barnet, Watford, Hanwell, Richmond, Epsom, Croydon, +Reigate, and Erith, can be more quickly reached by rail than the +old suburban quarters were by omnibus, the metropolis has become +extended in all directions along its railway lines, and the +population of London, instead of living in the City or its +immediate vicinity, as formerly, <!-- page xx--><a +name="pagexx"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xx</span>have come to +occupy a residential area of not less than six hundred square +miles!</p> +<p>The number of new towns which have consequently sprung into +existence near London within the last twenty years has been very +great; towns numbering from ten to twenty thousand inhabitants, +which before were but villages,—if, indeed, they +existed. This has especially been the case along the lines +south of the Thames, principally in consequence of the termini of +those lines being more conveniently situated for city men of +business. Hence the rapid growth of the suburban towns up +and down the river, from Richmond and Staines on the west, to +Erith and Gravesend on the east, and the hives of population +which have settled on the high grounds south of the Thames, in +the neighbourhood of Norwood and the Crystal Palace, rapidly +spreading over the Surrey Downs, from Wimbledon to Guildford, and +from Bromley to Croydon, Epsom, and Dorking. And now that +the towns on the south and south-east coast can be reached by +city men in little more time than it takes to travel to Clapham +or Bayswater by omnibus, such places have become as it were parts +of the great metropolis, and Brighton and Hastings are but the +marine suburbs of London.</p> +<p>The improved state of the communications of the City with the +country has had a marked effect upon its population. While +the action of the railways has been to add largely to the number +of persons living in London, it has also been accompanied by +their dispersion over a much larger area. Thus the +population of the central parts of London is constantly +decreasing, whereas that of the suburban districts is as +constantly increasing. The population <!-- page xxi--><a +name="pagexxi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xxi</span>of the City +fell off more than 10,000 between 1851 and 1861; and during the +same period, that of Holborn, the Strand, St. +Martin’s-in-the-Fields, St. James’s, Westminster, +East and West London, showed a considerable decrease. But, +as regards the whole mass of the metropolitan population, the +increase has been enormous. Thus, starting from 1801, when +the population of London was 958,863, we find it increasing in +each decennial period at the rate of between two and three +hundred thousand, until the year 1841, when it amounted to +1,948,369. Railways had by that time reached London, after +which its population increased at nearly double the former +ratio. In the ten years ending 1851, the increase was +513,867; and in the ten years ending 1861, 441,753: until now, to +quote the words of the Registrar-General in a recent annual +Report, “the population within the registration limits is +by estimate 2,993,513; but beyond this central mass there is a +ring of life growing rapidly, and extending along railway lines +over a circle of fifteen miles from Charing Cross. The +population within that circle, patrolled by the metropolitan +police, is about 3,463,771”!</p> +<p>The aggregation of so vast a number of persons within so +comparatively limited an area—the immense quantity of food +required for their daily sustenance, as well as of fuel, +clothing, and other necessaries—would be attended with no +small inconvenience and danger, but for the facilities again +provided by the railways. The provisioning of a garrison of +even four thousand men is considered a formidable affair; how +much more so the provisioning of nearly four millions of +people!</p> +<p>The whole mystery is explained by the admirable <!-- page +xxii--><a name="pagexxii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxii</span>organisation of the railway service, and the +regularity and despatch with which it is conducted. We are +enabled by the courtesy of the General Managers of the London +railways to bring together the following brief summary of facts +relating to the food supply of London, which will probably be +regarded by most readers as of a very remarkable character.</p> +<p>Generally speaking, the railways to the south of the Thames +contribute comparatively little towards the feeding of +London. They are, for the most part passenger and +residential lines, traversing a limited and not very fertile +district bounded by the sea-coast; and, excepting in fruit and +vegetables, milk and hops, they probably carry more food from +London than they bring to it. The principal supplies of +grain, flour, potatoes, and fish, are brought by railway from the +eastern counties of England and Scotland; and of cattle and +sheep, beef and mutton, from the grazing counties of the west and +north-west of Britain, as far as the Highlands of Scotland, which +have, through the instrumentality of railways, become part of the +great grazing grounds of the metropolis.</p> +<p>Take first “the staff of life”—bread and its +constituents. Of wheat, not less than 222,080 quarters were +brought into London by railway in 1867, besides what was brought +by sea; of oats 151,757 quarters; of barley 70,282 quarters; of +beans and peas 51,448 quarters. Of the wheat and barley, by +far the largest proportion is brought by the Great Eastern +Railway, which delivers in London in one year 155,000 quarters of +wheat and 45,500 quarters of barley, besides 600,429 quarters +more in the form of malt. The largest quantity of oats is +brought by the Great <!-- page xxiii--><a +name="pagexxiii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxiii</span>Northern Railway, principally from the north of +England and the East of Scotland,—the quantity delivered by +that Company in 1867 having been 97,500 quarters, besides 24,664 +quarters of wheat, 5560 quarters of barley, and 103,917 quarters +of malt. Again, of 1,250,566 sacks of flour and meal +delivered in London in one year, the Great Eastern brings 654,000 +sacks, the Great Northern 232,022 sacks, and the Great Western +136,312 sacks; the principal contribution of the London and +North-Western Railway towards the London bread-stores being +100,760 boxes of American flour, besides 24,300 sacks of +English. The total quantity of malt delivered at the London +railway stations in 1867 was thirteen hundred thousand sacks.</p> +<p>Next, as to flesh meat. In 1867, not fewer than 172,300 +head of cattle were brought to London by railway,—though +this was considerably less than the number carried before the +cattle-plague, the Great Eastern Railway alone having carried +44,672 less than in 1864. But this loss has since been more +than made up by the increased quantities of fresh beef, mutton, +and other kinds of meat imported in lieu of the live +animals. The principal supplies of cattle are brought, as +we have said, by the Western, Northern, and Eastern lines: by the +Great Western from the western counties and Ireland; by the +London and North-Western, the Midland, and the Great Northern +from the northern counties and from Scotland; and by the Great +Eastern from the eastern counties and from the ports of Harwich +and Lowestoft.</p> +<p>In 1867, also, 1,147,609 sheep were brought to London by +railway, of which the Great Eastern delivered not less <!-- page +xxiv--><a name="pagexxiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxiv</span>than 265,371 head. The London and North-Western +and Great Northern between them brought 390,000 head from the +northern English counties, with a large proportion from the +Scotch Highlands. While the Great Western brought up +130,000 head from the Welsh mountains and from the rich grazing +districts of Wilts, Gloucester, Somerset, and Devon. +Another important freight of the London and North-Western Railway +consists of pigs, of which they delivered 54,700 in London, +principally Irish; while the Great Eastern brought up 27,500 of +the same animal, partly foreign.</p> +<p>While the cattle-plague had the effect of greatly reducing the +number of live stock brought into London yearly, it gave a +considerable impetus to the Fresh Meat traffic. Thus, in +addition to the above large numbers of cattle and sheep delivered +in London in 1867, the railways brought 76,175 tons of meat, +which—taking the meat of an average beast at 800 lbs., and +of an average sheep at 64 lbs.—would be equivalent to about +112,000 more cattle, and 1,267,500 more sheep. The Great +Northern brought the largest quantity; next the London and +North-Western;—these two Companies having brought up +between them, from distances as remote as Aberdeen and Inverness, +about 42,000 tons of fresh meat in 1867, at an average freight of +about ½d. a lb.</p> +<p>Again as regards Fish, of which six-tenths of the whole +quantity consumed in London is now brought by rail. The +Great Eastern and the Great Northern are by far the largest +importers of this article, and justify their claim to be regarded +as the great food lines of London. Of the 61,358 tons of +fish brought by railway in 1867, not less <!-- page xxv--><a +name="pagexxv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xxv</span>than 24,500 +tons were delivered by the former, and 22,000 tons, brought from +much longer distances, by the latter Company. The London +and North-Western brought about 6000 tons, the principal part of +which was salmon from Scotland and Ireland. The Great +Western also brought about 4000 tons, partly salmon, but the +greater part mackerel from the south-west coast. During the +mackerel season, as much as a hundred tons at a time are brought +into the Paddington Station by express fish-train from +Cornwall.</p> +<p>The Great Eastern and Great Northern Companies are also the +principal carriers of turkeys, geese, fowls, and game; the +quantity delivered in London by the former Company having been +5042 tons. In Christmas week no fewer than 30,000 turkeys +and geese were delivered at the Bishopsgate Station, besides +about 300 tons of poultry, 10,000 barrels of beer, and immense +quantities of fish, oysters, and other kinds of food. As +much as 1600 tons of poultry and game were brought last year by +the South-Western Railway; 600 tons by the Great Northern +Railway; and 130 tons of turkeys, geese, and fowls, by the +London, Chatham and Dover line, principally from France.</p> +<p>Of miscellaneous articles, the Great Northern and the Midland +each brought about 3000 tons of cheese, the South-Western 2600 +tons, and the London and North-Western 10,034 cheeses in number; +while the South-Western and Brighton lines brought a splendid +contribution to the London breakfast-table in the shape of 11,259 +<i>tons</i> of French eggs; these two Companies delivering +between them an average of more than three millions of <!-- page +xxvi--><a name="pagexxvi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxvi</span>eggs a week all the year round! The same +Companies delivered in London 14,819 tons of butter, for the most +part the produce of the farms of Normandy,—the greater +cleanness and neatness with which the Normandy butter is prepared +for market rendering it a favourite both with dealers and +consumers of late years compared with Irish butter. The +London, Chatham and Dover Company also brought from Calais 96 +tons of eggs.</p> +<p>Next, as to the potatoes, vegetables, and fruit, brought by +rail. Forty years since, the inhabitants of London relied +for their supply of vegetables on the garden-grounds in the +immediate neighbourhood of the metropolis, and the consequence +was that they were both very dear and limited in quantity. +But railways, while they have extended the grazing-grounds of +London as far as the Highlands, have at the same time extended +the garden-grounds of London into all the adjoining +counties—into East Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, the +vale of Gloucester, and even as far as Penzance in +Cornwall. The London, Chatham and Dover, one of the +youngest of our main lines, brought up from East Kent in 1867 +5279 tons of potatoes, 1046 tons of vegetables, and 5386 tons of +fruit, besides 542 tons of vegetables from France. The +South-Eastern brought 25,163 tons of the same produce. The +Great Eastern brought from the eastern counties 21,315 tons of +potatoes, and 3596 tons of vegetables and fruit; while the Great +Northern brought no less than 78,505 tons of potatoes—a +large part of them from the east of Scotland—and 3768 tons +of vegetables and fruit. About 6000 tons of early potatoes +were brought from Cornwall, with about 5000 tons of broccoli, and +the quantities are steadily <!-- page xxvii--><a +name="pagexxvii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxvii</span>increasing. “Truly London hath a large +belly,” said old Fuller, two hundred years since. But +how much more capacious is it now!</p> +<p>One of the most striking illustrations of the utility of +railways in contributing to the supply of wholesome articles of +food to the population of large cities, is to be found in the +rapid growth of the traffic in Milk. Readers of newspapers +may remember the descriptions published some years since of the +horrid dens in which London cows were penned, and of the odious +compound sold by the name of milk, of which the least deleterious +ingredient in it was supplied by the “cow with the iron +tail.” That state of affairs is now completely +changed. What with the greatly improved state of the London +dairies and the better quality of the milk supplied by them, +together with the large quantities brought by railway from a +range of a hundred miles and more all round London, even the +poorest classes in the metropolis are now enabled to obtain as +wholesome a supply of the article as the inhabitants of most +country towns.</p> +<p>These great streams of food, which we have thus so summarily +described, flow into London so continuously and uninterruptedly, +that comparatively few persons are aware of the magnitude and +importance of the process thus daily going forward. Though +gathered from an immense extent of country—embracing +England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland—the influx is so +unintermitted that it is relied upon with as much certainty as if +it only came from the counties immediately adjoining +London. The express meat-train from Aberdeen arrives in +town as punctually as the Clapham omnibus, and the express <!-- +page xxviii--><a name="pagexxviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxviii</span>milk-train from Aylesbury is as regular in its +delivery as the penny post. Indeed London now depends so +much upon railways for its subsistence, that it may be said to be +fed by them from day to day, having never more than a few +days’ food in stock. And the supply is so regular and +continuous, that the possibility of its being interrupted never +for a moment occurs to any one. Yet in these days of +strikes amongst workmen, such a contingency is quite within the +limits of possibility. Another contingency, which might +arise during a state of war, is probably still more remote. +But were it possible for a war to occur between England and a +combination of foreign powers possessed of stronger ironclads +than ours, and that they were able to ram our ships back into +port and land an enemy of overpowering force on the Essex coast, +it would be sufficient for them to occupy or cut the railways +leading from the north, to starve London into submission in less +than a fortnight.</p> +<p>Besides supplying London with food, railways have also been +instrumental in ensuring the more regular and economical supply +of fuel,—a matter of almost as vital importance to the +population in a climate such as that of England. So long as +the market was supplied with coal brought by sea in sailing +ships, fuel in winter often rose to a famine price, especially +during long-continued easterly winds. But now that railways +are in full work, the price is almost as steady in winter as in +summer, and (but for strikes) the supply is more regular at all +seasons.</p> +<p>But the carriage of food and fuel to London forms but a small +part of the merchandise traffic carried by railway. Above +600,000 tons of goods of various kinds yearly pass <!-- page +xxix--><a name="pagexxix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxix</span>through one station only, that of the London and +North-Western Company, at Camden Town; and sometimes as many as +20,000 parcels daily. Every other metropolitan station is +similarly alive with traffic inwards and outwards, London having +since the introduction of railways become more than ever a great +distributive centre, to which merchandise of all kinds converges, +and from which it is distributed to all parts of the +country. Mr. Bazley, M.P., stated at a late public meeting +at Manchester, that it would probably require ten millions of +horses to convey by road the merchandise traffic which is now +annually carried by railway.</p> +<p>Railways have also proved of great value in connection with +the Cheap Postage system. By their means it has become +possible to carry letters, newspapers, books and post parcels, in +any quantity, expeditiously, and cheaply. The Liverpool and +Manchester line was no sooner opened in 1830, than the Post +Office authorities recognised its utility, and used it for +carrying the mails between the two towns. When the London +and Birmingham line was opened eight years later, mail trains +were at once put on,—the directors undertaking to perform +the distance of 113 miles within 5 hours by day and 5½ +hours by night. As additional lines were opened, the old +four-horse mail coaches were gradually discontinued, until in +1858, the last of them, the “Derby Dilly,” which ran +between Manchester and Derby, was taken off on the opening of the +Midland line to Rowsley.</p> +<p>The increased accommodation provided by railways was found of +essential importance, more particularly after the adoption of the +Cheap Postage system; and that such <!-- page xxx--><a +name="pagexxx"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxx</span>accommodation was needed will be obvious from the +extraordinary increase which has taken place in the number of +letters and packets sent by post. Thus, in 1839, the number +of chargeable letters carried was only 76 millions, and of +newspapers 44½ millions; whereas, in 1865, the numbers of +letters had increased to 720 millions, and in 1867 to 775 +millions, or more than ten-fold, while the number of newspapers, +books, samples and patterns (a new branch of postal business +began in 1864) had increased, in 1865, to 98½ +millions.</p> +<p>To accommodate this largely-increasing traffic, the bulk of +which is carried by railway, the mileage run by mail trains in +the United Kingdom has increased from 25,000 miles a day in 1854 +(the first year of which we have any return of the mileage run) +to 60,000 miles a day in 1867, or an increase of 240 per +cent. The Post Office expenditure on railway service has +also increased, but not in like proportion, having been +£364,000 in the former year, and £559,575 in the +latter, or an increase of 154 per cent. The revenue, gross +and net, has increased still more rapidly. In 1841, the +first complete year of the Cheap Postage system, the gross +revenue was £1,359,466 and the net revenue £500,789; +in 1854, the gross revenue was £2,574,407, and the net +revenue £1,173,723; and in 1867, the gross revenue was +£4,548,129, and the net revenue £2,127,125, being an +increase of 420 per cent. compared with 1841, and of 180 per +cent. compared with 1854. How much of this net increase +might fairly be credited to the Railway Postal service we shall +not pretend to say; but assuredly the proportion must be very +considerable.</p> +<p>One of the great advantages of railways in connection <!-- +page xxxi--><a name="pagexxxi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxxi</span>with the postal service is the greatly increased +frequency of communication which they provide between all the +large towns. Thus Liverpool has now six deliveries of +Manchester letters daily; while every large town in the kingdom +has two or more deliveries of London letters daily. In +1863, 393 towns had two mails daily from London; 50 had three +mails daily; 7 had four mails a day <i>from</i> London, and 15 +had four mails a day <i>to</i> London; while 3 towns had five +mails a day <i>from</i> London, and 6 had five mails a day +<i>to</i> London.</p> +<p>Another feature of the railway mail train, as of the passenger +train, is its capacity to carry any quantity of letters and post +parcels that may require to be carried. In 1838, the +aggregate weight of all the evening mails despatched from London +by twenty-eight mail coaches was 4 tons 6 cwt., or an average of +about 3¼ cwt. each, though the maximum contract weight was +15 cwt. The mails now are necessarily much heavier, the +number of letters and packets having, as we have seen, increased +more than ten-fold since 1839. But it is not the ordinary +so much as the extraordinary mails that are of considerable +weight,—more particularly the American, the Continental, +and the Australian mails. It is no unusual thing, we are +informed, for the last-mentioned mail to weigh as much as 40 +tons. How many of the old mail coaches it would take to +carry such a mail the 79 miles journey to Southampton, with a +relay of four horses every five or seven miles, is a problem for +the arithmetician to solve. But even supposing each coach +to be loaded to the maximum weight of 15 cwt. per coach, it would +require about sixty vehicles and about 1700 horses to carry the +40 tons, besides the coachman and guards.</p> +<p><!-- page xxxii--><a name="pagexxxii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xxxii</span>Whatever may be said of the +financial management of railways, there can be no doubt as to the +great benefits conferred by them on the public wherever +made. Even those railways which have exhibited the most +“frightful examples” of financing and jobbing, have +been found to prove of unquestionable public convenience and +utility. And notwithstanding all the faults and +imperfections that have been alleged against railways, we think +that they must, nevertheless, be recognised as by far the most +valuable means of communication between men and nations that has +yet been given to the world.</p> +<p>The author’s object in publishing this book in its +original form, was to describe, in connection with the +‘Life of George Stephenson,’ the origin and progress +of the railway system,—to show by what moral and material +agencies its founders were enabled to carry their ideas into +effect, and work out results which even then were of a remarkable +character, though they have since, as above described, become so +much more extraordinary. The favour with which successive +editions of the book have been received, has justified the author +in his anticipation that such a narrative would prove of general, +if not of permanent interest.</p> +<p>The book was written with the concurrence and assistance of +Robert Stephenson, who also supplied the necessary particulars +relating to himself. Such portions of these were +accordingly embodied in the narrative as could with propriety be +published during his lifetime, and the remaining portions have +since been added, with the object of rendering more complete the +record of the son’s life as well as of the early history of +the Railway system.</p> +<h2><!-- page xxxiii--><a name="pagexxxiii"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xxxiii</span>CONTENTS</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER I.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Newcastle and +the Great Northern Coal-Fields</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The colliery districts of the +North—Newcastle-upon-Tyne in ancient times—The Roman +settlement—Social insecurity in the Middle +Ages—Northumberland roads—The coal-trade—Modern +Newcastle—Coal haulage—Early waggon-roads, +tram-roads, and railways—Machinery of +coal-mines—Newcomen’s fire-engine—The colliers, +their character and habits—Coal-staiths—The +keelmen</p> +</td> +<td><p>Pages <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span>–11</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER II.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Wylam and +Dewley Burn</span>—<span class="smcap">George +Stephenson’s Early Years</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Wylam Colliery and village—George Stephenson’s +birth-place—His parents—The Stephenson +family—Old Robert Stephenson—George’s +boyhood—Dewley Burn Colliery—Sister Nell’s +bonnet—Employed as a herd-boy—Makes clay +engines—Follows the plough—Employed as +corf-bitter—Drives the gin-horse—Black Callerton +Colliery—Love of animals—Made +assistant-fireman—Old Robert and family shift their +home—Jolly’s Close, Newburn—Family +earnings—George as fireman—His athletic +feats—Throckley Bridge—“A made man for +life!”—Appointed engineman—Studies his +engine—Experiments in egg-hatching—Puts himself to +school, and learns to read—His schoolmasters—Progress +in arithmetic—His dog—Learns to brake—Brakesman +at Black Callerton—Duties of brakesman—Begins +shoe-making—Fanny Henderson—Saves his first +guinea—Fight with a pitman</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page12">12</a></span>–30</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><!-- page +xxxiv--><a name="pagexxxiv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxxiv</span>CHAPTER III.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Engineman at +Willington Quay and Killingworth</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sobriety and +studiousness—Inventiveness—Removes to Willington +Quay—Marries Fanny Henderson—Their cottage at +Willington—Attempts at perpetual motion—William +Fairbairn and George +Stephenson—Ballast-heaving—Chimney on fire, and +clock-cleaning—Birth of Robert Stephenson—George +removes to West Moor, Killingworth—Death of his +wife—Engineman at Montrose, Scotland—His +pump-boot—Saves money—His return to +Killingworth—Brakesman at West Moor—Is drawn for the +Militia—Thinks of emigrating to America—Takes a +contract for brakeing engines—Improves the +winding-engine—Cures a pumping-engine—Becomes famous +as an engine-doctor—Appointed engine-wright of a +colliery</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page31">31</a></span>–46</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IV.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">The Stephensons +at Killingworth</span>—<span class="smcap">Education and +Self-Education of Father and Son</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>George Stephenson’s self-improvement—John +Wigham—Studies in Natural +Philosophy—Sobriety—Education of Robert +Stephenson—Sent to Rutter’s school, +Benton—Bruce’s school, Newcastle—Literary and +Philosophical Institute—George educates his son in +Mechanics—Ride to Killingworth—Robert’s boyish +tricks—Repeats the Franklin +kite-experiment—Stephenson’s cottage, West +Moor—Odd mechanical expedients—Competition in +last-making—Father and son make a sun-dial—Colliery +improvements—Stephenson’s mechanical expertness</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page47">47</a></span>–62</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER V.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Early History +of the Locomotive</span>—<span class="smcap">George +Stephenson begins its Improvement</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Various expedients for +coal-haulage—Sailing-waggons—Mr. Edgworth’s +experiments—Cugnot’s first locomotive +steam-carriage—Murdock’s model +locomotive—Trevithick’s steam-carriage and +tram-engine—Blenkinsop’s engine—Chapman and +Brunton’s locomotives—The Wylam waggon-way—Mr. +Blackett’s experiments—Jonathan <!-- page xxxv--><a +name="pagexxxv"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxxv</span>Foster—William Hedley—The Wylam +engine—Stephenson determines to build a +locomotive—Lord Ravensworth—The first Killingworth +engine described—The steam-blast +invented—Stephenson’s second locomotive</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page63">63</a></span>–88</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VI.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Invention of +the</span> “<span class="smcap">Geordy</span>” <span +class="smcap">Safety-Lamp</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Frequency of colliery explosions—Accident in the +Killingworth Pit—Stephenson’s heroic conduct—A +safety-lamp described—Dr. Clanny’s +lamp—Stephenson’s experiments on +fire-damp—Designs a lamp, and tests it in the +pit—Cottage experiments with +coal-gas—Stephenson’s second and third +lamps—The Stephenson and Davy controversy—Scene at +the Newcastle Institute—The Davy testimonial—The +Stephenson testimonial—Merits of the “Geordy” +lamp</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page89">89</a></span>–108</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">George +Stephenson’s further Improvements in the +Locomotive</span>—<span class="smcap">The Hetton +Railway</span>—<span class="smcap">Robert Stephenson as +Viewer’s Apprentice and Student</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Killingworth mine machinery—Stephenson improves +his locomotive—Strengthens the road—His +patent—His steam-springs—Experiments on +friction—Steam-locomotion on common roads—Early +neglect of the locomotive—Stephenson again thinks of +emigration—Constructs the Hetton Railway—The working +power employed—Robert Stephenson viewer’s +apprentice—His pursuits at Killingworth—His father +sends him to Edinburgh University—His application to the +studies of Chemistry, Natural History, and Natural +Philosophy—His MS. volumes of Lectures—Geological +tour with Professor Jameson in the Highlands</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page109">109</a></span>–122</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER VIII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">George +Stephenson Engineer of the Stockton and Darlington +Railway</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Bishop Auckland Coal-field—Edward Pease projects +a railway from Witton to Stockton—The Bill +rejected—The line re-surveyed, <!-- page xxxvi--><a +name="pagexxxvi"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xxxvi</span>and the +Act obtained—George Stephenson’s visit to Edward +Pease—Appointed engineer of the railway—Again surveys +the line—Mr. Pease visits Killingworth—The Newcastle +locomotive works projected—The railway +constructed—Locomotives ordered—Stephenson’s +anticipations as to railways—Public opening of the +line—The coal traffic—The first railway +passenger-coach—The coaching traffic described—The +“Locomotion” engine—Race with +stage-coach—Commercial results of the Stockton and +Darlington Railway—The town of Middlesborough created</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page123">123</a></span>–145</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER IX.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">The Liverpool +and Manchester Railway projected</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Insufficient communications between Manchester and +Liverpool—The canal monopoly—A tramroad +projected—Joseph Sanders—Sir R. Phillip’s +speculations as to railways—Thomas Gray—William James +surveys a line between Liverpool and Manchester—Opposition +to the survey—Mr. James’s visits to +Killingworth—Robert Stephenson assists in the +survey—George Stephenson appointed engineer—The first +prospectus—Stephenson’s survey opposed—The +canal companies—Speculations as to railway +speed—Stephenson’s notions thought +extravagant—Article in the +‘Quarterly’—The Bill before +Parliament—The Evidence—George Stephenson in the +witness box—Examined as to speed—His +cross-examination—The survey found defective—Mr. +Harrison’s speech—Evidence of opposing +engineers—Mr. Alderson’s speech—The Bill +withdrawn—Stephenson’s vexation—The scheme +prosecuted—The line re-surveyed—Sir Isaac +Coffin’s speech—The Act passed</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page146">146</a></span>–172</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER X.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Chat +Moss</span>—<span class="smcap">Construction of the +Liverpool and Manchester Railway</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>George Stephenson appointed engineer—Chat Moss +described—The resident engineers—Mr. Dixon’s +visit of inspection—Stephenson’s theory of a floating +road—Operations begun—Tar-barrel drains—The +embankment sinks in the Moss—Proposed abandonment of the +work—Stephenson perseveres—The obstacles +conquered—Road <!-- page xxxvii--><a +name="pagexxxvii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxxvii</span>across Parr Moss—The road +formed—Stephenson’s organization of labour—The +Liverpool Tunnel—Olive Mount Cutting—Sankey +Viaduct—Stephenson and Cropper—Stephenson’s +labours—Pupils and assistants—His daily +life—Practical education—Evenings at home</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page173">173</a></span>–192</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XI.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Robert +Stephenson’s Residence in Colombia and +Return</span>—<span class="smcap">The Battle of the +Locomotive</span>—<span class="smcap">The</span> +“<span class="smcap">Rocket</span>.”</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Robert Stephenson mining engineer in Colombia—Mule +journey to Bogota—Mariquita—Silver +mining—Difficulties with the Cornishmen—His cottage +at Santa Anna—Longs to return home—Resigns his +post—Meeting with Trevithick—Voyage to New York, and +shipwreck—Returns to Newcastle, and takes charge of the +factory—The working power of the Liverpool and Manchester +Railway—Fixed engines and locomotives, and their respective +advocates—Walker and Rastrick’s report—A prize +offered for the best locomotive—Conferences of the +Stephensons—Boiler arrangements and heating +surface—Mr. Booth’s contrivance—Building of the +“Rocket”—The competition of engines at +Rainhill—The “Novelty” and +“Sanspareil”—Triumph of the +“Rocket,” and its destination</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page193">193</a></span>–220</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Opening of the +Liverpool and Manchester Railway</span>, <span class="smcap">and +Extension of the Railway System</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The railway finished—The traffic arrangements +organized—Public opening of the line—Accident to Mr. +Huskisson—Arrival of the trains at Manchester—The +traffic results—Improvement of the road and rolling +stock—Improvements in the locomotive—The railway a +wonder—Extension of the railway system—Joint-stock +railway companies—New lines projected—New +engineers—The Grand Junction—Public opposition to +railways—Robert Stephenson engineer to the Leicester and +Swannington Railway—George Stephenson removes to +Snibston—Sinks for and gets coal—Stimulates local +enterprise—His liberality</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page221">221</a></span>–236</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><!-- page +xxxviii--><a name="pagexxxviii"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxxviii</span>CHAPTER XIII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Robert +Stephenson constructs the London and Birmingham +Railway</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The line projected—George and Robert Stephenson +appointed engineers—Opposition—Hostile pamphlets and +public meetings—Robert Stephenson and Sir Astley +Cooper—The survey obstructed—The opposing +clergyman—The Bill in Parliament—Thrown out in the +Lords—Proprietors conciliated, and the Act +obtained—The works let in contracts—The difficulties +of the undertaking—The line described—Blisworth +Cutting—Primrose Hill Tunnel—Kilsby Tunnel—Its +construction described—Cost of the Railway greatly +increased—Failure of contractors—Magnitude of the +works—Railway navvies</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page237">237</a></span>–252</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIV.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Manchester and +Leeds</span>, <span class="smcap">and Midland +Railways</span>—<span class="smcap">Stephenson’s Life +at Alton</span>—<span class="smcap">Visit to +Belgium</span>—<span class="smcap">General Extension of +Railways and their Results</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Projection of new lines—Dutton Viaduct, Grand +Junction—The Manchester and Leeds—Summit Tunnel, +Littleborough—Magnitude of the work—The Midland +Railway—The works compared with the Simplon road—Slip +near Ambergate—Bull Bridge—The York and North +Midland—George Stephenson on his surveys—His quick +observation—Travelling and correspondence—Life at +Alton Grange—The Stephensons’ London +office—Visits to Belgium—Interviews with the +King—Public openings of English +railways—Stephenson’s pupils and +assistants—Prophecies falsified concerning +railways—Their advantageous results</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page253">253</a></span>–274</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XV.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">George +Stephenson’s Coal Mines</span>—<span +class="smcap">The Atmospheric System</span>—<span +class="smcap">Railway Mania</span>—<span +class="smcap">Visits to Belgium and Spain</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>George Stephenson on railways and +coal-traffic—Leases the Claycross estate, and sinks for +coal—His extensive lime-works—Removes to Tapton +House—British Association at Newcastle—<!-- page +xxxix--><a name="pagexxxix"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +xxxix</span>Appears at Mechanics’ Institutes—Speech +at Leeds—His self-acting brake—His views of railway +speed—Theory of “undulating +lines”—Chester and Birkenhead +Company—Stephenson’s liberality—Atmospheric +railways projected—Stephenson opposes the principle of +working—The railway mania—Stephenson resists, and +warns against it—George Hudson, “Railway +King”—Parliament and the +mania—Stephenson’s letter to Sir R. Peel—Again +visits Belgium—Interviews with King Leopold—Journey +into Spain</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page275">275</a></span>–300</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVI.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Robert +Stephenson’s Career</span>—<span class="smcap">The +Stephensons and Brunel</span>—<span class="smcap">East +Coast Route to Scotland</span>—<span class="smcap">Royal +Border Bridge</span>, <span +class="smcap">Berwick</span>—<span class="smcap">High Level +Bridge</span>, <span class="smcap">Newcastle</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>George Stephenson’s retirement—Robert’s +employment as Parliamentary Engineer—His rival +Brunel—The Great Western Railway—The width of +gauge—Robert Stephenson’s caution as to +investments—The Newcastle and Berwick Railway—Contest +in Parliament—George Stephenson’s interview with Lord +Howick—Royal Border Bridge, Berwick—Progress of +iron-bridge building—Robert Stephenson constructs the High +Level Bridge, Newcastle—Pile-driving by +steam—Characteristics of the structure—Through +railway to Scotland completed</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page301">301</a></span>–319</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XVII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Robert +Stephenson’s Tubular Bridges at Menai and +Conway</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>George Stephenson surveys a line from Chester to +Holyhead—Robert Stephenson’s construction of the +works at Penmaen Mawr—Crossing of the Menai +Strait—Various plans proposed—A tubular beam +determined on—Strength of wrought-iron tubes—Mr. +William Fairbairn consulted—His experiments—The +design settled—The Britannia Bridge described—The +Conway Bridge—Floating of the tubes—Lifting of the +tubes—Robert Stephenson’s anxieties—Bursting of +the Hydraulic Press—The works completed—Merits of the +Britannia and Conway Bridges</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page320">320</a></span>–340</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center"><!-- page xl--><a +name="pagexl"></a><span class="pagenum">p. xl</span>CHAPTER +XVIII.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">George +Stephenson’s Closing Years</span>—<span +class="smcap">Illness and Death</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>George Stephenson’s Life at Tapton—Experiments +in Horticulture, Gardening, and Farming—Affection for +animals—Bird-hatching and bee-keeping—Reading and +conversation—Rencontre with Lord Denman—Hospitality +at Tapton—Experiments with the +microscope—Frolics—“A crowdie +night”—Visits to London—Visit to Sir Robert +Peel at Drayton Manor—Encounter with Dr. +Buckland—Coal formed by the sun’s light—Opening +of the Trent Valley Railway—Meeting with +Emerson—Illness, death, and funeral—Memorial +Statues</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page341">341</a></span>–356</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td colspan="2"><p style="text-align: center">CHAPTER XIX.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">Robert +Stephenson’s Victoria Bridge</span>, <span +class="smcap">Lower Canada</span>—<span +class="smcap">Illness and Death</span>—<span +class="smcap">Stephenson Characteristics</span>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Robert Stephenson’s inheritances—Gradual +retirement from the profession of engineer—His last great +works—Tubular Bridges over the St. Lawrence and the +Nile—The Grand Trunk Railway, Canada—Necessity for a +great railway bridge near Montreal—Discussion as to the +plan—Robert Stephenson’s report—A tubular +bridge determined on—Massiveness of the +piers—Ice-floods in the St. Lawrence—Victoria Bridge +constructed and completed—Tubular bridges in +Egypt—The Suez Canal—Robert Stephenson’s +employment as arbitrator—Assists Brunel at launching of the +“Great Eastern”—Regardlessness of +health—Death and Funeral—Characteristics of the +Stephensons and resumé of their history—Politics of +father and son—Services rendered to civilization by the +Stephensons</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page357">357</a></span>–380</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Index</span></p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page381">381</a></span></p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<h2><!-- page xli--><a name="pagexli"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. xli</span>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p> </p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Page</span></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Portrait of George Stephenson <i>to face title +page</i></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right"> </p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>High Level Bridge, <i>to face</i></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">1</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Map of Newcastle District</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">2</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Flange rail</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">6</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Coal-staith on the Tyne</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">10</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Coal waggons</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">11</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Wylam Colliery and village</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">12</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>High Street House, Wylam—George Stephenson’s +birthplace</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">14</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Newburn on the Tyne</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">20</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Colliery Whimsey</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">30</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Stephenson’s Cottage, Willington Quay</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">31</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>West Moor Colliery</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">37</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Killingworth High Pit</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">46</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Glebe Farm House, Benton</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">47</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Rutter’s School House, Long Benton</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">51</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Bruce’s School, Newcastle</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">53</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Stephenson’s Cottage, West Moor</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">57</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sun-dial at Killingworth</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">60</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Colliers’ Cottages at Long Benton</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">62</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Cugnot’s Engine</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">64</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Section of Murdock’s Model Locomotive</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">66</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Trevithick’s high-pressure Tram-Engine</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">70</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Improved Wylam Engine</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">78</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Spur-gear</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">83</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Pit-head, West Moor</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">91</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Davy’s and Stephenson’s Safety-lamps</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">101</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>West Moor Pit, Killingworth</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">108</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Half-lap joint</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">111</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Old Killingworth Locomotive</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">113</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Map of Stockton and Darlington Railway</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">123</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Portrait of Edward Pease</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">124</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The first Railway Coach</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">139</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The No. 1 Engine at Darlington</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">142</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Middlesborough-on-Tees</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">145</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Map of Liverpool and Manchester Railway (Western Part)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">150</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> + +<td><p> ,, +(Eastern part)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">151</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Surveying on Chat Moss</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">172</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Olive Mount Cutting</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">184</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Sankey Viaduct</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">186</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Robert Stephenson’s Cottage at Santa Anna</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">198</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The “Rocket”</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">212</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Locomotive competition, Rainhill</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">215</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Railway <i>versus</i> Road</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">220</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Map of Leicester and Swannington Railway</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">233</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Stephenson’s House at Alton Grange</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">236</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Portrait of Robert Stephenson, <i>to face</i></p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">237</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Map of London and Birmingham Railway (Rugby to +Watford)</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">242</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Blisworth Cutting</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">243</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Shafts over Kilsby Tunnel</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">246</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Dutton Viaduct</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">254</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Entrance to Summit Tunnel, Lancashire and Yorkshire +Railway</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">256</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Land-slip, near Ambergate, North Midland Railway</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">259</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Bullbridge, near Ambergate</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">260</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Coalville and Snibston Colliery</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">274</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Tapton House, near Chesterfield</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">275</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Lime-works at Ambergate</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">278</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Newcastle, from the High Level Bridge</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">301</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Royal Border Bridge, Berwick-upon-Tweed</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">311</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>High Level Bridge—Elevation of one Arch</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">318</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Penmaen Mawr</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">322</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Map of Menai Straits</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">325</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Conway Tubular Bridge</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">334</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Britannia Bridge</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">339</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Conway Bridge—Floating the first Tube</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">340</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>View in Tapton Gardens</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">341</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Pathway to Tapton House</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">347</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Trinity Church, Chesterfield</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">355</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Tablet in Trinity Church, Chesterfield</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">356</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Victoria Bridge, Montreal</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">357</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Robert Stephenson’s Burial-place in Westminster +Abbey</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">369</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>The Stephenson Memorial Schools, Willington Quay</p> +</td> +<td><p style="text-align: right">380</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p1.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the High-level Bridge" +title= +"Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the High-level Bridge" +src="images/p1.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 1--><a name="page1"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +1</span>CHAPTER I.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Newcastle and the Great Northern +Coal-Field</span>.</h2> +<p>In no quarter of England have greater changes been wrought by +the successive advances made in the practical science of +engineering than in the extensive colliery districts of the +North, of which Newcastle-upon-Tyne is the centre and the +capital.</p> +<p>In ancient times the Romans planted a colony at Newcastle, +throwing a bridge across the Tyne near the site of the low-level +bridge shown in the prefixed engraving, and erecting a strong +fortification above it on the high ground now occupied by the +Central Railway Station. North and north-west lay a wild +country, abounding in moors, mountains, and morasses, but +occupied to a certain extent by fierce and barbarous +tribes. To defend the young colony against their ravages, a +strong wall was built by the Romans, extending from Wallsend on +the north bank of the Tyne, a few miles below Newcastle, across +the country to Burgh-upon-Sands on the Solway Firth. The +remains of the wall are still to be traced in the less populous +hill-districts of Northumberland. In the neighbourhood of +Newcastle they have been gradually effaced by the works of +succeeding generations, though the “Wallsend” coal +<!-- page 2--><a name="page2"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +2</span>consumed in our household fires still serves to remind us +of the great Roman work.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p2.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Map of Newcastle District" +title= +"Map of Newcastle District" +src="images/p2.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>After the withdrawal of the Romans, Northumbria became planted +by immigrant Saxons from North Germany and Norsemen from +Scandinavia, whose Eorls or Earls made Newcastle their principal +seat. Then came the Normans, from whose <i>New</i> Castle, +built some eight hundred years since, the town derived its +present name. The keep of this venerable structure, black +with age and smoke, still stands entire at the northern end of +the noble high-level bridge—the utilitarian work of modern +times thus confronting the warlike relic of the older +civilisation.</p> +<p>The nearness of Newcastle to the Scotch Border was a great +hindrance to its security and progress in the middle ages of +English history. Indeed, the district between it and +Berwick continued to be ravaged by moss-troopers long after the +union of the Crowns. The gentry lived in their strong Peel +castles; even the larger farm-houses were fortified; and +bloodhounds were trained for the purpose of tracking the +cattle-reavers to their retreats in the hills. The Judges +of Assize rode from Carlisle to Newcastle guarded by an escort +armed to the teeth. A tribute called <!-- page 3--><a +name="page3"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 3</span>“dagger +and protection money” was annually paid by the Sheriff of +Newcastle for the purpose of providing daggers and other weapons +for the escort; and, though the need of such protection has long +since ceased, the tribute continues to be paid in broad gold +pieces of the time of Charles the First.</p> +<p>Until about the middle of last century the roads across +Northumberland were little better than horse-tracks, and not many +years since the primitive agricultural cart with solid wooden +wheels was almost as common in the western parts of the county as +it is in Spain now. The tract of the old Roman road +continued to be the most practicable route between Newcastle and +Carlisle, the traffic between the two towns having been carried +along it upon packhorses until a comparatively recent period.</p> +<p>Since that time great changes have taken place on the +Tyne. When wood for firing became scarce and dear, and the +forests of the South of England were found inadequate to supply +the increasing demand for fuel, attention was turned to the rich +stores of coal lying underground in the neighbourhood of +Newcastle and Durham. It then became an article of +increasing export, and “seacoal” fires gradually +supplanted those of wood. Hence an old writer described +Newcastle as “the Eye of the North, and the Hearth that +warmeth the South parts of this kingdom with Fire.” +Fuel has become the staple product of the district, the quantity +exported increasing from year to year, until the coal raised from +these northern mines amounts to upwards of sixteen millions of +tons a year, of which not less than nine millions are annually +conveyed away by sea.</p> +<p>Newcastle has in the mean time spread in all directions far +beyond its ancient boundaries. From a walled mediæval +town of monks and merchants, it has been converted into a busy +centre of commerce and manufactures inhabited by nearly 100,000 +people. It is no longer a Border fortress—a +“shield and defence against the invasions and frequent +insults of the Scots,” as described in ancient +charters—but <!-- page 4--><a name="page4"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 4</span>a busy centre of peaceful industry, +and the outlet for a vast amount of steam-power, which is +exported in the form of coal to all parts of the world. +Newcastle is in many respects a town of singular and curious +interest, especially in its older parts, which are full of +crooked lanes and narrow streets, wynds, and chares, <a +name="citation4"></a><a href="#footnote4" +class="citation">[4]</a> formed by tall, antique houses, rising +tier above tier along the steep northern bank of the Tyne, as the +similarly precipitous streets of Gateshead crowd the opposite +shore.</p> +<p>All over the coal region, which extends from the Coquet to the +Tees, about fifty miles from north to south, the surface of the +soil exhibits the signs of extensive underground workings. +As you pass through the country at night, the earth looks as if +it were bursting with fire at many points; the blaze of +coke-ovens, iron-furnaces, and coal-heaps reddening the sky to +such a distance that the horizon seems to be a glowing belt of +fire.</p> +<p>From the necessity which existed for facilitating the +transport of coals from the pits to the shipping places, it is +easy to understand how the railway and the locomotive should have +first found their home in such a district as we have thus briefly +described. At an early period the coal was carried to the +boats in panniers, or in sacks upon horses’ backs. +Then carts were used, to facilitate the progress of which +tramways of flag-stone were laid down. This led to the +enlargement of the vehicle, which became known as a waggon, and +it was mounted on four wheels instead of two. A local +writer about the middle of the seventeenth century says, +“Many thousand people are engaged in this trade of coals; +many live by working of <!-- page 5--><a name="page5"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 5</span>them in the pits; and many live by +conveying them in waggons and wains to the river Tyne.”</p> +<p>Still further to facilitate the haulage of the waggons, pieces +of planking were laid parallel upon wooden sleepers, or imbedded +in the ordinary track, by which friction was still further +diminished. It is said that these wooden rails were first +employed by one Beaumont, about 1630; and on a road thus laid, a +single horse was capable of drawing a large loaded waggon from +the coal-pit to the shipping staith. Roger North, in 1676, +found the practice had become extensively adopted, and he speaks +of the large sums then paid for way-leaves; that is, the +permission granted by the owners of lands lying between the +coal-pit and the river-side to lay down a tramway between the one +and the other. A century later, Arthur Young observed that +not only had these roads become greatly multiplied, but important +works had been constructed to carry them along upon the same +level. “The coal-waggon roads from the pits to the +water,” he says, “are great works, carried over all +sorts of inequalities of ground, so far as the distance of nine +or ten miles. The tracks of the wheels are marked with +pieces of wood let into the road for the wheels of the waggons to +run on, by which one horse is enabled to draw, and that with +ease, fifty or sixty bushels of coals.” <a +name="citation5"></a><a href="#footnote5" +class="citation">[5]</a></p> +<p>Similar waggon-roads were laid down in the coal districts of +Wales, Cumberland, and Scotland. At the time of the Scotch +rebellion in 1745, a tramroad existed between the Tranent +coal-pits and the small harbour of Cockenzie in East Lothian; and +a portion of the line was selected by General Cope as a position +for his cannon at the battle of Prestonpans.</p> +<p>In these rude wooden tracks we find the germ of the modern +railroad. Improvements were gradually made in them. +Thus, at some collieries, thin plates of iron were nailed upon +their upper surface, for the purpose of <!-- page 6--><a +name="page6"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 6</span>protecting the +parts most exposed to friction. Cast-iron rails were also +tried, the wooden rails having been found liable to rot. +The first rails of this kind are supposed to have been used at +Whitehaven as early as 1738. This cast-iron road was +denominated a “plate-way,” from the plate-like form +in which the rails were cast. In 1767, as appears from the +books of the Coalbrookdale Iron Works, in Shropshire, five or six +tons of rails were cast, as an experiment, on the suggestion of +Mr. Reynolds, one of the partners; and they were shortly after +laid down to form a road.</p> +<p>In 1776, a cast-iron tramway, nailed to wooden sleepers, was +laid down at the Duke of Norfolk’s colliery near +Sheffield. The person who designed and constructed this +coal line was Mr. John Curr, whose son has erroneously claimed +for him the invention of the cast-iron railway. He +certainly adopted it early, and thereby met the fate of men +before their age; for his plan was opposed by the labouring +people of the colliery, who got up a riot in which they tore up +the road and burnt the coal-staith, whilst Mr. Curr fled into a +neighbouring wood for concealment, and lay there <i>perdu</i> for +three days and nights, to escape the fury of the populace. +The plates of these early tramways had a ledge cast on their edge +to guide the wheel along the road, after the manner shown in the +annexed cut.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p6.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Flange rail" +title= +"Flange rail" +src="images/p6.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>In 1789, Mr. William Jessop constructed a railway at +Loughborough, in Leicestershire, and there introduced the +cast-iron edge-rail, with flanches cast upon the tire of the +waggon-wheels to keep them on the track, instead of having the +margin or flanch cast upon the rail itself; and this plan was +shortly after adopted in other places. In 1800, Mr. +Benjamin Outram, of Little Eaton, in Derbyshire (father of <!-- +page 7--><a name="page7"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 7</span>the +distinguished General Outram), used stone props instead of timber +for supporting the ends or joinings of the rails. Thus the +use of railroads, in various forms, gradually extended, until +they were found in general use all over the mining districts.</p> +<p>Such was the growth of the railway, which, it will be +observed, originated in necessity, and was modified according to +experience; progress in this, as in all departments of mechanics, +having been effected by the exertions of many men, one generation +entering upon the labours of that which preceded it, and carrying +them onward to further stages of improvement. We shall +afterwards find that the invention of the locomotive was made by +like successive steps. It was not the invention of one man, +but of a succession of men, each working at the proper hour, and +according to the needs of that hour; one inventor interpreting +only the first word of the problem which his successors were to +solve after long and laborious efforts and experiments. +“The locomotive is not the invention of one man,” +said Robert Stephenson at Newcastle, “but of a nation of +mechanical engineers.”</p> +<p>The same circumstances which led to the rapid extension of +railways in the coal districts of the north tended to direct the +attention of the mining engineers to the early development of the +powers of the steam-engine as a useful instrument of motive +power. The necessity which existed for a more effective +method of hauling the coals from the pits to the shipping places +was constantly present to many minds; and the daily pursuits of a +large class of mechanics occupied in the management of steam +power, by which the coal was raised from the pits, and the mines +were pumped clear of water, had the effect of directing their +attention to the same agency as the best means for accomplishing +that object.</p> +<p>Among the upper-ground workmen employed at the coal-pits, the +principal are the firemen, enginemen, and brakes-men, who fire +and work the engines, and superintend the <!-- page 8--><a +name="page8"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 8</span>machinery by +means of which the collieries are worked. Previous to the +introduction of the steam-engine the usual machine employed for +the purpose was what is called a “gin.” The gin +consists of a large drum placed horizontally, round which ropes +attached to buckets and corves are wound, which are thus drawn up +or sent down the shafts by a horse travelling in a circular track +or “gin race.” This method was employed for +drawing up both coals and water, and it is still used for the +same purpose in small collieries; but where the quantity of water +to be raised is great, pumps worked by steam power are called +into requisition.</p> +<p>Newcomen’s atmospheric engine was first made use of to +work the pumps; and it continued to be so employed long after the +more powerful and economical condensing engine of Watt had been +invented. In the Newcomen or “fire engine,” as +it was called, the power is produced by the pressure of the +atmosphere forcing down the piston in the cylinder, on a vacuum +being produced within it by condensation of the contained steam +by means of cold water injection. The piston-rod is +attached to one end of a lever, whilst the pump-rod works in +connexion with the other,—the hydraulic action employed to +raise the water being exactly similar to that of a common +sucking-pump.</p> +<p>The working of a Newcomen engine was a clumsy and apparently a +very painful process, accompanied by an extraordinary amount of +wheezing, sighing, creaking, and bumping. When the pump +descended, there was heard a plunge, a heavy sigh, and a loud +bump: then, as it rose, and the sucker began to act, there was +heard a croak, a wheeze, another bump, and then a strong rush of +water as it was lifted and poured out. Where engines of a +more powerful and improved description are used, the quantity of +water raised is enormous—as much as a million and a half +gallons in the twenty-four hours.</p> +<p>The pitmen, or “the lads belaw,” who work out the +coal below ground, are a peculiar class, quite distinct from <!-- +page 9--><a name="page9"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 9</span>the +workmen on the surface. They are a people with peculiar +habits, manners, and character, as much as fishermen and sailors, +to whom, indeed, they bear, in some respects, a considerable +resemblance. Some fifty years since they were a much +rougher and worse educated class than they are now; hard workers, +but very wild and uncouth; much given to “steeks,” or +strikes; and distinguished, in their hours of leisure and on +pay-nights, for their love of cock-fighting, dog-fighting, hard +drinking, and cuddy races. The pay-night was a fortnightly +saturnalia, in which the pitman’s character was fully +brought out, especially when the “yel” was +good. Though earning much higher wages than the ordinary +labouring population of the upper soil, the latter did not mix +nor intermarry with them; so that they were left to form their +own communities, and hence their marked peculiarities as a +class. Indeed, a sort of traditional disrepute seems long +to have clung to the pitmen, arising perhaps from the nature of +their employment, and from the circumstance that the colliers +were among the last classes enfranchised in England, as they were +certainly the last in Scotland, where they continued bondmen down +to the end of last century. The last thirty years, however, +have worked a great improvement in the moral condition of the +Northumbrian pitmen; the abolition of the twelve months’ +bond to the mine, and the substitution of a month’s notice +previous to leaving, having given them greater freedom and +opportunity for obtaining employment; and day-schools and +Sunday-schools, together with the important influences of +railways, have brought them fully up to a level with the other +classes of the labouring population.</p> +<p>The coals, when raised from the pits, are emptied into the +waggons placed alongside, from whence they are sent along the +rails to the staiths erected by the river-side, the waggons +sometimes descending by their own gravity along inclined planes, +the waggoner standing behind to check the speed by means of a +convoy or wooden brake bearing upon the rims <!-- page 10--><a +name="page10"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 10</span>of the +wheels. Arrived at the staiths, the waggons are emptied at +once into the ships waiting alongside for cargo. Any one +who has sailed down the Tyne from Newcastle Bridge cannot but +have been struck with the appearance of the immense staiths, +constructed of timber, which are erected at short distances from +each other on both sides of the river.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p10.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Coal-Staith on the Tyne" +title= +"Coal-Staith on the Tyne" +src="images/p10.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>But a great deal of the coal shipped from the Tyne comes from +above-bridge, where sea-going craft cannot reach, and is floated +down the river in “keels,” in which the coals are +sometimes piled up according to convenience when large, or, when +the coal is small or tender, it is conveyed in tubs to prevent +breakage. These keels are of a very ancient +model,—perhaps the oldest extant in England: they are even +said to be of the same build as those in which the Norsemen +navigated the Tyne centuries ago. The keel is a tubby, +grimy-looking craft, rounded fore and aft, with a single large +square sail, which the keel-bullies, as the Tyne watermen are +called, manage with great dexterity; <!-- page 11--><a +name="page11"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 11</span>the vessel +being guided by the aid of the “swape,” or great oar, +which is used as a kind of rudder at the stern of the +vessel. These keelmen are an exceedingly hardy class of +workmen, not by any means so quarrelsome as their designation of +“bully” would imply—the word being merely +derived from the obsolete term “boolie,” or beloved, +an appellation still in familiar use amongst brother workers in +the coal districts. One of the most curious sights upon the +Tyne is the fleet of hundreds of these black-sailed, black-hulled +keels, bringing down at each tide their black cargoes for the +ships at anchor in the deep water at Shields and other parts of +the river below Newcastle.</p> +<p>These preliminary observations will perhaps be sufficient to +explain the meaning of many of the occupations alluded to, and +the phrases employed, in the course of the following narrative, +some of which might otherwise have been comparatively +unintelligible to the general reader.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p11.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Coal Waggons" +title= +"Coal Waggons" +src="images/p11.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 12--><a +name="page12"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 12</span> +<a href="images/p12.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Wylam Colliery and Village" +title= +"Wylam Colliery and Village" +src="images/p12.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Wylam and Dewley Burn</span>—<span +class="smcap">George Stephenson’s Early Years</span>.</h2> +<p>The colliery village of Wylam is situated on the north bank of +the Tyne, about eight miles west of Newcastle. The +Newcastle and Carlisle railway runs along the opposite bank; and +the traveller by that line sees the usual signs of a colliery in +the unsightly pumping-engines surrounded by heaps of ashes, +coal-dust, and slag; whilst a neighbouring iron-furnace in full +blast throws out dense smoke and loud <!-- page 13--><a +name="page13"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 13</span>jets of steam +by day and lurid flames at night. These works form the +nucleus of the village, which is almost entirely occupied by +coal-miners and iron-furnacemen. The place is remarkable +for its large population, but not for its cleanness or neatness +as a village; the houses, as in most colliery villages, being the +property of the owners or lessees, who employ them in temporarily +accommodating the workpeople, against whose earnings there is a +weekly set-off for house and coals. About the end of last +century the estate of which Wylam forms part, belonged to Mr. +Blackett, a gentleman of considerable celebrity in coal-mining, +then more generally known as the proprietor of the +‘Globe’ newspaper.</p> +<p>There is nothing to interest one in the village itself. +But a few hundred yards from its eastern extremity stands a +humble detached dwelling, which will be interesting to many as +the birthplace of one of the most remarkable men of our +times—George Stephenson, the Railway Engineer. It is +a common two-storied, red-tiled, rubble house, portioned off into +four labourers’ apartments. It is known by the name +of High Street House, and was originally so called because it +stands by the side of what used to be the old riding post road or +street between Newcastle and Hexham, along which the post was +carried on horseback within the memory of persons living.</p> +<p>The lower room in the west end of this house was the home of +the Stephenson family; and there George Stephenson was born, the +second of a family of six children, on the 9th of June, +1781. The apartment is now, what it was then, an ordinary +labourer’s dwelling,—its walls are unplastered, its +floor is of clay, and the bare rafters are exposed overhead.</p> +<p>Robert Stephenson, or “Old Bob,” as the neighbours +familiarly called him, and his wife Mabel, were a respectable +couple, careful and hard-working. It is said that Robert +Stephenson’s father was a Scotchman, and came into England +as a gentleman’s servant. Mabel, his wife, was <!-- +page 14--><a name="page14"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +14</span>the daughter of Robert Carr, a dyer at Ovingham. +When first married, they lived at Walbottle, a village situated +between Wylam and Newcastle, afterwards removing to Wylam, where +Robert was employed as fireman of the old pumping engine at that +colliery.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p14.jpg"> +<img alt= +"High-street House, Wylam, the Birthplace of George Stephenson" +title= +"High-street House, Wylam, the Birthplace of George Stephenson" +src="images/p14.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>An old Wylam collier, who remembered George Stephenson’s +father, thus described him:—“Geordie’s fayther +war like a peer o’ deals nailed thegither, an’ a bit +o’ flesh i’ th’ inside; he war as queer as +Dick’s hatband—went thrice aboot, an’ +wudn’t tie. His wife Mabel war a delicat’ +boddie, an’ varry flighty. Thay war an honest family, +but sair hadden doon i’ th’ world.” +Indeed, the earnings of old Robert did not amount to more than +twelve shillings a week; and, as there were six children to +maintain, the family, during their stay at Wylam, were +necessarily in very straitened circumstances. The +father’s wages <!-- page 15--><a name="page15"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 15</span>being barely sufficient, even with +the most rigid economy, for the sustenance of the household, +there was little to spare for clothing, and nothing for +education, so none of the children were sent to school.</p> +<p>Old Robert was a general favourite in the village, especially +amongst the children, whom he was accustomed to draw about him +whilst tending the engine-fire, and feast their young +imaginations with tales of Sinbad the Sailor and Robinson Crusoe, +besides others of his own invention; so that “Bob’s +engine-fire” came to be the most popular resort in the +village. Another feature in his character, by which he was +long remembered, was his affection for birds and animals; and he +had many tame favourites of both sorts, which were as fond of +resorting to his engine-fire as the boys and girls +themselves. In the winter time he had usually a flock of +tame robins about him; and they would come hopping familiarly to +his feet to pick up the crumbs which he had saved for them out of +his humble dinner. At his cottage he was rarely without one +or more tame blackbirds, which flew about the house, or in and +out at the door. In summer-time he would go a-birdnesting +with his children; and one day he took his little son George to +see a blackbird’s nest for the first time. Holding +him up in his arms, he let the wondering boy peep down, through +the branches held aside for the purpose, into a nest full of +young birds—a sight which the boy never forgot, but used to +speak of with delight to his intimate friends when he himself had +grown an old man.</p> +<p>The boy George led the ordinary life of working-people’s +children. He played about the doors; went birdnesting when +he could; and ran errands to the village. He was also an +eager listener, with the other children, to his father’s +curious tales; and he early imbibed from him that affection for +birds and animals which continued throughout his life. In +course of time he was promoted to the office of carrying his +father’s dinner to him while at work, and it was on such +occasions his great delight to see <!-- page 16--><a +name="page16"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 16</span>the robins +fed. At home he helped to nurse, and that with a careful +hand, his younger brothers and sisters. One of his duties +was to see that the other children were kept out of the way of +the chaldron waggons, which were then dragged by horses along the +wooden tramroad immediately in front of the cottage-door. +This waggon-way was the first in the northern district on which +the experiment of a locomotive engine was tried. But at the +time of which we speak, the locomotive had scarcely been dreamt +of in England as a practicable working power; horses only were +used to haul the coal; and one of the first sights with which the +boy was familiar was the coal-waggons dragged by them along the +wooden railway at Wylam.</p> +<p>Thus eight years passed; after which, the coal having been +worked out, the old engine, which had grown “dismal to look +at,” as one of the workmen described it, was pulled down; +and then Robert, having obtained employment as a fireman at the +Dewley Burn Colliery, removed with his family to that +place. Dewley Burn, at this day, consists of a few +old-fashioned low-roofed cottages standing on either side of a +babbling little stream. They are connected by a rustic +wooden bridge, which spans the rift in front of the doors. +In the central one-roomed cottage of this group, on the right +bank, Robert Stephenson lived for a time with his family; the pit +at which he worked standing in the rear of the cottages.</p> +<p>Young though he was, George was now of an age to be able to +contribute something towards the family maintenance; for in a +poor man’s house, every child is a burden until his little +hands can be turned to profitable account. That the boy was +shrewd and active, and possessed of a ready mother wit, will be +evident enough from the following incident. One day his +sister Nell went into Newcastle to buy a bonnet; and Geordie went +with her “for company.” At a draper’s +shop in the Bigg Market, Nell found a “chip” quite to +her mind, but on pricing it, alas! it was found to be fifteen +pence beyond her means, and she left <!-- page 17--><a +name="page17"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 17</span>the shop very +much disappointed. But Geordie said, “Never heed, +Nell; see if I canna win siller enough to buy the bonnet; stand +ye there, till I come back.” Away ran the boy and +disappeared amidst the throng of the market, leaving the girl to +wait his return. Long and long she waited, until it grew +dusk, and the market people had nearly all left. She had +begun to despair, and fears crossed her mind that Geordie must +have been run over and killed; when at last up he came running, +almost breathless. “I’ve gotten the siller for +the bonnet, Nell!” cried he. “Eh +Geordie!” she said, “but hoo hae ye gotten +it?” “Haudin the gentlemen’s +horses!” was the exultant reply. The bonnet was +forthwith bought, and the two returned to Dewley happy.</p> +<p>George’s first regular employment was of a very humble +sort. A widow, named Grace Ainslie, then occupied the +neighbouring farmhouse of Dewley. She kept a number of +cows, and had the privilege of grazing them along the +waggon-road. She needed a boy to herd the cows, to keep +them out of the way of the waggons, and prevent their straying or +trespassing on the neighbours’ “liberties;” the +boy’s duty was also to bar the gates at night after all the +waggons had passed. George petitioned for this post, and, +to his great joy, he was appointed at the wage of twopence a +day.</p> +<p>It was light employment, and he had plenty of spare time on +his hands, which he spent in birdnesting, making whistles out of +reeds and scrannel straws, and erecting Lilliputian mills in the +little water-streams that ran into the Dewley bog. But his +favourite amusement at this early age was erecting clay engines +in conjunction with his chosen playmate, Bill Thirlwall. +The place is still pointed out where the future engineers made +their first essays in modelling. The boys found the clay +for their engines in the adjoining bog, and the hemlocks which +grew about supplied them with imaginary steam-pipes. They +even proceeded to make a miniature winding-machine in <!-- page +18--><a name="page18"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +18</span>connexion with their engine, and the apparatus was +erected upon a bench in front of the Thirlwalls’ +cottage. The corves were made out of hollowed corks; the +ropes were supplied by twine; and a few bits of wood gleaned from +the refuse of the carpenter’s shop completed their +materials. With this apparatus the boys made a show of +sending the corves down the pit and drawing them up again, much +to the marvel of the pitmen. But some mischievous person +about the place seized the opportunity early one morning of +smashing the fragile machinery, much to the grief of the young +engineers.</p> +<p>As Stephenson grew older and abler to work, he was set to lead +the horses when ploughing, though scarce big enough to stride +across the furrows; and he used afterwards to say that he rode to +his work in the mornings at an hour when most other children of +his age were asleep in their beds. He was also employed to +hoe turnips, and do similar farm-work, for which he was paid the +advanced wage of fourpence a day. But his highest ambition +was to be taken on at the colliery where his father worked; and +he shortly joined his elder brother James there as a +“corf-bitter,” or “picker,” to clear the +coal of stones, bats, and dross. His wages were then +advanced to sixpence a day, and afterwards to eightpence when he +was set to drive the gin-horse.</p> +<p>Shortly after, George went to Black Callerton to drive the gin +there; and as that colliery lies about two miles across the +fields from Dewley Burn, he walked that distance early in the +morning to his work, returning home late in the evening. +One of the old residents at Black Callerton, who remembered him +at that time, described him to the author as “a grit +growing lad, with bare legs an’ feet;” adding that he +was “very quick-witted and full of fun and tricks: indeed, +there was nothing under the sun but he tried to +imitate.” He was usually foremost also in the sports +and pastimes of youth.</p> +<p>Among his first strongly-developed tastes was the love <!-- +page 19--><a name="page19"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +19</span>of birds and animals, which he inherited from his +father. Blackbirds were his special favourites. The +hedges between Dewley and Black Callerton were capital +bird-nesting places; and there was not a nest there that he did +not know of. When the young birds were old enough, he would +bring them home with him, feed them, and teach them to fly about +the cottage unconfined by cages. One of his blackbirds +became so tame, that, after flying about the doors all day, and +in and out of the cottage, it would take up its roost upon the +bed-head at night. And most singular of all, the bird would +disappear in the spring and summer months, when it was supposed +to go into the woods to pair and rear its young, after which it +would reappear at the cottage, and resume its social habits +during the winter. This went on for several years. +George had also a stock of tame rabbits, for which he built a +little house behind the cottage, and for many years he continued +to pride himself upon the superiority of his breed.</p> +<p>After he had driven the gin for some time at Dewley and Black +Callerton, he was taken on as an assistant to his father in +firing the engine at Dewley. This was a step of promotion +which he had anxiously desired, his only fear being lest he +should be found too young for the work. Indeed, he used +afterwards to relate how he was wont to hide himself when the +owner of the colliery went round, in case he should be thought +too little a boy to earn the wages paid him. Since he had +modelled his clay engines in the bog, his young ambition was to +be an engineman; and to be an assistant fireman was the first +step towards this position. Great therefore was his joy +when, at about fourteen years of age, he was appointed +assistant-fireman, at the wage of a shilling a day.</p> +<p>But the coal at Dewley Burn being at length worked out, the +pit was ordered to be “laid in,” and old Robert and +his family were again under the necessity of shifting their home; +for, to use the common phrase, they must “follow the +wark.” They removed accordingly to a place <!-- page +20--><a name="page20"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +20</span>called Jolly’s Close, a few miles to the south, +close behind the village of Newburn, where another coal-mine +belonging to the Duke of Northumberland, called “the +Duke’s Winnin,” had recently been opened out.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p20.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Newburn on the Tyne" +title= +"Newburn on the Tyne" +src="images/p20.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>One of the old persons in the neighbourhood, who knew the +family well, describes the dwelling in which they lived as a poor +cottage of only one room, in which the father, mother, four sons, +and two daughters, lived and slept. It was crowded with +three low-poled beds. The one apartment served for parlour, +kitchen, sleeping-room, and all.</p> +<p>The children of the Stephenson family were now growing apace, +and several of them were old enough to be able to earn money at +various kinds of colliery work. James and George, the two +eldest sons, worked as assistant-firemen; <!-- page 21--><a +name="page21"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 21</span>and the +younger boys worked as wheelers or pickers on the +bank-tops. The two girls helped their mother with the +household work.</p> +<p>Other workings of the coal were opened out in the +neighbourhood; and to one of these George was removed as fireman +on his own account. This was called the “Mid Mill +Winnin,” where he had for his mate a young man named +Coe. They worked together there for about two years, by +twelve-hour shifts, George firing the engine at the wage of a +shilling a day. He was now fifteen years old. His +ambition was as yet limited to attaining the standing of a full +workman, at a man’s wages; and with that view he +endeavoured to attain such a knowledge of his engine as would +eventually lead to his employment as an engineman, with its +accompanying advantage of higher pay. He was a steady, +sober, hard-working young man, but nothing more in the estimation +of his fellow-workmen.</p> +<p>One of his favourite pastimes in by-hours was trying feats of +strength with his companions. Although in frame he was not +particularly robust, yet he was big and bony, and considered very +strong for his age. At throwing the hammer George had no +compeer. At lifting heavy weights off the ground from +between his feet, by means of a bar of iron passed through +them—placing the bar against his knees as a fulcrum, and +then straightening his spine and lifting them sheer up—he +was also very successful. On one occasion he lifted as much +as sixty stones weight—a striking indication of his +strength of bone and muscle.</p> +<p>When the pit at Mid Mill was closed, George and his companion +Coe were sent to work another pumping-engine erected near +Throckley Bridge, where they continued for some months. It +was while working at this place that his wages were raised to +12s. a week—an event to him of great importance. On +coming out of the foreman’s office that Saturday evening on +which he received the advance, he announced the fact to his +fellow-workmen, adding triumphantly “I am now a made man +for life!”</p> +<p><!-- page 22--><a name="page22"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +22</span>The pit opened at Newburn, at which old Robert +Stephenson worked, proving a failure, it was closed; and a new +pit was sunk at Water-row, on a strip of land lying between the +Wylam waggon-way and the river Tyne, about half a mile west of +Newburn Church. A pumping engine was erected there by +Robert Hawthorn, the Duke’s engineer; and old Stephenson +went to work it as fireman, his son George acting as the +engineman or plugman. At that time he was about seventeen +years old—a very youthful age at which to fill so +responsible a post. He had thus already got ahead of his +father in his station as a workman; for the plugman holds a +higher grade than the fireman, requiring more practical knowledge +and skill, and usually receiving higher wages.</p> +<p>George’s duty as plugman was to watch the engine, to see +that it kept well in work, and that the pumps were efficient in +drawing the water. When the water-level in the pit was +lowered, and the suction became incomplete through the exposure +of the suction-holes, it was then his duty to proceed to the +bottom of the shaft and plug the tube so that the pump should +draw: hence the designation of “plugman.” If a +stoppage in the engine took place through any defect which he was +incapable of remedying, it was for him to call in the aid of the +chief engineer to set it to rights.</p> +<p>But from the time when George Stephenson was appointed +fireman, and more particularly afterwards as engineman, he +applied himself so assiduously and so successfully to the study +of the engine and its gearing—taking the machine to pieces +in his leisure hours for the purpose of cleaning and +understanding its various parts—that he soon acquired a +thorough practical knowledge of its construction and mode of +working, and very rarely needed to call the engineer of the +colliery to his aid. His engine became a sort of pet with +him, and he was never wearied of watching and inspecting it with +admiration.</p> +<p>Though eighteen years old, like many of his fellow-<!-- page +23--><a name="page23"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +23</span>workmen, Stephenson had not yet learnt to read. +All that he could do was to get some one to read for him by his +engine fire, out of any book or stray newspaper which found its +way into the neighbourhood. Buonaparte was then overrunning +Italy, and astounding Europe by his brilliant succession of +victories; and there was no more eager auditor of his exploits, +as read from the newspaper accounts, than the young engineman at +the Water-row Pit.</p> +<p>There were also numerous stray bits of information and +intelligence contained in these papers, which excited +Stephenson’s interest. One of these related to the +Egyptian method of hatching birds’ eggs by means of +artificial heat. Curious about everything relating to +birds, he determined to test it by experiment. It was +spring time, and he forthwith went a birdnesting in the adjoining +woods and hedges. He gathered a collection of eggs of +various sorts, set them in flour in a warm place in the +engine-house, covering the whole with wool, and then waited the +issue. The heat was kept as steady as possible, and the +eggs were carefully turned every twelve hours, but though they +chipped, and some of them exhibited well-grown chicks, they never +hatched. The experiment failed, but the incident shows that +the inquiring mind of the youth was fairly at work.</p> +<p>Modelling of engines in clay continued to be another of his +favourite occupations. He made models of engines which he +had seen, and of others which were described to him. These +attempts were an improvement upon his first trials at Dewley Burn +bog, when occupied there as a herd-boy. He was, however, +anxious to know something of the wonderful engines of Boulton and +Watt, and was told that they were to be found fully described in +books, which he must search for information as to their +construction, action and uses. But, alas! Stephenson could +not read; he had not yet learnt even his letters.</p> +<p>Thus he shortly found, when gazing wistfully in the direction +of knowledge, that to advance further as a skilled <!-- page +24--><a name="page24"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +24</span>workman, he must master this wonderful art of +reading—the key to so many other arts. Only thus +could he gain an access to books, the depositories of the wisdom +and experience of the past. Although a grown man, and doing +the work of a man, he was not ashamed to confess his ignorance, +and go to school, big as he was, to learn his letters. +Perhaps, too, he foresaw that, in laying out a little of his +spare earnings for this purpose, he was investing money +judiciously, and that, in every hour he spent at school, he was +really working for better wages.</p> +<p>His first schoolmaster was Robin Cowens, a poor teacher in the +village of Walbottle. He kept a night-school, which was +attended by a few of the colliers and labourers’ sons in +the neighbourhood. George took lessons in spelling and +reading three nights in the week. Robin Cowen’s +teaching cost threepence a week; and though it was not very good, +yet George, being hungry for knowledge and eager to acquire it, +soon learnt to read. He also practised +“pothooks,” and at the age of nineteen he was proud +to be able to write his own name.</p> +<p>A Scotch dominie, named Andrew Robertson, set up a +night-school in the village of Newburn, in the winter of +1799. It was more convenient for George to attend this +school, as it was nearer to his work, and only a few +minutes’ walk from Jolly’s Close. Besides, +Andrew had the reputation of being a skilled arithmetician; and +this branch of knowledge Stephenson was very desirous of +acquiring. He accordingly began taking lessons from him, +paying fourpence a week. Robert Gray, the junior fireman at +the Water-row Pit, began arithmetic at the same time; and Gray +afterwards told the author that George learnt +“figuring” so much faster than he did, that he could +not make out how it was—“he took to figures so +wonderful.” Although the two started together from +the same point, at the end of the winter George had mastered +“reduction,” while Robert Gray was still struggling +with the difficulties of simple division. But +George’s secret was his <!-- page 25--><a +name="page25"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +25</span>perseverance. He worked out the sums in his +bye-hours, improving every minute of his spare time by the +engine-fire, and studying there the arithmetical problems set for +him upon his slate by the master. In the evenings he took +to Robertson the sums which he had “worked,” and new +ones were “set” for him to study out the following +day. Thus his progress was rapid, and, with a willing heart +and mind, he soon became well advanced in arithmetic. +Indeed, Andrew Robertson became very proud of his scholar; and +shortly after, when the Water-row Pit was closed, and George +removed to Black Callerton to work there, the poor schoolmaster, +not having a very extensive connexion in Newburn, went with his +pupils, and set up his night-school at Black Callerton, where he +continued his lessons.</p> +<p>George still found time to attend to his favourite animals +while working at the Water-row Pit. Like his father, he +used to tempt the robin-redbreasts to hop and fly about him at +the engine-fire, by the bait of bread-crumbs saved from his +dinner. But his chief favourite was his dog—so +sagacious that he almost daily carried George’s dinner to +him at the pit. The tin containing the meal was suspended +from the dog’s neck, and, thus laden, he proceeded +faithfully from Jolly’s Close to Water-row Pit, quite +through the village of Newburn. He turned neither to left +nor right, nor heeded the barking of curs at his heels. But +his course was not unattended with perils. One day the big +strange dog of a passing butcher espying the engineman’s +messenger with the tin can about his neck, ran after and fell +upon him. There was a terrible tussle and worrying, which +lasted for a brief while, and, shortly after, the dog’s +master, anxious for his dinner, saw his faithful servant +approaching, bleeding but triumphant. The tin can was still +round his neck, but the dinner had been spilt in the +struggle. Though George went without his dinner that day, +he was prouder of his dog than ever when the circumstances of the +combat were related to him by the villagers who had seen it.</p> +<p>It was while working at the Water-row Pit that <!-- page +26--><a name="page26"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +26</span>Stephenson learnt the art of brakeing an engine. +This being one of the higher departments of colliery labour, and +among the best paid, George was very anxious to learn it. A +small winding-engine having been put up for the purpose of +drawing the coals from the pit, Bill Coe, his friend and +fellow-workman, was appointed the brakesman. He frequently +allowed George to try his hand at the machine, and instructed him +how to proceed. Coe was, however, opposed in this by +several of the other workmen—one of whom, a banksman named +William Locke, <a name="citation26"></a><a href="#footnote26" +class="citation">[26]</a> went so far as to stop the working of +the pit because Stephenson had been called in to the brake. +But one day as Mr. Charles Nixon, the manager of the pit, was +observed approaching, Coe adopted an expedient which put a stop +to the opposition. He called upon Stephenson to “come +into the brake-house, and take hold of the machine.” +Locke, as usual, sat down, and the working of the pit was +stopped. When requested by the manager to give an +explanation, he said that “young Stephenson couldn’t +brake, and, what was more, never would learn, he was so +clumsy.” Mr. Nixon, however, ordered Locke to go on +with the work, which he did; and Stephenson, after some further +practice, acquired the art of brakeing.</p> +<p>After working at the Water-row Pit and at other engines near +Newburn for about three years, George and Coe went to Black +Callerton early in 1801. Though only twenty years of age, +his employers thought so well of him that they appointed him to +the responsible office of brakesman at the Dolly Pit. For +convenience’ sake, he took lodgings at a small +farmer’s in the village, finding his own victuals, and +paying so much a week for lodging and attendance. In the +locality this was called “picklin in his awn poke +neuk.” It not unfrequently happens that the young +workman about the collieries, when selecting a lodging, contrives +to pitch his tent where the daughter of the house ultimately <!-- +page 27--><a name="page27"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +27</span>becomes his wife. This is often the real +attraction that draws the youth from home, though a very +different one may be pretended.</p> +<p>George Stephenson’s duties as brakesman may be briefly +described. The work was somewhat monotonous, and consisted +in superintending the working of the engine and machinery by +means of which the coals were drawn out of the pit. +Brakesman are almost invariably selected from those who have had +considerable experience as engine-firemen, and borne a good +character for steadiness, punctuality, watchfulness, and +“mother wit.” In George Stephenson’s day +the coals were drawn out of the pit in corves, or large baskets +made of hazel rods. The corves were placed together in a +cage, between which and the pit-ropes there was usually from +fifteen to twenty feet of chain. The approach of the corves +towards the pit mouth was signalled by a bell, brought into +action by a piece of mechanism worked from the shaft of the +engine. When the bell sounded, the brakesman checked the +speed, by taking hold of the hand-gear connected with the +steam-valves, which were so arranged that by their means he could +regulate the speed of the engine, and stop or set it in motion +when required. Connected with the fly-wheel was a powerful +wooden brake, acting by pressure against its rim, something like +the brake of a railway-carriage against its wheels. On +catching sight of the chain attached to the ascending corve-cage, +the brakesman, by pressing his foot upon a foot-step near him, +was enabled, with great precision, to stop the revolutions of the +wheel, and arrest the ascent of the corves at the pit mouth, when +they were forthwith landed on the “settle +board.” On the full corves being replaced by empty +ones, it was then the duty of the brakesman to reverse the +engine, and send the corves down the pit to be filled again.</p> +<p>The monotony of George Stephenson’s occupation as a +brakesman was somewhat varied by the change which he made, in his +turn, from the day to the night shift. His duty, on the +latter occasions, consisted chiefly in sending <!-- page 28--><a +name="page28"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 28</span>men and +materials into the mine, and in drawing other men and materials +out. Most of the workmen enter the pit during the night +shift, and leave it in the latter part of the day, whilst +coal-drawing is proceeding. The requirements of the work at +night are such, that the brakesman has a good deal of spare time +on his hands, which he is at liberty to employ in his own +way. From an early period, George was accustomed to employ +those vacant night hours in working the sums set for him by +Andrew Robertson upon his slate, practising writing in his +copy-book, and mending the shoes of his fellow-workmen. His +wages while working at the Dolly Pit amounted to from £1 +15s. to £2 in the fortnight; but he gradually added to them +as he became more expert at shoe-mending, and afterwards at +shoe-making.</p> +<p>Probably he was stimulated to take in hand this extra work by +the attachment he had by this time formed for a young woman named +Fanny Henderson, who officiated as servant in the small +farmer’s house in which he lodged. We have been +informed that the personal attractions of Fanny, though these +were considerable, were the least of her charms. Mr. +William Fairbairn, who afterwards saw her in her home at +Willington Quay, describes her as a very comely woman. But +her temper was one of the sweetest; and those who knew her were +accustomed to speak of the charming modesty of her demeanour, her +kindness of disposition, and withal her sound good sense.</p> +<p>Amongst his various mendings of old shoes at Callerton. +George was on one occasion favoured with the shoes of his +sweetheart to sole. One can imagine the pleasure with which +he would linger over such a piece of work, and the pride with +which he would execute it. A friend of his, still living, +relates that, after he had finished the shoes, he carried them +about with him in his pocket on the Sunday afternoon, and that +from time to time he would pull them out and hold them up, +exclaiming, “what a capital job he had made of +them!”</p> +<p><!-- page 29--><a name="page29"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +29</span>Out of his earnings by shoe-mending at Callerton, George +contrived to save his first guinea. The first guinea saved +by a working man is no trivial thing. If, as in +Stephenson’s case, it has been the result of prudent +self-denial, of extra labour at bye-hours, and of the honest +resolution to save and economise for worthy purposes, the first +guinea saved is an earnest of better things. When +Stephenson had saved this guinea he was not a little elated at +the achievement, and expressed the opinion to a friend, who many +years after reminded him of it, that he was “now a rich +man.”</p> +<p>Not long after he began to work at Black Callerton as +brakesman, he had a quarrel with a pitman named Ned Nelson, a +roistering bully, who was the terror of the village. Nelson +was a great fighter; and it was therefore considered dangerous to +quarrel with him. Stephenson was so unfortunate as not to +be able to please this pitman by the way in which he drew him out +of the pit; and Nelson swore at him grossly because of the +alleged clumsiness of his brakeing. George defended +himself, and appealed to the testimony of the other +workmen. But Nelson had not been accustomed to +George’s style of self-assertion; and, after a great deal +of abuse, he threatened to kick the brakesman, who defied him to +do so. Nelson ended by challenging Stephenson to a pitched +battle; and the latter accepted the challenge, when a day was +fixed on which the fight was to come off.</p> +<p>Great was the excitement at Black Callerton when it was known +that George Stephenson had accepted Nelson’s +challenge. Everybody said he would be killed. The +villagers, the young men, and especially the boys of the place, +with whom George was a great favourite, all wished that he might +beat Nelson, but they scarcely dared to say so. They came +about him while he was at work in the engine-house to inquire if +it was really true that he was “goin to fight +Nelson?” “Ay; never fear for me; I’ll +fight him.” And fight him he did. For some days +previous to <!-- page 30--><a name="page30"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 30</span>the appointed day of battle, Nelson +went entirely off work for the purpose of keeping himself fresh +and strong, whereas Stephenson went on doing his daily work as +usual, and appeared not in the least disconcerted by the prospect +of the affair. So, on the evening appointed, after George +had done his day’s labour, he went into the Dolly Pit +Field, where his already exulting rival was ready to meet +him. George stripped, and “went in” like a +practised pugilist—though it was his first and last +fight. After a few rounds, George’s wiry muscles and +practised strength enabled him severely to punish his adversary, +and to secure an easy victory.</p> +<p>This circumstance is related in illustration of +Stephenson’s personal pluck and courage; and it was +thoroughly characteristic of the man. He was no pugilist, +and the very reverse of quarrelsome. But he would not be +put down by the bully of the colliery, and he fought him. +There his pugilism ended; they afterwards shook hands, and +continued good friends. In after life, Stephenson’s +mettle was often as hardly tried, though in a different way; and +he did not fail to exhibit the same resolute courage in +contending with the bullies of the railway world, as he showed in +his encounter with Ned Nelson, the fighting pitman of +Callerton.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p30.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Colliery Whimsey" +title= +"Colliery Whimsey" +src="images/p30.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 31--><a +name="page31"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 31</span> +<a href="images/p31.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Stephenson’s Cottage at Wallington Quay" +title= +"Stephenson’s Cottage at Wallington Quay" +src="images/p31.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Engineman at Willington Quay and +Killingworth</span>.</h2> +<p>George Stephenson had now acquired the character of an expert +workman. He was diligent and observant while at work, and +sober and studious when the day’s work was over. His +friend Coe described him to the author as “a standing +example of manly character.” On pay-Saturday +afternoons, when the pitmen held their fortnightly holiday, +occupying themselves chiefly in cock-fighting and dog-fighting in +the adjoining fields, followed by adjournments <!-- page 32--><a +name="page32"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 32</span>to the +“yel-house,” George was accustomed to take his engine +to pieces, for the purpose of obtaining “insight,” +and he cleaned all the parts and put the machine in thorough +working order before leaving it.</p> +<p>In the evenings he improved himself in the arts of reading and +writing, and occasionally took a turn at modelling. It was +at Callerton, his son Robert informed us, that he began to try +his hand at original invention; and for some time he applied his +attention to a machine of the nature of an engine-brake, which +reversed itself by its own action. But nothing came of the +contrivance, and it was eventually thrown aside as useless. +Yet not altogether so; for even the highest skill must undergo +the inevitable discipline of experiment, and submit to the +wholesome correction of occasional failure.</p> +<p>After working at Callerton for about two years, he received an +offer to take charge of the engine on Willington Ballast Hill at +an advanced wage. He determined to accept it, and at the +same time to marry Fanny Henderson, and begin housekeeping on his +own account. Though he was only twenty-one years old, he +had contrived, by thrift, steadiness, and industry, to save as +much money as enabled him to take a cottage-dwelling at +Willington Quay, and furnish it in a humble but comfortable style +for the reception of his bride.</p> +<p>Willington Quay lies on the north bank of the Tyne, about six +miles below Newcastle. It consists of a line of houses +straggling along the river-side; and high behind it towers up the +huge mound of ballast emptied out of the ships which resort to +the quay for their cargoes of coal for the London market. +The ballast is thrown out of the ships’ holds into waggons +laid alongside, which are run up to the summit of the Ballast +Hill, and emptied out there. At the foot of the great mound +of shot rubbish was the fixed engine of which George Stephenson +acted as brakesman.</p> +<p>The cottage in which he took up his abode was a small +two-storied dwelling, standing a little back from the quay <!-- +page 33--><a name="page33"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +33</span>with a bit of garden ground in front. <a +name="citation33"></a><a href="#footnote33" +class="citation">[33]</a> The Stephenson family occupied +the upper room in the west end of the cottage. Close behind +rose the Ballast Hill.</p> +<p>When the cottage dwelling had been made snug, and was ready +for occupation, the marriage took place. It was celebrated +in Newburn Church, on the 28th of November, 1802. After the +ceremony, George, with his newly-wedded wife, proceeded to the +house of his father at Jolly’s Close. The old man was +now becoming infirm, and, though he still worked as an +engine-fireman, contrived with difficulty “to keep his head +above water.” When the visit had been paid, the +bridal party set out for their new home at Willington Quay, +whither they went in a manner quite common before travelling by +railway came into use. Two farm horses, borrowed from a +neighbouring farmer, were each provided with a saddle and +pillion, and George having mounted one, his wife seated herself +behind him, holding on by his waist. The bridesman and +bridesmaid in like manner mounted the other horse; and in this +wise the wedding party rode across the country, passing through +the old streets of Newcastle, and then by Wallsend to Willington +Quay—a ride of about fifteen miles.</p> +<p>George Stephenson’s daily life at Willington was that of +a steady workman. By the manner, however, in which he +continued to improve his spare hours in the evening, he was +silently and surely paving the way for being something more than +a manual labourer. He set himself to study diligently the +principles of mechanics, and to master the laws by which his +engine worked. For a workman, he was even at that time more +than ordinarily speculative—often taking up strange +theories, and trying to sift out the truth that was in +them. While sitting by his wife’s side in his +cottage-dwelling in the winter evenings, he was <!-- page 34--><a +name="page34"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 34</span>usually +occupied in studying mechanical subjects, or in modelling +experimental machines. Amongst his various speculations +while at Willington, he tried to discover a means of Perpetual +Motion. Although he failed, as so many others had done +before him, the very efforts he made tended to whet his inventive +faculties, and to call forth his dormant powers. He went so +far as to construct the model of a machine for the purpose. +It consisted of a wooden wheel, the periphery of which was +furnished with glass tubes filled with quicksilver; as the wheel +rotated, the quicksilver poured itself down into the lower tubes, +and thus a sort of self-acting motion was kept up in the +apparatus, which, however, did not prove to be perpetual. +Where he had first obtained the idea of this +machine—whether from conversation or reading, is not known; +but his son Robert was of opinion that he had heard of the +apparatus of this kind described in the “History of +Inventions.” As he had then no access to books, and +indeed could barely read with ease, it is probable that he had +been told of the contrivance, and set about testing its value +according to his own methods.</p> +<p>Much of his spare time continued to be occupied by labour more +immediately profitable, regarded in a pecuniary point of +view. In the evenings, after his day’s labour at his +engine, he would occasionally employ himself for an hour or two +in casting ballast out of the collier ships, by which means he +was enabled to earn a few extra shillings weekly. Mr. +William Fairbairn of Manchester has informed us that while +Stephenson was employed at Willington, he himself was working in +the neighbourhood as an engine apprentice at the Percy Main +Colliery. He was very fond of George, who was a fine, +hearty fellow, besides being a capital workman. In the +summer evenings young Fairbairn was accustomed to go down to the +Quay to see his friend, and on such occasions he would frequently +take charge of George’s engine while he took a turn at +heaving ballast out of the ships’ holds. It is +pleasant to think of <!-- page 35--><a name="page35"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 35</span>the future President of the British +Association thus helping the future Railway Engineer to earn a +few extra shillings by overwork in the evenings, at a time when +both occupied the rank of humble working men in an obscure +northern village.</p> +<p>Mr. Fairbairn was also a frequent visitor at George’s +cottage on the Quay, where, though there was no luxury, there was +comfort, cleanliness, and a pervading spirit of industry. +Even at home George was never for a moment idle. When there +was no ballast to heave out at the Quay he took in shoes to mend; +and from mending he proceeded to making them, as well as +shoe-lasts, in which he was admitted to be very expert.</p> +<p>But an accident occurred in Stephenson’s household about +this time, which had the effect of directing his industry into a +new and still more profitable channel. The cottage chimney +took fire one day in his absence, when the alarmed neighbours, +rushing in, threw quantities of water upon the flames; and some, +in their zeal, even mounted the ridge of the house, and poured +buckets of water down the chimney. The fire was soon put +out, but the house was thoroughly soaked. When George came +home he found everything in disorder, and his new furniture +covered with soot. The eight-day clock, which hung against +the wall—one of the most highly-prized articles in the +house—was much damaged by the steam with which the room had +been filled; and its wheels were so clogged by the dust and soot +that it was brought to a complete standstill. George was +always ready to turn his hand to anything, and his ingenuity, +never at fault, immediately set to work to repair the unfortunate +clock. He was advised to send it to the clockmaker, but +that would cost money; and he declared that he would repair it +himself—at least he would try. The clock was +accordingly taken to pieces and cleaned; the tools which he had +been accumulating for the purpose of constructing his Perpetual +Motion machine, enabled him to do this readily; and he succeeded +so well that, shortly after, the neighbours sent <!-- page +36--><a name="page36"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 36</span>him +their clocks to clean, and he soon became one of the most famous +clock-doctors in the neighbourhood.</p> +<p>It was while living at Willington Quay that George +Stephenson’s only son was born, on the 16th of October, +1803. The child was a great favourite with his father, and +added much to the happiness of his evening hours. +George’s “philoprogenitiveness,” as +phrenologists call it, had been exercised hitherto upon birds, +dogs, rabbits, and even the poor old gin-horses which he had +driven at the Callerton Pit; but in his boy he now found a much +more genial object for the exercise of his affection.</p> +<p>The christening took place in the school-house at Wallsend, +the old parish church being at the time in so dilapidated a +condition from the “creeping” or subsidence of the +ground, consequent upon the excavation of the coal, that it was +considered dangerous to enter it. On this occasion, Robert +Gray and Anne Henderson, who had officiated as bridesman and +bridesmaid at the wedding, came over again to Willington, and +stood godfather and godmother to little Robert,—so named +after his grandfather.</p> +<p>After working for several years more as a brakesman at the +Willington machine, George Stephenson was induced to leave his +situation there for a similar one at the West Moor Colliery, +Killingworth. It was not without considerable persuasion +that he was induced to leave the Quay, as he knew that he should +thereby give up the chance of earning extra money by casting +ballast from the keels. At last, however, he consented, in +the hope of making up the loss in some other way.</p> +<p>The village of Killingworth lies about seven miles north of +Newcastle, and is one of the best-known collieries in that +neighbourhood. The workings of the coal are of vast extent, +and give employment to a large number of work-people. To +this place Stephenson first came as a brakesman about the +beginning of 1805. He had not been long in his new place, +ere his wife died (in 1806), shortly after giving birth to a +daughter, who survived the mother only a <!-- page 37--><a +name="page37"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 37</span>few +months. George deeply felt the loss of his wife, for they +had been very happy together. Their lot had been sweetened +by daily successful toil. The husband was sober and +hard-working, and his wife made his hearth so bright and his home +so snug, that no attraction could draw him from her side in the +evening hours. But this domestic happiness was all to pass +away; and George felt as one that had thenceforth to tread the +journey of life alone.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p37.jpg"> +<img alt= +"West Moor Colliery" +title= +"West Moor Colliery" +src="images/p37.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Shortly after this event, while his grief was still fresh, he +received an invitation from some gentlemen concerned in large +spinning works near Montrose in Scotland, to proceed thither and +superintend the working of one of Boulton and Watt’s +engines. He accepted the offer, and made arrangements to +leave Killingworth for a time.</p> +<p><!-- page 38--><a name="page38"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +38</span>Having left his little boy in good keeping, he set out +upon his long journey to Scotland on foot, with his kit upon his +back. While working at Montrose he gave a striking proof of +that practical ability in contrivance for which he was afterwards +so distinguished. It appears that the water required for +the purposes of his engine, as well as for the use of the works, +was pumped from a considerable depth, being supplied from the +adjacent extensive sand strata. The pumps frequently got +choked by the sand drawn in at the bottom of the well through the +snore-holes, or apertures through which the water to be raised is +admitted. The barrels soon became worn, and the bucket and +clack leathers destroyed, so that it became necessary to devise a +remedy; and with this object the engineman proceeded to adopt the +following simple but original expedient. He had a wooden +box or boot made, twelve feet high, which he placed in the sump +or well, and into this he inserted the lower end of the +pump. The result was, that the water flowed clear from the +outer part of the well over into the boot, and being drawn up +without any admixture of sand, the difficulty was thus conquered. +<a name="citation38"></a><a href="#footnote38" +class="citation">[38]</a></p> +<p>Being paid good wages, Stephenson contrived, during the year +he worked at Montrose, to save a sum of £28, which he took +back with him to Killingworth. Longing to get back to his +kindred, his heart yearning for the son whom he had left behind, +our engineman took leave of his employers, and trudged back to +Northumberland on foot as he had gone. While on his journey +southward he arrived late one evening, footsore and wearied, at +the door of a small farmer’s cottage, at which he knocked, +and requested shelter for the night. It was refused, and +then he entreated <!-- page 39--><a name="page39"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 39</span>that, being tired, and unable to +proceed further, the farmer would permit him to lie down in the +outhouse, for that a little clean straw would serve him. +The farmer’s wife appeared at the door, looked at the +traveller, then retiring with her husband, the two confabulated a +little apart, and finally they invited Stephenson into the +cottage. Always full of conversation and anecdote, he soon +made himself at home in the farmer’s family, and spent with +them a few pleasant hours. He was hospitably entertained +for the night, and when he left the cottage in the morning, he +pressed them to make some charge for his lodging, but they +refused to accept any recompense. They only asked him to +remember them kindly, and if he ever came that way, to be sure +and call again. Many years after, when Stephenson had +become a thriving man, he did not forget the humble pair who had +succoured and entertained him on his way; he sought their cottage +again, when age had silvered their hair; and when he left the +aged couple, they may have been reminded of the old saying that +we may sometimes “entertain angels unawares.”</p> +<p>Reaching home, Stephenson found that his father had met with a +serious accident at the Blucher Pit, which had reduced him to +great distress and poverty. While engaged in the inside of +an engine, making some repairs, a fellow-workman accidentally let +in the steam upon him. The blast struck him full in the +face; he was terribly scorched, and his eyesight was +irretrievably lost. The helpless and infirm man had +struggled for a time with poverty; his sons who were at home, +poor as himself, were little able to help him, while George was +at a distance in Scotland. On his return, however, with his +savings in his pocket, his first step was to pay off his +father’s debts, amounting to about £15; and shortly +after he removed the aged pair from Jolly’s Close to a +comfortable cottage adjoining the tramroad near the West Moor at +Killingworth, where the old man lived for many years, supported +entirely by his son.</p> +<p>Stephenson was again taken on as a brakesman at the <!-- page +40--><a name="page40"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 40</span>West +Moor Pit. He does not seem to have been very hopeful as to +his prospects in life about this time (1807–8). +Indeed the condition of the working class generally was very +discouraging. England was engaged in a great war, which +pressed upon the industry, and severely tried the resources, of +the country. There was a constant demand for men to fill +the army. The working people were also liable to be pressed +for the navy, or drawn for the militia; and though they could not +fail to be discontented under such circumstances, they scarcely +dared even to mutter their discontent to their neighbours.</p> +<p>Stephenson was drawn for the militia: he must therefore either +quit his work and go a-soldiering, or find a substitute. He +adopted the latter course, and borrowed £6, which, with the +remainder of his savings, enabled him to provide a militiaman to +serve in his stead. Thus the whole of his hard-won earnings +were swept away at a stroke. He was almost in despair, and +contemplated the idea of leaving the country, and emigrating to +the United States. Although a voyage thither was then a +much more formidable thing for a working man to accomplish than a +voyage to Australia is now, he seriously entertained the project, +and had all but made up his mind to go. His sister Ann, +with her husband, emigrated about that time, but George could not +raise the requisite money, and they departed without him. +After all, it went sore against his heart to leave his home and +his kindred, the scenes of his youth and the friends of his +boyhood; and he struggled long with the idea, brooding over it in +sorrow. Speaking afterwards to a friend of his thoughts at +the time, he said: “You know the road from my house at the +West Moor to Killingworth. I remember once when I went +along that road I wept bitterly, for I knew not where my lot in +life would be cast.”</p> +<p>In 1808, Stephenson, with two other brakesmen, took a small +contract under the colliery lessees for brakeing the engines at +the West Moor Pit. The brakesmen found the <!-- page +41--><a name="page41"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 41</span>oil +and tallow; they divided the work amongst them, and were paid so +much per score for their labour. It was the interest of the +brakesmen to economise the working as much as possible, and +George no sooner entered upon the contract than he proceeded to +devise ways and means of making it “pay.” He +observed that the ropes which, at other pits in the +neighbourhood, lasted about three months, at the West Moor Pit +became worn out in about a month. He immediately set about +ascertaining the cause of the defect; and finding it to be +occasioned by excessive friction, he proceeded, with the sanction +of the head engine-wright and the colliery owners, to shift the +pulley-wheels and re-arrange the gearing, which had the effect of +greatly diminishing the tear and wear, besides allowing the work +of the colliery to proceed without interruption.</p> +<p>About the same time he attempted an improvement in the +winding-engine which he worked, by placing a valve between the +air-pump and condenser. This expedient, although it led to +no practical result, showed that his mind was actively engaged in +studying new mechanical adaptations. It continued to be his +regular habit, on Saturdays, to take his engine to pieces, for +the purpose, at the same time, of familiarising himself with its +action, and of placing it in a state of thorough working +order. By mastering its details, he was enabled, as +opportunity occurred, to turn to practical account the knowledge +he thus diligently and patiently acquired.</p> +<p>Such an opportunity was not long in presenting itself. +In the year 1810, a new pit was sunk by the “Grand +Allies” (the lessees of the mines) at the village of +Killingworth, now known as the Killingworth High Pit. An +atmospheric or Newcomen engine, made by Smeaton, was fixed there +for the purpose of pumping out the water from the shaft; but +somehow it failed to clear the pit. As one of the workmen +has since described the circumstance—“She +couldn’t keep her jack-head in water: all the enginemen in +the neighbourhood were tried, as well as Crowther <!-- page +42--><a name="page42"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 42</span>of +the Ouseburn, but they were clean bet.” The engine +had been fruitlessly pumping for nearly twelve months, and began +to be spoken of as a total failure. Stephenson had gone to +look at it when in course of erection, and then observed to the +over-man that he thought it was defective; he also gave it as his +opinion that, if there were much water in the mine, the engine +would never keep it under. Of course, as he was only a +brakesman, his opinion was considered to be worth very little on +such a point. He continued, however, to make frequent +visits to the engine, to see “how she was getting +on.” From the bank-head where he worked his brake he +could see the chimney smoking at the High Pit; and as the men +were passing to and from their work, he would call out and +inquire “if they had gotten to the bottom yet?” +And the reply was always to the same effect—the pumping +made no progress, and the workmen were still “drowned +out.”</p> +<p>One Saturday afternoon he went over to the High Pit to examine +the engine more carefully than he had yet done. He had been +turning the subject over thoughtfully in his mind; and seemed to +have satisfied himself as to the cause of the failure. Kit +Heppel, one of the sinkers, asked him, “Weel, George, what +do you mak’ o’ her? Do you think you could do +anything to improve her?” Said George, “I could +alter her, man, and make her draw: in a week’s time I could +send you to the bottom.”</p> +<p>Forthwith Heppel reported this conversation to Ralph Dodds, +the head viewer, who, being now quite in despair, and hopeless of +succeeding with the engine, determined to give George’s +skill a trial. At the worst he could only fail, as the rest +had done. In the evening, Dodds went in search of +Stephenson, and met him on the road, dressed in his +Sunday’s suit, on the way to “the preaching” in +the Methodist Chapel, which he attended. “Well, +George,” said Dodds, “they tell me that you think you +can put the engine at the High Pit to rights.” +“Yes, sir,” said George. “I think I +could.” “If that’s the case, I’ll +give you a fair <!-- page 43--><a name="page43"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 43</span>trial, and you must set to work +immediately. We are clean drowned out, and cannot get a +stop further. The engineers hereabouts are all bet; and if +you really succeed in accomplishing what they cannot do, you may +depend upon it I will make you a man for life.”</p> +<p>Stephenson began his operations early next morning. The +only condition that he made, before setting to work, was that he +should select his own workmen. There was, as he knew, a +good deal of jealousy amongst the “regular” men that +a colliery brakesman should pretend to know more about their +engine than they themselves did, and attempt to remedy defects +which the most skilled men of their craft, including the engineer +of the colliery, had failed to do. But George made the +condition a <i>sine quâ non</i>. “The +workmen,” said he, “must either be all Whigs or all +Tories.” There was no help for it, so Dodds ordered +the old hands to stand aside. The men grumbled, but gave +way; and then George and his party went in.</p> +<p>The engine was taken entirely to pieces. The cistern +containing the injection water was raised ten feet; the injection +cock, being too small, was enlarged to nearly double its former +size, and it was so arranged that it should be shut off quickly +at the beginning of the stroke. These and other alterations +were necessarily performed in a rough way, but, as the result +proved, on true principles. Stephenson also, finding that +the boiler would bear a greater pressure than five pounds to the +inch, determined to work it at a pressure of ten pounds, though +this was contrary to the directions of both Newcomen and +Smeaton. The necessary alterations were made in about three +days, and many persons came to see the engine start, including +the men who had put her up. The pit being nearly full of +water, she had little to do on starting, and, to use +George’s words, “came bounce into the +house.” Dodds exclaimed, “Why, she was better +as she was; now, she will knock the house down.” +After a short time, however, the engine got fairly to work, and +by ten o’clock that night the water was <!-- page 44--><a +name="page44"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 44</span>lower in the +pit than it had ever been before. It was kept pumping all +Thursday, and by the Friday afternoon the pit was cleared of +water, and the workmen were “sent to the bottom,” as +Stephenson had promised. Thus the alterations effected in +the pumping apparatus proved completely successful.</p> +<p>Dodds was particularly gratified with the manner in which the +job had been done, and he made Stephenson a present of ten +pounds, which, though very inadequate when compared with the +value of the work performed, was accepted with gratitude. +George was proud of the gift as the first marked recognition of +his skill as a workman; and he used afterwards to say that it was +the biggest sum of money he had up to that time earned in one +lump. Ralph Dodds, however, did more than this. He +released the brakesman from the handles of his engine at West +Moot, and appointed him engineman at the High Pit, at good wages, +during the time the pit was sinking,—the job lasting for +about a year; and he also kept him in mind for further +advancement.</p> +<p>Stephenson’s skill as an engine-doctor soon became +noised abroad, and he was called upon to prescribe remedies for +all the old, wheezy, and ineffective pumping-machines in the +neighbourhood. In this capacity he soon left the +“regular” men far behind, though they in their turn +were very mach disposed to treat the Killingworth brakesman as no +better than a quack. Nevertheless, his practice was really +founded upon a close study of the principles of mechanics, and on +an intimate practical acquaintance with the details of the +pumping-engine.</p> +<p>Another of his smaller achievements in the same line is still +told by the people of the district. At the corner of the +road leading to Long Benton, there was a quarry from which a +peculiar and scarce kind of ochre was taken. In the course +of working it out, the water had collected in considerable +quantities; and there being no means of draining it off, it +accumulated to such an extent that the further working of <!-- +page 45--><a name="page45"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +45</span>the ochre was almost entirely stopped. Ordinary +pumps were tried, and failed; and then a windmill was tried, and +failed too. On this, George was asked what ought to be done +to clear the quarry of the water. He said, “he would +set up for them an engine little bigger than a kail-pot, that +would clear them out in a week.” And he did so. +A little engine was speedily erected, by means of which the +quarry was pumped dry in the course of a few days. Thus his +skill as a pump-doctor soon became the marvel of the +district.</p> +<p>In elastic muscular vigour, Stephenson was now in his prime, +and he still continued to be zealous in measuring his strength +and agility with his fellow workmen. The competitive +element in his nature was always strong; and his success in these +feats of rivalry was certainly remarkable. Few, if any, +could lift such weights, throw the hammer and putt the stone so +far, or cover so great a space at a standing or running +leap. One day, between the engine hour and the rope-rolling +hour, Kit Heppel challenged him to leap from one high wall to +another, with a deep gap between. To Heppel’s +surprise and dismay, George took the standing leap, and cleared +the eleven feet at a bound. Had his eye been less accurate, +or his limbs less agile and sure, the feat must have cost him his +life.</p> +<p>But so full of redundant muscular vigour was he, that leaping, +putting, or throwing the hammer were not enough for him. He +was also ambitious of riding on horseback, and, as he had not yet +been promoted to an office enabling him to keep a horse of his +own, he sometimes borrowed one of the gin-horses for a +ride. On one of these occasions, he brought the animal back +reeking; when Tommy Mitcheson, the bank horse-keeper, a +rough-spoken fellow, exclaimed to him: “Set such fellows as +you on horseback, and you’ll soon ride to the +De’il.” But Tommy Mitcheson lived to tell the +joke, and to confess that, after all, there had been a better +issue to George’s horsemanship than that which he +predicted.</p> +<p><!-- page 46--><a name="page46"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +46</span>Old Cree, the engine-wright at Killingworth High Pit, +having been killed by an accident, George Stephenson was, in +1812, appointed engine-wright of the colliery at the salary of +£100 a year. He was also allowed the use of a +galloway to ride upon in his visits of inspection to the +collieries leased by the “Grand Allies” in that +neighbourhood. The “Grand Allies” were a +company of gentlemen, consisting of Sir Thomas Liddell +(afterwards Lord Ravensworth), the Earl of Strathmore, and Mr. +Stuart Wortley (afterwards Lord Wharncliffe), the lessees of the +Killingworth collieries. Having been informed of the merits +of Stephenson, of his indefatigable industry, and the skill which +he had displayed in the repairs of the pumping-engines, they +readily acceded to Mr. Dodds’ recommendation that he should +be appointed the colliery engine-wright; and, as we shall +afterwards find, they continued to honour him by distinguished +marks of their approval.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p46.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Killingworth High Pit" +title= +"Killingworth High Pit" +src="images/p46.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 47--><a +name="page47"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 47</span> +<a href="images/p47.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Glebe Farm House, Benton" +title= +"Glebe Farm House, Benton" +src="images/p47.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV.<br /> +<span class="smcap">The Stephensons at +Killingworth</span>—<span class="smcap">Education and +Self-Education of Father and Son</span>.</h2> +<p>George Stephenson had now been diligently employed for several +years in the work of self-improvement, and he experienced the +usual results in increasing mental strength, capability, and +skill. Perhaps the secret of every man’s best success +is to be found in the alacrity and industry with which he takes +advantage of the opportunities which present themselves for +well-doing. Our engineman was an eminent illustration of +the importance of cultivating this habit of life. Every +spare moment was laid under contribution by him, either for the +purpose of adding to his earnings, or to his knowledge. He +missed no opportunity of extending his observations, especially +in his own department of <!-- page 48--><a +name="page48"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 48</span>work, ever +aiming at improvement, and trying to turn all that he did know to +useful practical account.</p> +<p>He continued his attempts to solve the mystery of Perpetual +Motion, and contrived several model machines with the object of +embodying his ideas in a practical working shape. He +afterwards used to lament the time he had lost in these futile +efforts, and said that if he had enjoyed the opportunity which +most young men now have, of learning from books what previous +experimenters had accomplished, he would have been spared much +labour and mortification. Not being acquainted with what +other mechanics had done, he groped his way in pursuit of some +idea originated by his own independent thinking and observation; +and, when he had brought it into some definite form, lo! he found +that his supposed invention had long been known and recorded in +scientific books. Often he thought he had hit upon +discoveries, which he subsequently found were but old and +exploded fallacies. Yet his very struggle to overcome the +difficulties which lay in his way, was of itself an education of +the best sort. By wrestling with them, he strengthened his +judgment and sharpened his skill, stimulating and cultivating his +inventiveness and mechanical ingenuity. Being very much in +earnest, he was compelled to consider the subject of his special +inquiry in all its relations; and thus he gradually acquired +practical ability even through his very efforts after the +impracticable.</p> +<p>Many of his evenings were now spent in the society of John +Wigham, whose father occupied the Glebe Farm at Benton, close at +hand. John was a fair penman and a sound arithmetician, and +Stephenson sought his society chiefly for the purpose of +improving himself in writing and “figures.” +Under Andrew Robertson, he had never quite mastered the Rule of +Three, and it was only when Wigham took him in hand that he made +much progress in the higher branches of arithmetic. He +generally took his slate with him to the Wighams’ cottage, +when he had his sums set, that he might work them out while +tending his engine on <!-- page 49--><a name="page49"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 49</span>the following day. When too +busy to be able to call upon Wigham, he sent the slate to have +the former sums corrected and new ones set. Sometimes also, +at leisure moments, he was enabled to do a little +“figuring” with chalk upon the sides of the +coal-waggons. So much patient perseverance could not but +eventually succeed; and by dint of practice and study, Stephenson +was enabled to master successively the various rules of +arithmetic.</p> +<p>John Wigham was of great use to his pupil in many ways. +He was a good talker, fond of argument, an extensive reader as +country reading went in those days, and a very suggestive +thinker. Though his store of information might be +comparatively small when measured with that of more +highly-cultivated minds, much of it was entirely new to +Stephenson, who regarded him as a very clever and ingenious +person. Wigham taught him to draw plans and sections; +though in this branch Stephenson proved so apt that he soon +surpassed his master. A volume of ‘Ferguson’s +Lectures on Mechanics,’ which fell into their hands, was a +great treasure to both the students. One who remembers +their evening occupations says he used to wonder what they meant +by weighing the air and water in so odd a way. They were +trying the specific gravities of objects; and the devices which +they employed, the mechanical shifts to which they were put, were +often of the rudest kind. In these evening entertainments, +the mechanical contrivances were supplied by Stephenson, whilst +Wigham found the scientific rationale. The opportunity thus +afforded to the former of cultivating his mind by contact with +one wiser than himself proved of great value, and in after-life +Stephenson gratefully remembered the assistance which, when a +humble workman, he had derived from John Wigham, the +farmer’s son.</p> +<p>His leisure moments thus carefully improved, it will be +inferred that Stephenson continued a sober man. Though his +notions were never extreme on this point, he was systematically +temperate. It appears that on the invitation <!-- page +50--><a name="page50"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 50</span>of +his master, he had, on one or two occasions, been induced to join +him in a forenoon glass of ale in the public-house of the +village. But one day, about noon, when Dodds had got him as +far as the public-house door, on his invitation to “come in +and take a glass o’ yel,” Stephenson made a dead +stop, and said, firmly, “No, sir, you must excuse me; I +have made a resolution to drink no more at this time of +day.” And he went back. He desired to retain +the character of a steady workman; and the instances of men about +him who had made shipwreck of their character through +intemperance, were then, as now, unhappily but too frequent.</p> +<p>But another consideration besides his own self-improvement had +already begun to exercise an important influence on his +life. This was the training and education of his son +Robert, now growing up an active, intelligent boy, as full of fun +and tricks as his father had been. When a little fellow, +scarcely able to reach so high as to put a clock-head on when +placed upon the table, his father would make him mount a chair +for the purpose; and to “help father” was the +proudest work which the boy then, and ever after, could take part +in. When the little engine was set up at the Ochre Quarry +to pump it dry, Robert was scarcely absent for an hour. He +watched the machine very eagerly when it was set to work; and he +was very much annoyed at the fire burning away the grates. +The man who fired the engine was a sort of wag, and thinking to +get a laugh at the boy, he said, “Those bars are getting +varra bad, Robert; I think we main cut up some of that hard wood, +and put it in instead.” “What would be the use +of that, you fool?” said the boy quickly. “You +would no sooner have put them in than they would be burnt out +again!”</p> +<p>So soon as Robert was of proper age, his father sent him over +to the road-side school at Long Benton, kept by Rutter, the +parish clerk. But the education which Rutter could give was +of a very limited kind, scarcely extending beyond the primer and +pothooks. While working as a brakesman on the pit-head at +Killingworth, the father had often <!-- page 51--><a +name="page51"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 51</span>bethought him +of the obstructions he had himself encountered in life through +his want of schooling; and he formed the noble determination that +no labour, nor pains, nor self-denial on his part should be +spared to furnish his son with the best education that it was in +his power to bestow.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p51.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Rutter’s School House, Long Benton" +title= +"Rutter’s School House, Long Benton" +src="images/p51.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>It is true his earnings were comparatively small at that +time. He was still maintaining his infirm parents; and the +cost of living continued excessive. But he fell back upon +his old expedient of working up his spare time in the evenings at +home, or during the night shifts when it was his turn to tend the +engine, in mending and making shoes, cleaning clocks and watches, +making shoe-lasts for the shoe-makers of the neighbourhood, and +cutting out the pitmen’s clothes for their wives; and we +have been told that to this <!-- page 52--><a +name="page52"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 52</span>day there are +clothes worn at Killingworth made after “Geordy +Steevie’s cut.” To give his own +words:—“In the earlier period of my career,” +said he, “when Robert was a little boy, I saw how deficient +I was in education, and I made up my mind that he should not +labour under the same defect, but that I would put him to a good +school, and give him a liberal training. I was, however, a +poor man; and how do you think I managed? I betook myself +to mending my neighbours’ clocks and watches at nights, +after my daily labour was done, and thus I procured the means of +educating my son.” <a name="citation52"></a><a +href="#footnote52" class="citation">[52]</a></p> +<p>Carrying out the resolution as to his boy’s education, +Robert was sent to Mr. Bruce’s school in Percy Street, +Newcastle, at Midsummer, 1815, when he was about twelve years +old. His father bought for him a donkey, on which he rode +into Newcastle and back daily; and there are many still living +who remember the little boy, dressed in his suit of homely grey +stuff, cut out by his father, cantering along to school upon the +“cuddy,” with his wallet of provisions for the day +and his bag of books slung over his shoulder.</p> +<p>When Robert went to Mr. Bruce’s school, he was a shy, +unpolished country lad, speaking the broad dialect of the pitmen; +and the other boys would occasionally tease him, for the purpose +of provoking an outburst of his Killingworth Doric. As the +shyness got rubbed off, his love of fun began to show itself, and +he was found able enough to hold his own amongst the other +boys. As a scholar he was steady and diligent, and his +master was accustomed to hold him up to the laggards of the +school as an example of good conduct and industry. But his +progress, though satisfactory, was by no means +extraordinary. He used in after-life to pride himself on +his achievements in mensuration, though another boy, John Taylor, +beat him at arithmetic. He also made <!-- page 53--><a +name="page53"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 53</span>considerable +progress in mathematics; and in a letter written to the son of +his teacher, many years after, he said, “It was to Mr. +Bruce’s tuition and methods of modelling the mind that I +attribute much of my success as an engineer; for it was from him +that I derived my taste for mathematical pursuits and the +facility I possess of applying this kind of knowledge to +practical purposes and modifying it according to +circumstances.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p53.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Bruce’s School, Newcastle" +title= +"Bruce’s School, Newcastle" +src="images/p53.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>During the time Robert attended school at Newcastle, his +father made the boy’s education instrumental to his +own. Robert was accustomed to spend some of his spare time +at the rooms of the Literary and Philosophical Institute; and +when he went home in the evening, he would recount to his father +the results of his reading. Sometimes <!-- page 54--><a +name="page54"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 54</span>he was +allowed to take with him to Killingworth a volume of the +‘Repertory of Arts and Sciences,’ which father and +son studied together. But many of the most valuable works +belonging to the Newcastle Library were not lent out; these +Robert was instructed to read and study, and bring away with him +descriptions and sketches for his father’s +information. His father also practised him in reading plans +and drawings without reference to the written descriptions. +He used to observe that “A good plan should always explain +itself;” and, placing a drawing of an engine or machine +before the youth, would say, “There, now, describe that to +me—the arrangement and the action.” Thus he +taught him to read a drawing as easily as he would read a page of +a book. Both father and son profited by this excellent +practice, which enabled them to apprehend with the greatest +facility the details of even the most difficult and complicated +mechanical drawing.</p> +<p>While Robert went on with his lessons in the evenings, his +father was usually occupied with his watch and clock cleaning; or +in contriving models of pumping-engines; or endeavouring to +embody in a tangible shape the mechanical inventions which he +found described in the odd volumes on Mechanics which fell in his +way. This daily and unceasing example of industry and +application, in the person of a loving and beloved father, +imprinted itself deeply upon the boy’s heart in characters +never to be effaced. A spirit of self-improvement was thus +early and carefully planted and fostered in Robert’s mind, +which continued to influence him through life; and to the close +of his career, he was proud to confess that if his professional +success had been great, it was mainly to the example and training +of his father that he owed it.</p> +<p>Robert was not, however, exclusively devoted to study, but, +like most boys full of animal spirits, he was very fond of fun +and play, and sometimes of mischief. Dr. Bruce relates that +an old Killingworth labourer, when asked by Robert, on one of his +last visits to Newcastle, if he <!-- page 55--><a +name="page55"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 55</span>remembered +him, replied with emotion, “Ay, indeed! Haven’t +I paid your head many a time when you came with your +father’s bait, for you were always a sad hempy?”</p> +<p>The author had the pleasure, in the year 1854, of accompanying +Robert Stephenson on a visit to his old home and haunts at +Killingworth. He had so often travelled the road upon his +donkey to and from school, that every foot of it was familiar to +him; and each turn in it served to recall to mind some incident +of his boyish days. His eyes glistened when he came in +sight of Killingworth pit-head. Pointing to a humble +red-tiled house by the road-side at Benton, he said, “You +see that house—that was Rutter’s, where I learnt my A +B C, and made a beginning of my school learning. And +there,” pointing to a colliery chimney on the left, +“there is Long Benton, where my father put up his first +pumping-engine; and a great success it was. And this humble +clay-floored cottage you see here, is where my grandfather lived +till the close of his life. Many a time have I ridden +straight into the house, mounted on my cuddy, and called upon +grandfather to admire his points. I remember the old man +feeling the animal all over—he was then quite +blind—after which he would dilate upon the shape of his +ears, fetlocks, and quarters, and usually end by pronouncing him +to be a ‘real blood.’ I was a great favourite +with the old man, who continued very fond of animals, and +cheerful to the last; and I believe nothing gave him greater +pleasure than a visit from me and my cuddy.”</p> +<p>On the way from Benton to High Killingworth, Mr. Stephenson +pointed to a corner of the road where he had once played a boyish +trick upon a Killingworth collier. “Straker,” +said he, “was a great bully, a coarse, swearing fellow, and +a perfect tyrant amongst the women and children. He would +go tearing into old Nanny the huxter’s shop in the village, +and demand in a savage voice, ‘What’s ye’r best +ham the pund?’ ‘What’s floor the +hunder?’ ‘What d’ye ax for prime +bacon?’—his questions <!-- page 56--><a +name="page56"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 56</span>often ending +with the miserable order, accompanied with a tremendous oath, of +‘Gie’s a penny rrow (roll) an’ a baubee +herrin!’ The poor woman was usually set ‘all of +a shake’ by a visit from this fellow. He was also a +great boaster, and used to crow over the robbers whom he had put +to flight; mere men in buckram, as everybody knew. We +boys,” he continued, “believed him to be a great +coward, and determined to play him a trick. Two other boys +joined me in waylaying Straker one night at that corner,” +pointing to it. “We sprang out and called upon him, +in as gruff voices as we could assume, to ‘stand and +deliver!’ He dropped down upon his knees in the dirt, +declaring he was a poor man, with a sma’ family, asking for +‘mercy,’ and imploring us, as ‘gentlemen, for +God’s sake, t’ let him a-be!’ We +couldn’t stand this any longer, and set up a shout of +laughter. Recognizing our boys’ voices, he sprang to +his feet and rattled out a volley of oaths; on which we cut +through the hedge, and heard him shortly after swearing his way +along the road to the yel-house.”</p> +<p>On another occasion, Robert played a series of tricks of a +somewhat different character. Like his father, he was very +fond of reducing his scientific reading to practice; and after +studying Franklin’s description of the lightning +experiment, he proceeded to expend his store of Saturday pennies +in purchasing about half a mile of copper wire at a +brazier’s shop in Newcastle. Having prepared his +kite, he sent it up in the field opposite his father’s +door, and bringing the wire, insulated by means of a few feet of +silk cord, over the backs of some of Farmer Wigham’s cows, +he soon had them skipping about the field in all directions with +their tails up. One day he had his kite flying at the +cottage-door as his father’s galloway was hanging by the +bridle to the paling, waiting for the master to mount. +Bringing the end of the wire just over the pony’s crupper, +so smart an electric shock was given it, that the brute was +almost knocked down. At this juncture the father issued +from the door, riding-whip in hand, and was witness to the +scientific trick just played off upon his galloway. +“Ah! you mischievous scoondrel!” cried he to the boy, +who ran off. He inwardly chuckled with pride, nevertheless, +at Robert’s successful experiment. <a +name="citation57"></a><a href="#footnote57" +class="citation">[57]</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 57--><a +name="page57"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 57</span> +<a href="images/p57.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Stephenson’s Cottage, West Moor" +title= +"Stephenson’s Cottage, West Moor" +src="images/p57.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>At this time, and for many years after, Stephenson dwelt in a +cottage standing by the side of the road leading from the West +Moor colliery to Killingworth. The railway from the West +Moor Pit crosses this road close by the east end of the +cottage. The dwelling originally consisted of but one +apartment on the ground-floor, with the garret <!-- page 58--><a +name="page58"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 58</span>over-head, to +which access was obtained by means of a step-ladder. But +with his own hands Stephenson built an oven, and in the course of +time he added rooms to the cottage, until it became a comfortable +four-roomed dwelling, in which he lived as long as he remained at +Killingworth.</p> +<p>He continued as fond of birds and animals as ever, and seemed +to have the power of attaching them to him in a remarkable +degree. He had a blackbird at Killingworth so fond of him +that it would fly about the cottage, and on holding out his +finger, would come and perch upon it. A cage was built for +“blackie” in the partition between the passage and +the room, a square of glass forming its outer wall; and Robert +used afterwards to take pleasure in describing the oddity of the +bird, imitating the manner in which it would cock its head on his +father’s entering the house, and follow him with its eye +into the inner apartment.</p> +<p>Neighbours were accustomed to call at the cottage and have +their clocks and watches set to rights when they went +wrong. One day, after looking at the works of a watch left +by a pitman’s wife, George handed it to his son; “Put +her in the oven, Robert,” said he, “for a quarter of +an hour or so.” It seemed an odd way of repairing a +watch; nevertheless, the watch was put into the oven, and at the +end of the appointed time it was taken out, going all +right. The wheels had merely got clogged by the oil +congealed by the cold; which at once explains the rationale of +the remedy adopted.</p> +<p>There was a little garden attached to the cottage, in which, +while a workman, Stephenson took a pride in growing gigantic +leeks and astounding cabbages. There was great competition +amongst the villagers in the growth of vegetables, all of whom he +excelled, excepting one of his neighbours, whose cabbages +sometimes outshone his. In the protection of his +garden-crops from the ravages of the birds, he invented a strange +sort of “fley-craw,” which moved its arms with the +wind; and he fastened his <!-- page 59--><a +name="page59"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 59</span>garden-door +by means of a piece of ingenious mechanism, so that no one but +himself could enter it. His cottage was quite a +curiosity-shop of models of engines, self-acting planes, and +perpetual-motion machines. The last-named contrivances, +however, were only unsuccessful attempts to solve a problem which +had effectually baffled hundreds of preceding inventors. +His odd and eccentric contrivances often excited great wonder +amongst the Killingworth villagers. He won the +women’s admiration by connecting their cradles with the +smoke-jack, and making them self-acting. Then he astonished +the pitmen by attaching an alarum to the clock of the watchman +whose duty it was to call them betimes in the morning. He +also contrived a wonderful lamp which burned under water, with +which he was afterwards wont to amuse the Brandling family at +Gosforth,—going into the fish-pond at night, lamp in hand, +attracting and catching the fish, which rushed wildly towards the +flame.</p> +<p>Dr. Bruce tells of a competition which Stephenson had with the +joiner at Killingworth, as to which of them could make the best +shoe-last; and when the former had done his work, either for the +humour of the thing, or to secure fair play from the appointed +judge, he took it to the Morrisons in Newcastle, and got them to +put their stamp upon it. So that it is possible the +Killingworth brakesman, afterwards the inventor of the safety +lamp and the originator of the railway system, and John Morrison, +the last-maker, afterwards the translator of the Scriptures into +the Chinese language, may have confronted each other in solemn +contemplation over the successful last, which won the verdict +coveted by its maker.</p> +<p>Sometimes he would endeavour to impart to his fellow-workmen +the results of his scientific reading. Everything that he +learnt from books was so new and so wonderful to him, that he +regarded the facts he drew from them in the light of discoveries, +as if they had been made but yesterday. Once he tried to +explain to some of the pitmen how the earth was round, and kept +turning round. But his auditors <!-- page 60--><a +name="page60"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 60</span>flatly +declared the thing to be impossible, as it was clear that +“at the bottom side they must fall off!” +“Ah!” said George, “you don’t quite +understand it yet.” His son Robert also early +endeavoured to communicate to others the information which he had +gathered at school; and Dr. Bruce has related that, when visiting +Killingworth on one occasion, he found him engaged in teaching +algebra to such of the pitmen’s boys as would become his +pupils.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p60.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Sundial" +title= +"The Sundial" +src="images/p60.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>While Robert was still at school, his father proposed to him +during the holidays that he should construct a sun-dial, to be +placed over their cottage-door at West Moor. “I +expostulated with him at first,” said Robert, “that I +had not learnt sufficient astronomy and mathematics to enable me +to make the necessary calculations. But he would have no +denial. ‘The thing is to be done,’ said he; +‘so just set about it at once.’ Well; we got a +‘Ferguson’s Astronomy,’ and studied the subject +together. Many a sore head I had while making the necessary +calculations to adapt the dial to the latitude of +Killingworth. But at length it was fairly drawn out on +paper, and then my father got a stone, and we hewed, and carved, +and polished it, until we made a very respectable dial of it; and +there it is, you see,” pointing to it over the +cottage-door, “still quietly numbering the hours when the +sun is shining. I assure you, not a little was thought of +that piece of work by the pitmen when it was put up, and began to +tell its tale of time.” The date carved upon the dial +is “August 11th, MDCCCXVI.” Both <!-- page +61--><a name="page61"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +61</span>father and son were in after-life very proud of the +joint production. Many years after, George took a party of +savans, when attending the meeting of the British Association at +Newcastle, over to Killingworth to see the pits, and he did not +fail to direct their attention to the sun-dial; and Robert, on +the last visit which he made to the place, a short time before +his death, took a friend into the cottage, and pointed out to him +the very desk, still there, at which he had sat while making his +calculations of the latitude of Killingworth.</p> +<p>From the time of his appointment as engineer at the +Killingworth Pit, George Stephenson was in a measure relieved +from the daily routine of manual labour, having, as we have seen, +advanced himself to the grade of a higher class workman. +But he had not ceased to be a worker, though he employed his +industry in a different way. It might, indeed, be inferred +that he had now the command of greater leisure; but his spare +hours were as much as ever given to work, either necessary or +self-imposed. So far as regarded his social position, he +had already reached the summit of his ambition; and when he had +got his hundred a year, and his dun galloway to ride on, he said +he never wanted to be any higher. When Robert Whetherly +offered to give him an old gig, his travelling having so much +increased of late, he accepted it with great reluctance, +observing, that he should be ashamed to get into it, +“people would think him so proud.”</p> +<p>When the High Pit had been sunk, and the coal was ready for +working, Stephenson erected his first winding-engine to draw the +coals out of the pit, and also a pumping-engine for Long Benton +Colliery, both of which proved quite successful. Amongst +other works of this time, he projected and laid down a +self-acting incline along the declivity which fell towards the +coal-loading place near Willington, where he had officiated as +brakesman; and he so arranged it, that the full waggons +descending drew the empty waggons up the railroad. This was +one of the first self-acting inclines laid down in the +district.</p> +<p><!-- page 62--><a name="page62"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +62</span>Stephenson had now much better opportunities than +hitherto for improving himself in mechanics. His familiar +acquaintance with the steam-engine proved of great value to +him. His shrewd insight, and his intimate practical +acquaintance with its mechanism, enabled him to apprehend, as if +by intuition, its most abstruse and difficult combinations. +The practical study which he had given to it when a workman, and +the patient manner in which he had groped his way through all the +details of the machine, gave him the power of a master in dealing +with it as applied to colliery purposes.</p> +<p>Sir Thomas Liddell was frequently about the works, and took +pleasure in giving every encouragement to the engine-wright in +his efforts after improvement. The subject of the +locomotive engine was already closely occupying +Stephenson’s attention; although it was still regarded as a +curious and costly toy, of comparatively little real use. +But he had at an early period detected its practical value, and +formed an adequate conception of the might which as yet slumbered +within it; and he now bent his entire faculties to the +development of its extraordinary powers.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p62.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Colliers’ Cottages at Long Benton" +title= +"Colliers’ Cottages at Long Benton" +src="images/p62.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 63--><a name="page63"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +63</span>CHAPTER V.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Early History of the +Locomotive</span>—<span class="smcap">George Stephenson +begins its Improvement</span>.</h2> +<p>The rapid increase in the coal-trade of the Tyne about the +beginning of the present century had the effect of stimulating +the ingenuity of mechanics, and encouraging them to devise +improved methods of transporting the coal from the pits to the +shipping places. From our introductory chapter, it will +have been observed that the improvements which had thus far been +effected were confined almost entirely to the road. The +railway waggons still continued to be drawn by horses. By +improving and flattening the tramway, considerable economy in +horse-power had indeed been secured; but unless some more +effective method of mechanical traction could be devised, it was +clear that railway improvement had almost reached its limits.</p> +<p>Many expedients had been tried with this object. One of +the earliest was that of hoisting sails upon the waggons, and +driving them along the waggon-way, as a ship is driven through +the water by the wind. This method seems to have been +employed by Sir Humphrey Mackworth, an ingenious coal-miner at +Neath in Glamorganshire, about the end of the seventeenth +century.</p> +<p>After having been lost sight of for more than a century, the +same plan of impelling carriages was revived by Richard Lovell +Edgworth, with the addition of a portable railway, since revived +also, in Boydell’s patent. But although Mr. Edgworth +devoted himself to the subject for many years, he failed in +securing the adoption of his sailing carriage. It is indeed +quite clear that a power so uncertain as wind could never be +relied on for ordinary traffic, and <!-- page 64--><a +name="page64"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 64</span>Mr. +Edgworth’s project was consequently left to repose in the +limbo of the Patent Office, with thousands of other equally +useless though ingenious contrivances.</p> +<p>A much more favourite scheme was the application of steam +power for the purpose of carriage traction. Savery, the +inventor of the working steam-engine, was the first to propose +its employment to propel vehicles along the common roads; and in +1759 Dr. Robison, then a young man studying at Glasgow College, +threw out the same idea to his friend James Watt; but the scheme +was not matured.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p64.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Cugnot’s Engine" +title= +"Cugnot’s Engine" +src="images/p64.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The first locomotive steam-carriage was built at Paris by the +French engineer Cugnot, a native of Lorraine. It is said to +have been invented for the purpose of dragging cannon into the +field independent of horses. The original model of this +machine was made in 1763. Count Saxe was so much pleased +with it, that on his recommendation a full-sized engine was +constructed at the cost of the French monarch; and in 1769 it was +tried in the presence of the Duc de Choiseul, Minister of War, +General Gribeauval, and other officers. At one of the +experiments it ran with such force as to knock down a wall in its +way. But the new vehicle, loaded with four persons, could +not travel faster than two and a half miles an hour. The +boiler was insufficient in size, and it could only work for about +fifteen minutes; after which it was necessary to wait until the +steam had again risen to a sufficient pressure. To remedy +this defect, Cugnot constructed a new machine in 1770, <!-- page +65--><a name="page65"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 65</span>the +working of which was more satisfactory. It was composed of +two parts—the fore part consisting of a small steam-engine, +formed of a round copper boiler, with a furnace inside, provided +with two small chimneys and two single-acting brass steam +cylinders, whose pistons acted alternately upon the single +driving-wheel. The hinder part consisted merely of a rude +carriage on two wheels to carry the load, furnished with a seat +in front for the conductor. This engine was tried in the +streets of Paris; but when passing near where the Madeleine now +stands, it overbalanced itself on turning a corner, and fell over +with a crash; after which, its employment being thought +dangerous, it was locked up in the arsenal to prevent further +mischief. The machine is, however, still to be seen in the +collection of the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers at +Paris. It has very much the look of a long brewer’s +cart, with the addition of the circular boiler hung on at one +end. Rough though it looks, it was a highly creditable +piece of work, considering the period at which it was executed; +and as the first actual machine constructed for the purpose of +travelling on ordinary roads by the power of steam, it is +certainly a most curious and interesting mechanical relic, well +worthy of preservation.</p> +<p>But though Cugnot’s road locomotive remained locked up +from public sight, the subject was not dead; for we find +inventors employing themselves from time to time in attempting to +solve the problem of steam locomotion in places far remote from +Paris. The idea had taken root in the minds of inventors, +and was striving to grow into a reality. Thus Oliver Evans, +the American, invented a steam carriage in 1772 to travel on +common roads; in 1787 he obtained from the State of Maryland an +exclusive right to make and use steam-carriages, but his +invention never came into use. Then, in 1784, William +Symington, one of the early inventors of the steamboat, was +similarly occupied in Scotland in endeavouring to develop the +latent powers of the steam-carriage. He had a working model +of one <!-- page 66--><a name="page66"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 66</span>constructed, which he exhibited in +1786 to the professors of Edinburgh College; but the state of the +Scotch roads was then so bad that he found it impracticable to +proceed further with his scheme, which he shortly after abandoned +in favour of steam navigation.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p66.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Section of Murdock’s Model" +title= +"Section of Murdock’s Model" +src="images/p66.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The same year in which Symington was occupied upon his +steam-carriage, William Murdock, the friend and assistant of +Watt, constructed his model of a locomotive at the opposite end +of the island—at Redruth in Cornwall. His model was +of small dimensions, standing little more than a foot high; and +it was until recently in the possession of the son of the +inventor, at whose house we saw it a few years ago. The +annexed section will give an idea of the arrangements of this +machine.</p> +<p>It acted on the high-pressure principle, and, like +Cugnot’s engine, ran upon three wheels, the boiler being +heated by a spirit-lamp. Small though the machine was, it +went so fast on one occasion that it fairly outran its +inventor. It seems that one night after returning from his +duties at the Redruth mine, Murdock determined to try the working +of his model locomotive. For this purpose he had recourse +to the walk leading to the church, about a mile from the +town. It was rather narrow, and was bounded on each side by +high hedges. The night was dark, and Murdock set out alone +to try his experiment. Having lit his lamp, the water +boiled speedily, and off started the engine with the inventor +after it. He soon heard distant shouts of terror. It +was too dark to perceive objects; but he found, on following up +the machine, that the cries proceeded from the worthy pastor of +the parish, who, going towards the town, was met on this lonely +road by the hissing and fiery little <!-- page 67--><a +name="page67"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 67</span>monster, +which he subsequently declared he had taken to be the Evil One +<i>in propriá personâ</i>. No further steps +were, however, taken by Murdock to embody his idea of a +locomotive carriage in a more practical form.</p> +<p>The idea was next taken up by Murdock’s pupil, Richard +Trevithick, who resolved on building a steam-carriage adapted for +common roads as well as railways. He took out a patent to +secure the right of his invention in 1802. Andrew Vivian, +his cousin, joined with him in the patent—Vivian finding +the money, and Trevithick the brains. The steam-carriage +built on this patent presented the appearance of an ordinary +stage-coach on four wheels. The engine had one horizontal +cylinder, which, together with the boiler and the furnace-box, +was placed in the rear of the hind axle. The motion of the +piston was transmitted to a separate crank-axle, from which, +through the medium of spur-gear, the axle of the driving-wheel +(which was mounted with a fly-wheel) derived its motion. +The steam-cocks and the force-pump, as also the bellows used for +the purpose of quickening combustion in the furnace, were worked +off the same crank-axle.</p> +<p>John Petherick, of Camborne, has related that he remembers +this first English steam-coach passing along the principal street +of his native town. Considerable difficulty was experienced +in keeping up the pressure of steam; but when there was pressure +enough, Trevithick would call upon the people to “jump +up,” so as to create a load upon the engine. It was +soon covered with men attracted by the novelty, nor did their +number seem to make any difference in the speed of the engine so +long as there was steam enough; but it was constantly running +short, and the horizontal bellows failed to keep it up.</p> +<p>This road-locomotive of Trevithick’s was one of the +first high-pressure working engines constructed on the principle +of moving a piston by the elasticity of steam against the +pressure only of the atmosphere. Such an engine had been +described by Leopold, though in his apparatus it was <!-- page +68--><a name="page68"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +68</span>proposed that the pressure should act only on one side +of the piston. In Trevithick’s engine the piston was +not only raised, but was also depressed by the action of the +steam, being in this respect an entirely original invention, and +of great merit. The steam was admitted from the boiler +under the piston moving in a cylinder, impelling it upward. +When the motion had reached its limit, the communication between +the piston and the under side was shut off, and the steam allowed +to escape into the atmosphere. A passage being then opened +between the boiler and the upper side of the piston, which was +pressed downwards, the steam was again allowed to escape as +before. Thus the power of the engine was equal to the +difference between the pressure of the atmosphere and the +elasticity of the steam in the boiler.</p> +<p>This steam-carriage excited considerable interest in the +remote district near the Land’s End where it had been +erected. Being so far removed from the great movements and +enterprise of the commercial world, Trevithick and Vivian +determined upon exhibiting their machine in the metropolis. +They accordingly set out with it to Plymouth, whence it was +conveyed by sea to London.</p> +<p>The carriage safely reached the metropolis, and excited much +public interest. It also attracted the notice of scientific +men, amongst others of Mr. Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal +Society, and Sir Humphry Davy, both Cornishmen like Trevithick, +who went to see the private performances of the engine, and were +greatly pleased with it. Writing to a Cornish friend +shortly after its arrival in town, Sir Humphry said: “I +shall soon hope to hear that the roads of England are the haunts +of Captain Trevithick’s dragons—a characteristic +name.” The machine was afterwards publicly exhibited +in an enclosed piece of ground near Euston Square, where the +London and North-Western Station now stands, and it dragged +behind it a wheel-carriage full of passengers. On the +second day of the performance, crowds flocked to see it; but +Trevithick, <!-- page 69--><a name="page69"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 69</span>in one of his odd freaks, shut up the +place, and shortly after removed the engine. It is, +however, probable that the inventor came to the conclusion that +the state of the roads at that time was such as to preclude its +coming into general use for purposes of ordinary traffic.</p> +<p>While the steam-carriage was being exhibited, a gentleman was +laying heavy wagers as to the weight which could be hauled by a +single horse on the Wandsworth and Croydon iron tramway; and the +number and weight of waggons drawn by the horse were something +surprising. Trevithick very probably put the two things +together—the steam-horse and the iron-way—and kept +the performance in mind when he proceeded to construct his second +or railway locomotive. The idea was not, however, entirely +new to him; for, although his first engine had been constructed +with a view to its employment upon common roads, the +specification of his patent distinctly alludes to the application +of his engine to travelling on railroads. Having been +employed at the iron-works of Pen-y-darran, in South Wales, to +erect a forge engine for the Company, a convenient opportunity +presented itself, on the completion of this work, for carrying +out his design of a locomotive to haul the minerals along the +Pen-y-darran tramway. Such an engine was erected by him in +1803, in the blacksmiths’ shop at the Company’s +works, and it was finished and ready for trial before the end of +the year.</p> +<p>The boiler of this second engine was cylindrical in form, flat +at the ends, and made of wrought iron. The furnace and flue +were inside the boiler, within which the single cylinder, eight +inches in diameter and four feet six inches stroke, was placed +horizontally. As in the first engine, the motion of the +wheels was produced by spur gear, to which was also added a +fly-wheel on one side, to secure a rotatory motion in the crank +at the end of each stroke of the piston in the single +cylinder. The waste steam was thrown into the chimney +through a tube inserted into it at right angles; but it will be +obvious that this arrangement was not calculated <!-- page +70--><a name="page70"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 70</span>to +produce any result in the way of a steam-blast in the +chimney. In fact, the waste steam seems to have been turned +into the chimney in order to get rid of the nuisance caused by +throwing the jet directly into the air. Trevithick was here +hovering on the verge of a great discovery; but that he was not +aware of the action of the blast in contributing to increase the +draught and thus quicken combustion, is clear from the fact that +he employed bellows for this special purpose; and at a much later +date (1815) he took out a patent which included a method of +urging the fire by means of fanners. <a name="citation70"></a><a +href="#footnote70" class="citation">[70]</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p70.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Trevithick’s High Pressure Tram-Engine" +title= +"Trevithick’s High Pressure Tram-Engine" +src="images/p70.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><!-- page 71--><a name="page71"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +71</span>At the first trial of this engine it succeeded in +dragging after it several waggons, containing ten tons of +bar-iron, at the rate of about five miles an hour. Rees +Jones, who worked at the fitting of the engine, and remembers its +performances, says, “She was used for bringing down metal +from the furnaces to the Old Forge. She worked very well; +but frequently, from her weight, broke the tram-plates and the +hooks between the trams. After working for some time in +this way, she took a load of iron from Pen-y-darran down the +Basin-road, upon which road she was intended to work. On +the journey she broke a great many of the tram-plates, and before +reaching the basin ran off the road, and had to be brought back +to Pen-y-darran by horses. The engine was never after used +as a locomotive.” <a name="citation71"></a><a +href="#footnote71" class="citation">[71]</a></p> +<p>It seems to have been felt that unless the road were entirely +reconstructed so as to bear the heavy weight of the +locomotive—so much greater than that of the tram-waggons, +to carry which the original rails had been laid down—the +regular employment of Trevithick’s high-pressure +tram-engine was altogether impracticable; and as the owners of +the works were not prepared to incur so serious a cost, it was +determined to take the locomotive off the road, and employ it as +an engine for other purposes. It was accordingly +dismounted, and used for some time after as a pumping-engine, for +which purpose it was found well adapted. Trevithick himself +seems from this time to have taken no further steps to bring the +locomotive into general use. We find him, shortly after, +engaged upon schemes of a more promising character, abandoning +the engine to other <!-- page 72--><a name="page72"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 72</span>mechanical inventors, though little +improvement was made in it for several years. An imaginary +difficulty seems to have tended, amongst other obstacles, to +prevent its adoption; viz., the idea that, if a heavy weight were +placed behind the engine, the “grip” or +“bite” of its smooth wheels upon the equally smooth +iron rail, must necessarily be so slight that they would whirl +round upon it, and, consequently, that the machine would not make +progress. Hence Trevithick, in his patent, provided that +the periphery of the driving-wheels should be made rough by the +projection of bolts or cross-grooves, so that the adhesion of the +wheels to the road might be secured.</p> +<p>Following up the presumed necessity for a more effectual +adhesion between the wheels and the rails, Mr. Blenkinsop of +Leeds, in 1811, took out a patent for a racked or tooth-rail laid +along one side of the road, into which the toothed-wheel of his +locomotive worked as pinions work into a rack. The boiler +of his engine was supported by a carriage with four wheels +without teeth, and rested immediately upon the axles. These +wheels were entirely independent of the working parts of the +engine, and therefore merely supported its weight upon the rails, +the progress being effected by means of the cogged-wheel working +into the cogged-rail. The engine had two cylinders, instead +of one as in Trevithick’s engine. The invention of +the double cylinder was due to Matthew Murray, of Leeds, one of +the best mechanical engineers of his time; Mr. Blenkinsop, who +was not a mechanic, having consulted him as to all the practical +arrangements. The connecting-rods gave the motion to two +pinions by cranks at right angles to each other; these pinions +communicating the motion to the wheel which worked into the +cogged-rail.</p> +<p>Mr. Blenkinsop’s engines began running on the railway +from the Middleton Collieries to Leeds, about 3½ miles, on +the 12th of August, 1812. They continued for many years to +be one of the principal curiosities of the place, and were +visited by strangers from all parts. In 1816, the <!-- page +73--><a name="page73"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 73</span>Grand +Duke Nicholas (afterwards Emperor) of Russia observed the working +of Blenkinsop’s locomotive with curious interest and +admiration. An engine dragged as many as thirty +coal-waggons at a speed of about 3¼ miles per hour. +These engines continued for many years to be thus employed in the +haulage of coal, and furnished the first instance of the regular +employment of locomotive power for commercial purposes.</p> +<p>The Messrs. Chapman, of Newcastle, in 1812, endeavoured to +overcome the same fictitious difficulty of the want of adhesion +between the wheel and the rail, by patenting a locomotive to work +along the road by means of a chain stretched from one end of it +to the other. This chain was passed once round a grooved +barrel-wheel under the centre of the engine: so that, when the +wheel turned, the locomotive, as it were, dragged itself along +the railway. An engine, constructed after this plan, was +tried on the Heaton Railway, near Newcastle; but it was so clumsy +in its action, there was so great a loss of power by friction, +and it was found to be so expensive and difficult to keep in +repair, that it was soon abandoned. Another remarkable +expedient was adopted by Mr. Brunton, of the Butterley Works, +Derbyshire, who, in 1813, patented his Mechanical Traveller, to +go <i>upon legs</i> working alternately like those of a horse. <a +name="citation73"></a><a href="#footnote73" +class="citation">[73]</a> But this engine never got beyond +the experimental state, for, at its very first trial, the driver, +to make sure of a good start, overloaded the safety-valve, when +the boiler burst and killed a number of the bystanders, wounding +many more. These, and other contrivances with the same +object, projected about the same time, show that invention was +actively at work, and that many minds were anxiously <!-- page +74--><a name="page74"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +74</span>labouring to solve the important problem of locomotive +traction upon railways.</p> +<p>But the difficulties contended with by these early inventors, +and the step-by-step progress which they made, will probably be +best illustrated by the experiments conducted by Mr. Blackett, of +Wylam, which are all the more worthy of notice, as the +persevering efforts of this gentleman in a great measure paved +the way for the labours of George Stephenson, who, shortly after, +took up the question of steam locomotion, and brought it to a +successful issue.</p> +<p>The Wylam waggon-way is one of the oldest in the north of +England. Down to the year 1807 it was formed of wooden +spars or rails, laid down between the colliery at +Wylam—where old Robert Stephenson had worked—and the +village of Lemington, some four miles down the Tyne, where the +coals were loaded into keels or barges, and floated down past +Newcastle, to be shipped for London. Each chaldron-waggon +had a man in charge of it, and was originally drawn by one +horse. The rate at which the waggons were hauled was so +slow that only two journeys were performed by each man and horse +in one day, and three on the day following. This primitive +waggon-way passed, as before stated, close in front of the +cottage in which George Stephenson was born; and one of the +earliest sights which met his infant eyes was this wooden +tramroad worked by horses.</p> +<p>Mr. Blackett was the first colliery owner in the North who +took an active interest in the locomotive. Having formed +the acquaintance of Trevithick in London, and inspected the +performances of his engine, he determined to repeat the +Pen-y-darran experiment upon the Wylam waggon-way. He +accordingly obtained from Trevithick, in October, 1804, a plan of +his engine, provided with “friction-wheels,” and +employed Mr. John Whinfield, of Pipewellgate, Gateshead, to +construct it at his foundry there. The engine was +constructed under the superintendence of one John Steele, an +ingenious mechanic who had been in <!-- page 75--><a +name="page75"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 75</span>Wales, and +worked under Trevithick in fitting the engine at +Pen-y-darran. When the Gateshead locomotive was finished, a +temporary way was laid down in the works, on which it was run +backwards and forwards many times. For some reason, +however—it is said because the engine was deemed too light +for drawing the coal-trains—it never left the works, but +was dismounted from the wheels, and set to blow the cupola of the +foundry, in which service it long continued to be employed.</p> +<p>Several years elapsed before Mr. Blackett took any further +steps to carry out his idea. The final abandonment of +Trevithick’s locomotive at Pen-y-darran perhaps contributed +to deter him from proceeding further; but he had the wooden +tramway taken up in 1808, and a plate-way of cast-iron laid down +instead—a single line furnished with sidings to enable the +laden waggons to pass the empty ones. The new iron road +proved so much smoother than the old wooden one, that a single +horse, instead of drawing one, was now enabled to draw two, or +even three, laden waggons.</p> +<p>Encouraged by the success of Mr. Blenkinsop’s experiment +at Leeds, Mr. Blackett determined to follow his example; and in +1812 he ordered a second engine, to work with a toothed +driving-wheel upon a rack-rail. This locomotive was +constructed by Thomas Waters, of Gateshead, under the +superintendence of Jonathan Foster, Mr. Blackett’s +principal engine-wright. It was a combination of +Trevithick’s and Blenkinsop’s engines; but it was of +a more awkward construction than either. The boiler was of +cast-iron. The engine was provided with a single cylinder +six inches in diameter, with a fly-wheel working at one side to +carry the crank over the dead points. Jonathan Foster +described it to the author in 1854, as “a strange machine, +with lots of pumps, cog-wheels, and plugs, requiring constant +attention while at work.” The weight of the whole was +about six tons.</p> +<p>When finished, it was conveyed to Wylam on a waggon, <!-- page +76--><a name="page76"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 76</span>and +there mounted upon a wooden frame supported by four pairs of +wheels, which had been constructed for its reception. A +barrel of water, placed on another frame upon wheels, was +attached to it as a tender. After a great deal of labour, +the cumbrous machine was got upon the road. At first it +would not move an inch. Its maker, Tommy Waters, became +impatient, and at length enraged, and taking hold of the lever of +the safety valve, declared in his desperation, that “either +<i>she</i> or <i>he</i> should go.” At length the +machinery was set in motion, on which, as Jonathan Foster +described to the author “she flew all to pieces, and it was +the biggest wonder i’ the world that we were not all blewn +up.” The incompetent and useless engine was declared +to be a failure; it was shortly after dismounted and sold; and +Mr. Blackett’s praiseworthy efforts thus far proved in +vain.</p> +<p>He was still, however, desirous of testing the practicability +of employing locomotive power in working the coal down to +Lemington, and he determined on another trial. He +accordingly directed his engine-wright to proceed with the +building of a third engine in the Wylam workshops. This new +locomotive had a single 8-inch cylinder, was provided with a +fly-wheel like its predecessor, and the driving-wheel was cogged +on one side to enable it to travel in the rack-rail laid along +the road. This engine proved more successful than the +former one; and it was found capable of dragging eight or nine +loaded waggons, though at the rate of little more than a mile an +hour, from the colliery to the shipping-place. It sometimes +took six hours to perform the journey of five miles. Its +weight was found too great for the road, and the cast-iron plates +were constantly breaking. It was also very apt to get off +the rack-rail, and then it stood still. The driver was one +day asked how he got on? “Get on?” said he, +“we don’t get on; we only get off!” On +such occasions, horses had to be sent to drag the waggons as +before, and others to haul the engine back to the +work-shops. It was constantly getting out of order; its +plugs, <!-- page 77--><a name="page77"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 77</span>pumps, or cranks, got wrong; it was +under repair as often as at work; at length it became so cranky +that the horses were usually sent out after it to drag it when it +gave up; and the workmen generally declared it to be a +“perfect plague.” Mr. Blackett did not obtain +credit amongst his neighbours for these experiments. Many +laughed at his machines, regarding them only in the light of +crotchets,—frequently quoting the proverb that “a +fool and his money are soon parted.” Others regarded +them as absurd innovations on the established method of hauling +coal; and pronounced that they would “never +answer.”</p> +<p>Notwithstanding, however, the comparative failure of this +second locomotive, Mr. Blackett persevered with his +experiments. He was zealously assisted by Jonathan Foster +the engine-wright, and William Hedley, the viewer of the +colliery, a highly ingenious person, who proved of great use in +carrying out the experiments to a successful issue. One of +the chief causes of failure being the rack-rail, the idea +occurred to Mr. Hedley that it might be possible to secure +adhesion enough between the wheel and the rail by the mere weight +of the engine, and he proceeded to make a series of experiments +for the purpose of determining this problem. He had a frame +placed on four wheels, and fitted up with windlasses attached by +gearing to the several wheels. The frame having been +properly weighted, six men were set to work the windlasses; when +it was found that the adhesion of the smooth wheels on the smooth +rails was quite sufficient to enable them to propel the machine +without slipping. Having found the proportion which the +power bore to the weight, he demonstrated by successive +experiments that the weight of the engine would of itself produce +sufficient adhesion to enable it to draw upon a smooth railroad +the requisite number of waggons in all kinds of weather. +And thus was the fallacy which had heretofore prevailed on this +subject completely exploded, and it was satisfactorily proved +that rack-rails, toothed wheels, endless chains, and legs, were +alike unnecessary for <!-- page 78--><a name="page78"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 78</span>the efficient traction of loaded +waggons upon a moderately level road.</p> +<p>From this time forward considerably less difficulty was +experienced in working the coal trains upon the Wylam +tramroad. At length the rack-rail was dispensed with. +The road was laid with heavier rails; the working of the old +engine was improved; and a new engine was shortly after built and +placed upon the road, still on eight wheels, driven by seven +rack-wheels working inside them—with a wrought-iron boiler +through which the flue was returned so as largely to increase the +heating surface, and thus give increased power to the engine.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p78.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Improved Wylam Engine" +title= +"Improved Wylam Engine" +src="images/p78.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>As may readily be imagined, the jets of steam from the piston, +blowing off into the air at high pressure while the engine was in +motion, caused considerable annoyance to horses passing along the +Wylam road, at that time a public <!-- page 79--><a +name="page79"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +79</span>highway. The nuisance was felt to be almost +intolerable, and a neighbouring gentleman threatened to have it +put down. To diminish the noise as much as possible, Mr. +Blackett gave orders that so soon as any horse, or horses, came +in sight, the locomotive was to be stopped, and the frightful +blast of the engine thus suspended until the passing animals had +got out of hearing. Much interruption was thus caused to +the working of the railway, and it excited considerable +dissatisfaction amongst the workmen. The following plan was +adopted to abate the nuisance: a reservoir was provided +immediately behind the chimney (as shown in the preceding cut) +into which the waste steam was thrown after it had performed its +office in the cylinder; and from this reservoir, the steam +gradually escaped into the atmosphere without noise.</p> +<p>While Mr. Blackett was thus experimenting and building +locomotives at Wylam, George Stephenson was anxiously studying +the same subject at Killingworth. He was no sooner +appointed engine-wright of the collieries than his attention was +directed to the means of more economically hauling the coal from +the pits to the river-side. We have seen that one of the +first important improvements which he made, after being placed in +charge of the colliery machinery, was to apply the surplus power +of a pumping steam-engine, fixed underground, to drawing the +coals out of the deeper workings of the Killingworth +mines,—by which he succeeded in effecting a large reduction +in the expenditure on manual and horse labour.</p> +<p>The coals, when brought above ground, had next to be +laboriously dragged by horses to the shipping staiths on the +Tyne, several miles distant. The adoption of a tramroad, it +is true, had tended to facilitate their transit. +Nevertheless the haulage was both tedious and costly. With +the view of economising labour, Stephenson laid down inclined +planes where the nature of the ground would admit of this +expedient. Thus, a train of full waggons let down the +incline by means of a rope running over wheels laid along <!-- +page 80--><a name="page80"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +80</span>the tramroad, the other end of which was attached to a +train of empty waggons placed at the bottom of the parallel road +on the same incline, dragged them up by the simple power of +gravity. But this applied only to a comparatively small +part of the road. An economical method of working the coal +trains, instead of by horses,—the keep of which was at that +time very costly, from the high price of corn,—was still a +great desideratum; and the best practical minds in the collieries +were actively engaged in the attempt to solve the problem.</p> +<p>In the first place Stephenson resolved to make himself +thoroughly acquainted with what had already been done. Mr. +Blackett’s engines were working daily at Wylam, past the +cottage where he had been born; and thither he frequently went to +inspect the improvements made by Mr. Blackett from time to time +both in the locomotive and in the plateway along which it +worked. Jonathan Foster informed us that, after one of +these visits, Stephenson declared to him his conviction that a +much more effective engine might be made, that should work more +steadily and draw the load more effectively.</p> +<p>He had also the advantage, about the same time, of seeing one +of Blenkinsop’s Leeds engines, which was placed on the +tramway leading from the collieries of Kenton and Coxlodge, on +the 2nd September, 1813. This locomotive drew sixteen +chaldron waggons containing an aggregate weight of seventy tons, +at the rate of about three miles an hour. George Stephenson +and several of the Killingworth men were amongst the crowd of +spectators that day; and after examining the engine and observing +its performances, he observed to his companions, that “he +thought he could make a better engine than that, to go upon +legs.” Probably he had heard of the invention of +Brunton, whose patent had by this time been published, and proved +the subject of much curious speculation in the colliery +districts. Certain it is, that, shortly after the +inspection of the Coxlodge engine, he contemplated the +construction of a new <!-- page 81--><a name="page81"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 81</span>locomotive, which was to surpass all +that had preceded it. He observed that those engines which +had been constructed up to this time, however ingenious in their +arrangements, had proved practical failures. Mr. +Blackett’s was as yet both clumsy and expensive. +Chapman’s had been removed from the Heaton tramway in 1812, +and was regarded as a total failure. And the Blenkinsop +engine at Coxlodge was found very unsteady and costly in its +working; besides, it pulled the rails to pieces, the entire +strain being upon the rack-rail on one side of the road. +The boiler, however, having soon after blown up, there was an end +of that engine; and the colliery owners did not feel encouraged +to try any further experiment.</p> +<p>An efficient and economical working locomotive, therefore, +still remained to be invented; and to accomplish this object Mr. +Stephenson now applied himself. Profiting by what his +predecessors had done, warned by their failures and encouraged by +their partial successes, he commenced his labours. There +was still wanting the man who should accomplish for the +locomotive what James Watt had done for the steam-engine, and +combine in a complete form the best points in the separate plans +of others, embodying with them such original inventions and +adaptations of his own as to entitle him to the merit of +inventing the working locomotive, in the same manner as James +Watt is to be regarded as the inventor of the working +condensing-engine. This was the great work upon which +George Stephenson now entered, though probably without any +adequate idea of the ultimate importance of his labours to +society and civilization.</p> +<p>He proceeded to bring the subject of constructing a +“Travelling Engine,” as he then denominated the +locomotive, under the notice of the lessees of the Killingworth +Colliery, in the year 1813. Lord Ravensworth, the principal +partner, had already formed a very favourable opinion of the new +engine-wright, from the improvements which he had effected in the +colliery engines, both above and below <!-- page 82--><a +name="page82"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 82</span>ground; and, +after considering the matter, and hearing Stephenson’s +explanations, he authorised him to proceed with the construction +of a locomotive,—though his lordship was, by some, called a +fool for advancing money for such a purpose. “The +first locomotive that I made,” said Stephenson, many years +after, <a name="citation82"></a><a href="#footnote82" +class="citation">[82]</a> when speaking of his early career at a +public meeting in Newcastle, “was at Killingworth Colliery, +and with Lord Ravensworth’s money. Yes; Lord +Ravensworth and partners were the first to entrust me, thirty-two +years since, with money to make a locomotive engine. I said +to my friends, there was no limit to the speed of such an engine, +if the works could be made to stand.”</p> +<p>Our engine-wright had, however, many obstacles to encounter +before he could get fairly to work with the erection of his +locomotive. His chief difficulty was in finding workmen +sufficiently skilled in mechanics, and in the use of tools, to +follow his instructions and embody his designs in a practical +shape. The tools then in use about the collieries were rude +and clumsy; and there were no such facilities as now exist for +turning out machinery of an entirely new character. +Stephenson was under the necessity of working with such men and +tools as were at his command; and he had in a great measure to +train and instruct the workmen himself. The engine was +built in the workshops at the West Moor, the leading mechanic +employed being the colliery blacksmith, an excellent workman in +his way, though quite new to the work now entrusted to him.</p> +<p>In this first locomotive constructed at Killingworth, +Stephenson to some extent followed the plan of Blenkinsop’s +engine. The boiler was cylindrical, of wrought iron, 8 feet +in length and 34 inches in diameter, with an internal flue-tube +20 inches wide passing through it. The engine <!-- page +83--><a name="page83"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 83</span>had +two vertical cylinders of 8 inches diameter, and 2 feet stroke, +let into the boiler, working the propelling gear with cross heads +and connecting rods. The power of the two cylinders was +combined by means of spurwheels, which communicated the motive +power to the wheels supporting the engine on the rail, instead +of, as in Blenkinsop’s engine, to cogwheels which acted on +the cogged rail independent of the four supporting wheels. +The engine thus worked upon what is termed the second +motion. The chimney was of wrought iron, round which was a +chamber extending back to the feed-pumps, for the purpose of +heating the water previous to its injection into the +boiler. The engine had no springs, and was mounted on a +wooden frame supported on four wheels. In order to +neutralise as much as possible the jolts and shocks which such an +engine would necessarily encounter from the obstacles and +inequalities of the then very imperfect plateway, the +water-barrel which served for a tender was fixed to the end of a +lever and weighted, the other end of the lever being connected +with the frame of the locomotive carriage. By this means +the weight of the two was more equally distributed, though the +contrivance did not by any means compensate for the absence of +springs.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p83.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Spur-gear" +title= +"The Spur-gear" +src="images/p83.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The wheels of the locomotive were all smooth, Mr. Stephenson +having satisfied himself by experiment that the adhesion between +the wheels of a loaded engine and the rail would be sufficient +for the purpose of traction. Robert Stephenson informed us +that his father caused a number of workmen to mount upon the +wheels of a waggon moderately loaded, and throw their entire +weight upon the spokes on one side, when he found that the waggon +could thus be easily propelled forward without the wheels +slipping. This, together with other experiments, satisfied +him <!-- page 84--><a name="page84"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +84</span>of the expediency of adopting smooth wheels on his +engine, and it was so finished accordingly.</p> +<p>The engine was, after much labour and anxiety, and frequent +alterations of parts, at length brought to completion, having +been about ten months in hand. It was placed upon the +Killingworth Railway on the 25th July, 1814; and its powers were +tried on the same day. On an ascending gradient of 1 in +450, the engine succeeded in drawing after it eight loaded +carriages of thirty tons’ weight at about four miles an +hour; and for some time after it continued regularly at work.</p> +<p>Although a considerable advance upon previous locomotives, +“Blutcher” (as the engine was popularly called) was +nevertheless a somewhat cumbrous and clumsy machine. The +parts were huddled together. The boiler constituted the +principal feature; and being the foundation of the other parts, +it was made to do duty not only as a generator of steam, but also +as a basis for the fixings of the machinery and for the bearings +of the wheels and axles. The want of springs was seriously +felt; and the progress of the engine was a succession of jolts, +causing considerable derangement to the machinery. The mode +of communicating the motive power to the wheels by means of the +spur-gear also caused frequent jerks, each cylinder alternately +propelling or becoming propelled by the other, as the pressure of +the one upon the wheels became greater or less than the pressure +of the other; and when the teeth of the cogwheels became at all +worn, a rattling noise was produced during the travelling of the +engine.</p> +<p>As the principal test of the success of the locomotive was its +economy as compared with horse power, careful calculations were +made with the view of ascertaining this important point. +The result was, that it was found the working of the engine was +at first barely economical; and at the end of the year the steam +power and the horse power were ascertained to be as nearly as +possible upon a par in point of cost. The fate of the +locomotive in a great <!-- page 85--><a name="page85"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 85</span>measure depended on this very +engine. Its speed was not beyond that of a horse’s +walk, and the heating surface presented to the fire being +comparatively small, sufficient steam could not be raised to +enable it to accomplish more on an average than about four miles +an hour. The result was anything but decisive; and the +locomotive might have been condemned as useless, had not our +engineer at this juncture applied the steam-blast, and by its +means carried his experiment to a triumphant issue.</p> +<p>The steam, after performing its duty in the cylinders, was at +first allowed to escape into the open atmosphere with a hissing +blast, to the terror of horses and cattle. It was +complained of as a nuisance; and an action at law against the +colliery lessees was threatened unless it was stopped. +Stephenson’s attention had been drawn to the much greater +velocity with which the steam issued from the exit pipe compared +with that at which the smoke escaped from the chimney. He +conceived that, by conveying the eduction steam into the chimney, +by means of a small pipe, after it had performed its office in +the cylinders, allowing it to escape in a vertical direction, its +velocity would be imparted to the smoke from the fire, or to the +ascending current of air in the chimney, thereby increasing the +draft, and consequently the intensity of combustion in the +furnace.</p> +<p>The experiment was no sooner made than the power of the engine +was at once more than doubled; combustion was stimulated by the +blast; consequently the capability of the boiler to generate +steam was greatly increased, and the effective power of the +engine augmented in precisely the same proportion, without in any +way adding to its weight. This simple but beautiful +expedient was really fraught with the most important consequences +to railway communication; and it is not too much to say that the +success of the locomotive has in a great measure been the result +of its adoption. Without the steam-blast, by means of which +the intensity of combustion is maintained at its highest point, +producing a correspondingly rapid evolution of steam, high <!-- +page 86--><a name="page86"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +86</span>rates of speed could not have been kept up; the +advantages of the multi-tubular boiler (afterwards invented) +could never have been fairly tested; and locomotives might still +have been dragging themselves unwieldily along at little more +than five or six miles an hour.</p> +<p>The steam-blast had scarcely been adopted, with so decided a +success, when Stephenson, observing the numerous defects in his +engine, and profiting by the experience which he had already +acquired, determined to construct a second engine, in which to +embody his improvements in their best form. Careful and +cautious observation of the working of his locomotive had +convinced him that the complication arising out of the action of +the two cylinders being combined by spur-wheels would prevent its +coming into practical use. He accordingly directed his +attention to an entire change in the construction and mechanical +arrangements of the machine; and in the following year, +conjointly with Mr. Dodds, who provided the necessary funds, he +took out a patent, dated the 28th of February, 1815, for an +engine which combined in a remarkable degree the essential +requisites of an economical locomotive; that is to say, few +parts, simplicity in their action, and directness in the mode by +which the power was communicated to the wheels supporting the +engine.</p> +<p>This locomotive, like the first, had two vertical cylinders, +which communicated <i>directly</i> with each pair of the four +wheels that supported the engine, by means of a cross head and a +pair of connecting rods. But in attempting to establish a +direct communication between the cylinders and the wheels that +rolled upon the rails, considerable difficulties presented +themselves. The ordinary joints could not be employed to +unite the parts of the engine, which was a rigid mass, with the +wheels lolling upon the irregular surface of the rails; for it +was evident that the two rails of the line of way—more +especially in those early days of imperfect construction of the +permanent road—could not always be maintained at the same +level,—that the wheel at <!-- page 87--><a +name="page87"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 87</span>one end of +the axle might be depressed into one part of the line which had +subsided, whilst the other wheel would be comparatively elevated; +and in such a position of the axle and wheels, it was obvious +that a rigid communication between the cross head and the wheels +was impracticable. Hence it became necessary to form a +joint at the top of the piston-rod where it united with the cross +head, so as to permit the cross head to preserve complete +parallelism with the axle of the wheels with which it was in +communication.</p> +<p>In order to obtain that degree of flexibility combined with +direct action, which was essential for ensuring power and +avoiding needless friction and jars from irregularities in the +road, Stephenson made use of the “ball and socket” +joint for effecting a union between the ends of the cross heads +where they united with the connecting rods, and between the ends +of the connecting rods where they were united with the crank-pins +attached to each driving-wheel. By this arrangement the +parallelism between the cross head and the axle was at all times +maintained and preserved, without producing any serious jar or +friction on any part of the machine. Another important +point was, to combine each pair of wheels by means of some simple +mechanism instead of by the cogwheels which had formerly been +used. And, with this object, Stephenson made cranks in each +axle at right angles to each other, with rods communicating +horizontally between them.</p> +<p>A locomotive was constructed upon this plan in 1815, and was +found to answer extremely well. But at that period the +mechanical skill of the country was not equal to forging cranked +axles of the soundness and strength necessary to stand the jars +incident to locomotive work. Stephenson was accordingly +compelled to fall back upon a substitute, which, although less +simple and efficient, was within the mechanical capabilities of +the workmen of that day, in respect of construction as well as +repair. He adopted a chain which rolled over indented +wheels placed on the <!-- page 88--><a name="page88"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 88</span>centre of each axle, and was so +arranged that the two pairs of wheels were effectually coupled +and made to keep pace with each other. The chain, however, +after a few years’ use, became stretched; and then the +engines were liable to irregularity in their working, especially +in changing from working back to working forward again. +Eventually the chain was laid aside, and the front and hind +wheels were united by rods on the outside, instead of by rods and +crank axles inside, as specified in the original patent. +This expedient completely answered the purpose required, without +involving any expensive or difficult workmanship.</p> +<p>Thus, in 1815, by dint of patient and persevering +labour,—by careful observation of the works of others, and +never neglecting to avail himself of their +suggestions,—Stephenson succeeded in manufacturing an +engine which included the following important improvements on all +previous attempts in the same direction:—viz., simple and +direct communication between the cylinders and the wheels rolling +upon the rails; joint adhesion of all the wheels, attained by the +use of horizontal connecting-rods; and finally, a beautiful +method of exciting the combustion of the fuel by employing the +waste steam, which had formerly been allowed to escape uselessly +into the air. Although many improvements in detail were +afterwards introduced in the locomotive by George Stephenson +himself, as well as by his equally distinguished son, it is +perhaps not too much to say that this engine, as a mechanical +contrivance, contained the germ of all that has since been +effected. It may in fact be regarded as the type of the +present locomotive engine.</p> +<h2><!-- page 89--><a name="page89"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +89</span>CHAPTER VI.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Invention of the</span> “<span +class="smcap">Geordy</span>” <span +class="smcap">Safety-Lamp</span>.</h2> +<p>Explosions of fire-damp were unusually frequent in the coal +mines of Northumberland and Durham about the time when George +Stephenson was engaged in the construction of his first +locomotives. These explosions were often attended with +fearful loss of life and dreadful suffering to the +workpeople. Killingworth Colliery was not free from such +deplorable calamities; and during the time that Stephenson was +employed as a brakesman at the West Moor, several +“blasts” took place in the pit, by which many workmen +were scorched and killed, and the owners of the colliery +sustained heavy losses. One of the most serious of these +accidents occurred in 1806, not long after he had been appointed +brakesman, by which 10 persons were killed. Stephenson was +working at the mouth of the pit at the time, and the +circumstances connected with the accident made a deep impression +on his mind.</p> +<p>Another explosion took place in the same pit in 1809, by which +12 persons lost their lives. The blast did not reach the +shaft as in the former case; the unfortunate persons in the pit +having been suffocated by the after-damp. More calamitous +still were the explosions which took place in the neighbouring +collieries; one of the worst being that of 1812, in the Felling +Pit, near Gateshead, by which no fewer than 90 men and boys were +suffocated or burnt to death. And a similar accident +occurred in the same pit in the year following, by which 22 +persons perished.</p> +<p>It was natural that George Stephenson should devote his +attention to the causes of these deplorable accidents, and to the +means by which they might if possible be prevented. <!-- +page 90--><a name="page90"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +90</span>His daily occupation led him to think much and deeply on +the subject. As engine-wright of a colliery so extensive as +that of Killingworth, where there were nearly 160 miles of +gallery excavation, in which he personally superintended the +working of the inclined planes along which the coals were sent to +the pit entrance, he was necessarily very often underground, and +brought face to face with the dangers of fire-damp. From +fissures in the roofs of the galleries, carburetted hydrogen gas +was constantly flowing; in some of the more dangerous places it +might be heard escaping from the crevices of the coal with a +hissing noise. Ventilation, firing, and all conceivable +modes of drawing out the foul air had been adopted, and the more +dangerous parts of the galleries were built up. Still the +danger could not be wholly prevented. The miners must +necessarily guide their steps through the extensive underground +ways with lighted lamps or candles, the naked flame of which, +coming in contact with the inflammable air, daily exposed them +and their fellow-workers in the pit to the risk of death in one +of its most dreadful forms.</p> +<p>One day, in 1814, a workman hurried into Stephenson’s +cottage with the startling information that the deepest main of +the colliery was on fire! He immediately hastened to the +pit-head, about a hundred yards off, whither the women and +children of the colliery were running, with wildness and terror +depicted in every face. In a commanding voice Stephenson +ordered the engineman to lower him down the shaft in the +corve. There was peril, it might be death, before him, but +he must go.</p> +<p>He was soon at the bottom, and in the midst of the men, who +were paralysed by the danger which threatened the lives of all in +the pit. Leaping from the corve on its touching the ground, +he called out; “Are there six men among you who have +courage to follow me? If so, come, and we will put the fire +out.” The Killingworth pitmen had the most perfect +confidence in their engine-wright, and they readily volunteered +to follow him.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 91--><a +name="page91"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 91</span> +<a href="images/p91.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Pit Head, West Moor" +title= +"The Pit Head, West Moor" +src="images/p91.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Silence succeeded the frantic tumult of the previous minute, +and the men set to work with a will. In every mine, bricks, +mortar, and tools enough are at hand, and by Stephenson’s +direction the materials were forthwith carried to the required +spot, where, in a very short time a wall was raised at the +entrance to the main, he himself taking the most active part in +the work. The atmospheric air was by this means excluded, +the fire was extinguished, the people were saved from death, and +the mine was preserved.</p> +<p>This anecdote of Stephenson was related to the writer, near +the pit-mouth, by one of the men who had been present and helped +to build up the brick wall by which the fire was stayed, though +several workmen were suffocated. He related that, when down +the pit some days after, seeking out the dead bodies, the cause +of the accident was the subject of conversation, and Stephenson +was asked, “Can nothing be done to prevent such awful +occurrences?” His reply was that he thought something +might be done. <!-- page 92--><a name="page92"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 92</span>“Then,” said the other, +“the sooner you start the better; for the price of +coal-mining now is <i>pitmen’s lives</i>.”</p> +<p>Fifty years since, many of the best pits were so full of the +inflammable gas given forth by the coal, that they could not be +worked without the greatest danger; and for this reason some were +altogether abandoned, The rudest possible methods were adopted of +producing light sufficient to enable the pitmen to work by. +The phosphorescence of decayed fish-skins was tried; but this, +though safe, was very inefficient. The most common method +employed was what was called a steel mill, the notched wheel of +which, being made to revolve against a flint, struck a succession +of sparks, which scarcely served to do more than make the +darkness visible. A boy carried the apparatus after the +miner, working the wheel, and by the imperfect light thus given +forth he plied his dangerous trade. Candles were only used +in those parts of the pit where gas was not abundant. Under +this rude system not more than one-third of the coal could be +worked; and two-thirds were left.</p> +<p>What the workmen, not less than the coal-owners, eagerly +desired was, a lamp that should give forth sufficient light, +without communicating flame to the inflammable gas which +accumulated in certain parts of the pit. Something had +already been attempted towards the invention of such a lamp by +Dr. Clanny, of Sunderland, who, in 1813, contrived an apparatus +to which he gave air from the mine through water, by means of +bellows. This lamp went out of itself in inflammable +gas. It was found, however, too unwieldy to be used by the +miners for the purposes of their work, and did not come into +general use. A committee of gentlemen was formed to +investigate the causes of the explosions, and to devise, if +possible, some means of preventing them. At the invitation +of that Committee, Sir Humphry Davy, then in the full zenith of +his reputation, was requested to turn his attention to the +subject. He accordingly visited the collieries near +Newcastle on the 24th of August, 1815; and on the 9th of November +following, he read before the Royal <!-- page 93--><a +name="page93"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 93</span>Society of +London his celebrated paper “On the Fire-Damp of Coal +Mines, and on Methods of lighting the Mine so as to prevent its +explosion.”</p> +<p>But a humbler though not less diligent and original thinker +had been at work before him, and had already practically solved +the problem of the Safety-Lamp. Stephenson was of course +well aware of the anxiety which prevailed in the colliery +districts as to the invention of a lamp which should give light +enough for the miners to work by without exploding the +fire-damp. The painful incidents above described only +served to quicken his eagerness to master the difficulty.</p> +<p>For several years he had been engaged, in his own rude way, in +making experiments with the fire-damp in the Killingworth +mine. The pitmen used to expostulate with him on these +occasions, believing his experiments to be fraught with +danger. One of the sinkers, observing him holding up +lighted candles to the windward of the “blower” or +fissure from which the inflammable gas escaped, entreated him to +desist; but Stephenson’s answer was, that “he was +busy with a plan by which he hoped to make his experiments useful +for preserving men’s lives.” On these occasions +the miners usually got out of the way before he lit the gas.</p> +<p>In 1815, although he was very much occupied with the business +of the collieries and the improvement of his locomotive engine, +he was also busily engaged in making experiments upon inflammable +gas in the Killingworth pit. According to the explanation +afterwards given by him, he imagined that if he could construct a +lamp with a chimney so arranged as to cause a strong current, it +would not fire at the top of the chimney; as the burnt air would +ascend with such a velocity as to prevent the inflammable air of +the pit from descending towards the flame; and such a lamp, he +thought, might be taken into a dangerous atmosphere without risk +of exploding.</p> +<p>Such was Stephenson’s theory when he proceeded to <!-- +page 94--><a name="page94"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +94</span>embody his idea of a miner’s safety-lamp in a +practical form. In the month of August, 1815, he requested +his friend Nicholas Wood, the head viewer, to prepare a drawing +of a lamp according to the description which he gave him. +After several evenings’ careful deliberations, the drawing +was made, and shown to several of the head men about the +works.</p> +<p>Stephenson proceeded to order a lamp to be made by a Newcastle +tinman, according to his plan; and at the same time he directed a +glass to be made for the lamp at the Northumberland Glass +House. Both were received by him from the makers on the +21st October, and the lamp was taken to Killingworth for the +purpose of immediate experiment.</p> +<p>“I remember that evening as distinctly as if it had been +but yesterday,” said Robert Stephenson, describing the +circumstances to the author in 1857: “Moodie came to our +cottage about dusk, and asked, ‘if father had got back yet +with the lamp?’ ‘No.’ ‘Then +I’ll wait till he comes,’ said Moodie, ‘he +can’t be long now.’ In about half-an-hour, in +came my father, his face all radiant. He had the lamp with +him! It was at once uncovered, and shown to Moodie. +Then it was filled with oil, trimmed, and lighted. All was +ready, only the head viewer hadn’t arrived. +‘Run over to Benton for Nichol, Robert,’ said my +father to me, ‘and ask him to come directly; say +we’re going down the pit to try the lamp.’ By +this time it was quite dark; and off I ran to bring Nicholas +Wood. His house was at Benton, about a mile off. +There was a short cut through the Churchyard, but just as I was +about to pass the wicket, I saw what I thought was a white figure +moving about amongst the grave-stones. I took it for a +ghost! My heart fluttered, and I was in a great fright, but +to Wood’s house I must get, so I made the circuit of the +Churchyard; and when I got round to the other side I looked, and +lo! the figure was still there. But what do you think it +was? Only the grave-digger, plying his work at that late +hour by <!-- page 95--><a name="page95"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 95</span>the light of his lanthorn set upon +one of the gravestones! I found Wood at home, and in a few +minutes he was mounted and off to my father’s. When I +got back, I was told they had just left—it was then about +eleven—and gone down the shaft to try the lamp in one of +the most dangerous parts of the mine.”</p> +<p>Arrived at the bottom of the shaft with the lamp, the party +directed their steps towards one of the foulest galleries in the +pit, where the explosive gas was issuing through a blower in the +roof of the mine with a loud hissing noise. By erecting +some deal boarding round that part of the gallery into which the +gas was escaping, the air was made more foul for the purpose of +the experiment. After waiting about an hour, Moodie, whose +practical experience of fire-damp in pits was greater than that +of either Stephenson or Wood, was requested to go into the place +which had thus been made foul; and, having done so, he returned, +and told them that the smell of the air was such, that if a +lighted candle were now introduced, an explosion must inevitably +take place. He cautioned Stephenson as to the danger both +to themselves and to the pit, if the gas took fire. But +Stephenson declared his confidence in the safety of his lamp, +and, having lit the wick, he boldly proceeded with it towards the +explosive air. The others, more timid and doubtful, hung +back when they came within hearing of the blower; and +apprehensive of the danger, they retired into a safe place, out +of sight of the lamp, which gradually disappeared with its bearer +in the recesses of the mine. <a name="citation95"></a><a +href="#footnote95" class="citation">[95]</a></p> +<p><!-- page 96--><a name="page96"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +96</span>Advancing to the place of danger, and entering within +the fouled air, his lighted lamp in hand, Stephenson held it +finally out, in the full current of the blower, and within a few +inches of its mouth. Thus exposed, the flame of the lamp at +first increased, then flickered, and then went out; but there was +no explosion of the gas. Returning to his companions, who +were still at a distance, he told them what had occurred. +Having now acquired somewhat more confidence, they advanced with +him to a point from which they could observe him repeat his +experiment, but still at a safe distance. They saw that +<!-- page 97--><a name="page97"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +97</span>when the lighted lamp was held within the explosive +mixture, there was a great flame; the lamp became almost full of +fire; and then it smothered out. Again returning to his +companions, he relighted the lamp, and repeated the experiment +several times with the same result. At length Wood and +Moodie ventured to advance close to the fouled part of the pit; +and, in making some of the later trials, Mr. Wood himself held up +the lighted lamp to the blower.</p> +<p>Before leaving the pit, Stephenson expressed his opinion that +by an alteration of the lamp which he then contemplated, he could +make it burn better; this was by a change in the slide through +which the air was admitted into the lower part, under the +flame. After making some experiments on the air collected +at the blower, by bladders which were mounted with tubes of +various diameters, he satisfied himself that, when the tube was +reduced to a certain diameter, the foul air would not pass +through; and he fashioned his slide accordingly, reducing the +diameter of the tube until he conceived it was quite safe. +In about a fortnight the experiments were repeated, in a place +purposely made foul as before; on this occasion a larger number +of persons ventured to witness them, and they again proved +successful. The lamp was not yet, however, so efficient as +the inventor desired. It required, he observed, to be kept +very steady when burning in the inflammable gas, otherwise it was +liable to go out, in consequence, as he imagined, of the contact +of the burnt air (as he then called it), or azotic gas, which +lodged round the exterior of the flame. If the lamp was +moved horizontally, the azote came in contact with the flame and +extinguished it. “It struck me,” said he, +“that if I put more tubes in, I should discharge the +poisonous matter that hung round the flame, by admitting the air +to its exterior part.” Although he had then no access +to scientific books, nor intercourse with scientific men, nor +anything that could assist him in his investigation, besides his +own indefatigable spirit of inquiry, he contrived a rude +apparatus by which he tested the explosive properties of the gas +and <!-- page 98--><a name="page98"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +98</span>the velocity of current (for this was the direction of +his inquiries) necessary to enable the explosive gas to pass +through tubes of different diameters. In making these +experiments in his humble cottage at the West Moor, Nicholas Wood +and George’s son Robert usually acted as his assistants, +and sometimes the gentlemen of the neighbourhood interested in +coal-mining attended as spectators.</p> +<p>These experiments were not performed without risk, for on one +occasion the experimenting party had nearly blown off the roof of +the cottage. One of these “blows up” was +described by Stephenson himself before the Committee on Accidents +in Coal Mines, in 1835: “I made several experiments,” +said he, “as to the velocity required in tubes of different +diameters, to prevent explosion from fire-damp. We made the +mixtures in all proportions of light carburetted hydrogen with +atmospheric air in the receiver, and we found by the experiments +that when a current of the most explosive mixture that we could +make was forced up a tube 4/10 of an inch in diameter, the +necessary current was 9 inches in a second to prevent its coming +down that tube. These experiments were repeated several +times. We had two or three blows up in making the +experiments, by the flame getting down into the receiver, though +we had a piece of very fine wire-gauze put at the bottom of the +pipe, between the receiver and the pipe through which we were +forcing the current. In one of these experiments I was +watching the flame in the tube, my son was taking the vibrations +of the pendulum of the clock, and Mr. Wood was attending to give +me the column of water as I called for it, to keep the current up +to a certain point. As I saw the flame descending in the +tube I called for more water, and Wood unfortunately turned the +cock the wrong way, the current ceased, the flame went down the +tube, and all our implements were blown to pieces, which at the +time we were not very able to replace.”</p> +<p>Stephenson followed up those experiments by others of a +similar kind, with the view of ascertaining whether <!-- page +99--><a name="page99"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +99</span>ordinary flame would pass through tubes of a small +diameter and with this object he filed off the barrels of several +small keys. Placing these together, he held them +perpendicularly over a strong flame, and ascertained that it did +not pass upward. This was a further proof to him of the +soundness of the course he was pursuing.</p> +<p>In order to correct the defect of his first lamp he resolved +to alter it so as to admit the air to the flame by several tubes +of reduced diameter, instead of by a single tube. He +inferred that a sufficient quantity of air would thus be +introduced into the lamp for the purposes of combustion, while +the smallness of the apertures would still prevent the explosive +gas passing downwards, at the same time that the “burnt +air” (the cause, in his opinion, of the lamp going out) +would be more effectually dislodged. He accordingly took +the lamp to a tinman in Newcastle, and had it altered so that the +air was admitted by three small tubes inserted in the bottom of +the lamp, the openings of which were placed on the outside of the +burner, instead of having (as in the original lamp) the one tube +opening directly under the flame.</p> +<p>This second or altered lamp was tried in the Killingworth pit +on the 4th November, and was found to burn better than the first, +and to be perfectly safe. But as it did not yet come quite +up to the inventor’s expectations, he proceeded to contrive +a third lamp, in which he proposed to surround the oil vessel +with a number of capillary tubes. Then it struck him, that +if he cut off the middle of the tubes, or made holes in metal +plates, placed at a distance from each other, equal to the length +of the tubes, the air would get in better, and the effect in +preventing explosion would be the same.</p> +<p>He was encouraged to persevere in the completion of his +safety-lamp by the occurrence of several fatal accidents about +this time in the Killingworth pit. On the 9th November a +boy was killed by a blast in the <i>A</i> pit, at the very place +where Stephenson had made the experiments <!-- page 100--><a +name="page100"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 100</span>with his +first lamp; and, when told of the accident, he observed that if +the boy had been provided with his lamp, his life would have been +saved. On the 20th November he went over to Newcastle to +order his third lamp from a plumber in that town. The +plumber referred him to his clerk, whom Stephenson invited to +join him at a neighbouring public-house, where they might quietly +talk over the matter, and finally settle the plan of the new +lamp. They adjourned to the “Newcastle Arms,” +near the present High Level Bridge, where they had some ale, and +a design of the lamp was drawn in pencil upon a half-sheet of +foolscap, with a rough specification subjoined. The sketch, +when shown to us by Robert Stephenson some years since, still +bore the marks of the ale. It was a very rude design, but +sufficient to work from. It was immediately placed in the +hands of the workmen, finished in the course of a few days, and +experimentally tested in the Killingworth pit like the previous +lamps, on the 30th November. At that time neither +Stephenson nor Wood had heard of Sir Humphry Davy’s +experiments nor of the lamp which that gentleman proposed to +construct.</p> +<p>An angry controversy afterwards took place as to the +respective merits of George Stephenson and Sir Humphry Davy in +respect of the invention of the safety-lamp. A committee +was formed on both sides, and the facts were stated in various +ways. It is perfectly clear, however, that Stephenson had +ascertained <i>the fact</i> that flame will not pass through +tubes of a certain diameter—the principle on which the +safety-lamp is constructed—before Sir Humphry Davy had +formed any definite idea on the subject, or invented the model +lamp afterwards exhibited by him before the Royal Society. +Stephenson had actually constructed a lamp on such a principle, +and proved its safety, before Sir Humphry had communicated his +views on the subject to any person; and by the time that the +first public intimation had been given of his discovery, +Stephenson’s second lamp had been constructed and tested in +like manner in the <!-- page 101--><a name="page101"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 101</span>Killingworth pit. The +<i>first</i> was tried on the 21st October, 1815; the +<i>second</i> was tried on the 4th November; but it was not until +the 9th November that Sir Humphry Davy presented his first lamp +to the public. And by the 30th of the same month, as we +have seen, Stephenson had constructed and tested his <i>third</i> +safety-lamp.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p101.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Davy’s and Stephenson’s Safety Lamps" +title= +"Davy’s and Stephenson’s Safety Lamps" +src="images/p101.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Stephenson’s theory of the “burnt air” and +the “draught” was no doubt wrong; but his lamp was +right, and that was the great fact which mainly concerned +him. Torricelli did not know the rationale of his tube, nor +Otto Gürike that of his air-pump; yet no one thinks of +denying them the merit of their inventions on that account. +The discoveries of Volta and Galvani were in like manner +independent of theory; the greatest discoveries consisting in +bringing to light certain grand facts, on which theories are +afterwards framed. Our inventor had been pursuing the +Baconian <!-- page 102--><a name="page102"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 102</span>method, though he did not think of +that, but of inventing a safe lamp, which he knew could only be +done through the process of repeated experiment. He +experimented upon the fire-damp at the blowers in the mine, and +also by means of the apparatus which was blown up in his cottage, +as above described by himself. By experiment he distinctly +ascertained that the explosion of fire-damp could not pass +through small tubes; and he also did what had not before been +done by any inventor—he constructed a lamp on this +principle, and repeatedly proved its safety at the risk of his +life. At the same time, there is no doubt that it was to +Sir Humphry Davy that the merit belonged of having pointed out +the true law on which the safety-lamp is constructed.</p> +<p>The subject of this important invention excited so much +interest in the northern mining districts, and Stephenson’s +numerous friends considered his lamp so completely +successful—having stood the test of repeated +experiments—that they urged him to bring his invention +before the Philosophical and Literary Society of Newcastle, of +whose apparatus he had availed himself in the course of his +experiments on fire-damp. After much persuasion he +consented, and a meeting was appointed for the purpose of +receiving his explanations, on the evening of the 5th December, +1815. Stephenson was at that time so diffident in manner +and unpractised in speech, that he took with him his friend +Nicholas Wood, to act as his interpreter and expositor on the +occasion. From eighty to a hundred of the most intelligent +members of the society were present at the meeting, when Mr. Wood +stood forward to expound the principles on which the lamp had +been formed, and to describe the details of its +construction. Several questions were put, to which Mr. Wood +proceeded to give replies to the best of his knowledge. But +Stephenson, who up to that time had stood behind Wood, screened +from notice, observing that the explanations given were not quite +correct, could no longer control his reserve, and, standing +forward, he proceeded in his strong Northumbrian dialect, to +describe the lamp, down to its <!-- page 103--><a +name="page103"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 103</span>minutest +details. He then produced several bladders full of +carburetted hydrogen, which he had collected from the blowers in +the Killingworth mine, and proved the safety of his lamp by +numerous experiments with the gas, repeated in various ways; his +earnest and impressive manner exciting in the minds of his +auditors the liveliest interest both in the inventor and his +invention.</p> +<p>Shortly after, Sir H. Davy’s model lamp was received and +exhibited to the coal-miners at Newcastle, on which occasion the +observation was made by several gentlemen, “Why, it is the +same as Stephenson’s!”</p> +<p>Notwithstanding Stephenson’s claim to be regarded as the +first inventor of the Tube Safety-lamp, his merits do not seem to +have been generally recognised; and Sir Humphry Davy carried off +the larger share of the <i>éclat</i> which attached to the +discovery. What chance had the unknown workman of +Killingworth with so distinguished a competitor? The one +was as yet but a colliery engine-wright, scarce raised above the +manual-labour class, pursuing his experiments in obscurity, with +a view only to usefulness; the other was the scientific prodigy +of his day, the most brilliant of lecturers, and the most popular +of philosophers.</p> +<p>No small indignation was expressed by the friends of Sir +Humphry Davy at Stephenson’s “presumption” in +laying claim to the invention of the safety-lamp. In 1831 +Dr. Paris, in his ‘Life of Sir Humphry Davy,’ thus +wrote:—“It will hereafter be scarcely believed that +an invention so eminently scientific, and which could never have +been derived but from the sterling treasury of science, should +have been claimed on behalf of an engine-wright of Killingworth, +of the name of Stephenson—a person not even possessing a +knowledge of the elements of chemistry.”</p> +<p>But Stephenson was far above claiming for himself any +invention not his own. He had already accomplished a far +greater feat than the making of a safety-lamp—he had +constructed a successful locomotive, which was to be seen in +daily work on the Killingworth railway. By the <!-- page +104--><a name="page104"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +104</span>improvements he had made in the engine, he might almost +be said to have <i>invented</i> it; but no one—not even the +philosophers—detected the significance of that wonderful +machine. What railways were to become, rested in a great +measure with that “engine-wright of Killingworth, of the +name of Stephenson,” though he was scarcely known as yet +beyond the bounds of his own district.</p> +<p>As to the value of the invention of the safety-lamp there +could be no doubt; and the colliery owners of Durham and +Northumberland, to testify their sense of its importance, +determined to present a testimonial to its inventor. The +friends of Sir H. Davy met in August, 1816, to take steps for +raising a subscription for the purpose. The advertised +object of the meeting was to present him with a reward for +“the invention of <i>his</i> safety-lamp.” To +this no objection could be taken; for though the principle on +which the safety-lamps of Stephenson and Davy were constructed +was the same; and although Stephenson’s lamp was, +unquestionably, the first successful lamp that had been +constructed on such principle, and proved to be +efficient,—yet Sir H. Davy did invent a safety-lamp, no +doubt quite independent of all that Stephenson had done; and +having directed his careful attention to the subject, and +elucidated the true theory of explosion of carburetted hydrogen, +he was entitled to all praise and reward for his labours. +But when the meeting of coal-owners proposed to raise a +subscription for the purpose of presenting Sir H. Davy with a +reward for “his invention of <i>the</i> safety-lamp,” +the case was entirely altered; and Stephenson’s friends +then proceeded to assert his claims to be regarded as its first +inventor.</p> +<p>Many meetings took place on the subject, and much discussion +ensued, the result of which was that a sum of £2000 was +presented to Sir Humphry Davy as “the inventor of the +safety-lamp;” but, at the same time, a purse of 100 guineas +was voted to George Stephenson, in consideration of what he had +done in the same direction. This result was, however very +unsatisfactory to Stephenson, as well as to his friends, <!-- +page 105--><a name="page105"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +105</span>and Mr. Brandling, of Gosforth, suggested to him that, +the subject being now fairly before the public, he should publish +a statement of the facts on which his claim was founded.</p> +<p>This was not at all in George’s line. He had never +appeared in print; and it seemed to him a more formidable thing +to write a letter for “the papers” than to invent a +safety-lamp or design a locomotive. However, he called to +his aid his son Robert, set him down before a sheet of foolscap, +and told him to “put down there just what I tell +you.” The composition of this letter, as we were +informed by the writer of it, occupied more evenings than one; +and when it was at length finished, after many corrections, and +fairly copied out, the father and son set out—the latter +dressed in his Sunday’s round jacket—to lay the joint +production before Mr. Brandling, at Gosforth House. +Glancing over the letter, Mr. Brandling said, “George, this +will never do.” “It is all true, sir,” +was the reply. “That may be; but it is badly +written.” Robert blushed, for he thought the +penmanship was called in question, and he had written his +best. Mr. Brandling, however, revised the letter, which was +shortly after published in the local journals.</p> +<p>Stephenson’s friends, fully satisfied of his claims to +priority as the inventor of the safety-lamp used in the +Killingworth and other collieries, held a public meeting for the +purpose of presenting him with a reward “for the valuable +service he had thus rendered to mankind.” A +subscription was immediately commenced with this object, and a +committee was formed, consisting of the Earl of Strathmore, C. J. +Brandling, and others. The subscriptions, when collected, +amounted to £1000. Part of the money was devoted to +the purchase of a silver tankard, which was presented to the +inventor, together with the balance of the subscription, at a +public dinner given in the Assembly Rooms at Newcastle. <a +name="citation105"></a><a href="#footnote105" +class="citation">[105]</a> But what gave Stephenson even +<!-- page 106--><a name="page106"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +106</span>greater pleasure than the silver tankard and purse of +sovereigns was the gift of a silver watch, purchased by small +subscriptions amongst the colliers themselves, and presented by +them as a token of their personal esteem and regard for him, as +well as of their gratitude for the perseverance and skill with +which he had prosecuted his valuable and lifesaving invention to +a successful issue.</p> +<p>However great the merits of Stephenson in connexion with the +invention of the tube safety-lamp, they cannot be regarded as +detracting from the reputation of Sir Humphry Davy. His +inquiries into the explosive properties of carburetted hydrogen +gas were quite original; and his discovery of the fact that +explosion will not pass through tubes of a certain diameter was +made independently of all that Stephenson had done in +verification of the same fact. It even appears that Mr. +Smithson Tennant and Dr. Wollaston had observed the same fact +several years before, though neither Stephenson nor Davy knew it +while they were prosecuting their experiments. Sir Humphry +Davy’s subsequent modification of the tube-lamp, by which, +while diminishing the diameter, he in the same ratio shortened +the tubes without danger, and in the form of wire-gauze enveloped +the safety-lamp by a multiplicity of tubes, was a beautiful +application of the true theory which he had formed upon the +subject.</p> +<p>The increased number of accidents which have occurred from +explosions in coal-mines since the general introduction of the +Davy lamp, have led to considerable doubts as to its safety, and +to inquiries as to the means by which it may be further improved; +for experience has shown that, under certain circumstances, the +Davy lamp is <i>not</i> safe. <!-- page 107--><a +name="page107"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 107</span>Stephenson +was himself of opinion that the modification of his own and Sir +Humphry Davy’s lamp, combining the glass cylinder with the +wire-gauze, was the most secure; at the same time it must be +admitted that the Davy and the Geordy lamps alike failed to stand +the severe tests to which they were submitted by Dr. Pereira, +before the Committee on Accidents in Mines. Indeed, Dr. +Pereira did not hesitate to say, that when exposed to a current +of explosive gas the Davy lamp is “decidedly unsafe,” +and that the experiments by which its safety had been +“demonstrated” in the lecture-room had proved +entirely “fallacious.”</p> +<p>It is worthy of remark, that under circumstances in which the +wire-gauze of the Davy lamp becomes red-hot from the high +explosiveness of the gas, the Geordy lamp is extinguished; and we +cannot but think that this fact testifies to the decidedly +superior safety of the Geordy. An accident occurred in the +Oaks colliery Pit at Barnsley, on the 20th August, 1857, which +strikingly exemplified the respective qualities of the +lamps. A sudden outburst of gas took place from the floor +of the mine, along a distance of fifty yards. Fortunately +the men working in the pit at the time were all supplied with +safety-lamps—the hewers with Stephenson’s, and the +hurriers with Davy’s. Upon this occasion, the whole +of the Stephenson’s lamps, over a space of five hundred +yards, were extinguished almost instantaneously; whereas the Davy +lamps were filled with fire, and became red-hot—so much so, +that several of the men using them had their hands burnt by the +gauze. Had a strong current of air been blowing through the +gallery at the time, an explosion would most probably have taken +place—an accident which, it will be observed, could not, +under such circumstances, occur from the use of the Geordy, which +is immediately extinguished as soon as the air becomes explosive. +<a name="citation107"></a><a href="#footnote107" +class="citation">[107]</a></p> +<p><!-- page 108--><a name="page108"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +108</span>Nicholas Wood, a good judge, has said of the two +inventions, “Priority has been claimed for each of +them—I believe the inventions to be parallel. By +different roads they both arrived at the same result. +Stephenson’s is the superior lamp. Davy’s is +safe—Stephenson’s is safer.”</p> +<p>When the question of priority was under discussion at the +studio of Mr. Lough, the sculptor, in 1857, Sir Matthew White +Ridley asked Robert Stephenson, who was present, for his opinion +on the subject. His answer was, “I am not exactly the +person to give an unbiassed opinion; but, as you ask me frankly, +I will as frankly say, that if George Stephenson had never lived, +Sir Humphry Davy could and most probably would have invented the +safety-lamp; but again, if Sir Humphry Davy had never lived, +George Stephenson certainly would have invented the safety-lamp, +as I believe he did, independent of all that Sir Humphry Davy had +ever done in the matter.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p108.jpg"> +<img alt= +"West Moor Pit, Killingworth" +title= +"West Moor Pit, Killingworth" +src="images/p108.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 109--><a name="page109"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 109</span>CHAPTER VII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Stephenson’s further +Improvements in the Locomotive</span>—<span +class="smcap">The Hetton Railway</span>—<span +class="smcap">Robert Stephenson as Viewer’s Apprentice and +Student</span>.</h2> +<p>Stephenson’s experiments on fire-damp, and his labours +in connexion with the invention of the safety-lamp, occupied but +a small portion of his time, which was necessarily devoted for +the most part to the ordinary business of the colliery. +From the day of his appointment as engine-wright, one of the +subjects which particularly occupied his attention was the best +practical method of winning and raising the coal. He was +one of the first to introduce steam machinery underground with +the latter object. Indeed, the Killingworth mines came to +be regarded as the models of the district; the working +arrangements generally being conducted in a skilful and efficient +manner, reflecting the highest credit on the colliery +engineer.</p> +<p>Besides attending to the underground arrangements, the +improved transit of the coals above-ground from the pithead to +the shipping-place, demanded an increasing share of his +attention. Every day’s experience convinced him that +the locomotive constructed by him after his patent of the year +1815, was far from perfect; though he continued to entertain +confident hopes of its eventual success. He even went so +far as to say that the locomotive would yet supersede every other +traction-power for drawing heavy loads. Many still regarded +his travelling engine as little better than a curious toy; and +some, shaking their heads, predicted for it “a terrible +blow-up some day.” Nevertheless, it was daily +performing its work with regularity, dragging the coal-waggons +between the colliery and the staiths, and <!-- page 110--><a +name="page110"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 110</span>saving the +labour of many men and horses. There was not, however, so +marked a saving in haulage as to induce the colliery masters to +adopt locomotive power generally as a substitute for +horses. How it could be improved and rendered more +efficient as well as economical, was constantly present to +Stephenson’s mind.</p> +<p>At an early period of his labours, or about the time when he +had completed his second locomotive, he began to direct his +particular attention to the state of the Road; as he perceived +that the extended use of the locomotive must necessarily depend +in a great measure upon the perfection, solidity, continuity, and +smoothness of the way along which the engine travelled. +Even at that early period, he was in the habit of regarding the +road and the locomotive as one machine, speaking of the rail and +the wheel as “man and wife.”</p> +<p>All railways were at that time laid in a careless and loose +manner, and great inequalities of level were allowed to occur +without much attention being paid to repairs. The +consequence was a great loss of power, as well as much tear and +wear of the machinery, by the frequent jolts and blows of the +wheels against the rails. His first object therefore was, +to remove the inequalities produced by the imperfect junction +between rail and rail. At that time, (in 1816) the rails +were made of cast iron, each rail being about three feet long; +and sufficient care was not taken to maintain the points of +junction on the same level. The chairs, or cast-iron +pedestals into which the rails were inserted, were flat at the +bottom; so that, whenever any disturbance took place in the stone +blocks or sleepers supporting them, the flat base of the chair +upon which the rails rested being tilted by unequal subsidence, +the end of one rail became depressed, whilst that of the other +was elevated. Hence constant jolts and shocks, the reaction +of which very often caused the fracture of the rails, and +occasionally threw the engine off the road.</p> +<p>To remedy this imperfection Mr. Stephenson devised a <!-- page +111--><a name="page111"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +111</span>new chair, with an entirely new mode of fixing the +rails therein. Instead of adopting the <i>butt-joint</i> +which had hitherto been used in all cast-iron rails, he adopted +the <i>half-lap joint</i>, by which means the rails extended a +certain distance over each other at the ends, like a +scarf-joint. These ends, instead of resting upon the flat +chair, were made to rest upon the apex of a curve forming the +bottom of the chair. The supports were also extended from +three feet to three feet nine inches or four feet apart. +These rails were accordingly substituted for the old cast-iron +plates on the Killingworth Colliery Railway, and they were found +to be a very great improvement upon the previous system, adding +both to the efficiency of the horse-power, still employed in +working the railway, and to the smooth action of the locomotive +engine, but more particularly increasing the efficiency of the +latter.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p111.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Half-lap Joint" +title= +"Half-lap Joint" +src="images/p111.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>This improved form of rail and chair was embodied in a patent +taken out in the joint names of Mr. Losh, of Newcastle, +iron-founder, and of Mr. Stephenson, bearing date 30th September, +1816. Mr. Losh being a wealthy, enterprising +iron-manufacturer, and having confidence in George Stephenson and +his improvements, found the money for the purpose of taking out +the patent, which, in those days, was a very costly as well as +troublesome affair.</p> +<p>The specification of the same patent also described various +important improvements in the locomotive itself. The wheels +of the engine were improved, being altered from cast to malleable +iron, in whole or in part, by which they were made lighter as +well as more durable and safe. But the most ingenious and +original contrivance embodied in this patent was the substitute +for springs which Mr. Stephenson invented. He contrived +that the steam generated <!-- page 112--><a +name="page112"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 112</span>in the +boiler should perform this important office. The method by +which this was effected displayed such genuine mechanical genius, +that we would particularly call attention to the device, which +was the more remarkable, as it was contrived long before the +possibility of steam locomotion had become an object of general +inquiry or of public interest.</p> +<p>It has already been observed that up to, and indeed after, the +period of which we speak, there was no such class of skilled +mechanics, nor were there any such machines and tools in use, as +are now available to inventors and manufacturers. Although +skilled workmen were in course of gradual training in a few of +the larger manufacturing towns, they did not, at the date of +Stephenson’s patent, exist in any considerable numbers, nor +was there then any class of mechanics capable of constructing +springs of sufficient strength and elasticity to support +locomotive engines of ten tons weight.</p> +<p>In order to avoid the dangers arising from the inequalities of +the road, Stephenson so arranged the boiler of his new patent +locomotive that it was supported upon the frame of the engine by +four cylinders, which opened into the interior of the +boiler. These cylinders were occupied by pistons with rods, +which passed downwards and pressed upon the upper side of the +axles. The cylinders opening into the interior of the +boiler, allowed the pressure of steam to be applied to the upper +side of the piston; and the pressure being nearly equivalent to +one-fourth of the weight of the engine, each axle, whatever might +be its position, had at all times nearly the same amount of +weight to bear, and consequently the entire weight was pretty +equally distributed amongst the four wheels of the +locomotive. Thus the four floating pistons were ingeniously +made to serve the purpose of springs in equalising the weight, +and in softening the jerks of the machine; the weight of which, +it must also be observed, had been increased, on a road +originally calculated to bear a considerably lighter description +of carriage. This mode of supporting the engine remained in +use until the <!-- page 113--><a name="page113"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 113</span>progress of spring-making had so far +advanced that steel springs could be manufactured of sufficient +strength to bear the weight of locomotive engines.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p113.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Old Killingworth Locomotive, still in use" +title= +"Old Killingworth Locomotive, still in use" +src="images/p113.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The result of the actual working of the new locomotive on the +improved road amply justified the promises held forth in the +specification. The traffic was conducted with greater +regularity and economy, and the superiority of the engine, as +compared with horse traction, became still more marked. It +is a fact worthy of notice, that the identical engines +constructed in 1816 after the plan above described are to this +day to be seen in regular useful work upon the Killingworth +Railway, conveying heavy coal-trains at the speed of between five +and six miles an hour, probably as economically as any of the +more perfect locomotives now in use.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson’s endeavours having been attended with +<!-- page 114--><a name="page114"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +114</span>such marked success in the adaptation of locomotive +power to railways, his attention was called by many of his +friends, about the year 1818, to the application of steam to +travelling on common roads. It was from this point that the +locomotive started, Trevithick’s first engine having been +constructed with this special object. Stephenson’s +friends having observed how far behind he had left the original +projector of the locomotive in its application to railroads, +perhaps naturally inferred that he would be equally successful in +applying it to the purpose for which Trevithick and Vivian had +intended their first engine. But the accuracy with which he +estimated the resistance to which loads were exposed on railways, +arising from friction and gravity, led him at a very early stage +to reject the idea of ever applying steam power economically to +common-road travelling. In October, 1818, he made a series +of careful experiments in conjunction with Nicholas Wood, on the +resistance to which carriages were exposed on railways, testing +the results by means of a dynamometer of his own +construction. The series of practical observations made by +means of this instrument were interesting, as the first +systematic attempt to determine the precise amount of resistance +to carriages moving along railways. It was then for the +first time ascertained by experiment that the friction was a +constant quantity at all velocities. Although this theory +had long before been developed by Vince and Coulomb, and was well +known to scientific men as an established truth, yet, at the time +when Stephenson made his experiments, the deductions of +philosophers on the subject were neither believed in nor acted +upon by practical engineers.</p> +<p>He ascertained that the resistances to traction were mainly +three; the first being upon the axles of the carriages, the +second, or rolling resistance, being between the circumference of +the wheel and the surface of the rail, and the third being the +resistance of gravity. The amount of friction and gravity +he could accurately ascertain; but the <!-- page 115--><a +name="page115"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 115</span>rolling +resistance was a matter of greater difficulty, being subject to +much variation. He satisfied himself, however, that it was +so great when the surface presented to the wheel was of a rough +character, that the idea of working steam carriages economically +on common roads was dismissed by him as entirely +impracticable. Taking it as 10 lbs to a ton weight on a +level railway, it became obvious to him that so small a rise as 1 +in 100 would diminish the useful effort of a locomotive by +upwards of 50 per cent. This was demonstrated by repeated +experiments, and the important fact, thus rooted in his mind, was +never lost sight of in the course of his future railway +career.</p> +<p>It was owing in a great measure to these painstaking +experiments that he early became convinced of the vital +importance, in an economical point of view, of reducing the +country through which a railway was intended to pass as nearly as +possible to a level. Where, as in the first coal railways +of Northumberland and Durham, the load was nearly all one +way,—that is, from the colliery to the +shipping-place,—it was an advantage to have an inclination +in that direction. The strain on the powers of the +locomotive was thus diminished, and it was easy for it to haul +the empty waggons back to the colliery up even a pretty steep +incline. But when the loads were both ways, he deemed it of +great importance that the railroad should be constructed as +nearly as possible on a level.</p> +<p>These views, thus early entertained, originated in +Stephenson’s mind the peculiar character of railroad works +as distinguished from other roads; for, in railways, he early +contended that large sums would be wisely expended in perforating +barriers of hills with long tunnels, and in raising the lower +levels with the excess cut down from the adjacent high +ground. In proportion as these views forced themselves upon +his mind and were corroborated by his daily experience, he became +more and more convinced of the hopelessness of applying steam +locomotion to common roads; for every argument in favour of a +level railway was, in his <!-- page 116--><a +name="page116"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 116</span>view, an +argument against the rough and hilly course of a common road.</p> +<p>Although Stephenson’s locomotive engines were in daily +use for many years on the Killingworth Railway, they excited +comparatively little interest. They were no longer +experimental, but had become an established tractive power. +The experience of years had proved that they worked more +steadily, drew heavier loads, and were, on the whole, +considerably more economical than horses. Nevertheless +eight years passed before another locomotive railway was +constructed and opened for the purposes of coal or other +traffic.</p> +<p>Stephenson had no means of bringing his important invention +prominently under the notice of the public. He himself knew +well its importance, and he already anticipated its eventual +general adoption; but being an unlettered man, he could not give +utterance to the thoughts which brooded within him on the +subject. Killingworth Colliery lay far from London, the +centre of scientific life in England. It was visited by no +savans nor literary men, who might have succeeded in introducing +to notice the wonderful machine of Stephenson. Even the +local chroniclers seem to have taken no notice of the +Killingworth Railway.</p> +<p>There seemed, indeed, to be so small a prospect of introducing +the locomotive into general use, that Stephenson,—perhaps +feeling the capabilities within him,—again recurred to his +old idea of emigrating to the United States. Before joining +Mr. Burrel as partner in a small foundry at Forth Banks, +Newcastle, he had thrown out to him the suggestion that it would +be a good speculation for them to emigrate to North America, and +introduce steamboats upon the great inland lakes there. The +first steamers were then plying upon the Tyne before his eyes; +and he saw in them the germ of a great revolution in +navigation. It occurred to him that North America presented +the finest field for trying their wonderful powers. He was +an engineer, his partner was an iron-founder; and between them he +thought they might strike out a path to fortune in the <!-- page +117--><a name="page117"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +117</span>mighty West. Fortunately, this idea remained a +mere speculation so far as Stephenson was concerned: and it was +left to others to do what he had dreamt of achieving. After +all his patient waiting, his skill, industry, and perseverance +were at length about to bear fruit.</p> +<p>In 1819 the owners of the Hetton Colliery, in the county of +Durham, determined to have their waggon-way altered to a +locomotive railroad. The result of the working of the +Killingworth Railway had been so satisfactory, that they resolved +to adopt the same system. One reason why an experiment so +long continued and so successful as that at Killingworth should +have been so slow in producing results, perhaps was, that to lay +down a railway and furnish it with locomotives, or fixed engines +where necessary, required a very large capital, beyond the means +of ordinary coal-owners; whilst the small amount of interest felt +in railways by the general public, and the supposed +impracticability of working them to a profit, as yet prevented +ordinary capitalists from venturing their money in the promotion +of such undertakings. The Hetton Coal Company were, +however, possessed of adequate means; and the local reputation of +the Killingworth engine-wright pointed him out as the man best +calculated to lay out their line, and superintend their +works. They accordingly invited him to act as the engineer +of the proposed railway, which was to be the longest locomotive +line that had, up to that time, been constructed. It +extended from the Hetton Colliery, situated about two miles south +of Houghton-le-Spring, in the county of Durham, to the +shipping-places on the banks of the Wear, near Sunderland. +Its length was about eight miles; and in its course it crossed +Warden Law, one of the highest hills in the district. The +character of the country forbade the construction of a flat line, +or one of comparatively easy gradients, except by the expenditure +of a much larger capital than was placed at the engineer’s +disposal. Heavy works could not be executed; it was +therefore necessary to form the line with but little deviation +from the natural <!-- page 118--><a name="page118"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 118</span>conformation of the district which +it traversed, and also to adapt the mechanical methods employed +for its working to the character of the gradients, which in some +places were necessarily heavy.</p> +<p>Although Stephenson had, with every step made towards its +increased utility, become more and more identified with the +success of the locomotive engine, he did not allow his enthusiasm +to carry him away into costly mistakes. He carefully drew +the line between the cases in which the locomotive could be +usefully employed, and those in which stationary engines were +calculated to be more economical. This led him, as in the +instance of the Hetton Railway, to execute lines through and over +rough countries, where gradients within the powers of the +locomotive engine of that day could not be secured, employing in +their stead stationary engines where locomotives were not +practicable. In the present case, this course was adopted +by him most successfully. On the original Hetton line, +there were five self-acting inclines,—the full waggons +drawing the empty ones up,—and two inclines worked by fixed +reciprocating engines of sixty horse power each. The +locomotive travelling engine, or “the iron horse,” as +the people of the neighbourhood then styled it, did the +rest. On the day of the opening of the Hetton Railway, the +18th November, 1822, crowds of spectators assembled from all +parts to witness the first operations of this ingenious and +powerful machinery, which was entirely successful. On that +day five of Stephenson’s locomotives were at work upon the +railway, under the direction of his brother Robert; and the first +shipment of coal was then made by the Hetton Company, at their +new staiths on the Wear. The speed at which the locomotives +travelled was about 4 miles an hour, and each engine dragged +after it a train of 17 waggons, weighing about 64 tons.</p> +<p>While thus advancing step by step,—attending to the +business of the Killingworth Colliery, and laying out railways in +the neighbourhood,—he was carefully watching <!-- page +119--><a name="page119"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +119</span>over the education of his son. We have already +seen that Robert was sent to Bruce’s school at Newcastle, +where he remained about four years. He left it in the +summer of 1819, and was then put apprentice to Mr. Nicholas Wood, +the head viewer at Killingworth, to learn the business of the +colliery. He served in that capacity for about three years, +during which time he became familiar with most departments of +underground work. The occupation was not unattended with +peril, as the following incident will show. Though the use +of the Geordy lamp had become general in the Killingworth pits, +and the workmen were bound, under a penalty of half-a-crown, not +to use a naked candle, it was difficult to enforce the rule, and +even the masters themselves occasionally broke it. One day +Nicholas Wood, the head viewer, Moodie the under viewer, and +Robert Stephenson, were proceeding along one of the galleries, +Wood with a naked candle in his hand, and Robert following him +with a lamp. They came to a place where a fall of stones +from the roof had taken place, on which Wood, who was first, +proceeded to clamber over the stones, holding high the naked +candle. He had nearly reached the summit of the heap, when +the fire-damp, which had accumulated in the hollow of the roof, +exploded, and instantly the whole party were blown down, and the +lights extinguished. They were a mile from the shaft, and +quite in the dark. There was a rush of the workpeople from +all quarters towards the shaft, for it was feared that the fire +might extend to more dangerous parts of the pit, where, if the +gas had exploded, every soul in the mine must inevitably have +perished. Robert Stephenson and Moodie, on the first +impulse, ran back at full speed along the dark gallery leading to +the shaft, coming into collision, on their way, with the hind +quarters of a horse stunned by the explosion. When they had +gone halfway, Moodie halted, and bethought him of Nicholas +Wood. “Stop, laddie!” said he to Robert, +“stop; we maun gang back, and seek the +maister.” So they retraced their steps. +Happily, no further explosion had <!-- page 120--><a +name="page120"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 120</span>taken +place. They found the master lying on the heap of stones, +stunned and bruised, with his hands severely burnt. They +led him to the bottom of the shaft; and he took care afterwards +not to venture into the dangerous parts of the mine without the +protection of a Geordy lamp.</p> +<p>The time that Robert spent at Killingworth as viewer’s +apprentice was of advantage both to his father and himself. +The evenings were generally devoted to reading and study, the two +from this time working together as friends and +co-labourers. One who used to drop in at the cottage of an +evening, well remembers the animated and eager discussions which +on some occasions took place, more especially with reference to +the growing powers of the locomotive engine. The son was +even more enthusiastic than the father on this subject. +Robert would suggest numerous alterations and improvements in +details. His father, on the contrary, would offer every +possible objection, defending the existing +arrangements,—proud, nevertheless of his son’s +suggestions, and often warmed and excited by his brilliant +anticipations of the ultimate triumph of the locomotive.</p> +<p>These discussions probably had considerable influence in +inducing Stephenson to take the next important step in the +education of his son. Although Robert, who was only +nineteen years of age, was doing well, and was certain at the +expiration of his apprenticeship to rise to a higher position, +his father was not satisfied with the amount of instruction which +he had as yet given him. Remembering the disadvantages +under which he had himself laboured through his ignorance of +practical chemistry during his investigations connected with the +safety-lamp, more especially with reference to the properties of +gas, as well as in the course of his experiments with the object +of improving the locomotive engine, he determined to furnish his +son with as complete a scientific culture as his means would +afford. He also believed that a proper training in +technical science was indispensable to success in the higher +walks of the engineer’s profession; and he determined to +give to his son that kind <!-- page 121--><a +name="page121"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 121</span>and degree +of education which he so much desired for himself. He would +thus, he knew, secure a hearty and generous co-worker in the +elaboration of the great ideas now looming before him, and with +their united practical and scientific knowledge he probably felt +that they would be equal to any enterprise.</p> +<p>He accordingly took Robert from his labours as under-viewer in +the West Moor Pit, and in October, 1822, sent him to the +Edinburgh University, there being then no college in England +accessible to persons of moderate means, for purposes of +scientific culture. Robert was furnished with letters of +introduction to several men of literary eminence in Edinburgh; +his father’s reputation in connexion with the safety-lamp +being of service to him in this respect. He lodged in +Drummond Street, in the immediate vicinity of the college, and +attended the Chemical Lectures of Dr. Hope, the Natural +Philosophy Lectures of Sir John Leslie, and the Natural History +Class of Professor Jameson. He also devoted several +evenings in each week to the study of practical Chemistry under +Dr. John Murray, himself one of the numerous designers of a +safety-lamp. He took careful notes of all the lectures, +which he copied out at night before he went to bed; so that, when +he returned to Killingworth, he might read them over to his +father. He afterwards had the notes bound up, and placed in +his library. Long years after, when conversing with Thomas +Harrison, C.E., at his house in Gloucester Square, he rose from +his seat and took down a volume from the shelves. Mr. +Harrison observed that the book was in MS., neatly written +out. “What have we here?” he asked. The +answer was—“When I went to college, I knew the +difficulty my father had in collecting the funds to send me +there. Before going I studied short-hand; while at +Edinburgh, I took down verbatim every lecture; and in the +evenings, before I went to bed, I transcribed those lectures word +for word. You see the result in that range of +books.”</p> +<p><!-- page 122--><a name="page122"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +122</span>One of the practical sciences in the study of which +Robert Stephenson took special interest while at Edinburgh was +that of geology. The situation of the city, in the midst of +a district of highly interesting geological formation, easily +accessible to pedestrians, is indeed most favourable to the +pursuit of such a study; and it was the practice of Professor +Jameson frequently to head a band of his pupils, armed with +hammers, chisels, and clinometers, and take them with him on a +long ramble into the country, for the purpose of teaching them +habits of observation and reading to them from the open book of +Nature itself. At the close of this session, the professor +took with him a select body of his pupils on an excursion along +the Great Glen of the Highlands, in the line of the Caledonian +Canal, and Robert formed one of the party. They passed +under the shadow of Ben Nevis, examined the famous old +sea-margins known as the “parallel roads of Glen +Roy,” and extended their journey as far as Inverness; the +professor teaching the young men as they travelled how to observe +in a mountain country. Not long before his death, Robert +Stephenson spoke in glowing terms of the great pleasure and +benefit which he had derived from that interesting +excursion. “I have travelled far, and enjoyed +much,” he said; “but that delightful botanical and +geological journey I shall never forget; and I am just about to +start in the <i>Titania</i> for a trip round the east coast of +Scotland, returning south through the Caledonian Canal, to +refresh myself with the recollection of that first and brightest +tour of my life.”</p> +<p>Towards the end of the summer of 1822 the young student +returned to Killingworth to re-enter upon the active business of +life. The six months’ study had cost his father +£80; but he was amply repaid by the better scientific +culture which his son had acquired, and the evidence of ability +and industry which he was enabled to exhibit in a prize for +mathematics which he had won at the University.</p> +<h2><!-- page 123--><a name="page123"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 123</span>CHAPTER VIII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Stephenson Engineer of the Stockton +and Darlington Railway</span>.</h2> +<p>The district west of Darlington, in Durham, is one of the +richest mineral fields of the North. Vast stores of coal +underlie the Bishop Auckland Valley; and from an early period new +and good roads to market were felt to be exceedingly +desirable. As yet it remained almost a closed field, the +cost of transport of the coal in carts, or on horses’ or +donkeys’ backs, greatly limiting the sale. Long ago, +in the days of canal formations, Brindley was consulted about a +canal; afterwards, in 1812, a tramroad was surveyed by Rennie; +and eventually, in 1817, a railway was projected from Darlington +to Stockton-on-Tees.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p123.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Map of Stockton and Darlington Railway" +title= +"Map of Stockton and Darlington Railway" +src="images/p123.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Of this railway Edward Pease was the projector. A +thoughtful and sagacious man, ready in resources, possessed of +indomitable energy and perseverance, he was eminently <!-- page +124--><a name="page124"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +124</span>qualified to undertake what appeared to many the +hopeless enterprise of obtaining an Act for a railway through +such an unpromising district. One who knew him in 1818 +said, “he was a man who could see a hundred years +ahead.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p124.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Edward Pease" +title= +"Edward Pease" +src="images/p124.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center">When the writer last saw him, in +the autumn of 1854, Mr. Pease was in his eighty-eighth year; yet +he still possessed the hopefulness and mental vigour of a man in +his prime. Hale and hearty, and full of reminiscences of +the past, he continued to take an active interest in all measures +calculated to render men happier and better. Still sound in +health, his eye had not lost its brilliancy, nor his cheek its +colour; <!-- page 125--><a name="page125"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 125</span>and there was an elasticity in his +step which younger men might have envied. <a +name="citation125"></a><a href="#footnote125" +class="citation">[125]</a></p> +<p>In getting up a company for surveying and forming a railway, +Mr. Pease had great difficulties to encounter. The people +of the neighbourhood spoke of it as a ridiculous undertaking, and +predicted that it would be ruinous to all concerned. Even +those most interested in the opening of new markets for their +coal, were indifferent, if not actually hostile. The +Stockton merchants and shipowners, whom it was calculated so +greatly to benefit, gave the project no support; and not twenty +shares were subscribed for in the whole town. Mr. Pease +nevertheless persevered; and he induced many of his friends and +relations to subscribe the capital required.</p> +<p>The necessary preliminary steps were taken in 1818 to apply +for an act to authorise the construction of a tramroad from +Witton to Stockton. The measure was however, strongly +opposed by the Duke of Cleveland, because the proposed line +passed close by one of his fox covers; and the bill was +rejected. A new survey was then made, avoiding the +Duke’s cover; and in 1819 a renewed application was made to +Parliament. The promoters were this time successful, and +the royal assent was given to the first Stockton and Darlington +Railway Act on the 19th April, 1821.</p> +<p>The projectors did not originally contemplate the employment +of locomotives. The Act provided for the making and +maintaining of tramroads for the passage “of waggons and +other carriages” “<i>with men and horses</i> or +otherwise,” and a further clause made provision for damages +done in course of traffic by the “waggoners.” +The public were to be free “to use with horses, cattle and +carriages,” the roads formed by the company, on payment of +the authorised rates, “between the hours of seven in the +morning and six in the evening,” during winter; +“between six in the morning and <!-- page 126--><a +name="page126"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 126</span>eight in +the evening,” in two of the spring and autumn months; and +“between five in the morning and ten in the evening,” +in the summer months of May, June, July, and August. From +this it will be obvious that the projectors of the line had +themselves at first no very large conceptions as to the scope of +their project.</p> +<p>One day, in the spring of 1821, two strangers knocked at the +door of Mr. Pease’s house in Darlington; and the message +was brought to him that some persons from Killingworth wanted to +speak with him. They were invited in, on which one of the +visitors introduced himself as Nicholas Wood, viewer at +Killingworth, and then turning to his companion, he introduced +him as George Stephenson, engine-wright, of the same place.</p> +<p>Mr. Pease entered into conversation with his visitors, and was +soon told their object. Stephenson had heard of the passing +of the Stockton and Darlington Act, and desiring to increase his +railway experience, and also to employ in some larger field the +practical knowledge he had already gained, he determined to visit +the known projector of the undertaking, with the view of being +employed to carry it out. He had brought with him his +friend Wood, for the purpose at the same time of relieving his +diffidence, and supporting his application.</p> +<p>Mr. Pease liked the appearance of his visitor: “there +was,” as he afterwards remarked when speaking of +Stephenson, “such an honest, sensible look about him, and +he seemed so modest and unpretending. He spoke in the +strong Northumbrian dialect of his district, and described +himself as ‘only the engine-wright at Killingworth; +that’s what he was.’“</p> +<p>Mr. Pease soon saw that our engineer was the very man for his +purpose. The whole plans of the railway were still in an +undetermined state, and Mr. Pease was therefore glad to have the +opportunity of profiting by Stephenson’s experience. +In the course of their conversation, the latter strongly +recommended a <i>railway</i> in preference to a <!-- page +127--><a name="page127"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +127</span>tramroad. They also discussed the kind of +tractive power to be employed: Mr. Pease stating that the company +had based their whole calculations on the employment of +<i>horse</i> power. “I was so satisfied,” said +he afterwards, “that a horse upon an iron road would draw +ten tons for one ton on a common road, that I felt sure that +before long the railway would become the King’s +highway.” But Mr. Pease was scarcely prepared for the +bold assertion made by his visitor, that the locomotive engine +with which he had been working the Killingworth Railway for many +years past was worth fifty horses, and that engines made after a +similar plan would yet entirely supersede all horse power upon +railroads. Stephenson was daily becoming more positive as +to the superiority of his locomotive; and hence he strongly urged +Mr. Pease to adopt it. “Come over to +Killingworth,” said he, “and see what my engines can +do; seeing is believing, sir.” Mr. Pease accordingly +promised that on some early day he would go over to Killingworth, +and take a look at the wonderful machine that was to supersede +horses. The result of the interview was, that Mr. Pease +promised to bring Stephenson’s application for the +appointment of engineer before the Directors, and to support it +with his influence; whereon the two visitors prepared to take +their leave, informing Mr. Pease that they intended to return to +Newcastle “by nip;” that is, they expected to get a +smuggled lift on the stage-coach, by tipping Jehu,—for in +those days the stage coachmen regarded all casual roadside +passengers as their proper perquisites. They had, however, +been so much engrossed by their conversation, that the lapse of +time was forgotten, and when Stephenson and his friend made +enquiries about the return coach, they found the last had left; +and they had to walk the 18 miles to Durham on their way back to +Newcastle.</p> +<p>Mr. Pease having made further inquiries respecting +Stephenson’s character and qualifications, and having +received a very strong recommendation of him as the right man for +the intended work, he brought the subject of his <!-- page +128--><a name="page128"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +128</span>application before the directors of the Stockton and +Darlington Company. They resolved to adopt his +recommendation that a railway be formed instead of a tramroad; +and they further requested Mr. Pease to write to Stephenson, +desiring him to undertake a re-survey of the line at the earliest +practicable period.</p> +<p>A man was despatched on a horse with the letter, and when he +reached Killingworth he made diligent enquiry after the person +named upon the address, “George Stephenson, Esquire, +Engineer.” No such person was known in the +village. It is said that the man was on the point of giving +up all further search, when the happy thought struck some of the +colliers’ wives who had gathered about him, that it must be +“Geordie the engine-wright” the man was in search of; +and to Geordie’s cottage he accordingly went, found him at +home, and delivered the letter.</p> +<p>About the end of September, Stephenson went carefully over the +line of the proposed railway, for the purpose of suggesting such +improvements and deviations as he might consider desirable. +He was accompanied by an assistant and a chainman,—his son +Robert entering the figures while his father took the +sights. After being engaged in the work at intervals for +about six weeks, Stephenson reported the result of his survey to +the Board of Directors, and showed that by certain deviations, a +line shorter by about three miles might be constructed at a +considerable saving in expense, while at the same time more +favourable gradients—an important consideration—would +be secured.</p> +<p>It was, however, determined in the first place to proceed with +the works at those parts of the line where no deviation was +proposed; and the first rail of the Stockton and Darlington +Railway was laid with considerable ceremony, near Stockton, on +the 23rd May, 1822.</p> +<p>It is worthy of note that Stephenson, in making his first +estimate of the cost of forming the railway according to the +Instructions of the directors, set down, as part of the cost, +£6200 for stationary engines, not mentioning locomotives at +all. <!-- page 129--><a name="page129"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 129</span>The directors as yet confined their +views to the employment only of horses for the haulage of the +coals, and of fixed engines and ropes where horse-power was not +applicable. The whole question of steam locomotive power +was, in the estimation of the public, as well as of practical and +scientific men, as yet in doubt. The confident +anticipations of George Stephenson, as to the eventual success of +locomotive engines, were regarded as mere speculations; and when +he gave utterance to his views, as he frequently took the +opportunity of doing, it even had the effect of shaking the +confidence of some of his friends in the solidity of his judgment +and his practical qualities as an engineer.</p> +<p>When Mr. Pease discussed the question with Stephenson, his +remark was, “Come over and see my engines at Killingworth, +and satisfy yourself as to the efficiency of the +locomotive. I will show you the colliery books, that you +may ascertain for yourself the actual cost of working. And +I must tell you that the economy of the locomotive engine is no +longer a matter of theory, but a matter of fact.” So +confident was the tone in which Stephenson spoke of the success +of his engines, and so important were the consequences involved +in arriving at a correct conclusion on the subject, that Mr. +Pease at length resolved upon paying a visit to Killingworth in +the summer of 1822, to see with his own eyes the wonderful new +power so much vaunted by the engineer.</p> +<p>When Mr. Pease arrived at Killingworth village, he inquired +for George Stephenson, and was told that he must go over to the +West Moor, and seek for a cottage by the roadside, with a dial +over the door—“that was where George Stephenson +lived.” They soon found the house with the dial; and +on knocking, the door was opened by Mrs. Stephenson—his +second wife (Elizabeth Hindmarsh), the daughter of a farmer at +Black Callerton, whom he had married in 1820. <a +name="citation129"></a><a href="#footnote129" +class="citation">[129]</a> Her husband, she said, was not +in the <!-- page 130--><a name="page130"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 130</span>house at present, but she would send +for him to the colliery. And in a short time Stephenson +appeared before them in his working dress, just as he had come +out of the pit.</p> +<p>He very soon had his locomotive brought up to the crossing +close by the end of the cottage,—made the gentlemen mount +it, and showed them its paces. Harnessing it to a train of +loaded waggons, he ran it along the railroad, and so thoroughly +satisfied his visitors of its power and capabilities, that from +that day Edward Pease was a declared supporter of the locomotive +engine. In preparing the Amended Stockton and Darlington +Act, at Stephenson’s urgent request Mr. Pease had a clause +inserted, taking power to work the railway by means of locomotive +engines, and to employ them for the haulage of passengers as well +as of merchandise. <a name="citation130"></a><a +href="#footnote130" class="citation">[130]</a> The Act was +obtained in 1823, on which Stephenson was appointed the +company’s engineer at a salary of £300 per annum; and +it was determined that the line should be constructed and opened +for traffic as soon as practicable.</p> +<p>He at once proceeded, accompanied by his assistants, with the +working survey of the line, laying out every foot of the ground +himself. Railway surveying was as yet in its infancy, and +was slow and difficult work. It afterwards became a +separate branch of railway business, and was entrusted to a +special staff. Indeed on no subsequent line did George +Stephenson take the sights through the spirit <!-- page 131--><a +name="page131"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 131</span>level with +his own hands and eyes as he did on this railway. He +started very early—dressed in a blue tailed coat, breeches, +and top-boots—and surveyed until dusk. He was not at +any time particular as to his living; and during the survey, he +took his chance of getting a little milk and bread at some +cottager’s house along the line, or occasionally joined in +a homely dinner at some neighbouring farmhouse. The country +people were accustomed to give him a hearty welcome when he +appeared at their door; for he was always full of cheery and +homely talk, and, when there were children about the house, he +had plenty of humorous chat for them as well as for their +seniors.</p> +<p>After the day’s work was over, George would drop in at +Mr. Pease’s, to talk over the progress of the survey, and +discuss various matters connected with the railway. Mr. +Pease’s daughters were usually present; and on one +occasion, finding the young ladies learning the art of +embroidery, he volunteered to instruct them. <a +name="citation131"></a><a href="#footnote131" +class="citation">[131]</a> “I know all about +it,” said he; “and you will wonder how I learnt +it. I will tell you. When I was a brakesman at +Killingworth, I learnt the art of embroidery while working the +pitmen’s buttonholes by the engine fire at +nights.” He was never ashamed, but on the contrary +rather proud, of reminding his friends of these humble pursuits +of his early life. Mr. Pease’s family were greatly +pleased with his conversation, which was always amusing and +instructive; full of all sorts of experience, gathered in the +oddest and most out-of-the-way places. Even at that early +period, before he mixed in the society of educated persons, there +was a dash of speculativeness in his remarks, which gave a high +degree of originality to his conversation; and he would +sometimes, in a casual remark, throw a flash of light upon a +subject, which called up a train of pregnant suggestions.</p> +<p><!-- page 132--><a name="page132"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +132</span>One of the most important subjects of discussion at +these meetings with Mr. Pease, was the establishment of a +manufactory at Newcastle for the building of locomotive +engines. Up to this time all the locomotives constructed +after Stephenson’s designs, had been made by ordinary +mechanics working among the collieries in the North of +England. But he had long felt that the accuracy and style +of their workmanship admitted of great improvement, and that upon +this the more perfect action of the locomotive engine, and its +general adoption, in a great measure depended. One great +object that he had in view in establishing the proposed factory +was, to concentrate a number of good workmen, for the purpose of +carrying out the improvements in detail which he was constantly +making in his engine. He felt hampered by the want of +efficient help from skilled mechanics, who could work out in a +practical form the ideas of which his busy mind was always so +prolific. Doubtless, too, he believed that the manufactory +would prove a remunerative investment, and that, on the general +adoption of the railway system which he anticipated, he would +derive solid advantages from the fact of his establishment being +the only one of the kind for the special construction of +locomotive engines.</p> +<p>Mr. Pease approved of his design, and strongly recommended him +to carry it into effect. But there was the question of +means; and Stephenson did not think he had capital enough for the +purpose. He told Mr. Pease that he could advance +£1000—the amount of the testimonial presented by the +coal-owners for his safety-lamp invention, which he had still +left untouched; but he did not think this sufficient for the +purpose, and he thought that he should require at least another +£1000. Mr. Pease had been very much struck with the +successful performances of the Killingworth engine; and being an +accurate judge of character, he believed that he could not go far +wrong in linking a portion of his fortune with the energy and +industry of George Stephenson. He consulted his friend +Thomas <!-- page 133--><a name="page133"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 133</span>Richardson in the matter; and the +two consented to advance £500 each for the purpose of +establishing the engine factory at Newcastle. A piece of +land was accordingly purchased in Forth Street, in August, 1823, +on which a small building was erected—the nucleus of the +gigantic establishment which was afterwards formed around it; and +active operations were begun early in 1824.</p> +<p>While the Stockton and Darlington Railway works were in +progress, our engineer had many interesting discussions with Mr. +Pease, on points connected with its construction and working, the +determination of which in a great measure affected the formation +and working of all future railways. The most important +points were these:</p> +<p>1. The comparative merits of cast and wrought iron +rails.</p> +<p>2. The gauge of the railway.</p> +<p>3. The employment of horse or engine power in working +it, when ready for traffic.</p> +<p>The kind of rails to be laid down to form the permanent road +was a matter of considerable importance. A wooden tramroad +had been contemplated when the first Act was applied for; but +Stephenson having advised that an iron road should be laid down, +he was instructed to draw up a specification of the rails. +He went before the directors to discuss with them the kind of +material to be specified. He was himself interested in the +patent for cast-iron rails, which he had taken out in conjunction +with Mr. Losh in 1816; and, of course, it was to his interest +that his articles should be used. But when requested to +give his opinion on the subject, he frankly said to the +directors, “Well, gentlemen, to tell you the truth, +although it would put £500 in my pocket to specify my own +patent rails, I cannot do so after the experience I have +had. If you take my advice, you will not lay down a single +cast-iron rail.” “Why?” asked the +directors. “Because they will not stand the weight, +and you will be at no end of expense for repairs and +relays.” “What kind of road, then,” he +was asked, “would you recommend?” +“Malleable rails, certainly,” said he; “and I +can recommend them with the <!-- page 134--><a +name="page134"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 134</span>more +confidence from the fact that at Killingworth we have had some +Swedish bars laid down—nailed to wooden sleepers—for +a period of fourteen years, the waggons passing over them daily; +and there they are, in use yet, whereas the cast rails are +constantly giving way.”</p> +<p>The price of malleable rails was, however, so high—being +then worth about £12 per ton as compared with cast-iron +rails at about £5 10s.—and the saving of expense was +so important a consideration with the subscribers, that +Stephenson was directed to provide, in the specification, that +only one-half of the rails required—or about 800 +tons—should be of malleable iron, and the remainder of +cast-iron. The malleable rails were of the kind called +“fish-bellied,” and weighed 28 lbs. to the yard, +being 2¼ inches broad at the top, with the upper flange +¾ inch thick. They were only 2 inches in depth at +the points at which they rested on the chairs, and 3¼ +inches in the middle or bellied part.</p> +<p>When forming the road, the proper gauge had also to be +determined. What width was this to be? The gauge of +the first tramroad laid down had virtually settled the +point. The gauge of wheels of the common vehicles of the +country—of the carts and waggons employed on common roads, +which were first used on the tramroads—was about 4 feet +8½ inches. And so the first tramroads were laid down +of this gauge. The tools and machinery for constructing +coal-waggons and locomotives were formed with this gauge in +view. The Wylam waggon-way, afterwards the Wylam plate-way, +the Killingworth railroad, and the Hetton rail road, were as +nearly as possible on the same gauge. Some of the +earth-waggons used to form the Stockton and Darlington road were +brought from the Hetton railway; and others which were specially +constructed were formed of the same dimensions, these being +intended to be afterwards employed in the working of the +traffic.</p> +<p>As the period drew near for the opening of the line, the +question of the tractive power to be employed was anxiously <!-- +page 135--><a name="page135"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +135</span>discussed. At the Brusselton incline, fixed +engines must necessarily be made use of; but with respect to the +mode of working the railway generally, it was decided that horses +were to be largely employed, and arrangements were made for their +purchase. The influence of Mr. Pease also secured that a +fair trial should be given to the experiment of working the +traffic by locomotive power; and three engines were ordered from +the firm of Stephenson and Co., Newcastle, which were put in hand +forthwith, in anticipation of the opening of the railway. +These were constructed after Mr. Stephenson’s most matured +designs, and embodied all the improvements which he had contrived +up to that time. No. I. engine, the +“Locomotion,” which was first delivered, weighed +about eight tons. It had one large flue or tube through the +boiler, by which the heated air passed direct from the furnace at +one end, lined with fire-bricks, to the chimney at the +other. The combustion in the furnace was quickened by the +adoption of the steam-blast in the chimney. The heat raised +was sometimes so great, and it was so imperfectly abstracted by +the surrounding water, that the chimney became almost +red-hot. Such engines, when put to their speed, were found +capable of running at the rate of from twelve to sixteen miles an +hour; but they were better adapted for the heavy work of hauling +coal-trains at low speeds—for which, indeed, they were +specially constructed—than for running at the higher speeds +afterwards adopted. Nor was it contemplated by the +directors as possible, at the time when they were ordered, that +locomotives could be made available for the purposes of passenger +travelling. Besides, the Stockton and Darlington Railway +did not run through a district in which passengers were supposed +to be likely to constitute any considerable portion of the +traffic.</p> +<p>We may easily imagine the anxiety felt by Mr. Stephenson +during the progress of the works towards completion, and his +mingled hopes and doubts (though his doubts were but few) as to +the issue of this great experiment. When <!-- page 136--><a +name="page136"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 136</span>the +formation of the line near Stockton was well advanced, Mr. +Stephenson one day, accompanied by his son Robert and John Dixon, +made a journey of inspection of the works. The party +reached Stockton, and proceeded to dine at one of the inns +there. After dinner, Stephenson ventured on the very +unusual measure of ordering in a bottle of wine, to drink success +to the railway. John Dixon relates with pride the utterance +of the master on the occasion. “Now, lads,” +said he to the two young men, “I venture to tell you that I +think you will live to see the day when railways will supersede +almost all other methods of conveyance in this country—when +mail-coaches will go by railway, and railroads will become the +great highway for the king and all his subjects. The time +is coming when it will be cheaper for a working man to travel +upon a railway than to walk on foot. I know there are great +and almost insurmountable difficulties to be encountered; but +what I have said will come to pass as sure as you live. I +only wish I may live to see the day, though that I can scarcely +hope for, as I know how slow all human progress is, and with what +difficulty I have been able to get the locomotive thus far +adopted, notwithstanding my more than ten years’ successful +experiment at Killingworth.” The result, however, +outstripped even the most sanguine anticipations of Stephenson; +and his son Robert, shortly after his return from America in +1827, saw his father’s locomotive generally employed as the +tractive power on railways.</p> +<p>The Stockton and Darlington line was opened for traffic on the +27th September, 1825. An immense concourse of people +assembled from all parts to witness the ceremony of opening this +first public railway. The powerful opposition which the +project had encountered, the threats which were still uttered +against the company by the road-trustees and others, who declared +that they would yet prevent the line being worked, and perhaps +the general unbelief as to its success which still prevailed, +tended to excite the curiosity of the public as to the +result. Some went to rejoice at the <!-- page 137--><a +name="page137"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 137</span>opening, +some to see the “bubble burst;” and there were many +prophets of evil who would not miss the blowing up of the boasted +travelling engine. The opening was, however, +auspicious. The proceedings commenced at Brusselton +Incline, about nine miles above Darlington, where the fixed +engine drew a train of loaded waggons up the incline from the +west, and lowered them on the east side. At the foot of the +incline a locomotive was in readiness to receive them, Stephenson +himself driving the engine. The train consisted of six +waggons loaded with coals and flour; after these was the +passenger-coach, filled with the directors and their friends, and +then twenty-one waggons fitted up with temporary seats for +passengers; and lastly came six waggon-loads of coals, making in +all a train of thirty-eight vehicles. The local chronicler +of the day almost went beside himself in describing the +extraordinary event:—“The signal being given,” +he says, “the engine started off with this immense train of +carriages; and such was its velocity, that in some parts the +speed was frequently 12 miles an hour!” By the time +it reached Stockton there were about 600 persons in the train or +hanging on to the waggons, which must have gone at a safe and +steady pace of from four to six miles an hour from +Darlington. “The arrival at Stockton,” it is +added, “excited a deep interest and admiration.”</p> +<p>The working of the line then commenced, and the results were +such as to surprise even the most sanguine of its +projectors. The traffic upon which they had formed their +estimates of profit proved to be small in comparison with that +which flowed in upon them which they had never dreamt of. +Thus, what the company had principally relied upon for their +receipts was the carriage of coals for land sale at the stations +along the line, whereas the haulage of coals to the seaports for +exportation to the London market was not contemplated as +possible. When the bill was before Parliament, Mr. Lambton +(afterwards Earl of Durham) succeeded in getting a clause +inserted, limiting <!-- page 138--><a name="page138"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 138</span>the charge for the haulage of all +coal to Stockton-on-Tees for the purpose of shipment to +½d. per ton per mile; whereas a rate of 4d. per ton was +allowed to be taken for all coals led upon the railway for land +sale. Mr. Lambton’s object in enforcing the low rate +of ½d. was to protect his own trade in coal exported from +Sunderland and the northern ports. He believed, in common +with everybody else, that the ½d. rate would effectually +secure him against competition on the part of the Company; for it +was not considered possible to lead coals at that price, and the +proprietors of the railway themselves considered that such a rate +would be utterly ruinous. The projectors never contemplated +sending more than 10,000 tons a year to Stockton, and those only +for shipment as ballast; they looked for their profits almost +exclusively to the land sale. The result, however, was as +surprising to them as it must have been to Mr. Lambton. The +½d. rate which was forced upon them, instead of being +ruinous, proved the vital element in the success of the +railway. In the course of a few years, the annual shipment +of coal, led by the Stockton and Darlington Railway to Stockton +and Middlesborough, was more than 500,000 tons; and it has since +far exceeded this amount. Instead of being, as anticipated, +a subordinate branch of traffic, it proved, in fact, the main +traffic, while the land sale was merely subsidiary.</p> +<p>The anticipations of the company as to passenger traffic were +in like manner more than realised. At first, passengers +were not thought of; and it was only while the works were in +progress that the starting of a passenger coach was seriously +contemplated. The number of persons travelling between the +two towns was very small; and it was not known whether these +would risk their persons upon the iron road. It was +determined, however, to make trial of a railway coach; and Mr. +Stephenson was authorised to have one built at Newcastle, at the +cost of the company. This was done accordingly; and the +first railway passenger carriage was built after our +engineer’s design. It was, <!-- page 139--><a +name="page139"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 139</span>however, a +very modest, and indeed a somewhat uncouth machine, more +resembling the caravans still to be seen at country fairs +containing the “Giant and the Dwarf” and other +wonders of the world, than a passenger-coach of any extant +form. A row of seats ran along each side of the interior, +and a long deal table was fixed in the centre; the access being +by means of a door at the back end, in the manner of an +omnibus.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p139.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The First Railway Coach" +title= +"The First Railway Coach" +src="images/p139.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>This coach arrived from Newcastle the day before the opening, +and formed part of the railway procession above described. +Mr. Stephenson was consulted as to the name of the coach, and he +at once suggested “The Experiment;” and by this name +it was called. The Company’s arms were afterwards +painted on her side, with the motto “Periculum privatum +utilitas publica.” Such was the sole +passenger-carrying stock of the Stockton and Darlington Company +in the year 1825. But the “Experiment” proved +the forerunner of a mighty traffic: and long time did not elapse +before it was displaced, not only by improved <!-- page 140--><a +name="page140"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 140</span>coaches +(still drawn by horses), but afterwards by long trains of +passenger-carriages drawn by locomotive engines.</p> +<p>“The Experiment” was fairly started as a +passenger-coach on the 10th October, 1825, a fortnight after the +opening of the line. It was drawn by one horse, and +performed a journey daily each way between the two towns, +accomplishing the distance of twelve miles in about two +hours. The fare charged was a shilling without distinction +of class; and each passenger was allowed fourteen pounds of +luggage free. “The Experiment” was not, +however, worked by the company, but was let to contractors who +worked it under an arrangement whereby toll was paid for the use +of the line, rent of booking-cabins, etc.</p> +<p>The speculation answered so well, that several private +coaching companies were shortly after got up by innkeepers at +Darlington and Stockton, for the purpose of running other coaches +upon the railroad; and an active competition for passenger +traffic sprang up. “The Experiment” being found +too heavy for one horse to draw, besides being found an +uncomfortable machine, was banished to the coal district. +Its place was then supplied by other and better +vehicles,—though they were no other than old stage-coach +bodies purchased by the company, and each mounted upon an +underframe with flange-wheels. These were let on hire to +the coaching companies, who horsed and managed them under an +arrangement as to tolls, in like manner as the +“Experiment” had been worked. Now began the +distinction of inside and outside passengers, equivalent to first +and second class, paying different fares. The competition +with each other upon the railway, and with the ordinary +stagecoaches upon the road, soon brought up the speed, which was +increased to ten miles an hour—the mail-coach rate of +travelling in those days, and considered very fast.</p> +<p>Mr. Clephan, a native of the district, has described some of +the curious features of the competition between the rival coach +companies:—“There were two separate coach companies +in Stockton, and amusing collisions sometimes occurred <!-- page +141--><a name="page141"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +141</span>between the drivers—who found on the rail a novel +element for contention. Coaches cannot pass each other on +the rail as on the road; and, as the line was single, with four +sidings in the mile, when two coaches met, or two trains, or +coach and train, the question arose which of the drivers must go +back? This was not always settled in silence. As to +trains, it came to be a sort of understanding that empty should +give way to loaded waggons; and as to trains and coaches, that +the passengers should have preference over coals; while coaches, +when they met, must quarrel it out. At length, midway +between sidings, a post was erected, and a rule was laid down +that he who had passed the pillar must go on, and the +‘coming man’ go back. At the Goose Pool and +Early Nook, it was common for these coaches to stop; and there, +as Jonathan would say, passengers and coachmen +‘liquored.’ One coach, introduced by an +innkeeper, was a compound of two mourning-coaches,—an +approximation to the real railway-coach, which still adheres, +with multiplying exceptions, to the stage-coach type. One +Dixon, who drove the ‘Experiment’ between Darlington +and Shildon, is the inventor of carriage-lighting on the +rail. On a dark winter night, having compassion on his +passengers, he would buy a penny candle, and place it lighted +amongst them on the table of the +‘Experiment’—the first railway-coach (which, by +the way, ended its days at Shildon as a railway cabin), being +also the first coach on the rail (first, second, and third class +jammed all into one) that indulged its customers with light in +darkness.”</p> +<p>The traffic of all sorts increased so steadily and so rapidly +that considerable difficulty was experienced in working it +satisfactorily. It had been provided by the first Stockton +and Darlington Act that the line should be free to all parties +who chose to use it at certain prescribed rates, and that any +person might put horses and waggons on the railway, and carry for +himself. But this arrangement led to increasing confusion +and difficulty, and could not continue in the face of a large and +rapidly-increasing traffic. The <!-- page 142--><a +name="page142"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 142</span>goods +trains got so long that the carriers found it necessary to call +in the aid of the locomotive engine to help them on their +way. Then mixed trains of passengers and merchandise began +to run; and the result was that the railway company found it +necessary to take the entire charge and working of the +traffic. In course of time new coaches were specially built +for the better accommodation of the public, until at length +regular passenger-trains were run, drawn by the locomotive +engine,—though this was not until after the Liverpool and +Manchester Company had established this as a distinct branch of +their traffic.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p142.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The No. I. Engine at Darlington" +title= +"The No. I. Engine at Darlington" +src="images/p142.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The three Stephenson locomotives were from the first regularly +employed to work the coal trains; and their proved efficiency for +this purpose led to the gradual increase of the locomotive +power. The speed of the engines—slow though it seems +now—was in those days regarded as something +marvellous. A race actually came off between No. I. <!-- +page 143--><a name="page143"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +143</span>engine, the “Locomotion,” and one of the +stage-coaches travelling from Darlington to Stockton by the +ordinary road; and it was regarded as a great triumph of +mechanical skill that the locomotive reached Stockton first, +beating the stage-coach by about a hundred yards! The same +engine continued in good working order in the year 1846, when it +headed the railway procession on the opening of the +Middlesborough and Redcar Railway, travelling at the rate of +about fourteen miles an hour. This engine, the first that +travelled upon the first public railway, has recently been placed +upon a pedestal in front of the railway station at +Darlington.</p> +<p>For some years, however, the principal haulage of the line was +performed by horses. The inclination of the gradients being +towards the sea, this was perhaps the cheapest mode of traction, +so long as the traffic was not very large. The horse drew +the train along the level road, until, on reaching a descending +gradient, down which the train ran by its own gravity, the animal +was unharnessed, and, when loose, he wheeled round to the other +end of the waggons, to which a “dandy-cart” was +attached, its bottom being only a few inches from the rail. +Bringing his step into unison with the speed of the train, the +horse learnt to leap nimbly into his place in this waggon, which +was usually fitted with a well-filled hay-rack.</p> +<p>The details of the working were gradually perfected by +experience, the projectors of the line being scarcely conscious +at first of the importance and significance of the work which +they had taken in hand, and little thinking that they were laying +the foundations of a system which was yet to revolutionise the +internal communications of the world, and confer the greatest +blessings on mankind. It is important to note that the +commercial results of the enterprise were considered satisfactory +from the opening of the railway. Besides conferring a great +public benefit upon the inhabitants of the district and throwing +open entirely new markets for coal, the profits derived from the +traffic <!-- page 144--><a name="page144"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 144</span>created by the railway yielded +increasing dividends to those who had risked their capital in the +undertaking, and thus held forth an encouragement to the +projectors of railways generally, which was not without an +important effect in stimulating the projection of similar +enterprises in other districts. These results, as displayed +in the annual dividends, must have been eminently encouraging to +the astute commercial men of Liverpool and Manchester, who were +then engaged in the prosecution of their railway. Indeed, +the commercial success of the Stockton and Darlington Company may +be justly characterised as the turning-point of the railway +system.</p> +<p>Before leaving this subject, we cannot avoid alluding to one +of its most remarkable and direct results—the creation of +the town of Middlesborough-on-Tees. When the railway was +opened in 1825, the site of this future metropolis of Cleveland +was occupied by one solitary farmhouse and its +outbuildings. All round was pasture-land or mud-banks; +scarcely another house was within sight. In 1829 some of +the principal proprietors of the railway joined in the purchase +of about 500 or 600 acres of land five miles below +Stockton—the site of the modern Middlesborough—for +the purpose of there forming a new seaport for the shipment of +coals brought to the Tees by the railway. The line was +accordingly extended thither; docks were excavated; a town sprang +up; churches, chapels, and schools were built, with a +custom-house, mechanics’ institute, banks, shipbuilding +yards, and iron-factories. In ten years a busy population +of some 6000 persons (since increased to about 23,000) occupied +the site of the original farmhouse. <a name="citation144"></a><a +href="#footnote144" class="citation">[144]</a> More +recently, the discovery <!-- page 145--><a +name="page145"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 145</span>of vast +stores of ironstone in the Cleveland Hills, closely adjoining +Middlesborough, has tended still more rapidly to augment the +population and increase the commercial importance of the +place.</p> +<p>It is pleasing to relate, in connexion with this great +work—the Stockton and Darlington Railway, projected by +Edward Pease and executed by George Stephenson—that when +Mr. Stephenson became a prosperous and a celebrated man, he did +not forget the friend who had taken him by the hand, and helped +him on in his early days. He continued to remember Mr. +Pease with gratitude and affection, and that gentleman, to the +close of his life, was proud to exhibit a handsome gold watch, +received as a gift from his celebrated +<i>protégé</i>, bearing these +words;—“Esteem and gratitude: from George Stephenson +to Edward Pease.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p145.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Middlesborough-on-Tees" +title= +"Middlesborough-on-Tees" +src="images/p145.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 146--><a name="page146"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 146</span>CHAPTER IX.<br /> +<span class="smcap">The Liverpool and Manchester Railway +projected</span>.</h2> +<p>The rapid growth of the trade and manufactures of South +Lancashire gave rise, about the year 1821, to the project of a +tramroad for the conveyance of goods between Liverpool and +Manchester. Since the construction of the Bridgewater Canal +by Brindley, some fifty years before, the increase in the +business transacted between the two towns had become quite +marvellous. The steam-engine, the spinning-jenny, and the +canal, working together, had accumulated in one focus a vast +aggregate of population, manufactures, and trade.</p> +<p>Such was the expansion of business caused by the inventions to +which we have referred, that the navigation was found altogether +inadequate to accommodate the traffic, which completely outgrew +all the Canal Companies’ appliances of wharves, boats, and +horses. Cotton lay at Liverpool for weeks together, waiting +to be removed; and it occupied a longer time to transport the +cargoes from Liverpool to Manchester than it had done to bring +them across the Atlantic from the United States to England. +Carts and waggons were tried, but proved altogether +insufficient. Sometimes manufacturing operations had to be +suspended altogether, and during a frost, when the canals were +frozen up, the communication was entirely stopped. The +consequences were often disastrous, alike to operatives, +merchants, and manufacturers.</p> +<p>Expostulation with the Canal Companies was of no use. +They were overcrowded with business at their own prices, and +disposed to be very dictatorial. When the Duke first +constructed his canal, he had to encounter the fierce opposition +of the Irwell and Mersey Navigation, whose monopoly <!-- page +147--><a name="page147"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +147</span>his new line of water conveyance threatened to +interfere with. <a name="citation147"></a><a href="#footnote147" +class="citation">[147]</a> But the innovation of one +generation often becomes the obstruction of the next. The +Duke’s agents would scarcely listen to the remonstrances of +the Liverpool merchants and Manchester manufacturers, and the +Bridgewater Canal was accordingly, in its turn, denounced as a +monopoly.</p> +<p>Under these circumstances, any new mode of transit between the +two towns which offered a reasonable prospect of relief was +certain to receive a cordial welcome. The scheme of a +tramroad was, however, so new and comparatively untried, that it +is not surprising that the parties interested should have +hesitated before committing themselves to it. Mr. Sandars, +a Liverpool merchant, was amongst the first to broach the +subject. He had suffered in his business, in common with +many others, from the insufficiency of the existing modes of +communication, and was ready to give consideration to any plan +presenting elements of practical efficiency which proposed a +remedy for the generally admitted grievance. Having caused +inquiry to be made as to the success which had attended the +haulage of heavy coal-trains by locomotive power on the northern +railways, he was led to the opinion that the same means might be +equally efficient in conducting the increasing traffic in +merchandise between Liverpool and Manchester. He ventilated +the subject amongst his friends, and about the beginning of 1821 +a committee was formed for the purpose of bringing the scheme of +a railroad before the public.</p> +<p>The novel project having become noised abroad, attracted the +attention of the friends of railways in other quarters. +Tramroads were by no means new expedients for the transit of +heavy articles. The Croydon and Wandsworth Railway, laid +down by William Jessop as early as the year 1801, had been +regularly used for the conveyance of lime and stone in waggons +hauled by mules or donkeys from <!-- page 148--><a +name="page148"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 148</span>Merstham to +London. The sight of this humble railroad in 1813 led Sir +Richard Phillips in his ‘Morning Walk to Kew’ to +anticipate the great advantages which would be derived by the +nation from the general adoption of Blenkinsop’s engine for +the conveyance of mails and passengers at ten or even fifteen +miles an hour. In the same year we find Mr. Lovell +Edgworth, who had for fifty years been advocating the superiority +of tram or rail roads over common roads, writing to James Watt +(7th August, 1813): “I have always thought that steam would +become the universal lord, and that we should in time scorn +post-horses; an iron railroad would be a cheaper thing than a +road upon the common construction.”</p> +<p>Thomas Gray, of Nottingham, was another speculator on the same +subject. Though he was no mechanic nor inventor, he had an +enthusiastic belief in the powers of the railroad system. +Being a native of Leeds, he had, when a boy, seen +Blenkinsop’s locomotive at work on the Middleton cogged +railroad, and from an early period he seems to have entertained +almost as sanguine views on the subject as Sir Richard +Phillips. It would appear that Gray was residing in +Brussels in 1816, when the project of a canal from Charleroi, for +the purpose of connecting Holland with the mining districts of +Belgium, was the subject of discussion; and, in conversation with +Mr. John Cockerill and others, he took the opportunity of +advocating the superior advantages of a railway. He was +absorbed for some time with the preparation of a pamphlet on the +subject. He shut himself up, secluded from his wife and +relations, declining to give them any information as to his +mysterious studies, beyond the assurance that his scheme +“would revolutionise the whole face of the material world +and of society.” In 1820 Mr. Gray published the +result of his studies in his ‘Observations on a General +Iron Railway,’ in which, with great cogency, he urged the +superiority of a locomotive railway over common roads and canals, +pointing out, at the same time, the advantages to all classes of +<!-- page 149--><a name="page149"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +149</span>the community of this mode of conveyance for +merchandise and persons. In this book Mr. Gray suggested a +railway between Manchester and Liverpool, “which,” he +observed, “would employ many thousands of the distressed +population of Lancashire.” The treatise must have met +with a ready sale, as we find that two years later it had passed +into a fourth edition. In 1822 Mr. Gray added diagrams to +the book, showing, in one, suggested lines of railway connecting +the principal towns of England, and in another, the principal +towns of Ireland.</p> +<p>These speculations show that the subject of railways was +gradually becoming familiar to the public mind, and that +thoughtful men were anticipating with confidence the adoption of +steam-power for the purposes of railway traction. At the +same time, a still more profitable class of labourers was at +work—first, men like Stephenson, who were engaged in +improving the locomotive and making it a practicable and +economical working power; and next, those like Edward Pease of +Darlington, and Joseph Sandars of Liverpool, who were organising +the means of laying down the railways. Mr. William James, +of West Bromwich, belonged to the active class of +projectors. He was a man of considerable social influence, +of an active temperament, and had from an early period taken a +warm interest in the formation of tramroads. Acting as +land-agent for gentlemen of property in the mining districts, he +had laid down several tramroads in the neighbourhood of +Birmingham, Gloucester, and Bristol; and he published many +pamphlets urging their formation in other places. At one +period of his life he was a large iron-manufacturer. The +times, however, went against him. It was thought he was too +bold, some considered him even reckless, in his speculations; and +he lost almost his entire fortune. He continued to follow +the business of a land-agent, and it was while engaged in making +a survey for one of his clients in the neighbourhood of Liverpool +early in 1821, that he first heard of the project of a railway +between that town and Manchester. <!-- page 150--><a +name="page150"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 150</span>He at once +called upon Mr. Sandars, and offered his services as surveyor of +the proposed line, and his offer was accepted.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p150.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Map of Liverpool and Manchester Railway. (Western Part.)" +title= +"Map of Liverpool and Manchester Railway. (Western Part.)" +src="images/p150.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p151.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Map of Liverpool and Manchester Railway. (Eastern Part.)" +title= +"Map of Liverpool and Manchester Railway. (Eastern Part.)" +src="images/p151.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>A trial survey was then begun, but it was conducted with great +difficulty, the inhabitants of the district entertaining the most +violent prejudices against the scheme. In some places Mr. James +and his surveying party even encountered personal violence. The +farmers stationed men at the field-gates with pitchforks, and +sometimes with guns, to drive them back. At St. Helen’s, +one of the chainmen was laid hold of by a mob of colliers, and +threatened to be hurled down a coal-pit. A number of men, women, +and children, collected and ran after the surveyors wherever they +made their appearance, bawling nicknames and throwing stones at +them. As one of the chainmen was climbing over a gate one day, a +labourer made at him with a pitchfork, and ran it through his +clothes into his back; other watchers running up, the chainman, +who was more stunned than hurt, took to his heels and fled. But +that mysterious-looking instrument—-the +theodolite-—most excited the fury of the natives, who +concentrated on the man who carried <!-- page 151--><a +name="page151"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 151</span>it their +fiercest execrations and most offensive nicknames.</p> +<p>A powerful fellow, a noted bruiser, was hired by the surveyors +to carry the instrument, with a view to its protection against +all assailants; but one day an equally powerful fellow, a St. +Helen’s collier, cock of the walk in his neighbourhood, +made up to the theodolite bearer to wrest it from him by sheer +force. A battle took place, the collier was soundly +pummelled, but the natives poured in volleys of stones upon the +surveyors and their instruments, and the theodolite was smashed +to pieces.</p> +<p>An outline-survey having at length been made, notices were +published of an intended application to Parliament. In the +mean time Mr. James proceeded to Killingworth to see +Stephenson’s locomotives at work. Stephenson was not +at home at the time, but James saw his engines, and was very much +struck by their power and efficiency. He saw at a glance +the magnificent uses to which the locomotive might be +applied. “Here,” said he, “is an engine +that will, before long, effect a complete revolution in +society.” Returning to Moreton-in-the-Marsh, he wrote +to Mr. Losh <!-- page 152--><a name="page152"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 152</span>(Stephenson’s partner in the +patent) expressing his admiration of the Killingworth +engine. “It is,” said he, “the greatest +wonder of the age, and the forerunner, as I firmly believe, of +the most important changes in the internal communications of the +kingdom.” Shortly after, Mr. James, accompanied by +his two sons, made a second journey to Killingworth, where he met +both Losh and Stephenson. The visitors were at once taken +to where the locomotive was working, and invited to mount +it. The uncouth and extraordinary appearance of the +machine, as it came snorting along, was somewhat alarming to the +youths, who expressed their fears lest it should burst; and they +were with some difficulty induced to mount.</p> +<p>The engine went through its usual performances, dragging a +heavy load of coal-waggons at about six miles an hour, with +apparent ease, at which Mr. James expressed his extreme +satisfaction, and declared to Mr. Losh his opinion that +Stephenson “was the greatest practical genius of the +age,” and that, “if he developed the full powers of +that engine (the locomotive), his fame in the world would rank +equal with that of Watt.” Mr. James informed +Stephenson and Losh of his survey of the proposed tramroad +between Liverpool and Manchester, and did not hesitate to state +that he would thenceforward advocate the construction of a +locomotive railroad instead of the tramroad which had originally +been proposed.</p> +<p>Stephenson and Losh were naturally desirous of enlisting +James’s good services on behalf of their patent locomotive, +for as yet it had proved comparatively unproductive. They +believed that he might be able so to advocate it in influential +quarters as to ensure its more extensive adoption, and with this +object they proposed to give him an interest in the patent. +Accordingly they assigned him one-fourth of any profits which +might be derived from the use of the patent locomotive on any +railways constructed south of a line drawn across England from +Liverpool to Hull. The arrangement, however, led to no +beneficial results. Mr. <!-- page 153--><a +name="page153"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 153</span>James +endeavoured to introduce the engine on the Moreton-on-Marsh +Railway; but it was opposed by the engineer of the line, and the +attempt failed. He next urged that a locomotive should be +sent for trial upon the Merstham tramroad; but, anxious though +Stephenson was respecting its extended employment, he was too +cautious to risk an experiment which might only bring discredit +upon the engine; and the Merstham road being only laid with +cast-iron plates, which would not bear its weight, the invitation +was declined.</p> +<p>It turned out that the first survey of the Liverpool and +Manchester line was very imperfect, and it was determined to have +a second and more complete one made in the following year. +Robert Stephenson was sent over by his father to Liverpool to +assist in this survey. He was present with Mr. James on the +occasion on which he tried to lay out the line across Chat +Moss,—a proceeding which was not only difficult but +dangerous. The Moss was very wet at the time, and only its +edges could be ventured on. Mr. James was a heavy, +thick-set man; and one day, when endeavouring to obtain a stand +for his theodolite, he felt himself suddenly sinking. He +immediately threw himself down, and rolled over and over until he +reached firm ground again, in a sad mess. Other attempts +which he subsequently made to enter upon the Moss for the same +purpose, were abandoned for the same reason—the want of a +solid stand for the theodolite.</p> +<p>On the 4th October, 1822, we find Mr. James writing to Mr. +Sandars, “I came last night to send my aid, Robert +Stephenson, to his father, and to-morrow I shall pay off Evans +and Hamilton, two other assistants. I have now only Messrs. +Padley and Clarke to finish the copy of plans for Parliament, +which will be done in about a week or nine days’ +time.” It would appear however, that, notwithstanding +all his exertions, Mr. James was unable to complete his plans and +estimates in time for the ensuing Session; and another year was +thus lost. The Railroad Committee <!-- page 154--><a +name="page154"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 154</span>became +impatient at the delay. Mr. James’s financial +embarrassments reached their climax; and, what with illness and +debt, he was no longer in a position to fulfil his promises to +the Committee. They were, therefore, under the necessity of +calling to their aid some other engineer.</p> +<p>Mr. Sandars had by this time visited George Stephenson at +Killingworth, and, like all who came within reach of his personal +influence, was charmed with him at first sight. The energy +which he had displayed in carrying on the works of the Stockton +and Darlington Railway, now approaching completion; his readiness +to face difficulties, and his practical ability in overcoming +them; the enthusiasm which he displayed on the subject of +railways and railway locomotion,—concurred in satisfying +Mr. Sandars that he was, of all men, the best calculated to help +forward the Liverpool undertaking at this juncture. On his +return he stated this opinion to the Committee, who approved his +recommendation, and George Stephenson was unanimously appointed +engineer of the projected railway.</p> +<p>It will be observed that Mr. Sandars had held to his original +purpose with great determination and perseverance, and he +gradually succeeded in enlisting on his side an increasing number +of influential merchants and manufacturers both at Liverpool and +Manchester. Early in 1824 he published a pamphlet, in which +he strongly urged the great losses and interruptions to the trade +of the district by the delays in the forwarding of merchandise; +and in the same year he had a Public Declaration drawn up, and +signed by upwards of 150 of the principal merchants of Liverpool, +setting forth that they considered “the present +establishments for the transport of goods quite inadequate, and +that a new line of conveyance has become absolutely necessary to +conduct the increasing trade of the country with speed, +certainty, and economy.”</p> +<p>A public meeting was then held to consider the best plan to be +adopted, and resolutions were passed in favour of a +railroad. A committee was appointed to take the necessary +<!-- page 155--><a name="page155"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +155</span>measures; but, as if reluctant to enter upon their +arduous struggle with the “vested interests,” they +first waited on Mr. Bradshaw, the Duke of Bridgewater’s +canal agent, in the hope of persuading him to increase the means +of conveyance, as well as to reduce the charges; but they were +met by an unqualified refusal. They suggested the +expediency of a railway, and invited Mr. Bradshaw to become a +proprietor of shares in it. But his reply +was—“All or none!” The canal proprietors, +confident in their imagined security, ridiculed the proposed +railway as a chimera. It had been spoken about years +before, and nothing had come of it then: it would be the same +now.</p> +<p>In order to form a better opinion as to the practicability of +the railroad, a deputation of gentlemen interested in the project +proceeded to Killingworth, to inspect the engines which had been +so long in use there. They first went to Darlington, where +they found the works of the Stockton line in progress, though +still unfinished. Proceeding next to Killingworth with Mr. +Stephenson, they there witnessed the performances of his +locomotive engines. The result of their visit was, on the +whole, so satisfactory, that on their report being delivered to +the committee at Liverpool, it was finally determined to form a +company of proprietors for the construction of a double line of +railway between Liverpool and Manchester.</p> +<p>The first prospectus of the scheme was dated the 29th October, +1824, and had attached to it the names of the leading merchants +of Liverpool and Manchester. It was a modest document, very +unlike the inflated balloons which were sent up by railway +speculators in succeeding years. It set forth as its main +object the establishment of a safe and cheap mode of transit for +merchandise, by which the conveyance of goods between the two +towns would be effected in 5 or 6 hours (instead of 36 hours by +the canal), whilst the charges would be reduced one-third. +On looking at the prospectus now, it is curious to note that, +while the advantages anticipated from the carriage of merchandise +<!-- page 156--><a name="page156"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +156</span>were strongly insisted upon, the conveyance of +passengers—which proved to be the chief source of +profit—was only very cautiously referred to. +“As a cheap and expeditious means of conveyance for +travellers,” says the prospectus in conclusion, “the +railway holds out the fair prospect of a public accommodation, +the magnitude and importance of which cannot be immediately +ascertained.” The estimated expense of forming the +line was set down at £400,000,—a sum which was +eventually found quite inadequate. The subscription list +when opened was filled up without difficulty.</p> +<p>While the project was still under discussion, its promoters, +desirous of removing the doubts which existed as to the +employment of steam power on the proposed railway, sent a second +deputation to Killingworth for the purpose of again observing the +action of Stephenson’s engines. The cautious +projectors of the railway were not yet quite satisfied; and a +third journey was made to Killingworth, in January, 1825, by +several gentlemen of the committee, accompanied by practical +engineers, for the purpose of being personal eye-witnesses of +what steam-carriages were able to perform upon a railway. +There they saw a train, consisting of a locomotive and loaded +waggons, weighing in all 54 tons, travelling at the average rate +of about 7 miles an hour, the greatest speed being about +9½ miles an hour. But when the engine was run with +only one waggon attached containing twenty gentlemen, five of +whom were engineers, the speed attained was from 10 to 12 miles +an hour.</p> +<p>In the mean time the survey was proceeded with, in the face of +great opposition from the proprietors of the lands through which +the railway was intended to pass. The prejudices of the +farming and labouring classes were strongly excited against the +persons employed upon the ground, and it was with the greatest +difficulty that the levels could be taken. At one place, +Stephenson was driven off the ground by the keepers, and +threatened to be ducked <!-- page 157--><a +name="page157"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 157</span>in the pond +if found there again. The farmers also turned out their men +to watch the surveying party, and prevent them entering upon any +lands where they had the power of driving them off.</p> +<p>One of the proprietors declared that he would order his +game-keepers to shoot or apprehend any persons attempting a +survey over his property. But one moonlight night a survey +was obtained by the following ruse. Some men, under the +orders of the surveying party, were set to fire off guns in a +particular quarter; on which all the game-keepers on the watch +made off in that direction, and they were drawn away to such a +distance in pursuit of the supposed poachers, as to enable a +rapid survey to be made during their absence.</p> +<p>When the canal companies found that the Liverpool merchants +were determined to proceed with their scheme—that they had +completed their survey, and were ready to apply to Parliament for +an Act to enable them to form the railway—they at last +reluctantly, and with a bad grace, made overtures of +conciliation. They promised to employ steam-vessels both on +the Mersey and on the Canal. One of the companies offered +to reduce its length by three miles, at a considerable +outlay. At the same time they made a show of lowering their +rates. But it was too late; for the project of the railway +had now gone so far that the promoters (who might have been +conciliated by such overtures at an earlier period) felt they +were fully committed to it, and that now they could not well draw +back. Besides, the remedies offered by the canal companies +could only have had the effect of staving off the difficulty for +a brief season,—the absolute necessity of forming a new +line of communication between Liverpool and Manchester becoming +more urgent from year to year. Arrangements were therefore +made for proceeding with the bill in the parliamentary session of +1825.</p> +<p>On this becoming known, the canal companies prepared to resist +the measure tooth and nail. The public were <!-- page +158--><a name="page158"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +158</span>appealed to on the subject; pamphlets were written and +newspapers were hired to revile the railway. It was +declared that its formation would prevent cows grazing and hens +laying. The poisoned air from the locomotives would kill +birds as they flew over them, and render the preservation of +pheasants and foxes no longer possible. Householders +adjoining the projected line were told that their houses would be +burnt up by the fire thrown from the engine-chimneys; while the +air around would be polluted by clouds of smoke. There +would no longer be any use for horses; and if railways extended, +the species would become extinguished, and oats and hay be +rendered unsaleable commodities. Travelling by rail would +be highly dangerous, and country inns would be ruined. +Boilers would burst and blow passengers to atoms. But there +was always this consolation to wind up with—that the weight +of the locomotive would completely prevent its moving, and that +railways, even if made, could <i>never</i> be worked by +steam-power.</p> +<p>Indeed, when Mr. Stephenson, at the interviews with counsel, +held previous to the Liverpool and Manchester bill going into +Committee of the House of Commons, confidently stated his +expectation of being able to impel his locomotive at the rate of +20 miles an hour, Mr. William Brougham, who was retained by the +promoters to conduct their case, frankly told him that if he did +not moderate his views, and bring his engine within a +<i>reasonable</i> speed, he would “inevitably damn the +whole thing, and be himself regarded as a maniac fit only for +Bedlam.”</p> +<p>The idea thrown out by Stephenson, of travelling at a rate of +speed double that of the fastest mail-coach, appeared at the time +so preposterous that he was unable to find any engineer who would +risk his reputation in supporting such “absurd +views.” Speaking of his isolation at the time, he +subsequently observed, at a public meeting of railway men in +Manchester: “He remembered the time when he had very few +supporters in bringing out the railway system—<!-- page +159--><a name="page159"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +159</span>when he sought England over for an engineer to support +him in his evidence before Parliament, and could find only one +man, James Walker, but was afraid to call that gentleman, because +he knew nothing about railways. He had then no one to tell +his tale to but Mr. Sandars, of Liverpool, who did listen to him, +and kept his spirits up; and his schemes had at length been +carried out only by dint of sheer perseverance.”</p> +<p>George Stephenson’s idea was at that time regarded as +but the dream of a chimerical projector. It stood before +the public friendless, struggling hard to gain a footing, +scarcely daring to lift itself into notice for fear of +ridicule. The civil engineers generally rejected the notion +of a Locomotive Railway; and when no leading man of the day could +be found to stand forward in support of the Killingworth +mechanic, its chances of success must indeed have been pronounced +but small.</p> +<p>When such was the hostility of the civil engineers, no wonder +the reviewers were puzzled. The ‘Quarterly,’ in +an able article in support of the projected Liverpool and +Manchester Railway,—while admitting its absolute necessity, +and insisting that there was no choice left but a railroad, on +which the journey between Liverpool and Manchester, whether +performed by horses or engines, would always be accomplished +“within the day,”—nevertheless scouted the idea +of travelling at a greater speed than eight or nine miles an +hour. Adverting to a project for forming a railway to +Woolwich, by which passengers were to be drawn by locomotive +engines, moving with twice the velocity of ordinary coaches, the +reviewer observed:—“What can be more palpably absurd +and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives +travelling <i>twice as fast</i> as stagecoaches! We would +as soon expect the people of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be +fired off upon one of Congreve’s ricochet rockets, as trust +themselves to the mercy of such a machine going at such a +rate. We will back old Father Thames against the Woolwich +Railway for any sum. We <!-- page 160--><a +name="page160"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 160</span>trust that +Parliament will, in all railways it may sanction, limit the speed +to <i>eight or nine miles an hour</i>, which we entirely agree +with Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on with +safety.”</p> +<p>At length the survey was completed, the plans were deposited, +the requisite preliminary arrangements were made, and the +promoters of the scheme applied to Parliament for the necessary +powers to construct the railway. The Bill went into +Committee of the Commons on the 21st of March, 1825. There +was an extraordinary array of legal talent on the occasion, but +especially on the side of the opponents to the measure; their +counsel including Mr. (afterwards Baron) Alderson, Mr. +(afterwards Baron) Parke, Mr. Harrison, and Mr. Erle. The +counsel for the bill were Mr. Adam, Mr. Serjeant Spankie, Mr. +William Brougham, and Mr. Joy.</p> +<p>Evidence was taken at great length as to the difficulties and +delays in forwarding raw material of all kinds from Liverpool to +Manchester, as also in the conveyance of manufactured goods from +Manchester to Liverpool. The evidence adduced in support of +the bill on these grounds was overwhelming. The utter +inadequacy of the existing modes of conveyance to carry on +satisfactorily the large and rapidly-growing trade between the +two towns was fully proved. But then came the gist of the +promoter’s case—the evidence to prove the +practicability of a railroad to be worked by locomotive +power. Mr. Adam, in his opening speech, referred to the +cases of the Hetton and the Killingworth railroads, where heavy +goods were safely and economically transported by means of +locomotive engines. “None of the tremendous +consequences,” he observed, “have ensued from the use +of steam in land carriage that have been stated. The horses +have not started, nor the cows ceased to give their milk, nor +have ladies miscarried at the sight of these things going forward +at the rate of four miles and a half an hour.” +Notwithstanding the petition of two ladies alleging the great +danger to be apprehended <!-- page 161--><a +name="page161"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 161</span>from the +bursting of the locomotive boilers, he urged the safety of the +high-pressure engine when the boilers were constructed of +wrought-iron; and as to the rate at which they could travel, he +expressed his full conviction that such engines “could +supply force to drive a carriage at the rate of five or six miles +an hour.”</p> +<p>The taking of the evidence as to the impediments thrown in the +way of trade and commerce by the existing system extended over a +month, and it was the 21st of April before the Committee went +into the engineering evidence, which was the vital part of the +question.</p> +<p>On the 25th George Stephenson was called into the +witness-box. It was his first appearance before a Committee +of the House of Commons, and he well knew what he had to +expect. He was aware that the whole force of the opposition +was to be directed against him; and if they could break down his +evidence, the canal monopoly might yet be upheld for a +time. Many years afterwards, when looking back at his +position on this trying occasion, he said:—“When I +went to Liverpool to plan a line from thence to Manchester, I +pledged myself to the directors to attain a speed of 10 miles an +hour. I said I had no doubt the locomotive might be made to +go much faster, but that we had better be moderate at the +beginning. The directors said I was quite right; for that +if, when they went to Parliament, I talked of going at a greater +rate than 10 miles an hour, I should put a cross upon the +concern. It was not an easy task for me to keep the engine +down to 10 miles an hour, but it must be done, and I did my +best. I had to place myself in that most unpleasant of all +positions—the witness-box of a Parliamentary +Committee. I was not long in it, before I began to wish for +a hole to creep out at! I could not find words to satisfy +either the Committee or myself. I was subjected to the +cross-examination of eight or ten barristers, purposely, as far +as possible, to bewilder me. Some member of the Committee +asked if I was a foreigner, and another hinted that I was +mad. But I put up with every rebuff, and <!-- page 162--><a +name="page162"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 162</span>went on +with my plans, determined not to be put down.”</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson stood before the Committee to prove what the +public opinion of that day held to be impossible. The +self-taught mechanic had to demonstrate the practicability of +accomplishing that which the most distinguished engineers of the +time regarded as impracticable. Clear though the subject +was to himself, and familiar as he was with the powers of the +locomotive, it was no easy task for him to bring home his +convictions, or even to convey his meaning, to the less informed +minds of his hearers. In his strong Northumbrian dialect, +he struggled for utterance, in the face of the sneers, +interruptions, and ridicule of the opponents of the measure, and +even of the Committee, some of whom shook their heads and +whispered doubts as to his sanity, when he energetically avowed +that he could make the locomotive go at the rate of 12 miles an +hour! It was so grossly in the teeth of all the experience +of honourable members, that the man “must certainly be +labouring under a delusion!”</p> +<p>And yet his large experience of railways and locomotives, as +described by himself to the Committee, entitled this +“untaught, inarticulate genius,” as he has so well +been styled, to speak with confidence on such a subject. +Beginning with his experience as a brakesman at Killingworth in +1803, he went on to state that he was appointed to take the +entire charge of the steam-engines in 1813, and had superintended +the railroads connected with the numerous collieries of the Grand +Allies from that time downwards. He had laid down or +superintended the railways at Burradon, Mount Moor, Springwell, +Bedlington, Hetton, and Darlington, besides improving those at +Killingworth, South Moor, and Derwent Crook. He had +constructed fifty-five steam-engines, of which sixteen were +locomotives. Some of these had been sent to France. +The engines constructed by him for the working of the +Killingworth Railroad, eleven years before, had continued +steadily at work ever since, <!-- page 163--><a +name="page163"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 163</span>and +fulfilled his most sanguine expectations. He was prepared +to prove the safety of working high-pressure locomotives on a +railroad, and the superiority of this mode of transporting goods +over all others. As to speed, he said he had recommended 8 +miles an hour with 20 tons, and 4 miles an hour with 40 tons; but +he was quite confident that much more might be done. +Indeed, he had no doubt they might go at the rate of 12 +miles. As to the charge that locomotives on a railroad +would so terrify the horses in the neighbourhood, that to travel +on horseback or to plough the adjoining fields would be rendered +highly dangerous, the witness said that horses learnt to take no +notice of them, though there <i>were</i> horses that would shy at +a wheelbarrow. A mail-coach was likely to be more shied at +by horses than a locomotive. In the neighbourhood of +Killingworth, the cattle in the fields went on grazing while the +engines passed them, and the farmers made no complaints.</p> +<p>Mr. Alderson, who had carefully studied the subject, and was +well skilled in practical science, subjected the witness to a +protracted and severe cross-examination as to the speed and power +of the locomotive, the stroke of the piston, the slipping of the +wheels upon the rails, and various other points of detail. +Mr. Stephenson insisted that no slipping took place, as attempted +to be extorted from him by the counsel. He said, “It +is impossible for slipping to take place so long as the adhesive +weight of the wheel upon the rail is greater than the weight to +be dragged after it.” As to accidents, Stephenson +said he knew of none that had occurred with his engines. +There had been one, he was told, at the Middleton Colliery, near +Leeds, with a Blenkinsop engine. The driver had been in +liquor, and put a considerable load on the safety-valve, so that +upon going forward the engine blew up and the man was +killed. But he added, if proper precautions had been used +with that boiler, the accident could not have happened. The +following cross-examination occurred in reference to the question +of speed:—</p> +<p><!-- page 164--><a name="page164"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +164</span>“Of course,” he was asked, “when a +body is moving upon a road, the greater the velocity the greater +the momentum that is generated?” +“Certainly.”—“What would be the momentum +of 40 tons moving at the rate of 12 miles an hour?” +“It would be very great.”—“Have you seen +a railroad that would stand that?” +“Yes.”—“Where?” “Any +railroad that would bear going 4 miles an hour: I mean to say, +that if it would bear the weight at 4 miles an hour, it would +bear it at 12.”—“Taking it at 4 miles an hour, +do you mean to say that it would not require a stronger railway +to carry the same weight 12 miles an hour?” “I +will give an answer to that. I dare say every person has +been over ice when skating, or seen persons go over, and they +know that it would bear them better at a greater velocity than it +would if they went slower; when they go quick, the weight in a +measure ceases.”—“Is not that upon the +hypothesis that the railroad is perfect?” “It +is; and I mean to make it perfect.”</p> +<p>It is not necessary to state that to have passed the ordeal of +so severe a cross-examination scatheless, needed no small amount +of courage, intelligence, and ready shrewdness on the part of the +witness. Nicholas Wood, who was present on the occasion, +has since stated that the point on which Stephenson was hardest +pressed was that of speed. “I believe,” he +says, “that it would have lost the Company their bill if he +had gone beyond 8 or 9 miles an hour. If he had stated his +intention of going 12 or 15 miles an hour, not a single person +would have believed it to be practicable.”</p> +<p>The Committee also seem to have entertained considerable alarm +as to the high rate of speed which had been spoken of, and +proceeded to examine the witness further on the subject. +They supposed the case of the engine being upset when going at 9 +miles an hour, and asked what, in such a case, would become of +the cargo astern. To which the witness replied that it +would not be upset. One of the members of the Committee +pressed the witness a little <!-- page 165--><a +name="page165"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +165</span>further. He put the following +case:—“Suppose, now, one of these engines to be going +along a railroad at the rate of 9 or 10 miles an hour, and that a +cow were to stray upon the line and get in the way of the engine; +would not that, think you, be a very awkward +circumstance?” “Yes,” replied the +witness, with a twinkle in his eye, “very +awkward—<i>for the coo</i>!” The honourable +member did not proceed further with his cross-examination; to use +a railway phrase, he was “shunted.” Another +asked if animals would not be very much frightened by the engine +passing them, especially by the glare of the red-hot +chimney? “But how would they know that it +wasn’t painted?” said the witness.</p> +<p>On the following day, the engineer was subjected to a very +severe examination. On that part of the scheme with which +he was most practically conversant, his evidence was clear and +conclusive. Now, he had to give evidence on the plans made +by his surveyors, and the estimates which had been founded on +such plans. So long as he was confined to locomotive +engines and iron railroads, with the minutest details of which he +was more familiar than any man living, he felt at home, and in +his element. But when the designs of bridges and the cost +of constructing them had to be gone into, the subject being in a +great measure new to him, his evidence was much less +satisfactory.</p> +<p>Mr. Alderson cross-examined him at great length on the plans +of the bridges, the tunnels, the crossings of the roads and +streets, and the details of the survey, which, it soon clearly +appeared, were in some respects seriously at fault. It +seems that, after the plans had been deposited, Stephenson found +that a much more favourable line might be made; and he made his +estimates accordingly, supposing that Parliament would not +confine the Company to the precise plan which had been +deposited. This was felt to be a serious blot in the +parliamentary case, and one very difficult to be got over.</p> +<p>For three entire days was our engineer subjected to <!-- page +166--><a name="page166"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +166</span>this cross-examination. He held his ground +bravely, and defended the plans and estimates with remarkable +ability and skill; but it was clear they were imperfect, and the +result was on the whole damaging to the measure.</p> +<p>The case of the opponents was next gone into, in the course of +which the counsel indulged in strong vituperation against the +witnesses for the bill. One of them spoke of the utter +impossiblity of making a railway upon so treacherous a material +as Chat Moss, which was declared to be an immense mass of pulp, +and nothing else. “It actually,” said Mr. +Harrison, “rises in height, from the rain swelling it like +a sponge, and sinks again in dry weather; and if a boring +instrument is put into it, it sinks immediately by its own +weight. The making of an embankment out of this pulpy, wet +moss, is no very easy task. Who but Mr. Stephenson would +have thought of entering into Chat Moss, carrying it out almost +like wet dung? It is ignorance almost inconceivable. +It is perfect madness, in a person called upon to speak on a +scientific subject, to propose such a plan. Every part of +this scheme shows that this man has applied himself to a subject +of which he has no knowledge, and to which he has no science to +apply.” Then adverting to the proposal to work the +intended line by means of locomotives, the learned gentleman +proceeded: “When we set out with the original prospectus, +we were to gallop, I know not at what rate; I believe it was at +the rate of 12 miles an hour. My learned friend, Mr. Adam, +contemplated—possibly alluding to Ireland—that some +of the Irish members would arrive in the waggons to a +division. My learned friend says that they would go at the +rate of 12 miles an hour with the aid of the devil in the form of +a locomotive, sitting as postilion on the fore horse, and an +honourable member sitting behind him to stir up the fire, and +keep it at full speed. But the speed at which these +locomotive engines are to go has slackened: Mr. Adam does not go +faster now than 5 miles an hour. The learned serjeant +(Spankie) says he should like to have 7, but he <!-- page +167--><a name="page167"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +167</span>would be content to go 6. I will show he cannot +go 6; and probably, for any practical purposes, I may be able to +show that I can keep up with him <i>by the canal</i>. . . . +Locomotive engines are liable to be operated upon by the +weather. You are told they are affected by rain, and an +attempt has been made to cover them; but the wind will affect +them; and any gale of wind which would affect the traffic on the +Mersey would render it <i>impossible</i> to set off a locomotive +engine, either by poking of the fire, or keeping up the pressure +of the steam till the boiler was ready to burst.” How +amusing it now is to read these extraordinary views as to the +formation of a railway over Chat Moss, and the impossibility of +starting a locomotive engine in the face of a gale of wind!</p> +<p>Evidence was called to show that the house property passed by +the proposed railway would be greatly deteriorated—in some +places almost destroyed; that the locomotive engines would be +terrible nuisances, in consequence of the fire and smoke vomited +forth by them; and that the value of land in the neighbourhood of +Manchester alone would be deteriorated by no less than +£20,000! Evidence was also given at great length +showing the utter impossibility of forming a road of any kind +upon Chat Moss. A Manchester builder, who was examined, +could not imagine the feat possible, unless by arching it across +in the manner of a viaduct from one side to the other. It +was the old story of “nothing like leather.” +But the opposition mainly relied upon the evidence of the leading +engineers—not like Stephenson, self-taught men, but regular +professionals. One of these, Mr. Francis Giles, C.E., had +been twenty-two years an engineer, and could speak with some +authority. His testimony was mainly directed to the utter +impossibility of forming a railway over Chat Moss. +“<i>No engineer in his senses</i>,” said he, +“would go through Chat Moss if he wanted to make a railroad +from Liverpool to Manchester. . . . In my judgment <i>a +railroad certainly cannot be safely made over Chat Moss without +going to the bottom </i><!-- page 168--><a +name="page168"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 168</span><i>of the +Moss</i>. The soil ought all to be taken out, undoubtedly; +in doing which, it will not be practicable to approach each end +of the cutting, as you make it, with the carriages. No +carriages would stand upon the Moss short of the bottom. My +estimate for the whole cutting and embankment over Chat Moss is +£270,000 nearly, at those quantities and those prices which +are decidedly correct . . . It will be necessary to take this +Moss completely out at the bottom, in order to make a solid +road.”</p> +<p>When the engineers had given their evidence, Mr. Alderson +summed up in a speech which extended over two days. He +declared Mr. Stephenson’s plan to be “the most absurd +scheme that ever entered into the head of man to conceive. +My learned friends,” said he, “almost endeavoured to +stop my examination; they wished me to put in the plan, but I had +rather have the exhibition of Mr. Stephenson in that box. I +say he never had a plan—I believe he never had one—I +do not believe he is capable of making one. His is a mind +perpetually fluctuating between opposite difficulties: he neither +knows whether he is to make bridges over roads or rivers, of one +size or of another; or to make embankments, or cuttings, or +inclined planes, or in what way the thing is to be carried into +effect. Whenever a difficulty is pressed, as in the case of +a tunnel, he gets out of it at one end, and when you try to catch +him at that, he gets out at the other.” Mr. Alderson +proceeded to declaim against the gross ignorance of this +so-called engineer, who proposed to make “impossible +ditches by the side of an impossible railway” upon Chat +Moss; “I care not,” he said, “whether Mr. Giles +is right or wrong in his estimate, for whether it be effected by +means of piers raised up all the way for four miles through Chat +Moss, whether they are to support it on beams of wood or by +erecting masonry, or whether Mr. Giles shall put a solid bank of +earth through it,—in all these schemes there is not one +found like that of Mr. Stephenson’s, namely, to cut +impossible drains on the side of this road; and it is sufficient +for me <!-- page 169--><a name="page169"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 169</span>to suggest and to show, that this +scheme of Mr. Stephenson’s is impossible or impracticable, +and that no other scheme, if they proceed upon this line, can be +suggested which will not produce enormous expense. I think +that has been irrefragably made out. Every one knows Chat +Moss—every one knows that the iron sinks immediately on its +being put upon the surface. I have heard of culverts, which +have been put upon the Moss, which, after having been surveyed +the day before, have the next morning disappeared; and that a +house (a poet’s house, who may be supposed in the habit of +building castles even in the air), story after story, as fast as +one is added, the lower one sinks! There is nothing, it +appears, except long sedgy grass, and a little soil to prevent +its sinking into the shades of eternal night. I have now +done, sir, with Chat Moss, and there I leave this +railroad.”</p> +<p>The case of the principal petitioners against the bill +occupied many more days, and on its conclusion the committee +proceeded to divide on the preamble, which was carried by a +majority of only <i>one</i>—37 voting for it, and 36 +against it. The clauses were next considered, and on a +division the first clause, empowering the Company to make the +railway, was lost by a majority of 19 to 13. In like +manner, the next clause, empowering the Company to take land, was +lost; on which the bill was withdrawn.</p> +<p>Thus ended this memorable contest, which had extended over two +months—carried on throughout with great pertinacity and +skill, especially on the part of the opposition, who left no +stone unturned to defeat the measure. The want of a third +line of communication between Liverpool and Manchester had been +clearly proved; but the engineering evidence in support of the +proposed railway having been thrown almost entirely upon +Stephenson, who fought this, the most important part of the +battle, single-handed, was not brought out so clearly as it would +have been, had he secured more efficient engineering +assistance—which he was not able to do, as the principal +engineers of that day <!-- page 170--><a name="page170"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 170</span>were against the locomotive +railway. The obstacles thrown in the way of the survey by +the landowners and canal companies, by which the plans were +rendered exceedingly imperfect, also tended in a great measure to +defeat the bill.</p> +<p>The rejection of the bill was probably the most severe trial +George Stephenson underwent in the whole course of his +life. The circumstances connected with the defeat of the +measure, the errors in the levels, his rigid cross-examination, +followed by the fact of his being superseded by another engineer, +all told fearfully upon him, and for some time he was as much +weighed down as if a personal calamity of the most serious kind +had befallen him.</p> +<p>Stephenson had been so terribly abused by the leading counsel +for the opposition in the course of the proceedings before the +Committee—stigmatised by them as an ignoramus, a fool, and +a maniac—that even his friends seem for a time to have lost +faith in him and in the locomotive system, whose efficiency he +nevertheless continued to uphold. Things never looked +blacker for the success of the railway system than at the close +of this great parliamentary struggle. And yet it was on the +very eve of its triumph.</p> +<p>The Committee of Directors appointed to watch the measure in +Parliament were so determined to press on the project of a +railway, even though it should have to be worked merely by +horse-power, that the bill had scarcely been thrown out ere they +met in London to consider their next step. They called +their parliamentary friends together to consult as to future +proceedings; and the result was that they went back to Liverpool +determined to renew their application to Parliament in the +ensuing session.</p> +<p>It was not considered desirable to employ Mr. Stephenson in +making the new survey. He had not as yet established his +reputation as an engineer beyond the boundaries of his own +district; and the promoters of the bill had doubtless felt the +disadvantages of this in the course of their parliamentary +struggle. They therefore resolved now to employ <!-- page +171--><a name="page171"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +171</span>engineers of the highest established reputation, as +well as the best surveyors that could be obtained. In +accordance with these views they engaged Messrs. George and John +Rennie to be the engineers of the railway; and Mr. Charles +Vignolles was appointed to prepare the plans and sections. +The line which was eventually adopted differed somewhat from that +surveyed by Mr. Stephenson. The principal parks and +game-preserves of the district were carefully avoided. The +promoters thus hoped to get rid of the opposition of the most +influential of the resident landowners. The crossing of +certain of the streets of Liverpool was also avoided, and the +entrance contrived by means of a tunnel and an inclined +plane. The new line stopped short of the river Irwell at +the Manchester end, by which the objections grounded on an +illegal interruption to the canal or river traffic were in some +measure removed. The opposition of the Duke of +Bridgewater’s trustees was also got rid of, and the Marquis +of Stafford became a subscriber for a thousand shares. With +reference to the use of the locomotive engine, the promoters, +remembering with what effect the objections to it had been urged +by the opponents of the bill, intimated, in their second +prospectus, that “as a guarantee of their good faith +towards the public they will not require any clause empowering +them to use it; or they will submit to such restrictions in the +employment of it as Parliament may impose.”</p> +<p>The survey of the new line having been completed, the plans +were deposited, the standing orders duly complied with, and the +bill went before Parliament. The same counsel appeared for +the promoters, but the examination of witnesses was not nearly so +protracted as on the previous occasion. The preamble was +declared proved by a majority of 43 to 18. On the third +reading in the House of Commons, an animated, and what now +appears a very amusing discussion took place. The Hon. +Edward Stanley moved that the bill be read that day six months; +and in his speech he undertook to prove that the railway trains +would take <!-- page 172--><a name="page172"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 172</span><i>ten hours</i> on the journey, and +that they could only be worked by horses. Sir Isaac Coffin +seconded the motion, and in doing so denounced the project as a +most flagrant imposition. He would not consent to see +widows’ premises invaded; and “What, he would like to +know, was to be done with all those who had advanced money in +making and repairing turnpike-roads? What was to become of +coach-makers and harness-makers, coach-masters and coachmen, +inn-keepers, horse-breeders, and horse-dealers? Was the +house aware of the smoke and the noise, the hiss and the whirl, +which locomotive engines, passing at the rate of 10 or 12 miles +an hour, would occasion? Neither the cattle ploughing in +the fields or grazing in the meadows could behold them without +dismay. Iron would be raised in price 100 per cent., or +more probably exhausted altogether! It would be the +greatest nuisance, the most complete disturbance of quiet and +comfort in all parts of the kingdom, that the ingenuity of man +could invent!”</p> +<p>Mr. Huskisson and other speakers, though unable to reply to +such arguments as these, strongly supported the bill; and it was +carried on the third reading by a majority of 88 to 41. The +bill passed the House of Lords almost unanimously, its only +opponents being the Earl of Derby and his relative the Earl of +Wilton.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p172.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Surveying on Chat Moss" +title= +"Surveying on Chat Moss" +src="images/p172.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 173--><a name="page173"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 173</span>CHAPTER X.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Chat Moss</span>—<span +class="smcap">Construction of the Railway</span>.</h2> +<p>The appointment of principal engineer to the railway was taken +into consideration at the first meeting of the directors held at +Liverpool subsequent to the passing of the Act. The +magnitude of the proposed works, and the vast consequences +involved in their experiment, were deeply impressed upon their +minds; and they resolved to secure the services of a resident +engineer of proved experience and ability. Their attention +was naturally directed to Mr. Stephenson; at the same time they +desired to have the benefit of the Messrs. Rennie’s +professional assistance in superintending the works. Mr. +George Rennie had an interview with the Board on the subject, at +which he proposed to undertake the chief superintendence, making +six visits in each year, and stipulating that he should have the +appointment of the resident engineer. But the +responsibility attaching to the direction in the matter of the +efficient carrying on of the works, would not admit of their +being influenced by ordinary punctilios on the occasion; and they +accordingly declined this proposal, and proceeded to appoint Mr. +Stephenson their principal engineer at a salary of £1000 +per annum.</p> +<p>He at once removed his residence to Liverpool, and made +arrangements to commence the works. He began with the +“impossible thing”—to do that which the most +distinguished engineers of the day had declared that “no +man in his senses would undertake to do”—namely, to +make the road over Chat Moss! It was indeed a most +formidable undertaking; and the project of carrying a railway +along, under, or over such a material as that of which it +consisted, <!-- page 174--><a name="page174"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 174</span>would certainly never have occurred +to an ordinary mind. Michael Drayton supposed the Moss to +have had its origin at the Deluge. Nothing more impassable +could have been imagined than that dreary waste; and Mr. Giles +only spoke the popular feeling of the day when he declared that +no carriage could stand on it “short of the +bottom.” In this bog, singular to say, Mr. Roscoe, +the accomplished historian of the Medicis, buried his fortune in +the hopeless attempt to cultivate a portion of it which he had +bought.</p> +<p>Chat Moss is an immense peat bog of about twelve square miles +in extent. Unlike the bogs or swamps of Cambridge and +Lincolnshire, which consist principally of soft mud or silt, this +bog is a vast mass of spongy vegetable pulp, the result of the +growth and decay of ages. The spagni, or bog-mosses, cover +the entire area; one year’s growth rising over +another,—the older growths not entirely decaying, but +remaining partially preserved by the antiseptic properties +peculiar to peat. Hence the remarkable fact that, although +a semifluid mass, the surface of Chat Moss rises above the level +of the surrounding country. Like a turtle’s back, it +declines from the summit in every direction, having from thirty +to forty feet gradual slope to the solid land on all sides. +From the remains of trees, chiefly alder and birch, which have +been dug out of it, and which must have previously flourished +upon the surface of soil now deeply submerged, it is probable +that the sand and clay base on which the bog rests is +saucer-shaped, and so retains the entire mass in position. +In rainy weather, such is its capacity for water that it sensibly +swells, and rises in those parts where the moss is the +deepest. This occurs through the capillary attraction of +the fibres of the submerged moss, which is from 20 to 30 feet in +depth, whilst the growing plants effectually check evaporation +from the surface. This peculiar character of the Moss has +presented an insuperable difficulty in the way of reclaiming it +by any system of extensive drainage—such as by sinking +shafts, and pumping up the water by steam power, as has been +proposed. <!-- page 175--><a name="page175"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 175</span>Supposing a shaft of 30 feet deep to +be sunk, it has been calculated that this would only be effectual +for draining a circle of about 100 yards, the water running down +an incline of about 5 to 1; for it was found in the course of +draining the bog, that a ditch 3 feet deep only served to drain a +space of less than 5 yards on each side, and two ditches of this +depth, 10 yards apart, left a portion of the Moss between them +scarcely affected by the drains.</p> +<p>The three resident engineers selected by Mr. Stephenson to +superintend the construction of the line, were Joseph Locke, +William Allcard, and John Dixon. The last was appointed to +that portion which lay across the Moss, neither of the other two +envying his lot. On Mr. Dixon’s arrival, about July, +1826, Mr. Locke proceeded to show him over the length he was to +take charge of, and to instal him in office. When they +reached Chat Moss, Mr. Dixon found that the line had already been +staked out and the levels taken in detail by the aid of planks +laid upon the bog. The cutting of the drains along each +side of the proposed road had also been commenced; but the soft +pulpy stuff had up to this time flowed into the drains and filled +them up as fast as they were cut. Proceeding across the +Moss, on the first day’s inspection, the new resident, when +about halfway over, slipped off the plank on which he walked, and +sank to his knees in the bog. Struggling only sent him the +deeper, and he might have disappeared altogether, but for the +workmen, who hastened to his assistance upon planks, and rescued +him from his perilous position. Much disheartened, he +desired to return, and even thought of giving up the job; but Mr. +Locke assured him that the worst part was now past; so the new +resident plucked up heart again, and both floundered on until +they reached the further edge of the Moss, wet and plastered over +with bog-sludge. Mr. Dixon’s companions endeavoured +to comfort him by the assurance that he might avoid similar +perils, by walking upon “pattens,” or boards fastened +to the soles of his feet, as they had done when taking the +levels, and as <!-- page 176--><a name="page176"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 176</span>the workmen did when engaged in +making drains in the softest parts of the Moss. The +resident engineer was sorely puzzled in the outset by the problem +of constructing a road for heavy locomotives, with trains of +passengers and goods, upon a bog which he had found incapable of +supporting his own weight!</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson’s idea was, that such a road might be +made to <i>float</i> upon the bog, simply by means of a +sufficient extension of the bearing surface. As a ship, or +a raft, capable of sustaining heavy loads floated in water, so in +his opinion, might a light road be floated upon a bog, which was +of considerably greater consistency than water. Long before +the railway was thought of, Mr. Roscoe had adopted the remarkable +expedient of fitting his plough-horses with flat wooden soles or +pattens, to enable them to walk upon the Moss land which he had +brought into cultivation. These pattens were fitted on by +means of a screw apparatus, which met in front of the foot and +was easily fastened. The mode by which these pattens served +to sustain the horse is capable of easy explanation, and it will +be observed that the <i>rationale</i> likewise explains the +floating of a railway train. The foot of an ordinary +farm-horse presents a base of about five inches diameter, but if +this base be enlarged to seven inches—the circles being to +each other as the squares of the diameters—it will be found +that, by this slight enlargement of the base, a circle of nearly +double the area has been secured; and consequently the pressure +of the foot upon every unit of ground upon which the horse stands +has been reduced one half. In fact, this contrivance has an +effect tantamount to setting the horse upon eight feet instead of +four.</p> +<p>Apply the same reasoning to the ponderous locomotive, and it +will be found, that even such a machine may be made to stand upon +a bog, by means of a similar extension of the bearing +surface. Suppose the engine to be 20 feet long and 5 feet +wide, thus covering a surface of 100 square feet, and, provided +the bearing has been extended by means of <!-- page 177--><a +name="page177"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 177</span>cross +sleepers supported on a matting of heath and branches of trees +covered with a few inches of gravel, the pressure of an engine of +20 tons will be only equal to about 3 pounds per inch over the +whole surface on which it stands. Such was George +Stephenson’s idea in contriving his floating +road—something like an elongated raft across the Moss; and +we shall see that he steadily kept it in view in carrying the +work into execution.</p> +<p>The first thing done was to form a footpath of ling or heather +along the proposed road, on which a man might walk without risk +of sinking. A single line of temporary railway was then +laid down, formed of ordinary cross-bars about 3 feet long and an +inch square, with holes punched through them at the ends and +nailed down to temporary sleepers. Along this way ran the +waggons in which were conveyed the materials requisite to form +the permanent road. These waggons carried about a ton each, +and they were propelled by boys running behind them along the +narrow iron rails. The boys became so expert that they +would run the 4 miles across at the rate of 7 or 8 miles an hour +without missing a step; if they had done so, they would have sunk +in many places up to their middle. A comparatively slight +extension of the bearing surface being found sufficient to enable +the bog to bear this temporary line, the circumstance was a +source of increased confidence and hope to our engineer in +proceeding with the formation of the permanent roadway +alongside.</p> +<p>The digging of drains had been proceeding for some time along +each side of the intended line; but they filled up almost as soon +as dug, the sides flowing in, and the bottom rising up. It +was only in some of the drier parts of the bog that a depth of +three or four feet could be reached. The surface-ground +between the drains, containing the intertwined roots of heather +and long grass, was left untouched, and upon this was spread +branches of trees and hedge-cuttings. In the softest +places, rude gates or hurdles, some 8 or 9 feet long by 4 feet +wide, interwoven with <!-- page 178--><a name="page178"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 178</span>heather, were laid in double +thicknesses, their ends overlapping each other; and upon this +floating bed was spread a thin layer of gravel, on which the +sleepers, chairs, and rails were laid in the usual manner. +Such was the mode in which the road was formed upon the Moss.</p> +<p>It was found, however, after the permanent way had been thus +laid, that there was a tendency to sinking at those parts where +the bog was softest. In ordinary cases, where a bank +subsides, the sleepers are packed up with ballast or gravel; but +in this case the ballast was dug away and removed in order to +lighten the road, and the sleepers were packed instead with cakes +of dry turf or bundles of heath. By these expedients the +subsided parts were again floated up to the level, and an +approach was made towards a satisfactory road. But the most +formidable difficulties were encountered at the centre and +towards the edges of the Moss; and it required no small degree of +ingenuity and perseverance on the part of the engineer +successfully to overcome them.</p> +<p>The Moss, as already observed, was highest in the centre, and +it there presented a sort of hunchback with a rising and falling +gradient. At that point it was found necessary to cut +deeper drains in order to consolidate the ground between them on +which the road was to be formed. But, as at other places, +the deeper the cutting the more rapid was the flow of fluid bog +into the drain, the bottom rising up almost as fast as it was +removed. To meet this emergency, numbers of empty +tar-barrels were brought from Liverpool; and as soon as a few +yards of drain were dug, the barrels were laid down end to end, +firmly fixed to each other by strong slabs laid over the joints, +and nailed. They were then covered over with clay, and thus +formed an underground sewer of wood instead of bricks. This +expedient was found to answer the purpose intended, and the road +across the centre of the Moss having been so prepared, it was +then laid with the permanent materials.</p> +<p>The greatest difficulty was, however, experienced in forming +<!-- page 179--><a name="page179"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +179</span>an embankment upon the edge of the bog at the +Manchester end. Moss as dry as it could be cut, was brought +up in small waggons, by men and boys, and emptied so as to form +an embankment; but the bank had scarcely been raised three or +four feet in height, when the stuff broke through the heathery +surface of the bog and sank out of sight. More moss was +brought up and emptied with no better result; and for weeks the +filling was continued without any visible embankment having been +made. It was the duty of the resident engineer to proceed +to Liverpool every fortnight to obtain the wages for the workmen +employed under him; and on these occasions he was required to +colour up, on a section drawn to a working scale suspended +against the wall of the directors’ room, the amount of +excavation and embankment from time to time executed. But +on many of these occasions, Mr. Dixon had no progress whatever to +show for the money expended on the Chat Moss embankment. +Sometimes, indeed, the visible work done was <i>less</i> than it +had appeared a fortnight or a month before!</p> +<p>The directors now became seriously alarmed, and feared that +the evil prognostications of the eminent engineers were about to +be fulfilled. The resident engineer was even called upon to +supply an estimate of the cost of forming an embankment of solid +stuff throughout, as also of the cost of piling the roadway, and +in effect constructing a four mile viaduct of timber across the +Moss, from twenty to thirty feet high from the foundation. +The expense appalled the directors, and the question arose, +whether the work was to be proceeded with or +<i>abandoned</i>!</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson afterwards described the alarming position of +affairs at a public dinner at Birmingham (23rd December, 1837), +on the occasion of a piece of plate being presented to his son, +upon the completion of the London and Birmingham Railway. +He related the anecdote, he said, for the purpose of impressing +upon the minds of those who heard him the necessity of +perseverance.</p> +<p>“After working for weeks and weeks,” said he, +“in filling <!-- page 180--><a name="page180"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 180</span>in materials to form the road, there +did not yet appear to be the least sign of our being able to +raise the solid embankment one single inch; in short we went on +filling in without the slightest apparent effect. Even my +assistants began to feel uneasy, and to doubt of the success of +the scheme. The directors, too, spoke of it as a hopeless +task: and at length they became seriously alarmed, so much so, +indeed, that a board meeting was held on Chat Moss to decide +whether I should proceed any further. They had previously +taken the opinion of other engineers, who reported +unfavourably. There was no help for it, however, but to go +on. An immense outlay had been incurred; and great loss +would have been occasioned had the scheme been then abandoned, +and the line taken by another route. So the directors were +<i>compelled</i> to allow me to go on with my plans, of the +ultimate success of which I myself never for one moment +doubted.”</p> +<p>During the progress of this part of the works, the Worsley and +Trafford men, who lived near the Moss, and plumed themselves upon +their practical knowledge of bog-work, declared the completion of +the road to be utterly impracticable. “If you knew as +much about Chat Moss as we do,” they said, “you would +never have entered on so rash an undertaking; and depend upon it, +all you have done and are doing will prove abortive. You +must give up the idea of a floating railway, and either fill the +Moss hard from the bottom, or deviate so as to avoid it +altogether.” Such were the conclusions of science and +experience.</p> +<p>In the midst of all these alarms and prophecies of failure, +Stephenson never lost heart, but held to his purpose. His +motto was “Persevere!” “You must go on +filling in,” he said; “there is no other help for +it. The stuff emptied in is doing its work out of sight, +and if you will but have patience, it will soon begin to +show.” And so the filling in went on; several +hundreds of men and boys were employed to skin the Moss all round +for many thousand yards, by means of sharp spades, called by the +turf cutters “tommy-spades;” <!-- page 181--><a +name="page181"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 181</span>and the +dried cakes of turf were afterwards used to form the embankment, +until at length as the stuff sank and rested upon the bottom, the +bank gradually rose above the surface, and slowly advanced +onwards, declining in height and consequently in weight, until it +became joined to the floating road already laid upon the +Moss. In the course of forming the embankment, the pressure +of the bog turf tipped out of the waggons caused a copious stream +of bog-water to flow from the end of it, in colour resembling +Barclay’s double stout; and when completed, the bank looked +like a long ridge of tightly pressed tobacco-leaf. The +compression of the turf may be imagined from the fact that +670,000 cubic yards of raw moss formed only 277,000 cubic yards +of embankment at the completion of the work.</p> +<p>At the western, or Liverpool end of the Chat Moss, there was a +like embankment; but, as the ground there was solid, little +difficulty was experienced in forming it, beyond the loss of +substance caused by the oozing out of the water held by the +moss-earth.</p> +<p>At another part of the Liverpool and Manchester line, Parr +Moss was crossed by an embankment about 1½ mile in +extent. In the immediate neighbourhood was found a large +excess of cutting, which it would have been necessary to +“put out in spoil-banks” (according to the technical +phrase); but the surplus clay, stone, and shale, were tipped, +waggon after waggon, into Parr Moss, until a solid but concealed +embankment, from fifteen to twenty-five feet high, was formed, +although to the eye it appears to be laid upon the level of the +adjoining surface, as at Chat Moss.</p> +<p>The road across Chat Moss was finished by the 1st January, +1830, when the first experimental train of passengers passed over +it, drawn by the “Rocket;” and it turned out that, +instead of being the most expensive part of the line, it was +about the cheapest. The total cost of forming the line over +the Moss was £28,000, whereas Mr. Giles’s estimate +was £270,000! It also proved to be one of the best +portions <!-- page 182--><a name="page182"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 182</span>of the railway. Being a +floating road, it was smooth and easy to run upon, just as Dr. +Arnott’s water-bed is soft and easy to lie upon—the +pressure being equal at all points. There was, and still +is, a sort of springiness in the road over the Moss, such as is +felt in passing along a suspended bridge; and those who looked +along the line as a train passed over it, said they could observe +a waviness, such as precedes and follows a skater upon ice.</p> +<p>During the progress of these works the most ridiculous rumours +were set afloat. The drivers of the stage-coaches who +feared for their calling, brought the alarming intelligence into +Manchester from time to time, that “Chat Moss was blown +up!” “Hundreds of men and horses had sunk; and +the works were completely abandoned!” The engineer +himself was declared to have been swallowed up in the Serbonian +bog; and “railways were at an end for ever!”</p> +<p>In the construction of the railway, Mr. Stephenson’s +capacity for organising and directing the labours of a large +number of workmen of all kinds eminently displayed itself. +A vast quantity of ballast-waggons had to be constructed, and +implements and materials collected, before the army of necessary +labourers could be efficiently employed at the various points of +the line. There were not at that time, as there are now, +large contractors possessed of railway plant, capable of +executing earth-works on a large scale. The first railway +engineer had not only to contrive the plant, but to organise and +direct the labour. The labourers themselves had to be +trained to their work; and it was on the Liverpool and Manchester +line that Mr. Stephenson organised the staff of that mighty band +of railway navvies, whose handiworks will be the wonder and +admiration of succeeding generations. Looking at their +gigantic traces, the men of some future age may be found to +declare of the engineer and of his workmen, that “there +were giants in those days.”</p> +<p>Although the works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway are +of a much less formidable character than those <!-- page 183--><a +name="page183"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 183</span>of many +lines that have since been constructed, they were then regarded +as of the most stupendous description. In deed, the like of +them had not before been executed in England. It had been +our engineer’s original intention carry the railway from +the north end of Liverpool, round the red-sandstone ridge on +which the upper part of the town is built, and also round the +higher rise of the coal formation at Rainhill, by following the +natural levels. But the opposition of the landowners having +forced the line more to the south, it was rendered necessary to +cut through the hills, and go over the high grounds instead of +round them. The first consequence of this alteration in the +plans was the necessity for constructing a tunnel under the town +of Liverpool 1½ mile in length; the second, a long and +deep cutting through the red-sandstone rock at Olive Mount; and +the third and most serious of all, was the necessity for +surmounting the Whiston and Sutton hills by inclined planes of 1 +in 96. The line was also, by the same forced deviation, +prevented passing through the Lancashire coal-field, and the +engineer was compelled to carry it across the Sankey valley, at a +point where the waters of the brook had dug out an excessively +deep channel through the marl-beds of the district.</p> +<p>The principal difficulty was experienced in pushing on the +works connected with the formation of the tunnel under Liverpool, +2200 yards in length. The blasting and hewing of the rock +were vigorously carried on night and day; and the +engineer’s practical experience in the collieries here +proved of great use to him. Many obstacles had to be +encountered and overcome in the formation of the tunnel, the rock +varying in hardness and texture at different parts. In some +places the miners were deluged by water, which surged from the +soft blue shale found at the lowest level of the tunnel. In +other places, beds of wet sand were cut through; and there +careful propping and pinning were necessary to prevent the roof +from tumbling in, until the masonry to support it could be +erected. On one occasion, <!-- page 184--><a +name="page184"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 184</span>while the +engineer was absent from Liverpool, a mass of loose moss-earth +and sand fell from the roof, which had been insufficiently +propped. The miners withdrew from the work; and on +Stephenson’s return, he found them in a refractory state, +refusing to re-enter the tunnel. He induced them, however, +by his example, to return to their labours; and when the roof had +been secured, the work went on again as before. When there +was danger, he was <!-- page 185--><a name="page185"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 185</span>always ready to share it with the +men; and gathering confidence from his fearlessness, they +proceeded vigorously with the undertaking, boring and mining +their way towards the light.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p184.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Olive Mount Cutting" +title= +"Olive Mount Cutting" +src="images/p184.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Olive Mount cutting was the first extensive stone cutting +executed on any railway, and to this day it is one of the most +formidable. It is about two miles long, and in some parts +80 feet deep. It is a narrow ravine or defile cut out of +the solid rock; and not less than 480,000 cubic yards of stone +were removed from it. Mr. Vignolles, afterwards describing +it, said it looked as if it had been dug out by giants.</p> +<p>The crossing of so many roads and streams involved the +necessity for constructing an unusual number of bridges. +There were not fewer than 63, under or over the railway, on the +30 miles between Liverpool and Manchester. Up to this time, +bridges had been applied generally to high roads where inclined +approaches were of comparatively small importance, and in +determining the rise of his arch the engineer selected any +headway he thought proper. Every consideration was indeed +made subsidiary to constructing the bridge itself, and the +completion of one large structure of this sort was regarded as an +epoch in engineering history. Yet here, in the course of a +few years, no fewer than 63 bridges were constructed on one line +of railway! Mr. Stephenson early found that the ordinary +arch was inapplicable in certain cases, where the headway was +limited, and yet the level of the railway must be +preserved. In such cases he employed simple cast-iron +beams, by which he safely bridged gaps of moderate width, +economizing headway, and introducing the use of a new material of +the greatest possible value to the railway engineer. The +bridges of masonry upon the line were of many kinds; several of +them askew bridges, and others, such as those at Newton and over +the Irwell at Manchester, straight and of considerable +dimensions; but the principal piece of masonry was the Sankey +viaduct.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 186--><a +name="page186"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 186</span> +<a href="images/p186.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Sankey Viaduct" +title= +"Sankey Viaduct" +src="images/p186.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>This fine work is principally of brick, with stone +facings. It consists of nine arches of fifty feet span +each. The massive piers are supported on two hundred piles +driven deep into the soil; and they rise to a great +height,—the coping of the parapet being seventy feet above +the level of the valley, in which flow the Sankey brook and +canal. Its total cost was about £45,000.</p> +<p>By the end of 1828 the directors found they had expended +£460,000 on the works, and that they were still far from +completion. They looked at the loss of interest on this +<!-- page 187--><a name="page187"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +187</span>large investment, and began to grumble at the +delay. They desired to see their capital becoming +productive; and in the spring of 1829 they urged the engineer to +push on the works with increased vigour. Mr. Cropper, one +of the directors, who took an active interest in their progress, +said to Stephenson one day, “Now, George, thou must get on +with the railway, and have it finished without further delay; +thou must really have it ready for opening by the first day of +January next.” “Consider the heavy character of +the works, sir, and how much we have been delayed by the want of +money, not to speak of the wetness of the weather: it is +impossible.” “Impossible!” rejoined +Cropper; “I wish I could get Napoleon to thee—he +would tell thee there is no such word as ‘impossible’ +in the vocabulary.” “Tush!” exclaimed +Stephenson, with warmth; “don’t speak to me about +Napoleon! Give me men, money, and materials, and I will do +what Napoleon couldn’t do—drive a railway from +Liverpool to Manchester over Chat Moss!”</p> +<p>The works made rapid progress in the course of the year +1829. Double sets of labourers were employed on Chat Moss +and at other points, by night and day, the night shifts working +by torch and fire light; and at length, the work advancing at all +points, the directors saw their way to the satisfactory +completion of the undertaking.</p> +<p>It may well be supposed that Mr. Stephenson’s time was +fully occupied in superintending the extensive, and for the most +part novel works, connected with the railway, and that even his +extraordinary powers of labour and endurance were taxed to the +utmost during the four years that they were in progress. +Almost every detail in the plans was directed and arranged by +himself. Every bridge, from the simplest to the most +complicated, including the then novel structure of the +“skew bridge,” iron girders, siphons, fixed engines, +and the machinery for working the tunnel at the Liverpool end, +had to be thought out by his own head, and reduced to definite +plans under his own eyes. Besides all <!-- page 188--><a +name="page188"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 188</span>this, he +had to design the working plant in anticipation of the opening of +the railway. He must be prepared with waggons, trucks, and +carriages, himself superintending their manufacture. The +permanent road, turntables, switches, and crossings,—in +short, the entire structure and machinery of the line, from the +turning of the first sod to the running of the first train of +carriages upon the railway,—were executed under his +immediate supervision. And it was in the midst of this vast +accumulation of work and responsibility that the battle of the +locomotive engine had to be fought,—a battle, not merely +against material difficulties, but against the still more trying +obstructions of deeply-rooted mistrust and prejudice on the part +of a considerable minority of the directors.</p> +<p>He had no staff of experienced assistants,—not even a +staff of draughtsmen in his office,—but only a few pupils +learning their business; and he was frequently without even their +help. The time of his engineering inspectors was fully +occupied in the actual superintendence of the works at different +parts of the line; and he took care to direct all their more +important operations in person. The principal draughtsman +was Mr. Thomas Gooch, a pupil he had brought with him from +Newcastle. “I may say,” writes Mr. Gooch, +“that nearly the whole of the working and other drawings, +as well as the various land-plans for the railway, were drawn by +my own hand. They were done at the Company’s office +in Clayton Square during the day, from instructions supplied in +the evenings by Mr. Stephenson, either by word of mouth, or by +little rough hand-sketches on letter-paper. The evenings +were also generally devoted to my duties as secretary, in writing +(mostly from his own dictation) his letters and reports, or in +making calculations and estimates. The mornings before +breakfast were not unfrequently spent by me in visiting and +lending a helping hand in the tunnel and other works near +Liverpool,—the untiring zeal and perseverance of George +Stephenson never for an instant flagging <!-- page 189--><a +name="page189"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 189</span>and +inspiring with a like enthusiasm all who were engaged under him +in carrying forward the works.” <a +name="citation189"></a><a href="#footnote189" +class="citation">[189]</a></p> +<p>The usual routine of his life at this time—if routine it +might be called—was, to rise early, by sunrise in summer +and before it in winter, and thus “break the back of the +day’s work” by mid-day. While the tunnel under +Liverpool was in progress, one of his first duties in a morning +before breakfast was to go over the various shafts, clothed in a +suitable dress, and inspect their progress at different points; +on other days he would visit the extensive workshops at Edgehill, +where most of the “plant” for the line was in course +of manufacture. Then, returning to his house, in Upper +Parliament Street, Windsor, after a hurried breakfast, he would +ride along the works to inspect their progress, and push them on +with greater energy where needful. On other days he would +prepare for the much less congenial engagement of meeting the +Board, which was often a cause of great anxiety and pain to him; +for it was difficult to satisfy men of all tempers, and some of +these not of the most generous sort. On such occasions he +might be seen with his right-hand thumb thrust through the +topmost button-hole of his coat-breast, vehemently hitching his +right shoulder, as was his habit when labouring under any +considerable excitement. Occasionally he would take an +early ride before breakfast, to inspect the progress of the +Sankey viaduct. He had a favourite horse, brought by him +from Newcastle, called “Bobby,”—so tractable +that, with his <!-- page 190--><a name="page190"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 190</span>rider on his back, he would walk up +to a locomotive with the steam blowing off, and put his nose +against it without shying. “Bobby,” saddled and +bridled, was brought to Mr. Stephenson’s door betimes in +the morning; and mounting him, he would ride the fifteen miles to +Sankey, putting up at a little public house which then stood upon +the banks of the canal. There he had his breakfast of +“crowdie,” which he made with his own hands. It +consisted of oatmeal stirred into a basin of hot water,—a +sort of porridge,—which was supped with cold sweet +milk. After this frugal breakfast, he would go upon the +works, and remain there, riding from point to point for the +greater part of the day. When he returned before mid-day, +he examined the pay-sheets in the different departments, sent in +by the assistant engineers, or by the foremen of the +workshops. To all these he gave his most careful personal +attention, requiring when necessary a full explanation of the +items.</p> +<p>After a late dinner, which occupied very short time and was +always of a plain and frugal description, he disposed of his +correspondence, or prepared sketches of drawings, and gave +instructions as to their completion. He would occasionally +refresh himself for this evening work by a short doze, which, +however, he would never admit had exceeded the limits of +“winking,” to use his own term. Mr. Frederick +Swanwick, who officiated as his secretary, after the appointment +of Mr. Gooch as Resident Engineer to the Bolton and Leigh +Railway, has informed us that he then remarked—what in +after years he could better appreciate—the clear, terse, +and vigorous style of Mr. Stephenson’s dictation. +There was nothing superfluous in it; but it was close, direct, +and to the point,—in short, thoroughly businesslike. +And if, in passing through the pen of the amanuensis, his meaning +happened in any way to be distorted or modified, it did not fail +to escape his detection, though he was always tolerant of any +liberties taken with his own form of expression, so long as the +words written down conveyed his real meaning.</p> +<p><!-- page 191--><a name="page191"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +191</span>His letters and reports written, and his sketches of +drawings made and explained, the remainder of the evening was +usually devoted to conversation with his wife and those of his +pupils who lived under his roof, and constituted, as it were, +part of the family. He then delighted to test the knowledge +of his young companions, and to question them upon the principles +of mechanics. If they were not quite “up to the +mark” on any point, there was no escaping detection by +evasive or specious explanations. These always brought out +the verdict, “Ah! you know nought about it now; but think +it over again, and tell me when you understand it.” +If there were even partial success in the reply, it was at once +acknowledged, and a full explanation given, to which the master +would add illustrative examples for the purpose of impressing the +principle more deeply upon the pupil’s mind.</p> +<p>It was not so much his object and purpose to +“cram” the minds of the young men committed to his +charge with the <i>results</i> of knowledge, as to stimulate them +to educate themselves—to induce them to develop their +mental and moral powers by the exercise of their own free +energies, and thus acquire that habit of self-thinking and +self-reliance which is the spring of all true manly action. +In a word, he sought to bring out and invigorate the +<i>character</i> of his pupils. He felt that he himself had +been made stronger and better through his encounters with +difficulty; and he would not have the road of knowledge made too +smooth and easy for them. “Learn for +yourselves,—think for yourselves,” he would +say:—“make yourselves masters of +principles,—persevere,—be industrious,—and +there is then no fear of you.” And not the least +emphatic proof of the soundness of this system of education, as +conducted by Mr. Stephenson, was afforded by the after history of +these pupils themselves. There was not one of those trained +under his eye who did not rise to eminent usefulness and +distinction as an engineer. He sent them forth into the +world braced with the spirit of manly self-help—inspired by +his own noble example; and <!-- page 192--><a +name="page192"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 192</span>they +repeated in their after career the lessons of earnest effort and +persistent industry which his daily life had taught them.</p> +<p>Stephenson’s evenings at home were not, however, +exclusively devoted either to business or to the graver exercises +above referred to. He would often indulge in cheerful +conversation and anecdote, falling back from time to time upon +the struggles and difficulties of his early life. The not +unfrequent winding up of his story addressed to the young men +about him, was, “Ah! ye young fellows don’t know what +<i>wark</i> is in these days!” Mr. Swanwick takes +pleasure in recalling to mind how seldom, if ever, a cross or +captious word, or an angry look, marred the enjoyment of those +evenings. The presence of Mrs. Stephenson gave them an +additional charm: amiable, kind-hearted, and intelligent, she +shared quietly in the pleasure of the party; and the atmosphere +of comfort which always pervaded her home contributed in no small +degree to render it a centre of cheerful, hopeful intercourse, +and of earnest, honest industry. She was a wife who well +deserved, what she through life retained, the strong and +unremitting affection of her husband.</p> +<p>When Mr. Stephenson retired for the night, it was not always +that he permitted himself to sink into slumber. Like +Brindley, he worked out many a difficult problem in bed; and for +hours he would turn over in his mind and study how to overcome +some obstacle, or to mature some project, on which his thoughts +were bent. Some remark inadvertently dropped by him at the +breakfast-table in the morning, served to show that he had been +stealing some hours from the past night in reflection and +study. Yet he would rise at his accustomed early hour, and +there was no abatement of his usual energy in carrying on the +business of the day.</p> +<h2><!-- page 193--><a name="page193"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 193</span>CHAPTER XI.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Robert Stephenson’s Residence in +Colombia</span>, <span class="smcap">and +Return</span>—<span class="smcap">The Battle of the +Locomotive</span>—“<span class="smcap">The +Rocket</span>.”</h2> +<p>We return to the career of Robert Stephenson, who had been +absent from England during the construction of the Liverpool +railway, but was shortly about to join his father and take part +in “the battle of the locomotive,” which was now +impending.</p> +<p>On his return from Edinburgh College in the summer of 1823, he +had assisted in the survey of the Stockton and Darlington line; +and when the Locomotive Engine Works were started in Forth +Street, Newcastle, he took an active part in that concern. +“The factory,” he says, “was in active +operation early in 1824; I left England for Colombia in June of +that year, having finished drawing the designs of the Brusselton +stationary engines for the Stockton and Darlington Railway before +I left.” <a name="citation193"></a><a href="#footnote193" +class="citation">[193]</a></p> +<p>Speculation was very rife at the time; and amongst the most +promising adventures were the companies organised for the purpose +of working the gold and silver mines of South America. +Great difficulty was experienced in finding mining engineers +capable of carrying out those projects, and young men of even the +most moderate experience were eagerly sought after. The +Columbian Mining Association of London offered an engagement to +young Stephenson, to go out to Mariquita and take charge of the +engineering operations of that company. Robert was himself +desirous of accepting it, but his father said it would first be +necessary to ascertain whether the proposed change would be for +his <!-- page 194--><a name="page194"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 194</span>good. His health had been very +delicate for some time, partly occasioned by his rapid growth, +but principally because of his close application to work and +study. Father and son together called upon Dr. Headlam, the +eminent physician of Newcastle, to consult him on the +subject. During the examination which ensued, Robert +afterwards used to say that he felt as if he were upon trial for +life or death. To his great relief, the doctor pronounced +that a temporary residence in a warm climate was the very thing +likely to be most beneficial to him. The appointment was +accordingly accepted, and, before many weeks had passed, Robert +Stephenson set sail for South America.</p> +<p>After a tolerably prosperous voyage he landed at La Guayra, on +the north coast of Venezuela, on the 23rd July, from thence +proceeding to Caraccas, the capital of the district, about 15 +miles inland. There he remained for two months, unable to +proceed in consequence of the wretched state of the roads in the +interior. He contrived, however, to make occasional +excursions in the neighbourhood, with an eye to the mining +business on which he had come. About the beginning of +October he set out for Bogota, the capital of Columbia or New +Granada. The distance was about 1200 miles, through a very +difficult region, and it was performed entirely upon mule-back +after the fashion of the country.</p> +<p>In the course of the journey Robert visited many of the +districts reported to be rich in minerals, but he met with few +traces except of copper, iron, and coal, with occasional +indications of gold and silver. He found the people ready +to furnish information, which, however, when tested, usually +proved worthless. A guide whom he employed for weeks, kept +him buoyed up with the hope of richer mining quarters than he had +yet seen; but when he professed to be able to show him mines of +“brass, steel, alcohol, and pinchbeck,” Stephenson +discovered him to be an incorrigible rogue, and immediately +dismissed him. At length our traveller reached Bogota, and +after an interview with Mr. <!-- page 195--><a +name="page195"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +195</span>Illingworth, the commercial manager of the mining +Company, he proceeded to Honda, crossed the Magdalena, and +shortly after reached the site of his intended operations on the +eastern slopes of the Andes.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson used afterwards to speak in glowing terms of +this his first mule-journey in South America. Everything +was entirely new to him. The variety and beauty of the +indigenous plants, the luxurious tropical vegetation, the +appearance, manners, and dress of the people, and the mode of +travelling, were altogether different from everything he had +before seen. His own travelling garb also must have been +strange even to himself. “My hat,” he says, +“was of plaited grass, with a crown nine inches in height, +surrounded by a brim of six inches; a white cotton suit; and a +<i>ruana</i> of blue and crimson plaid, with a hole in the centre +for the head to pass through. This cloak is admirably +adapted for the purpose, amply covering the rider and mule, and +at night answering the purpose of a blanket in the net-hammock, +which is made from fibres of the aloe, and which every traveller +carries before him on his mule, and suspends to the trees or in +houses, as occasion may require.” The part of the +journey which seems to have made the most lasting impression on +his mind was that between Bogota and the mining district in the +neighbourhood of Mariquita. As he ascended the slopes of +the mountain-range, and reached the first step of the table-land, +he was struck beyond expression with the noble view of the valley +of the Magdalena behind him, so vast that he failed in attempting +to define the point at which the course of the river blended with +the horizon. Like all travellers in the district, he noted +the remarkable changes of climate and vegetation, as he rose from +the burning plains towards the fresh breath of the +mountains. From an atmosphere as hot as that of an oven he +passed into delicious cool air; until, in his onward and upward +journey, a still more temperate region was reached, the very +perfection of climate. Before him rose the majestic <!-- +page 196--><a name="page196"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +196</span>Cordilleras, forming a rampart against the western +skies, at certain times of the day looking black, sharp, and, at +their summit, almost as even as a wall.</p> +<p>Our engineer took up his abode for a time at Mariquita, a fine +old city, though then greatly decayed. During the period of +the Spanish dominion, it was an important place, most of the gold +and silver convoys passing through it on their way to Cartagena, +there to be shipped in galleons for Europe. The mountainous +country to the west was rich in silver, gold, and other metals, +and it was Mr. Stephenson’s object to select the best site +for commencing operations for the Company. With this object +he “prospected” about in all directions, visiting +long-abandoned mines, and analysing specimens obtained from many +quarters. The mines eventually fixed upon as the scene of +his operations were those of La Manta and Santa Anna, long before +worked by the Spaniards, though, in consequence of the luxuriance +and rapidity of the vegetation, all traces of the old workings +had become completely overgrown and lost. Everything had to +be begun anew. Roads had to be cut to the mines, machinery +to be erected, and the ground opened up, in course of which some +of the old adits were hit upon. The native peons or +labourers were not accustomed to work, and at first they usually +contrived to desert when they were not watched, so that very +little progress could be made until the arrival of the expected +band of miners from England. The authorities were by no +means helpful, and the engineer was driven to an old expedient +with the object of overcoming this difficulty. “We +endeavour all we can,” he says, in one of his letters, +“to make ourselves popular, and this we find most +effectually accomplished by ‘regaling the venal +beasts.’” <a name="citation196"></a><a +href="#footnote196" class="citation">[196]</a> He also gave +a ball at Mariquita, which passed off with <i>éclat</i>, +the governor from Honda, with a host of friends, honouring it +with their presence. It was, indeed, necessary to +“make a party” in this way, <!-- page 197--><a +name="page197"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 197</span>as other +schemers were already trying to undermine the Colombian company +in influential directions. The engineer did not exaggerate +when he said, “The uncertainty of transacting business in +this country is perplexing beyond description.”</p> +<p>At last, his party of miners arrived from England, but they +gave him even more trouble than the peons had done. They +were rough, drunken, and sometimes altogether ungovernable. +He set them to work at the Santa Anna mine without delay, and at +the same time took up his abode amongst them, “to keep +them,” he said, “if possible, from indulging in the +detestable vice of drunkenness, which, if not put a stop to, will +eventually destroy themselves, and involve the mining association +in ruin.” To add to his troubles, the captain of the +miners displayed a very hostile and insubordinate spirit, +quarrelled and fought with the men, and was insolent to the +engineer himself. The captain and his gang, being Cornish +men, told Robert to his face, that because he was a North-country +man, and not born in Cornwall it was impossible he should know +anything of mining. Disease also fell upon him,—first +fever, and then visceral derangement, followed by a return of his +“old complaint, a feeling of oppression in the +breast.” No wonder that in the midst of these +troubles he should longingly speak of returning to his native +land. But he stuck to his post and his duty, kept up his +courage, and by a mixture of mildness and firmness, and the +display of great coolness of judgment, he contrived to keep the +men to their work, and gradually to carry forward the enterprise +which he had undertaken. By the beginning of July, 1826, we +find that quietness and order had been restored, and the works +were proceeding more satisfactorily, though the yield of silver +was not as yet very promising. Mr. Stephenson calculated +that at least three years’ diligent and costly operations +would be needed to render the mines productive.</p> +<p>In the mean time he removed to the dwelling which had been +erected for his accommodation at Santa Anna. It was <!-- +page 198--><a name="page198"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +198</span>a structure speedily raised after the fashion of the +country.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p198.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Robert Stephenson’s Cottage at Santa Anna" +title= +"Robert Stephenson’s Cottage at Santa Anna" +src="images/p198.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The walls were of split and flattened bamboo, tied together +with the long fibres of a dried climbing plant; the roof was of +palm-leaves, and the ceiling of reeds. When an earthquake +shook the district—for earthquakes were frequent—the +inmates of such a fabric merely felt as if shaken in a basket, +without sustaining any harm. In front of the cottage lay a +woody ravine, extending almost to the base of the Andes, +gorgeously clothed in primeval vegetation—magnolias, palms, +bamboos, tree-ferns, acacias, cedars; and, towering over all, the +great almendrons, with their smooth, silvery stems, bearing aloft +noble clusters of pure white blossom. The forest was +haunted by myriads of gay insects, butterflies with wings of +dazzling lustre, birds of brilliant plumage, humming-birds, +golden orioles, toucans, and a <!-- page 199--><a +name="page199"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 199</span>host of +solitary warblers. But the glorious sunsets seen from his +cottage-porch more than all astonished and delighted the young +engineer; and he was accustomed to say that, after having +witnessed them, he was reluctant to accuse the ancient Peruvians +of idolatry.</p> +<p>But all these natural beauties failed to reconcile him to the +harassing difficulties of his situation, which continued to +increase rather than diminish. He was hampered by the +action of the Board at home, who gave ear to hostile criticisms +on his reports; and, although they afterwards made handsome +acknowledgment of his services, he felt his position to be +altogether unsatisfactory. He therefore determined to leave +at the expiry of his three years engagement, and communicated his +decision to the directors accordingly. On receiving his +letter, the Board, through Mr. Richardson, of Lombard street, one +of the directors, communicated with his father at Newcastle, +representing that if he would allow his son to remain in Colombia +the Company would make it “worth his while.” To +this the father gave a decided negative, and intimated that he +himself needed his son’s assistance, and that he must +return at the expiry of his three years’ term,—a +decision, writes Robert, “at which I feel much gratified, +as it is clear that he is as anxious to have me back in England +as I am to get there.” <a name="citation199"></a><a +href="#footnote199" class="citation">[199]</a> At the same +time, Edward Pease, a principal partner in the Newcastle firm, +privately wrote Robert to the following effect, urging his return +home:—“I can assure thee that thy business at +Newcastle, as well as thy father’s engineering, have +suffered very much from thy absence, and, unless thou soon +return, the former will be given up, as Mr. Longridge is not able +to give it that attention it requires; and what is done is not +done with credit to the house.” The idea of the +manufactory being given up, which Robert had laboured so hard to +establish before leaving England, was painful to him in the +extreme, and he wrote to the <!-- page 200--><a +name="page200"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 200</span>manager of +the Company, strongly urging that arrangements should be made for +him to leave without delay. In the mean time he was again +laid prostrate by another violent attack of aguish fever; and +when able to write in June, 1827, he expressed himself as +“completely wearied and worn down with vexation.”</p> +<p>At length, when he was sufficiently recovered from his attack +and able to travel, he set out on his voyage homeward in the +beginning of August. At Mompox, on his way down the river +Magdalena, he met Mr. Bodmer, his successor, with a fresh party +of miners from England, on their way up the country to the +quarters which he had just quitted. Next day, six hours +after leaving Mompox, a steamboat was met ascending the river, +with Bolivar the Liberator on board, on his way to St. Bogota; +and it was a mortification to our engineer that he had only a +passing sight of that distinguished person. It was his +intention, on leaving Mariquita, to visit the Isthmus of Panama +on his way home, for the purpose of inquiring into the +practicability of cutting a canal to unite the Atlantic and +Pacific—a project which then formed the subject of +considerable public discussion; but his presence being so +anxiously desired at home, he determined to proceed to New York +without delay.</p> +<p>Arrived at the port of Cartagena, he had to wait some time for +a ship. The delay was very irksome to him, the more so as +the city was then desolated by the ravages of the yellow +fever. While sitting one day in the large, bare, +comfortless public room at the miserable hotel at which he put +up, he observed two strangers, whom he at once perceived to be +English. One of the strangers was a tall, gaunt man, +shrunken and hollow-looking, shabbily dressed, and apparently +poverty-stricken. On making inquiry, he found it was +Trevithick, the builder of the first railroad locomotive! +He was returning home from the gold-mines of Peru +penniless. He had left England in 1816, with powerful +steam-engines, intended for the drainage and working of the <!-- +page 201--><a name="page201"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +201</span>Peruvian mines. He met with almost a royal +reception on his landing at Lima. A guard of honour was +appointed to attend him, and it was even proposed to erect a +statue of Don Ricardo Trevithick in solid silver. It was +given forth in Cornwall that his emoluments amounted to +£100,000 a year, <a name="citation201"></a><a +href="#footnote201" class="citation">[201]</a> and that he was +making a gigantic fortune. Great, therefore, was Robert +Stephenson’s surprise to find this potent Don Ricardo in +the inn at Cartagena, reduced almost to his last shilling, and +unable to proceed further. He had indeed realised the truth +of the Spanish proverb, that “a silver-mine brings misery, +a gold-mine ruin.” He and his friend had lost +everything in their journey across the country from Peru. +They had forded rivers and wandered through forests, leaving all +their baggage behind them, and had reached thus far with little +more than the clothes upon their backs. Almost the only +remnant of precious metal saved by Trevithick was a pair of +silver spurs, which he took back with him to Cornwall. +Robert Stephenson lent him £50 to enable him to reach +England; and though he was afterwards heard of as an inventor +there, he had no further part in the ultimate triumph of the +locomotive.</p> +<p>But Trevithick’s misadventures on this occasion had not +yet ended, for before he reached New York he was wrecked, and +Robert Stephenson with him. The following is the account of +the voyage, “big with adventures,” as given by the +latter in a letter to his friend Illingworth:—“At +first we had very little foul weather, and indeed were for +several days becalmed amongst the islands, which was so far +fortunate, for a few degrees further north the most tremendous +gales were blowing, and they appear (from our future information) +to have wrecked every vessel exposed to their violence. We +had two examples of the effects of the hurricane; for, as we +sailed north we took on board the remains of two crews found +floating about on dismantled hulls. The one had been nine +days without food of any <!-- page 202--><a +name="page202"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 202</span>kind, +except the carcasses of two of their companions who had died a +day or two previously from fatigue and hunger. The other +crew had been driven about for six days, and were not so +dejected, but reduced to such a weak state that they were obliged +to be drawn on board our vessel by ropes. A brig bound for +Havannah took part of the men, and we took the remainder. +To attempt any description of my feelings on witnessing such +scenes would be in vain. You will not be surprised to learn +that I felt somewhat uneasy at the thought that we were so far +from England, and that I also might possibly suffer similar +shipwreck; but I consoled myself with the hope that fate would be +more kind to us. It was not so much so, however, as I had +flattered myself; for on voyaging towards New York, after we had +made the land, we ran aground about midnight. The vessel +soon filled with water, and, being surrounded by the breaking +surf, the ship was soon split up, and before morning our +situation became perilous. Masts and all were cut away to +prevent the hull rocking; but all we could do was of no +avail. About 8 o’clock on the following morning, +after a most miserable night, we were taken off the wreck, and +were so fortunate as to reach the shore. I saved my +minerals, but Empson lost part of his botanical collection. +Upon the whole, we got off well; and, had I not been on the +American side of the Atlantic, I ‘guess’ I would not +have gone to sea again.”</p> +<p>After a short tour in the United States and Canada, Robert +Stephenson and his friend took ship for Liverpool, where they +arrived at the end of November, and at once proceeded to +Newcastle. The factory was by no means in a prosperous +state. During the time Robert had been in America it had +been carried on at a loss; and Edward Pease, much disheartened, +wished to retire, but George Stephenson was unable to buy him +out, and the establishment had to be carried on in the hope that +the locomotive might yet be established in public estimation as a +practical and economical working power. Robert Stephenson +<!-- page 203--><a name="page203"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +203</span>immediately instituted a rigid inquiry into the working +of the concern, unravelled the accounts, which had fallen into +confusion during his father’s absence at Liverpool; and he +soon succeeded in placing the affairs of the factory in a more +healthy condition. In all this he had the hearty support of +his father, as well as of the other partners.</p> +<p>The works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway were now +approaching completion. But, singular to say, the directors +had not yet decided as to the tractive power to be employed in +working the line when opened for traffic. The differences +of opinion among them were so great as apparently to be +irreconcilable. It was necessary, however, that they should +come to some decision without further loss of time; and many +Board meetings were accordingly held to discuss the +subject. The old-fashioned and well-tried system of horse +haulage was not without its advocates; but, looking at the large +amount of traffic which there was to be conveyed, and at the +probable delay in the transit from station to station if this +method were adopted, the directors, after a visit made by them to +the Northumberland and Durham railways in 1828, came to the +conclusion that the employment of horse power was +inadmissible.</p> +<p>Fixed engines had many advocates; the locomotive very few: it +stood as yet almost in a minority of one—George +Stephenson. The prejudice against the employment of the +latter power had even increased since the Liverpool and +Manchester Bill underwent its first ordeal in the House of +Commons. In proof of this, we may mention that the +Newcastle and Carlisle Railway Act was conceded in 1829, on the +express condition that it should <i>not</i> be worked by +locomotives, but by horses only.</p> +<p>Grave doubts existed as to the practicability of working a +large traffic by means of travelling engines. The most +celebrated engineers offered no opinion on the subject. +They did not believe in the locomotive, and would scarcely take +the trouble to examine it. The ridicule with which George +Stephenson had been assailed by the barristers <!-- page 204--><a +name="page204"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 204</span>before the +Parliamentary Committee had not been altogether distasteful to +them. Perhaps they did not relish the idea of a man who had +picked up his experience in Newcastle coal-pits appearing in the +capacity of a leading engineer before Parliament, and attempting +to establish a new system of internal communication in the +country. The directors could not disregard the adverse and +conflicting views of the professional men whom they +consulted. But Mr. Stephenson had so repeatedly and +earnestly urged upon them the propriety of making a trial of the +locomotive before coming to any decision against it, that they at +length authorised him to proceed with the construction of one of +his engines by way of experiment. In their report to the +proprietors at their annual meeting on, the 27th March, 1828, +they state that they had, after due consideration, authorised the +engineer “to prepare a locomotive engine, which, from the +nature of its construction and from the experiments already made, +he is of opinion will be effective for the purposes of the +Company, without proving an annoyance to the public.” +The locomotive thus ordered was placed upon the line in 1829, and +was found of great service in drawing the waggons full of marl +from the two great cuttings.</p> +<p>In the mean time the discussion proceeded as to the kind of +power to be permanently employed for the working of the +railway. The directors were inundated with schemes of all +sorts for facilitating locomotion. The projectors of +England, France, and America, seemed to be let loose upon +them. There were plans for working the waggons along the +line by water power. Some proposed hydrogen, and others +carbonic acid gas. Atmospheric pressure had its eager +advocates. And various kinds of fixed and locomotive +steam-power were suggested. Thomas Gray urged his plan of a +greased road with cog rails; and Messrs. Vignolles and Ericsson +recommended the adoption of a central friction rail, against +which two horizontal rollers under the locomotive, pressing upon +the sides of this rail, <!-- page 205--><a +name="page205"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 205</span>were to +afford the means of ascending the inclined planes. The +directors felt themselves quite unable to choose from amidst this +multitude of projects. The engineer expressed himself as +decidedly as heretofore in favour of smooth rails and locomotive +engines, which, he was confident, would be found the most +economical and by far the most convenient moving power that could +be employed. The Stockton and Darlington Railway being now +at work, another deputation went down personally to inspect the +fixed and locomotive engines on that line, as well as at Hetton +and Killingworth. They returned to Liverpool with much +information; but their testimony as to the relative merits of the +two kinds of engines was so contradictory, that the directors +were as far from a decision as ever.</p> +<p>They then resolved to call to their aid two professional +engineers of high standing, who should visit the Darlington and +Newcastle railways, carefully examine both modes of +working—the fixed and the locomotive,—and report to +them fully on the subject. The gentlemen selected were Mr. +Walker of Limehouse, and Mr. Rastrick of Stourbridge. After +carefully examining the modes of working the northern railways, +they made their report to the directors in the spring of +1829. They concurred in the opinion that the cost of an +establishment of fixed engines would be somewhat greater than +that of locomotives to do the same work; but thought the annual +charge would be less if the former were adopted. They +calculated that the cost of moving a ton of goods thirty miles by +fixed engines would be 6.40d., and by locomotives, +8.36d.,—assuming a profitable traffic to be obtained both +ways. At the same time it was admitted that there appeared +more ground for expecting improvements in the construction and +working of locomotives than of stationary engines. On the +whole, however, and looking especially at the computed annual +charge of working the road on the two systems on a large scale, +the two reporting engineers were of opinion that fixed engines +were preferable, and accordingly recommended their +adoption. And, in <!-- page 206--><a +name="page206"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 206</span>order to +carry the system recommended by them into effect, they proposed +to divide the railroad between Liverpool and Manchester into +nineteen stages of about a mile and a half each, with twenty-one +engines fixed at the different points to work the trains +forward.</p> +<p>Such was the result, so far, of George Stephenson’s +labours. Two of the best practical engineers of the day +concurred in reporting substantially in favour of the employment +of fixed engines. Not a single professional man of eminence +supported the engineer in his preference for locomotive over +fixed engine power. He had scarcely an adherent, and the +locomotive system seemed on the eve of being abandoned. +Still he did not despair. With the profession as well as +public opinion against him—for the most frightful stories +were abroad respecting the dangers, the unsightliness, and the +nuisance which the locomotive would create—Stephenson held +to his purpose. Even in this, apparently the darkest hour +of the locomotive, he did not hesitate to declare that locomotive +railroads would, before many years had passed, be “the +great highways of the world.”</p> +<p>He urged his views upon the directors in all ways, and, as +some of them thought, at all seasons. He pointed out the +greater convenience of locomotive power for the purposes of a +public highway, likening it to a series of short unconnected +chains, any one of which could be removed and another substituted +without interruption to the traffic; whereas the fixed engine +system might be regarded in the light of a continuous chain +extending between the two termini, the failure of any link of +which would derange the whole. <a name="citation206"></a><a +href="#footnote206" class="citation">[206]</a> He +represented to the Board that the locomotive <!-- page 207--><a +name="page207"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 207</span>was yet +capable of great improvements, if proper inducements were held +out to inventors and machinists to make them; and he pledged +himself that, if time were given him, he would construct an +engine that should satisfy their requirements, and prove itself +capable of working heavy loads along the railway with speed, +regularity and safety. At length, influenced by his +persistent earnestness not less than by his arguments, the +directors, at the suggestion of Mr. Harrison, determined to offer +a prize of £500 for the best locomotive engine, which, on a +certain day, should be produced on the railway, and perform +certain specified conditions in the most satisfactory manner. <a +name="citation207"></a><a href="#footnote207" +class="citation">[207]</a></p> +<p>It was now felt that the fate of railways in a great measure +depended upon the issue of this appeal to the mechanical genius +of England. When the advertisement of the prize for the +best locomotive was published, scientific men began more +particularly to direct their attention to the new power which was +thus struggling into existence. In the mean time public +opinion on the subject of railway <!-- page 208--><a +name="page208"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 208</span>working +remained suspended, and the progress of the undertaking was +watched with intense interest.</p> +<p>During the progress of the discussion with reference to the +kind of power to be employed, Mr. Stephenson was in constant +communication with his son Robert, who made frequent visits to +Liverpool for the purpose of assisting his father in the +preparation of his reports to the Board on the subject. +They had also many conversations as to the best mode of +increasing the powers and perfecting the mechanism of the +locomotive. These became more frequent and interesting, +when the prize was offered for the best locomotive, and the +working plans of the engine which they proposed to construct came +to be settled.</p> +<p>One of the most important considerations in the new engine was +the arrangement of the boiler and the extension of its heating +surface to enable steam enough to be raised rapidly and +continuously, for the purpose of maintaining high rates of +speed,—the effect of high-pressure engines being +ascertained to depend mainly upon the quantity of steam which the +boiler can generate, and upon its degree of elasticity when +produced. The quantity of steam so generated, it will be +obvious, must depend chiefly upon the quantity of fuel consumed +in the furnace, and by necessary consequence, upon the high rate +of temperature maintained there.</p> +<p>It will be remembered that in Stephenson’s first +Killingworth engines he invented and applied the ingenious method +of stimulating combustion in the furnace, by throwing the waste +steam into the chimney after performing its office in the +cylinders, thus accelerating the ascent of the current of air, +greatly increasing the draught, and consequently the temperature +of the fire. This plan was adopted by him, as we have +already seen, as early as 1815; and it was so successful that he +himself attributed to it the greater economy of the locomotive as +compared with horse power. Hence the continuance of its use +upon the Killingworth Railway.</p> +<p><!-- page 209--><a name="page209"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +209</span>Though the adoption of the steam-blast greatly +quickened combustion and contributed to the rapid production of +high-pressure steam, the limited amount of heating surface +presented to the fire was still felt to be an obstacle to the +complete success of the locomotive engine. Mr. Stephenson +endeavoured to overcome this by lengthening the boilers and +increasing the surface presented by the flue-tubes. The +“Lancashire Witch,” which he built for the Bolton and +Leigh Railway, and used in forming the Liverpool and Manchester +Railway embankments, was constructed with a double tube, each of +which contained a fire and passed longitudinally through the +boiler. But this arrangement necessarily led to a +considerable increase in the weight of the engine, which amounted +to about twelve tons; and as six tons was the limit allowed for +engines admitted to the Liverpool competition, it was clear that +the time was come when the Killingworth locomotive must undergo a +further important modification.</p> +<p>For many years previous to this period, ingenious mechanics +had been engaged in attempting to solve the problem of the best +and most economical boiler for the production of high-pressure +steam. As early as 1803, Mr. Woolf patented a tubular +boiler, which was extensively employed at the Cornish mines, and +was found greatly to facilitate the production of steam, by the +extension of the heating surface. The ingenious Trevithick, +in his patent of 1815, seems also to have entertained the idea of +employing a boiler constructed of “small perpendicular +tubes,” with the same object of increasing the heating +surface. These tubes were to be closed at the bottom, and +open into a common reservoir, from which they were to receive +their water, and where the steam of all the tubes was to be +united.</p> +<p>About the same time George Stephenson was trying the effect of +introducing small tubes in the boilers of his locomotives, with +the object of increasing their evaporative power. Thus, in +1829, he sent to France two engines constructed at the Newcastle +works for the Lyons and St. <!-- page 210--><a +name="page210"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 210</span>Etienne +Railway, in the boilers of which tubes were placed containing +water. The heating surface was thus found to be materially +increased; but the expedient was not successful, for the tubes, +becoming furred with deposit, shortly burned out and were +removed. It was then that M. Seguin, the engineer of the +railway, pursuing the same idea, adopted his plan of employing +horizontal tubes through which the heated air passed in +streamlets. Mr. Henry Booth, the secretary of the Liverpool +and Manchester Railway, without any knowledge of M. +Seguin’s proceedings, next devised his plan of a tubular +boiler, which he brought under the notice of Mr. Stephenson, who +at once adopted it, and settled the mode in which the fire-box +and tubes were to be mutually arranged and connected. This +plan was adopted in the construction of the celebrated +“Rocket” engine, the building of which was +immediately proceeded with at the Newcastle works.</p> +<p>The principal circumstances connected with the construction of +the “Rocket,” as described by Robert Stephenson to +the author, may be briefly stated. The tubular principle +was adopted in a more complete manner than had yet been +attempted. Twenty-five copper tubes, each three inches in +diameter, extended from one end of the boiler to the other, the +heated air passing through them on its way to the chimney; and +the tubes being surrounded by the water of the boiler, it will be +obvious that a large extension of the <i>heating surface</i> was +thus effectually secured. The principal difficulty was in +fitting the copper tubes within the boiler so as to prevent +leakage. They were made by a Newcastle coppersmith, and +soldered to brass screws which were screwed into the boiler ends, +standing out in great knobs. When the tubes were thus +fitted, and the boiler was filled with water, hydraulic pressure +was applied; but the water squirted out at every joint, and the +factory floor was soon flooded. Robert went home in +despair; and in the first moment of grief, he wrote to his father +that the whole thing was a failure. By return of post came +a letter from <!-- page 211--><a name="page211"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 211</span>his father, telling him that despair +was not to be thought of—that he must “try +again;” and he suggested a mode of overcoming the +difficulty, which his son had already anticipated and proceeded +to adopt. It was, to bore clean holes in the boiler ends, +fit in the smooth copper tubes as tightly as possible, solder up, +and then raise the steam. This plan succeeded perfectly, +the expansion of the copper tubes completely filling up all +interstices, and producing a perfectly watertight boiler, capable +of withstanding extreme internal pressure.</p> +<p>The mode of employing the steam-blast for the purpose of +increasing the draught in the chimney, was also the subject of +numerous experiments. When the engine was first tried, it +was thought that the blast in the chimney was not strong enough +to keep up the intensity of the fire in the furnace, so as to +produce high-pressure steam in sufficient quantity. The +expedient was therefore adopted of hammering the copper tubes at +the point at which they entered the chimney, whereby the blast +was considerably sharpened; and on a further trial it was found +that the draught was increased to such an extent as to enable +abundance of steam to be raised. The rationale of the blast +may be simply explained by referring to the effect of contracting +the pipe of a water-hose, by which the force of the jet of water +is proportionately increased. Widen the nozzle of the pipe, +and the force is in like manner diminished. So is it with +the steam-blast in the chimney of the locomotive.</p> +<p>Doubts were, however, expressed whether the greater draught +secured by the contraction of the blast-pipe was not +counterbalanced in some degree by the negative pressure upon the +piston. A series of experiments was made with pipes of +different diameters; the amount of vacuum produced being +determined by a glass tube open at both ends, which was fixed to +the bottom of the smoke-box, and descended into a bucket of +water. As the rarefaction took place, the water would of +course rise in the tube; and the height to which it rose above +the surface <!-- page 212--><a name="page212"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 212</span>of the water in the bucket was made +the measure of the amount of rarefaction. These experiments +proved that a considerable increase of draught was obtained by +the contraction of the orifice; accordingly, the two blast-pipes +opening from the cylinders into either side of the +“Rocket” chimney, and turned up within it, were +contracted slightly below the area of the steam-ports; and before +the engine left the factory, the water rose in the glass tube +three inches above the water in the bucket.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p212.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The “Rocket”" +title= +"The “Rocket”" +src="images/p212.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The other arrangements of the “Rocket” were +briefly these:—the boiler was cylindrical with flat ends, 6 +feet in length, and 3 feet 4 inches in diameter. The upper +half of the boiler was used as a reservoir for the steam, the +lower half being filled with water. Through the lower part, +25 copper tubes of 3 inches diameter extended, which were open to +the fire-box at one end, and to the chimney at the other. +The fire-box, or furnace, 2 feet wide and 3 <!-- page 213--><a +name="page213"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 213</span>feet high, +was attached immediately behind the boiler, and was also +surrounded with water. The cylinders of the engine were +placed on each side of the boiler, in an oblique position, one +end being nearly level with the top of the boiler at its after +end, and the other pointing towards the centre of the foremost or +driving pair of wheels, with which the connection was directly +made from the piston-rod, to a pin on the outside of the +wheel. The engine, together with its load of water, weighed +only 4¼ tons, and was supported on four wheels, not +coupled. The tender was four-wheeled, and similar in shape +to a waggon,—the foremost part holding the fuel, and the +hind part a water-cask.</p> +<p>When the “Rocket” was finished, it was placed upon +the Killingworth railway for the purpose of experiment. The +new boiler arrangement was found perfectly successful. The +steam was raised rapidly and continuously, and in a quantity +which then appeared marvellous. The same evening Robert +despatched a letter to his father at Liverpool, informing him, to +his great joy, that the “Rocket” was “all +right,” and would be in complete working trim by the day of +trial. The engine was shortly after sent by waggon to +Carlisle, and thence shipped for Liverpool.</p> +<p>The time so much longed for by George Stephenson had now +arrived, when the merit of the passenger locomotive was to be put +to a public test. He had fought the battle for it until now +almost single-handed. Engrossed by his daily labours and +anxieties, and harassed by difficulties and discouragements which +would have crushed the spirit of a less resolute man, he had held +firmly to his purpose through good and through evil report. +The hostility which he experienced from some of the directors +opposed to the adoption of the locomotive, was the circumstance +that caused him the greatest grief of all; for where he had +looked for encouragement, he found only carping and +opposition. But his pluck never failed him; and now the +“Rocket” was upon the <!-- page 214--><a +name="page214"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +214</span>ground,—to prove, to use his own words, +“whether he was a man of his word or not.”</p> +<p>Great interest was felt at Liverpool, as well as throughout +the country, in the approaching competition. Engineers, +scientific men, and mechanics, arrived from all quarters to +witness the novel display of mechanical ingenuity on which such +great results depended. The public generally were no +indifferent spectators either. The inhabitants of +Liverpool, Manchester, and the adjacent towns felt that the +successful issue of the experiment would confer upon them +individual benefits and local advantages almost incalculable, +whilst populations at a distance waited for the result with +almost equal interest.</p> +<p>On the day appointed for the great competition of locomotives +at Rainhill, the following engines were entered for the +prize:—</p> +<p>1. Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson’s +“Novelty.” <a name="citation214"></a><a +href="#footnote214" class="citation">[214]</a></p> +<p>2. Mr. Timothy Hackworth’s +“Sanspareil.”</p> +<p>3. Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co.’s +“Rocket.”</p> +<p>4. Mr. Burstall’s “Perseverance.”</p> +<p>Another engine was entered by Mr. Brandreth of +Liverpool—the “Cycloped,” weighing 3 tons, +worked by a horse in a frame, but it could not be admitted to the +competition. The above were the only four exhibited, out of +a considerable number of engines constructed in different parts +of the country in anticipation of this contest, many of which +could not be satisfactorily completed by the day of trial.</p> +<p>The ground on which the engines were to be tried was a level +piece of railroad, about two miles in length. Each was +required to make twenty trips, or equal to a journey <!-- page +215--><a name="page215"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 215</span>of +70 miles, in the course of the day; and the average rate of +travelling was to be not under 10 miles an hour. It was +determined that, to avoid confusion, each engine should be tried +separately, and on different days.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p215.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Locomotive competition at Rainhill" +title= +"Locomotive competition at Rainhill" +src="images/p215.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The day fixed for the competition was the 1st of October, but +to allow sufficient time to get the locomotives into good working +order, the directors extended it to the 6th. On the morning +of the 6th, the ground at Rainhill presented a lively appearance, +and there was as much excitement as if the St. Leger were about +to be run. Many thousand spectators looked on, amongst whom +were some of the first engineers and mechanicians of the +day. A stand was provided for the ladies; the “beauty +and fashion” of the neighbourhood were present, and the +side of the railroad was lined with carriages of all +descriptions.</p> +<p>It was quite characteristic of the Stephensons, that, although +their engine did not stand first on the list for trial, it was +the first that was ready; and it was accordingly ordered out by +the judges for an experimental trip. Yet the +“Rocket” was by no means “the favourite” +with either the judges or the spectators. A majority of the +judges was <!-- page 216--><a name="page216"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 216</span>strongly predisposed in favour of +the “Novelty,” and nine-tenths of those present were +against the “Rocket” because of its appearance. +Nearly every person favoured some other engine, so that there was +nothing for the “Rocket” but the practical +test. The first trip which it made was quite +successful. It ran about 12 miles, without interruption, in +about 53 minutes.</p> +<p>The “Novelty” was next called out. It was a +light engine, very compact in appearance, carrying the water and +fuel upon the same wheels as the engine. The weight of the +whole was only 3 tons and 1 hundredweight. A peculiarity of +this engine was that the air was driven or forced through the +fire by means of bellows. The day being now far advanced, +and some dispute having arisen as to the method of assigning the +proper load for the “Novelty,” no particular +experiment was made, further than that the engine traversed the +line by way of exhibition, occasionally moving at the rate of 24 +miles an hour. The “Sanspareil,” constructed by +Mr. Timothy Hackworth, was next exhibited; but no particular +experiment was made with it on this day.</p> +<p>The contest was postponed until the following day, but before +the judges arrived on the ground, the bellows for creating the +blast in the “Novelty” gave way, and it was found +incapable of going through its performance. A defect was +also detected in the boiler of the “Sanspareil;” and +some further time was allowed to get it repaired. The large +number of spectators who had assembled to witness the contest +were greatly disappointed at this postponement; but, to lessen +it, Stephenson again brought out the “Rocket,” and, +attaching to it a coach containing thirty persons, he ran them +along the line at the rate of from 24 to 30 miles an hour, much +to their gratification and amazement. Before separating, +the judges ordered the engine to be in readiness by eight +o’clock on the following morning, to go through its +definitive trial according to the prescribed conditions.</p> +<p>On the morning of the 8th October, the “Rocket” +was <!-- page 217--><a name="page217"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 217</span>again ready for the contest. +The engine was taken to the extremity of the stage, the fire-box +was filled with coke, the fire lighted, and the steam raised +until it lifted the safety-valve loaded to a pressure of 50 +pounds to the square inch. This proceeding occupied +fifty-seven minutes. The engine then started on its +journey, dragging after it about 13 tons weight in waggons, and +made the first ten trips backwards and forwards along the two +miles of road, running the 35 miles, including stoppages, in one +hour and 48 minutes. The second ten trips were in like +manner performed in 2 hours and 3 minutes. The maximum +velocity attained during the trial trip was 29 miles an hour, or +about three times the speed that one of the judges of the +competition had declared to be the limit of possibility. +The average speed at which the whole of the journeys were +performed was 15 miles an hour, or 5 miles beyond the rate +specified in the conditions published by the Company. The +entire performance excited the greatest astonishment amongst the +assembled spectators; the directors felt confident that their +enterprise was now on the eve of success; and George Stephenson +rejoiced to think that in spite of all false prophets and fickle +counsellors, the locomotive system was now safe. When the +“Rocket,” having performed all the conditions of the +contest, arrived at the “grand stand” at the close of +its day’s successful run, Mr. Cropper—one of the +directors favourable to the fixed-engine system—lifted up +his hands, and exclaimed, “Now has George Stephenson at +last delivered himself!”</p> +<p>Neither the “Novelty” nor the +“Sanspareil” was ready for trial until the 10th, on +the morning of which day an advertisement appeared, stating that +the former engine was to be tried on that day, when it would +perform more work than any engine upon the ground. The +weight of the carriages attached to it was only about 7 +tons. The engine passed the first post in good style; but +in returning, the pipe from the forcing-pump burst and put an end +to the trial. The pipe was afterwards repaired, and the +engine <!-- page 218--><a name="page218"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 218</span>made several trips by itself, in +which it was said to have gone at the rate of from 24 to 28 miles +an hour.</p> +<p>The “Sanspareil” was not ready until the 13th; and +when its boiler and tender were filled with water, it was found +to weigh 4 cwt. beyond the weight specified in the published +conditions as the limit of four-wheeled engines; nevertheless the +judges allowed it to run on the same footing as the other +engines, to enable them to ascertain whether its merits entitled +it to favourable consideration. It travelled at the average +speed of about 14 miles an hour, with its load attached; but at +the eighth trip the cold-water pump got wrong, and the engine +could proceed no further.</p> +<p>It was determined to award the premium to the successful +engine on the following day, the 14th, on which occasion there +was an unusual assemblage of spectators. The owners of the +“Novelty” pleaded for another trial; and it was +conceded. But again it broke down. The owner of the +“Sanspareil” also requested the opportunity for +making another trial of his engine. But the judges had now +had enough of failures; and they declined, on the ground that not +only was the engine above the stipulated weight, but that it was +constructed on a plan which they could not recommend for adoption +by the directors of the Company. One of the principal +practical objections to this locomotive was the enormous quantity +of coke consumed or wasted by it—about 692 lbs. per hour +when travelling—caused by the sharpness of the steam-blast +in the chimney, which blew a large proportion of the burning coke +into the air.</p> +<p>The “Perseverance” was found unable to move at +more than five or six miles an hour; and it was withdrawn from +the contest at an early period. The “Rocket” +was thus the only engine that had performed, and more than +performed, all the stipulated conditions; and its owners were +declared to be fully entitled to the prize of £500, which +was awarded to the Messrs. Stephenson and Booth <!-- page +219--><a name="page219"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +219</span>accordingly. And further, to show that the engine +had been working quite within its powers, Mr. Stephenson ordered +it to be brought upon the ground and detached from all +incumbrances, when, in making two trips, it was found to travel +at the astonishing rate of 35 miles an hour.</p> +<p>The “Rocket” had thus eclipsed the performances of +all locomotive engines that had yet been constructed, and +outstripped even the sanguine expectations of its +constructors. It satisfactorily answered the report of +Messrs. Walker and Rastrick; and established the efficiency of +the locomotive for working the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, +and indeed all future railways. The “Rocket” +showed that a new power had been born into the world, full of +activity and strength, with boundless capability of work. +It was the simple but admirable contrivance of the steam-blast, +and its combination with the multitubular boiler, that at once +gave the locomotive a vigorous life, and secured the triumph of +the railway system. <a name="citation219"></a><a +href="#footnote219" class="citation">[219]</a> It has been +well observed, that this wonderful ability to increase and +multiply its powers of performance with the emergency that +demands them, has made this giant engine the noblest creation of +human wit, the very lion among machines. The success of the +Rainhill experiment, as judged by the public, may be inferred +from the fact that the shares of the Company immediately rose ten +per cent., and nothing more was heard of the proposed twenty-one +fixed engines, engine-houses, ropes, etc. All this +cumbersome apparatus was thenceforward effectually disposed +of.</p> +<p>Very different now was the tone of those directors who had +distinguished themselves by the persistency of their opposition +to Mr. Stephenson’s plans. Coolness gave way to +eulogy, and hostility to unbounded offers of +friendship—after the manner of many men who run to the help +of the strong. Deeply though the engineer had felt +aggrieved by <!-- page 220--><a name="page220"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 220</span>the conduct pursued towards him +during this eventful struggle, by some from whom forbearance was +to have been expected, he never entertained towards them in after +life any angry feelings; on the contrary, he forgave all. +But though the directors afterwards passed unanimous resolutions +eulogising “the great skill and unwearied energy” of +their engineer, he himself, when speaking confidentially to those +with whom he was most intimate, could not help pointing out the +difference between his “foul-weather and fair-weather +friends.” Mr. Gooch says of him that though naturally +most cheerful and kind-hearted in his disposition, the anxiety +and pressure which weighed upon his mind during the construction +of the railway, had the effect of making him occasionally +impatient and irritable, like a spirited horse touched by the +spur; though his original good-nature from time to time shone +through it all. When the line had been brought to a +successful completion, a very marked change in him became +visible. The irritability passed away, and when +difficulties and vexations arose they were treated by him as +matters of course, and with perfect composure and +cheerfulness.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p220.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Railway versus Road" +title= +"Railway versus Road" +src="images/p220.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 221--><a name="page221"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 221</span>CHAPTER XII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Opening of the Liverpool and Manchester +Railway</span>, <span class="smcap">and Extension of the Railway +System</span>.</h2> +<p>The directors of the Railway now began to see daylight; and +they derived encouragement from the skilful 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 30 miles an +hour, thus vanquishing a still more formidable difficulty.</p> +<p>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 new 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 succeeding engine placed upon the railway exhibited some +improvement on its predecessors. The arrangement of the +parts, and the weight and proportions 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 <!-- page 222--><a name="page222"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 222</span>“Rocket” on the day of +trial had been greatly within the powers of the locomotive.</p> +<p>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. Mr. 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 +dragged by an engine at a speed of 17 miles an hour. On the +return journey to Liverpool in the evening, the +“Arrow” crossed Chat Moss at a speed of nearly 27 +miles an hour, reaching its destination in about an hour and a +half.</p> +<p>In the mean time Mr. Stephenson and his assistants 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 200 to 300 persons. These trips were usually made on +Saturday afternoons, when the works could be more conveniently +stopped and the line cleared. 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 rolling stock, not the least valuable of which was his +invention of the coupling screw, still in use on all passenger +railways.</p> +<p>At length the line was finished, and ready for the public +ceremony of the opening, which took place on the <!-- page +223--><a name="page223"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +223</span>15th September, 1830, and attracted a vast number of +spectators. The completion of the railway was justly +regarded as an important national event, and the opening was +celebrated accordingly. The Duke of Wellington, then Prime +Minister, Sir Robert Peel, and Mr. Huskisson, one of the members +for Liverpool, were among the number of distinguished public +personages present.</p> +<p>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 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 great 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 24 miles an hour.</p> +<p>At Parkside, about 17 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 bystanders of “Get in, get in!” Flurried +and confused, Mr. Huskisson endeavoured to get round the open +door of the carriage, <!-- page 224--><a name="page224"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 224</span>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 15 miles in 25 +minutes, or at the rate of 36 miles an hour. This +incredible speed burst upon the world with the effect of a new +and unlooked-for phenomenon.</p> +<p>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 travelling 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 +further festivity.</p> +<p>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 rumours 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 carriages coming to a stand in the +Manchester station the Duke did not descend, but remained seated, +shaking hands with the <!-- page 225--><a +name="page225"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 225</span>women and +children who were pushed forward by the crowd. Shortly +after, the trains returned to Liverpool, which they reached, +after considerable interruptions, in the dark, at a late +hour.</p> +<p>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 period of two +hours; and from that time the traffic has regularly proceeded +from day to day until now.</p> +<p>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.</p> +<p>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 +travelling 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 +traveller 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 <!-- page 226--><a +name="page226"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 226</span>way. +For some years the signals employed on the Liverpool railway were +entirely given by men with flags of different colours 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.</p> +<p>From an early period it became obvious that the iron road as +originally laid down was far too weak for the heavy traffic which +it had to carry. The line was at first laid with +fish-bellied rails weighing 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 +re-lay the road with heavier and stronger rails at considerably +increased expense.</p> +<p>The details of the carrying stock had in like manner to be +settled by experience. Everything had, as it were, to be +begun from the beginning. The coal-waggon, 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 arrangements, 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 an illustration of the inventive <!-- page +227--><a name="page227"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +227</span>ingenuity which he displayed in providing for the +working of the Liverpool line, we may mention his contrivance 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 +afterwards discontinued; but it is a remarkable fact, that this +identical plan, with the addition of a centrifugal apparatus, has +quite recently been revived by M. Guérin, a French +engineer, and extensively employed on foreign railways, as the +best method of stopping railway trains in the most efficient +manner and in the shortest time.</p> +<p>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 of working. In the “Planet” engine, +delivered upon the line immediately subsequent to the public +opening, all the improvements which had up to that 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 80 tons in weight, and the engine +performed the journey against a strong head wind in 2½ +hours. 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 <!-- page +228--><a name="page228"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +228</span>year, exhibited still further improvements, the most +important of which was that of <i>coupling</i> 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 waggons weighing 150 tons at a +speed of about 20 miles an hour; the consumption of coke being +reduced to only about a third of a pound per ton per mile.</p> +<p>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 mailcoach, and to enjoy +the excitement of actually travelling in the wake of an engine at +that incredible velocity. The travellers 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.</p> +<p>The practicability of railway locomotion being now proved, and +its great social and commercial advantages ascertained, the +general extension of the system was merely a question of time, +money, and labour. 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 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 <!-- page 229--><a +name="page229"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 229</span>the force +of circumstances and the individual energies of the people.</p> +<p>The mode of action in the case of railway extension, 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 otherwise 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 marvellous. 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.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson was of course, actively engaged in the +construction of the numerous railways now projected by the +joint-stock companies. 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 earlier +history of the railway and the steps by which it was mainly +established. We naturally sympathise more <!-- page +230--><a name="page230"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +230</span>keenly 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 +consequences, the interest is in a great measure gone when its +triumph has become a matter of certainty.</p> +<p>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 attached himself to the Newcastle +and Carlisle and London and Southampton projects. Mr. +Brunel appeared as engineer of the line projected between London +and Bristol; and Mr. Braithwaite, the builder of the +“Novelty” engine, acted in the same capacity for a +railway from London to Colchester.</p> +<p>The first lines constructed subsequent to the opening of the +Liverpool and Manchester Railway, were mostly 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. A continuation of the latter, as far +south as Birmingham, was shortly after projected under the name +of the Grand Junction Railway.</p> +<p>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 through the opposition of the landowners <!-- page 231--><a +name="page231"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 231</span>and canal +proprietors. When engaged in making the survey, Stephenson +called upon some of the landowners in the neighbourhood 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 where +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.</p> +<p>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 resident in the manufacturing districts, +invading their domains; and they everywhere 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!” The impression which prevailed in the +rural districts was, 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, landowners 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 shopkeepers and +manufacturers might establish a monstrous monopoly in railway +traffic.</p> +<p>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 <!-- page 232--><a +name="page232"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 232</span>close to +the handsome town of Northampton, and was so projected; but the +inhabitants of the shire, 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. 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 amongst the townspeople, whilst the landowners +for many miles round combined to oppose it. In like manner, +the line projected from London to Bristol was strongly denounced +by the inhabitants of the intermediate districts; and when the +first bill was thrown out, Eton assembled under the presidency of +the Marquis of Chandos to congratulate the country upon its +defeat.</p> +<p>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. 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 were 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. <!-- page 233--><a +name="page233"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 233</span>Stephenson +be answerable for him? “Oh, yes, +certainly.” And Robert Stephenson, at twenty-seven +years of age, was installed engineer of the line accordingly.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p233.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Map of Leicester and Swannington Railway" +title= +"Map of Leicester and Swannington Railway" +src="images/p233.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The requisite Parliamentary powers having been obtained, +Robert Stephenson proceeded with the construction of the railway, +about 16 miles in length, towards the end of 1830. The +works were comparatively easy, excepting at the Leicester end, +where the young engineer encountered his first stiff bit of +tunnelling. The line passed underground for 1¾ mile, +and 500 yards of its course lay in loose dry running sand. +The presence of this material rendered it necessary for the +engineer first to construct a wooden tunnel to support the soil +while the brickwork was being executed. This 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 <!-- page 234--><a +name="page234"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 234</span>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 neighbourhood of the railway; and if +the conjecture proved correct, the finding of coal would +necessarily greatly enhance its value. 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.</p> +<p>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 Mr. Stephenson saw +that the railway under construction from Swannington to +Leicester, would furnish him with a ready market for any coals +which he might find 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. He travelled thither +by gig with his wife,—his favourite horse +“Bobby” performing the journey by easy stages.</p> +<p>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 skilful casing of the shaft +with segments of cast-iron—a process called +“tubbing,” <a name="citation234"></a><a +href="#footnote234" class="citation">[234]</a> which Mr. +Stephenson was the first to adopt in the Midland +Counties—it was eventually made water-tight, and the +sinking proceeded. When a depth of <!-- page 235--><a +name="page235"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 235</span>166 feet +had been reached, a still more formidable difficulty presented +itself—one which had baffled former sinkers in the +neighbourhood, and deterred them from further operations. +This was a remarkable bed of whinstone or green-stone, which had +originally been poured out as a sheet of burning lava over the +denuded surface of the coal measures; indeed it was afterwards +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 +further, believing the occurrence of the dyke 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’ labour he reached the +principal seam, called the “main coal.”</p> +<p>The works were then opened out on a large scale, and Mr. +Stephenson had the pleasure and good fortune to send the first +train of main coal to Leicester by railway. The price was +immediately reduced to about 8s. 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 +down to the present day. The correct principles upon which +the mining operations at Snibston were conducted offered a +salutary example to the neighbouring colliery owners. The +numerous improvements there introduced were freely exhibited to +all, and they were afterwards reproduced in many forms all over +the Midland Counties, greatly to the advantage of the mining +interest.</p> +<p><!-- page 236--><a name="page236"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +236</span>Nor was Mr. Stephenson less attentive to the comfort +and well-being of those immediately dependent upon him—the +workpeople 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 workpeople. 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 further +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 neighbouring employers.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p236.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Stephenson’s House at Alton Grange" +title= +"Stephenson’s House at Alton Grange" +src="images/p236.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 237--><a +name="page237"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 237</span> +<a href="images/p237.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Robert Stephenson" +title= +"Robert Stephenson" +src="images/p237.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Robert Stephenson constructs the London and +Birmingham Railway</span>.</h2> +<p>Of the numerous extensive projects which followed close upon +the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester line, and the +Locomotive triumph at Rainhill, that of a railway between London +and Birmingham was the most important. The scheme +originated at the latter place in 1830. Two committees were +formed, and two plans were proposed. One was of a line to +London by way of Oxford, and the other by way of Coventry. +The simple object of the promoters of both schemes being to +secure the advantages of railway communication with the +metropolis, they wisely determined to combine their strength to +secure it. They then resolved to call George Stephenson to +their aid, and requested him to advise them as to the two schemes +which were before them. After a careful examination of the +country, Mr. Stephenson reported in favour of the Coventry route, +when the Lancashire gentlemen, who were the principal subscribers +to the project, having every confidence in his judgment, +supported his decision, and the line recommended by him was +adopted accordingly.</p> +<p>At the meeting of the promoters held at Birmingham to +determine on the appointment of the engineer for the railway, +there was a strong party in favour of associating with Mr. +Stephenson a gentleman with whom he had been brought into serious +collision in the course of the Liverpool and Manchester +undertaking. When the offer was made to him that he should +be joint engineer with the other, he requested leave to retire +and consider the proposal with his son. The father was in +favour of accepting it. His struggle heretofore had been so +hard that he could not bear the <!-- page 238--><a +name="page238"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 238</span>idea of +missing so promising an opportunity of professional +advancement. But the son, foreseeing the jealousies and +heartburnings which the joint engineership would most probably +create, recommended his father to decline the connection. +George adopted the suggestion, and returning to the Committee, he +announced to them his decision; on which the promoters decided to +appoint him the engineer of the undertaking in conjunction with +his son.</p> +<p>This line, like the Liverpool and Manchester, was very +strongly opposed, especially by the landowners. Numerous +pamphlets were published, calling on the public to “beware +of the bubbles,” and holding up the promoters of railways +to ridicule. They were compared to St. John Long and +similar quacks, and pronounced fitter for Bedlam than to be left +at large. The canal proprietors, landowners, and road +trustees, made common cause against them. The failure of +railways was confidently predicted—indeed, it was +elaborately attempted to be proved that they had failed; and it +was industriously spread abroad that the locomotive engines, +having been found useless and highly dangerous on the Liverpool +and Manchester line, were immediately to be abandoned in favour +of horses—a rumour which the directors of the Company +thought it necessary publicly to contradict.</p> +<p>Public meetings were held in all the counties through which +the line would pass between London and Birmingham, at which the +project was denounced, and strong resolutions against it were +passed. The attempt was made to conciliate the landlords by +explanations, but all such efforts proved futile, the owners of +nearly seven-eighths of the land being returned as +dissentients. “I remember,” said Robert +Stephenson, describing the opposition, “that we called one +day on Sir Astley Cooper, the eminent surgeon, in the hope of +overcoming his aversion to the railway. He was one of our +most inveterate and influential opponents. His country +house at Berkhampstead was situated near the intended line, which +passed through part of his property. We found a courtly, +fine-looking old gentleman, of very <!-- page 239--><a +name="page239"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 239</span>stately +manners, who received us kindly and heard all we had to say in +favour of the project. But he was quite inflexible in his +opposition to it. No deviation or improvement that we could +suggest had any effect in conciliating him. He was opposed +to railways generally, and to this in particular. +‘Your scheme,’ said he, ‘is preposterous in the +extreme. It is of so extravagant a character, as to be +positively absurd. Then look at the recklessness of your +proceedings! You are proposing to cut up our estates in all +directions for the purpose of making an unnecessary road. +Do you think for one moment of the destruction of property +involved by it? Why, gentlemen, if this sort of thing be +permitted to go on, you will in a very few years <i>destroy the +noblesse</i>!’ We left the honourable baronet without +having produced the slightest effect upon him, excepting perhaps, +it might be, increased exasperation against our scheme. 1 +could not help observing to my companions as we left the house, +‘Well, it is really provoking to find one who has been made +a “Sir” for cutting that wen out of George the +Fourth’s neck, charging us with contemplating the +destruction of the <i>noblesse</i>, because we propose to confer +upon him the benefits of a railroad.’“</p> +<p>Such being the opposition of the owners of land, it was with +the greatest difficulty that an accurate survey of the line could +be made. At one point the vigilance of the landowners and +their servants was such, that the surveyors were effectually +prevented taking the levels by the light of day; and it was only +at length accomplished at night by means of dark lanterns. +There was one clergyman, who made such alarming demonstrations of +his opposition, that the extraordinary expedient was resorted to +of surveying his property during the time he was engaged in the +pulpit. This was managed by having a strong force of +surveyors in readiness to commence their operations, who entered +the clergyman’s grounds on one side the moment they saw him +fairly off them on the other. By a well-organised and +systematic arrangement each man concluded his allotted <!-- page +240--><a name="page240"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +240</span>task just as the reverend gentleman concluded his +sermon; so that, before he left the church, the deed was done, +and the sinners had all decamped. Similar opposition was +offered at many other points, but ineffectually. The +laborious application of Robert Stephenson was such, that in +examining the country to ascertain the best line, he walked the +whole distance between London and Birmingham upwards of twenty +times.</p> +<p>When the bill went before the Committee of the Commons in +1832, a formidable array of evidence was produced. All the +railway experience of the day was brought to bear in support of +the measure, and all that interested opposition could do was set +in motion against it. The necessity for an improved mode of +communication between London and Birmingham was clearly +demonstrated; and the engineering evidence was regarded as quite +satisfactory. Not a single fact was proved against the +utility of the measure, and the bill passed the Committee, and +afterwards the third reading in the Commons, by large +majorities.</p> +<p>It was then sent to the Lords, and went into Committee, when a +similar mass of testimony was again gone through. But it +had been evident, from the opening of the proceedings, that the +fate of the bill had been determined before even a word of the +evidence had been heard. At that time the committees were +open to all peers; and the promoters of the bill found, to their +dismay, many of the lords who were avowed opponents of the +measure as landowners, sitting as judges to decide its +fate. Their principal object seemed to be, to bring the +proceedings to a termination as quickly as possible. An +attempt at negotiation was indeed made in the course of the +proceedings in committee, but failed, and the bill was thrown +out.</p> +<p>As the result had been foreseen, measures were taken to +neutralise the effect of this decision as regarded future +operations. Not less than £32,000 had been expended +in preliminary and parliamentary expenses up to this stage; but +the promoters determined not to look back, and <!-- page 241--><a +name="page241"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 241</span>forthwith +made arrangements for prosecuting the bill in the next +session. Strange to say, the bill then passed both Houses +silently and almost without opposition. The mystery was +afterwards solved by the appearance of a circular issued by the +directors of the company, in which it was stated, that they had +opened “negotiations” with the most influential of +their opponents; that “these measures had been successful +to a greater extent than they had ventured to anticipate; and the +most active and formidable had been conciliated.” An +instructive commentary on the mode by which these noble lords and +influential landed proprietors had been +“conciliated,” was the simple fact that the estimate +for land was nearly trebled, and that the owners were paid about +£750,000 for what had been originally estimated at +£250,000.</p> +<p>The landowners having thus been “conciliated,” the +promoters of the measure were permitted to proceed with the +formation of their great highway. Robert Stephenson was, +with the sanction of his father, appointed sole engineer; and +steps were at once taken by him to make the working survey, to +prepare the working drawings, and arrange for the construction of +the railway. Eighty miles of the road were shortly under +contract, having been let within the estimates; and the works +were in satisfactory progress by the beginning of 1834.</p> +<p>The difficulties encountered in their construction were very +great; the most formidable of them originating in the character +of the works themselves. Extensive tunnels had to be driven +through unknown strata, and miles of underground excavation had +to be carried out in order to form a level road from valley to +valley, under the intervening ridges. This kind of work was +the newest of all to the contractors of that day. Robert +Stephenson’s experience in the collieries of the North +rendered him well fitted to grapple with such difficulties; yet +even he, with all his practical knowledge, could scarcely have +foreseen the serious obstacles which he was called upon to +encounter in executing <!-- page 242--><a +name="page242"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 242</span>the +formidable cuttings, embankments, and tunnels of the London and +Birmingham Railway. It would be an uninteresting, as it +would be a fruitless task, to attempt to describe the works in +detail; but a general outline of their extraordinary character +and extent may not be out of place.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p242.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Rugby to Watford" +title= +"Rugby to Watford" +src="images/p242.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The length of railway to be constructed between London and +Birmingham was 112½ miles. The line crossed a series +of low-lying districts separated from each other by considerable +ridges of hills; and it was the object of the engineer to cross +the valleys at as high, and the hills at as low, elevations as +possible. The high ground was therefore cut down and the +“stuff” led into embankments, in some places of great +height and extent, so as to form a road upon as level a plane as +was considered practicable for the working of the locomotive +engine. In some places, the high grounds were passed in +open cuttings, whilst in others it was necessary to bore through +them in tunnels with deep cuttings at each end.</p> +<p>The most formidable excavations on the line are those at +Tring, Denbigh Hall, and Blisworth. The Tring cutting is an +immense chasm across the great chalk ridge of Ivinghoe. It +is 2½ miles long, and for ¼ of a mile is 57 feet +deep. A million and a half cubic yards of chalk and earth +were taken out of this cutting by means of horse-runs and <!-- +page 243--><a name="page243"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +243</span>deposited in spoil banks; besides the immense quantity +run into the embankment north of the cutting, forming a solid +mound nearly 6 miles long and about 30 feet high. Passing +over the Denbigh Hall cutting, and the Wolverton embankment of +1½ mile in length across the valley of the Ouse, we come +to the excavation at Blisworth, a brief description of which will +give the reader an idea of one of the most difficult kinds of +railway work.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p243.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Blisworth Cutting" +title= +"Blisworth Cutting" +src="images/p243.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Blisworth Cutting is one of the longest and deepest +grooves cut in the solid earth. It is 1½ mile long, +in some places 65 feet deep, passing through earth, stiff clay, +and hard rock. Not less than a million cubic yards of these +materials were dug, quarried, and blasted out of it. +One-third of the cutting was stone, and beneath the stone lay a +<!-- page 244--><a name="page244"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +244</span>thick bed of clay, under which were found beds of loose +shale so full of water that almost constant pumping was necessary +at many points to enable the works to proceed. For a year +and a half the contractor went on fruitlessly contending with +these difficulties, and at length he was compelled to abandon the +adventure. The engineer then took the works in hand for the +Company, and they were vigorously proceeded with. +Steam-engines were set to work to pump out the water; two +locomotives were put on, one at each end of the cutting, to drag +away the excavated rock and clay; and 800 men and boys were +employed along the work, in digging, wheeling, and blasting, +besides a large number of horses. Some idea of the extent +of the blasting operations may be formed from the fact that 25 +barrels of gunpowder were used weekly; the total quantity +exploded in forming this one cutting being about 3,000 +barrels. Considerable difficulty was experienced in +supporting the bed of rock cut through, which overlaid the clay +and shale along each side of the cutting. It was found +necessary to hold it up by strong retaining walls, to prevent the +clay bed from bulging out, and these walls were further supported +by a strong invert,—that is, an arch placed in an inverted +position under the road,—thus binding together the walls on +both sides. Behind the retaining walls, a drift or +horizontal drain was provided to enable the water to run off, and +occasional openings were left in the walls themselves for the +same purpose. The work was at length brought to a +successful completion, but the extraordinary difficulties +encountered in forming the cutting had the effect of greatly +increasing the cost of this portion of the railway.</p> +<p>The Tunnels on the line are eight in number, their total +length being 7336 yards. The first high ground encountered +was Primrose Hill, where the stiff London clay was passed through +for a distance of about 1164 yards. The clay was close, +compact, and dry, more difficult to work than stone itself. +It was entirely free from water; but the absorbing properties of +the clay were such that when <!-- page 245--><a +name="page245"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 245</span>exposed to +the air it swelled out rapidly. Hence an unusual thickness +of brick lining was found necessary; and the engineer afterwards +informed the author that for some time he entertained an +apprehension lest the pressure should force in the brickwork +altogether. It was so great that it made the face of the +bricks to fly off in minute chips which covered his clothes +whilst he was inspecting the work. The materials used in +the building were, however, of excellent quality; and the tunnel +was happily brought to a completion without any accident.</p> +<p>At Watford the chalk ridge was penetrated by a tunnel about +1800 yards long; and at Northchurch, Lindslade, and Stowe Hill, +there were other tunnels of minor extent. But the chief +difficulty of the undertaking was the execution of that under the +Kilsby ridge. Though not the largest, this is in many +respects one of the most interesting works of the kind in +England. It is about 2400 yards long, and runs at an +average depth of about 160 feet below the surface. The +ridge under which it extends is of considerable extent, the +famous battle of Naseby having been fought upon one of the spurs +of the same high ground about seven miles to the eastward.</p> +<p>Previous to the letting of the contract, the character of the +underground soil was examined by trial-shafts. The tests +indicated that it consisted of shale of the lower oolite, and the +works were let accordingly. But they had scarcely been +commenced when it was discovered that, at an interval between the +two trial-shafts which had been sunk, about 200 yards from the +south end of the tunnel, there existed an extensive quicksand +under a bed of clay 40 feet thick, which the borings had escaped +in the most singular manner. At the bottom of one of these +shafts the excavation and building of the tunnel were proceeding, +when the roof at one part suddenly gave way, a deluge of water +burst in, and the party of workmen with the utmost difficulty +escaped with their lives. They were only saved by means of +a raft, on which they were towed by one of the engineers <!-- +page 246--><a name="page246"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +246</span>swimming with the rope in his mouth to the lower end of +the shaft, out of which they were safely lifted to the +daylight. The works were of course at that point +immediately stopped.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p246.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Shafts over Kilsby Tunnel" +title= +"The Shafts over Kilsby Tunnel" +src="images/p246.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The contractor, who had undertaken the construction of the +tunnel, was so overwhelmed by the calamity, that, though he was +relieved by the Company from his engagement, he took to his bed +and shortly after died. Pumping-engines were then erected +for the purpose of draining off the water, but for a long time it +prevailed, and sometimes even rose in the shaft. The +question then presented itself, whether in the face of so +formidable a difficulty, the works should be proceeded with or +abandoned. Robert Stephenson sent over to Alton Grange for +his father, and the two took serious counsel together. +George was in favour of <!-- page 247--><a +name="page247"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 247</span>pumping out +the water from the top by powerful engines erected over each +shaft, until the water was mastered. Robert concurred in +that view, and although other engineers pronounced strongly +against the practicability of the scheme and advised its +abandonment, the directors authorised him to proceed; and +powerful steam-engines were ordered to be constructed and +delivered without loss of time.</p> +<p>In the mean time, Robert suggested to his father the +expediency of running a drift along the heading from the south +end of the tunnel, with the view of draining off the water in +that way. George said he thought it would scarcely answer, +but that it was worth a trial, at all events until the +pumping-engines were got ready. Robert accordingly gave +orders for the drift to be proceeded with. The excavators +were immediately set to work; and they were very soon close upon +the sand bed. One day, when the engineer, his assistants, +and the workmen were clustered about the open entrance of the +drift-way, they heard a sudden roar as of distant thunder. +It was hoped that the water had burst in—for all the +workmen were out of the drift,—and that the sand bed would +now drain itself off in a natural way. Instead of which, +very little water made its appearance; and on examining the inner +end of the drift, it was found that the loud noise had been +caused by the sudden discharge into it of an immense mass of +sand, which had completely choked up the passage, and prevented +the water from flowing away.</p> +<p>The engineer now found that there was nothing for it but to +sink numerous additional shafts over the line of the tunnel at +the points at which it crossed the quicksand, and endeavour to +master the water by sheer force of engines and pumps. The +engines erected, possessed an aggregate power of 160 horses; and +they went on pumping for eight successive months, emptying out an +almost incredible quantity of water. It was found that the +water, with which the bed of sand extending over many miles was +charged, was to a certain degree held back by the particles of +the sand <!-- page 248--><a name="page248"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 248</span>itself, and that it could only +percolate through at a certain average rate. It appeared in +its flow to take a slanting direction to the suction of the +pumps, the angle of inclination depending upon the coarseness or +fineness of the sand, and regulating the time of the flow. +Hence the distribution of the pumping power at short intervals +along the line of the tunnel had a much greater effect than the +concentration of that power at any one spot. It soon +appeared that the water had found its master. Protected by +the pumps, which cleared a space for the engineering +operations—carried on in the midst, as it were, of two +almost perpendicular walls of water and sand on either +side—the workmen proceeded with the building of the tunnel +at numerous points. Every exertion was used to wall in the +dangerous parts as quickly as possible; the excavators and +bricklayers labouring night and day until the work was +finished. Even while under the protection of the immense +pumping power above described, it often happened that the bricks +were scarcely covered with cement ready for the setting, ere they +were washed quite clean by the streams of water which poured from +overhead. The men were accordingly under the necessity of +holding over their work large whisks of straw and other +appliances to protect the bricks and cement at the moment of +setting.</p> +<p>The quantity of water pumped out of the sand bed during eight +months of incessant pumping, averaged 2,000 gallons per minute, +raised from an average depth of 120 feet. It is difficult +to form an adequate idea of the bulk of the water thus raised, +but it may be stated that if allowed to flow for three hours +only, it would fill a lake one acre square to the depth of one +foot, and if allowed to flow for one entire day it would fill the +lake to over eight feet in depth, or sufficient to float vessels +of 100 tons burthen. The water pumped out of the tunnel +while the work was in progress would be nearly equivalent to the +contents of the Thames at high water, between London and +Woolwich. It is a curious circumstance that notwithstanding +the quantity <!-- page 249--><a name="page249"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 249</span>thus removed, the level of the +surface of the water in the tunnel was only lowered about +2½ to 3 inches per week, proving the vast area of the +quicksand, which probably extended along the entire ridge of land +under which the railway passed.</p> +<p>The cost of the line was greatly increased by the difficulties +encountered at Kilsby. The original estimate for the tunnel +was only £99,000; but before it was finished it had cost +more than £100 per lineal yard forward, or a total of +nearly £300,000. The expenditure on the other parts +of the line also greatly exceeded the amount first set down by +the engineer; and before the works were finished it was more than +doubled. The land cost three times more than the estimate; +and the claims for compensation were enormous. Although the +contracts were let within the estimates, very few of the +contractors were able to complete them without the assistance of +the Company, and many became bankrupt.</p> +<p>The magnitude of the works, which were unprecedented in +England, was one of the most remarkable features in the +undertaking. The following striking comparison has been +made between this railway and one of the greatest works of +ancient times. The Great Pyramid of Egypt was, according to +Diodorus Siculus, constructed by 300,000—according to +Herodotus, by 100,000—men. It required for its +execution twenty years, and the labour expended upon it has been +estimated as equivalent to lifting 15,733,000,000 of cubic feet +of stone one foot high. Whereas, if the labour expended in +constructing the London and Birmingham Railway be in like manner +reduced to one common denomination the result is 25,000,000,000 +of cubic feet <i>more</i> than was lifted for the Great Pyramid; +and yet the English work was performed by about 20,000 men in +less than five years. And whilst the Egyptian work was +executed by a powerful monarch concentrating upon it the labour +and capital of a great nation, the English railway was +constructed, in the face of every conceivable obstruction and +difficulty, by a <!-- page 250--><a name="page250"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 250</span>company of private individuals out +of their own resources, without the aid of Government or the +contribution of one farthing of public money.</p> +<p>The labourers who executed this formidable work were in many +respects a remarkable class. The “railway +navvies,” as they are called, were men drawn by the +attraction of good wages from all parts of the kingdom; and they +were ready for any sort of hard work. Some of the best came +from the fen districts of Lincoln and Cambridge, where they had +been trained to execute works of excavation and embankment. +These old practitioners formed a nucleus of skilled manipulation +and aptitude, which rendered them of indispensable utility in the +immense undertakings of the period. Their expertness in all +sorts of earthwork, in embanking, boring, and +well-sinking—their practical knowledge of the nature of +soils and rocks, the tenacity of clays, and the porosity of +certain stratifications—were very great; and, rough-looking +though they were, many of them were as important in their own +department as the contractor or the engineer.</p> +<p>During the railway-making period the navvy wandered about from +one public work to another—apparently belonging to no +country and having no home. He usually wore a white felt +hat with the brim turned up, a velveteen or jean square-tailed +coat, a scarlet plush waistcoat with little black spots, and a +bright-coloured kerchief round his herculean neck, when, as often +happened, it was not left entirely bare. His corduroy +breeches were retained in position by a leathern strap round the +waist, and were tied and buttoned at the knee, displaying beneath +a solid calf and foot encased in strong high-laced boots. +Joining together in a “butty gang,” some ten or +twelve of these men would take a contract to cut out and remove +so much “dirt”—as they denominated +earth-cutting—fixing their price according to the character +of the “stuff,” and the distance to which it had to +be wheeled and tipped. The contract taken, every man put +himself on his mettle; if any <!-- page 251--><a +name="page251"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 251</span>was found +skulking, or not putting forth his full working power, he was +ejected from the gang. Their powers of endurance were +extraordinary. In times of emergency they would work for 12 +and even 16 hours, with only short intervals for meals. The +quantity of flesh-meat which they consumed was something +enormous; but it was to their bones and muscles what coke is to +the locomotive—the means of keeping up the steam. +They displayed great pluck, and seemed to disregard peril. +Indeed the most dangerous sort of labour—such as working +horse-barrow runs, in which accidents are of constant +occurrence—has always been most in request amongst them, +the danger seeming to be one of its chief recommendations.</p> +<p>Working, eating, drinking, and sleeping together, and daily +exposed to the same influences, these railway labourers soon +presented a distinct and well-defined character, strongly marking +them from the population of the districts in which they +laboured. Reckless alike of their lives as of their +earnings, the navvies worked hard and lived hard. For their +lodging, a hut of turf would content them; and, in their hours of +leisure, the meanest public-house would serve for their +parlour. Unburdened, as they usually were, by domestic +ties, unsoftened by family affection, and without much moral or +religious training, the navvies came to be distinguished by a +sort of savage manners, which contrasted strangely with those of +the surrounding population. Yet, ignorant and violent +though they might be, they were usually good-hearted fellows in +the main—frank and openhanded with their comrades, and +ready to share their last penny with those in distress. +Their pay-nights were often a saturnalia of riot and disorder, +dreaded by the inhabitants of the villages along the line of +works. The irruption of such men into the quiet hamlet of +Kilsby must, indeed, have produced a very startling effect on the +recluse inhabitants of the place. Robert Stephenson used to +tell a story of the clergyman of the parish waiting upon the +foreman of one of the gangs to expostulate with him as to the +shocking <!-- page 252--><a name="page252"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 252</span>impropriety of his men working +during Sunday. But the head navvy merely hitched up his +trousers, and said, “Why, Soondays hain’t cropt out +here yet!” In short, the navvies were little better +than heathens, and the village of Kilsby was not restored to its +wonted quiet until the tunnel-works were finished, and the +engines and scaffoldings removed, leaving only the immense masses +of <i>débris</i> around the line of shafts which extend +along the top of the tunnel.</p> +<p>In illustration of the extraordinary working energy and powers +of endurance of the English navvies, we may mention that when +railway-making extended to France, the English contractors for +the works took with them gangs of English navvies, with the usual +plant, which included wheelbarrows. These the English navvy +was accustomed to run out rapidly and continuously, piled so high +with “stuff” that he could barely see over the summit +of his load, the gang-board along which he wheeled his +barrow. While he thus easily ran out some 3 or 4 cwt. at a +time, the French navvy was contented with half the weight. +Indeed, the French navvies on one occasion struck work because of +the size of the English barrows, and there was an +<i>émeute</i> on the Rouen Railway, which was only quelled +by the aid of the military. The consequence was that the +big barrows were abandoned to the English workmen, who earned +nearly double the wages of the Frenchmen. The manner in +which they stood to their work was matter of great surprise and +wonderment to the French countrypeople, who came crowding round +them in their blouses, and, after gazing admiringly at their +expert handling of the pick and mattock, and the immense loads of +“dirt” which they wheeled out, would exclaim to each +other, “<i>Mon Dieu</i>, <i>voila</i>! <i>voila ces +Anglais</i>, <i>comme ils travaillent</i>!”</p> +<h2><!-- page 253--><a name="page253"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 253</span>CHAPTER XIV.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Manchester and Leeds</span>, <span +class="smcap">and Midland Railways</span>—<span +class="smcap">Stephenson’s Life at Alton</span>—<span +class="smcap">Visit to Belgium</span>—<span +class="smcap">General Extension of Railways and their +Results</span>.</h2> +<p>The rapidity with which railways were carried out, when the +spirit of the country became roused, was indeed remarkable. +This was doubtless in some measure owing to the increased force +of the current of speculation at the time, but chiefly to the +desire which the public began to entertain for the general +extension of the system. It was even proposed to fill up +the canals, and convert them into railways. The new roads +became the topic of conversation in all circles; they were felt +to give a new value to time; their vast capabilities for +“business” peculiarly recommended them to the trading +classes; whilst the friends of “progress” dilated on +the great benefits they would eventually confer upon mankind at +large. It began to be seen that Edward Pease had not been +exaggerating when he said, “Let the country but make the +railroads, and the railroads will make the country!” +They also came to be regarded as inviting objects of investment +to the thrifty, and a safe outlet for the accumulations of inert +men of capital. Thus new avenues of iron road were soon in +course of formation, branching in all directions, so that the +country promised in a wonderfully short time to become wrapped in +one vast network of iron.</p> +<p>In 1836 the Grand Junction Railway was under construction +between Warrington and Birmingham—the northern part by Mr. +Stephenson, and the southern by Mr. Rastrick. The works on +that line embraced heavy cuttings, long embankments, and numerous +viaducts; but none of these <!-- page 254--><a +name="page254"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 254</span>are worthy +of any special description. Perhaps the finest piece of +masonry on the railway is the Dutton Viaduct across the valley of +the Weaver. It consists of twenty arches of 60 feet span, +springing 16 feet from the perpendicular shaft of each pier, and +60 feet in height from the crown of the arches to the level of +the river. The foundations of the piers were built on piles +driven 20 feet deep. The structure has a solid and majestic +appearance, and is perhaps the finest of George +Stephenson’s viaducts.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p254.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Dutton Viaduct" +title= +"The Dutton Viaduct" +src="images/p254.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Manchester and Leeds line was in progress at the same +time—an important railway connecting the principal +manufacturing towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire. An attempt +was made to obtain the Act as early as 1831; but its promoters +were defeated by the powerful opposition of the landowners aided +by the canal companies, and the project was not revived for +several years. The line was somewhat circuitous, and the +works were heavy; but on the whole the gradients were favourable, +and it had the <!-- page 255--><a name="page255"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 255</span>advantage of passing through a +district full of manufacturing towns and villages, teeming hives +of population, industry, and enterprise. The Act +authorising the construction of the railway was obtained in 1836; +it was greatly amended in the succeeding year, and the first +ground was broken on the 18th August, 1837.</p> +<p>In conducting this project to an issue, the engineer had the +usual opposition and prejudices to encounter. Predictions +were confidently made in many quarters that the line could never +succeed. It was declared that the utmost engineering skill +could not construct a railway through such a country of hills and +hard rocks; and it was maintained that, even if the railroad were +practicable, it could only be made at a ruinous cost.</p> +<p>During the progress of the works, as the Summit Tunnel, near +Littleborough, was approaching completion, the rumour was spread +abroad in Manchester that the tunnel had fallen in and buried a +number of the workmen. The last arch had been keyed in, and +the work was all but finished, when the accident occurred which +was thus exaggerated by the lying tongue of rumour. An +invert had given way through the irregular pressure of the +surrounding earth and rock at a part of the tunnel where a +“fault” had occurred in the strata. A party of +the directors accompanied the engineer to inspect the scene of +the accident. They entered the tunnel’s mouth +preceded by upwards of fifty navvies, each bearing a torch.</p> +<p>After walking a distance of about half a mile, the inspecting +party arrived at the scene of the “frightful +accident,” about which so much alarm had been spread. +All that was visible was a certain unevenness of the ground, +which had been forced up by the invert under it giving way; thus +the ballast had been loosened, the drain running along the centre +of the road had been displaced, and small pools of water stood +about. But the whole of the walls and the roof were still +as perfect as at any other part of the tunnel.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 256--><a +name="page256"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 256</span> +<a href="images/p256.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Entrance to the Summit Tunnel, Littleborough" +title= +"Entrance to the Summit Tunnel, Littleborough" +src="images/p256.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The engineer explained the cause of the accident; the blue +shale, he said, through which the excavation passed at that +point, was considered so hard and firm, as to render it +unnecessary to build the invert very strong there. But +shale is always a deceptive material. Subjected to the +influence of the atmosphere, it gives but a treacherous +support. In this case, falling away like quicklime, it had +left the lip of the invert alone to support the pressure of the +arch above, and hence its springing inwards and upwards. +Mr. Stephenson directed the attention of the visitors to the +completeness of the arch overhead, where not the slightest +fracture or yielding could be detected. Speaking of the +work, in the course of the same day, he said, “I will stake +my character and my head, if that tunnel ever give way, so as to +cause danger to any of the public passing through it. <!-- +page 257--><a name="page257"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +257</span>Taking it as a whole, I don’t think there is such +another piece of work in the world. It is the greatest work +that has yet been done of this kind, and there has been less +repairing than is usual,—though an engineer might well be +beaten in his calculations, for he cannot beforehand see into +those little fractured parts of the earth he may meet +with.” As Stephenson had promised, the invert was put +in; and the tunnel was made perfectly safe.</p> +<p>The construction of this subterranean road employed the labour +of above a thousand men for nearly four years. Besides +excavating the arch out of a solid rock, they used 23,000,000 of +bricks, and 8000 tons of Roman cement in the building of the +tunnel. Thirteen stationary engines, and about 100 horses, +were also employed in drawing the earth and stone out of the +shafts. Its entire length is 2869 yards, or nearly +1¾ mile—exceeding the famous Kilsby Tunnel by 471 +yards.</p> +<p>The Midland Railway was a favourite line of Mr. +Stephenson’s for several reasons. It passed through a +rich mining district, in which it opened up many valuable +coalfields, and it formed part of the great main line of +communication between London and Edinburgh. The Act was +obtained in 1836, and the first ground was broken in February, +1837.</p> +<p>Although the Midland Railway was only one of the many great +works of the same kind executed at that time, it was almost +enough of itself to be the achievement of a life. Compare +it, for example with Napoleon’s military road over the +Simplon, and it will at once be seen how greatly it excels that +work, not only in the constructive skill displayed in it, but +also in its cost and magnitude, and the amount of labour employed +in its formation. The road of the Simplon is 45 miles in +length; the North Midland Railway is 72½ miles. The +former has 50 bridges and 5 tunnels, measuring together 1338 feet +in length; the latter has 200 bridges and 7 tunnels, measuring +together 11,400 feet, or about 2¼ miles. The former +cost about £720,000 <!-- page 258--><a +name="page258"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 258</span>sterling, +the latter above £3,000,000. Napoleon’s grand +military road was constructed in six years, at the public cost of +the two great kingdoms of France and Italy; while +Stephenson’s railway was formed in about three years, by a +company of private merchants and capitalists out of their own +funds, and under their own superintendence.</p> +<p>It is scarcely necessary that we should give any account in +detail of the North Midland works. The making of one tunnel +so much resembles the making of another,—the building of +bridges and viaducts, no matter how extensive, so much resembles +the building of others,—the cutting out of +“dirt,” the blasting of rocks, and the wheeling of +excavation into embankments, is so much a matter of mere time and +hard work,—that is quite unnecessary for us to detain the +reader by any attempt at their description. Of course there +were the usual difficulties to encounter and overcome,—but +the railway engineer regarded these as mere matters of course, +and would probably have been disappointed if they had not +presented themselves.</p> +<p>On the Midland, as on other lines, water was the great enemy +to be fought against,—water in the Claycross and other +tunnels,—water in the boggy or sandy foundations of +bridges,—and water in cuttings and embankments. As an +illustration of the difficulties of bridge building, we may +mention the case of the five-arch bridge over the Derwent, where +it took two years’ work, night and day, to get in the +foundations of the piers alone. Another curious +illustration of the mischief done by water in cuttings may be +briefly mentioned. At a part of the North Midland Line, +near Ambergate, it was necessary to pass along a hillside in a +cutting a few yards deep. As the cutting proceeded, a seam +of shale was cut across, lying at an inclination of 6 to 1; and +shortly after, the water getting behind the bed of shale, the +whole mass of earth along the hill above began to move down +across the line of excavation. The accident completely +upset the estimates of the contractor, who, instead of 50,000 +cubic yards, found that he had about <!-- page 259--><a +name="page259"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 259</span>500,000 to +remove; the execution of this part of the railway occupying +fifteen months instead of two.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p259.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Land-slip on North Midland Line, near Ambergate" +title= +"Land-slip on North Midland Line, near Ambergate" +src="images/p259.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Oakenshaw cutting near Wakefield was also of a very +formidable character. About 600,000 yards of rock shale and +bind were quarried out of it, and led to form the adjoining +Oakenshaw embankment. The Normanton cutting was almost as +heavy, requiring the removal of 400,000 yards of the same kind of +excavation into embankment and spoil. But the progress of +the works on the line was so rapid in 1839, that not less than +450,000 cubic yards of excavation were removed monthly.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 260--><a +name="page260"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 260</span> +<a href="images/p260.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Bullbridge, near Ambergate" +title= +"Bullbridge, near Ambergate" +src="images/p260.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>As a curiosity in construction, we may also mention a very +delicate piece of work executed on the same railway at Bullbridge +in Derbyshire, where the line at the same point passes +<i>over</i> a bridge which here spans the river Amber, and +<i>under</i> the bed of the Cromford Canal. Water, bridge; +railway, and canal, were thus piled one above the other, four +stories high; such another curious complication probably not +existing. In order to prevent the possibility of the waters +of the canal breaking in upon the works of the railroad, Mr. +Stephenson had an iron trough made, 150 feet long, of the width +of the canal, and exactly fitting the bottom. It was +brought to the spot in three pieces, which were firmly welded +together, and the trough was then floated into its place and +sunk; the whole operation being completed without in the least +interfering with the navigation of the canal. The railway +works underneath were then proceeded with and finished.</p> +<p><!-- page 261--><a name="page261"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +261</span>Another line of the same series constructed by George +Stephenson, was the York and North Midland, extending from +Normanton—a point on the Midland Railway—to York; but +it was a line of easy formation, traversing a comparatively level +country.</p> +<p>During the time that our engineer was engaged in +superintending the execution of these undertakings, he was +occupied upon other projected railways in various parts of the +country. He surveyed several lines in the neighbourhood of +Glasgow, and afterwards routes along the east coast from +Newcastle to Edinburgh, with the view of completing the main line +of communication with London. When out on foot in the +fields, on these occasions, he was ever foremost in the march; +and he delighted to test the prowess of his companions by a good +jump at any hedge or ditch that lay in their way. His +companions used to remark his singular quickness of +observation. Nothing escaped his attention—the trees, +the crops, the birds, or the farmer’s stock; and he was +usually full of lively conversation, everything in nature +affording him an opportunity for making some striking remark, or +propounding some ingenious theory. When taking a flying +survey of a new line, his keen observation proved very useful to +him, for he rapidly noted the general configuration of the +country, and inferred its geological structure. He +afterwards remarked to a friend, “I have planned many a +railway travelling along in a postchaise, and following the +natural line of the country.” And it was remarkable +that his first impressions of the direction to be taken almost +invariably proved correct; and there are few of the lines +surveyed and recommended by him which have not been executed, +either during his lifetime or since. As an illustration of +his quick and shrewd observation on such occasions, we may +mention that when employed to lay out a line to connect +Manchester, through Macclesfield, with the Potteries, the +gentleman who accompanied him on the journey of inspection +cautioned him to provide large accommodation for carrying off the +water, <!-- page 262--><a name="page262"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 262</span>observing—“You must not +judge by the appearance of the brooks; for after heavy rains +these hills pour down volumes of <i>water</i>, of which you can +have no conception.” “Pooh! pooh! +<i>don’t I see your bridges</i>?” replied the +engineer. He had noted the details of each as he passed +along.</p> +<p>Among the other projects which occupied his attention about +the same time, were the projected lines between Chester and +Holyhead, between Leeds and Bradford, and between Lancaster and +Maryport by the western coast. This latter was intended to +form part of a west-coast line to Scotland; Stephenson favouring +it partly because of the flatness of the gradients, and also +because it could be formed at comparatively small cost, whilst it +would open out a valuable iron-mining district, from which a +large traffic in ironstone was expected. One of its +collateral advantages, in the engineer’s opinion, was, that +by forming the railway directly across Morecambe Bay, on the +north-west coast of Lancashire, a large tract of valuable land +might be reclaimed from the sea, the sale of which would +considerably reduce the cost of the works. He estimated +that by means of a solid embankment across the bay, not less than +40,000 acres of rich alluvial land would be gained. He +proposed to carry the road across the ten miles of sands which +lie between Poulton, near Lancaster, and Humphrey Head on the +opposite coast, forming the line in a segment of a circle of five +miles’ radius. His plan was to drive in piles across +the entire length, forming a solid fence of stone blocks on the +land side for the purpose of retaining the sand and silt brought +down by the rivers from the interior. The embankment would +then be raised from time to time as the deposit accumulated, +until the land was filled up to high-water mark; provision being +made by means of sufficient arches, for the flow of the river +waters into the bay. The execution of the railway after +this plan would, however, have occupied more years than the +promoters of the West Coast line were disposed to wait; and +eventually Mr. Locke’s more direct but uneven line by Shap +Fell was <!-- page 263--><a name="page263"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 263</span>adopted. A railway has since +been carried across the head of the bay; and it is not improbable +that Stephenson’s larger scheme of reclaiming the vast +tract of land now left bare at each receding tide, may yet be +carried out.</p> +<p>While occupied in carrying out the great railway undertakings +which we have above so briefly described, Mr. Stephenson’s +home continued, for the greater part of the time, to be at Alton +Grange, near Leicester. But he was so much occupied in +travelling about from one committee of directors to +another—one week in England, another in Scotland, and +probably the next in Ireland,—that he often did not see his +home for weeks together. He had also to make frequent +inspections of the various important and difficult works in +progress, especially on the Midland and Manchester and Leeds +lines; besides occasionally going to Newcastle to see how the +locomotive works were going on there. During the three +years ending in 1837—perhaps the busiest years of his life +<a name="citation263"></a><a href="#footnote263" +class="citation">[263]</a>—he travelled by postchaise alone +upwards of 20,000 miles, and yet not less than six months out of +the three years were spent in London. Hence there is +comparatively little to record of Mr. Stephenson’s private +life at this period; during which he had scarcely a moment that +he could call his own.</p> +<p>His correspondence increased so much, that he found it +necessary to engage a private secretary, who accompanied him on +his journeys. He was himself exceedingly averse to writing +letters. The comparatively advanced age at which ho learnt +the art of writing, and the nature of his duties while engaged at +the Killingworth colliery, precluded that facility in +correspondence which only constant practice can <!-- page +264--><a name="page264"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +264</span>give. He gradually, however, acquired great +facility in dictation, and possessed the power of labouring +continuously at this work; the gentleman who acted as his +secretary in 1835, having informed us that during his busy season +he one day dictated not fewer than 37 letters, several of them +embodying the results of much close thinking and +calculation. On another occasion, he dictated reports and +letters for twelve continuous hours, until his secretary was +ready to drop off his chair from sheer exhaustion, and at length +he pleaded for a suspension of the labour. This great mass +of correspondence, although closely bearing on the subjects under +discussion, was not, however, of a kind to supply the biographer +with matter for quotation, or give that insight into the life and +character of the writer which the letters of literary men so +often furnish. They were, for the most part, letters of +mere business, relating to works in progress, parliamentary +contests, new surveys, estimates of cost, and railway +policy,—curt, and to the point; in short, the letters of a +man every moment of whose time was precious. He was also +frequently called upon to inspect and report upon colliery works, +salt works, brass and copper works, and such like, in addition to +his own colliery and railway business. And occasionally he +would run up to London, for the purpose of attending in person to +the preparation and deposit of the plans and sections of the +projected undertakings of which he had been appointed +engineer.</p> +<p>Fortunately Stephenson possessed a facility of sleeping, which +enabled him to pass through this enormous amount of fatigue and +labour without injury to his health. He had been trained in +a hard school, and could bear with ease conditions which, to men +more softly nurtured, would have been the extreme of physical +discomfort. Many, many nights he snatched his sleep while +travelling in his chaise; and at break of day he would be at +work, surveying until dark, and this for weeks in +succession. His whole powers seemed to be under the control +of his will, for he could wake at any hour, and go to work at +once. <!-- page 265--><a name="page265"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 265</span>It was difficult for secretaries and +assistants to keep up with such a man.</p> +<p>It is pleasant to record that in the midst of these engrossing +occupations, his heart remained as soft and loving as ever. +In spring-time he would not be debarred of his boyish pursuit of +bird-nesting; but would go rambling along the hedges spying for +nests. In the autumn he went nutting, and when he could +snatch a few minutes he indulged in his old love of +gardening. His uniform kindness and good temper, and his +communicative, intelligent disposition, made him a great +favourite with the neighbouring farmers, to whom he would +volunteer much valuable advice on agricultural operations, +drainage, ploughing, and labour-saving processes. Sometimes +he took a long rural ride on his favourite “Bobby,” +now growing old, but as fond of his master as ever. Towards +the end of his life, “Bobby” lived in clover, its +master’s pet, doing no work; and he died at Tapton, in +1845, more than twenty years old.</p> +<p>During one of George’s brief sojourns at the Grange, he +found time to write to his son a touching account of a pair of +robins that had built their nest within one of the upper chambers +of the house. One day he observed a robin fluttering +outside the windows, and beating its wings against the panes, as +if eager to gain admission. He went up stairs, and there +found, in a retired part of one of the rooms, a robin’s +nest, with one of the parent birds sitting over three or four +young—all dead. The excluded bird outside still beat +against the panes; and on the window being let down, it flew into +the room, but was so exhausted that it dropped upon the +floor. Mr. Stephenson took up the bird, carried it down +stairs, had it warmed and fed. The poor robin revived, and +for a time was one of his pets. But it shortly died too, as +if unable to recover from the privations it had endured during +its three days’ fluttering and beating at the +windows. It appeared that the room had been unoccupied, +and, the sash having been let down, the robins had taken the +opportunity of building their nest <!-- page 266--><a +name="page266"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 266</span>within it; +but the servant having closed the window again, the calamity +befel the birds which so strongly excited Mr. Stephenson’s +sympathies. An incident such as this, trifling though it +may seem, gives the true key to the heart of the man.</p> +<p>The amount of their Parliamentary business having greatly +increased with the projection of new lines of railway, the +Stephensons found it necessary to set up an office in London in +1836. George’s first office was at 9, Duke Street, +Westminster, from whence he removed in the following year to +30½, Great George-street. That office was the busy +scene of railway politics for several years. There +consultations were held, schemes were matured, deputations were +received, and many projectors called upon our engineer for the +purpose of submitting to him their plans of railways and railway +working. His private secretary at the time has informed us +that at the end of the first Parliamentary session in which he +had been engaged as engineer for more companies than one, it +became necessary for him to give instructions as to the +preparation of the accounts to be rendered to the respective +companies. In the simplicity of his heart, he directed Mr. +Binns to take his full time at the rate of ten guineas a day, and +charge the railway companies in the proportion in which he had +been actually employed on their respective business during each +day. When Robert heard of this instruction, he went +directly to his father and expostulated with him against this +unprofessional course; and, other influences being brought to +bear upon him, George at length reluctantly consented to charge +as other engineers did, an entire day’s fee to each of the +Companies for which he was concerned whilst their business was +going forward; but he cut down the number of days charged for and +reduced the daily amount from ten to seven guineas.</p> +<p>Besides his journeys at home, Mr. Stephenson was on more than +one occasion called abroad on railway business. Thus, at +the desire of King Leopold, he made several visits to Belgium to +assist the Belgian engineers in laying out the <!-- page 267--><a +name="page267"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 267</span>national +lines of that kingdom. That enlightened monarch at an early +period discerned the powerful instrumentality of railways in +developing a country’s resources, and he determined at the +earliest possible period to adopt them as the great high-roads of +the nation. The country, being rich in coal and minerals, +had great manufacturing capabilities. It had good ports, +fine navigable rivers, abundant canals, and a teeming, +industrious population. Leopold perceived that railways +were eminently calculated to bring the industry of the country +into full play, and to render the riches of the provinces +available to the rest of the kingdom. He therefore openly +declared himself the promoter of public railways throughout +Belgium. A system of lines was projected, at his instance, +connecting Brussels with the chief towns and cities of the +kingdom; extending from Ostend eastward to the Prussian frontier, +and from Antwerp southward to the French frontier.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson and his son, as the leading railway-engineers +of England, were consulted by the King on the best mode of +carrying out his important plans, as early as 1835. In the +course of that year they visited Belgium, and had several +interesting conferences with Leopold and his ministers on the +subject of the proposed railways. The King then appointed +George Stephenson by royal ordinance a Knight of the Order of +Leopold. At the invitation of the monarch, Mr. Stephenson +made a second visit to Belgium in 1837, on the occasion of the +public opening of the line from Brussels to Ghent. At +Brussels there was a public procession, and another at Ghent on +the arrival of the train. Stephenson and his party +accompanied it to the Public Hall, there to dine with the chief +Ministers of State, the municipal authorities, and about five +hundred of the principal inhabitants of the city; the English +Ambassador being also present. After the King’s +health and a few others had been drunk, that of Mr. Stephenson +was proposed; on which the whole assembly rose up, amidst great +excitement and loud applause, and made their way to <!-- page +268--><a name="page268"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +268</span>where he sat, in order to jingle glasses with him, +greatly to his own amazement. On the day following, our +engineer dined with the King and Queen at their own table at +Laaken, by special invitation; afterwards accompanying his +Majesty and suite to a public ball given by the municipality of +Brussels, in honour of the opening of the line to Ghent, as well +as of their distinguished English guest. On entering the +room, the general and excited inquiry was, “Which is +Stephenson?” The English engineer had not before +imagined that he was esteemed to be so great a man.</p> +<p>The London and Birmingham Railway having been completed in +September, 1838, after being about five years in progress, the +great main system of railway communication between London, +Liverpool, and Manchester was then opened to the public. +For some months previously, the line had been partially opened, +coaches performing the journey between Denbigh Hall (near +Wolverton) and Rugby,—the works of the Kilsby tunnel being +still incomplete. It was already amusing to hear the +complaints of the travellers about the slowness of the coaches as +compared with the railway, though the coaches travelled at the +speed of eleven miles an hour. The comparison of comfort +was also greatly to the disparagement of the coaches. Then +the railway train could accommodate any quantity, whilst the road +conveyances were limited; and when a press of travellers +occurred—as on the occasion of the Queen’s +coronation—the greatest inconvenience was experienced, and +as much as £10 was paid for a seat on a donkey-chaise +between Rugby and Denbigh. On the opening of the railway +throughout, of course all this inconvenience and delay was +brought to an end.</p> +<p>Numerous other openings of railways constructed by Mr. +Stephenson took place about the same time. The Birmingham +and Derby line was opened for traffic in August, 1839; the +Sheffield and Rotherham in November, 1839; and in the course of +the following year, the Midland, the York and <!-- page 269--><a +name="page269"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 269</span>North +Midland, the Chester and Crewe, the Chester and Birkenhead, the +Manchester and Birmingham, the Manchester and Leeds, and the +Maryport and Carlisle railways, were all publicly opened in whole +or in part. Thus 321 miles of railway (exclusive of the +London and Birmingham) constructed under Mr. Stephenson’s +superintendence, at a cost of upwards of eleven millions +sterling, were, in the course of about two years, added to the +traffic accommodation of the country.</p> +<p>The ceremonies which accompanied the public opening of these +lines were often of an interesting character. The adjoining +population held general holiday; bands played, banners waved, and +assembled thousands cheered the passing trains amidst the +occasional booming of cannon. The proceedings were usually +wound up by a public dinner; and in the course of the speeches +which followed, Mr. Stephenson would revert to his favourite +topic—the difficulties which he had early encountered in +the promotion of the railway system, and in establishing the +superiority of the locomotive. On such occasions he always +took great pleasure in alluding to the services rendered to +himself and the public by the young men brought up under his +eye—his pupils at first, and afterwards his +assistants. No great master ever possessed a more devoted +band of assistants and fellow-workers than he did. It was +one of the most marked evidences of his own admirable tact and +judgment that he selected, with such undeviating correctness, the +men best fitted to carry out his plans. Indeed, the ability +to accomplish great things, and to carry grand ideas into +practical effect, depends in no small measure on that intuitive +knowledge of character, which Stephenson possessed in so +remarkable a degree.</p> +<p>At the dinner at York, which followed the partial opening of +the York and North Midland Railway, Mr. Stephenson said, +“he was sure they would appreciate his feelings when he +told them, that when he first began railway business his hair was +black, although it was now grey; and <!-- page 270--><a +name="page270"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 270</span>that he +began his life’s labour as but a poor ploughboy. +About thirty years since, he had applied himself to the study of +how to generate high velocities by mechanical means. He +thought he had solved that problem; and they had for themselves +seen, that day, what perseverance had brought him too. He +was, on that occasion, only too happy to have an opportunity of +acknowledging that he had, in the latter portion of his career, +received much most valuable assistance, particularly from young +men brought up in his manufactory. Whenever talent showed +itself in a young man he had always given that talent +encouragement where he could, and he would continue to do +so.”</p> +<p>That this was no exaggerated statement is amply proved by many +facts which redound to Mr. Stephenson’s credit. He +was no niggard of encouragement and praise when he saw honest +industry struggling for a footing. Many were the young men +whom, in the course of his useful career, he took by the hand and +led steadily up to honour and emolument, simply because he had +noted their zeal, diligence, and integrity. One youth +excited his interest while working as a common carpenter on the +Liverpool and Manchester line; and before many years had passed, +he was recognised as an engineer of distinction. Another +young man he found industriously working away at his bye-hours, +and, admiring his diligence, engaged him for his private +secretary, the gentleman shortly after rising to a position of +eminent influence and usefulness. Indeed, nothing gave Mr. +Stephenson greater pleasure than in this way to help on any +deserving youth who came under his observation, and, in his own +expressive phrase, to “make a man of him.”</p> +<p>The openings of the great main lines of railroad communication +shortly proved the fallaciousness of the numerous rash prophecies +which had been promulgated by the opponents of railways. +The proprietors of the canals were astounded by the fact that, +notwithstanding the immense traffic conveyed by rail, their own +traffic and receipts <!-- page 271--><a name="page271"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 271</span>continued to increase; and that, in +common with other interests, they fully shared in the expansion +of trade and commerce which had been so effectually promoted by +the extension of the railway system. The cattle-owners were +equally amazed to find the price of horse-flesh increasing with +the extension of railways, and that the number of coaches running +to and from the new railway stations gave employment to a greater +number of horses than under the old stage-coach system. +Those who had prophesied the decay of the metropolis, and the +ruin of the suburban cabbage-growers, in consequence of the +approach of railways to London, were also disappointed; for, +while the new roads let citizens out of London, they let +country-people in. Their action, in this respect, was +centripetal as well as centrifugal. Tens of thousands who +had never seen the metropolis could now visit it expeditiously +and cheaply; and Londoners who had never visited the country, or +but rarely, were enabled, at little cost of time or money, to see +green fields and clear blue skies, far from the smoke and bustle +of town. If the dear suburban-grown cabbages became +depreciated in value, there were truck-loads of fresh-grown +country cabbages to make amends for the loss: in this case, the +“partial evil” was a far more general good. The +food of the metropolis became rapidly improved, especially in the +supply of wholesome meat and vegetables. And then the price +of coals—an article which, in this country, is as +indispensable as daily food to all classes—was greatly +reduced. What a blessing to the metropolitan poor is +described in this single fact!</p> +<p>The prophecies of ruin and disaster to landlords and farmers +were equally confounded by the openings of the railways. +The agricultural communications, so far from being +“destroyed,” as had been predicted, were immensely +improved. The farmers were enabled to buy their coals, +lime, and manure for less money, while they obtained a readier +access to the best markets for their stock and +farm-produce. Notwithstanding the <!-- page 272--><a +name="page272"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 272</span>predictions +to the contrary, their cows gave milk as before, their sheep fed +and fattened, and even skittish horses ceased to shy at the +passing locomotive. The smoke of the engines did not +obscure the sky, nor were farmyards burnt up by the fire thrown +from the locomotives. The farming classes were not reduced +to beggary; on the contrary, they soon felt that, so far from +having anything to dread, they had very much good to expect from +the extension of railways.</p> +<p>Landlords also found that they could get higher rents for +farms situated near a railway than at a distance from one. +Hence they became clamorous for “sidings.” They +felt it to be a grievance to be placed at a distance from a +station. After a railway had been once opened, not a +landlord would consent to have the line taken from him. +Owners who had fought the promoters before Parliament, and +compelled them to pass their domains at a distance, at a +vastly-increased expense in tunnels and deviations, now +petitioned for branches and nearer station accommodation. +Those who held property near towns, and had extorted large sums +as compensation for the anticipated deterioration in the value of +their building land, found a new demand for it springing up at +greatly advanced prices. Land was now advertised for sale, +with the attraction of being “near a railway +station.”</p> +<p>The prediction that, even if railways were made, the public +would not use them, was also completely falsified by the +results. The ordinary mode of fast travelling for the +middle classes had heretofore been by mail-coach and +stage-coach. Those who could not afford to pay the high +prices charged for such conveyances went by waggon, and the +poorer classes trudged on foot. George Stephenson was wont +to say that he hoped to see the day when it would be cheaper for +a poor man to travel by railway than to walk, and not many years +passed before his expectation was fulfilled. In no country +in the world is time worth more money than in England; and by +saving time—the criterion <!-- page 273--><a +name="page273"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 273</span>of +distance—the railway proved a great benefactor to men of +industry in all classes.</p> +<p>It was some time before the more opulent, who could afford to +post to town in aristocratic style, became reconciled to railway +travelling. In the opinion of many, it was only another +illustration of the levelling tendencies of the age. It put +an end to that gradation of rank in travelling which was one of +the few things left by which the nobleman could be distinguished +from the Manchester manufacturer and bagman. But to younger +sons of noble families the convenience and cheapness of the +railway did not fail to recommend itself. One of these, +whose eldest brother had just succeeded to an earldom, said one +day to a railway manager: “I like railways—they just +suit young fellows like me with ‘nothing per annum paid +quarterly.’ You know we can’t afford to post, +and it used to be deuced annoying to me, as I was jogging along +on the box-seat of the stage-coach, to see the little Earl go by +drawn by his four posters, and just look up at me and give me a +nod. But now, with railways, it’s different. +It’s true, he may take a first-class ticket, while I can +only afford a second-class one, but <i>we both go the same +pace</i>.”</p> +<p>For a time, however, many of the old families sent forward +their servants and luggage by railroad, and condemned themselves +to jog along the old highway in the accustomed family chariot, +dragged by country post-horses. But the superior comfort of +the railway shortly recommended itself to even the oldest +families; posting went out of date; post-horses were with +difficulty to be had along even the great high-roads; and nobles +and servants, manufacturers and peasants, alike shared in the +comfort, the convenience, and the despatch of railway +travelling. The late Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, regarded the +opening of the London and Birmingham line as another great step +accomplished in the march of civilisation. “I rejoice +to see it,” he said, as he stood on one of the bridges over +the railway, and watched the train flashing along under him, and +away through the <!-- page 274--><a name="page274"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 274</span>distant hedgerows—“I +rejoice to see it, and to think that feudality is gone for ever: +it is so great a blessing to think that any one evil is really +extinct.”</p> +<p>It was long before the late Duke of Wellington would trust +himself behind a locomotive. The fatal accident to Mr. +Huskisson, which had happened before his eyes, contributed to +prejudice him strongly against railways, and it was not until the +year 1843 that he performed his first trip on the South-Western +Railway, in attendance upon her Majesty. Prince Albert had +for some time been accustomed to travel by railway alone, but in +1842 the Queen began to make use of the same mode of conveyance +between Windsor and London. Even Colonel Sibthorpe was +eventually compelled to acknowledge its utility. For a time +he continued to post to and from the country as before. +Then he compromised the matter by taking a railway ticket for the +long journey, and posting only a stage or two nearest town; +until, at length, he undisguisedly committed himself, like other +people, to the express train, and performed the journey +throughout upon what he had formerly denounced as “the +infernal railroad.”</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p274.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Coalville and Snibston Colliery" +title= +"Coalville and Snibston Colliery" +src="images/p274.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 275--><a +name="page275"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 275</span> +<a href="images/p275.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Tapton House, near Chesterfield" +title= +"Tapton House, near Chesterfield" +src="images/p275.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV.<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Stephenson’s Coal +Mines</span>—<span class="smcap">Appears at +Mechanics’ Institutes</span>—<span class="smcap">His +Opinion on Railway Speeds</span>—<span +class="smcap">Atmospheric System</span>—<span +class="smcap">Railway Mania</span>—<span +class="smcap">Visits to Belgium and Spain</span>.</h2> +<p>While George Stephenson was engaged in carrying on the works +of the Midland Railway in the neighbourhood of Chesterfield, +several seams of coal were cut through in the Claycross Tunnel, +and it occurred to him that if mines were opened out there, the +railway would provide the means of a ready sale for the article +in the midland counties, and as far south as even the metropolis +itself.</p> +<p>At a time when everybody else was sceptical as to the <!-- +page 276--><a name="page276"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +276</span>possibility of coals being carried from the midland +counties to London, and sold there at a price to compete with +those which were seaborne, he declared his firm conviction that +the time was fast approaching when the London market would be +regularly supplied with north-country coals led by railway. +One of the greatest advantages of railways, in his opinion was +that they would bring iron and coal, the staple products of the +country, to the doors of all England. “The strength +of Britain,” he would say, “lies in her iron and coal +beds; and the locomotive is destined, above all other agencies, +to bring it forth. The Lord Chancellor now sits upon a bag +of wool; but wool has long ceased to be emblematical of the +staple commodity of England. He ought rather to sit upon a +bag of coals, though it might not prove quite so comfortable a +seat. Then think of the Lord Chancellor being addressed as +the noble and learned lord <i>on the coal-sack</i>! I am +afraid it wouldn’t answer, after all.”</p> +<p>To one gentleman he said: “We want from the coal-mining, +the iron-producing and manufacturing districts, a great railway +for the carriage of these valuable products. We want, if I +may so say, a stream of steam running directly through the +country, from the North to London, and from other similar +districts to London. Speed is not so much an object as +utility and cheapness. It will not do to mix up the heavy +merchandise and coal trains with the passenger trains. Coal +and most kinds of goods can wait; but passengers will not. +A less perfect road and less expensive works will do well enough +for coal trains, if run at a low speed; and if the line be flat, +it is not of much consequence whether it be direct or not. +Whenever you put passenger trains on a line, all the other trains +must be run at high speeds to keep out of their way. But +coal trains run at high speeds pull the road to pieces, besides +causing large expenditure in locomotive power; and I doubt very +much whether they will pay after all; but a succession of long +coal trains, if run at from ten to fourteen miles an hour, would +pay very well. Thus the Stockton <!-- page 277--><a +name="page277"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 277</span>and +Darlington Company made a larger profit when running coal at low +speeds at a halfpenny a ton per mile, than they have been able to +do since they put on their fast passenger trains, when everything +must needs be run faster, and a much larger proportion of the +gross receipts is absorbed by working expenses.”</p> +<p>In advocating these views, Mr. Stephenson was considerably +ahead of his time; and although he did not live to see his +anticipations fully realised as to the supply of the London +coal-market, he was nevertheless the first to point out, and to +some extent to prove, the practicability of establishing a +profitable coal trade by railway between the northern counties +and the metropolis. So long, however, as the traffic was +conducted on main passenger lines at comparatively high speeds, +it was found that the expenditure on tear and wear of road and +locomotive power,—not to mention the increased risk of +carrying on the first-class passenger traffic with which it was +mixed up,—necessarily left a very small margin of profit; +and hence Mr. Stephenson was in the habit of urging the propriety +of constructing a railway which should be exclusively devoted to +goods and mineral traffic run at low speeds as the only condition +on which a large railway traffic of that sort could be profitably +conducted.</p> +<p>Having induced some of his Liverpool friends to join him in a +coal-mining adventure at Chesterfield, a lease was taken of the +Claycross estate, then for sale, and operations were shortly +after begun. At a subsequent period Mr. Stephenson extended +his coal-mining operations in the same neighbourhood; and in 1841 +he himself entered into a contract with owners of land in +adjoining townships for the working of the coal thereunder; and +pits were opened on the Tapton estate on an extensive +scale. About the same time he erected great lime-works, +close to the Ambergate station of the Midland Railway, from +which, when in full operation he was able to turn out upwards of +200 tons a day. The limestone was brought on a tramway from +the village of <!-- page 278--><a name="page278"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 278</span>Crich, 2 or 3 miles distant, the +coal being supplied from his adjoining Claycross colliery. +The works were on a scale such as had not before been attempted +by any private individual engaged in a similar trade; and we +believe they proved very successful.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p278.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Lime Works at Ambergate" +title= +"Lime Works at Ambergate" +src="images/p278.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>Tapton House was included in the lease of one of the +collieries, and as it was conveniently situated—being, as +it were, a central point on the Midland Railway, from which he +could readily proceed north or south, on his journeys of +inspection of the various lines then under construction in the +midland and northern counties,—he took up his residence +there, and it continued his home until the close of his life.</p> +<p>Tapton House is a large roomy brick mansion, beautifully +situated amidst woods, upon a commanding eminence, about a mile +to the north-east of the town of Chesterfield. Green fields +dotted with fine trees slope away from the <!-- page 279--><a +name="page279"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 279</span>house in +all directions. The surrounding country is undulating and +highly picturesque. North and south the eye ranges over a +vast extent of lovely scenery; and on the west, looking over the +town of Chesterfield, with its church and crooked spire, the +extensive range of the Derbyshire hills bounds the +distance. The Midland Railway skirts the western edge of +the park in a deep rock cutting, and the shrill whistle of the +locomotive sounds near at hand as the trains speed past. +The gardens and pleasure-grounds adjoining the house were in a +very neglected state when Mr. Stephenson first went to Tapton; +and he promised himself, when he had secured rest and leisure +from business, that he would put a new face upon both. The +first improvement he made was cutting a woodland footpath up the +hill-side, by which he at the same time added a beautiful feature +to the park, and secured a shorter road to the Chesterfield +station. But it was some years before he found time to +carry into effect his contemplated improvements in the adjoining +gardens and pleasure-grounds. He had so long been +accustomed to laborious pursuits, and felt himself still so full +of work, that he could not at once settle down into the habit of +quietly enjoying the fruits of his industry.</p> +<p>He had no difficulty in usefully employing his time. +Besides directing the mining operations at Claycross, the +establishment of the lime-kilns at Ambergate, and the +construction of the extensive railways still in progress, he +occasionally paid visits to Newcastle, where his locomotive +manufactory was now in full work, and the proprietors were +reaping the advantages of his early foresight in an abundant +measure of prosperity. One of his most interesting visits +to the place was in 1838, on the occasion of the meeting of the +British Association there, when he acted as one of the +Vice-Presidents in the section of Mechanical Science. +Extraordinary changes had occurred in his own fortunes, as well +as in the face of the country, since he had first appeared before +a scientific body in Newcastle—the <!-- page 280--><a +name="page280"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 280</span>members of +the Literary and Philosophical Institute—to submit his +safety-lamp for their examination. Twenty-three years had +passed over his head, full of honest work, of manful struggle; +and the humble “colliery engine-wright of the name of +Stephenson” had achieved an almost worldwide reputation as +a public benefactor. His fellow-townsmen, therefore, could +not hesitate to recognise his merits and do honour to his +name. During the sittings of the Association, Mr. +Stephenson took the opportunity of paying a visit to +Killingworth, accompanied by some of the distinguished +<i>savans</i> whom he numbered amongst his friends. He +there pointed out to them, with a degree of honest pride, the +cottage in which he had lived for so many years, showed what +parts of it had been his own handiwork, and told them the story +of the sun-dial over the door, describing the study and the +labour it had cost him and his son to calculate its dimensions, +and fix it in its place. The dial had been serenely +numbering the hours through the busy years that had elapsed since +that humble dwelling had been his home; during which the +Killingworth locomotive had become a great working power, and its +contriver had established the railway system, which was now +rapidly becoming extended in all parts of the world.</p> +<p>About the same time, his services were very much in request at +the meetings of Mechanics’ Institutes held throughout the +northern counties. From an early period in his history, he +had taken an active interest in these institutions. While +residing at Newcastle in 1824, shortly after his locomotive +foundry had been started in Forth-street, he presided at a public +meeting held in that town for the purpose of establishing a +Mechanics’ Institute. The meeting was held; but as +George Stephenson was a man comparatively unknown even in +Newcastle at that time, his name failed to secure “an +influential attendance.” Among those who addressed +the meeting on the occasion was Joseph Locke, then his pupil, and +afterwards his rival as an engineer. The local papers +scarcely noticed the <!-- page 281--><a name="page281"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 281</span>proceedings; yet the +Mechanics’ Institute was founded, and struggled into +existence. Years passed, and it was now felt to be an +honour to secure Mr. Stephenson’s presence at any public +meetings held for the promotion of popular education. Among +the Mechanics’ Institutes in his immediate neighbourhood at +Tapton, were those of Belper and Chesterfield; and at their +soirées he was a frequent and a welcome visitor. On +these occasions he loved to tell his auditors of the difficulties +which had early beset him through want of knowledge, and of the +means by which he had overcome them. His grand text +was—<span class="smcap">Persevere</span>; and there was +manhood in the very word.</p> +<p>On more than one occasion, the author had the pleasure of +listening to George Stephenson’s homely but forcible +addresses at the annual soirées of the Leeds +Mechanics’ Institute. He was always an immense +favourite with his audiences there. His personal appearance +was greatly in his favour. A handsome, ruddy, expressive +face, lit up by bright dark-blue eyes, prepared one for his +earnest words when he stood up to speak and the cheers had +subsided which invariably hailed his rising. He was not +glib, but he was very impressive. And who, so well as he, +could serve as a guide to the working man in his endeavours after +higher knowledge? His early life had been all +struggle—encounter with difficulty—groping in the +dark after greater light, but always earnestly and +perseveringly. His words were therefore all the more +weighty, since he spoke from the fulness of his own +experience.</p> +<p>Nor did he remain a mere inactive spectator of the +improvements in railway working which increasing experience from +day to day suggested. He continued to contrive improvements +in the locomotive, and to mature his invention of the +carriage-brake. When examined before the Select Committee +on Railways in 1841, his mind seems principally to have been +impressed with the necessity which existed for adopting a system +of self acting brakes; stating that, in his opinion, this was the +most important arrangement that <!-- page 282--><a +name="page282"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 282</span>could be +provided for increasing the safety of railway travelling. +“I believe,” he said, “that if self-acting +brakes were put upon every carriage, scarcely any accident could +take place.” His plan consisted in employing the +momentum of the running train to throw his proposed brakes into +action, immediately on the moving power of the engine being +checked. He would also have these brakes under the control +of the guard, by means of a connecting line running along the +whole length of the train, by which they should at once be thrown +out of gear when necessary. At the same time he suggested, +as an additional means of safety, that the signals of the line +should be self-acting, and worked by the locomotives as they +passed along the railway. He considered the adoption of +this plan of so much importance, that, with a view to the public +safety, he would even have it enforced upon railway companies by +the legislature. At the same time he was of opinion that it +was the interest of the companies themselves to adopt the plan, +as it would save great tear and wear of engines, carriages, +tenders, and brake-vans, besides greatly diminishing the risk of +accidents upon railways.</p> +<p>While before the same Committee, he took the opportunity of +stating his views with reference to railway speed, about which +wild ideas were then afloat—one gentleman of celebrity +having publicly expressed the opinion that a speed of 100 miles +an hour was practicable in railway travelling! Not many +years had passed since George Stephenson had been pronounced +insane for stating his conviction that 12 miles an hour could be +performed by the locomotive; but now that he had established the +fact, and greatly exceeded that speed, he was thought behind the +age because he recommended the rate to be limited to 40 miles an +hour. He said: “I do not like either 40 or 50 miles +an hour upon any line—I think it is an unnecessary speed; +and if there is danger upon a railway, it is high velocity that +creates it. I should say no railway ought to exceed 40 +miles an hour on the most favourable gradient; but upon a curved +line <!-- page 283--><a name="page283"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 283</span>the speed ought not to exceed 24 or +25 miles an hour.” He had, indeed, constructed for +the Great Western Railway an engine capable of running 50 miles +an hour with a load, and 80 miles without one. But he never +was in favour of a hurricane speed of this sort, believing it +could only be accomplished at an unnecessary increase both of +danger and expense.</p> +<p>“It is true,” he observed on other occasions, +“I have said the locomotive engine <i>might</i> be made to +travel 100 miles an hour; but I always put a qualification on +this, namely, as to what speed would best suit the public. +The public may, however, be unreasonable; and 50 or 60 miles an +hour is an unreasonable speed. Long before railway +travelling became general, I said to my friends that there was no +limit to the speed of the locomotive, <i>provided the works could +be made to stand</i>. But there are limits to the strength +of iron, whether it be manufactured into rails or locomotives; +and there is a point at which both rails and tyres must +break. Every increase of speed, by increasing the strain +upon the road and the rolling stock, brings us nearer to that +point. At 30 miles a slighter road will do, and less +perfect rolling stock may be run upon it with safety. But +if you increase the speed by say 10 miles, then everything must +be greatly strengthened. You must have heavier engines, +heavier and better-fastened rails, and all your working expenses +will be immediately increased. I think I know enough of +mechanics to know where to stop. I know that a pound will +weigh a pound, and that no more should be put upon an iron rail +than it will bear. If you could ensure perfect iron, +perfect rails, and perfect locomotives, I grant 50 miles an hour +or more might be run with safety on a level railway. But +then you must not forget that iron, even the best, will +‘tire,’ and with constant use will become more and +more liable to break at the weakest point—perhaps where +there is a secret flaw that the eye cannot detect. Then +look at the rubbishy rails now manufactured on the contract +system—some of them <!-- page 284--><a +name="page284"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 284</span>little +better than cast metal: indeed, I have seen rails break merely on +being thrown from the truck on to the ground. How is it +possible for such rails to stand a 20 or 30 ton engine dashing +over them at the speed of 50 miles an hour? No, no,” +he would conclude, “I am in favour of low speeds because +they are safe, and because they are economical; and you may rely +upon it that, beyond a certain point, with every increase of +speed there is an increase in the element of danger.”</p> +<p>When railways became the subject of popular discussion, many +new and unsound theories were started with reference to them, +which Stephenson opposed as calculated, in his opinion, to bring +discredit on the locomotive system. One of these was with +reference to what were called “undulating +lines.” Among others, Dr. Lardner, who had originally +been somewhat sceptical about the powers of the locomotive, now +promulgated the idea that a railway constructed with rising and +falling gradients would be practically as easy to work as a line +perfectly level. Mr. Badnell went even beyond him, for he +held that an undulating railway was much better than a level one +for purposes of working. For a time, this theory found +favour, and the “undulating system” was extensively +adopted; but Mr. Stephenson never ceased to inveigh against it; +and experience has amply proved that his judgment was +correct. His practice, from the beginning of his career +until the end of it, was to secure a road as nearly as possible +on a level, following the course of the valleys and the natural +line of the country: preferring to go round a hill rather than to +tunnel under it or carry his railway over it, and often making a +considerable circuit to secure good, workable gradients. He +studied to lay out his lines so that long trains of minerals and +merchandise, as well as passengers, might be hauled along them at +the least possible expenditure of locomotive power. He had +long before ascertained, by careful experiments at Killingworth, +that the engine expends half of its power in overcoming a rising +gradient of 1 in 260, which is about <!-- page 285--><a +name="page285"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 285</span>20 feet in +the mile; and that when the gradient is so steep as 1 in 100, not +less than three-fourths of its power is sacrificed in ascending +the acclivity. He never forgot the valuable practical +lesson taught him by the early trials which he had made and +registered long before the advantages of railways had been +recognised. He saw clearly that the longer flat line must +eventually prove superior to the shorter line of steep gradients +as respected its paying qualities. He urged that, after +all, the power of the locomotive was but limited; and, although +he and his son had done more than any other men to increase its +working capacity, it provoked him to find that every improvement +made in it was neutralised by the steep gradients which the new +school of engineers were setting it to overcome. On one +occasion, when Robert Stephenson stated before a Parliamentary +Committee that every successive improvement in the locomotive was +being rendered virtually nugatory by the difficult and almost +impracticable gradients proposed on many of the new lines, his +father, on his leaving the witness-box, went up to him, and said, +“Robert, you never spoke truer words than those in all your +life.”</p> +<p>To this it must be added, that in urging these views Mr. +Stephenson was strongly influenced by commercial +considerations. He had no desire to build up his reputation +at the expense of railway shareholders, nor to obtain engineering +<i>éclat</i> by making “ducks and drakes” of +their money. He was persuaded that, in order to secure the +practical success of railways, they must be so laid out as not +only to prove of decided public utility, but also to be worked +economically and to the advantage of their proprietors. +They were not government roads, but private ventures—in +fact, commercial speculations. He therefore endeavoured to +render them financially profitable; and he repeatedly declared +that if he did not believe they could be “made to +pay,” he would have nothing to do with them. He was +not influenced by the sordid consideration of what he could +<i>make</i> out of any company that employed him; indeed, in <!-- +page 286--><a name="page286"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +286</span>many cases he voluntarily gave up his claim to +remuneration where the promoters of schemes which he thought +praiseworthy had suffered serious loss. Thus, when the +first application was made to Parliament for the Chester and +Birkenhead Railway Bill, the promoters were defeated. They +repeated their application, on the understanding that in event of +their succeeding, the engineer and surveyor were to be paid their +costs in respect of the defeated measure. The Bill was +successful, and to several parties their costs were paid. +Mr. Stephenson’s amounted to £800, and he very nobly +said, “You have had an expensive career in Parliament; you +have had a great struggle; you are a young Company; you cannot +afford to pay me this amount of money. I will reduce it to +£200, and I will not ask you for that £200 until your +shares are at £20 premium: for whatever may be the reverses +you will go through, I am satisfied I shall live to see the day +when your shares will be at £20 premium, and when I can +legally and honourably claim that £200.” We may +add that the shares did eventually rise to the premium specified, +and the engineer was no loser by his generous conduct in the +transaction.</p> +<p>Another novelty of the time, with which George Stephenson had +to contend, was the substitution of atmospheric pressure for +locomotive steam-power in the working of railways. The idea +of obtaining motion by means of atmospheric pressure is said to +have originated with Denis Papin, more than 150 years ago; but it +slept until revived in 1810 by Mr. Medhurst, who published a +pamphlet to prove the practicability of carrying letters and +goods by air. In 1824, Mr. Vallance of Brighton took out a +patent for projecting passengers through a tube large enough to +contain a train of carriages; the tube being previously exhausted +of its atmospheric air. The same idea was afterwards taken +up, in 1835, by Mr. Pinkus, an ingenious American. +Scientific gentlemen, Dr. Lardner and Mr. Clegg amongst others, +advocated the plan; and an association was formed to carry it +into effect. Shares were <!-- page 287--><a +name="page287"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 287</span>created, +and £18,000 raised: and a model apparatus was exhibited in +London. Mr. Vignolles took his friend Stephenson to see the +model; and after carefully examining it, he observed +emphatically, “<i>It won’t do</i>: it is only the +fixed engines and ropes over again, in another form; and, to tell +you the truth, I don’t think this rope of wind will answer +so well as the rope of wire did.” He did not think +the principle would stand the test of practice, and he objected +to the mode of applying the principle. After all, it was +only a modification of the stationary-engine plan; and every +day’s experience was proving that fixed engines could not +compete with locomotives in point of efficiency and +economy. He stood by the locomotive engine; and subsequent +experience proved that he was right.</p> +<p>Messrs. Clegg and Samuda afterwards, in 1840, patented their +plan of an atmospheric railway; and they publicly tested its +working on an unfinished portion of the West London +Railway. The results of the experiment were so +satisfactory, that the directors of the Dublin and Kingstown line +adopted it between Kingstown and Dalkey. The London and +Croydon Company also adopted the atmospheric principle; and their +line was opened in 1845. The ordinary mode of applying the +power was to lay between the line of rails a pipe, in which a +large piston was inserted, and attached by a shaft to the +framework of a carriage. The propelling power was the +ordinary pressure of the atmosphere acting against the piston in +the tube on one side, a vacuum being created in the tube on the +other side of the piston by the working of a stationary +engine. Great was the popularity of the atmospheric system; +and still George Stephenson said “It won’t do: +it’s but a gimcrack.” Engineers of distinction +said he was prejudiced, and that he looked upon the locomotive as +a pet child of his own. “Wait a little,” he +replied, “and you will see that I am right.” It +was generally supposed that the locomotive system was about to be +snuffed out. “Not so fast,” said +Stephenson. “Let us wait to see if it will +pay.” He never <!-- page 288--><a +name="page288"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 288</span>believed it +would. It was ingenious, clever, scientific, and all that; +but railways were commercial enterprises, not toys; and if the +atmospheric railway could not work to a profit, it would not +do. Considered in this light, he even went so far as to +call it “a great humbug.” “Nothing will +beat the locomotive,” said he, “for efficiency in all +weathers, for economy in drawing loads of average weight, and for +power and speed as occasion may require.”</p> +<p>The atmospheric system was fairly and fully tried, and it was +found wanting. It was admitted to be an exceedingly elegant +mode of applying power; its devices were very skilful, and its +mechanism was most ingenious. But it was costly, irregular +in action, and, in particular kinds of weather, not to be +depended upon. At best, it was but a modification of the +stationary-engine system, and experience proved it to be so +expensive that it was shortly after entirely abandoned in favour +of locomotive power. <a name="citation288"></a><a +href="#footnote288" class="citation">[288]</a></p> +<p>One of the remarkable results of the system of railway +locomotion which George Stephenson had by his persevering labours +mainly contributed to establish, was the outbreak of the railway +mania towards the close of his professional career. The +success of the first main lines of railway naturally led to their +extension into many new districts; but a strongly speculative +tendency soon began to display itself, which contained in it the +elements of great danger.</p> +<p>The extension of railways had, up to the year 1844, been +mainly effected by men of the commercial classes, and the +shareholders in them principally belonged to the manufacturing +districts,—the capitalists of the metropolis as yet <!-- +page 289--><a name="page289"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +289</span>holding aloof, and prophesying disaster to all +concerned in railway projects. But when the lugubrious +anticipations of the City men were found to be so entirely +falsified by the results—when, after the lapse of years, it +was ascertained that railway traffic rapidly increased and +dividends steadily improved—a change came over the spirit +of the London capitalists. They then invested largely in +railways, the shares in which became a leading branch of business +on the Stock Exchange, and the prices of some rose to nearly +double their original value.</p> +<p>A stimulus was thus given to the projection of further lines, +the shares in most of which came out at a premium, and became the +subject of immediate traffic. A reckless spirit of gambling +set in, which completely changed the character and objects of +railway enterprise. The public outside the Stock Exchange +became also infected, and many persons utterly ignorant of +railways, knowing and caring nothing about their national uses, +but hungering and thirsting after premiums, rushed eagerly into +the vortex. They applied for allotments, and subscribed for +shares in lines, of the engineering character or probable traffic +of which they knew nothing. Provided they could but obtain +allotments which they could sell at a premium, and put the +profit—in many cases the only capital they possessed <a +name="citation289"></a><a href="#footnote289" +class="citation">[289]</a>—into their pocket, it was enough +for them. The mania was not confined to the precincts of +the Stock Exchange, but infected all ranks. It embraced +merchants and manufacturers, gentry and shopkeepers, clerks in +public offices, and loungers at the clubs. Noble lords were +pointed at as “stags;” there were even clergymen who +were characterised as “bulls;” and amiable ladies who +had the reputation of <!-- page 290--><a name="page290"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 290</span>“bears,” in the share +markets. The few quiet men who remained uninfluenced by the +speculation of the time were, in not a few cases, even reproached +for doing injustice to their families, in declining to help +themselves from the stores of wealth that were poured out on all +sides.</p> +<p>Folly and knavery were, for a time, completely in the +ascendant. The sharpers of society were let loose, and +jobbers and schemers became more and more plentiful. They +threw out railway schemes as lures to catch the unwary. +They fed the mania with a constant succession of new +projects. The railway papers became loaded with their +advertisements. The post-office was scarcely able to +distribute the multitude of prospectuses and circulars which they +issued. For a time their popularity was immense. They +rose like froth into the upper heights of society, and the +flunkey FitzPlushe, by virtue of his supposed wealth, sat amongst +peers and was idolised. Then was the harvest-time of +scheming lawyers, parliamentary agents, engineers, surveyors, and +traffic-takers, who were ready to take up any railway scheme +however desperate, and to prove any amount of traffic even where +none existed. The traffic in the credulity of their dupes +was, however, the great fact that mainly concerned them, and of +the profitable character of which there could be no doubt.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson was anxiously entreated to lend his name to +prospectuses during the railway mania; but he invariably +refused. He held aloof from the headlong folly of the hour, +and endeavoured to check it, but in vain. Had he been less +scrupulous, and given his countenance to the numerous projects +about which he was consulted, he might, without any trouble, have +thus secured enormous gains; but he had no desire to accumulate a +fortune without labour and without honour. He himself never +speculated in shares. When he was satisfied as to the +merits of any undertaking, he subscribed for a certain amount of +capital in it, and held on, neither buying nor selling. At +a dinner of the Leeds and Bradford directors at Ben Rydding in +October, 1844, <!-- page 291--><a name="page291"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 291</span>before the mania had reached its +height, he warned those present against the prevalent disposition +towards railway speculation. It was, he said, like walking +upon a piece of ice with shallows and deeps; the shallows were +frozen over, and they would carry, but it required great caution +to get over the deeps. He was satisfied that in the course +of the next year many would step on to places not strong enough +to carry them, and would get into the deeps; they would be taking +shares, and afterwards be unable to pay the calls upon +them. Yorkshiremen were reckoned clever men, and his advice +to them was, to stick together and promote communication in their +own neighbourhood,—not to go abroad with their +speculations. If any had done so, he advised them to get +their money back as fast as they could, for if they did not they +would not get it at all. He informed the company, at the +same time, of his earliest holding of railway shares; it was in +the Stockton and Darlington Railway, and the number he held was +<i>three</i>—“a very large capital for him to possess +at the time.” But a Stockton friend was anxious to +possess a share, and he sold him <i>one</i> at a premium of 33s.; +he supposed he had been about the first man in England to sell a +railway share at a premium.</p> +<p>During 1845, his son’s offices in Great George-street, +Westminster, were crowded with persons of various conditions +seeking interviews, presenting very much the appearance of the +levee of a minister of state. The burly figure of Mr. +Hudson, the “Railway King,” surrounded by an admiring +group of followers, was often to be seen there; and a still more +interesting person, in the estimation of many, was George +Stephenson, dressed in black, his coat of somewhat old-fashioned +cut, with square pockets in the tails. He wore a white +neckcloth, and a large bunch of seals was suspended from his +watch-ribbon. Altogether, he presented an appearance of +health, intelligence, and good humour, that rejoiced one to look +upon in that sordid, selfish and eventually ruinous saturnalia of +railway speculation.</p> +<p>Powers were granted by Parliament, in 1843, to construct <!-- +page 292--><a name="page292"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +292</span>not less than 2883 miles of new railways in Britain, at +an expenditure of about forty-four millions sterling! Yet +the mania was not appeased; for in the following session of 1846, +applications were made to Parliament for powers to raise +£389,000,000 sterling for the construction of further +lines; and powers were actually conceded for forming 4790 miles +(including 60 miles of tunnels), at a cost of about +£120,000,000 sterling. During this session, Mr. +Stephenson appeared as engineer for only one new line,—the +Buxton, Macclesfield, Congleton, and Crewe Railway—a line +in which, as a coal-owner, he was personally +interested;—and of three branch-lines in connexion with +existing companies for which he had long acted as engineer. +At the same time, all the leading professional men were fully +occupied, some of them appearing as consulting engineers for +upwards of thirty lines each!</p> +<p>One of the features of the mania was the rage for +“direct lines” which everywhere displayed +itself. There were “Direct Manchester,” +“Direct Exeter,” “Direct York,” and, +indeed, new direct lines between most of the large towns. +The Marquis of Bristol, speaking in favour of the “Direct +Norwich and London” project, at a public meeting at +Haverhill, said, “If necessary, they might <i>make a tunnel +beneath his very drawing-room</i>, rather than be defeated in +their undertaking!” And the Rev. F. Litchfield, at a +meeting in Banbury, on the subject of a line to that town, said +“He had laid down for himself a limit to his approbation of +railways,—at least of such as approached the neighbourhood +with which he was connected,—and that limit was, that he +did not wish them to approach any nearer to him than <i>to run +through his bedroom</i>, <i>with the bedposts for a +station</i>!” How different was the spirit which +influenced these noble lords and gentlemen but a few years +before!</p> +<p>The House of Commons became thoroughly influenced by the +prevailing excitement. Even the Board of Trade began to +favour the views of the fast school of engineers. In their +“Report on the Lines projected in the Manchester and <!-- +page 293--><a name="page293"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +293</span>Leeds District,” they promulgated some remarkable +views respecting gradients, declaring themselves in favour of the +“undulating system.” They there stated that +lines of an undulating character “which have gradients of 1 +in 70 or in 80 distributed over them in short lengths, may be +positively <i>better</i> lines, <i>i.e.</i>, <i>more susceptible +of cheap and expeditious working</i>, than others which have +nothing steeper than 1 in 100 or 1 in 120!” They +concluded by reporting in favour of the line which exhibited the +worst gradients and the sharpest curves, chiefly on the ground +that it could be constructed for less money.</p> +<p>Sir Robert Peel took occasion to advert to this Report in the +House of Commons on the 4th of March following, as containing +“a novel and highly important view on the subject of +gradients, which, he was certain, never could have been taken by +any Committee of the House of Commons, however +intelligent;” and he might have added, that the more +intelligent, the less likely they were to arrive at any such +conclusion. When Mr. Stephenson saw this report of the +Premier’s speech in the newspapers of the following +morning, he went forthwith to his son, and asked him to write a +letter to Sir Robert Peel on the subject. He saw clearly +that if these views were adopted, the utility and economy of +railways would be seriously curtailed. “These members +of Parliament,” said he, “are now as much disposed to +exaggerate the powers of the locomotive, as they were to +under-estimate them but a few years ago.” Robert +accordingly wrote a letter for his father’s signature, +embodying the views which he so strongly entertained as to the +importance of flat gradients, and referring to the experiments +conducted by him many years before, in proof of the great loss of +working power which was incurred on a line of steep as compared +with easy gradients. It was clear, from the tone of Sir +Robert Peel’s speech in a subsequent debate, that he had +carefully read and considered Mr. Stephenson’s practical +observations on the subject; though it did not appear that he had +come <!-- page 294--><a name="page294"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 294</span>to any definite conclusion thereon, +further than that he strongly approved of the Trent Valley +Railway, by which Tamworth would be placed upon a direct main +line of communication.</p> +<p>The result of the labours of Parliament was a tissue of +legislative bungling, involving enormous loss to the +public. Railway Bills were granted in heaps. Two +hundred and seventy-two additional Acts were passed in +1846. Some authorised the construction of lines running +almost parallel to existing railways, in order to afford the +public “the benefits of unrestricted +competition.” Locomotive and atmospheric lines, +broad-gauge and narrow-gauge lines, were granted without +hesitation. Committees decided without judgment and without +discrimination; it was a scramble for Bills, in which the most +unscrupulous were the most successful.</p> +<p>Amongst the many ill effects of the mania, one of the worst +was that it introduced a low tone of morality into railway +transactions. The bad spirit which had been evoked by it +unhappily extended to the commercial classes, and many of the +most flagrant swindles of recent times had their origin in the +year 1845. Those who had suddenly gained large sums without +labour, and also without honour, were too ready to enter upon +courses of the wildest extravagance; and a false style of living +shortly arose, the poisonous influence of which extended through +all classes. Men began to look upon railways as instruments +to job with. Persons, sometimes possessing information +respecting railways, but more frequently possessing none, got +upon boards for the purpose of promoting their individual +objects, often in a very unscrupulous manner; landowners, to +promote branch lines through their property; speculators in +shares, to trade upon the exclusive information which they +obtained; whilst some directors were appointed through the +influence mainly of solicitors, contractors, or engineers, who +used them as tools to serve their own ends. In this way the +unfortunate proprietors were, in many cases, betrayed, and their +<!-- page 295--><a name="page295"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +295</span>property was shamefully squandered, much to the +discredit of the railway system.</p> +<p>While the mania was at its height in England, railways were +also being extended abroad, and George Stephenson was requested +on several occasions to give the benefit of his advice to the +directors of foreign undertakings. One of the most +agreeable of these excursions was to Belgium in 1845. His +special object was to examine the proposed line of the Sambre and +Meuse Railway, for which a concession had been granted by the +Belgian legislature. Arrived on the ground, he went +carefully over the entire length of the proposed line, to +Convins, the Forest of Ardennes, and Rocroi, across the French +frontier; examining the bearings of the coal-field, the slate and +marble quarries, and the numerous iron-mines in existence between +the Sambre and the Meuse, as well as carefully exploring the +ravines which extended through the district, in order to satisfy +himself that the best possible route had been selected. Mr. +Stephenson was delighted with the novelty of the journey, the +beauty of the scenery, and the industry of the population. +His companions were entertained by his ample and varied stores of +practical information on all subjects, and his conversation was +full of reminiscences of his youth, on which he always delighted +to dwell when in the society of his more intimate friends. +The journey was varied by a visit to the coal-mines near Jemappe, +where Stephenson examined with interest the mode adopted by the +Belgian miners of draining the pits, inspecting their engines and +brakeing machines, so familiar to him in early life.</p> +<p>The engineers of Belgium took the opportunity of Mr. +Stephenson’s visit to their country to invite him to a +magnificent banquet at Brussels. The Public Hall, in which +they entertained him, was gaily decorated with flags, prominent +amongst which was the Union Jack, in honour of their +distinguished guest. A handsome marble pedestal, ornamented +with his bust crowned with laurels, occupied one end of the +room. The chair was occupied by M. Massui, <!-- page +296--><a name="page296"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +296</span>the Chief Director of the National Railways of Belgium; +and the most eminent scientific men of the kingdom were +present. Their reception of “the Father of +railways” was of the most enthusiastic description. +Mr. Stephenson was greatly pleased with the entertainment. +Not the least interesting incident of the evening was his +observing, when the dinner was about half over, a model of a +locomotive engine placed upon the centre table, under a triumphal +arch. Turning suddenly to his friend Sopwith, he exclaimed, +“Do you see the ‘Rocket’?” The +compliment thus paid him, was perhaps more prized than all the +encomiums of the evening.</p> +<p>The next day (April 5th) King Leopold invited him to a private +interview at the palace. Accompanied by Mr. Sopwith, he +proceeded to Laaken, and was very cordially received by His +Majesty. The king immediately entered into familiar +conversation with him, discussing the railway project which had +been the object of his visit to Belgium, and then the structure +of the Belgian coal-fields,—his Majesty expressing his +sense of the great importance of economy in a fuel which had +become indispensable to the comfort and well-being of society, +which was the basis of all manufactures, and the vital power of +railway locomotion. The subject was always a favourite one +with Mr. Stephenson, and, encouraged by the king, he proceeded to +describe to him the geological structure of Belgium, the original +formation of coal, its subsequent elevation by volcanic forces, +and the vast amount of denudation. In describing the +coal-beds he used his hat as a sort of model to illustrate his +meaning; and the eyes of the king were fixed upon it as he +proceeded with his interesting description. The +conversation then passed to the rise and progress of trade and +manufactures,—Mr. Stephenson pointing out how closely they +everywhere followed the coal, being mainly dependent upon it, as +it were, for their very existence.</p> +<p>The king seemed greatly pleased with the interview, and at its +close expressed himself obliged by the <!-- page 297--><a +name="page297"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 297</span>interesting +information which the engineer had communicated. Shaking +hands cordially with both the gentlemen, and wishing them success +in their important undertakings, he bade them adieu. As +they were leaving the palace Mr. Stephenson, bethinking him of +the model by which he had just been illustrating the Belgian +coal-fields, said to his friend, “By the bye, Sopwith, I +was afraid the king would see the inside of my hat; it’s a +shocking bad one!” Little could George Stephenson, +when brakesman at a coal-pit, have dreamt that, in the course of +his life, he should be admitted to an interview with a monarch, +and describe to him the manner in which the geological +foundations of his kingdom had been laid!</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson paid a second visit to Belgium in the course of +the same year, on the business of the West Flanders Railway; and +he had scarcely returned from it ere he made arrangements to +proceed to Spain, for the purpose of examining and reporting upon +a scheme then on foot for constructing “the Royal North of +Spain Railway.” A concession had been made by the +Spanish Government of a line of railway from Madrid to the Bay of +Biscay, and a numerous staff of engineers was engaged in +surveying it. The directors of the Company had declined +making the necessary deposits until more favourable terms had +been secured; and Sir Joshua Walmsley, on their part, was about +to visit Spain and press the Government on the subject. Mr. +Stephenson, whom he consulted, was alive to the difficulties of +the office which Sir Joshua was induced to undertake, and offered +to be his companion and adviser on the occasion,—declining +to receive any recompense beyond the simple expenses of the +journey. He could only arrange to be absent for six weeks, +and set out from England about the middle of September, 1845.</p> +<p>The party was joined at Paris by Mr. Mackenzie, the contractor +for the Orleans and Tours Railway, then in course of +construction, who took them over the works, and accompanied them +as far as Tours. They soon reached the <!-- page 298--><a +name="page298"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 298</span>great chain +of the Pyrenees, and crossed over into Spain. It was on a +Sunday evening, after a long day’s toilsome journey through +the mountains, that the party suddenly found themselves in one of +those beautiful secluded valleys lying amidst the Western +Pyrenees. A small hamlet lay before them, consisting of +some thirty or forty houses and a fine old church. The sun +was low on the horizon, and, under the wide porch, beneath the +shadow of the church, were seated nearly all the inhabitants of +the place. They were dressed in their holiday attire. +The bright bits of red and amber colour in the dresses of the +women, and the gay sashes of the men, formed a striking picture, +on which the travellers gazed in silent admiration. It was +something entirely novel and unexpected. Beside the +villagers sat two venerable old men, whose canonical hats +indicated their quality as village pastors. Two groups of +young women and children were dancing outside the porch to the +accompaniment of a simple pipe; and within a hundred yards of +them, some of the youths of the village were disporting +themselves in athletic exercises; the whole being carried on +beneath the fostering care of the old church, and with the +sanction of its ministers. It was a beautiful scene, and +deeply moved the travellers as they approached the principal +group. The villagers greeted them courteously, supplied +their present wants, and pressed upon them some fine melons, +brought from their adjoining gardens. Mr. Stephenson used +afterwards to look back upon that simple scene, and speak of it +as one of the most charming pastorals he had ever witnessed.</p> +<p>They shortly reached the site of the proposed railway, passing +through Irun, St. Sebastian, St. Andero, and Bilbao, at which +places they met deputations of the principal inhabitants who were +interested in the subject of their journey. At Raynosa +Stephenson carefully examined the mountain passes and ravines +through which a railway could be made. He rose at break of +day, and surveyed until the darkness set in; and frequently his +resting-place <!-- page 299--><a name="page299"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 299</span>at night was the floor of some +miserable hovel. He was thus laboriously occupied for ten +days, after which he proceeded across the province of Old Castile +towards Madrid, surveying as he went. The proposed plan +included the purchase of the Castile Canal; and that property was +also surveyed. He next proceeded to El Escorial, situated +at the foot of the Guadarama mountains, through which he found +that it would be necessary to construct two formidable tunnels; +added to which he ascertained that the country between El +Escorial and Madrid was of a very difficult and expensive +character to work through. Taking these circumstances into +account, and looking at the expected traffic on the proposed +line, Sir Joshua Walmsley, acting under the advice of Mr. +Stephenson, offered to construct the line from Madrid to the Bay +of Biscay, only on condition that the requisite land was given +the Company for the purpose; that they should be allowed every +facility for cutting such timber belonging the Crown as might be +required for the purposes of the railway; and also that the +materials required from abroad for the construction of the line +should be admitted free of duty. In return for these +concessions the Company offered to clothe and feed several +thousands of convicts while engaged in the execution of the +earthworks. General Narvaez, afterwards Duke of Valencia, +received Sir Joshua Walmsley and Mr. Stephenson on the subject of +their proposition, and expressed his willingness to close with +them; but it was necessary that other influential parties should +give their concurrence before the scheme could be carried into +effect. The deputation waited ten days to receive the +answer of the Spanish Government; but no answer of any kind was +vouchsafed. The authorities, indeed, invited them to be +present at a Spanish bullfight, but that was not quite the +business Mr. Stephenson had gone all the way to Spain to +transact; and the offer was politely declined. The result +was, that Mr. Stephenson dissuaded his friend from making the +necessary deposit at Madrid. Besides, he had by this time +formed an <!-- page 300--><a name="page300"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 300</span>unfavourable opinion of the entire +project, and considered that the traffic would not amount to +one-eighth of the estimate.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson was now anxious to be in England. During +the journey from Madrid he often spoke with affection of friends +and relatives; and when apparently absorbed by other matters, he +would revert to what he thought might then be passing at +home. Few incidents worthy of notice occurred on the +journey homeward, but one may be mentioned. While +travelling in an open conveyance between Madrid and Vittoria, the +driver urged his mules down hill at a dangerous pace. He +was requested to slacken speed; but suspecting his passengers to +be afraid, he only flogged the brutes into a still more furious +gallop. Observing this, Mr. Stephenson coolly said, +“Let us try him on the other tack; tell him to show us the +fastest pace at which Spanish mules can go.” The +rogue of a driver, when he found his tricks of no avail, pulled +up and proceeded at a more moderate speed for the rest of the +journey.</p> +<p>Urgent business required Mr. Stephenson’s presence in +London on the last day of November. They travelled +therefore almost continuously, day and night; and the fatigue +consequent on the journey, added to the privations voluntarily +endured by the engineer while carrying on the survey among the +Spanish mountains, began to tell seriously on his health. +By the time he reached Paris he was evidently ill, but he +nevertheless determined on proceeding. He reached Havre in +time for the Southampton boat; but when on board, pleurisy +developed itself, and it was necessary to bleed him freely. +During the voyage, he spent his time chiefly in dictating letters +and reports to Sir Joshua Walmsley, who never left him, and whose +kindness on the occasion he gratefully remembered. His +friend was struck by the clearness of his dictated composition, +which exhibited a vigour and condensation which to him seemed +marvellous. After a few weeks’ rest at home, Mr. +Stephenson gradually recovered, though his health remained +severely shaken.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 301--><a +name="page301"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 301</span> +<a href="images/p301.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Newcastle, from the High Level Bridge" +title= +"Newcastle, from the High Level Bridge" +src="images/p301.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Robert Stephenson’s +Career</span>—<span class="smcap">The Stephensons and +Brunel</span>—<span class="smcap">East Coast Route to +Scotland</span>—<span class="smcap">Royal Border +Bridge</span>, <span class="smcap">Berwick</span>—<span +class="smcap">High Level Bridge</span>, <span +class="smcap">Newcastle</span>.</h2> +<p>The career of George Stephenson was drawing to a close. +He had for some time been gradually retiring from the more active +pursuit of railway engineering, and confining himself to the +promotion of only a few undertakings in which he took a more than +ordinary personal interest. In 1840, when the extensive +main lines in the Midland districts had been finished and opened +for traffic, he publicly expressed his intention of withdrawing +from the profession. He had reached sixty, and, having +spent the greater part of his life in very hard work, he +naturally desired rest and retirement in his old age. There +was the less necessity for his continuing “in +harness,” as Robert <!-- page 302--><a +name="page302"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 302</span>Stephenson +was now in full career as a leading railway engineer, and his +father had pleasure in handing over to him, with the sanction of +the companies concerned, nearly all the railway appointments +which he held.</p> +<p>Robert Stephenson amply repaid his father’s care. +The sound education of which he had laid the foundations at +school, improved by his subsequent culture, but more than all by +his father’s example of application, industry, and +thoroughness in all that he undertook, told powerfully in the +formation of his character, not less than in the discipline of +his intellect. His father had early implanted in him habits +of mental activity, familiarized him with the laws of mechanics, +and carefully trained and stimulated his inventive faculties, the +first great fruits of which, as we have seen, were exhibited in +the triumph of the “Rocket” at Rainhill. +“I am fully conscious in my own mind,” said the son +at a meeting of the Mechanical Engineers at Newcastle, in 1858, +“how greatly my civil engineering has been regulated and +influenced by the mechanical knowledge which I derived directly +from my father; and the more my experience has advanced, the more +convinced I have become that it is necessary to educate an +engineer in the workshop. That is, emphatically, the +education which will render the engineer most intelligent, most +useful, and the fullest of resources in times of +difficulty.”</p> +<p>Robert Stephenson was but twenty-six years old when the +performances of the “Rocket” established the +practicability of steam locomotion on railways. He was +shortly after appointed engineer of the Leicester and Swannington +Railway; after which, at his father’s request, he was made +joint engineer with himself in laying out the London and +Birmingham Railway, and the execution of that line was afterwards +entrusted to him as sole engineer. The stability and +excellence of the works of that railway, the difficulties which +had been successfully overcome in the course of its construction, +and the judgment which was displayed by Robert Stephenson +throughout the whole conduct <!-- page 303--><a +name="page303"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 303</span>of the +undertaking to its completion, established his reputation as an +engineer; and his father could now look with confidence and with +pride upon his son’s achievements. From that time +forward, father and son worked together as one man, each jealous +of the other’s honour; and on the father’s +retirement, it was generally recognized that, in the sphere of +railways, Robert Stephenson was the foremost man, the safest +guide, and the most active worker.</p> +<p>Robert Stephenson was subsequently appointed engineer of the +Eastern Counties, the Northern and Eastern, and the Blackwall +railways, besides many lines in the midland and southern +districts. When the speculation of 1844 set in, his +services were, of course, greatly in request. Thus, in one +session, we find him engaged as engineer for not fewer than 33 +new schemes. Projectors thought themselves fortunate who +could secure his name, and he had only to propose his terms to +obtain them. The work which he performed at this period of +his life was indeed enormous, and his income was large beyond any +previous instance of engineering gain. But much of his +labour was heavy hackwork of a very uninteresting +character. During the sittings of the committees of +Parliament, almost every moment of his time was occupied in +consultations, and in preparing evidence or in giving it. +The crowded, low-roofed committee-rooms of the old Houses of +Parliament were altogether inadequate to accommodate the rush of +perspiring projectors of bills, and even the lobbies were +sometimes choked with them. To have borne that noisome +atmosphere and heat would have tested the constitutions of +salamanders, and engineers were only human. With brains +kept in a state of excitement during the entire day, no wonder +their nervous systems became unstrung. Their only chance of +refreshment was during an occasional rush to the bun and sandwich +stand in the lobby, though sometimes even that resource failed +them. Then, with mind and body jaded—probably after +undergoing a series of consultations upon many bills after the +rising of the committees<!-- page 304--><a +name="page304"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 304</span>—the +exhausted engineers would seek to stimulate nature by a late, +perhaps a heavy, dinner. What chance had any ordinary +constitution of surviving such an ordeal? The consequence +was, that stomach, brain, and liver were alike irretrievably +injured; and hence the men who bore the brunt of those +struggles—Stephenson, Brunel, Locke, and +Errington—have already all died, comparatively young +men.</p> +<p>In mentioning the name of Brunel, we are reminded of him as +the principal rival and competitor of Robert Stephenson. +Both were the sons of distinguished men, and both inherited the +fame and followed in the footsteps of their fathers. The +Stephensons were inventive, practical, and sagacious; the Brunels +ingenious, imaginative, and daring. The former were as +thoroughly English in their characteristics as the latter were +perhaps as thoroughly French. The fathers and the sons were +alike successful in their works, though not in the same +degree. Measured by practical and profitable results, the +Stephensons were unquestionably the safer men to follow.</p> +<p>Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel were destined +often to come into collision in the course of their professional +life. Their respective railway districts +“marched” with each other, and it became their +business to invade or defend those districts, according as the +policy of their respective boards might direct. The gauge +of 7 feet fixed by Mr. Brunel for the Great Western Railway, so +entirely different from that of 4ft. 8½in. adopted by the +Stephensons on the Northern and Midland lines, was from the first +a great cause of contention. But Mr. Brunel had always an +aversion to follow any man’s lead; and that another +engineer had fixed the gauge of a railway, or built a bridge, or +designed an engine, in one way, was of itself often a sufficient +reason with him for adopting an altogether different +course. Robert Stephenson, on his part, though less bold, +was more practical, preferring to follow the old routes, and to +tread in the safe steps of his father.</p> +<p>Mr. Brunel, however, determined that the Great Western <!-- +page 305--><a name="page305"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +305</span>should be a giant’s road, and that travelling +should be conducted upon it at double speed. His ambition +was to make the <i>best</i> road that imagination could devise; +whereas the main object of the Stephensons, both father and son, +was to make a road that would <i>pay</i>. Although, tried +by the Stephenson test, Brunel’s magnificent road was a +failure so far as the shareholders in the Great Western Company +were concerned, the stimulus which his ambitious designs gave to +mechanical invention at the time proved a general good. The +narrow-gauge engineers exerted themselves to quicken their +locomotives to the utmost. They improved and re-improved +them; the machinery was simplified and perfected; outside +cylinders gave place to inside; the steadier and more rapid and +effective action of the engine was secured; and in a few years +the highest speed on the narrow-gauge lines went up from 30 to +about 50 miles an hour. For this rapidity of progress we +are in no small degree indebted to the stimulus imparted to the +narrow-gauge engineers by Mr. Brunel. And it is well for a +country that it should possess men such as he, ready to dare the +untried, and to venture boldly into new paths. Individuals +may suffer from the cost of the experiments; but the nation, +which is an aggregate of individuals, gains, and so does the +world at large.</p> +<p>It was one of the characteristics of Brunel to believe in the +success of the schemes for which he was professionally engaged as +engineer; and he proved this by investing his savings largely in +the Great Western Railway, in the South Devon atmospheric line, +and in the Great Eastern steamship, with what results are well +known. Robert Stephenson, on the contrary, with +characteristic caution, towards the latter years of his life +avoided holding unguaranteed railway shares; and though he might +execute magnificent structures, such as the Victoria Bridge +across the St. Lawrence, he was careful not to embark any portion +of his own fortune in the ordinary capital of these +concerns. In 1845, he shrewdly foresaw the inevitable crash +that was <!-- page 306--><a name="page306"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 306</span>about to follow the mania of that +year; and while shares were still at a premium he took the +opportunity of selling out all that he had. He urged his +father to do the same thing, but George’s reply was +characteristic. “No,” said he; “I took my +shares for an investment, and not to speculate with, and I am not +going to sell them now because folks have gone mad about +railways.” The consequence was, that he continued to +hold the £60,000 which he had invested in the shares of +various railways until his death, when they were at once sold out +by his son, though at a great depreciation on their original +cost.</p> +<p>One of the hardest battles fought between the Stephensons and +Brunel was for the railway between Newcastle and Berwick, forming +part of the great East Coast route to Scotland. As early as +1836, George Stephenson had surveyed two lines to connect +Edinburgh with Newcastle: one by Berwick and Dunbar along the +coast, and the other, more inland, by Carter Fell, up the vale of +the Gala, to the northern capital; but both projects lay dormant +for several years longer, until the completion of the Midland and +other main lines as far north as Newcastle, had the effect of +again reviving the subject of the extension of the route as far +as Edinburgh.</p> +<p>On the 18th of June, 1844, the Newcastle and Darlington +line—an important link of the great main highway to the +north—was completed and publicly opened, thus connecting +the Thames and the Tyne by a continuous line of railway. On +that day the Stephensons, with a distinguished party of railway +men, travelled by express train from London to Newcastle in about +nine hours. It was a great event, and was worthily +celebrated. The population of Newcastle held holiday; and a +banquet given in the Assembly Rooms the same evening assumed the +form of an ovation to George Stephenson and his son. Thirty +years before, in the capacity of a workman, he had been labouring +at the construction of his first locomotive in the immediate +neighbourhood. By slow and laborious steps he had worked +his way <!-- page 307--><a name="page307"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 307</span>on, dragging the locomotive into +notice, and raising himself in public estimation; until at length +he had victoriously established the railway system, and went back +amongst his townsmen to receive their greeting.</p> +<p>After the opening of this railway, the project of the East +Coast line from Newcastle to Berwick was revived; and George +Stephenson, who had already identified himself with the question, +and was intimately acquainted with every foot of the ground, was +called upon to assist the promoters with his judgment and +experience. He again recommended as strongly as before the +line he had previously surveyed; and on its being adopted by the +local committee, the necessary steps were taken to have the +scheme brought before Parliament in the ensuing session. +The East Coast line was not, however, to be allowed to pass +without a fight. On the contrary, it had to encounter as +stout an opposition as the Stephensons had ever experienced.</p> +<p>We have already stated that about this time the plan of +substituting atmospheric pressure for locomotive steam-power in +the working of railways, had become very popular. Many +eminent engineers supported the atmospheric system, and a strong +party in Parliament, headed by the Prime Minister, were greatly +disposed in its favour. Mr. Brunel warmly espoused the +atmospheric principle, and his persuasive manner, as well as his +admitted scientific ability, unquestionably exercised +considerable influence in determining the views of many leading +members of both Houses. Amongst others, Lord Howick, one of +the members for Northumberland, adopted the new principle, and, +possessing great local influence, he succeeded in forming a +powerful confederacy of the landed gentry in favour of +Brunel’s atmospheric railway through that county.</p> +<p>George Stephenson could not brook the idea of seeing the +locomotive, for which he had fought so many stout battles, pushed +to one side, and that in the very county in which its great +powers had been first developed. Nor did he relish the +appearance of Mr. Brunel as the engineer of Lord <!-- page +308--><a name="page308"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +308</span>Howick’s scheme, in opposition to the line which +had occupied his thoughts and been the object of his strenuous +advocacy for so many years. When Stephenson first met +Brunel in Newcastle, he good-naturedly shook him by the collar, +and asked “What business he had north of the +Tyne?” George gave him to understand that they were +to have a fair stand-up fight for the ground, and, shaking hands +before the battle like Englishmen, they parted in good +humour. A public meeting was held at Newcastle in the +following December, when, after a full discussion of the merits +of the respective plans, Stephenson’s line was almost +unanimously adopted as the best.</p> +<p>The rival projects went before Parliament in 1845, and a +severe contest ensued. The display of ability and tactics +on both sides was great. Robert Stephenson was examined at +great length as to the merits of the locomotive line, and Brunel +at equally great length as to the merits of the atmospheric +system. Mr. Brunel, in his evidence, said that after +numerous experiments, he had arrived at the conclusion that the +mechanical contrivance of the atmospheric system was perfectly +applicable, and he believed that it would likewise be more +economical in most cases than locomotive power. “In +short,” said he, “rapidity, comfort, safety, and +economy, are its chief recommendations.”</p> +<p>But the locomotive again triumphed. The Stephenson Coast +Line secured the approval of Parliament; and the shareholders in +the Atmospheric Company were happily prevented investing their +capital in what would unquestionably have proved a gigantic +blunder. For, less than three years later, the whole of the +atmospheric tubes which had been laid down on other lines were +pulled up and the materials sold—including Mr. +Brunel’s immense tube on the South Devon Railway—to +make way for the working of the locomotive engine. George +Stephenson’s first verdict of “It won’t +do,” was thus conclusively confirmed.</p> +<p>Robert Stephenson used afterwards to describe with great gusto +an interview which took place between Lord <!-- page 309--><a +name="page309"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 309</span>Howick and +his father, at his office in Great George Street, during the +progress of the bill in Parliament. His father was in the +outer office, where he used to spend a good deal of his spare +time; occasionally taking a quiet wrestle with a friend when +nothing else was stirring. <a name="citation309"></a><a +href="#footnote309" class="citation">[309]</a> On the day +in question, George was standing with his back to the fire, when +Lord Howick called to see Robert. Oh! thought George, he +has come to try and talk Robert over about that atmospheric +gimcrack; but I’ll tackle his Lordship. “Come +in, my Lord,” said he, “Robert’s busy; but +I’ll answer your purpose quite as well; sit down here, if +you please.” George began, “Now, my Lord, I +know very well what you have come about: it’s that +atmospheric line in the north; I will show you in less than five +minutes that it can never answer.” “If Mr. +Robert Stephenson is not at liberty, I can call again,” +said his Lordship. “He’s certainly occupied on +important business just at present,” was George’s +answer; “but I can tell you far better than he can what +nonsense the atmospheric system is: Robert’s good-natured, +you see, and if your Lordship were to get alongside of him you +might talk him over; so you have been quite lucky in meeting with +me. Now, just look at the question of +expense,”—and then he proceeded in his strong Doric +to explain his views in detail, until Lord Howick could stand it +no longer, and he rose and walked towards the door. George +followed him down stairs, to finish his demolition of the +atmospheric system, and his parting words were, “You may +take my word for it, my Lord, it will never answer.” +George afterwards told his son with glee of “the +settler” he had given Lord Howick.</p> +<p><!-- page 310--><a name="page310"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +310</span>So closely were the Stephensons identified with this +measure, and so great was the personal interest which they were +both known to take in its success, that, on the news of the +triumph of the bill reaching Newcastle, a sort of general holiday +took place, and the workmen belonging to the Stephenson +Locomotive Factory, upwards of 800 in number, walked in +procession through the principal streets of the town, accompanied +with music and banners.</p> +<p>It is unnecessary to enter into any description of the works +on the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. There are no fewer +than 110 bridges of all sorts on the line—some under and +some over it. But by far the most formidable piece of +masonry work on this railway is at its northern extremity, where +it passes across the Tweed into Scotland, immediately opposite +the formerly redoubtable castle of Berwick. Not many +centuries had passed since the district amidst which this bridge +stands was the scene of almost constant warfare. Berwick +was regarded as the key of Scotland, and was fiercely fought for, +sometimes held by a Scotch and sometimes by an English +garrison. Though strongly fortified, it was repeatedly +taken by assault. On its capture by Edward I., Boetius says +17,000 persons were slain, so that its streets “ran with +blood like a river.” Within sight of the ramparts, a +little to the west, is Halidon Hill, where a famous victory was +gained by Edward III., over the Scottish army under Douglas; and +there is scarcely a foot of ground in the neighbourhood but has +been the scene of contention in days long past. In the +reigns of James I. and Charles I., a bridge of 15 arches was +built across the Tweed at Berwick; and in our own day a +railway-bridge of 28 arches has been built a little above the old +one, but at a much higher level. The bridge built by the +Kings, out of the national resources, cost £15,000, and +occupied 24 years and 4 months in the building; the bridge built +by the Railway Company, with funds drawn from private resources, +cost £120,000, and was finished in 3 years and 4 months +from the day of laying the foundation-stone.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 311--><a +name="page311"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 311</span> +<a href="images/p311.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Royal Border Bridge, Berwick-upon-Tweed" +title= +"The Royal Border Bridge, Berwick-upon-Tweed" +src="images/p311.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><!-- page 312--><a name="page312"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +312</span>This important viaduct, built after the design of +Robert Stephenson, consists of a series of 28 semicircular +arches, each 61 feet 6 inches in span, the greatest height above +the bed of the river being 126 feet. The whole is built of +ashlar, with a hearting of rubble; excepting the river parts of +the arches, which are constructed with bricks laid in +cement. The total length of the work is 2160 feet. +The foundations of the piers were got in by coffer-dams in the +ordinary way, Nasmyth’s steam-hammer being extensively used +in driving the piles. The bearing piles, from which the +foundations of the piers were built up, were each capable of +carrying 70 tons.</p> +<p>Another bridge, of still greater importance, necessary to +complete the continuity of the East Coast route, was the +masterwork erected by Robert Stephenson between the north and +south banks of the Tyne at Newcastle, commonly known as the High +Level Bridge. Mr. R. W. Brandling, George +Stephenson’s early friend, is entitled to the merit of +originating the idea of this bridge as it was eventually carried +out, with a central terminus for the northern railways in the +Castle Garth. The plan was first promulgated by him in +1841; and in the following year it was resolved that George +Stephenson should be consulted as to the most advisable site for +the proposed structure. A prospectus of a High Level Bridge +Company was issued in 1843, the names of George Stephenson and +George Hudson appearing on the committee of management, Robert +Stephenson being the consulting engineer. The project was +eventually taken up by the Newcastle and Darlington Railway +Company, and an Act for the construction of the bridge was +obtained in 1845.</p> +<p>The rapid extension of railways had given an extraordinary +stimulus to the art of bridge-building; the number of such +structures erected in Great Britain alone, since 1830, having +been above 25,000, or more than all that had before existed in +the country. Instead of the erection a single large bridge +constituting, as formerly, an epoch <!-- page 313--><a +name="page313"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 313</span>in +engineering, hundreds of extensive bridges of novel design were +simultaneously constructed. The necessity which existed for +carrying rigid roads, capable of bearing heavy railway trains at +high speeds, over extensive gaps free of support, rendered it +obvious that the methods which had up to that time been employed +for bridging space were altogether insufficient. The +railway engineer could not, like the ordinary road engineer, +divert his road and make choice of the best point for crossing a +river or a valley. He must take such ground as lay in the +line of his railway, be it bog, or mud, or shifting sand. +Navigable rivers and crowded thoroughfares had to be crossed +without interruption to the existing traffic, sometimes by +bridges at right angles to the river or road, sometimes by arches +more or less oblique. In many cases great difficulty arose +from the limited nature of the headway; but, as the level of the +original road must generally be preserved, and that of the +railway was in a measure fixed and determined, it was necessary +to modify the form and structure of the bridge, in almost every +case, in order to comply with the public requirements. +Novel conditions were met by fresh inventions, and difficulties +of the most unusual character were one after another successfully +surmounted. In executing these extraordinary works, iron +has been throughout the sheet-anchor of the engineer. In +its different forms of cast or wrought iron, it offered a +valuable resource, where rapidity of execution, great strength, +and cheapness of construction in the first instance, were +elements of prime importance; and by its skilful use, the railway +architect was enabled to achieve results which thirty years ago +would scarcely have been thought possible.</p> +<p>In many of the early cast-iron bridges the old form of the +arch was adopted, the stability of the structure depending wholly +on compression, the only novel feature being the use of iron +instead of stone. But in a large proportion of cases, the +arch, with the railroad over it, was found inapplicable in +consequence of the limited headway which it provided. <!-- +page 314--><a name="page314"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +314</span>Hence it early occurred to George Stephenson, when +constructing the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, to adopt the +simple cast-iron beam for the crossing of several roads and +canals along that line—this beam resembling in some measure +the lintel of the early temples—the pressure on the +abutments being purely vertical. One of the earliest +instances of this kind of bridge was that erected over Water +Street, Manchester, in 1829; after which, cast-iron girders, with +their lower webs considerably larger than their upper, were +ordinarily employed where the span was moderate; and wrought-iron +tie rods below were added to give increased strength where the +span was greater.</p> +<p>The next step was the contrivance of arched beams or bowstring +girders, firmly held together by horizontal ties to resist the +thrust, instead of abutments. Numerous excellent specimens +of this description of bridge were erected by Robert Stephenson +on the original London and Birmingham Railway; but by far the +grandest work of the kind—perfect as a specimen of modern +constructive skill—was the High Level Bridge, which we owe +to the genius of the same engineer.</p> +<p>The problem was, to throw a railway bridge across the deep +ravine which lies between the towns of Newcastle and Gateshead, +at the bottom of which flows the navigable river Tyne. +Along and up the sides of the valley—on the Newcastle bank +especially—run streets of old-fashioned houses, clustered +together in the strange forms peculiar to the older cities. +The ravine is of great depth—so deep and so gloomy-looking +towards dusk, that local tradition records that when the Duke of +Cumberland arrived late in the evening at the brow of the hill +overlooking the Tyne, on his way to Culloden, he exclaimed to his +attendants, on looking down into the black gorge before him, +“For God’s sake, don’t think of taking me down +that coal-pit at this time of night!” The road down +the Gateshead High Street is almost as steep as the roof of a +house, and up the Newcastle <!-- page 315--><a +name="page315"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 315</span>Side, as +the street there is called, it is little better. During +many centuries the traffic north and south passed along this +dangerous and difficult route, over the old bridge which crosses +the river in the bottom of the valley. For about 30 years +the Newcastle Corporation had discussed various methods of +improving the communication between the towns; and the discussion +might have gone on for 30 years more, but for the advent of +railways, when the skill and enterprise to which they gave birth +speedily solved the difficulty and bridged the ravine. The +local authorities adroitly took advantage of the opportunity, and +insisted on the provision of a road for ordinary vehicles and +foot passengers in addition to the railroad. In this +circumstance originated one of the striking peculiarities of the +High Level Bridge, which serves two purposes, being a railway +above and a carriage roadway underneath.</p> +<p>The breadth of the river at the point of crossing is 515 feet, +but the length of the bridge and viaduct between the Gateshead +station and the terminus on the Newcastle side is about 4000 +feet. It springs from Pipewell Gate Bank, on the south, +directly across to Castle Garth, where, nearly fronting the +bridge, stands the fine old Norman keep of the <i>New</i> Castle, +now nearly 800 years old, and a little beyond it is the spire of +St. Nicholas Church, with its light and graceful Gothic crown; +the whole forming a grand architectural group of unusual historic +interest. The bridge passes completely over the roofs of +the houses which fill both sides of the valley; and the +extraordinary height of the upper parapet, which is about 130 +feet above the bed of the river, offers a prospect to the passing +traveller the like of which is perhaps nowhere else to be +seen. Far below are the queer chares and closes, the wynds +and lanes of old Newcastle; the water is crowded with pudgy, +black, coal keels; and, when there is a partial dispersion of the +great smoke clouds which usually obscure the sky, the funnels of +steamers and the masts of shipping may be seen far down the +river. The old bridge lies so far beneath that <!-- page +316--><a name="page316"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +316</span>the passengers crossing it seem like so many bees +passing to and fro.</p> +<p>The first difficulty encountered in building the bridge was in +securing a solid foundation for the piers. The dimensions +of the piles to be driven were so huge, that the engineer found +it necessary to employ some extraordinary means for the +purpose. He called Nasmyth’s Titanic steam-hammer to +his aid—the first occasion, we believe, on which this +prodigious power was employed in bridge pile-driving. A +temporary staging was erected for the steam-engine and hammer +apparatus, which rested on two keels, and, notwithstanding the +newness and stiffness of the machinery, the first pile was driven +on the 6th October, 1846, to a depth of 32 feet, in four +minutes. Two hammers of 30 cwt. each were kept in regular +use, making from 60 to 70 strokes a minute; and the results were +astounding to those who had been accustomed to the old style of +pile-driving by means of the ordinary pile-frame, consisting of +slide, ram, and monkey. By the old system, the pile was +driven by a comparatively small mass of iron descending with +great velocity from a considerable height—the velocity +being in excess and the mass deficient, and calculated, like the +momentum of a cannon-ball, rather for destructive than impulsive +action. In the case of the steam pile-driver, on the +contrary, the whole weight of a heavy mass is delivered rapidly +upon a driving-block of several tons weight placed directly over +the head of the pile, the weight never ceasing, and the blows +being repeated at the rate of a blow a second, until the pile is +driven home. It is a curious fact, that the rapid strokes +of the steam-hammer evolved so much heat, that on many occasions +the pile-head burst into flames during the process of +driving. The elastic force of steam is the power that lifts +the ram, the escape permitting its entire force to fall upon the +head of the driving block; while the steam above the piston on +the upper part of the cylinder, acting as a buffer or +recoil-spring, materially enhances the effect of the downward +<!-- page 317--><a name="page317"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +317</span>blow. As soon as one pile was driven, the +traveller, hovering overhead, presented another, and down it went +into the solid bed of the river, with almost as much ease as a +lady sticks pins into a cushion. By the aid of this +powerful machine, pile-driving, formerly among the most costly +and tedious of engineering operations, became easy, rapid, and +comparatively economical.</p> +<p>When the piles had been driven and the coffer-dams formed and +puddled, the water within the enclosed spaces was pumped out by +the aid of powerful engines, so as, if possible, to lay bare the +bed of the river. Considerable difficulty was experienced +in getting in the foundations of the middle pier, in consequence +of the water forcing itself through the quicksand beneath as fast +as it was removed, This fruitless labour went on for months, and +many expedients were tried. Chalk was thrown in in large +quantities outside the piling, but without effect. Cement +concrete was at last put within the coffer-dam, until it set, and +the bottom was then found to be secure. A bed of concrete +was laid up to the level of the heads of the piles, the +foundation course of stone blocks being commenced about two feet +below low water, and the building proceeded without further +difficulty. It may serve to give an idea of the magnitude +of the work, when we state that 400,000 cubic feet of ashlar, +rubble, and concrete were worked up in the piers, and 450,000 +cubic feet in the land-arches and approaches.</p> +<p>The most novel feature of the structure is the use of cast and +wrought iron in forming the double bridge, which admirably +combines the two principles of the arch and suspension; the +railway being carried over the back of the ribbed arches in the +usual manner, while the carriage-road and footpaths, forming a +long gallery or aisle, are suspended from these arches by +wrought-iron vertical rods, with horizontal tie-bars to resist +the thrust. The suspension-bolts are enclosed within +spandril pillars of cast iron, which give great stiffness to the +superstructure. This system of <!-- page 318--><a +name="page318"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +318</span>longitudinal and vertical bracing has been much +admired, for it not only accomplishes the primary object of +securing rigidity in the roadway, but at the same time, by its +graceful arrangement, heightens the beauty of the +structure. The arches consist of four main ribs, disposed +in pairs with a clear distance between the two inner arches of 20 +feet 4 inches, forming the carriage-road, while between each of +the inner and outer ribs there is a space of 6 feet 2 inches, +constituting the footpaths. Each arch is cast in five +separate lengths or segments, strongly bolted together. The +ribs spring from horizontal plates of cast iron, bedded and +secured on the stone piers. All the abutting joints were +carefully executed by machinery, the fitting being of the most +perfect kind. In order to provide for the expansion and +contraction of the iron arching, and to preserve the equilibrium +of the piers without disturbance or racking of the other parts of +the bridge, it was arranged that the ribs of every two adjoining +arches resting on the same pier should be secured to the +springing-plates by keys and joggles; whilst on the next piers on +either side, the ribs remained free and were at liberty to expand +or contract according to temperature—a space being left for +the purpose. Hence each arch is complete and independent in +itself, the piers having simply to sustain their vertical +pressure. There are six arches of 125 feet span each; the +two approaches to the bridge being formed of cast-iron pillars +and bearers in keeping with the arches.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p318.jpg"> +<img alt= +"High Level Bridge—Elevation of one Arch" +title= +"High Level Bridge—Elevation of one Arch" +src="images/p318.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The result is a bridge that for massive solidity may be <!-- +page 319--><a name="page319"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +319</span>pronounced unrivalled. It is perhaps the most +magnificent and striking of all the bridges to which railways +have given birth, and has been worthily styled “the King of +railway structures.” It is a monument of the highest +engineering skill of our time, with the impress of power grandly +stamped upon it. It will also be observed, from the drawing +placed as the frontispiece of this book, that the High Level +Bridge forms a very fine object in a picture of great interest, +full of striking architectural variety and beauty. The +bridge was opened on the 15th August, 1849, and a few days after +the royal train passed over it, halting for a few minutes to +enable her Majesty to survey the wonderful scene below. In +the course of the following year the Queen opened the extensive +stone viaduct across the Tweed, above described, by which the +last link was completed of the continuous line of railway between +London and Edinburgh. Over the entrance to the Berwick +station, occupying the site of the once redoubtable Border +fortress, so often the deadly battle-ground of the ancient Scots +and English, was erected an arch under which the royal train +passed, bearing in large letters of gold the appropriate words, +“<i>The last act of the Union</i>.”</p> +<p>The warders at Berwick no longer look out from the castle +walls to descry the glitter of Southron spears. The +bell-tower, from which the alarm was sounded of old, though still +standing, is deserted; the only bell heard within the precincts +of the old castle being the railway porter’s bell +announcing the arrival and departure of trains. You see the +Scotch express pass along the bridge and speed southward on the +wings of steam. But no alarm spreads along the border +now. Northumbrian beeves are safe. Chevy-Chase and +Otterburn are quiet sheep-pastures. The only men at arms on +the battlements of Alnwick Castle are of stone. Bamborough +Castle has become an asylum for shipwrecked mariners, and the +Norman Keep at Newcastle has been converted into a Museum of +Antiquities. The railway has indeed consummated the +Union.</p> +<h2><!-- page 320--><a name="page320"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 320</span>CHAPTER XVII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Robert Stephenson’s Tubular Bridges at +Menai and Conway</span>.</h2> +<p>We have now to describe briefly another great undertaking, +begun by George Stephenson, and taken up and completed by his +son, in the course of which the latter carried out some of his +greatest works—we mean the Chester and Holyhead Railway, +completing the railway connection with Dublin, as the Newcastle +and Berwick line completed the connection with Edinburgh. +It will thus be seen how closely Telford was followed by the +Stephensons in perfecting the highways of their respective +epochs; the former by means of turnpike-roads, and the latter by +means of railways.</p> +<p>George Stephenson surveyed a line from Chester to Holyhead in +1838, and at the same time reported on the line through North +Wales to Port Dynllaen, proposed by the Irish Railway +Commissioners. His advice was strongly in favour of +adopting the line to Holyhead, as less costly and presenting +better gradients. A public meeting was held at Chester, in +January, 1839, in support of the latter measure, at which he was +present to give explanations. Mr. Uniacke, the Mayor, in +opening the proceedings, said that Mr. Stephenson was present, +ready to answer any questions which might be put to him on the +subject; and it was judiciously remarked that “it would be +better that he should be asked questions than required to make a +speech; for, though a very good engineer, he was a bad +speaker.” One of the questions then put to Mr. +Stephenson related to the mode by which he proposed to haul the +passenger carriages over the Menai Suspension Bridge by <!-- page +321--><a name="page321"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +321</span>horse power; and he was asked whether he knew the +pressure the bridge was capable of sustaining. His answer +was, that “he had not yet made any calculations; but he +proposed getting data which would enable him to arrive at an +accurate calculation of the actual strain upon the bridge during +the late gale. He had, however, no hesitation in saying +that it was more than twenty times as much as the strain of a +train of carriages and a locomotive engine. The only reason +why he proposed to convey the carriages over by horses, was in +order that he might, by distributing the weight, not increase the +wavy motion. All the train would be on at once; but +distributed. This he thought better than passing them, +linked together, by a locomotive engine.” It will +thus be observed that the practicability of throwing a rigid +railway bridge across the Straits had not yet been +contemplated.</p> +<p>The Dublin Chamber of Commerce passed resolutions in favour of +Stephenson’s line, after hearing his explanation of its +essential features. The project, after undergoing much +discussion, was at length embodied in an Act passed in 1844; and +the work was brought to a successful completion by his son, with +several important modifications, including the grand original +feature of the tubular bridges across the Menai Straits and the +estuary of the Conway. Excepting these great works, the +construction of this line presented no unusual features; though +the remarkable terrace cut for the accommodation of the railway +under the steep slope of Penmaen Mawr is worthy of a passing +notice.</p> +<p>About midway between Conway and Bangor, Penmaen Mawr forms a +bold and almost precipitous headland, at the base of which, in +rough weather, the ocean dashes with great fury. There was +not space enough between the mountain and the strand for the +passage of the railway; hence in some places the rock had to be +blasted to form a terrace, and in others sea-walls had to be +built up to the proper level, on which to form an embankment of +sufficient <!-- page 322--><a name="page322"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 322</span>width to enable the road to be +laid. +<a href="images/p322.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Penmaen Mawr. (By Percival Skelton.)" +title= +"Penmaen Mawr. (By Percival Skelton.)" +src="images/p322.jpg" /> +</a> A tunnel 10½ chains in length was cut through the +headland itself; and on its east and west sides the line was +formed by a terrace cut out of the cliff, and by embankments +protected by sea walls; the terrace being three times interrupted +by <!-- page 323--><a name="page323"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +323</span>embankments in its course of about 1¼ +mile. The road lies so close under the steep mountain face, +that it was even found necessary at certain places to protect it +against possible accidents from falling stones, by means of a +covered way. The terrace on the east side of the headland +was, however, in some measure protected against the roll of the +sea by the mass of stone run out from the tunnel, and forming a +deep shingle bank in front of the wall.</p> +<p>The part of the work which lies on the westward of the +headland penetrated by the tunnel, was exposed to the full force +of the sea; and the formation of the road at that point was +attended with great difficulty. While the sea wall was +still in progress, its strength was severely tried by a strong +north-westerly gale, which blew in October, 1846, with a spring +tide of 17 feet. On the following morning it was found that +a large portion of the rubble was irreparably injured, and 200 +yards of the wall were then replaced by an open viaduct, with the +piers placed edgeways to the sea, the openings between them being +spanned by ten cast-iron girders each 42 feet long. This +accident induced the engineer to alter the contour of the sea +wall, so that it should present a diminished resistance to the +force of the waves. But the sea repeated its assaults, and +made further havoc with the work; entailing heavy expenses and a +complete reorganisation of the contract. Increased solidity +was then given to the masonry, and the face of the wall underwent +further change. At some points outworks were constructed, +and piles were driven into the beach about 15 feet from the base +of the wall, for the purpose of protecting its foundations and +breaking the force of the waves. The work was at length +finished after about three years’ anxious labour; but Mr. +Stephenson confessed that if a long tunnel had been made in the +first instance through the solid rock of Penmaen Mawr, a saving +of from £25,000 to £30,000 would have been +effected. He also said he had arrived at the conclusion +that in railway works engineers should endeavour as far as +possible to avoid the necessity of contending with <!-- page +324--><a name="page324"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +324</span>the sea; <a name="citation324"></a><a +href="#footnote324" class="citation">[324]</a> but if he were +ever again compelled to go within its reach, he would adopt, +instead of retaining walls, an open viaduct, placing all the +piers edgeways to the force of the sea, and allowing the waves to +break upon a natural slope of beach. He was ready enough to +admit the errors he had committed in the original design of this +work; but he said he had always gained more information from +studying the causes of failures and endeavouring to surmount them +than he had done from easily-won successes. Whilst many of +the latter had been forgotten, the former were indelibly fixed in +his memory.</p> +<p>But by far the greatest difficulty which Robert Stephenson had +to encounter in executing this railway, was in carrying it across +the Straits of Menai and the estuary of the Conway, where, like +his predecessor Telford when forming his high road through North +Wales, he was under the necessity of resorting to new and +altogether untried methods of bridge construction. At Menai +the waters of the Irish Sea are perpetually vibrating along the +precipitous shores of the strait; rising and falling from 20 to +25 feet at each successive tide; the width and depth of the +channel being such as to render it available for navigation by +the largest ships. The problem was, to throw a bridge +across this wide chasm—a bridge of unusual span and +dimensions—of such strength as to be capable of bearing the +heaviest loads at high speeds, and at such a uniform height +throughout as not in any way to interfere with the navigation of +the Strait. From an early period, Mr. Stephenson had fixed +upon the spot where the Britannia Rock occurs, nearly in the +middle of the channel, as the most eligible point for crossing; +the water-width from shore to shore at high <!-- page 325--><a +name="page325"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 325</span>water there +being about 1100 feet. His first idea was to construct the +bridge of two cast-iron arches, each of 350 feet span. +There was no novelty in this idea; for, as early as the year +1801, Mr. Rennie prepared a design of a cast-iron bridge across +the Strait at the Swilly rocks, the great centre arch of which +was to be 450 feet span; and at a later period, in 1810, Telford +submitted a design of a similar bridge at Inys-y-Moch, with a +single cast-iron arch of 500 feet. But the same objections +which led to the rejection of Rennie’s and Telford’s +designs, proved fatal to Robert Stephenson’s, and his +iron-arched railway bridge was rejected by the Admiralty. +The navigation of the Strait was under no circumstances to be +interfered with; and even the erection of scaffolding from below, +to support the bridge during construction, was not to be +permitted. The idea of a suspension bridge was dismissed as +inapplicable; a degree of rigidity and strength, greater than +could be secured by any bridge constructed on the principle of +suspension, being considered an indispensable condition of the +proposed structure.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p325.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Britannia Bridge" +title= +"Britannia Bridge" +src="images/p325.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><!-- page 326--><a name="page326"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +326</span>Various other plans were suggested; but the whole +question remained unsettled even down to the time when the +Company went before Parliament, in 1844, for power to construct +the proposed bridges. No existing kind of structure seemed +to be capable of bearing the fearful extension to which rigid +bridges of the necessary spans would be subjected; and some new +expedient of engineering therefore became necessary.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson was then led to reconsider a design which he +had made in 1841 for a road bridge over the river Lea at Ware, +with a span of 50 feet,—the conditions only admitting of a +platform 18 or 20 inches thick. For this purpose a +wrought-iron platform was designed, consisting of a series of +simple cells, formed of boiler-plates riveted together with +angle-iron. The bridge was not, however, carried out after +this design, but was made of separate wrought-iron girders +composed of riveted plates. Recurring to his first idea of +this bridge, Mr. Stephenson thought that a stiff platform might +be constructed, with sides of strongly trussed frame-work of +wrought-iron, braced together at top and bottom with plates of +like material riveted together with angle-iron; and that such +platform might be suspended by strong chains on either side to +give it increased security. “It was now,” says +Mr. Stephenson, “that I came to regard the tubular platform +as a beam, and that the chains should be looked upon as +auxiliaries.” It appeared, nevertheless, that without +a system of diagonal struts inside, which of course would have +prevented the passage of trains <i>through</i> it, this kind of +structure was ill-suited for maintaining its form, and would be +very liable to become lozenge-shaped. Besides, the +rectangular figure was deemed objectionable, from the large +surface which it presented to the wind.</p> +<p>It then occurred to him that circular or elliptical tubes +might better answer the intended purpose; and in March, 1845, he +gave instructions to two of his assistants to prepare drawings of +such a structure, the tubes being made <!-- page 327--><a +name="page327"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 327</span>with a +double thickness of plate at top and bottom. The results of +the calculations made as to the strength of such a tube, were +considered so satisfactory, that Mr. Stephenson says he +determined to fall back on a bridge of this description, on the +rejection of his design of the two cast-iron arches by the +Parliamentary Committee. Indeed, it became evident that a +tubular wrought-iron beam was the only structure which combined +the necessary strength and stability for a railway, with the +conditions deemed essential for the protection of the +navigation. “I stood,” says Mr. Stephenson, +“on the verge of a responsibility from which, I confess, I +had nearly shrunk. The construction of a tubular beam of +such gigantic dimensions, on a platform elevated and supported by +chains at such a height, did at first present itself as a +difficulty of a very formidable nature. Reflection, +however, satisfied me that the principles upon which the idea was +founded were nothing more than an extension of those daily in use +in the profession of the engineer. The method, moreover, of +calculating the strength of the structure which I had adopted, +was of the simplest and most elementary character; and whatever +might be the form of the tube, the principle on which the +calculations were founded was equally applicable, and could not +fail to lead to equally accurate results.” <a +name="citation327"></a><a href="#footnote327" +class="citation">[327]</a> Mr. Stephenson accordingly +announced to the directors of the railway that he was prepared to +carry out a bridge of this general description, and they adopted +his views, though not without considerable misgivings.</p> +<p>While the engineer’s mind was still occupied with the +subject, an accident occurred to the <i>Prince of Wales</i> iron +steamship, at Blackwall, which singularly corroborated his views +as to the strength of wrought-iron beams of large +dimensions. When this vessel was being launched, the cleet +on the bow gave way, in consequence of the bolts <!-- page +328--><a name="page328"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +328</span>breaking, and let the vessel down so that the bilge +came in contact with the wharf, and she remained suspended +between the water and the wharf for a length of about 110 feet, +but without any injury to the plates of the ship; satisfactorily +proving the great strength of this form of construction. +Thus, Mr. Stephenson became gradually confirmed in his opinion +that the most feasible method of bridging the strait at Menai and +the river at Conway was by means of a hollow beam of +wrought-iron. As the time was approaching for giving +evidence before Parliament on the subject, it was necessary for +him to settle some definite plan for submission to the +committee. “My late revered father,” says he, +“having always taken a deep interest in the various +proposals which had been considered for carrying a railway across +the Menai Straits, requested me to explain fully to him the views +which led me to suggest the use of a tube, and also the nature of +the calculations I had made in reference to it. It was +during this personal conference that Mr. William Fairbairn +accidentally called upon me, to whom I also explained the +principles of the structure I had proposed. He at once +acquiesced in their truth, and expressed confidence in the +feasibility of my project, giving me at the same time some facts +relative to the remarkable strength of iron steamships, and +invited me to his works at Millwall, to examine the construction +of an iron steamship which was then in progress.” The +date of this consultation was early in April, 1845, and Mr. +Fairbairn states that, on that occasion, “Mr. Stephenson +asked whether such a design was practicable, and whether I could +accomplish it: and it was ultimately arranged that the subject +should be investigated experimentally, to determine not only the +value of Mr. Stephenson’s original conception (of a +circular or egg-shaped wrought-iron tube, supported by chains), +but that of any other tubular form of bridge which might present +itself in the prosecution of my researches. The matter was +placed unreservedly in my hands; the entire conduct of the +investigation was entrusted to me; and, as <!-- page 329--><a +name="page329"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 329</span>an +experimenter, I was to be left free to exercise my own discretion +in the investigation of whatever forms or conditions of the +structure might appear to me best calculated to secure a safe +passage across the Straits.” <a name="citation329a"></a><a +href="#footnote329a" class="citation">[329a]</a> Mr. +Fairbairn then proceeded to construct a number of experimental +models for the purpose of testing the strength of tubes of +different forms. The short period which elapsed, however, +before the bill was in committee, did not admit of much progress +being made with those experiments; but from the evidence in chief +given by Mr. Stephenson on the subject, on the 5th May following, +it appears that the idea which prevailed in his mind was that of +a bridge with openings of 450 feet (afterwards increased to 460 +feet); with a roadway formed of a hollow wrought-iron beam, about +25 feet in diameter, presenting a rigid platform, suspended by +chains. At the same time, he expressed the confident +opinion that a tube of wrought iron would possess sufficient +strength and rigidity to support a railway train running inside +of it without the help of the chains.</p> +<p>While the bill was still in progress, Mr. Fairbairn proceeded +with his experiments. He first tested tubes of a +cylindrical form, in consequence of the favourable opinion +entertained by Mr. Stephenson of the tubes in that shape, +extending them subsequently to those of an elliptical form. <a +name="citation329b"></a><a href="#footnote329b" +class="citation">[329b]</a> He found tubes thus shaped more +or less defective, and proceeded to test those of a rectangular +kind. After the bill had received the royal assent on the +30th June, 1845, the directors of the company, with great +liberality, voted a sum for the purpose of enabling the +experiments to be <!-- page 330--><a name="page330"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 330</span>prosecuted, and upwards of +£6000 were thus expended to make the assurance of their +engineer doubly sure. Mr. Fairbairn’s tests were of +the most elaborate and eventually conclusive character, bringing +to light many new and important facts of great practical +value. The due proportions and thicknesses of the top, +bottom, and sides of the tubes were arrived at after a vast +number of trials; one of the results of the experiments being the +adoption of Mr. Fairbairn’s invention of rectangular hollow +cells in the top of the beam for the purpose of giving it the +requisite degree of strength. About the end of August it +was thought desirable to obtain the assistance of a +mathematician, who should prepare a formula by which the strength +of a full-sized tube might be calculated from the results of the +experiments made with tubes of smaller dimensions. +Professor Hodgkinson was accordingly called in, and he proceeded +to verify and confirm the experiments which Mr. Fairbairn had +made, and afterwards reduced them to the required formula.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson’s time was so much engrossed with his +extensive engineering business that he was in a great measure +precluded from devoting himself to the consideration of the +practical details. The results of the experiments were +communicated to him from time to time, and were regarded by him +as exceedingly satisfactory. It would appear, however, that +while Mr. Fairbairn urged the rigidity and strength of the tubes +without the aid of chains, Mr. Stephenson had not quite made up +his mind upon the point. Mr. Hodgkinson, also, was strongly +inclined to retain them. Mr. Fairbairn held that it was +quite practicable to make the tubes “sufficiently strong to +sustain not only their own weight, but, in addition to that load, +2000 tons equally distributed over the surface of the +platform,—a load ten times greater than they will ever be +called upon to support.”</p> +<p>It was thoroughly characteristic of Mr. Stephenson, and of the +caution with which he proceeded in every step of <!-- page +331--><a name="page331"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +331</span>this great undertaking—probing every inch of the +ground before he set down his foot upon it—that he should, +early in 1856, (<i>sic</i>) have appointed his able assistant, +Mr. Edwin Clark, to scrutinise carefully the results of every +experiment, and subject them to a separate and independent +analysis before finally deciding upon the form or dimensions of +the structure, or upon any mode of procedure connected with +it. At length Mr. Stephenson became satisfied that the use +of auxiliary chains was unnecessary, and that the tubular bridge +might be made of such strength as to be entirely +self-supporting.</p> +<p>While these important discussions were in progress, measures +were taken to proceed with the masonry of the bridges +simultaneously at Conway and the Menai Straits. The +foundation-stone of the Britannia Bridge was laid on the 10th +April, 1846; and on the 12th May following that of the Conway +Bridge was laid. Suitable platforms and workshops were also +erected for proceeding with the punching, fitting, and riveting +of the tubes; and when these operations were in full progress, +the neighbourhood of the Conway and Britannia Bridges presented +scenes of extraordinary bustle and industry. About 1500 men +were employed on the Britannia Bridge alone, and they mostly +lived upon the ground in wooden cottages erected for the +occasion. The iron plates were brought in ship-loads from +Liverpool, Anglesey marble from Penmon, and red sandstone from +Runcorn, in Cheshire, as wind and tide, and shipping and +convenience, might determine. There was an unremitting +clank of hammers, grinding of machinery, and blasting of rock, +going on from morning till night. In fitting the Britannia +tubes together, not less than 2,000,000 of bolts were riveted, +weighing some 900 tons.</p> +<p>The Britannia Bridge consists of two independent continuous +tubular beams, each 1511 feet in length, and each weighing 4680 +tons, independent of the cast-iron frames inserted at their +bearings on the masonry of the towers. These immense beams +are supported at five places, namely, <!-- page 332--><a +name="page332"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 332</span>on the +abutments and on three towers, the central of which is known as +the Great Britannia Tower, 230 feet high, built on a rock in the +middle of the Strait. The side towers are 18 feet less in +height than the central one, and the abutment 35 feet lower than +the side towers. The design of the masonry is such as to +accord with the form of the tubes, being somewhat of an Egyptian +character, massive and gigantic rather than beautiful, but +bearing the unmistakable impress of power.</p> +<p>The bridge has four spans,—two of 460 feet over the +water, and two of 230 feet over the land. The weight of the +larger spans, at the points where the tubes repose on the +masonry, is not less than 1587 tons. On the centre tower +the tubes rest solid; but on the land towers and abutments they +lie on roller-beds, so as to allow of expansion and +contraction. The road within each tube is 15 feet wide, and +the height varies from 23 feet at the ends to 30 feet at the +centre. To give an idea of the vast size of the tubes by +comparison with other structures, it may be mentioned that each +length constituting the main spans is twice as long as London +Monument is high; and if it could be set on end in St. +Paul’s Churchyard, it would reach nearly 100 feet above the +cross.</p> +<p>The Conway Bridge is, in most respects, similar to the +Britannia, consisting of two tubes, of 400 feet span, placed side +by side, each weighing 1180 tons. The principle adopted in +the construction of the tubes, and the mode of floating and +raising them, were nearly the same as at the Britannia Bridge, +though the general arrangement of the plates is in many respects +different.</p> +<p>It was determined to construct the shorter outer tubes of the +Britannia Bridge on scaffoldings in the positions in which they +were permanently to remain, and to erect the larger tubes upon +wooden platforms at high-water-mark on the Caernarvon shore, from +whence they were to be floated in pontoons.</p> +<p>The floating of the tubes on pontoons, from the places <!-- +page 333--><a name="page333"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +333</span>where they had been constructed, to the recesses in the +masonry of the towers, up which they were to be hoisted to the +positions they were permanently to occupy, was an anxious and +exciting operation. The first part of this process was +performed at Conway, where Mr. Stephenson directed it in person, +assisted by Captain Claxton, Mr. Brunel, and other engineering +friends. On the 6th March, 1848, the pontoons bearing the +first great tube of the up-line were floated round quietly and +majestically into their place between the towers in about twenty +minutes. Unfortunately, one of the sets of pontoons had +become slightly slued by the stream, by which the Conway end of +the tube was prevented from being brought home; and five anxious +days to all concerned intervened before it could be set in its +place. In the mean time, the presses and raising machinery +had been fitted in the towers above, and the lifting process was +begun on the 8th April, when the immense mass was raised 8 feet, +at the rate of about 2 inches a minute. On the 16th, the +tube had been raised and finally lowered into its permanent bed; +the rails were laid along it; and, on the 18th, Mr. Stephenson +passed through with the first locomotive. The second tube +was proceeded with on the removal of the first from the platform, +and was completed and floated in seven months. The rapidity +with which this second tube was constructed was in no small +degree owing to the Jacquard punching-machine, contrived for the +purpose by Mr. Roberts of Manchester. This tube was finally +fixed in its permanent bed on the 2nd of January, 1849.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p334.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Conway Tubular Bridge" +title= +"Conway Tubular Bridge" +src="images/p334.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The floating and fixing of the great Britannia tubes was a +still more formidable enterprise, though the experience gained at +Conway rendered it easy compared with what it otherwise would +have been. Mr. Stephenson superintended the operation of +floating the first in person, giving the arranged signals from +the top of the tube on which he was mounted, the active part of +the business being performed by a numerous corps of sailors, +under the immediate <!-- page 334--><a name="page334"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 334</span>direction of Captain Claxton. +Thousands of spectators lined the shores of the Strait on the +evening of the 19th June, 1849. On the land attachments +being cut, the pontoons began to float off; but one of the +capstans having given way from excessive strain, the tube was +brought home again for the night. By next morning the +defective capstan was restored, and all was in readiness for +another trial. At half-past seven in the evening the tube +was afloat, and the pontoons swung out into the current like a +monster pendulum, held steady by the shore guide-lines, but +increasing in speed to almost a fearful extent as they <!-- page +335--><a name="page335"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +335</span>neared their destined place between the piers. +“The success of this operation,” says Mr. Clark, +“depended mainly on properly striking the +‘butt’ beneath the Anglesey tower, on which, as upon +a centre, the tube was to be veered round into its position +across the opening. This position was determined by a +12-inch line, which was to be paid out to a fixed mark from the +Llanfair capstan. The coils of the rope unfortunately +over-rode each other upon this capstan, so that it could not be +paid out. In resisting the motion of the tube, the capstan +was bodily dragged out of the platform by the action of the +palls, and the tube was in imminent danger of being carried away +by the stream, or the pontoons crushed upon the rocks. The +men at the capstan were all knocked down, and some of them thrown +into the water, though they made every exertion to arrest the +motion of the capstan-bars. In this dilemma Mr. Rolfe, who +had charge of the capstan, with great presence of mind, called +the visitors on shore to his assistance; and handing out the +spare coil of the 12-inch line into the field at the back of the +capstan, it was carried with great rapidity up the field, and a +crowd of people, men, women, and children, holding on to this +huge cable, arresting the progress of the tube, which was at +length brought safely against the butt and veered round. +The Britannia end was then drawn into the recess of the masonry +by a chain passing through the tower to a crab on the far +side. The violence of the tide abated, though the wind +increased, and the Anglesey end was drawn into its place beneath +the corbelling in the masonry; and as the tide went down, the +pontoons deposited their valuable cargo on the welcome shelf at +each end. The successful issue was greeted by cannon from +the shore and the hearty cheers of many thousands of spectators, +whose sympathy and anxiety were but too clearly indicated by the +unbroken silence with which the whole operation had been +accompanied.” <a name="citation335"></a><a +href="#footnote335" class="citation">[335]</a> By <!-- page +336--><a name="page336"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +336</span>midnight all the pontoons had been got clear of the +tube, which now hung suspended over the waters of the Strait by +its two ends, which rested upon the edges cut in the rock for the +purpose at the base of the Britannia and Anglesey towers +respectively, up which the tube had now to be lifted by hydraulic +power to its permanent place near the summit. The accuracy +with which the gigantic beam had been constructed may be inferred +from the fact that, after passing into its place, a clear space +remained between the iron plating and the rock outside of it of +only about three-quarters of an inch!</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson’s anxiety was, of course, very great up +to the time of performing this trying operation. When he +had got the first tube floated at Conway, and saw all safe, he +said to Captain Moorsom, “Now I shall go to +bed.” But the Britannia Bridge was a still more +difficult enterprise, and cost him many a sleepless night. +Afterwards describing his feelings to his friend Mr. Gooch, he +said: “It was a most anxious and harassing time with +me. Often at night I would lie tossing about, seeking sleep +in vain. The tubes filled my head. I went to bed with +them and got up with them. In the grey of the morning, when +I looked across the Square, <a name="citation336"></a><a +href="#footnote336" class="citation">[336]</a> it seemed an +immense distance across to the houses on the opposite side. +It was nearly the same length as the span of my tubular +bridge!” When the first tube had been floated, a +friend observed to him, “This great work has made you ten +years older.” “I have not slept sound,” +he replied, “for three weeks.” Sir F. Head, +however relates, that when he revisited the spot on the following +morning, he observed, sitting on a platform overlooking the +suspended tube, a gentleman, reclining entirely by himself, +smoking a cigar, and gazing, as if indolently, at the aërial +gallery beneath him. It was the engineer himself, +contemplating his new born child. He had strolled down from +<!-- page 337--><a name="page337"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +337</span>the neighbouring village, after his first sound and +refreshing sleep for weeks, to behold in sunshine and solitude, +that which during a weary period of gestation had been either +mysteriously moving in his brain, or, like a +vision—sometimes of good omen, and sometimes of +evil—had, by night as well as by day, been flitting across +his mind.</p> +<p>The next process was the lifting of the tube into its place, +which was performed very deliberately and cautiously. It +was raised by powerful hydraulic presses, only a few feet at a +time, and carefully under-built, before being raised to a farther +height. When it had been got up by successive stages of +this kind to about 24 feet, an extraordinary accident occurred, +during Mr. Stephenson’s absence in London, which he +afterwards described to the author in as nearly as possible the +following words:—“In a work of such novelty and +magnitude, you may readily imagine how anxious I was that every +possible contingency should be provided for. Where one +chain or rope was required, I provided two. I was not +satisfied with ‘enough:’ I must have absolute +security, as far as that was possible. I knew the +consequences of failure would be most disastrous to the Company, +and that the wisest economy was to provide for all contingencies +at whatever cost. When the first tube at the Britannia had +been successfully floated between the piers, ready for being +raised, my young engineers were very much elated; and when the +hoisting apparatus had been fixed, they wrote to me +saying,—‘We are now all ready for raising her: we +could do it in a day, or in two at the most. But my reply +was, ‘No: you must only raise the tube inch by inch, and +you must build up under it as you rise. Every inch must be +made good. Nothing must be left to chance or good +luck.’ And fortunate it was that I insisted upon this +cautious course being pursued; for, one day, while the hydraulic +presses were at work, the bottom of one of them burst clean +away! The crosshead and the chains, weighing more than 50 +tons, descended with a fearful crash upon the press, and the tube +itself fell down upon the packing <!-- page 338--><a +name="page338"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +338</span>beneath. Though the fall of the tube was not more +than nine inches, it crushed solid castings, weighing tons, as if +they had been nuts. The tube itself was slightly strained +and deflected, though it still remained sufficiently +serviceable. But it was a tremendous test to which it was +put, for a weight of upwards of 5000 tons falling even a few +inches must be admitted to be a very serious matter. That +it stood so well was extraordinary. Clark immediately wrote +me an account of the circumstance, in which he said, ‘Thank +God, you have been so obstinate. For if this accident had +occurred without a bed for the end of the tube to fall on, the +whole would now have been lying across the bottom of the +Straits.’ Five thousand pounds extra expense was +caused by this accident, slight though it might seem. But +careful provision was made against future failure; a new and +improved cylinder was provided: and the work was very soon +advancing satisfactorily towards completion.”</p> +<p>When the Queen first visited the Britannia Bridge, on her +return from the North in 1852, Robert Stephenson accompanied Her +Majesty and Prince Albert over the works, explaining the +principles on which the bridge had been built, and the +difficulties which had attended its erection. He conducted +the Royal party to near the margin of the sea, and, after +describing to them the incident of the fall of the tube, and the +reason of its preservation, he pointed with pardonable pride to a +pile of stones which the workmen had there raised to commemorate +the event. While nearly all the other marks of the work +during its progress had been obliterated, that cairn had been +left standing in commemoration of the caution and foresight of +their chief.</p> +<p>The floating and raising of the remaining tubes need not be +described in detail. The second was floated on the 3rd +December, and set in its permanent place on the 7th January, +1850. The others were floated and raised in due +course. On the 5th March, Mr. Stephenson put the last rivet +in the <!-- page 339--><a name="page339"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 339</span>last tube, and passed through the +completed bridge, accompanied by about a thousand persons, drawn +by three locomotives. The bridge was opened for public +traffic on the 18th March. The cost of the whole work was +£234,450.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p339.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Britannia Bridge. (By Percival Skelton)" +title= +"The Britannia Bridge. (By Percival Skelton)" +src="images/p339.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>The Britannia Bridge is one of the most remarkable monuments +of the enterprise and skill of the present century. Robert +Stephenson was the master spirit of the undertaking. To him +belongs the merit of first seizing the ideal <!-- page 340--><a +name="page340"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 340</span>conception +of the structure best adapted to meet the necessities of the +case; and of selecting the best men to work out his idea, himself +watching, controlling, and testing every result, by independent +check and counter-check. And finally, he organised and +directed, through his assistants, the vast band of skilled +workmen and labourers who were for so many years occupied in +carrying his magnificent original conception to a successful +practical issue. As he himself said of the +work,—“The true and accurate calculation of all the +conditions and elements essential to the safety of the bridge had +been a source not only of mental but of bodily toil; including, +as it did, a combination of abstract thought and well-considered +experiment adequate to the magnitude of the project.”</p> +<p>The Britannia Bridge was the result of a vast combination of +skill and industry. But for the perfection of our tools and +the ability of our mechanics to use them to the greatest +advantage; but for the matured powers of the steam-engine; but +for the improvements in the iron manufacture, which enabled +blooms to be puddled of sizes before deemed impracticable, and +plates and bars of immense size to be rolled and forged; but for +these, the Britannia Bridge would have been designed in +vain. Thus, it was not the product of the genius of the +railway engineer alone, but of the collective mechanical genius +of the English nation.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p340.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Conway Bridge.—Floating the First Tube" +title= +"Conway Bridge.—Floating the First Tube" +src="images/p340.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 341--><a +name="page341"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 341</span> +<a href="images/p341.jpg"> +<img alt= +"View in Tapton Gardens" +title= +"View in Tapton Gardens" +src="images/p341.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /> +<span class="smcap">George Stephenson’s Closing +Years</span>—<span class="smcap">Illness and +Death</span>.</h2> +<p>In describing the completion of the series of great works +detailed in the preceding chapter, we have somewhat anticipated +the closing years of George Stephenson’s life. He +could not fail to take an anxious interest in the success of his +son’s designs, and he accordingly paid many visits to +Conway and to Menai, during the progress of the works. He +was present on the occasion of the floating and raising of the +first Conway tube, and there witnessed a clear proof of the +soundness of Robert’s judgment as to the efficiency and +strength of the tubular bridge, of which he had at first +expressed some doubts; but before the like test could be applied +at the Britannia Bridge, George Stephenson’s mortal +anxieties were at an end, for he had then ceased from all his +labours.</p> +<p>Towards the close of his life, George Stephenson almost +entirely withdrew from the active pursuit of his profession; <!-- +page 342--><a name="page342"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +342</span>he devoted himself chiefly to his extensive collieries +and lime-works, taking a local interest only in such projected +railways as were calculated to open up new markets for their +products.</p> +<p>At home he lived the life of a country gentleman, enjoying his +garden and grounds, and indulging his love of nature, which, +through all his busy life, had never left him. It was not +until the year 1845 that he took an active interest in +horticultural pursuits. Then he began to build new +melon-houses, pineries, and vineries, of great extent; and he now +seemed as eager to excel all other growers of exotic plants in +his neighbourhood, as he had been to surpass the villagers of +Killingworth in the production of gigantic cabbages and +cauliflowers some thirty years before. He had a pine-house +built 68 feet in length and a pinery 140 feet. Workmen were +constantly employed in enlarging them, until at length he had no +fewer than ten glass forcing-houses, heated with hot water, which +he was one of the first in that neighbourhood to make use of for +such a purpose. He did not take so much pleasure in flowers +as in fruits. At one of the county agricultural meetings, +he said that he intended yet to grow pineapples at Tapton as big +as pumpkins. The only man to whom he would “knock +under” was his friend Paxton, the gardener to the Duke of +Devonshire; and he was so old in the service, and so skilful, +that he could scarcely hope to beat him. Yet his +“Queen” pines did take the first prize at a +competition with the Duke,—though this was not until +shortly after his death, when the plants had become more fully +grown. His grapes also took the first prize at Rotherham, +at a competition open to all England. He was extremely +successful in producing melons, having invented a method of +suspending them in baskets of wire gauze, which, by relieving the +stalk from tension, allowed nutrition to proceed more freely, and +better enabled the fruit to grow and ripen.</p> +<p>He took much pride also in his growth of cucumbers. He +raised them very fine and large, but he could not make <!-- page +343--><a name="page343"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +343</span>them grow straight. Place them as he would, +notwithstanding all his propping of them, and humouring them by +modifying the application of heat and the admission of light for +the purpose of effecting his object, they would still insist on +growing crooked in their own way. At last he had a number +of glass cylinders made at Newcastle, for the purpose of an +experiment; into these the growing cucumbers were inserted, and +then he succeeded in growing them perfectly straight. +Carrying one of the new products into his house one day, and +exhibiting it to a party of visitors, he told them of the +expedient he had adopted, and added gleefully, “I think I +have bothered them noo!”</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson also carried on farming operations with some +success. He experimented on manure, and fed cattle after +methods of his own. He was very particular as to breed and +build in stock-breeding. “You see, sir,” he +said to one gentleman, “I like to see the +<i>coo’s</i> back at a gradient something like this” +(drawing an imaginary line with his hand), “and then the +ribs or girders will carry more flesh than if they were +so—or so.” When he attended the county +agricultural meetings, which he frequently did, he was accustomed +to take part in the discussions, and he brought the same vigorous +practical mind to bear upon questions of tillage, drainage, and +farm economy, which he had been accustomed to exercise on +mechanical and engineering matters.</p> +<p>All his early affection for birds and animals revived. +He had favourite dogs, and cows, and horses; and again he began +to keep rabbits, and to pride himself on the beauty of his +breed. There was not a bird’s nest upon the grounds +that he did not know of; and from day to day he went round +watching the progress which the birds made with their building, +carefully guarding them from injury. No one was more +minutely acquainted with the habits of British birds, the result +of a long, loving, and close observation of nature.</p> +<p><!-- page 344--><a name="page344"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +344</span>At Tapton he remembered the failure of his early +experiment in hatching birds’ eggs by heat, and he now +performed it successfully, being able to secure a proper +apparatus for maintaining a uniform temperature. He was +also curious about the breeding and fattening of fowls; and when +his friend Edward Pease of Darlington visited him at Tapton, he +explained a method which he had invented for fattening chickens +in half the usual time.</p> +<p>Mrs. Stephenson tried to keep bees, but found they would not +thrive at Tapton. Many hives perished, and there was no +case of success. The cause of failure was a puzzle to the +engineer; but one day his acute powers of observation enabled him +to unravel it. At the foot of the hill on which Tapton +House stands, he saw some bees trying to rise up from amongst the +grass, laden with honey and wax. They were already +exhausted, as if with long flying; and then it occurred to him +that the height at which the house stood above the bees’ +feeding-ground rendered it difficult for them to reach their +hives when heavy laden, and hence they sank exhausted. He +afterwards incidentally mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Jesse +the naturalist, who concurred in his view as to the cause of +failure, and was much struck by the keen observation which had +led to its solution.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson had none of the in-door habits of the +student. He read very little; for reading is a habit which +is generally acquired in youth; and his youth and manhood had +been for the most part spent in hard work. Books wearied +him, and sent him to sleep. Novels excited his feelings too +much, and he avoided them, though he would occasionally read +through a philosophical book on a subject in which he felt +particularly interested. He wrote very few letters with his +own hand; nearly all his letters were dictated, and he avoided +even dictation when he could. His greatest pleasure was in +conversation, from which he gathered most of his imparted +information.</p> +<p>It was his practice, when about to set out on a journey by +<!-- page 345--><a name="page345"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +345</span>railway, to walk along the train before it started, and +look into the carriages to see if he could find “a +conversable face.” On one of these occasions, at the +Euston Station, he discovered in a carriage a very handsome, +manly, and intelligent face, which he afterwards found was that +of the late Lord Denman. He was on his way down to his seat +at Stony Middleton, in Derbyshire. Mr. Stephenson entered +the carriage, and the two were shortly engaged in interesting +conversation. It turned upon chronometry and horology, and +the engineer amazed his lordship by the extent of his knowledge +on the subject, in which he displayed as much minute information, +even down to the latest improvements in watchmaking, as if he had +been bred a watchmaker and lived by the trade. Lord Denman +was curious to know how a man whose time must have been mainly +engrossed by engineering, had gathered so much knowledge on a +subject quite out of his own line, and he asked the +question. “I learnt clockmaking and +watchmaking,” was the answer, “while a working man at +Killingworth, when I made a little money in my spare hours, by +cleaning the pitmen’s clocks and watches; and since then I +have kept up my information on the subject.” This led +to further questions, and then Mr. Stephenson told Lord Denman +the interesting story of his life, which held him entranced +during the remainder of the journey.</p> +<p>Many of his friends readily accepted invitations to Tapton +House to enjoy his hospitality, which never failed. With +them he would “fight his battles o’er again,” +reverting to his battle for the locomotive; and he was never +tired of telling, nor were his auditors of listening to, the +lively anecdotes with which he was accustomed to illustrate the +struggles of his early career. Whilst walking in the woods +or through the grounds, he would arrest his friend’s +attention by allusion to some simple object,—such as a +leaf, a blade of grass, a bit of bark, a nest of birds, or an ant +carrying its eggs across the path,—and descant in glowing +terms upon the creative power of the Divine Mechanician, <!-- +page 346--><a name="page346"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +346</span>whose contrivances were so exhaustless and so +wonderful. This was a theme upon which he was often +accustomed to dwell in reverential admiration, when in the +society of his more intimate friends.</p> +<p>One night, when walking under the stars, and gazing up into +the field of suns, each the probable centre of a system, forming +the Milky Way, a friend said to him, “What an insignificant +creature is man in sight of so immense a creation as +that!” “Yes!” was his reply; “but +how wonderful a creature also is man, to be able to think and +reason, and even in some measure to comprehend works so +infinite!”</p> +<p>A microscope, which he had brought down to Tapton, was a +source of immense enjoyment to him; and he was never tired of +contemplating the minute wonders which it revealed. One +evening, when some friends were visiting him, he induced them +each to puncture their skin so as to draw blood, in order that he +might examine the globules through the microscope. One of +the gentlemen present was a teetotaller, and Mr. Stephenson +pronounced his blood to be the most lively of the whole. He +had a theory of his own about the movement of the globules in the +blood, which has since become familiar. It was, that they +were respectively charged with electricity, positive at one end +and negative at the other, and that thus they attracted and +repelled each other, causing a circulation. No sooner did +he observe anything new, than he immediately set about devising a +reason for it. His training in mechanics, his practical +familiarity with matter in all its forms, and the strong bent of +his mind, led him first of all to seek for a mechanical +explanation. And yet he was ready to admit that there was a +something in the principle of <i>life</i>—so mysterious and +inexplicable—which baffled mechanics, and seemed to +dominate over and control them. He did not care much, +either, for abstruse mechanics, but only for the experimental and +practical, as is usually the case with those whose knowledge has +been self-acquired.</p> +<p>Even at his advanced age, the spirit of frolic had not left +<!-- page 347--><a name="page347"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +347</span>him. When proceeding from Chesterfield station to +Tapton House with his friends, he would almost invariably +challenge them to a race up the steep path, partly formed of +stone steps, along the hill side. And he would struggle, as +of old, to keep the front place, though by this time his +“wind” had greatly failed. He would +occasionally invite an old friend to take a quiet wrestle with +him on the lawn, to keep up his skill, and perhaps to try some +new “knack” of throwing. In the evening, he +would sometimes indulge his visitors by reciting the old pastoral +of “Damon and Phyllis,” or singing his favourite song +of “John Anderson my Joe.” But his greatest +glory amongst those with whom he was most intimate, was a +“crowdie!” “Let’s have a crowdie +night,” he would say; and forthwith a kettle of boiling +water was ordered in, with a basin of oatmeal. Taking a +large bowl, containing a sufficiency of hot water, and placing it +between his knees, he poured in oatmeal with one hand, and +stirred the mixture vigorously with the other. When enough +meal had been added, and the stirring was completed, the crowdie +was made. It was then supped <!-- page 348--><a +name="page348"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 348</span>with new +milk, and Stephenson generally pronounced it +“capital!” It was the diet to which he had been +accustomed when a working man, and all the dainties with which he +had become familiar in recent years had not spoiled his simple +tastes. To enjoy crowdie at his age, besides, indicated +that he still possessed that quality on which no doubt much of +his practical success in life had depended,—a strong and +healthy digestion.</p> +<p>He would also frequently invite to his house the humbler +companions of his early life, and take pleasure in talking over +old times with them. He never assumed any of the bearings +of a great man on such occasions, but treated the visitors with +the same friendliness and respect as if they had been his equals, +sending them away pleased with themselves and delighted with +him. At other times, needy men who had known him in youth +would knock at his door, and they were never refused +access. But if he had heard of any misconduct on their part +he would rate them soundly. One who knew him intimately in +private life has seen him exhorting such backsliders, and +denouncing their misconduct and imprudence with the tears +streaming down his cheeks. And he would generally conclude +by opening his purse, and giving them the help which they needed +“to make a fresh start in the world.”</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson’s life at Tapton during his latter years +was occasionally diversified with a visit to London. His +engineering business having become limited, he generally went +there for the purpose of visiting friends, or “to see what +there was fresh going on.” He found a new race of +engineers springing up on all hands—men who knew him not; +and his London journeys gradually ceased to yield him +pleasure. A friend used to take him to the opera, but by +the end of the first act, he was generally in a profound +slumber. Yet on one occasion he enjoyed a visit to the +Haymarket with a party of friends on his birthday, to see T. P. +Cooke, in “Black-eyed Susan;”—if that can be +called enjoyment which kept him in a state of tears during <!-- +page 349--><a name="page349"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +349</span>half the performance. At other times he visited +Newcastle, which always gave him great pleasure. He would, +on such occasions, go out to Killingworth and seek up old +friends, and if the people whom he knew were too retiring, and +shrunk into their cottages, he went and sought them there. +Striking the floor with his stick, and holding his noble person +upright, he would say, in his own kind way, “Well, and +how’s all here to-day?” To the last he had +always a warm heart for Newcastle and its neighbourhood.</p> +<p>Sir Robert Peel, on more than one occasion, invited George +Stephenson to his mansion at Drayton, where he was accustomed to +assemble round him men of the highest distinction in art, +science, and legislation, during the intervals of his +parliamentary life. The first invitation was respectfully +declined. Sir Robert invited him a second time, and a +second time he declined: “I have no great ambition,” +he said, “to mix in fine company, and perhaps should feel +out of my element amongst such high folks.” But Sir +Robert a third time pressed him to come down to Tamworth early in +January, 1845, when he would meet Buckland, Follett, and others +well known to both. “Well, Sir Robert,” said +he, “I feel your kindness very much, and can no longer +refuse: I will come down and join your party.”</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson’s strong powers of observation, together +with his native humour and shrewdness, imparted to his +conversation at all times much vigour and originality, and made +him, to young and old, a delightful companion. Though +mainly an engineer, he was also a profound thinker on many +scientific questions: and there was scarcely a subject of +speculation, or a department of recondite science, on which he +had not employed his faculties in such a way as to have formed +large and original views. At Drayton, the conversation +usually turned upon such topics, and Mr. Stephenson freely joined +in it. On one occasion, an animated discussion took place +between himself and Dr. Buckland on one of his favourite theories +as to the <!-- page 350--><a name="page350"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 350</span>formation of coal. But the +result was, that Dr. Buckland, a much greater master of +tongue-fence than Mr. Stephenson, completely silenced him. +Next morning, before breakfast, when he was walking in the +grounds, deeply pondering, Sir William Follett came up and asked +what he was thinking about? “Why, Sir William, I am +thinking over that argument I had with Buckland last night; I +know I am right, and that if I had only the command of words +which he has, I’d have beaten him.” “Let +me know all about it,” said Sir William, “and +I’ll see what I can do for you.” The two sat +down in an arbour, and the astute lawyer made himself thoroughly +acquainted with the points of the case; entering into it with all +the zeal of an advocate about to plead the dearest interests of +his client. After he had mastered the subject, Sir William +rose up, rubbing his hands with glee, and said, “Now I am +ready for him.” Sir Robert Peel was made acquainted +with the plot, and adroitly introduced the subject of the +controversy after dinner. The result was, that in the +argument which followed, the man of science was overcome by the +man of law; and Sir William Follett had at all points the mastery +over Dr. Buckland. “What do <i>you</i> say, Mr. +Stephenson?” asked Sir Robert, laughing. +“Why,” said he, “I will only say this, that of +all the powers above and under the earth, there seems to me to be +no power so great as the gift of the gab.” <a +name="citation350"></a><a href="#footnote350" +class="citation">[350]</a></p> +<p>One Sunday, when the party had just returned from church, they +were standing together on the terrace near the Hall, and observed +in the distance a railway-train flashing along, tossing behind +its long white plume of steam. “Now, Buckland,” +said Stephenson, “I have a poser for you. Can you +tell me what is the power that is driving that +train?” “Well,” said the other, “I +suppose it is one of your big engines.” “But +what drives the engine?” “Oh, very likely a +canny Newcastle driver.” <!-- page 351--><a +name="page351"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 351</span>“What +do you say to the light of the sun?” “How can +that be?” asked the doctor. “It is nothing +else,” said the engineer, “it is light bottled up in +the earth for tens of thousands of years,—light, absorbed +by plants and vegetables, being necessary for the condensation of +carbon during the process of their growth, if it be not carbon in +another form,—and now, after being buried in the earth for +long ages in fields of coal, that latent light is again brought +forth and liberated, made to work as in that locomotive, for +great human purposes.”</p> +<p>During the same visit, Mr. Stephenson, one evening repeated +his experiment with blood drawn from the finger, submitting it to +the microscope in order to show the curious circulation of the +globules. He set the example by pricking his own thumb; and +the other guests, by turns, in like manner, gave up a small +portion of their blood for the purpose of ascertaining the +comparative livelinesss of their circulation. When Sir +Robert Peel’s turn came, Mr. Stephenson said he was curious +to know “how the blood globules of a great politician would +conduct themselves.” Sir Robert held forth his finger +for the purpose of being pricked; but once, and again, he +sensitively shrunk back, and at length the experiment, so far as +he was concerned, was abandoned. Sir Robert Peel’s +sensitiveness to pain was extreme, and yet he was destined, a few +years after, to die a death of the most distressing agony.</p> +<p>In 1847, the year before his death, Mr. Stephenson was again +invited to join a distinguished party at Drayton Manor, and to +assist in the ceremony of formally opening the Trent Valley +Railway, which had been originally designed and laid out by +himself many years before. The first sod of the railway had +been cut by the Prime Minister, in November, 1845, during the +time when Mr. Stephenson was abroad on the business of the +Spanish railway. The formal opening took place on the 26th +June, 1847, the line having thus been constructed in less than +two years.</p> +<p>What a change had come over the spirit of the landed <!-- page +352--><a name="page352"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +352</span>gentry since the time when George Stephenson had first +projected a railway through that district! Then they were +up in arms against him, characterising him as the devastator and +spoiler of their estates; now he was hailed as one of the +greatest benefactors of the age. Sir Robert Peel, the chief +political personage in England, welcomed him as a guest and +friend, and spoke of him as the chief among practical +philosophers. A dozen members of Parliament, seven +baronets, with all the landed magnates of the district, assembled +to celebrate the opening of the railway. The clergy were +there to bless the enterprise, and to bid all hail to railway +progress, as “enabling them to carry on with greater +facility those operations in connexion with religion which were +calculated to be so beneficial to the country.” The +army, speaking through the mouth of General A’Court, +acknowledged the vast importance of railways, as tending to +improve the military defences of the country. And +representatives from eight corporations were there to acknowledge +the great benefits which railways had conferred upon the +merchants, tradesmen, and working classes of their respective +towns and cities.</p> +<p>In the spring of 1848 Mr. Stephenson was invited to +Whittington House, near Chesterfield, the residence of his friend +and former pupil, Mr. Swanwick, to meet the distinguished +American, Emerson. Upon being introduced, they did not +immediately engage in conversation; but presently Stephenson +jumped up, took Emerson by the collar, and giving him one of his +friendly shakes, asked how it was that in England we could always +tell an American? This led to an interesting conversation, +in the course of which Emerson said how much he had been +everywhere struck by the haleness and comeliness of the English +men and women; and then they diverged into a further discussion +of the influences which air, climate, moisture, soil, and other +conditions exercised upon the physical and moral development of a +people. The conversation was next directed to the subject +of electricity, <!-- page 353--><a name="page353"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 353</span>upon which Stephenson launched out +enthusiastically, explaining his views by several simple and +striking illustrations. From thence it gradually turned to +the events of his own life, which he related in so graphic a +manner as completely to rivet the attention of the +American. Afterwards Emerson said, “that it was worth +crossing the Atlantic to have seen Stephenson alone; he had such +native force of character and vigour of intellect.”</p> +<p>The rest of Mr. Stephenson’s days were spent quietly at +Tapton, amongst his dogs, his rabbits, and his birds. When +not engaged about the works connected with his collieries, he was +occupied in horticulture and farming. He continued proud of +his flowers, his fruits, and his crops; and the old spirit of +competition was still strong within him. Although he had +for some time been in delicate health, and his hand shook from +nervous affection, he appeared to possess a sound +constitution. Emerson had observed of him that he had the +lives of many men in him. But perhaps the American spoke +figuratively, in reference to his vast stores of +experience. It appeared that he had never completely +recovered from the attack of pleurisy which seized him during his +return from Spain. As late, however, as the 26th July, +1848, he felt himself sufficiently well to be able to attend a +meeting of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers at Birmingham, +and to read to the members his paper “On the Fallacies of +the Rotatory Engine.” It was his last appearance +before them. Shortly after his return to Tapton, he had an +attack of intermittent fever, from which he seemed to be +recovering, when a sudden effusion of blood from the lungs +carried him off, on the 12th August, 1848, in the sixty-seventh +year of his age. When all was over, Robert wrote to Edward +Pease, “With deep pain I inform you, as one of his oldest +friends, of the death of my dear father this morning at 12 +o’clock, after about ten days’ illness from severe +fever.” Mr. Starbuck, who was also present, wrote, +“The favourable symptoms of yesterday morning were <!-- +page 354--><a name="page354"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +354</span>towards evening followed by a serious change for the +worse. This continued during the night, and early this +morning it became evident that he was sinking. At a few +minutes before 12 to-day he breathed his last. All that the +most devoted and unremitting care of Mrs. Stephenson <a +name="citation354"></a><a href="#footnote354" +class="citation">[354]</a> and the skill of medicine could +accomplish, has been done, but in vain.”</p> +<p>George Stephenson’s remains were followed to the grave +by a large body of his workpeople, by whom he was greatly admired +and beloved. They remembered him as a kind master, who was +ever ready actively to promote all measures for their moral, +physical, and mental improvement. The inhabitants of +Chesterfield evinced their respect for the deceased by suspending +business, closing their shops, and joining in the funeral +procession, which was headed by the corporation of the +town. Many of the surrounding gentry also attended. +The body was interred in Trinity Church, Chesterfield, where a +simple tablet marks the great engineer’s last +resting-place.</p> +<p>The statue of George Stephenson, which the Liverpool and +Manchester and Grand Junction Companies had commissioned, was on +its way to England when his death occurred; and it served for a +monument, though his best monument will always be his +works. The statue referred to was placed in St. +George’s Hall, Liverpool. A full-length statue of +him, by Bailey, was also erected a few years later, in the noble +vestibule of the London and North-Western Station, in Euston +Square. A subscription for the purpose was set on foot by +the Society of Mechanical Engineers, of which he had been the +founder and president. A few advertisements were inserted +in the newspapers, inviting subscriptions; and it is a notable +fact that the voluntary offerings included an average of two +shillings each from <!-- page 355--><a name="page355"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 355</span>3150 working men, who embraced this +opportunity of doing honour to their distinguished fellow +workman.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p355.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Trinity Church, Chesterfield" +title= +"Trinity Church, Chesterfield" +src="images/p355.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p>But unquestionably the finest and most appropriate statue to +the memory of George Stephenson is that erected in 1862, after +the design of John Lough, at Newcastle-upon Tyne. It is in +the immediate neighbourhood of the Literary and Philosophical +Institute, to which both George and his son Robert were so much +indebted in their early years; close to the great Stephenson +locomotive foundry established by the shrewdness of the father; +and in the vicinity of the High Level Bridge, one of the grandest +products of the genius of the son. The head of Stephenson, +as expressed in this noble work, is massive, characteristic, and +faithful; and the attitude of the figure is simple yet manly and +energetic. It stands on a pedestal, at the respective +corners of which are sculptured the recumbent figures of a +pitman, a mechanic, an engine-driver, and a plate-layer. +The statue <!-- page 356--><a name="page356"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 356</span>appropriately stands in a very +thoroughfare of working-men, thousands of whom see it daily as +they pass to and from their work; and we can imagine them, as +they look up to Stephenson’s manly figure, applying to it +the words addressed by Robert Nicoll to Robert Burns, with +perhaps still greater appropriateness:—</p> +<blockquote><p>“Before the proudest of the earth<br /> + We stand, with an uplifted brow;<br /> +Like us, thou wast a toiling man,—<br /> + And we are noble, now!”</p> +</blockquote> +<p>The portrait prefixed to this volume gives a good indication +of George Stephenson’s shrewd, kind, honest, manly +face. His fair, clear countenance was ruddy, and seemingly +glowed with health. The forehead was large and high, +projecting over the eyes, and there was that massive breadth +across the lower part which is usually observed in men of eminent +constructive skill. The mouth was firmly marked, and +shrewdness and humour lurked there as well as in the keen grey +eye. His frame was compact, well-knit, and rather +spare. His hair became grey at an early age, and towards +the close of his life it was of a pure silky whiteness. He +dressed neatly in black, wearing a white neckcloth; and his face, +his person, and his deportment at once arrested attention, and +marked the Gentleman.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p356.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Tablet in Trinity Church, Chesterfield" +title= +"Tablet in Trinity Church, Chesterfield" +src="images/p356.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p style="text-align: center"><!-- page 357--><a +name="page357"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 357</span> +<a href="images/p357.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Victoria Bridge, Montreal" +title= +"Victoria Bridge, Montreal" +src="images/p357.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX.<br /> +<span class="smcap">Robert Stephenson’s Victoria +Bridge</span>, <span class="smcap">Lower +Canada</span>—<span class="smcap">Illness and +Death</span>—<span class="smcap">Stephenson +Characteristics</span>.</h2> +<p>George Stephenson bequeathed to his son his valuable +collieries, his share in the engine manufactory at Newcastle, and +his large accumulation of savings, which, together with the +fortune he had himself amassed by railway work, gave Robert the +position of an engineer millionaire—the first of his +order. He continued, however, to live in a quiet style; and +although he bought occasional pictures and statues, and indulged +in the luxury of a yacht, he did not live up to his income, which +went on rapidly accumulating until his death.</p> +<p>There was no longer the necessity for applying himself to the +laborious business of a parliamentary engineer, in which he had +now been occupied for some fifteen years. Shortly after his +father’s death, Edward Pease strongly recommended him to +give up the more harassing work of his profession; and his reply +(15th June, 1850) was as <!-- page 358--><a +name="page358"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +358</span>follows:—“The suggestion which your kind +note contains is quite in accordance with my own feelings and +intentions respecting retirement; but I find it a very difficult +matter to bring to a close so complicated a connexion in business +as that which has been established by twenty-five years of active +and arduous professional duty. Comparative retirement is, +however, my intention; and I trust that your prayer for the +Divine blessing to grant me happiness and quiet comfort will be +fulfilled. I cannot but feel deeply grateful to the Great +Disposer of events for the success which has hitherto attended my +exertions in life; and I trust that the future will also be +marked by a continuance of His mercies.”</p> +<p>Although Robert Stephenson, in conformity with this expressed +intention, for the most part declined to undertake new business, +he did not altogether lay aside his harness; and he lived to +repeat his tubular bridges both in Lower Canada and in +Egypt. The success of the tubular system, as adopted at +Menai and Conway, was such as to recommend it for adoption +wherever great span was required; and the peculiar circumstances +connected with the navigation of the St. Lawrence and the Nile, +may be said to have compelled its adoption in carrying railways +across those great rivers.</p> +<p>The Victoria Bridge, of which Robert Stephenson was the +designer and chief engineer, is, without exception, the greatest +work of the kind in the world. For gigantic proportions and +vast length and strength there is nothing to compare with it in +ancient or modern times. The entire bridge, with its +approaches, is only about sixty yards short of <i>two miles</i>, +being five times longer than the Britannia across the Menai +Straits, seven and a half times longer than Waterloo Bridge, and +more than ten times longer than the new Chelsea Bridge across the +Thames! It has not less than twenty-four spans of 242 feet +each, and one great central span—itself an immense +bridge—of 330 feet. The road is carried within iron +tubes 60 feet above the level of <!-- page 359--><a +name="page359"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 359</span>the St. +Lawrence, which runs beneath at a speed of about ten miles an +hour, and in winter brings down the ice of two thousand square +miles of lakes and rivers, with their numerous tributaries. +The weight of iron in the tubes is about ten thousand tons, +supported on massive piers, which contain, some six, and others +ten thousand tons of solid masonry.</p> +<p>So gigantic a work, involving so heavy an +expenditure—about £1,300,000—was not projected +without sufficient cause. The Grand Trunk Railway of +Canada, upwards of 1200 miles in length, traverses British North +America from the shores of the Atlantic to the rich prairie +country of the Far West. It opens up a vast extent of +fertile territory for future immigration, and provides a ready +means for transporting the varied products of the Western States +to the seaboard. So long as the St. Lawrence was relied +upon, the inhabitants along the Great Valley were precluded from +communication with each other for nearly six months of the year, +during which the navigation was closed by the ice.</p> +<p>The Grand Trunk Railway was designed to furnish a line of +communication through this great district at all seasons; +following the course of the St. Lawrence along its north bank, +and uniting the principal towns of Canada. But stopping +short on the north shore, it was still an incomplete work; +unconnected, except by a dangerous and often impracticable ferry, +with Montreal, the capital of the province, and shut off from +connection with the United States, as well as with the coast to +which the commerce of Canada naturally tends. Without a +bridge at Montreal, therefore, it was felt that the system of +Canadian railway communication would have been incomplete, and +the benefits of the Grand Trunk Railway in a great measure +nugatory.</p> +<p>As early as 1846 the construction of a bridge across the St. +Lawrence at Montreal was strongly advocated by the local press +for the purpose of directly connecting that city with the then +projected Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway. A survey of +the bridge was made, and the <!-- page 360--><a +name="page360"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 360</span>scheme was +reported to be practicable. A period of colonial +depression, however, intervened, and although the project was not +lost sight of, it was not until 1852, when the Grand Trunk +Railway Company began their operations, that there seemed to be +any reasonable prospect of its being carried out. In that +year, Mr. A. M. Ross—who had superintended, under Robert +Stephenson, the construction of the tubular bridge over the +Conway—visited Canada, and inspected the site of the +proposed bridge, when he readily arrived at the conclusion that a +like structure was suitable for the crossing of the St. +Lawrence. He returned to England to confer with Robert +Stephenson on the subject, and the result was the plan of the +Victoria Bridge, of which Robert Stephenson was the designer, and +Mr. A. M. Ross the joint and resident engineer.</p> +<p>The particular kind of structure to be adopted, however, +formed the subject of much preliminary discussion. Even +after the design of a tubular bridge had been adopted, and the +piers were commenced, the plan was made the subject of severe +criticism, on the ground of its alleged excessive cost. It +therefore became necessary for Mr. Stephenson to vindicate the +propriety of his design in a report to the directors of the +railway, in which he satisfactorily proved that as respected +strength, efficiency, and economy, with a view to permanency, the +plan of the Victoria Bridge was unimpeachable. There were +various methods proposed for spanning the St. Lawrence. The +suspension bridge, such as that over the river Niagara, was found +inapplicable for several reasons, but chiefly because of its +defective rigidity, which greatly limited the speed and weight of +the trains, and consequently the amount of traffic which could be +passed over such a bridge. Thus, taking the length of the +Victoria Bridge into account, it was found that not more than 20 +trains could pass within the 24 hours, a number insufficient for +the accommodation of the anticipated traffic. To introduce +such an amount of material into the suspension bridge as would +supply increased <!-- page 361--><a name="page361"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 361</span>rigidity, would only be +approximating to the original beam, and neutralizing any +advantages in point of cheapness which might be derivable from +this form of structure, without securing the essential stiffness +and strength. Iron arches were also considered +inapplicable, because of the large headway required for the +passage of the ice in winter, and the necessity which existed for +keeping the springing of the arches clear of the +water-line. This would have involved the raising of the +entire road, and a largely increased expenditure on the upper +works. The question was therefore reduced to the +consideration of the kind of <i>horizontal beam</i> or +<i>girder</i> to be employed.</p> +<p>Horizontal girders are of three kinds. The +<i>Tubular</i> is constructed of riveted rectangular boiler +plates. Where the span is large, the road passes within the +tube; where the span is comparatively small, the roadway is +supported by two or more rectangular beams. Next there is +the <i>Lattice</i> girder, borrowed from the loose rough timber +bridges of the American engineers, consisting of a top and bottom +flange connected by a number of flat iron bars, riveted across +each other at a certain angle, the roadway resting on the top, or +being suspended at the bottom between the lattice on either +side. Bridges on the same construction are now extensively +used for crossing the broad rivers of India, and are especially +designed with a view to their easy transport and erection. +The <i>Trellis</i> or Warren girder is a modification of the same +plan, consisting of a top and bottom flange, with a connecting +web of diagonal flat bars, forming a complete system of +triangulation—hence the name of “Triangular +girder,” by which it is generally known. The merit of +this form consists in its comparative rigidity, strength, +lightness, and economy of material These bridges are also +extensively employed in spanning the rivers of India. One +of the best specimens is the Crumlin viaduct, 200 feet high at +one point, which spans the river and valley of the Ebbw near the +village of Crumlin in South Wales. This viaduct is about a +third of a mile <!-- page 362--><a name="page362"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 362</span>long, divided into two parts by a +ridge of hills which runs through the centre of the +valley—each part forming a separate viaduct, the one of +seven equal spans of 150 feet, the other of three spans of the +same diameter. The bridge has been very skilfully designed +and constructed, and, by reason of its great dimensions and novel +arrangements, is entitled to be regarded as one of the most +remarkable engineering works of the day.</p> +<p>“In calculating the strength of these different classes +of girders,” Mr. Stephenson observed, “one ruling +principle appertains, and is common to all of them. +Primarily and essentially, the ultimate strength is considered to +exist in the top and bottom,—the former being exposed to a +compression force by the action of the load, and the latter to a +force of tension; therefore, whatever be the class or +denomination of girders, they must all be alike in amount of +effective material in these members, if their spans and depths +are the same, and they have to sustain the same amount of +load. Hence, the question of comparative merit amongst the +different classes of construction of beams or girders is really +narrowed to the method of connecting the top and bottom +<i>webs</i>, so called.” In the tubular system the +connexion is effected by continuous boiler plates riveted +together; and in the lattice and trellis bridges by flat iron +bars, more or less numerous, forming a series of struts and +ties. Those engineers who advocate the employment of the +latter form of construction, set forth as its principal advantage +the saving of material which is effected by employing bars +instead of iron plates; whereas Mr. Stephenson and his followers +urge, that in point of economy the boiler plate side is equal to +the bars, whilst in point of effective strength and rigidity it +is decidedly superior. To show the comparative economy of +material, he contrasted the lattice girder bridge over the river +Trent, on the Great Northern Railway near Newark, with the tubes +of the Victoria Bridge. In the former case, where the span +is 240½ feet, and the bridge 13 feet wide, the weight +including bearings is 292 tons; <!-- page 363--><a +name="page363"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 363</span>in the +latter, where the span is 242 feet, the width of the tube 16 +feet, the weight including bearings is 275 tons, showing a +balance in favour of the Victoria Tube of 17 tons. The +comparison between the Newark Dyke Bridge and the Tubular Bridge +over the river Aire is equally favourable to the latter; and no +one can have travelled over the Great Northern line to York +without noting that, as respects rigidity under the passing +train, the Tubular Bridge is decidedly superior. It is +ascertained that the deflection caused by a passing load is +considerably greater in the former case; and Mr. Stephenson was +also of opinion that the sides of all trellis or lattice girders +are useless, except for the purpose of connecting the top and +bottom, and keeping them in their position. They depend +upon their connexion with the top and bottom webs for their own +support; and since they could not sustain their shape, but would +collapse immediately on their being disconnected from their top +and bottom members, it is evident that they add to the strain +upon them, and consequently to that extent reduce the ultimate +strength of the beams. “I admit,” he added, +“that there is no formula for valuing the <i>solid</i> +sides for strains, and that at present we only ascribe to them +the value or use of connecting the top and bottom; yet we are +aware that, from their continuity and solidity, they are of value +to resist horizontal and many other strains, independently of the +top and bottom, by which they add very much to the stiffness of +the beam; and the fact of their containing more material than is +necessary to connect the top and bottom webs, has by no means +been fairly established.” Another important advantage +of the Tubular bridge over the Trellis or Lattice structure, +consists in its greater safety in event of a train running off +the line,—a contingency which has more than once occurred +on a tubular bridge without detriment, whereas in event of such +an accident occurring on a Trellis or Lattice bridge, it must +infallibly be destroyed. Where the proposed bridge is of +the unusual length of a mile and a quarter, it is obvious <!-- +page 364--><a name="page364"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +364</span>that this consideration must have had no small weight +with the directors, who eventually decided on proceeding with the +Tubular Bridge according to Mr. Stephenson’s original +design.</p> +<p>From the first projection of the Victoria Bridge, the +difficulties of executing such a work across a wide river, down +which an avalanche of ice rushes to the sea every spring, were +pronounced almost insurmountable by those best acquainted with +the locality. The ice of two thousand miles of inland lakes +and upper rivers, besides their tributaries, is then poured down +stream, and, in the neighbourhood of Montreal especially, it is +often piled up to the height of from forty to fifty feet, placing +the surrounding country under water, and doing severe damage to +the massive stone buildings along the noble river front of the +city. To resist so prodigious a pressure, it was necessary +that the piers of the proposed bridge should be of the most solid +and massive description. Their foundations are placed in +the solid rock; for none of the artificial methods of obtaining +foundations, suggested by some engineers for cheapness’ +sake, were found practicable in this case. Where the force +exercised against the piers was likely to be so great, it was +felt that timber ice-breakers, timber or cast-iron piling, or +even rubble-work, would have proved but temporary +expedients. The two centre piers are eighteen feet wide, +and the remaining twenty-two piers fifteen feet; to arrest and +break the ice, an inclined plane, composed of great blocks of +stone, was added to the up-river side of each pier—each +block weighing from seven to ten tons, and the whole were firmly +clamped together with iron rivets.</p> +<p>To convey some idea of the immense force which these piers are +required to resist, we may briefly describe the breaking up of +the ice in March, 1858, while the bridge was under +construction. Fourteen out of the twenty-four piers were +then finished, together with the formidable abutments and +approaches to the bridge. The ice in the <!-- page 365--><a +name="page365"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 365</span>river began +to show signs of weakness on the 29th March, but it was not until +the 31st that a general movement became observable, which +continued for an hour, when it suddenly stopped, and the water +rose rapidly. On the following day, at noon, a grand +movement commenced; the waters rose about four feet in two +minutes, up to a level with many of the Montreal streets. +The fields of ice at the same time were suddenly elevated to an +incredible height; and so overwhelming were they in appearance, +that crowds of the townspeople, who had assembled on the quay to +watch the progress of the flood, ran for their lives. This +movement lasted about twenty minutes, during which the jammed ice +destroyed several portions of the quay-wall, grinding the hardest +blocks to atoms. The embanked approaches to the Victoria +Bridge had tremendous forces to resist. In the full channel +of the stream, the ice in its passage between the piers was +broken up by the force of the blow immediately on its coming in +contact with the cutwaters. Sometimes thick sheets of ice +were seen to rise up and rear on end against the piers, but by +the force of the current they were speedily made to roll over +into the stream, and in a moment after were out of sight. +For the two next days the river was still high, until on the 4th +April the waters seemed suddenly to give way, and by the +following day the river was flowing clear and smooth as a +millpond, nothing of winter remaining except the masses of +bordage ice which were strewn along the shores of the +stream. On examination of the piers of the bridge, it was +found that they had admirably resisted the tremendous pressure; +and though the timber “cribwork” erected to +facilitate the placing of floating pontoons to form the dams, was +found considerably disturbed and in some places seriously +damaged, the piers, with the exception of one or two heavy stone +blocks, which were still unfinished, escaped uninjured. One +heavy block of many tons’ weight was carried to a +considerable distance, and must have been torn out of its <!-- +page 366--><a name="page366"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +366</span>place by sheer force, as several of the broken +fragments were found left in the pier.</p> +<p>The works in connection with the Victoria Bridge were begun on +the 22nd July, 1854, when the first stone was laid, and continued +uninterruptedly during a period of 5½ years, until the +17th December, 1859, when the bridge was finished and taken off +the contractor’s hands. It was formally opened for +traffic early in 1860; though Robert Stephenson did not live to +see its completion.</p> +<p>The tubular system was also applied by the same engineer, in a +modified form, in the two bridges across the Nile, near Damietta +in Lower Egypt. That near Benha contains eight spans or +openings of 80 feet each, and two centre spans, formed by one of +the largest swing bridges ever constructed,—the total +length of the swing-beam being 157 feet,—a clear water-way +of 60 feet being provided on either side of the centre +pier. The only novelty in these bridges consisted in the +road being carried <i>upon</i> the tubes instead of within them; +their erection being carried out in the usual manner, by means of +workmen, materials, and plant sent out from England.</p> +<p>During the later years of his life, Mr. Stephenson took +considerable interest in public affairs and in scientific +investigations. In 1847 he entered the House of Commons as +member for Whitby; but he does not seem to have been very devoted +in his attendance, and only appeared on divisions when there was +a “whip” of the party to which he belonged. He +was a member of the Sanitary and Sewage Commissions, and of the +Commission which sat on Westminster Bridge. The last +occasions on which he addressed the House were on the Suez Canal +and the cleansing of the Serpentine. He pronounced the Suez +Canal to be an impracticable scheme. “I have surveyed +the line,” said he, “I have travelled the whole +distance on foot, and I declare there is no fall between the two +seas. Honourable members talk about a canal. A canal +is impossible—the thing would only be a ditch.”</p> +<p><!-- page 367--><a name="page367"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +367</span>Besides constructing the railway between Alexandria and +Cairo, he was consulted, like his father, by the King of Belgium, +as to the railways of that country; and he was made Knight of the +Order of Leopold because of the improvements which he had made in +locomotive engines, so much to the advantage of the Belgian +system of inland transit. He was consulted by the King of +Sweden as to the railway between Christiana and Lake Miösen, +and in consideration of his services was decorated with the Grand +Cross of the Order of St. Olaf. He also visited +Switzerland, Piedmont, and Denmark, to advise as to the system of +railway communication best suited for those countries. At +the Paris Exhibition of 1855 the Emperor of France decorated him +with the Legion of Honour in consideration of his public +services; and at home the University of Oxford made him a Doctor +of Civil Laws. In 1855 he was elected President of the +Institute of Civil Engineers, which office he held with honour +and filled with distinguished ability for two years, giving place +to his friend Mr. Locke at the end of 1857.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson was frequently called upon to act as arbitrator +between contractors and railway companies, or between one company +and another,—great value being attached to his opinion on +account of his weighty judgment, his great experience, and his +upright character, and we believe his decisions were invariably +stamped by the qualities of impartiality and justice. He +was always ready to lend a helping hand to a friend, and no petty +jealousy stood between him and his rivals in the engineering +world. The author remembers being with Mr. Stephenson one +evening at his house in Gloucester Square, when a note was put +into his hands from his friend Brunel, then engaged in his first +fruitless efforts to launch the <i>Great Eastern</i>. It +was to ask Stephenson to come down to Blackwall early next +morning, and give him the benefit of his judgment. Shortly +after six next morning Stephenson was in Scott Russell’s +building-yard, and he <!-- page 368--><a name="page368"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 368</span>remained there until dusk. +About midday, while superintending the launching operations, the +baulk of timber on which he stood canted up, and he fell up to +his middle in the Thames mud. He was dressed as usual, +without great-coat (though the day was bitter cold), and with +only thin boots upon his feet. He was urged to leave the +yard, and change his dress, or at least dry himself; but with his +usual disregard of health, he replied, “Oh, never mind +me—I’m quite used to this sort of thing;” and +he went paddling about in the mud, smoking his cigar, until +almost dark, when the day’s work was brought to an +end. The result of this exposure was an attack of +inflammation of the lungs, which kept him to his bed for a +fortnight.</p> +<p>He was habitually careless of his health, and perhaps he +indulged in narcotics to a prejudicial extent. Hence he +often became “hipped” and sometimes ill. When +Mr. Sopwith accompanied him to Egypt in the <i>Titania</i>, in +1856, he succeeded in persuading Mr. Stephenson to limit his +indulgence in cigars and stimulants, and the consequence was that +by the end of the voyage he felt himself, as he said, +“quite a new man.” Arrived at Marseilles, he +telegraphed from thence a message to Great George Street, +prescribing certain stringent and salutary rules for observance +in the office there on his return. But he was of a facile, +social disposition, and the old associations proved too strong +for him. When he sailed for Norway, in the autumn of 1859, +though then ailing in health, he looked a man who had still +plenty of life in him. By the time he returned, his fatal +illness had seized him. He was attacked by congestion of +the liver, which first developed itself in jaundice, and then ran +into dropsy, of which he died on the 12th October, in the +fifty-sixth year of his age. <a name="citation368"></a><a +href="#footnote368" class="citation">[368]</a> He was +buried by the side of Telford in <!-- page 369--><a +name="page369"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 369</span>Westminster +Abbey, amidst the departed great men of his country, and was +attended to his resting-place by many of the intimate friends of +his boyhood and his manhood. Among those who assembled +round his grave were some of the greatest men of thought and +action in England, who embraced the sad occasion to pay the last +mark of their respect to this illustrious son of one of +England’s greatest working men.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p369.jpg"> +<img alt= +"Robert Stephenson’s Burial-place in Westminster Abbey" +title= +"Robert Stephenson’s Burial-place in Westminster Abbey" +src="images/p369.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<p><!-- page 370--><a name="page370"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +370</span>It would be out of keeping with the subject thus drawn +to a conclusion, to pronounce any panegyric on the character and +achievements of George and Robert Stephenson. These for the +most part speak for themselves. Both were emphatically true +men, exhibiting in their lives many sterling qualities. No +beginning could have been less promising than that of the elder +Stephenson. Born in a poor condition, yet rich in spirit, +he was from the first compelled to rely upon himself; and every +step of advance which he made was conquered by patient +labour. Whether working as a brakesman or an engineer, his +mind was always full of the work in hand. He gave himself +thoroughly up to it. Like the painter, he might say that he +had become great “by neglecting nothing.” +Whatever he was engaged upon, he was as careful of the details as +if each were itself the whole. He did all thoroughly and +honestly. There was no “scamping” with +him. When a workman he put his brains and labour into his +work; and when a master he put his conscience and character into +it. He would have no slop-work executed merely for the sake +of profit. The materials must be as genuine as the +workmanship was skilful. The structures which he designed +and executed were distinguished for their thoroughness and +solidity; his locomotives were famous for their durability and +excellent working qualities. The engines which he sent to +the United States in 1832 are still in good condition; and even +the engines built by him for the Killingworth Colliery, upwards +of thirty years ago, are working steadily there to this +day. All his work was honest, representing the actual +character of the man.</p> +<p>He was ready to turn his hand to anything—shoes and +clocks, railways and locomotives. He contrived his +safety-lamp with the object of saving pitmen’s lives, and +perilled his own life in testing it. Whatever work was +nearest him, he turned to and did it. With him to resolve +was to do. Many men knew far more than he; but none were +more <!-- page 371--><a name="page371"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 371</span>ready forthwith to apply what he did +know to practical purposes. It was while working at +Willington as a brakes-man, that he first learnt how best to +handle a spade in throwing ballast out of the ships’ +holds. This casual employment seems to have left upon his +mind the strongest impression of what “hard work” +was; and he often used to revert to it, and say to the young men +about him, “Ah, ye lads! there’s none o’ ye +know what <i>wark</i> is.” Mr. Gooch says he was +proud of the dexterity in handling a spade which he had thus +acquired, and that he has frequently seen him take the shovel +from a labourer in some railway cutting, and show him how to use +it more deftly in filling waggons of earth, gravel, or +sand. Sir Joshua Walmsley has also informed us, that, when +examining the works of the Orleans and Tours Railway, Mr. +Stephenson, seeing a large number of excavators filling and +wheeling sand in a cutting, at a great waste of time and labour, +went up to the men and said he would show them how to fill their +barrows in half the time. He showed them the proper +position in which to stand so as to exercise the greatest amount +of power with the least expenditure of strength; and he filled +the barrow with comparative ease again and again in their +presence, to the great delight of the workmen. When passing +through his own workshops, he would point out to his men how to +save labour, and to get through their work skilfully and with +ease. His energy imparted itself to others, quickening and +influencing them as strong characters always do—flowing +down into theirs, and bringing out their best powers.</p> +<p>His deportment towards the workmen employed under him was +familiar, yet firm and consistent. As he respected their +manhood, so did they respect his masterhood. Although he +comported himself towards his men as if they occupied very much +the same level as himself, he yet possessed that peculiar +capacity for governing which enabled him always to preserve among +them the strictest discipline, and to secure their cheerful and +hearty services. <!-- page 372--><a +name="page372"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 372</span>Mr. Ingham, +M.P. for South Shields, on going over the workshops at Newcastle, +was particularly struck with this quality of the master in his +bearing towards his men. “There was nothing,” +said he, “of undue familiarity in their intercourse, but +they spoke to each other as man to man; and nothing seemed to +please the master more than to point out illustrations of the +ingenuity of his artisans. He took up a rivet, and +expatiated on the skill with which it had been fashioned by the +workman’s hand—its perfectness and truth. He +was always proud of his workmen and his pupils; and, while +indifferent and careless as to what might be said of himself, he +fired up in a moment if disparagement were thrown upon any one +whom he had taught or trained.”</p> +<p>In manner, George Stephenson was simple, modest, and +unassuming, but always manly. He was frank and social in +spirit. When a humble workman, he had carefully preserved +his sense of self-respect. His companions looked up to him, +and his example was worth even more to many of them than books or +schools. His devoted love of knowledge made his poverty +respectable, and adorned his humble calling. When he rose +to a more elevated station, and associated with men of the +highest position and influence in Britain, he took his place +amongst them with perfect self-possession. They wondered at +the quiet ease and simple dignity of his deportment; and men in +the best ranks of life have said of him that “He was one of +Nature’s gentlemen.”</p> +<p>Probably no military chiefs were ever more beloved by their +soldiers than were both father and son by the army of men who, +under their guidance, worked at labours of profit, made labours +of love by their earnest will and purpose. True leaders of +men and lords of industry, they were always ready to recognise +and encourage talent in those who worked for and with them. +Thus it was pleasant, at the openings of the Stephenson lines, to +hear the chief engineers attributing the successful completion of +the works to their able <!-- page 373--><a +name="page373"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 373</span>assistants; +whilst the assistants, on the other hand, ascribed the glory to +their chiefs.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson, though a thrifty and frugal man, was +essentially unsordid. His rugged path in early life made +him careful of his resources. He never saved to hoard, but +saved for a purpose, such as the maintenance of his parents or +the education of his son. In later years he became a +prosperous and even a wealthy man; but riches never closed his +heart, nor stole away the elasticity of his soul. He +enjoyed life cheerfully, because hopefully. When he entered +upon a commercial enterprise, whether for others or for himself, +he looked carefully at the ways and means. Unless they +would “pay,” he held back. “He would have +nothing to do,” he declared, “with stock-jobbing +speculations.” His refusal to sell his name to the +schemes of the railway mania—his survey of the Spanish +lines without remuneration—his offer to postpone his claim +for payment from a poor company until their affairs became more +prosperous—are instances of the unsordid spirit in which he +acted.</p> +<p>Another marked feature in Mr. Stephenson’s character was +his patience. Notwithstanding the strength of his +convictions as to the great uses to which the locomotive might be +applied, he waited long and patiently for the opportunity of +bringing it into notice; and for years after he had completed an +efficient engine he went on quietly devoting himself to the +ordinary work of the colliery. He made no noise nor stir +about his locomotive, but allowed another to take credit for the +experiments on velocity and friction made with it by himself upon +the Killingworth railroad.</p> +<p>By patient industry and laborious contrivance, he was enabled, +with the powerful help of his son, to do for the locomotive what +James Watt had done for the condensing engine. He found it +clumsy and inefficient; and he made it powerful, efficient, and +useful. Both have been described as the improvers of their +respective engines; but, as to all that is admirable in their +structure or vast in their utility, they are rather entitled to +be described as their Inventors. <!-- page 374--><a +name="page374"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 374</span>While the +invention of Watt increased the power, and at the same time so +regulated the action of the steam-engine, as to make it capable +of being applied alike to the hardest work and to the finest +manufactures, the invention of Stephenson gave an effective power +to the locomotive, which enabled it to perform the work of teams +of the most powerful horses, and to outstrip the speed of the +fleetest. Watt’s invention exercised a wonderfully +quickening influence on every branch of industry, and multiplied +a thousand-fold the amount of manufactured productions; and +Stephenson’s enabled these to be distributed with an +economy and despatch such as had never before been thought +possible. They have both tended to increase indefinitely +the mass of human comforts and enjoyments, and to render them +cheap and accessible to all. But Stephenson’s +invention, by the influence which it is daily exercising upon the +civilisation of the world, is even more remarkable than that of +Watt, and is calculated to have still more important +consequences. In this respect, it is to be regarded as the +grandest application of steam power that has yet been +discovered.</p> +<p>The Locomotive, like the condensing engine, exhibits the +realisation of various capital, but wholly distinct, ideas, +promulgated by many ingenious inventors. Stephenson, like +Watt, exhibited a power of selection, combination, and invention +of his own, by which—while availing himself of all that had +been done before him, and superadding the many skilful +contrivances devised by himself—he was at length enabled to +bring his engine into a condition of marvellous power and +efficiency. He gathered together the scattered threads of +ingenuity which already existed, and combined them into one firm +and complete fabric of his own. He realised the plans which +others had imperfectly formed; and was the first to construct, +what so many others had unsuccessfully attempted, the practical +and economical working locomotive.</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson’s close and accurate observation provided +him with a fulness of information on many subjects, which <!-- +page 375--><a name="page375"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +375</span>often appeared surprising to those who had devoted to +them a special study. On one occasion the accuracy of his +knowledge of birds came out in a curious way at a convivial +meeting of railway men in London. The engineers and railway +directors present knew each other as railway men and nothing +more. The talk had been all of railways and railway +politics. Mr. Stephenson was a great talker on those +subjects, and was generally allowed, from the interest of his +conversation and the extent of his experience, to take the +lead. At length one of the party broke in with “Come +now, Stephenson, we have had nothing but railways; cannot we have +a change and try if we can talk a little about something +else?” “Well,” said Mr. Stephenson, +“I’ll give you a wide range of subjects; what shall +it be about?” “Say <i>birds’ +nests</i>!” rejoined the other, who prided himself on his +special knowledge of this subject. “Then birds’ +nests be it.” A long and animated conversation +ensued: the bird-nesting of his boyhood, the blackbird’s +nest which his father had held him up in his arms to look at when +a child at Wylam, the hedges in which he had found the +thrush’s and the linnet’s nests, the mossy bank where +the robin built, the cleft in the branch of the young tree where +the chaffinch had reared its dwelling—all rose up clear in +his mind’s eye, and led him back to the scenes of his +boyhood at Callerton and Dewley Burn. The colour and number +of the bird’s eggs, the period of their incubation, the +materials employed by them for the walls and lining of their +nests, were described by him so vividly, and illustrated by such +graphic anecdotes, that one of the party remarked that, if George +Stephenson had not been the greatest engineer of his day, he +might have been one of the greatest naturalists.</p> +<p>His powers of conversation were very great. He was so +thoughtful, so original, and so suggestive. There was +scarcely a department of science on which he had not formed some +novel and sometimes daring theory. Thus Mr. Gooch, his +pupil, who lived with him when at <!-- page 376--><a +name="page376"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 376</span>Liverpool, +informs us that when sitting over the fire, he would frequently +broach his favourite theory of the sun’s light and heat +being the original source of the light and heat given forth by +the burning coal. “It fed the plants of which that +coal is made,” he would say, “and has been bottled up +in the earth ever since, to be given out again now for the use of +man.” His son Robert once said of him, “My +father flashed his bull’s eye full upon a subject, and +brought it out in its most vivid light in an instant: his strong +common sense, and his varied experience operating upon a +thoughtful mind, were his most powerful illuminators.”</p> +<p>Mr. Stephenson had once a conversation with a watchmaker, whom +he astonished by the extent and minuteness of his knowledge as to +the parts of a watch. The watchmaker knew him to be an +eminent engineer, and asked him how he had acquired so extensive +a knowledge of a branch of business so much out of his +sphere. “It is very easy to be explained,” said +Mr. Stephenson; “I worked long at watch-cleaning myself, +and when I was at a loss, I was never ashamed to ask for +information.”</p> +<p>Towards the close of his life he frequently went down to +Newcastle, and visited the scenes of his boyhood. “I +have been to Callerton,” said he one day to a friend, +“and seen the fields in which I used to pull turnips at +twopence a day; and many a cold finger, I can tell you, I +had.”</p> +<p>His hand was open to his former fellow-workmen whom old age +had left in poverty. To poor Robert Gray, of Newburn, who +acted as his bridesman on his marriage to Fanny Henderson, he +left a pension for life. He would slip a five-pound note +into the hand of a poor man or a widow in such a way as not to +offend their delicacy, but to make them feel as if the obligation +were all on his side. When Farmer Paterson, who married a +sister of George’s first wife, Fanny Henderson, died and +left a large young family fatherless, poverty stared them in the +face. “But ye ken,” said our informant, +“<i>George struck in fayther for them</i>.” +<!-- page 377--><a name="page377"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +377</span>And perhaps the providential character of the act could +not have been more graphically expressed than in these simple +words.</p> +<p>On his visit to Newcastle, he would frequently meet the +friends of his early days, occupying very nearly the same +station, whilst he had meanwhile risen to almost world-wide +fame. But he was no less hearty in his greeting of them +than if their relative position had continued the same. +Thus, one day, after shaking hands with Mr. Brandling on +alighting from his carriage, he proceeded to shake hands with his +coachman, Anthony Wigham, a still older friend, though he only +sat on the box.</p> +<p>Robert Stephenson inherited his father’s kindly spirit +and benevolent disposition. He almost worshipped his +father’s memory, and was ever ready to attribute to him the +chief merit of his own achievements as an engineer. +“It was his thorough training,” we once heard him +say, “his example, and his character, which made me the man +I am.” On a more public occasion he said, “It +is my great pride to remember, that whatever may have been done, +and however extensive may have been my own connection with +railway development, all I know and all I have done is primarily +due to the parent whose memory I cherish and revere.” <a +name="citation377"></a><a href="#footnote377" +class="citation">[377]</a> To Mr. Lough, the sculptor, he +said he had never had but two loves—one for his father, the +other for his wife.</p> +<p>Like his father, he was eminently practical, and yet always +open to the influence and guidance of correct theory. His +main consideration in laying out his lines of railway was what +would best answer the intended purpose, or, to use his own words, +to secure the maximum of result with the minimum of means. +He was pre-eminently a safe man, because cautious, tentative, and +experimental; following closely the lines of conduct trodden by +his father, and often quoting his maxims.</p> +<p><!-- page 378--><a name="page378"></a><span class="pagenum">p. +378</span>In society Robert Stephenson was simple, unobtrusive, +and modest; but charming and even fascinating in an eminent +degree. Sir John Lawrence has said of him that he was, of +all others, the man he most delighted to meet in England—he +was so manly, yet gentle, and withal so great. While +admired and beloved by men of such calibre, he was equally a +favourite with women and children. He put himself upon the +level of all, and charmed them no less by his inexpressible +kindliness of manner than by his simple yet impressive +conversation.</p> +<p>His great wealth enabled him to perform many generous acts in +a right noble and yet modest manner, not letting his right hand +know what his left hand did. Of the numerous kindly acts of +his which have been made public, we may mention the graceful +manner in which he repaid the obligations which both himself and +his father owed to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical +Institute, when working together as humble experimenters in their +cottage at Killingworth. The Institute was struggling under +a debt of £6200 which seriously impaired its usefulness as +an educational agency. Robert Stephenson offered to pay +one-half of the sum, provided the local supporters of the +Institute would raise the remainder; and conditional also on the +annual subscription being reduced from two guineas to one, in +order that the usefulness of the institution might be +extended. The generous offer was accepted, and the debt +extinguished.</p> +<p>Both father and son were offered knighthood, and both declined +it. During the summer of 1847, George Stephenson was +invited to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of +South Shields in Parliament. But his politics were at best +of a very undefined sort; indeed his life had been so much +occupied with subjects of a practical character, that he had +scarcely troubled himself to form any decided opinion on the +party political topics of the day, and to stand the cross fire of +the electors on the hustings might have been found an even more +distressing ordeal <!-- page 379--><a name="page379"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 379</span>than the cross-questioning of the +barristers in the Committees of the House of Commons. +“Politics,” he used to say, “are all matters of +theory—there is no stability in them: they shift about like +the sands of the sea: and I should feel quite out of my element +amongst them.” He had accordingly the good sense +respectfully to decline the honour of contesting the +representation of South Shields.</p> +<p>We have, however, been informed by Sir Joseph Paxton, that +although George Stephenson held no strong opinions on political +questions generally, there was one question on which he +entertained a decided conviction, and that was the question of +Free-trade. The words used by him on one occasion to Sir +Joseph were very strong. “England,” said he, +“is, and must be a shopkeeper; and our docks and harbours +are only so many wholesale shops, the doors of which should +always be kept wide open.” It is curious that his son +Robert should have taken precisely the opposite view of this +question, and acted throughout with the most rigid party amongst +the protectionists, supporting the Navigation Laws and opposing +Free Trade.</p> +<p>But Robert Stephenson will be judged in after times by his +achievements as an engineer, rather than by his acts as a +politician; and happily these last were far outweighed in value +by the immense practical services which he rendered to trade, +commerce, and civilisation, through the facilities which the +railways constructed by him afforded for free intercommunication +between men in all parts of the world. Speaking in the +midst of his friends at Newcastle, in 1850, he +observed:—</p> +<p>“It seems to me but as yesterday that I was engaged as +an assistant in laying out the Stockton and Darlington +Railway. Since then, the Liverpool and Manchester and a +hundred other great works have sprung into existence. As I +look back upon these stupendous undertakings, accomplished in so +short a time, it seems as though we had realised in our +generation the fabled powers of the magician’s wand. +Hills have been cut down and valleys filled <!-- page 380--><a +name="page380"></a><span class="pagenum">p. 380</span>up; and +when these simple expedients have not sufficed, high and +magnificent viaducts have been raised, and if mountains stood in +the way, tunnels of unexampled magnitude have pierced them +through, bearing their triumphant attestation to the indomitable +energy of the nation, and the unrivalled skill of our +artisans.”</p> +<p>As respects the immense advantages of railways to mankind, +there cannot be two opinions. They exhibit, probably, the +grandest organisation of capital and labour that the world has +yet seen. Although they have unhappily occasioned great +loss to many, the loss has been that of individuals; whilst, as a +national system, the gain has already been enormous. As +tending to multiply and spread abroad the conveniences of life, +opening up new fields of industry, bringing nations nearer to +each other, and thus promoting the great ends of civilisation, +the founding of the railway system by George Stephenson and his +son must be regarded as one of the most important events, if not +the very greatest, in the first half of this nineteenth +century.</p> +<p style="text-align: center"> +<a href="images/p380.jpg"> +<img alt= +"The Stephenson Memorial Schools, Willington Quay" +title= +"The Stephenson Memorial Schools, Willington Quay" +src="images/p380.jpg" /> +</a></p> +<h2><!-- page 381--><a name="page381"></a><span +class="pagenum">p. 381</span>INDEX.</h2> +<p><span class="smcap">Accidents</span> in coal-mines, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page89">89</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page119">119</a></span>.</p> +<p>Adam, Mr., counsel for Liverpool and Manchester Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page160">160</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page166">166</a></span>.</p> +<p>Alderson, Mr. (afterwards Baron), <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page160">160</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page163">163</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page165">165</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page168">168</a></span>.</p> +<p>Alton Grange, G. Stephenson’s residence at, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page234">234</a></span>–6, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page263">263</a></span>.</p> +<p>Ambergate Railway slip, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page259">259</a></span>; Lime-works, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page278">278</a></span>.</p> +<p>Anna, Santa, mines at, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page196">196</a></span>.</p> +<p>Arnold, Dr., on Railways, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page273">273</a></span>.</p> +<p>Ashby-de-la-Zouch, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page233">233</a></span>.</p> +<p>Atmospheric Railway system, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page286">286</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page308">308</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Beaumont</span>, Mr., his wooden +waggon-ways, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page5">5</a></span>.</p> +<p>Belgium, G. Stephenson’s visit to, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page296">296</a></span>.</p> +<p>Benton Colliery and village, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page44">44</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page47">47</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page51">51</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page61">61</a></span>.</p> +<p>Berwick Royal Border Bridge, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page311">311</a></span>.</p> +<p>Birds and bird-nesting, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page15">15</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page17">17</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page25">25</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page58">58</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page353">353</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page375">375</a></span>.</p> +<p>Birmingham and Derby Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page268">268</a></span>.</p> +<p>Bishop Auckland coal-field, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page123">123</a></span>.</p> +<p>Black Callerton, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page18">18</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page26">26</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page29">29</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page32">32</a></span>.</p> +<p>Blackett, Mr., Wylam, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page13">13</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page74">74</a></span>.</p> +<p>Blast, invention of the Steam, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page85">85</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page208">208</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page211">211</a></span>.</p> +<p>Blenkinsop’s Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page72">72</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page80">80</a></span>.</p> +<p>Blisworth Cutting, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page243">243</a></span>.</p> +<p>Boiler, multi-tubular, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page210">210</a></span>.</p> +<p>Booth, Henry, Liverpool, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page210">210</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page222">222</a></span>.</p> +<p>Bradshaw, Mr., opposes Liverpool and Manchester line, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page155">155</a></span>.</p> +<p>Braithwaite, Isaac, Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page214">214</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page230">230</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brakeing coal-engine, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page27">27</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page36">36</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page40">40</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brandling, Messrs., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page105">105</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page312">312</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brandreth’s Locomotive, “Cycloped,” <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page214">214</a></span>.</p> +<p>Bridges, Railway, on Liverpool line, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page185">185</a></span>;<br /> + improved bridges, <span +class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page310">310</a></span>–19;<br /> + tubular bridges, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page326">326</a></span>–40, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page360">360</a></span>.</p> +<p>Bridgewater Canal monopoly, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page147">147</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page157">157</a></span>.</p> +<p>Britannia Tubular Bridge, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page339">339</a></span>.</p> +<p>British Association Meeting at Newcastle, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page279">279</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brougham, Mr. William, counsel on Liverpool and Manchester +Bill, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page158">158</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page160">160</a></span>.</p> +<p>Bruce’s School, Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page53">53</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page59">59</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brunel, I. K., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page230">230</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page304">304</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page367">367</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brunton’s Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brussels, railway celebrations at, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page267">267</a></span>.</p> +<p>Brusselton incline, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page135">135</a></span>.</p> +<p>Buckland, Dr., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page350">350</a></span>.</p> +<p>Bullbridge, Ambergate, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page260">260</a></span>.</p> +<p>Burstall’s Locomotive, “Perseverance,” <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page214">214</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page218">218</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Callerton</span> Colliery and village, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page18">18</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page26">26</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page29">29</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page32">32</a></span>.</p> +<p>Canal opposition to Railways, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page146">146</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page157">157</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page238">238</a></span>.</p> +<p>Cartagena, R. Stephenson at, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page200">200</a></span>.</p> +<p>Chapman’s Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>.</p> +<p>Characteristics of the Stephensons, <span +class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page368">368</a></span>–80.</p> +<p>Chat Moss, William James’s attempted Survey, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page151">151</a></span>;<br /> + Mr. Harrison’s speech, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page166">166</a></span>;<br /> + evidence of Francis Giles, C.E., +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page167">167</a></span>;<br +/> + Mr. Alderson’s speech, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page168">168</a></span>;<br /> + description of, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page174">174</a></span>;<br /> + construction of Railway over, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page177">177</a></span>.</p> +<p>Chester and Birkenhead Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page286">286</a></span>.</p> +<p>Chester and Holyhead Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page320">320</a></span>.</p> +<p>Chesterfield, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page279">279</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page283">283</a></span>.</p> +<p>Clanny, Dr., his safety-lamp, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page92">92</a></span>.</p> +<p>Clark, Edwin, C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page331">331</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page335">335</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page338">338</a></span>.</p> +<p>Clay Cross Colliery, G. Stephenson leases, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page277">277</a></span>.</p> +<p>Clegg and Samuda’s Atmospheric Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page287">287</a></span>.</p> +<p>Clephan, Mr., description of first railway traffic, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page140">140</a></span>.</p> +<p>Cleveland, Duke of, and Stockton and Darlington Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page125">125</a></span>.</p> +<p>Clock-mending and cleaning, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page35">35</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page51">51</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page345">345</a></span>.</p> +<p>Coach, first railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page139">139</a></span>.</p> +<p>Coal trade, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page3">3</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page11">11</a></span>;<br /> + staiths, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page10">10</a></span>;<br /> + haulage, early expedients for, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page5">5</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page7">7</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page63">63</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page143">143</a></span>;<br /> + traffic by Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page138">138</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page276">276</a></span>;<br /> + mining, George Stephenson’s +adventures in, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page234">234</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page277">277</a></span>;<br /> + theory of formation of, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page351">351</a></span>.</p> +<p>Coalbrookdale, rails early cast at, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page6">6</a></span>.</p> +<p>Coe, Wm., fellow workman of G. Stephenson, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page21">21</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page26">26</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page31">31</a></span>.</p> +<p>Coffin, Sir I., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page172">172</a></span>.</p> +<p>Colliery districts, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span>–4;<br /> + machinery and workmen, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page7">7</a></span>–11.</p> +<p>Colombia, mining association of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page193">193</a></span>;<br /> + Robert Stephenson’s +residence in, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page196">196</a></span>.</p> +<p>Contractors, railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page229">229</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page249">249</a></span>.</p> +<p>Conway, tubular bridge at, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page334">334</a></span>.</p> +<p>Cooper, Sir Astley, Robert Stephenson’s interview with, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page238">238</a></span>.</p> +<p>Crich Lime-works, Ambergate, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page278">278</a></span>.</p> +<p>Cropper, Isaac, Liverpool, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page187">187</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page217">217</a></span>.</p> +<p>Cugnot’s steam-carriage, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page64">64</a></span>–6.</p> +<p>Curr, John, his cast-iron Railway at Sheffield, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page6">6</a></span>.</p> +<p>Cuttings, railway,<br /> + Tring, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page242">242</a></span>;<br /> + Blisworth, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page243">243</a></span>;<br /> + Ambergate, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page259">259</a></span>;<br /> + Oakenshaw and Normanton, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page259">259</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Cycloped” Locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page214">214</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Darlington</span> and Stockton Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page123">123</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page136">136</a></span>.</p> +<p>Davy, Sir Humphry,<br /> + his description of +Trevithick’s steam-carriage, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page68">68</a></span>;<br /> + his paper on fire-damp in mines, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page92">92</a></span>;<br /> + his safety-lamp, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page101">101</a></span>–3;<br +/> + testimonial, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page104">104</a></span>.</p> +<p>Denman, Lord, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page345">345</a></span>.</p> +<p>Derby, Earl of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page172">172</a></span>.</p> +<p>Dewley Burn Colliery, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page16">16</a></span>.</p> +<p>Direct lines, mania for, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page292">292</a></span>.</p> +<p>Dixon, John, C.E.,<br /> + assists in survey of Stockton and +Darlington line, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page136">136</a></span>;<br /> + assistant engineer, Liverpool and +Manchester Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page175">175</a></span>–9.</p> +<p>Dodds, Ralph, Killingworth, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page42">42</a></span>–4, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page50">50</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page86">86</a></span>.</p> +<p>Drayton Manor, George Stephenson’s visit to, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page349">349</a></span>.</p> +<p>Dutton Viaduct, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page254">254</a></span>.</p> +<p>Durham, Earl of, <i>See</i> Lambton.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">East Coast</span> Railway to Scotland, +<span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page306">306</a></span>–9.</p> +<p>Edgworth, Mr.,<br /> + sailing-waggons, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page63">63</a></span>;<br /> + advocacy of Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page148">148</a></span>.</p> +<p>Edinburgh University, Robert Stephenson at, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page121">121</a></span>.</p> +<p>Education,<br /> + George Stephenson’s +self-education, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page24">24</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page47">47</a></span>;<br /> + Robert Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page50">50</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page121">121</a></span>;<br /> + George Stephenson’s ideas +of, <span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page191">191</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page281">281</a></span>.</p> +<p>Egg-hatching by artificial heat, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page23">23</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page344">344</a></span>.</p> +<p>Egyptian Tubular Bridges, Robert Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page357">357</a></span>.</p> +<p>Emerson, George Stephenson’s meeting with, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page353">353</a></span>.</p> +<p>Emigration, George Stephenson contemplates, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page40">40</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page116">116</a></span>.</p> +<p>Engine, study of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page62">62</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page78">78</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page80">80</a></span>.</p> +<p>Ericsson, Mr., engineer, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page204">204</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page214">214</a></span>.</p> +<p>Estimates, railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page165">165</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page249">249</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Experiment,” the first railway coach, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page139">139</a></span>.</p> +<p>Explosion of fire-damp, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page89">89</a></span>.</p> +<p>Evans’s steam-carriage, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page65">65</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Fairbairn</span>, Wm., C.E., <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page28">28</a></span>;<br /> + at Percy Main Colliery, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page34">34</a></span>;<br /> + experiments on iron tubes, <span +class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page328">328</a></span>–30.</p> +<p>Fire-damp, explosions of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page89">89</a></span>.</p> +<p>Fixed-engine power, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page118">118</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page129">129</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page135">135</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page203">203</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page205">205</a></span>.</p> +<p>Floating road, Chat Moss, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page176">176</a></span>.</p> +<p>Floating Conway and Britannia Tubes, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page332">332</a></span>.</p> +<p>Follett, Sir Wm., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page350">350</a></span>.</p> +<p>Forth-street Works, Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page132">132</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page193">193</a></span>.</p> +<p>Foster, Jonathan, Wylam. <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page75">75</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page77">77</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page80">80</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page310">310</a></span>.</p> +<p>Franklin’s lightning experiment repeated by Robert +Stephenson, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page56">56</a></span>.</p> +<p>Free trade, George Stephenson’s views on, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page379">379</a></span>.</p> +<p>Friction on common roads and Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page113">113</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Gardening</span>, George +Stephenson’s pursuits in, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page58">58</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page342">342</a></span>.</p> +<p>Gateshead, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page4">4</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page314">314</a></span>.</p> +<p>Gauge of Railways, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page134">134</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page304">304</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Geordy” safety-lamp, invention of, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page93">93</a></span>.</p> +<p>Giles, Francis, C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page167">167</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page174">174</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page230">230</a></span>.</p> +<p>Gooch, F. L., C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page188">188</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page190">190</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page220">220</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page336">336</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page371">371</a></span>.</p> +<p>Gradients, George Stephenson’s views on, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page115">115</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page284">284</a></span>.</p> +<p>Grand Allies, Killingworth, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page41">41</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page46">46</a></span>.<br /> + +,, Junction Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page230">230</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page253">253</a></span>.<br +/> + +,, Trunk Railway, +Canada, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page359">359</a></span>.</p> +<p>Gray, Robert, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page24">24</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page36">36</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page376">376</a></span>.</p> +<p>Gray, Thomas, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page148">148</a></span>.</p> +<p>Great Western Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page230">230</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page232">232</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page304">304</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Hackworth</span>, Timothy, his engine +“Sanspareil,” <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page214">214</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page216">216</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page218">218</a></span>.</p> +<p>Half-lap joint, G. Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page111">111</a></span>.</p> +<p>Harrison, Mr., barrister, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page160">160</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page166">166</a></span>.</p> +<p>Hawthorn, Robert, C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span>.</p> +<p>Heating surface in Locomotives, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page208">208</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page209">209</a></span>.</p> +<p>Hedley, William, Wylam, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page77">77</a></span>.</p> +<p>Henderson, Fanny, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page32">32</a></span>.</p> +<p>Heppel, Kit, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page42">42</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page45">45</a></span>.</p> +<p>Hetton Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page117">117</a></span>.</p> +<p>High Level Bridge, Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page2">2</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page312">312</a></span>.<br /> + ,, Street +House, Wylam, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page14">14</a></span>.</p> +<p>Holyhead, Railway to, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page320">320</a></span>.</p> +<p>Howick, Lord, and the Northumberland Atmospheric Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page307">307</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page309">309</a></span>.</p> +<p>Hudson, George, the Railway King, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page291">291</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page312">312</a></span>.</p> +<p>Huskisson, Mr., M.P.,<br /> + and the Liverpool and Manchester +Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page172">172</a></span>;<br /> + killed at its opening, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page223">223</a></span>.</p> +<p>Hydraulic presses at the Britannia Bridge, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page237">237</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Inclines</span>, self-acting, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page9">9</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page61">61</a></span>.</p> +<p>Iron railway bridges, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page312">312</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page325">325</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">James</span>, William,<br /> + surveys a line between Liverpool +and Manchester, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page150">150</a></span>;<br /> + visits Killingworth, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page151">151</a></span>;<br /> + superseded by George Stephenson, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page154">154</a></span>.</p> +<p>Jameson, Professor, Edinburgh, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page122">122</a></span>.</p> +<p>Jessop, William, C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page6">6</a></span>.</p> +<p>Jolly’s Close, Newburn, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page24">24</a></span>.</p> +<p>Jones, Rees, on Trevithick’s Locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page71">71</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Keelmen</span> of the Tyne, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page10">10</a></span>–11.</p> +<p>Killingworth,<br /> + West Moor, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page31">31</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page36">36</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page38">38</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page40">40</a></span>;<br /> + High Pit, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page41">41</a></span>;<br /> + colliery explosions and mining, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page89">89</a></span>;<br /> + Locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page84">84</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page88">88</a></span>;<br /> + the underground machinery, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page109">109</a></span>.</p> +<p>Kilsby Tunnel, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page245">245</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Lambton</span>, Mr. (Earl of Durham), +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page137">137</a></span>.</p> +<p>Lamp, safety, invention of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page93">93</a></span>.</p> +<p>Last-making competition, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page59">59</a></span>.</p> +<p>Lardner, Dr., and Railways, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page284">284</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page286">286</a></span>.</p> +<p>Lattice Girder Bridges, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page361">361</a></span>.</p> +<p>Leeds Mechanics’ Institute, George Stephenson’s +Speech at, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page281">281</a></span>.</p> +<p>Leicester and Swannington Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page232">232</a></span>.</p> +<p>Lemington Coal-staith, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page74">74</a></span>.</p> +<p>Leopold, King of the Belgians, and Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page266">266</a></span>;<br /> + George Stephenson’s +interviews with, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page268">268</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page296">296</a></span>.</p> +<p>Level Railways, advantages of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page115">115</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page284">284</a></span>.</p> +<p>Liddell, Sir T. (Lord Ravensworth), <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page46">46</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page62">62</a></span>.</p> +<p>Lime-works at Ambergate, George Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page278">278</a></span>.</p> +<p>Literary and Philosophical Institute, Newcastle, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page53">53</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page102">102</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page280">280</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page378">378</a></span>.</p> +<p>Littleborough Tunnel, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page255">255</a></span>.</p> +<p>Liverpool and Manchester Railway projected, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page147">147</a></span>;<br /> + surveyed by Wm. James, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page150">150</a></span>;<br /> + the survey opposed, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page151">151</a></span>;<br /> + George Stephenson engaged, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page154">154</a></span>;<br /> + prospectus issued, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page155">155</a></span>;<br /> + deputations visit Killingworth, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page151">151</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page154">154</a></span>–5;<br /> + opposition of the land-owners and +canal companies, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page156">156</a></span>–7;<br /> + the bill in committee, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page160">160</a></span>;<br /> + rejected, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page169">169</a></span>;<br /> + scheme prosecuted, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page170">170</a></span>;<br /> + Messrs. Rennie appointed +engineers, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page171">171</a></span>;<br /> + the bill passed, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page172">172</a></span>;<br /> + George Stephenson again engaged as +engineer, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page173">173</a></span>;<br /> + construction of the line across +Chat Moss, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page176">176</a></span>;<br /> + discussions as to the working +power to be employed, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page203">203</a></span>;<br /> + George Stephenson advocates the +Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page201">201</a></span>;<br /> + prize of £500 for best +engine, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page207">207</a></span>;<br /> + won by Stephenson’s +“Rocket,” <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page218">218</a></span>;<br /> + public opening of the line, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page222">222</a></span>;<br /> + results of the traffic, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page228">228</a></span>.</p> +<p>Locke, Mr. Joseph, C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page26">26</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page175">175</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page367">367</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Locomotion” engine, No. I, Darlington, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page135">135</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page142">142</a></span>.</p> +<p>Locomotive engine, invention of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page7">7</a></span>;<br /> + Robison and Watt’s idea, +Cugnot’s steam-carriage, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page64">64</a></span>;<br /> + Evans and Symington’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page65">65</a></span>;<br /> + Murdock’s model, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page66">66</a></span>;<br /> + Trevithick’s steam-carriage, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page67">67</a></span>;<br /> + his tram engine, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page69">69</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page74">74</a></span>;<br /> + Blenkinsop’s engine, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page72">72</a></span>;<br /> + Chapman and Brunton’s +engines, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page73">73</a></span>;<br /> + Blackett’s Wylam engine, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page74">74</a></span>;<br /> + Kenton and Coxlodge engine, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page80">80</a></span>;<br /> + Stephenson’s Killingworth +locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page81">81</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page86">86</a></span>;<br /> + Stockton and Darlington +locomotives, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page135">135</a></span>;<br /> + prize at Liverpool for the best +engine, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page207">207</a></span>;<br /> + won by the “Rocket,” +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page218">218</a></span>;<br +/> + the “Arrow,” <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page222">222</a></span>;<br /> + further improvements, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page226">226</a></span>.</p> +<p>Locomotive manufactory, Stephenson’s, at Newcastle, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page132">132</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page193">193</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page199">199</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page310">310</a></span>.</p> +<p>Long Benton. <i>See</i> Benton.</p> +<p>London and Birmingham Railway projected, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page237">237</a></span>;<br /> + the Stephensons appointed +engineers, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page238">238</a></span>;<br /> + opposition to the Bill, Sir Astley +Cooper, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page239">239</a></span>;<br /> + the Bill rejected, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page240">240</a></span>;<br /> + Bill passed, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page241">241</a></span>;<br /> + the works, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page242">242</a></span>;<br /> + Tring Cutting, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page244">244</a></span>;<br /> + Blisworth Cutting, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page243">243</a></span>;<br /> + Primrose Hill Tunnel, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page244">244</a></span>;<br /> + Kilsby Tunnel, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page245">245</a></span>;<br /> + magnitude of the works, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page249">249</a></span>.</p> +<p>Losh, Mr., Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page111">111</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page152">152</a></span>.</p> +<p>Lough’s statue of George Stephenson, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page355">355</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Manchester</span> and Leeds Railway <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page254">254</a></span>;<br /> + the Act obtained, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page255">255</a></span>;<br /> + construction of summit tunnel, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page256">256</a></span>;<br +/> + magnitude of the works, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page257">257</a></span>.</p> +<p>Manchester, trade with Liverpool, increase of, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page146">146</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page154">154</a></span>.</p> +<p>Mania, the Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page288">288</a></span>.</p> +<p>Maps, Newcastle district, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page2">2</a></span>;<br /> + Stockton and Darlington Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page123">123</a></span>;<br +/> + Liverpool and Manchester Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page150">150</a></span>;<br +/> + Leicester and Swannington Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page233">233</a></span>;<br +/> + London and Birmingham Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page242">242</a></span>;<br +/> + Menai Strait, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page325">325</a></span>.</p> +<p>Mariquita, Robert Stephenson at, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page196">196</a></span>.</p> +<p>Mechanical Engineers, Society of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page353">353</a></span>.</p> +<p>Mechanics’ Institutes, George Stephenson’s +interest in, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page280">280</a></span>.</p> +<p>Menai Suspension Bridge, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page320">320</a></span>;<br /> + Railway Bridge, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page331">331</a></span>.</p> +<p>Merstham Tram-road, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page153">153</a></span>.</p> +<p>Microscope, George Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page346">346</a></span>.</p> +<p>Middlesborough-on-Tees, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page144">144</a></span>.</p> +<p>Middleton Railway, Leeds, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page72">72</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page148">148</a></span>.</p> +<p>Midland Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page257">257</a></span>.</p> +<p>Militia, G. Stephenson, drawn for, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page40">40</a></span>.</p> +<p>Mining, coal, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page3">3</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page7">7</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page92">92</a></span>;<br /> + in South America, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page197">197</a></span>.</p> +<p>Montrose, G. Stephenson at, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page38">38</a></span>.</p> +<p>Moodie, underviewer at Killingworth, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page94">94</a></span>–7, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page119">119</a></span>.</p> +<p>Morecambe Bay, proposed reclamation of, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page262">262</a></span>.</p> +<p>Morton-on-the-Marsh Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page153">153</a></span>.</p> +<p>Multitubular boiler, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page208">208</a></span>.</p> +<p>Murdock’s model Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page66">66</a></span>.</p> +<p>Murray, Mathew, Leeds, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page72">72</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Nasmyth’s</span> steam hammer, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page312">312</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page316">316</a></span>.</p> +<p>Navvies, railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page250">250</a></span>–52.</p> +<p>Nelson, the fighting pitman <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page29">29</a></span>.</p> +<p>Newburn Colliery, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page20">20</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span>.</p> +<p>Newcastle and Berwick Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page306">306</a></span>.<br /> + ,, and Carlisle Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page12">12</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page203">203</a></span>.<br /> + ,, and Darlington Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page306">306</a></span>.</p> +<p>Newcastle-on-Tyne in ancient times, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page1">1</a></span>–3;<br /> + Literary and Philosophical +Institute, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page378">378</a></span>;<br /> + Stephenson, jubilees at, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page206">206</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page310">310</a></span>;<br /> + High Level Bridge, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page312">312</a></span>;<br /> + George Stephenson’s statue, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page354">354</a></span>.</p> +<p>Newcomen’s atmospheric engine, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page8">8</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page41">41</a></span>.</p> +<p>Nile, R. Stephenson’s tubular bridges over, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page357">357</a></span>.</p> +<p>North Midland Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page257">257</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page261">261</a></span>.</p> +<p>North, Roger, description of early tram-roads, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page5">5</a></span>.</p> +<p>Northampton, opposition of to Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page232">232</a></span>.</p> +<p>Northumberland Atmospheric Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page337">337</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Novelty,” Locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page214">214</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page216">216</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page218">218</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page230">230</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Olive Mount</span> Cutting, Liverpool, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page185">185</a></span>.</p> +<p>Openings of Railways,<br /> + Hetton, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page118">118</a></span>;<br /> + Stockton and Darlington, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page136">136</a></span>;<br /> + Middlesborough, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page143">143</a></span>;<br /> + Liverpool and Manchester, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page222">222</a></span>;<br /> + London and Birmingham, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page268">268</a></span>;<br /> + Birmingham and Derby, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page268">268</a></span>;<br /> + East Coast route to Scotland, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page319">319</a></span>;<br +/> + Britannia Bridge, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page339">339</a></span>;<br /> + Trent Valley, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page352">352</a></span>.</p> +<p>Organization of labour, G. Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page182">182</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page222">222</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page225">225</a></span>.</p> +<p>Outram, Benj., Little Eaton, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page6">6</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Parliament</span> and Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page292">292</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page294">294</a></span>.</p> +<p>Parr Moss, Railway across, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page181">181</a></span>.</p> +<p>Passenger traffic of early Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page138">138</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page156">156</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page160">160</a></span>.</p> +<p>Paxton, Sir Joseph, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page378">378</a></span>.</p> +<p>Pease, Edward,<br /> + projects the Stockton and +Darlington Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page123">123</a></span>;<br /> + first interview with George +Stephenson, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page156">156</a></span>;<br /> + visits Killingworth, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page129">129</a></span>;<br /> + joins Stephenson in Locomotive +Manufactory, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page132">132</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page199">199</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page202">202</a></span>;<br /> + Stephenson’s esteem and +gratitude, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page145">145</a></span>;<br /> + letters to Robert Stephenson, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page199">199</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page253">253</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page357">357</a></span>.</p> +<p>Peel, Sir Robert, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page224">224</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page293">293</a></span>.</p> +<p>Penmaen Mawr, Railway under, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page321">321</a></span>.</p> +<p>Permanent way of Railroads, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page110">110</a></span>.</p> +<p>Perpetual motion, George Stephenson studies, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page34">34</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page48">48</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Perseverance.” Burstall’s Locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page214">214</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page218">218</a></span>.</p> +<p>Phillips, Sir R., speculations on Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page148">148</a></span>.</p> +<p>Pile-driving by steam, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page312">312</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page316">316</a></span>.</p> +<p>Pitmen, Northumbrian, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page8">8</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Planet” Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page229">229</a></span>.</p> +<p>Plugman, duties of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span>.</p> +<p>Politics, George and Robert Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page378">378</a></span>–9.</p> +<p>Primrose Hill Tunnel, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page244">244</a></span>.</p> +<p>Prophecies of railway failure, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page158">158</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page166">166</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page172">172</a></span>.</p> +<p>Pumping-engines, George Stephenson’s skill in, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page38">38</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page41">41</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page44">44</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page247">247</a></span>.</p> +<p>Pupils, George Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page190">190</a></span>–2, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page269">269</a></span>.</p> +<p>Pyrenean Pastoral, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page298">298</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p>‘<span class="smcap">Quarterly</span>,’ the, on +railway speed, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page159">159</a></span>.</p> +<p>Queen, the, her first use of the Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page274">274</a></span>;<br /> + opens the High Level and Royal +Border Bridges, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page319">319</a></span>;<br /> + visits the Britannia Bridge, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page338">338</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Rails</span>, cast and wrought iron, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page6">6</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page133">133</a></span>.</p> +<p>Railways,<br /> + early, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page5">5</a></span>–7;<br /> + Merthyr Tydfil (Pen-y-darran), +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page69">69</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page71">71</a></span>;<br /> + Middleton, Leeds, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page72">72</a></span>;<br /> + Wylam, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page74">74</a></span>;<br /> + Killingworth, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page84">84</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page116">116</a></span>;<br /> + Hetton, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page118">118</a></span>;<br /> + Stockton and Darlington, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page123">123</a></span>;<br /> + Liverpool and Manchester, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page222">222</a></span>;<br /> + Grand Junction, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page230">230</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page253">253</a></span>;<br /> + Great Western, and Leicester and +Swannington, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page232">232</a></span>;<br /> + London and Birmingham, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page237">237</a></span>;<br /> + Navvies, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page250">250</a></span>;<br /> + Manchester and Leeds, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page254">254</a></span>;<br /> + Midland, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page257">257</a></span>;<br /> + York and North Midland, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page261">261</a></span>;<br /> + travelling, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page270">270</a></span>–4;<br +/> + undulating, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page284">284</a></span>;<br /> + atmospheric, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page286">286</a></span>;<br /> + Chester and Birkenhead, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page286">286</a></span>;<br /> + mania, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page288">288</a></span>;<br /> + Newcastle and Berwick, and +Newcastle and Darlington, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page306">306</a></span>;<br /> + South Devon, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page308">308</a></span>;<br /> + Chester and Holyhead, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page320">320</a></span>;<br /> + Trent Valley, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page352">352</a></span>.</p> +<p>Rainhill, locomotive competition at, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page215">215</a></span>.</p> +<p>Rastrick, Mr., C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page219">219</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page253">253</a></span>.</p> +<p>Ravensworth, Earl of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page46">46</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page82">82</a></span>.</p> +<p>Rennie, Messrs., C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page123">123</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page171">171</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page173">173</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page325">325</a></span>.</p> +<p>Road locomotion,<br /> + Cugnot’s steam-carriage, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page64">64</a></span>;<br /> + Evans and Symington’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page65">65</a></span>;<br /> + Trevithick’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page67">67</a></span>;<br /> + George Stephenson on, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page113">113</a></span>.</p> +<p>Robertson, Andrew, schoolmaster, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page24">24</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page28">28</a></span>.</p> +<p>Robins, anecdote of George Stephenson and the, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page265">265</a></span>.</p> +<p>Robison, Dr., his idea of a Locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page64">64</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Rocket,” the,<br /> + its construction, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page210">210</a></span>;<br /> + arrangements of, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page212">212</a></span>;<br /> + wins the prize of £500, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page218">218</a></span>.</p> +<p>Roscoe, Mr., his farm on Chat Moss, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page169">169</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page174">174</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page176">176</a></span>.</p> +<p>Ross, A. M., Engineer, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page360">360</a></span>.</p> +<p>Royal Border Bridge, Berwick, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page311">311</a></span>.</p> +<p>Rutter’s School, Benton, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page50">50</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page55">55</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Safety-Lamp</span>, Dr. Clanny’s, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page92">92</a></span>;<br /> + Stephenson’s first lamp, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page94">94</a></span>;<br /> + second lamp, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page99">99</a></span>;<br /> + third lamp, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page100">100</a></span>;<br /> + Sir H. Davy’s paper, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page92">92</a></span>;<br /> + his lamp, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page101">101</a></span>;<br /> + the safety-lamp controversy, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page102">102</a></span>;<br /> + the Davy and Stephenson +testimonials, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page104">104</a></span>–6;<br /> + comparative merits of the Davy and +“Geordy” lamps, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page107">107</a></span>–8.</p> +<p>Sailing-waggons on tram-roads, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page63">63</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Samson” Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page227">227</a></span>.</p> +<p>Sandars, Joseph, Liverpool, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page147">147</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page149">149</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page154">154</a></span>.</p> +<p>Sankey Viaduct, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page185">185</a></span>.</p> +<p>“Sanspareil” Locomotive, Tim Hackworth’s, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page214">214</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page216">216</a></span>, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page218">218</a></span>.</p> +<p>Sea, the force of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page321">321</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page323">323</a></span>.</p> +<p>Seguin, Mr., C.E., his tubular boiler, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page210">210</a></span>.</p> +<p>Self-acting incline, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page61">61</a></span>.</p> +<p>Sibthorpe, Colonel, on Railways, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page231">231</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page274">274</a></span>.</p> +<p>Simplon Road, Midland Railway compared with, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page257">257</a></span>.</p> +<p>Snibston Colliery purchased by George Stephenson, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page234">234</a></span>.</p> +<p>Sopwith, Mr., C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page96">96</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page297">297</a></span>.</p> +<p>Spanish Railway, George Stephenson’s survey of, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page298">298</a></span>.</p> +<p>Speed, railway,<br /> + on Middleton Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page72">72</a></span>;<br /> + Wylam, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page80">80</a></span>;<br /> + Killingworth, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page85">85</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page156">156</a></span>;<br /> + Coxlodge, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page80">80</a></span>;<br /> + Stockton and Darlington, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page143">143</a></span>;<br /> + G. Stephenson before Committee of +House of Commons on, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page282">282</a></span>.</p> +<p>Speed of engines tried at Rainhill, <span +class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page214">214</a></span>–19;<br /> + of the “Northumbrian,” +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page224">224</a></span>;<br +/> + George Stephenson’s views +on, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page282">282</a></span>.</p> +<p>Spur-gear, locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page83">83</a></span>.</p> +<p>Staiths, coal, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page10">10</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stationary-engine power, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page118">118</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page129">129</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page135">135</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page203">203</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page205">205</a></span>.</p> +<p>Statues of George Stephenson, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page354">354</a></span>.</p> +<p>Steam-blast, invention of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page85">85</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page208">208</a></span>–11.</p> +<p>Steam-springs, G. Stephenson’s, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page112">112</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stephenson family, the, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page15">15</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page17">17</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page19">19</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page21">21</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page39">39</a></span>;<br /> + “Old Bob,” <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page14">14</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page15">15</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page39">39</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page55">55</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stephenson, George, birth and parentage, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page13">13</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page15">15</a></span>;<br /> + employed as herd-boy, makes clay +engines, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page16">16</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page17">17</a></span>;<br /> + plough-boy; drives the gin-horse, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page18">18</a></span>;<br /> + assistant-fireman, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page19">19</a></span>;<br /> + fireman, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page21">21</a></span>;<br /> + engineman—study of the +steam-engine, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page22">22</a></span>;<br /> + his schoolmasters, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page24">24</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page48">48</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page60">60</a></span>;<br /> + learns to brake an engine, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page26">26</a></span>;<br /> + duties as brakesman, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page27">27</a></span>;<br /> + soles shoes, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page28">28</a></span>;<br /> + saves his first guinea, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page29">29</a></span>;<br /> + fights with a pitman, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page30">30</a></span>;<br /> + marries Fanny Henderson, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page33">33</a></span>;<br /> + heaves ballast, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page34">34</a></span>;<br /> + cleans clocks, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page35">35</a></span>;<br /> + death of his wife, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page36">36</a></span>;<br /> + goes to Scotland, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page37">37</a></span>;<br /> + returns home, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page38">38</a></span>;<br /> + brakesman at West Moor, +Killingworth, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page39">39</a></span>;<br /> + drawn for the militia, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page40">40</a></span>;<br /> + takes a brakeing contract, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page41">41</a></span>;<br /> + cures pumping-engine, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page42">42</a></span>;<br /> + engine-wright to the colliery, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page46">46</a></span>;<br /> + evenings with John Wigham, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page48">48</a></span>;<br /> + education of his son, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page50">50</a></span>–4;<br +/> + cottage at West Moor, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page57">57</a></span>;<br /> + the sun-dial, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page60">60</a></span>;<br /> + erects winding and pumping +engines, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page61">61</a></span>;<br /> + study of locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page62">62</a></span>;<br /> + makes his first travelling-engine, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page82">82</a></span>;<br /> + invents the steam-blast, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page85">85</a></span>;<br /> + second locomotive, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page85">85</a></span>;<br /> + fire in the main, personal +courage, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page90">90</a></span>;<br /> + invents and tests his +safety-lamps, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page93">93</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page102">102</a></span>;<br /> + the Stephenson testimonial, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page105">105</a></span>;<br /> + further improvements in the +Killingworth locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page110">110</a></span>;<br /> + constructs the Hetton Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page117">117</a></span>;<br +/> + surveys and constructs the +Stockton and Darlington Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page128">128</a></span>;<br /> + his second wife, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page129">129</a></span>;<br /> + starts a Locomotive Manufactory, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page132">132</a></span>;<br +/> + appointed engineer of the +Liverpool and Manchester line, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page154">154</a></span>;<br /> + examined before Parliamentary +Committee, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page162">162</a></span>;<br /> + the Railway across Chat Moss, +<span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page173">173</a></span>–86, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page192">192</a></span>;<br /> + life at home, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page190">190</a></span>;<br /> + the “Rocket” +constructed, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page210">210</a></span>;<br /> + public opening of Liverpool and +Manchester line, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page223">223</a></span>;<br /> + engineer of Grand Junction, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page230">230</a></span>;<br /> + purchases Snibston Colliery, and +removes to Alton Grange, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page234">234</a></span>;<br /> + appointed joint engineer of London +and Birmingham Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page237">237</a></span>;<br /> + engineer of Manchester and Leeds +Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page253">253</a></span>;<br /> + of Midland Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page257">257</a></span>;<br /> + of York and North Midland Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page261">261</a></span>;<br +/> + life at Alton Grange, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page263">263</a></span>;<br /> + visit to Belgium and interviews +with King Leopold, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page267">267</a></span>;<br /> + takes lease of Clayross Colliery, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page277">277</a></span>;<br +/> + lime-works at Ambergate, residence +at Tapton House, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page278">278</a></span>;<br /> + appearance at Mechanics’ +Institutes, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page280">280</a></span>;<br /> + opinions of railway speed, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page282">282</a></span>;<br /> + views as to atmospheric system of +working, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page287">287</a></span>;<br /> + opposes the railway mania, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page290">290</a></span>;<br /> + again visits Belgium, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page295">295</a></span>;<br /> + visit to Spain, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page297">297</a></span>;<br /> + retires from the profession of +engineering, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page301">301</a></span>;<br /> + Newcastle and Berwick Railway, and +Chester and Holyhead Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page307">307</a></span>;<br /> + habits, conversation, etc., <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page343">343</a></span>;<br /> + theory of coal formation, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page351">351</a></span>;<br /> + meeting with Emerson, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page352">352</a></span>;<br /> + illness and death, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page354">354</a></span>;<br /> + characteristics, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page368">368</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stephenson, Robert,<br /> + his birth, death of his mother, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page36">36</a></span>;<br /> + his father’s care for his +education, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page50">50</a></span>;<br /> + is put to Rutter’s school, +Benton, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page50">50</a></span>;<br /> + sent to Bruce’s school, +Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page52">52</a></span>;<br /> + evenings with his father, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page54">54</a></span>;<br /> + his boyish tricks, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page55">55</a></span>;<br /> + repeats Franklin’s lightning +experiment, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page56">56</a></span>;<br /> + his father’s assistant, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page50">50</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page53">53</a></span>;<br /> + gives lessons to the +pitmen’s sons, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page60">60</a></span>;<br /> + calculates the latitude for a +sundial at Killingworth, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page60">60</a></span>;<br /> + his recollections of the trial of +the first safety-lamp, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page94">94</a></span>;<br /> + apprenticed to a coal viewer, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page119">119</a></span>;<br +/> + sent to college at Edinburgh, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page121">121</a></span>;<br +/> + assists in survey of Stockton and +Darlington Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page128">128</a></span>;<br /> + assists in survey of Liverpool and +Manchester Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page153">153</a></span>;<br /> + leaves England for Colombia, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page193">193</a></span>;<br /> + residence at Mariquita, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page196">196</a></span>;<br /> + resigns his situation as mining +engineer, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page199">199</a></span>;<br /> + rencontre with Trevithick at +Cartagena, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page200">200</a></span>;<br /> + shipwreck, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page201">201</a></span>;<br /> + return to Newcastle, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page202">202</a></span>;<br /> + pamphlet on the locomotive engine, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page206">206</a></span>;<br +/> + discussions with his father as to +the locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page208">208</a></span>;<br /> + constructs the +“Rocket,” <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page210">210</a></span>;<br /> + wins the prize, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page218">218</a></span>;<br /> + improvements in the locomotive, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page221">221</a></span>;<br +/> + appointed engineer of Leicester +and Swannington Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page232">232</a></span>;<br /> + his first tunnel, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page233">233</a></span>;<br /> + finds coal at Snibston, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page234">234</a></span>;<br /> + appointed joint engineer of London +and Birmingham Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page237">237</a></span>;<br /> + construction of the works, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page242">242</a></span>;<br /> + overcomes the difficulties of the +Kilsby Tunnel, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page248">248</a></span>;<br /> + letter to Sir Robert Peel on +“undulating railways,” <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page293">293</a></span>;<br /> + his extensive employment, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page302">302</a></span>–3;<br +/> + the competitor of Brunel, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page304">304</a></span>;<br /> + engineer of Newcastle and Berwick +Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page306">306</a></span>;<br /> + engineer of Royal Border Bridge, +Berwick, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page311">311</a></span>;<br /> + engineer of High Level Bridge, +Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page312">312</a></span>;<br /> + engineer of Chester and Holyhead +Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page320">320</a></span>;<br /> + constructs the Britannia and +Conway Tubular Bridges, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page324">324</a></span>;<br /> + succeeds to his father’s +wealth, and arranges to retire from business, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page357">357</a></span>;<br /> + designs tubular bridges for Canada +and Egypt, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page357">357</a></span>;<br /> + member of Parliament, foreign +honours, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page366">366</a></span>;<br /> + death, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page368">368</a></span>;<br /> + character, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page377">377</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stock Exchange and railway speculation, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page289">289</a></span>.</p> +<p>Stockton and Darlington Railway,<br /> + projected, promoted by Edward +Pease, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page123">123</a></span>;<br /> + act passed, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page125">125</a></span>;<br /> + re-surveyed by G. Stephenson, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page128">128</a></span>;<br +/> + opening of the Railway, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page136">136</a></span>;<br /> + the coal traffic, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page138">138</a></span>;<br /> + the first passenger coach, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page139">139</a></span>;<br /> + coaching companies, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page140">140</a></span>;<br /> + increase of the traffic, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page141">141</a></span>;<br /> + town of Middlesborough, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page144">144</a></span>.</p> +<p>Strathmore, Earl of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page46">46</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page105">105</a></span>.</p> +<p>Sun-dial at Killingworth, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page60">60</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page280">280</a></span>.</p> +<p>Swanwick, Frederick, C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page190">190</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page192">192</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page352">352</a></span>.</p> +<p>Symington, Wm., steam-carriage, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page65">65</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Tapton House</span>, Chesterfield, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page278">278</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page341">341</a></span>.</p> +<p>Tram-roads,<br /> + early, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page5">5</a></span>;<br /> + Croydon and Merstham, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page147">147</a></span>.</p> +<p>Travelling by Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page160">160</a></span>.</p> +<p>Trevithick, Richard, C.E.,<br /> + his steam-carriage, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page67">67</a></span>;<br /> + his train-engine, and substitute +for steam-blast, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page70">70</a></span>;<br /> + rencontre with Robert Stephenson +at Cartagena, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page200">200</a></span>.</p> +<p>Trent Valley Railway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page352">352</a></span>.</p> +<p>Trellis girder bridges, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page360">360</a></span>.</p> +<p>Tring Cutting, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page242">242</a></span>.</p> +<p>Tubular boilers, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page209">209</a></span>.</p> +<p>Tubular bridges, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page334">334</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page339">339</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page360">360</a></span>.</p> +<p>Tunnels, railway,<br /> + Liverpool, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page183">183</a></span>;<br /> + Primrose Hill, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page244">244</a></span>;<br /> + Kilsby, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page245">245</a></span>;<br /> + Watford, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page245">245</a></span>;<br /> + Littleborough, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page255">255</a></span>.</p> +<p>Tyne, the, at Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page3">3</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page10">10</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page11">11</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page315">315</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Viaducts</span>,<br /> + Sankey, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page185">185</a></span>;<br /> + Dutton, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page254">254</a></span>;<br /> + Berwick, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page311">311</a></span>;<br /> + Newcastle, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page312">312</a></span>.</p> +<p>Victoria Bridge, Montreal, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page357">357</a></span>–66.</p> +<p>Vignolles, Mr., C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page171">171</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page185">185</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page204">204</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">Waggon-Roads</span>, early, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page4">4</a></span>–7, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page16">16</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page63">63</a></span>.</p> +<p>Walker, James, C.E., <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page159">159</a></span>.</p> +<p>Wallsend, Newcastle, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page1">1</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page33">33</a></span>.</p> +<p>Walmsley, Sir Joshua, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page297">297</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page299">299</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page371">371</a></span>.</p> +<p>Wandsworth and Croydon Tramway, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page69">69</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page147">147</a></span>.</p> +<p>Watford Tunnel, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page245">245</a></span>.</p> +<p>Watt, James, and the Locomotive, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page64">64</a></span>.</p> +<p>Way-leaves for waggon roads, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page5">5</a></span>.</p> +<p>Wellington, Duke of, and Railways, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page223">223</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page274">274</a></span>.</p> +<p>West Moor, Killingworth, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page37">37</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page40">40</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page91">91</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page108">108</a></span>.</p> +<p>Whitehaven, early Railroad at, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page6">6</a></span>.</p> +<p>Wigham, John, Stephenson’s teacher, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page48">48</a></span>–9.</p> +<p>Willington Quay, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page28">28</a></span>, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page31">31</a></span>–6.</p> +<p>Wilton, Earl of, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page172">172</a></span>.</p> +<p>Wood, Nicholas,<br /> + prepares drawing of safety-lamp, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page94">94</a></span>;<br /> + is present at its trial, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page95">95</a></span>;<br /> + assists at experiments on +fire-damp, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page98">98</a></span>;<br /> + appears with Stephenson before +Newcastle Institute, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page102">102</a></span>;<br /> + opinion of the +“Geordy” lamp, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page108">108</a></span>;<br /> + experiments with Stephenson on +friction, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page117">117</a></span>;<br /> + accident in pit, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page119">119</a></span>;<br /> + visits Edward Pease with G. +Stephenson, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page126">126</a></span>.</p> +<p>Woolf’s tubular boilers, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page209">209</a></span>.</p> +<p>Wylam Colliery and village, <span class="indexpageno"><a +href="#page12">12</a></span>–14.<br /> + +,, waggon-way, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page74">74</a></span>, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page78">78</a></span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"> </div> +<p><span class="smcap">York</span> and North Midland Railway, +<span class="indexpageno"><a href="#page261">261</a></span>.</p> +<p>Young, Arthur, description of early waggon-roads, <span +class="indexpageno"><a href="#page5">5</a></span>.</p> +<h2>NOTES.</h2> +<p><a name="footnote4"></a><a href="#citation4" +class="footnote">[4]</a> In the Newcastle dialect, a chare +is a narrow street or lane. At the local assizes some years +since, one of the witnesses in a criminal trial swore that +“<i>he saw three men come out of the foot of a +chare</i>.” The judge cautioned the jury not to pay +any regard to the man’s evidence, as he must be +insane. A little explanation by the foreman, however, +satisfied his lordship that the original statement was +correct.</p> +<p><a name="footnote5"></a><a href="#citation5" +class="footnote">[5]</a> ‘Six Months’ +Tour,’ vol. iii. 9</p> +<p><a name="footnote26"></a><a href="#citation26" +class="footnote">[26]</a> Father of Mr. Locke, M.P., the +engineer. He afterwards removed to Barnsley, in +Yorkshire.</p> +<p><a name="footnote33"></a><a href="#citation33" +class="footnote">[33]</a> The Stephenson Memorial Schools +have since been erected on the site of the old cottage at +Willington Quay represented in the engraving at the head of this +chapter.</p> +<p><a name="footnote38"></a><a href="#citation38" +class="footnote">[38]</a> This incident was related by +Robert Stephenson during a voyage to the north of Scotland in +1857, when off Montrose, on board his yacht <i>Titania</i>; and +the reminiscence was communicated to the author by the late Mr. +William Kell of Gateshead, who was present, at Mr. +Stephenson’s request, as being worthy of insertion in his +father’s biography.</p> +<p><a name="footnote52"></a><a href="#citation52" +class="footnote">[52]</a> Speech at Newcastle, on the 18th +of June, 1844, at the meeting held in celebration of the opening +of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway.</p> +<p><a name="footnote57"></a><a href="#citation57" +class="footnote">[57]</a> Robert Stephenson was perhaps, +prouder of this little boyish experiment than he was of many of +his subsequent achievements. Not having been quite +accurately stated in the first edition of this book, Mr. +Stephenson noted the correction for the second, and wrote the +author (Sept. 18th, 1857) as follows:—“In the kite +experiment, will you say, that the copper-wire was insulated by a +few feet of silk cord; without this, the experiment cannot be +made.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote70"></a><a href="#citation70" +class="footnote">[70]</a> Mr. Zerah Colburn, in his +excellent work on ‘Locomotive Engineering and the Mechanism +of Railways,’ points out that Mr. Davies Gilbert noted the +effect of the discharge of the waste steam up the chimney of +Trevithick’s engine in increasing the draught, and wrote a +letter to ‘Nicholson’s Journal’ (Sept. 1805) on +the subject. Mr. Nicholson himself proceeded to investigate the +subject, and in 1806 he took out a patent for +“steam-blasting apparatus,” applicable to fixed +engines. Trevithick himself, however, could not have had much +faith in the steam-blast for locomotive purposes, or else he +would not have taken out his patent for urging the fire by means +of fanners. But the fact is, that while the speed of the +locomotive was only four or five miles an hour, the blast was +scarcely needed. It was only when high speeds were adopted that +artificial methods of urging the fire became necessary, and that +the full importance of the invention was recognised. Like +many other inventions, stimulated if not originated by necessity, +the steam-blast was certainly reinvented, if not invented, by +George Stephenson.</p> +<p><a name="footnote71"></a><a href="#citation71" +class="footnote">[71]</a> ‘Mining +Journal,’ 9th September, 1858.</p> +<p><a name="footnote73"></a><a href="#citation73" +class="footnote">[73]</a> Other machines, with legs, were +patented in the following year by Lewis Gompertz and by Thomas +Tindall. In Tindall’s specification it is provided that the +power of the engine is to be assisted by a <i>horizontal +windmill</i>; and the four pushers, or legs, are to be caused to +come successively in contact with the ground, and impel the +carriage!</p> +<p><a name="footnote82"></a><a href="#citation82" +class="footnote">[82]</a> Speech at the opening of the +Newcastle and Darlington Railway, June 18, 1844.</p> +<p><a name="footnote95"></a><a href="#citation95" +class="footnote">[95]</a> The Editor of the +‘Athenæum’ having (Nov. 8th, 1862) +characterized the author’s account of this affair as +“perfectly untrue” and a “fiction,” it +becomes necessary to say a few words in explanation of it. The +Editor of the ‘Athenæum’ quotes in support of +his statement a passage from Mr. Nicholas Wood, who, however does +not say that the anecdote is “perfectly untrue,” but +merely that “the danger was <i>not quite so great</i> as is +represented:” he adds that “at most an explosion +might have burnt the hands of the operator, but would not extend +a few feet from the blower.” However that may be, we +were not without good authority for making the original +statement. The facts were verbally communicated to the +author in the first place by Robert Stephenson, to whom the +chapter was afterwards read in MS., in the presence of Mr. +Sopwith, F.R.S. at Mr. Stephenson’s house in Gloucester +Square, and received his entire approval. But at the time +at which Mr. Stephenson communicated the verbal information, he +also handed a little book with his name written in it, still in +the author’s possession, saying, “Read that, you will +find it all there.” We have again referred to the +little book which contains, among other things, a pamphlet, +entitled <i>Report on the Claims of Mr. George Stephenson +relative to the Invention of his Safety Lamp</i>. <i>By the +Committee appointed at a Meeting holden in Newcastle</i>, <i>on +this 1st of November</i>, <i>1817</i>. <i>With an Appendix +containing the Evidence</i>. Among the witnesses examined +were George Stephenson, Nicholas Wood, and John Moodie, and their +evidence is given in the pamphlet. We quote that of Stephenson +and Moodie, which was not contradicted, but in all material +points confirmed by Wood, and was published, we believe, with his +sanction. George Stephenson said, that he tried the first lamp +“in a part of the mine where the air was highly explosive. +Nicholas Wood and John Moodie were his companions when the trial +was made. They became frightened when they came within hearing of +the blower, and would not go any further. Mr. Stephenson +went alone with the lamp to the mouth of the blower,” +etc. This evidence was confirmed by John Moodie, who said +the air of the place where the experiment was about to be tried +was such, that, if a lighted candle had been introduced, an +explosion would have taken place that would have been +“extremely dangerous.” “Told Stephenson +it was foul, and hinted at the danger; nevertheless, Stephenson +<i>would</i> try the lamp, confiding in its safety. Stephenson +took the lamp and went with it into the place in which Moodie had +been, and Moodie and Wood, apprehensive of the danger, retired to +a greater distance,” etc. The other details of the +statement made in the text, are fully borne out by the published +evidence, the accuracy of which, so far as the author is aware, +has never before been called in question.</p> +<p><a name="footnote105"></a><a href="#citation105" +class="footnote">[105]</a> The tankard bore the following +inscription—“This piece of plate, purchased with a +part of the sum of £1000, a subscription raised for the +remuneration of Mr. <span class="smcap">George Stephenson</span> +for having discovered the fact that inflamed fire-damp will not +pass through tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and having +been <i>the first</i> to apply that principle in the construction +of a safety-lamp calculated for the preservation of human life in +situations formerly of the greatest danger, was presented to him +at a general meeting of the subscribers, Charles John Brandling, +Esq., in the Chair. January 12th, 1818.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote107"></a><a href="#citation107" +class="footnote">[107]</a> The accident above referred to +was described in the ‘Barnsley Times,’ a copy of +which, containing the account, Robert Stephenson forwarded to the +author, with the observation that “it is evidently written +by a practical miner, and is, I think, worthy of record in my +father’s Life.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote125"></a><a href="#citation125" +class="footnote">[125]</a> Mr. Pease died at Darlington, on +the 31st of July, 1858, aged ninety two.</p> +<p><a name="footnote129"></a><a href="#citation129" +class="footnote">[129]</a> The story has been told that +George was a former suitor of Miss Hindmarsh, while occupying the +position of a humble workman at Black Callerton, but that having +been rejected by her, he made love to and married Fanny +Henderson; and that long after the death of the latter, when he +had become a comparatively thriving man, he again made up to Miss +Hindmarsh, and was on the second occasion accepted. This is +the popular story, and different versions of it are +current. Desirous of ascertaining the facts, the author +called on Thomas Hindmarsh, Mrs. Stephenson’s brother, who +assured him that George knew nothing of his sister until he +(Hindmarsh) introduced him to her, at George’s express +request, about the year 1818 or 1819. The author was +himself originally attracted by the much more romantic version of +the story, and gave publicity to it many years since; but after +Mr. Hindmarsh’s explicit statement, he thought fit to adopt +the soberer, and perhaps, the truer view.</p> +<p><a name="footnote130"></a><a href="#citation130" +class="footnote">[130]</a> The first clause in any railway +act, empowering the employment of locomotive engines for the +working of passenger traffic.</p> +<p><a name="footnote131"></a><a href="#citation131" +class="footnote">[131]</a> This incident, communicated to +the author by the late Edward Pease, has since been made the +subject of a fine picture by Mr. A. Rankley, A.R.A., exhibited at +the Royal Academy Exhibition of 1861.</p> +<p><a name="footnote144"></a><a href="#citation144" +class="footnote">[144]</a> Middlesborough does not furnish +the only instance of the extraordinary increase of population in +certain localities, occasioned by railways. Hartlepool, in +the same neighbourhood, has in thirty years increased from 1330 +to above 15,000; and Stockton-on-Tees from 7763 to above +16,000. In 1831 Crewe was a little village with 295 +inhabitants; it now numbers upwards of 10,000. Rugby and +Swindon have quadrupled their population in the same time. +The railway has been the making of Southampton, and added 30,000 +to its formerly small number of inhabitants. In like manner +the railway has taken London to the sea-side, and increased the +population of Brighton from 40,000 to nearly 100,000. That +of Folkestone has been trebled. New and populous suburbs +have sprung up all round London. The population of +Stratford-le-Bow and West Ham was 11,580 in 1831; it is now +nearly 40,000. Reigate has been trebled in size, and +Redhill has been created by the railway. Blackheath, Forest +Hill, Sydenham, New Cross, Wimbledon, and a number of populous +places round London, may almost be said to have sprung into +existence since the extension of railways to them within the last +thirty years.</p> +<p><a name="footnote147"></a><a href="#citation147" +class="footnote">[147]</a> Lives of the Engineers, vol. i. +p. 371.</p> +<p><a name="footnote189"></a><a href="#citation189" +class="footnote">[189]</a> Mr. Gooch’s letter to the +author, December 13th, 1861. Referring to the preparations +of the plans and drawings, Mr. Gooch adds, “When we +consider the extensive sets of drawings which most engineers have +since found it right to adopt in carrying out similar works, it +is not the least surprising feature in George Stephenson’s +early professional career, that he should have been able to +confine himself to so limited a number as that which could be +supplied by the hands of one person in carrying out the +construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; and this +may still be said, after full allowance is made for the +alteration of system involved by the adoption of the large +contract system.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote193"></a><a href="#citation193" +class="footnote">[193]</a> Letter to the author.</p> +<p><a name="footnote196"></a><a href="#citation196" +class="footnote">[196]</a> Letter to Mr. Illingworth. +September 25th, 1825.</p> +<p><a name="footnote199"></a><a href="#citation199" +class="footnote">[199]</a> Letter to Mr. Illingworth. +April 9th, 1827.</p> +<p><a name="footnote201"></a><a href="#citation201" +class="footnote">[201]</a> ‘Geological Transactions +of Cornwall.’ i. 222.</p> +<p><a name="footnote206"></a><a href="#citation206" +class="footnote">[206]</a> The arguments used by Mr. +Stephenson with the directors, in favour of the locomotive +engine, were afterwards collected and published in 1830 by Robert +Stephenson and Joseph Locke, as “compiled from the Reports +of Mr. George Stephenson.” The pamphlet was entitled, +‘Observations on the Comparative Merits of Locomotive and +Fixed Engines.’ Robert Stephenson, speaking of the +authorship many years after, said, “I believe I furnished +the facts and the arguments, and Locke put them into shape. +Locke was a very flowery writer, whereas my style was rather bald +and unattractive; so he was the editor of the pamphlet, which +excited a good deal of attention amongst engineers at the +time.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote207"></a><a href="#citation207" +class="footnote">[207]</a> The conditions were +these:—</p> +<p>1. The engine must effectually consume its own +smoke.</p> +<p>2. The engine, if of six tons weight, must be able to +draw after it, day by day, twenty tons weight (including the +tender and water-tank) at <i>ten miles</i> an hour, with a +pressure of steam on the boiler not exceeding fifty pounds to the +square inch.</p> +<p>3. The boiler must have two safety-valves, neither of +which must be fastened down, and one of them be completely out of +the control of the engineman.</p> +<p>4. The engine and boiler must be supported on springs, +and rest on six wheels, the height of the whole not exceeding +fifteen feet to the top of the chimney.</p> +<p>5. The engine, with water, must not weigh more than six +tons; but an engine of less weight would be preferred on its +drawing a proportionate load behind it; if only four and a half +tons, then it might be put on only four wheels. The Company +to be at liberty to test the boiler, etc., by a pressure of one +hundred and fifty pounds to the square inch.</p> +<p>6. A mercurial gauge must be affixed to the machine, +showing the steam pressure above forty-five pounds per square +inch.</p> +<p>7. The engine must be delivered, complete and ready for +trial, at the Liverpool end of the railway, not later than the +1st of October, 1829.</p> +<p>8. The price of the engine must not exceed +£550.</p> +<p><a name="footnote214"></a><a href="#citation214" +class="footnote">[214]</a> The inventor of this engine was +a Swede, who afterwards proceeded to the United States, and there +achieved considerable distinction as an engineer. His +Caloric Engine has so far proved a failure, but his iron cupola +vessel, the “Monitor,” must be admitted to have been +a remarkable success in its way.</p> +<p><a name="footnote219"></a><a href="#citation219" +class="footnote">[219]</a> The “Rocket” is now +to be seen at the Museum of Patents at Kensington, where it is +carefully preserved.</p> +<p><a name="footnote234"></a><a href="#citation234" +class="footnote">[234]</a> 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 4½ cwt., is about 3 or 4 +feet long, and about ⅜ of an inch thick. These pieces +are fitted closely together, length under length, and form an +impermeable wall along the side of the pit.</p> +<p><a name="footnote263"></a><a href="#citation263" +class="footnote">[263]</a> During this period he was +engaged on the North Midland, extending from Derby to Leeds; the +York and North Midland, from Normanton to York; the Manchester +and Leeds; the Birmingham and Derby, and the Sheffield and +Rotherham Railways; the whole of these, of which he was principal +engineer, having been authorised in 1836. In that session +alone, powers were obtained for the construction of 214 miles of +new railways under his direction, at an expenditure of upwards of +five millions sterling.</p> +<p><a name="footnote288"></a><a href="#citation288" +class="footnote">[288]</a> The question of the specific +merits of the atmospheric as compared with the fixed engine and +locomotive systems, will be found fully discussed in Robert +Stephenson’s able ‘Report on the Atmospheric Railway +System,’ 1844, in which he gives the result of numerous +observations and experiments made by him on the Kingstown +Atmospheric Railway, with the object of ascertaining whether the +new power would be applicable for the working of the Chester and +Holyhead Railway, then under construction. His opinion was +decidedly against the atmospheric system.</p> +<p><a name="footnote289"></a><a href="#citation289" +class="footnote">[289]</a> The Marquis of Clanricarde +brought under the notice of the House of Lords, in 1845, that one +Charles Guernsey, the son of a charwoman, and a clerk in a +broker’s office, at 12s. a week, had his name down as a +subscriber for shares in the London and York line, for +£52,000. Doubtless he had been made useful for the +purpose by the brokers, his employers.</p> +<p><a name="footnote309"></a><a href="#citation309" +class="footnote">[309]</a> “When my father came about +the office,” said Robert, “he sometimes did not well +know what to do with himself. So he used to invite Bidder +to have a wrestle with him, for old acquaintance’ +sake. And the two wrestled together so often, and had so +many ‘falls’ (sometimes I thought they would bring +the house down between them), that they broke half the chairs in +my outer office. I remember once sending my father in a +joiner’s bill of about £2. 10s. for mending broken +chairs.”</p> +<p><a name="footnote324"></a><a href="#citation324" +class="footnote">[324]</a> The simple fact that in a heavy +storm the force of impact of the waves is from one and a-half to +two tons per square foot, must necessarily dictate the greatest +possible caution in approaching so formidable an element. +Mr. R. Stevenson (Edinburgh) registered a force of three tons per +square foot at Skerryvore, during a gale in the Atlantic, when +the waves were supposed to run twenty feet high.</p> +<p><a name="footnote327"></a><a href="#citation327" +class="footnote">[327]</a> Robert Stephenson’s +narrative in Clark’s ‘Britannia and Conway Tubular +Bridges,’ vol. i. p. 27.</p> +<p><a name="footnote329a"></a><a href="#citation329a" +class="footnote">[329a]</a> ‘Account of the +Construction of the Britannia and Conway Tubular +Bridges.’ By W. Fairbairn, C.E. London, 1849.</p> +<p><a name="footnote329b"></a><a href="#citation329b" +class="footnote">[329b]</a> Mr. Stephenson continued to +hold that the elliptical tube was the right idea, and that +sufficient justice had not been done to it. A year or two +before his death Mr. Stephenson remarked to the author, that had +the same arrangement for stiffening been adopted to which the +oblong rectangular tubes owe a great part of their strength, a +very different result would have been obtained.</p> +<p><a name="footnote335"></a><a href="#citation335" +class="footnote">[335]</a> ‘The Britannia and Conway +Tubular Bridges.’ By Edwin Clark. Vol. II, pp. +683–4.</p> +<p><a name="footnote336"></a><a href="#citation336" +class="footnote">[336]</a> No. 34, Gloucester Square, Hyde +Park, where he lived.</p> +<p><a name="footnote350"></a><a href="#citation350" +class="footnote">[350]</a> The above anecdote is given on +the authority of Mr. Sopwith. F.R.S.</p> +<p><a name="footnote354"></a><a href="#citation354" +class="footnote">[354]</a> The second Mrs. Stephenson +having died in 1845, George married a third time in 1848, about +six months before his death. The third Mrs. Stephenson had +for some time been his housekeeper.</p> +<p><a name="footnote368"></a><a href="#citation368" +class="footnote">[368]</a> In 1829 Robert Stephenson +married Frances, daughter of John Sanderson, merchant, London; +but she died in 1842, without issue, and Mr. Stephenson did not +marry again. Until the close of his life, Robert Stephenson +was accustomed twice in every year to visit his wife’s +grave in Hampstead churchyard.</p> +<p><a name="footnote377"></a><a href="#citation377" +class="footnote">[377]</a> Address as President of the +Institution of Civil Engineers, January, 1856.</p> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK LIVES OF THE ENGINEERS***</p> +<pre> + + +***** This file should be named 27710-h.htm or 27710-h.zip****** + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/7/1/27710 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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