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THE

MIDLAND RAILWAY

ITS RISE AND PROGRESS.
, arratibe of lohcnt

FREDERICK S. WILLIAMS,

Author of" Our Iron Roads."

FIFTH EDITION.

DEEP GILL, VALE OF THE EDEJT.

" In MEDIO tutissimus ibis."

LONDON:

RICHARD BENTLEY & SON, NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
ltsfycrs tit ©vfctnarjj to |^cr fKajcstg tfje €tuccn.

1888.

\_All rights reserved.]

PREFACE TO THE FIFTH EDITION.

THE last fifty years have witnessed a mighty and beneficent
revolution in the Midlands of England. A few men of
enterprise have led others on to a work which has revived
trade, created new industries, enriched at once the landlord
and the peasant, the manufacturer and the merchant, and
promoted the happiness and well-being of the nation. And
in this service the Midland Railway has been especially
concerned.

When the Author inquired for the beginning of the
history of the Midland Railway — when he tried to find
the source of the highest tributary stream of events — his
friends of the Midland Railway Company were unable to
help him. The oldest official records were searched in
vain. Sir James Allport, then the General Manager, and
Mr. E. S. Ellis, the Chairman, could tell much ; but they
could not say where the Midland Counties Railway, the
first of the three lines that eventually were amalgamated to
form the Midland Company, had its initiation. Fortunately
the required clue was, unexpectedly, discovered. One day,
riding in a train with Mr. Robert Harrison, of Eastwood,
near Nottingham, that gentleman suggested to the Author
that in the private books of his firm — Messrs. Barber,
Walker and Co., — some facts bearing on the subject might
perhaps be ascertained. He would have them searched.

IV PREFACE.

And in those musty manuscripts — forty years and more
old — a record was found of the greatest interest, which told
how the first ideas that led on to the construction of the
Midland Railway came into being.

This story the Author has now to tell. How the
Midland Eailway originated at a village inn in the neces-
sities of a few coal-owners ; how it has gradually spread its
paths of iron, north and south and east and west, through
half the counties of England, till they stretch from the
Bristol Channel to the Humber, the German Ocean to
the Mersey, and the English Channel to the Sol way Firth ;
how a property has been created that has cost £80,000,000
of money, and that brings in a revenue of £7,000,000 a
year; how it employs more than 45,000 servants; runs its
engines a distance equal to five times round the world every
day; and how there lies before it a limitless future of
usefulness, — these are facts which, in the judgment of the
Author, are worthy of record. Yet it so happens that the
men who have been most deeply engaged in this work have
been so busy with their work that they seem never to
have thought of telling why or how they did it ; and so the
Author has been led to try, before it is too late, to weave
together, from the fragmentary records of the dead and
from the fading recollections of the living, a narrative of
modern enterprise which has been honourable to those
engaged in it, and has been widespread and beneficent
in its results. Accordingly the first part of this book is
historical.

The second portion of the work is descriptive of the
Midland Eailway — of its engineering works, and of the
country through which the line passes. The roads which
Roman hands have made and Roman legions have trodden ;

PEEFACE. V

the ancient manor-houses of Wingfield, Haddon, and
Rowsley ; the abbeys of St. Albans, Leicester, Newstead,
Kirkstall, Beauchieff, and Evesham; the castles of Someries,
Skipton, Sandal, Berkeley, Tamworth, Hay, Clifford,
Codnor, Ashby, Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln, and
Newark; the battlefields of Bosworth, St. Albans, Wake-
field, Tewkesbury, and Evesham — these, and a thousand
spots besides on the route of the Midland line, ought to be
familiar to every Englishman.

The third part is administrative. It endeavours to
indicate the machinery, — comprehensive, intricate, and
exact, — by which a great system of railway is kept in
motion by day and by night, in summer and in winter.

The Author begs to tender his grateful acknowledgments
to the numerous Officers of the Company, and other
gentlemen, who have rendered him valuable aid in his work.
And he cannot but express his satisfaction that within a
week of its publication half a large edition was sold ; that
in less than a twelvemonth, two large Editions were ex-
hausted ; that he had to go to press with a Third, and
then a Fourth Edition ; and that in all nearly 8,000 copies
have been sold.

He hopes that the reader may find as much pleasure in
following the thread of this remarkable narrative as the
Author has had in unravelling it for himself.

FOEEST EOAD,
NOTTINGHAM.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

PAGES

A Village Inn. — The Erewash Valley. — The coal-owners of the Erewash.
— Navigable highways. — The river Soar. — An accident. — The Cham wood
Forest Canal. — A new competitor. — Mr. John Ellis.—" Old George." — The
Leicester and Swannington Railway. — Cheap coals at Leicester. — Confer-
ences of the Canal Committees. — The Midland Counties Railway projected.
— Earliest subscribers. — Meeting at Leicester. — Mr. Jessop's report. —
Identity of the earliest scheme with that eventually carried out. — Mr.
George Rennie's report. —Mr. Vignoles appointed engineer. — Excellence of
the route. — Trent Bridge. — Proposals of Northampton people and others.
— Financial arrangements of the Midland Counties Company. — Evidence
submitted to Parliament concerning the trade and trading facilities of the
Midland counties. — Private Bill legislation of the time. — Objections to
Railways. — Opposition to the Erewash Valley Railway project. — The North
Midland. — "A slip 'twixt the cup and the lip." — First General Meeting of
Midland Counties shareholders. — Progress of the works. — A curious in-
cident.— Opening of the Nottingham and Derby portion. — Opening of the
whole line. — Prospects of the undertaking.— Threatened competition. —
The Birmingham and Derby. — Mr. Hutchinson's protest. — Fierce contest.
— Disappointment. — Reduction of expenditure. — After war, peace. — Amal-
gamation proposed and effected , 1-32

CHAPTER II.

The yellow post-chaise. — The North Midland Railway. — George Stephen-
son's preference for the valley route. — Opposition from advocates of a high
level line. — Surveying for the line. — Perils of engineers. — The engineer and
the baronet. — Mr. Waterton's sanctum. — Amusing interview. — Battles in
Parliament. — Opposition by Messrs. Strutt and the Aire and Calder Navi-
gation.— Commencement of the works. — Bird's-eye view of the line. —
Ambergate Tunnel.— Bull Bridge.— Opening of the North Midland.— The
traffic then and now. — Additional capital required. — Reduction of expendi-
ture.— Generous offer of Mr. Robert Stephenson. — Improved arrangements.
— Coal rates then and now. — Disappointment. — Committee of Inquiry. —
Proposed amalgamation of North Midland with Midland Counties, and
Birmingham and Derby Companies 33-47

vfii CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.

PAGES

Influence of the Erewash Valley project on the politics of railway enter-
prise. — Origin of Birmingham and Derby scheme. — Meeting of "the in-
habitants of Derby." — Sir Robert Peel's speech at Tamworth. — " Peel's
Railway." — Cordial support of the new undertaking. The Stonebridge
branch. — Curious episode. — Commencement of the works. — Course of the
line. — Opening of the line to Hampton-in-Arden. — Discouragement. —
Committee of Investigation. — Completion, of direct line to Birmingham. —
Competition with Midland Counties Railway. — Proposals for amalgamation
with Midland Counties and Northumberland Companies. — Terms proposed.
— Objections. — Shareholders' meetings of the several Companies. — Final
adjustment of terms. — First meeting of the Midland Railway Company. —
Mr. Hudson's speech. — Resolutions for consolidating the three properties.
— First General Meeting of Shareholders, July 16th, 1844. — Hopefulness
of October Meeting. — Large increase of capital sanctioned .... 48-55

CHAPTER IV.

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. — The Society of Friends. — Early
difficulties of the new project. — The route chosen. — Tramway from Chelten-
ham and Gloucester. — Progress of works. — The Lickey incline. — Norris's
engine. — Opening of part of the line. — Railway tickets adopted. — Carriage
of coals. — Committee of inquiry. — A Money bill. — Report of the committee.
— Proposed amalgamation with Midland Company. — Bristol and Gloucester.
— Coal-pit Heath tramway. — Cheltenham and Great Western union. —
Bristol and Gloucester a broad gauge line. — Overtures for a union with the
Birmingham and Gloucester. — Opening of the line. — An early break-down.
— Inconveniences of the break of gauge at Gloucester. — Negotiations
with Birmingham and Gloucester resumed. — Rival claimants for a western
belle. — Terms of the settlement. — Amalgamation with the Midland Rail-
way Company. — Access of Midland Company to New Street Station, Bir-
mingham.— Mr. John Ellis's successful negotiations 56-63

CHAPTER V.

The Leicester and Swannington Railway. — The Leicestershire coal-fields.
— Coal below granite.— " Old George's" sagacity. — Metal tickets. — The
first steam whistle. — West Bridge station, Leicester. — Amalgamation of
Swannington line with Midland. — Proposed Erewash Valley Railway. — Line
from Syston to Peterborough. — The battle of Saxby Bridge. — "The Rail-
way Mania. — Competition. — A rival line proposed from London to York.
— Mr. Hudson's indignation. — "Unusual expedients." — Parliamentary bat-
tle.— Proposed line from Matlock to the Midland system. — Remarkable
Special General Meeting. — Countless new projects. — Enthusiasm of the
shareholders. — The South Midland and Leicester and Bedford schemes. —
Animated meeting at Bedford. — Proposed lease of Leeds and Bradford
line. — Protracted debate 6"-8G

CONTENTS. IX

CHAPTER VI.

PAGES

Extensions projected. — The zenith. — Opening of the Syston and Peter-
borough line. — Death of Mr. George Stephenson. — Mutterings of a storm.
— Mr. Hudson's resignation. — Committees of Investigation. — Reports. —
Poor dividend. — Opening of further portion of Great Northern. — Access to
Worcester. — Arrangement about Leeds and Bradford line. — The Great
Exhibition. — Audit committee appointed. — Proposals for getting nearer to
London. — "Little" North Western Company. — Commutation of payment
to Leeds and Bradford proprietors. — Manchester, Bnxton, Matlock, and
Midland Junction. — Dispute between Midland and Great Northern. —
Leicester and Hitchin line proposed. — Proposals of amalgamation of Mid-
land with London and North Western and Great Northern. — Select com-
mittee of House of Commons report against amalgamation of large Com-
panies.— A period of rest. — Traffics. — Resignation of Mr. Ellis.— Appoint-
ment and death of Mr. Paget. — Re-appointment of Mr. Ellis. — Continua-
tion of Erewash line to Clay Cross. — Seven per cent, dividend. — Extensions 87-112

CHAPTER VII.

The short line with the long name. — London and North Western's Disley
line. — A "block" line. — Midland and North Western "most hostile.'' —
Proposed Midland line to Manchester. — Duke of Devonshire's support. —
Whaley Bridge and Buxton extension of North Western Company. — " The
Three Companies' Agreement" to exclude the Midland from Manchester. —
" The Triple Agreement." — The Midland shut out. — A chance meeting. —
Negotiations between Sheffield Company and Midland for access to Man-
chester via New Mills. — Evidence in favour of new Midland line. — Town
clerk of Manchester. — Manchester Chamber of Commerce. — Mr. Cheetham.
— Other witnesses. — Opposition of London and North Western Company. —
Offer of " facilities" over North Western line from. Buxton to Manchester.
— Sir Joseph Paxton's evidence. — Opposition of Great Northern. — Sup-
posed encouragement to a breach of agreement. — Gouty patients. — Death
of Mr. John Ellis. — Eminent services of Mr. Ellis. — Proposed Midland line
to London. — The " destiny " of the Midland. — Insufficient accommodation
of Great Northern via Hitchin for Midland traffic. — Delays. — Five miles of
coal trams blocked at Rugby. — Witnesses from St. Albans. — Great Nor-
thern propose to double their line. — Reply to the proposal. — Mr. Allport's
evidence. — Other projects in the field. — Camden Square. — Horticultural
perplexities. — Bill passed. — Proposed line from Cudworth to Barnsley. —
Other railway projections and working alliances 113-134

CHAPTER VIII.

Arrival of a memorable period. — Claims of Sheffield to increased accom-
modation.— Town's meeting. — Communication with the Midland board. —
Terms settled. — Remarkable change of opinion in Sheffield. — Rival schemes
produced. — Extraordinary pretensions of new company. — Plan for meeting
the difficulty. — Rival scheme defeated. — Midland Company's bill passes. —
Projected extensions of the Midland system. — Mr. Beale's resignation as

X CONTENTS.

PA.OI8

chairman. — Mr. W. E. Hatchinson becomes chairman. — Mansfield and
Worksop line projected. — Opposition of the dukes. — Rival line proposed by
Great Northern. — Proposed line from Barnsley to Kirkburton. — Evidence.
— Criticisms of Mr. Mereweather. — Proposal rejected. — Death of Sir Joseph
Paxton. — Mr. W. M. Thompson a director. — Bedford and Northampton
line. — Evidence. — Passing of bill. — Tottenham andHampstead Junction. —
Cheshire lines. — Proposed new line between Liverpool and Manchester. —
Necessity for additional railway accommodation between Manchester and
Liverpool. — Cost and probable returns of the projected railways. — New line
from Manchester to Stockport 135-152

CHAPTER IX.

Important period in Midland Railway politics. — The West Coast route to
Glasgow. — The East Coast route to Edinburgh. — Midland Company com-
plains that it is excluded from its share of Scotch traffic. — Difficulty of
Midland passenger traffic to Scotland. — Proposals of London and North
Western. — Joint ownership and running powers at arbitration rates offered.
— Practical difficulties. — Proposed local line from Settle to Hawes. — Over-
tures of Midland Company to North of England Union. — Proposed Midland
line from Settle to Carlisle. — Support of landowners. — Hesitating oppo-
sition of London and North Western. — Objections to admission of Midland
to Citadel Station at Carlisle. — Reply of Midland Company. — Radford and
Trowell Line. — Opposition of Lord Middleton and others. — Ashby and
Nuneaton line. — Rival scheme of London and North Western. — Joint
ownership 153-165

CHAPTER X.

Glasgow and South Western Company. — Policy of Midland Company. —
Door of Scotland shut against them. — Proposed amalgamation of Midland
with the Glasgow and South Western. — Lateral and longitudinal amal-
gamation.— Bill before Parliament. — Bill rejected. — Heavy responsibilities
of Midland Company. — Misgivings among shareholders. — Meeting of Pro-
prietors on May 29th, 1867- — Mr. Hutchinson's explanation. — Circular of
shareholders. — Meeting at Corn Exchange, Derby. — Proposal to abandon
the Settle and Carlisle line. — Efforts to obtain terms from London and
North Western. — Approval of amalgamation bill. — Position of Midland
system. — Meeting, August, 1867- — Time of anxiety. — Circular of December
14th. — Alarm. — Criticisms. — Defence of Midland policy. — Special General
Meeting, January 15th, 1868. — Mr. Hutchinson's explanation. — Committee
of Consultation. — Report of Committee. — Keighley and Worth line. — Five
millions' bill. — Negotiations with London and North Western for access to
Scotland. — Bill brought before Parliament. — Opposition. — Abandonment.
— Bill rejected. — Progress of lines 166-189

CHAPTER XI.

Opening of new line to Sheffield. — Unstone Viaduct. — Expiration of lease
of Ambergate and Rowsley line, and amalgamation with the Midland Com-

CONTENTS. XI

PAGES

pany. — Terms. — State purchase of telegraphs. — Resignation of Mr. W. E.
Hutchinson as Chairman, of the Company. — Appointment of Mr. W. P.
Price, M.P., as Chairman, and Mr. E. S. Ellis, Vice-Chairman. — Amal-
gamation of the Midland and the "Little" North Western. — Opening of
coal-lines. — Complimentary dinner to Mr. Hatchinson. — Speeches of Mr.
Hatchinson and Mr. Allport. — Progress of the Company. — Battle of the
coal-rates between Midland and Great Northern. — The agreement. — The
rupture of the agreement. — Line to King's Norton. — Midland and Sheffield
Companies' new projects. — Arrangement. — Great Northern Company's
Derbyshire lines. — Objections of Midland Company. —Great Northern line
from Newark to Leicester. — Midland Company carries third-class passengers
by all trains. — Wolverhampton, Walsall, and Midland Junction line. — Bed-
ford and Northampton line opened. — Slip at Dove Holes Tunnel . . 190-206

CHAPTER XII.

Negotiations between Sheffield and Midland Companies. — Forty days'
battle in the Commons. — The chief portions of the bill rejected. — " Flirt-
ations " of the Sheffield Company. — Bill for amalgamation of Midland and
Glasgow and Sonth Western. — Mr. Price resigns the Chairmanship to
become a Railway Commissioner. — Rise of the price of everything connected
with railways. — Improved communication between Midland and North
Eastern system. — Origin of the Swinton and Knottingley line. — Congestion
of traffic at Normanton. — Sir Edmund Beckett and the Aquabus. — Rival
designs. — Evidence. — Decision of committee. — Bill passed. — Running
powers under the bill. — Manton and Rushton line sanctioned. — Cheshire
Lines Committee bill, for extension to North Docks at Liverpool. — New line
to Wigan. — Bill sanctioned. — Midland Company's access to South Wales. —
Existing through routes. — Mr. Noble's evidence. — Mr. Venables' speech. —
Hereford, Hay, and Brecon. — Proposed amalgamation with the Midland. —
Three years' litigation. — Swansea Vale line. — Evidence. — Midland proposal
to lease the Swansea Vale. — Terms. — Brecon and Neath Railway. — Evi-
dence.— Bill passed. — Testimonial to Mr. Price. — Abolition of Second
Class. — Opposition of other companies.— Lord Redesdale. — Settle and Car-
lisle line opened for goods. — Capital Account. — Chairman's retrospect. —
Lease of Somerset and Dorset. — Floods. — Cost and profit of St. Pancras
Hotel. — Mr. M. W. Thompson, Chairman. — Tribute to the memory of the
late Chairman, Mr. E. S. Ellis. — Mr. Allport's retirement from office of
General Manager. — Appointment of Mr. John Noble. — Doubling of Belsize
Tunnel. — Hellifield Junction. — "John Noble" expresses. — New station
and line at Market Harborough. — Report of Select Committee on rail-
ways (rates and fares). — Death of Mr. W. E. Hutchinson. — Dore and
Chinley Railway. — Cost of English rail ways. — Special meeting with respect
to Mr. Mundella's bill 207-245

CHAPTER XIII.

Who was Saint Pancras ? — Historical associations. — "An abomination of
desolation." — Chaos and Cosmos. — The Fleet Sewer. — Four acres of stow-

Xll

CONTENTS.

age. — The roofing. — One span or two ? — Construction of the roof. — The
travelling scaffold. — Three floors of railway. — Colouring of the roof. —
General appearance of the station. — Mr. G. G. Scott. — Midland Grand
Hotel. — Entrance hall. — Grand staircase. — Drawing and reading room. —
Private and bed rooms. — Clock tower. — Basement. — Old St. Pancras
Churchyard. — Junction with the Metropolitan. — Kentish Town. — Belsize
Tunnels. — Brent Junction. — Woodcock Hill Tunnel. — Elstree. — Radlett. —
Gorhambury. — Sopwell Nunnery. — St. Albans. — Harpenden. — Beds. — The
Chiltern Hills. — The Lee. — LutonHoo. — Luton. — DallowFarm. — Harling-
ton.— Flitwick. — Ampthill. — Houghton. — Elstow. — Bedford. — Bedford
and Leicester line. — The Ouse. — Sharnbrook Viaduct. — Northamptonshire.
— Ironstone. — Wellingborough Viaduct. — The Ise. — Kettering. — The Bap-
tist Mission House. — Rnshton. — The Triangular Lodge. — Leicestershire. —
Market Harborough. — Wigston. — Leicester. — Historical associations. —
Systcn. — Barrow Line works. — Mount Sorrel works. — Soar Bridge. —
Lough borough. — Trent Bridge. — Trent Station. — Borrowash. — Derby. —
Duffield.— Belper.— Crich Hill.— Lea Hurst.— High Peak Railway.— Wil-
lersley Castle. — "The cradle of the cotton manufacture." — Matlock. —
Darley Dale. — Seat of Sir Joseph Whitworth. — Cuatsworth. — Bakewell. —
Monsal Dale. — Miller's Dale and Viaduct. — Chee Vale. — Buxton. — Black,
well Junction. — Manchester Extension. — Dove Holes Tunnel. — " Swallow
Holes." — Engineering operations. — Chapel-le-Frith Viaduct. — Bagsworth
slip. — Line reconstructed. — New Mills. — Hayfield. — Marple. — Central
Station at Manchester. — Main line to Liverpool. — Risley Moss. — Railway
works. — Warrington. — Garston. — Central Station at Liverpool .

21G-314

CHAPTER XIV.

Trent. — The Erewash Valley. — Long Eaton. -Erewash Canal. — Stanton
Gate. — Ilkeston. — The Shipley Collieries. — Codnor Castle and Park. — Pinx-
tou Tramway. — Kirkby Castle. — Coates Park Tunnel. — Alfreton. — Clay
Cross. — Return to Ambergate. — Crich Hill. — Limeworks. — Bull Bridge
box. — Wingfield Manor House. — Clay Cross Collieries. — George Stephen-
son. — Coals and railways. — Wingerworth Hall. — Chesterfield. — Tapton
House. — "Old George," his rabbits and bees. — "Revolution House." —
Dronfield. — Bradway Tunnel. — Beauchieff Abbey. — Yorkshire. — Sheffield.
— Sheffield and Rotherham line. — Wincobank. — Masborough. — Old main
line from Chesterfield. — Staveley. — Treeton. — Rawmarsh. — Cudworth. —
Barnsley. — Royston. — Walton Hall. — Wakefield. — Normanton. — Leeds. —
Kirkstall Abbey. — Airedale. — Otley and Ilkley Branch. — Wharf edale. —
Ben Rhydding. — Apperley Gap. — Thackley Tunnel. — Gniseley Branch. —
Bradford.— Saltaire.— Bingley.— The Worth Valley.— Haworth.— Char-
lotte Bronte. — Keighley. — Kildwick. — Skipton. — Colne Branch. — York-
shire dales. — Gordale and Malham. — Settle. — Clapham. — Ingleborough. —
Hornby Castle. — Lancaster. — Morecambe. — Carnforth. — Engineering diffi-
culties and successes. — The Lake Side Station ...... 315-330

CONTENTS. Xlii

CHAPTER XY.

PiGES

The Settle and Carlisle projected. — Extraordinary difficulties of the
country. — Mr. Sharland. — Settle Station. — "Machines" and bogs. —
Craven Lirneworks. — Stainforth. — An old tarn. — The boulder clay. —
Geologists and Engineers. — " Slurry." — Selside. — A pot hole. — Blea Moor.
— A moorland town. — Batty Moss Viaduct. — Storms. — " A forlorn party."
— The contractor's hotel. — Blea Moor Tunnel. — A boiler up a mountain. —
Dynamite and potted lobster. — The Dent Valley. — Dent Head. — Arten
Gill. — Cow Gill. — Views of the country. — Garsdale. — "The Moorcock." —
The Hawes Branch. — An extraordinary embankment. — Dandry Mire Via-
duct.— Remarkable geological formation. — Lunds Viaduct. — Westmore-
land.— Mallerstang. — Ais Gill Viaduct. — Deep Gill. — Pendragon Castle. —
The Countess of Pembroke. — Intake Bank. — Birkett Tunnel. — Wharton
Hall. — Kirkby Stephen. — Smardale Viaduct. — Alarming incident. — Enor-
mous works. — Boulders. — Crosby Garrett. — Gallansey Cutting. — Crow
Hill Cutting. — Helm Tunnel. — Orm and Ormside. — Appleby. — Branch
lines to Penrith and the Lake District. — The Border wars. — Battle Brow
Bank. — A skew bridge. — Newbiggin Hall. — Amusing incident. — Crow-
dundle Beck and Viaduct. — Westmoreland. — Culgaith. — The Eamont and
the Eden. — Longwathby. — Robberby Beck. — Eden Lacy Viaduct. — Long
Meg and her Daughters. — Lazonby. — Kirkoswald. — Barren Wood. — The
Nunnery anditsiiistory. — Armathwaite. — Drybeck Viaduct. — A landslip. —
Eden Brow. — Heavy works. — Carlisle 351-400

CHAPTER XVI.

Derby to Birmingham. — Little Chester. — Findern. — Repton. — Foremark
Hall. — The Dove. — Burton-on-Trent. — Drakelow Park. — Barton. — Need-
wood. — Tamwoith. — Whitacre Junction. — Lawley Street. — Birmingham.
— King's Norton. — Worcester and Birmingham Canal. — Weoly Castle. —
Hawksley Hall. — Cofton Hall. — The Lickey Incline. — Working the
incline. — Bromsgrove. — Stoke Works. — Brine springs. — Droitwich. —
Legends and facts. — Westwood Park. — Worcester. — "The 0. W. and W."
— Croome Court and Park. — Defford Viaduct. — Bredon Hill. — Gloucester-
shire.— Ashchurch Junction. — Cheltenham. — Ermine Street. — Gloucester.
— Hill range. — Priory of Llanthony. — Broad Barrow Green. — Stonehouse.
— Nailsworth branch. — Woodchester Park. — Dursley. — Berkeley Castle. —
Stinchcombe Hill.— Stancombe Park. — Nibley. — William Tyndale. —
Wotton-under-Edge. — Tortworth. — Wickwar. — Yate. — Thornbury Castle
and Town.— Coal-pit Heath line. — Mangotsfield. — Bridges or tunnels? —
Bitton Cutting.— The Golden Valley.— Weston.— Bath.— Kingswood.—
Bristol . 401-418

CHAPTER XVII.

Nottingham, Mansfield, and Worksop line. — A prediction. — The coal-
field.— The ironstone-fields. — Wollaton Hall. — Newstead. — Mansfield. —
Worksop.— Trent, Nottingham, and Lincoln line. — Attenborough. — Not-

XIV CONTENTS.

PAGES

tinghara. — Newark. — Lincoln. — Southwell. — Mansfield. — Nottingham and
Melton line. — New bridge over Trent. — Bridge building. — The line south-
ward.— Plnmtree. — Widmerpool. — Dalby-on-the- Wolds. — Grimstone Tun-
nel.— Saxelby Tunnel. — Asfordby Tunnel. — Melton. — Kettering and Man-
ton line. — The Welland Valley. —Wing. — Manton. — Syston and Peter-
borough line. — Melton Mowbray. — Stapleford Hall. — Burleigh House. —
John Clare. — Coalville. — Ashby-de-la-Zouch. — Moira. — Bedford and
Hitchin line. — Barnt Green and Ashchurch loop line. — Eedditch. —
Evesham. — Ashchurch. — Worcester and Swansea route. — Malvern. —
Hereford. — Morehampton. — Brecon. — Swansea. — Leicester and Eugby
line. — Kettering and Huntingdon 419-441

CHAPTER XVIII.

Shareholders and their Meetings. — The Company's Seal. — Chairman's
address. — Scenes dull, and scenes animated. — The Board. — Directors'
Committees. — The Secretary of the Company. — The General Manager. —
The Superintendent. — Appointments. — Superintendent - inspectors. —
Guards. — Inspector-guards. — Pointsmen. — Clerks. — Tickets. — The Detec-
tive Department. — Amusing incidents. — The Goods Department. — A visit
to St. Pancras Goods Station at night. — The Locomotive Department. —
The new Locomotive Establishment at Derby.— Visit to the works.— The
erecting shops. — The lower turnery.— The wheel turnery. — The boiler
shop. — The "buzzer." — The express. — Biding on an engine. — Awkward
accidents. — "A bird with one wing." — "Pinching" an engine. — Engine
drivers and their ways. — The night mail. — Unpleasant contingencies. —
Night work. — The mail. — The post-office van.— The running shed. — The
last new engines. — Statistics of engines. — The new Carriage and Wagon
works. — Civil engineers. — Services of engineers. — Conclusion . . . 442-496

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

FROM DRAWINGS BY T. SULMAN, E. M. WIMPERIS, THE AUTHOR, ETC.,
ENGRAVED UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF T. SULMAX.

PAGE

Deep Gill . . . Title-page

Source of the Erewash ... 1

Pinxton Wharf .... 2

The Charnwood Forest Canal . 3

Birthplace of the Midland Railway 7

Bridge over the Trent ... 13
Borrowash — Railway, River, and

Canal 21

Avon Viaduct, near Rugby . . 24

Nottingham (old) Station . . 25

Long Eaton Station (1839) . . 31

Ambergate Valley .... 41

View of Ambergate Tunnel . . 42

Bull Bridge 43

Clay Cross Junction ... 47

The Anker Viaduct ... 53

Tewkesbury 59

Gloucester 63

Bristol 65

Metal Ticket 69

Leicester Station (West Bridge),

1832 71

Nottingham Station ... 89

Worcester 97

Wellingborongh Viaduct (1858) . 108

MonsalDale 109

Chee Vale . . . .110, 111
Blackwell Mill Junction . .122

Trent Station 123

Beaumont Leys, near Leicester . 124

Barnsley Viaduct .... 133

Footbridge in Monsal Dale . . 134

Liverpool, from the Mersey . . 152
Carlisle Station . . . .158

Bugsworth Viaducts— 1866 to 1885 164

Apperley Viaduct . • . . 176

Brent Viaduct .... 182
Retaining Walls, Haverstock Hill

Station 188

St. Pancras Goods Station (1869) 189
Unstone Viaduct, Chesterfield and

Sheffield Line . . . .191

Sawley Bridge, near Trent . . 194

PARE

Slip at Dove Holes Cutting . . 204
Dove Holes Cutting Cleared . . 205
Swansea. . . . . .238

Lea Wood, near Cromford . . 245
Doubling of Metropolitan Railway 248
The Fleet Sewer . . . .249

St. Pancras Cellars. . . .251

Belsize Tunnel, South Entrance . 264
Bridge under Hampstead Junction 267
St. Albans . . . .271

Luton . .... 273

Dallow Farm . . . .274

Elstow . .... 276

The Ouse . . . .277

Bunyan's Cottage .... 277

Elstow School . . . .277

Bunyan 277

Bedford Bridge . . . .277
Houghton Conquest . . . 277
Locomotive Establishment, Wel-

lingborough .... 281
The Baptist Mission House, Ket-

tering 282

Rushton Triangular Lodge . . 283

Leicester 286

Soar Bridge, near Barrow-on-Soar 289
Willersley Cutting. AWinter Sketch 296
High Tor, Matlock Bath . . 297

Haddon Hall 298

Chatsworth 299

Near Cressbrook .... 300

Monsal Dale 301

Miller's Dale 302

Miller's Dale Viaduct ... 303

TopleyPike 304

Pig Tor 305

Ashwell Dale Bridge ... 306
Chapel Milton Viaduct, Chapel-en-

le-Frith 314

Codnor Castle . . . .317
Wingfield Manor House . . 320
Beauchieff Abbey . . . .324
Leeds 331

XVI

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

Kirkstall Abbey . . . . 3J2
Ben Rhyddiug . . . .333
Ben Rhyddiug, Nortb Wing and

Tower 334

Ilkloy 335

Middleton Ludge .... 336

Holiin Hall 337

Holton Abbey and Hall ... 338
The Stepping Stones, Bolton

Abbey . .' . . .3-39

Above the Strid .... 340

Bardon Tower .... 341

Airedale Viaduct, on Guiseley Line 342

Bradford 343

Saltaire . . . • • 341
Niphany Viaduct, near Skipton, as

it was 345

Kipbauy Viaduct, as it is . . 345
Clapham Station and Viaduct, and

Ingleborough .... 346
Aqueduct near Lancaster . .317

Lancaster 348

Morecambe ..... :49

Lake Side Station, Windermere . 350

Piel Pier, near Barrow-in-Furness 352

The Ambulance .... 355

The Bog Cart .... 3."6

Sheriff Brow Bridge . . . 357

Ribblehead Viaduct, Blea Moor . 361

The Contractors' Hotel, Blea Moor 364

Batty Moss Viaduct . . . 3'!8

Blea Moor Tunnel— North End . 369

Dent Head Viaduct . . ... 871

Midland Train Snowed up near Dent 372

Arten Gill Viaduct . . . 3/3

Dandry Mire Viaduct . . . 375

Mallerstang 377

Intake Embankment . . . 379
Birkett Cutting . . . .380
Smardale Viaduct in Course of

Construction .... 381
Ormside Viaduct . . . .386

Appleby 387

Helvellyn 388

Grasmere 389

Grasmere Church .... 389

Wordsworth Cottage ... 389

Wordsworth's Grave . . - 389

Rydal Mount 391

Rydal Vale 391

Rydal Water 391

De Quincey's Cottage . - .391

Nab Cottage 391

Crowdundle Vale and Viaduct . 393

Baron Wood Cutting . . . 397

Armathwaite 398

Derby 402

Derby Curve Bridge . . . 403
Hampton Station .... 404
Lawley Street Goods Station, Bir-
mingham 405

Shakespeare's House . . . 407

Stratford-on-Avon Church . . 407

Shakespeare's Tomb . . . 4i>7

Shakespeare's Birthplace . . 407
Westwood Park . . . .409

Croome Court .... 410
Defford Bridge . . . .411

Bitton Bridge over the Avon . 416

Weston Bridge over the Avon . 417

Platelayers relaying Line near Yate 418
Wollaton Hall . . . .421

Newstead Abbey .... 422

Newark Castle .... 425

Lincoln 426

Viaduct across Reservoir near

Mansfield 427

Trent Bridge, on Nottingham and

Melton Line . . . . 423
Groby Tunnel and Bardon Hill,

Leicester and Swannington Line 434

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle . . 435

AtEvesham 436

Malvern Station and Hotel . . 437
Hay and the Wye . . . .438
Glasbury and the Wye . . .439

Brecon Castle and Viaduct . . 440

Lenton Station .... 441

Sir James Allport .... 447
Punch-Bowl Bridge, Low Bentham,

Lancashire . . . . .461

Locomotive Department, Derby . 468

Sutton Swing Bridge, Lincolnshire 477

New Midland Express Engine . 482

New Midland Bogie Engine . . 483

The Break-down Train . . 484

New Midland Bogie Carriage . 489

Interior of Pullman Car . . 490

Pullman Parlour and Sleeping Cars 491

Directors' Carriage . . . 492
Rail-Testing Machine at Entrance

to Belsize Tunnel . . .494
The Midland Grand Hotel, St.

Pancras . . . .493

CHAPTER I.

A Village Inn. — The Erewash * Valley. — The coal owners of the Erewash.—
Navigable highways. — The- river Soar. — An accident. — The Charnwood
Forest Canal. — A new competitor. — Mr. John Ellis. — " Old George." — The
Leicester and Swannington Railway. — Cheap coals at Leicester. — Confer-
ences of the Canal Committees. — The Midland Counties Railway projected.
— Earliest subscribers. — Meeting at Leicester. — Mr. Jessop's report. —
Identity of the earliest scheme with that eventually carried out. — Mr.
George Ronnie's report. — Mr. Viguoles appointed engineer. — Excellence of
the route. — Trent Bridge. — Proposals of Northampton people and others.
— Financial arrangements of the Midland Counties Company.— Evidence
submitted to Parliament concerning the trade and trading facilities of the
Midland counties. — Private Bill legislation of the time.— Objections to
Railways. — Opposition to the Erewash Valley Railway project. — The North
Midland. — " A slip 'twixt the cup and the lip." — First General Meeting of
Midland Counties shareholders. — Progress of the works. — Aeurious incident.
— Opening of the Nottingham and Derby portion. — Opening of the whole
line. — Prospects of the undertaking. — Threatened competition. — The Bir-
mingham and Derby. — Mr. Hutchinson's protest. — Fierce contest. — Disap-
pointment.— Reduction of expenditure. — After
war, peace. — Amalgamation proposed and
effected.

LITTLE group of plain practical men
were, on the morning of the 16th of
August, 1832, sitting round the parlour
table of a village inn in Nottingham-
shire. They were coal-masters — deep
in mines, in counsel, and in pocket.
Once a week they were wont to meet
at " The Sun," at Eastwood, to ponder
their dark designs ; and, when business
was over, they solaced themselves

* The initial letter represents the source of the Erewash, at Kirkby, in
Nottinghamshire.

2 THE PINXTON TRAMWAY,

with the best fare the landlord could provide, and with wine from
their pi-ivate cellar, for the safe custody of which mine host levied
a toll of half a crown for every cork he drew. From that hill-
top could be seen the valley of the river Erewash, with its rich
meadows and doddei'ed willows by the water-courses, its grey
uplands and scanty timber : that valley, then, as now, one of the
great highways of England, beneath which, centuries before, the
lead-miners of Derbyshire had come to delve for coal, where
many a deep shaft had since been driven, and whence many a
working ran.

Five miles to the north of Eastwood, a tramway, worked by
horses, had for twelve years or more wound its devious way
among the hills, carrying coals and cotton from the Pinxton

PIXXTON \YIIAKF.

wharf of the Cromford Canal up to Mansfield, and bringing back
stone, lime, and corn to the canal. And many a deeply laden
barge floated from thence down the broad coal valley of the
Erewash, past the hills and pits of Eastwood, across the Trent, up
the Soar, and on to Leicester and the south, bearing comfort to
many a hearth, and bringing back gold in return.

The coal-owners of the Erewash were a very pi-osperous race,
and they won their prosperity by an accident. From time imme-
morial the coals that any district yielded had usually been
consumed within that district ; for pack-horses and mules could
not bear so heavy a commodity very far from home. Thus the
pits of Nottinghamshire had supplied Nottinghamshire, and those
of Leicestershire, Leicestershire. But when the last century was

AN ACCIDENT. 3

drawing to a close, and inland navigation was spreading its watery
highways far and wide through the land, canals were projected
down the Erewash Valley to the Trent, and it was proposed to
make the Soar navigable on to Leicester, so that the products of
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire might be conveyed, not only into
the town of Nottingham, but on to the Leicestershire markets and
the south. The Leicestershire coal-owners were alarmed. They
saw how, if these plans were carried out, it would soon be cheaper
to bring coals by canal from the northward, than by road from the
pits in their own county, and that their trade would be ruined.
Resistance was organized. Nor was it stayed until the projectors
of the Soar navigation undertook to make, not only their canal

'i. >

CIIAEXWOOD FOREST CANAL.

from the Trent to Leicester, but also a branch canal from Lough-
borough, across Charnwood Forest, to the Leicestershire pits at
Coleorton and Moira. Thus, it was thought, equal facilities would
be secured for each competitor : there would henceforth be water-
carriage for both counties and from both coal-fields.

Events, however, issued otherwise. In the year 1798, the
Loughborough Canal and the extension to Coleorton were made.
But in the succeeding winter a very deep snow-fall was followed
by a rapid and disastrous thaw, and the embankments of both the
reservoir and the canal were broken down, and much property was
destroyed. The works were never restored ; and, in 1838, an Act
was obtained to authorize the abandonment of the line and the sale
of the land. And " The Charnwood Forest Canal " may still be
traced among the Avooded hills and dales of Leicestershire : anon

4 THE CHARNWOOD FOREST CANAL.

a dry ditch, tangled over with briers and underwood, and then
carried across massive bridges and along lofty embankments, the
sides of which have been planted with saplings and bun-owed by
rabbits; here it has been levelled down by the ploughshare and
is fruitful with grain, and there it is overshadowed by trees half
a century old.

Meanwhile the Loughborough Canal prospered ; and well it
might. " There was only one Soar to be had," as Mr. E. S. Ellis
remarked to us. " It has easily been turned into a canal ; it
obtained the monopoly, and kept it." The shares, on which £140
had been paid, rose to £4500 each, and were considered to be
as safe as consols. And so matters continued for more than
thirty years.

At length the monopoly even of canals began to be threatened.
A new competitor was coming into the field. The Stockton and
Darlington Railway had been completed, the Liverpool and Man-
chester line was in course of construction, and the idea was
spreading that railways were likely to succeed. Two or three
enterprising men in Leicester shared these impressions, and they
conferred on the subject with Mr. John Ellis, their townsman.
He replied that he had no practical acquaintance with the making
or working of railways ; but he did not discourage the project.
At that time he was associated with some other gentlemen in the
reclamation of a part of Chat Moss, — that vast morass over which
George Stephenson was then carrying the Liverpool and Man-
chester Railway ; and Mr. Ellis promised that he would ask the
advice of his friend Stephenson. Accordingly, a week or two
afterwards, Mr. Ellis went from Chat Moss in search of the great
engineer, and found him very busy, and, we must add, very
"cross," in Rainhill Cutting. " Old George," as he was familiarly
called, refused to discuss the matter. Mr. Ellis for a while forbore
with his friend's infirmity, and at length induced him to go to a
village inn hard by, that they might have a beefsteak together
for dinner. Good humour soon returned ; Mr. Ellis explained his
plans, and George Stephenson undertook to go over to Leicester
and see the country. He did so ; and his report as to the practic-
ability of a railway being carried through it was favourable. He
was then requested to undertake the office of engineer. This he
declined. " He had," he said, " thirty-one miles of railway to

THE SWANNINGTON EAILWAY. 5

make, and that was enough for any man at a time." But, being
asked if he could recommend any one for this service, he men-
tioned the name of his son Robert, who had recently returned
from South America, and the father added that he would himself
be responsible that the work should be well done. The matter
was so arranged ; and when, not long afterwards, a difficulty arose
in obtaining the requisite capital for the new undertaking, — in
consequence of many of the well-to-do Leicester people being
already interested in canals, — George Stephenson further showed
his practical interest in the work. "Give me a sheet of paper,"
he said to his friend Ellis, " and I will raise the money for you
in Liverpool." In a short time a complete list of subscribers
was returned.

The Leicester and Swannington line was commenced about the
latter end of the year 1830 ; and one spring morning in 1832 Mr.
Ellis said to his son, then a lad of fifteen, "Edward, thou shalt go
down with me, and see the new engine get up its steam." The
machinery had been conveyed by water from Stephenson's factory
at Newcastle-on-Tyne to the West Bridge Wharf at Leicester ; it
had been put together in a little shed built for its accommodation ;
it was named " The Comet " ; and it was the first locomotive that
ever ran south of Manchester.

On the 17th of July, 1832, amid great rejoicings, and the roar
of cannon that had been cast for the occasion, the new line was
opened — a line which brought the long neglected coalfields of
Leicestershire almost to the doors of the growing population and
thriving industries of the county town.

These events could not but exercise a decisive influence on the
position and prospects of the Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire
coal trade; and when the coal-masters met at the "Sun Inn" on
the 16th of August, 1832, a shadow rested on their faces. The
dry ditch in Charnwood Forest could no longer shut Leicester-
shire coal out of the Leicestershire market ; the Swannington
line had been five weeks at work ; George Stephenson had opened
his new pits at Snibston, and was delivering coal at Leicester at
less than ten shillings a ton ; and the people of Leicester would
soon be saving £40,000 a year in fuel — enough to pay all the
parochial and government taxes of the town. The Nottingham-
shire coal trade had, of course, immediately suffered ; and it was

0 CONPEEENCBS OP COAL COMMITTEES.

obvious that, unless the cost of carriage southwai'd could be
reduced, the coal-masters of Eastwood and of all that country
side Avould be excluded from their chief markets, and the mining
population would be thrown out of employment.

Conferences had already been held with the committees of the
Erewash, the Soar, and the Leicester canals ; and the latter had
admitted that they were " very desirous to endeavour to agree on
such a reduction of tonnage on coals as would enable the Derby-
shire and Nottinghamshire coals to be sold in the Leicester
market in fair competition with the coals brought by the Leicester
and Swannington Railway." It was indispensable, however, that
a reduction of 3s. 6d. on every ton of coals delivered at Leicester
should be obtained : the only question was whether the coal-owners
or the canal proprietors were to make the sacrifice. " After a
consultation of two hours " the canal committees offered to lower
their rates Is. 6d. ; but they insisted that the coal-owners should
consent to reduce their prices 2s. a ton. " To this proposition the
coal-masters did not see right to agree ; " and they contended that
each of the three canals ought to lower their rates a shilling, and
the coal-owners would reduce their coals a shilling; a reduction,
they astutely suggested, " \vhich would have the effect of not
merely enabling the Derbyshire coals to compete on equal terms
with the Bagworth and other coals brought by the railway, but
would have a great effect in deterring persons from investing
capital in sinking to other and better beds of coal." In answer to
this proposal, the canal committees gave in their ultimatum — that
they would each allow a drawback of sixpence a ton " on such
coals only as should be delivered at Leicester at 10s. a ton." This
" extraordinary proposal " — as the coal-owners pronounced it — was
" at once rejected," and the meeting broke up.

Such were the reports that were presented when the coal-
masters met on the memorable 16th of August, 1832. After
anxious deliberation upon all the facts before them, they pro-
ceeded to enter on their minutes the declaration, that " there re-
mains no other plan for their adoption than to attempt to lay a
raihcay from these collieries to the toivn of Leicester." A committee
of seven gentlemen was appointed to give effect to this decision
by taking " such steps as they may deem expedient." Such was
the origin of the Midland Counties Railway ; and the " Sun Tun,"

BIRTHPLACE OP THE MIDLAND BAIL WAY. 7

at Eastwood, was thus the birthplace of the earliest of those lines
which afterwards became united into what is now known as the
Midland Railway.

Further consideration served only to strengthen the resolution
at which the coal-masters had arrived. Eleven days afterwards
— August 27th — at the neighbouring town of Alfreton, it was de-
cided that the public should be invited to co-operate for a
continuation of the Mansfield and Pinxton line from Pinxton to

-^.

BIRTHPLACE OF THE 5IIDLAXD RAILWAY.

Leicester ; and on the 4th of October, at a special meeting at the
" Sun Inn," at Eastwood, it was unanimously decided that a
"railway be forthwith formed from Pinxton to Leicester, as essen-
tial to the interests of the coal-trade of this district." Words
were succeeded by deeds, and the following gentlemen put doAvn
their names and promises of subscriptions for the accomplishment
of the object contemplated :

* As it appeared in 1832.

MEETING AT LEICESTEE.

Messrs. Barber and Walker £10,000

Mr. E. M. Mundy 5,000

Mr. John Wright 5,000

Mr. Francis Wright 5,000

Mr. James Oakes 2,500

Mr. Brittain 1,500

Messrs. Coupland and Goodwill 1,500

Messrs. Haslam 1,500

£32.000

It was also directed that steps should be taken for giving the
requisite notices preliminary to an appeal to Parliament in the
ensuing session. It was subsequently announced that the Duke of
Portland, Mr. Morewood, and Mr. Coke had each subscribed
£5,000 ; and deputations were appointed to endeavour to secure
the co-operation of the Dukes of Newcastle and Richmond, of
Lord Middleton, and Sir F. Freeling. It is significantly added in
the Eastwood minutes that " a report on the subject of carriage
by locomotive power was laid before the meeting " : no decision
having then been arrived at on that essential matter.

A meeting also was held in Leicester, October 4th, 1832, of
subscribers to the projected line ; Mr. Mundy occupying the chair.
' The construction of a railway from Leicester to Swannington,"
said the local journal, " and the speculations in progress for
bringing the coal of the contiguous district into the Leicester
market, having threatened the collieries of Derbyshire and
Nottinghamshire with the loss of that portion of their trade which
they have hitherto enjoyed along the navigation of the Soar,
amounting to a quantity perhaps not less than 160,000 tons
annually," an effort had been made to induce the canal proprietors
so to lower their charges that (i the trade, or at least a portion of
it," might be retained in its " antient channells." These attempts,
however, had failed, and the coal proprietors had adopted the only
alternative left to them, of proposing the construction of a railway
to Leicester ; in which, on account of the benefits it would confer
on the town, and also as a profitable investment of capital, the co-
operation of the public was invited.

It was added, that, " in the approaching session of Parliament,
the legislative sanction is confidently anticipated for the formation
of a railway from London to Birmingham," which, " on the com-

THE MIDLAND COUNTIES RAILWAY. 9

pletion of the Midland Counties Railway, would admit of a grand
central communication being effected from London to Mansfield."

In February, 1833, Mr. Jessop, the engineer, reported to his
friends at Eastwood that there had been " no possibility of bring-
ing a bill into Parliament" during that session; but that they
" had met with much encouragement in London to prosecute the
measure before the next session." It has, indeed, been suggested
that at this period the original project of the Eastwood coal-
masters was abandoned ; and that the scheme eventually carried
out was entirely new. " The former company," said Mr. J. Fox
Bell, the secretary of the Midland Counties Railway, " now wound
up its affairs and died." " The first line failed," he added, " be-
cause it stopped at Leicester, and did not go on to join the London
and Birmingham line of railway." But though, as Bishop Butler
shows, it is sometimes difficult to apply the doctrine of personal
identity, and though, for forensic reasons, it may have been con-
venient to separate in thought the original Pinxton and Leicester
project from the Pinxton and Rugby line, yet it is unquestionable
that the promoters of the former undertaking were the promoters
and directors of the second ; that the route selected (with the
exception of the extension from Leicester to Rugby) was the same ;
that the subscribers of capital were the same ; that the solicitors
were the same ; that the interests involved and the objects kept in
view were the same ; and that nothing was done to disconnect in
the public mind the scheme of the beginning of 1833 from that of
the end of the same year. Moreover, we can find no trace in the
minute-books of the Eastwood coal-masters of any indication of any
break in their course of action : on the contrary, the continuity of
the whole is plainly implied. In August, Mr. Jessop reports, in the
same breath, the increase of the Swannington coal trade, the
decrease of their own, the necessity for a reduction of price, and
the result of a meeting just held at Leicester in the interests of
the intended railway ; and before the year had closed, the Eastwood
coal-masters expressly requested those of their number who had
"subscribed for shares in the Midland Counties Railway " to
.enter their names in the subscription list, and " to pay their
deposit money."

Meanwhile, Mr. George Rennie, the civil engineer, was requested
by the Provisional Committee to examine the line which Mr. Jessop

10 RENNIE 's REPORT,

had proposed, to report upon its eligibility, and to point out any
improvements that could be effected. Accordingly, Mr. Rennie
accompanied Mr. Jessop over the route, and minutely compared
the plans and sections of the projected line with the natural fea-
tures of the country. He at length reported that the district
through which it was intended to carry the railway included
" portions of the valleys of the rivers Soar, Derwent, Erewash, and
Trent. These valleys converge together from almost opposite
points of the compass, resembling in figure a bent cross." Three
of them fall from three to five feet in a mile, and the Erewash
decends twelve feet in a mile. " Their width," he continued, " is
sufficient to allow a line of railway to be carried in nearly a straight
direction. In selecting a line, therefore, little else seemed to have
been required than to preserve the natural inclination and direction
of the country ; but as, practically, there were obstacles to be over-
come, it was found not only necessary to raise the surface of the
line above the heights of the floods, but to regulate the levels by
the existing bridges and roads. This Mr. Jessop has done very
judiciously, and the line, though sufficiently elevated, still follows
the natural inclination of the country. From the direct course of
the valleys, the length of the line in the distance of thirty-four
miles between Leicester and Pinxton is only two and a half miles
more than a straight line from point to point. In like manner the
line from Derby to Nottingham is only one mile longer than a
straight line." The line from Leicester to Rugby, though passing-
through a more varied and irregular country, could be made with-
out " any difficulty which could not be overcome at a compara-
tively moderate cost."

Mr. Rennie concluded by saying that, " taking all these circum-
stances into consideration, its locality in an extensive and populous
manufacturing and mining district, and the very important
communications it would effect from its central position," he was
of opinion that the project was one that " presented advantages
which seldom occurred in similar undertakings."

In November, 1833, the parliamentary notices for the Midland
Counties Railway were deposited, and the usual documents were
lodged with the clerks of the peace of the counties through which
the line was to run ; and shortly afterwards it was publicly an-
nounced that the projected line was " intended to connect the

MB. VIGNOLBS, H

towns of Leicester, Nottingham, and Derby, with each other, and
with London : a junction for this latter object being designed with
the London and Birmingham. Railway near Rugby. A branch
would also extend to the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire col-
lieries, and to the termination of the Mansfield Railway at
Pinxton." It was added that, " from a very careful estimate of
the sources and amount of income on this railway, it appears that
a clear annual return of twenty per cent, might be expected from
the capital invested." The works north of Leicester might, it
Avas thought, be completed within two years from the passing of
the Act, and the portion between Leicester and Rugby would
be ready by the time the London and Birmingham line was
opened.

But these encouraging anticipations were not realized. Though,
by the March following (1834), application had been made for
shares to the amount of more than £125,000, this was insufficient
to justify an appeal to Parliament in the ensuing session. Accord-
ingly, the notices previously given were repeated, the plans were
again deposited, and several thousand additional prospectuses were
issued; but the enterprise itself remained for another year in
abeyance.

The delay thus occasioned was not without advantages. Oppor-
tunities were secured for reconsidering some of the contemplated
arrangements, and in the summer of 1835 it was suggested by
certain of the Lancashire shareholders that the entire route should
be re-surveyed, in order " to find out the very best line to join the
London and Birmingham Railway ; combining as much as possible
the communication to the west with the best line to London " ;
and it was proposed that Mr. Charles B. Vignoles, late the Presi-
dent of the Institution of Civil Engineers, should be employed in
this service. That gentleman had acquired much experience as an
engineer in the construction of the Kingstown and Dublin, and
other public roads ; he had laid out several railways, and he was
favourably known in the north when engaged under George
Stephenson on the Liverpool and Manchester line. Accordingly,
in August, 1835, Mr. Babington, the chairman of the projected
Midland Counties Railway, requested Mr. Vignoles to meet him
in Liverpool to arrange the terms on which his professional services
might be secured ; in the following month Mr. Vignoles became

12 VIGNOLES' KEPOET.

the responsible engineer of the line ; the appointment was officially
confirmed about the close of the year ; and he undertook, as he
expressed it, to prepare the line for Parliament " as though no
other engineer had been engaged on it."

Mr. Vignoles had not been long at work before he found that
the estimates previously made would not, in his judgment, be
sufficient for the proper completion of the undertaking ; and in the
following January (1836) his official report confirmed this opinion.
He accordingly recommended that, at some additional cost, a tun-
nel, which it had been intended to make between Rugby and
Leicester, should be avoided, and that other material improvements
should be effected ; and eventually it was decided that the capital
previously estimated at £600,000 should be increased to £800,000.

The line as thus planned was excellent. The quantity of
materials required for embankments and cuttings balanced each
other. There was a uniform gradient falling from Leicester to the
Trent of only 1 in 1000, which was practically equal to a level.
There was no curve of less than a mile radius. The bridge over
the Trent was provided for at an estimated expense of £9,000.
The line from Derby to Nottingham also was pronounced to be on
a " remarkably favourable " gradient. There were no tunnels on
the whole system except the archway near Leicester, and a short
tunnel under Red Hill, near the Trent. Embankments of sufficient
but not serious elevation would raise the line above the flats and
the floods of Loughborough meadows, and of the valley of the
Trent.

In the month of November of the same year, an important
change was suggested in the policy of the promoters of the new
line. The people of Northampton had begun to repent of the
opposition they had previously given to the London and Birming-
ham Railway — an opposition Avhich had driven that line four miles
to the west of their town, and had compelled the construction, at
enormous cost, of the Kilsby tunnel ; and some influential residents
now addressed a letter to the committee of the new undertaking,
inquiring whether it was " yet open for consideration " to alter the
course of the projected Midland Counties line so as to pass through
Northampton instead of to Rugby, " if a certain number of shares
were subscribed forr in some degree to meet the additional expense
incurred." It was intimated that by crossing Northamptonshire a

ROUTE OF PEOJECTED LINE.

large trade, especially in cattle, would be secured to the railway,
and that it was " altogether a better route for traffic than the one
now selected."

The reply was unequivocal. It had been " decided." said Mr.
Bell, for the Midland Counties Railway to join the London and
Birmingham Railway at Rugby ; the plans and other documents
as required by Parliament had been prepared, and they would be

BRIDGE OVER THE TRENT.*

deposited on the following Monday, " the last day allowed for that
purpose."

But the advocates of the Northampton extension were not
silenced by this rebuff ; and when, in the following February,
1836, a town's meeting was held at Leicester to support the Mid-
land Counties project, a deputation from Northampton came upon
the field. In fact, three opponents, in three different interests,

* The entrance to Red Hill tunnel, and also the junction of the river Soar
with the Trent, are seen on the right.

14 PROPOSALS OF NORTHAMPTON PEOPLE.

appeared. One person moved a resolution condemning the line
altogether. But he was soon disposed of, for " only one finger was
held up for his motion." Others advocated a change in the route :
that it should be carried to the west of Leicester instead of to the
east, that it should have a junction with the Swannington line,
and then proceed northward through Wanlip and Quorndon. But
this alteration was objectionable to the friends of the Midland
Counties line for several reasons. The western route would have
had inferior levels ; it would have entered the outskirts of the worst
part of the town ; it would have been a mile from the market-
place, and from the principal inns and warehouses ; it would in
its course have interfered somewhat needlessly with private resi-
dences ; its cost would have been considerably greater, because its
embankments would have required 300,000 cubic yards, and its
cuttings 500,000 cubic yards more material, and its masonry would
have been much heavier than on the eastern route, besides leaving
a deficiency of earth with which to make the embankment that
must be carried across the Loughborough meadows. In addition
to all this, there was the fact that a junction with the Swanning-
ton line would have enabled the Leicestershire coal to compete
with that from Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire wherever the
Midland Counties line ran : and this was to its projectors a
sufficient objection to the proposed change of route ; though it was
an argument which they, rather than the public, might be ex-
pected to appreciate. On this subject the Leicester meeting
appears to have been agreed : only one hand was held up for the
amendment.

On the third point — the Northampton route — its advocates were
allowed to say their say. But one fact outweighed all their argu-
ments. It was, that the Leicester traders were anxious for an
outlet not only to London and the south, but also to Birmingham
and the west of England, and this the Northampton route would
not have supplied. Though the proposed Northampton line would
have been more than twice as long as the extension to Rugby- —
and would have cost, according to the estimate of Mr. Vignoles,
£500,000 additional — it would, on a journey through Northampton
to London, have been only four miles shorter than through Rugby ;
while the distance from Leicester to Birmingham by way of
Northampton and Blisworth would have been so circuitous as in

DIRECTORS AND SHAREHOLDERS, 15

the opinion of Leicester men to have been practically valueless.
In fact, the feeling of the meeting was so decided that the amend-
ment was withdrawn without being put to the vote. " The
proposal," said some who were present, " was scouted by the
meeting."

After five hours' discussion the meeting drew to a close, the last
speakers being interrupted by cries of " Question ! question !
Dinner ! dinner ! " And eventually, as a local chronicler records,
the " worthy ratepayers " of Leicester hurried home to their
" beef over-roasted and puddings overdone."

The financial arrangements of the Midland Counties Railway
project were, when laid before Parliament, satisfactory. The pro-
posed capital was £1,000,000, with borrowing powers for a third
more ; it being estimated, however, that the Avorks could be com-
pleted for £800,000. Of this amount £786,500 had been subscribed
in shares of £100, on each of which a deposit had been paid of £2,
and a call of £5. It is worthy of notice that the directors, — Avho
included the names of T. E. Dicey, Matthew Babington, William
Jessop, E. M. Mundy, and J. Oakes, — held more than £95,000 of
shares ; and also that among the earliest supporters of railway
enterprise were the then Prime Minister, Viscount Melbourne,
"Downing Street," whose name is on the shareholders' list for
£5,000 ; John Cheetham, of Staley Bridge, £10,000 ; and Thomas
Houldsworth, Manchester, £15,000 ; while among those who were
considered to have had a local interest in the line were —

John Ellis, Beaumont Leys, Farmer 500

William Evans Hutcliinsou, Leicester, Druggist . . 1,000

Thomas Edward Dicey, Claybrooke Hall 2,000

Joseph Cripps, Leicester, Draper 2,000

George Walker, for Barber, Walker & Co., Eastwood . 10,000

To aid in obtaining so large an amount of support, Mr. Bell,
the Secretary, had visited several of the towns in the midland
counties, and also in the north of England ; and partly as a result
of these efforts, Manchester had subscribed no less than £356,200 ;
Yorkshire had contributed £7,000; Bath, £500; and Cheltenham,
£1,000. Ireland also had taken £1,800 of capital; South America,
£2,000, and the West Indies, £2,000. On returning from this
circuit Mr. Bell announced that the subscription list was full.

1(5 " FLY WAGONS " AND COACHES.

The shares, too, were at a premium. — " Should you consider," —
ingenuously suggested one of the counsel for the bill, when it was
before Parliament, — " Should you consider it any objection to a
scheme of this kind, that it has commanded the favour and
support of the whole world ? " — With equal naivete the witness
replied, " Certainly not."

It is due to these early friends of the Midland Counties Railway
to add that " the railway mania " had not at this period begun to
make the projection of new lines a fashion and a passion in the
land.

The benefits that were likely to be conferred by the contem-
plated railway will, perhaps, be better understood if we ascertain,
from the evidence formally submitted to Parliament, the nature of
the trade and of the trading facilities at that time possessed by the
midland counties of England. Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester
were then, as now, important centres of industry, receiving and
distributing large quantities both of the raw material and of the
products of their manufactui-ing skill, and holding constant com-
munication with the metropolis, with Bii'mingham, with the West
of England, and with each other.

But the only modes of conveyance at that time were three : the
canal, the fly wagon, and the coach ; and the charges made were
proportionate to the speed. Wool, for instance, required two days
to 'travel the fifteen miles between Leicester and Market Har-
borough, and the expense was sixpence a hundredweight, the
distance being, it was said, " so short, and the traffic so unim-
portant that they are obliged to charge an extra price." Only
three coaches ran daily each way from Leicester to Nottingham,
in addition to those that passed to and from more distant points,
and on which little reliance could be placed by local travellers.
Similarly many of the " fly wagons " were long stagers, and were
of secondary benefit to the intermediate towns. Meanwhile the
charge for haberdashery, from London to Leicester, was £2 15s.
a ton by canal, 5s. a hundredweight by wagon, and a penny a
pound by coach.

Such means of communication and such prices could not but
cripple a growing trade. Thus Mr. James Rawson, of Leicester,
stated that he employed from 1,000 to 1,400 people in the staple

TEADE OF THE MIDLAND COUNTIES. 17

trade of that town — the manufacture of worsted and of stockings ;
that it was indispensable to obtain the wools of the West of Eng-
land, " because the wool grown in Leicestershire would not supply
a twentieth part of the quantity required"; yet that the canal
communication between Leicester and Birmingham was double the
distance of a direct route ; and the land carnage cost 30s. a ton.

The respective conveyances, too, were often unable to carry the
quantity of goods offered. Thus, a woolstapler stated that he fre-
quently had from 200 to 500 bags of wool lying at Bristol which
could not be brought forward by land, and he had to divide the
bulk and send it by different routes ; that which went by road
occupied from seven to ten days in the transit, and that by water
from three weeks to a month. Further west, the difficulties in-
creased, so that goods for instance from Plymouth, had to come by
sea to London, and were in consequence not nnfrequently a great
length of time on the voyage and the land journey, and often
arrived in a wet and damaged condition.

Similar difficulties were experienced in the Nottingham lace
trade. Many of the largest manufacturers of lace lived in Devon
and Somerset, and they sent the products of their industry to
Nottingham for sale, the costliest fabrics having to run all the
risks by land or water.

Leicester had also intimate business relations with the north.
That town was a sort of depot for the wool trade of the adjoining
counties, and to it Yorkshire dealers resorted. Their purchases
had then to be conveyed northward, from whence machinery was
brought in return. Yet the route by water from Leicester was
first via, Nottingham to Gainsborough, and thence to Leeds and
the West Riding generally, the voyage occupying from twenty-
four days to a mouth.

Complaints of inadequate facilities came also from Derby and
Macclesfield. "Our heavy goods," said a witness, "must go
through two or three different channels by water — the Trent,
the Soar, and the Leicester Navigation, so that they cost nearly
£1 a ton average from Derby to Leicester"; while the expense
of carriage of Mansfield stone, though it is of a remarkably fine
quality, was such as "to amount almost to a prohibition" of trade.

Such were some of the data laid before the Committee of the
House of Commons, when, with Mr. Gisborne as chairman, it sat

18 PARLIAMENTARY DIFFICULTIES.

for some seventeen days to consider the claim of the Midland
Counties Bill on the sanction of Parliament. Meanwhile the
oi-iginal projectors of the undertaking had vigilantly regarded
the great interests of their trade ; for, in the minute-book of the
Eastwood coal-masters, it is recorded that on February 4th, 1836,
Mr. Tallents had engaged " to watch the progress of the Midland
Counties Railway Bill in Parliament, with a view of protecting
the mineral property and rights of coal-owners and lessees, and
to attend generally to their interests " ; and on the 26th of the
following April, "Messrs. Mundy and Potter reported to the
meeting that they had succeeded in their mission to London, and
had procured insertion in the Midland Counties Railway Bill of
every necessary clause for protecting and securing the rights of
the owners of mineral property." And " the thanks of the meet-
ing were given to those gentlemen."

But the difficulties with which the friends of the Midland
Counties Company had to contend, did not cease when the Bill
entered Parliament. Railway enterprises at that time were novel-
ties, not only to the counties, but to the legislature. Several
important towns had resisted the intrusion of railways ; and many
a member of either House regarded himself as bound by the most
sacred obligations of patriotism to protect his innocent urban con-
stituents against such wild innovations, and to defend the farmers
against having their crops burned up and their cattle frightened
to death by whistling engines and rushing and roaring trains.
Instead, too, of raihvay bills being, as they were subsequently,
relegated to the scrutiny of small but impartial bodies of mem-
bers, the committees were then open to the members of the
boroughs and counties, and of adjoining counties through or
near which the projected line was to be carried, and members
sometimes attended solely for the purpose of voting on the pre-
amble, or on a particular clause, and in some instances, we are
assured, " the whip applied was tremendous."

The Midland Counties Bill survived the ordeal of the House of
Commons, only, however, to encounter more searching hostility in
" another place." The Erewash Valley projectors of the under-
taking had, to their sorrow, to learn that for great coal-masters, as
well as for common mortals, there is many a slip 'twixt the cup
and the lip. Powerful foes were in the field. The Midland

OPPOSITION TO ERE WASH VALLEY PROJECT. 19

Counties line had been originated with the avowed intention of
breaking up canal monopoly, and the local canal interests were
not unready for any reprisal. The North Midland Company had
been formed to construct a line from Derby to Leeds, and had lent
their influential patronage to a projected extension from Derby
and Birmingham, by means of which an additional and independent
outlet could be obtained to the west and the south ; and the North
Midland regarded the Erewash Valley portion of the Midland
Counties line with special jealousy, because it pointed north, and
therefore looked suggestive of competition and aggression. The
Midland Counties Company, too, had spoken of extending their
Erewash line up the valley, over the ridge near Clay Cross, and
on to Chesterfield ; and it was very doubtful whether Parliament,
which at that time was scrupulous in its cession of railway
powers, would sanction the construction of two parallel lines, one
through the Erewash Valley towards , Chesterfield^ and the other
from Derby to Chesterfield ; in which case the North Midland
Company might be required to effect its junction with the Erewash
Extension of the Midland Counties near Clay Cross ; to lose some
twenty miles of line, of rates, and of profits ; and to abandon its
intended direct connection with Derby, with Birmingham, and the
West. These were, to the North Midland, serious considerations.
It has been suggested that George Stephenson was also influenced
by a desire that the products of his projected coal-works at Clay
Cross should find their way direct to Derby and the West, rather
than through the Erewash Valley ; but at this period Clay Cross
was not in contemplation. Yet when he found opponents arise
to advocate a plan which, on other accounts, he regarded as
undesirable, he exclaimed, in his native Doric, " This warn't
do."

But in addition to powerful opponents who had to be resisted,
the Midland Counties Company had entered into an alliance with
powerful friends whose judgment must be deferred to. It is true
that the necessities of the Erewash Valley coal-masters had given
birth to the Midland Counties Company ; but the original sub-
scribers to that undertaking had had, as we have seen, to call in
the substantial assistance of moneyed men of the North, whose
only anxiety was to secure a great through route to the South,
and who cared little for the solicitude of a few coal-owners in a

20 OPPOSITION TO EREWASH VALLEY PROJECT.

remote Nottinghamshire valley. When, therefore, " the Liverpool
party," as it was called, saw that, by the double pressure of the
North Midland Company and of the canal interests, there was
danger of the Midland Counties Bill being rejected ; when the
alternative was, " Shall the Erewash Extension be sacrificed, or
the bill be lost ? " — it was replied that the little coal line might
be made at any time, or be made independently ; and so it was
abandoned. And thus it came to pass that the .Midland Counties
Bill became law, minus the portion that was most dear to the
hearts of the original projectors of the Company ; minus that very
part which they had fondly hoped would have restored their
languishing fortunes by opening a cheap and expeditious route
from their pits to Leicester and the South. " Oakes and Jessop,"
as Mr. Vignoles remarked to us, " were disgusted and angry ; but
they could not help themselves. Their line and themselves were
left out in the cold."

The first general annual meeting of the Midland Counties
Railway was held at Loughborough, June 30, 1837, a little more
than a month after the first sod of the Derby and Nottingham line
was turned. Mr. Thomas Edward Dicey occupied the chair. The
directors " could not refrain from observing at the outset," that
" the result of their exertions had been such as to afford them a
sure and well-founded cause of congratulation to the shareholders,"
concerning the position and prospects of the Company. Action,
it was stated, must now be taken to give effect to the parlia-
mentary powers that had been obtained ; and this was done.
The necessary arrangements for commencing the line were soon
afterwards made by Mr. Vignoles, assisted on the Leicester and
Trent portion by Mr. Woodhouse, the resident engineer ; and on
the Nottingham and Derby line by Mr. William Mackenzie, who
had been the confidential assistant of Telford ; and so successfully
were their labours prosecuted, that, by the close of 1837, nearly
all the contracts were let, and some of the works were in full
operation. The contract for the Leicester and Rugby portion was
confided to Mr. Mackintosh, who had been only a few years pre-
viously a ganger or sub- contractor in Scotland, but who was now
" supposed to be worth £1,000,000 of money."

Early in the year 1838, important negotiations arose between

FIRST GENERAL MEETING OF SHAREHOLDERS.

the boards of the Midland Counties and of the North Midland for
a future interchange of traffic. The Midland Counties contended
that their route, by Rugby, to the South, was nine miles shorter
than that which the projected Birmingham and Derby line could
offer ; and they hoped that they should be able to secure almost a
monopoly of the through traffic between the great towns of York-
shire and the metropolis. Eventually an agreement was made for
seven years, and was unanimously ratified at a meeting of the
Midland Counties proprietors, at Loughborough, in the following
March (1838). On that occasion a favourable report of the

BORROWASII — RAILWAY, KIVER, AND CANAL.

financial prospects of the Company was presented, and Captain
Huish, who had been residing at Nottingham, stated that, whereas
the directors had estimated that the probable traffic on the line
would yield rather more than £99,000 a yeai', his calculation was
£104,000. " I am inclined to believe," he added, " that the most
sanguine expectations of the proprietors can scarcely fail to be
realized."

In the following month (April, 1838), the whole line was under
contract. Between Nottingham and Derby 1,000 men were directed
to press on with the work, because that portion of the line was

22 A CURIOUS INCIDENT.

the easiest to complete, and because it would bring an immediate
return for the capital expended. In the course of the spring,
nearly 3,500 men and 328 horses were in full employment on
various parts of the Midland Counties line.

In carrying on these works, a curious incident occurred at Borro-
wash, about four miles from Derby. The railway had here to be
conducted between the river Derwent and the Nottingham Canal,
and a diversion of the canal was necessary. But this could not
be effected without temporarily suspending the navigation, for
which a penalty was demanded of £2 an hour. In the month of
August, the contractor was preparing to undertake the work, and,
of course, to pay the price, when suddenly the canal itself had to
be stopped, in order that some indispensable repairs might be made.
Mr. Mackenzie immediately mustered his men from various points
of the railway, and while the repairs of the canal were being
effected, he succeeded in effecting his diversion of the line, — to the
great diversion of the neighbourhood, who came to watch the
relays of 200 or 300 men, fed most bountifully, and labouring
most energetically to complete, within the given time, the novel
task.

At the second annual meeting of the Midland Counties Railway,
held at Loughborough, in June, 1838, Mr. T. E. Dicey, the chair-
man, stated that at that time 4,000 men were employed on the
works; and that the agreement with the North Midland for the
exchange of traffic had been ratified. He mentioned that as many
stone sleepers and rails, and as much rolling stock, had been con-
tracted for as would be required for the Derby and Nottingham
portion of the new line ; the Nottingham station had been let; agree-
ments had been made with the directors of the North Midland and
Birmingham and Derby Companies for the erection of contig-uous
stations at Derby ; and a station to be jointly used by the London
and Birmingham and the Midland Counties was to be proved at
Rugby. It was also intended that a branch should be formed to
connect the main line with the granite quarries of Mount Sorrel.

The engineer expressed his belief that the permanent way
between Nottingham and Derby would be better than any hitherto
made. Some fourteen miles of it were to be laid on blocks of
Derbyshire millstone grit, each of them containing five cubic feet,
the bearings being five feet in length ; the rest were to be on

WOEKS IN PEOGEESS. 23

transverse larch sleepers, kyanized, and three feet nine inches
apart. All the rails were to be seventy-seven pounds to the
yard, which was heavier than any previously employed. The ends
of the rails were to be secured in "joint chairs," each weighing
twenty-eight pounds. Nearly 550,000 cubic yards of earthwork
was to be made ; the deepest cutting was to be thirty feet ; the
highest embankment, twenty feet ; and one, approaching Notting-
ham, would be three miles in length.

The cofferdam for the deepest pier of the bridge over the Trent
was in course of construction, and as the bottom of the river was
found to consist of strong red marl, it would furnish an excellent
foundation for the masonry. A short tunnel, through the adjoin-
ing ridge,' called Red Hill, had been commenced ; and at severa
parts of the line, where the works were heavy, gangs of men were
employed both day and night. The cutting at Leir Hill, betweeu
Leicester and Rugby, was the most serious earthwork on the line
and here, to facilitate his operations, the contractor had erected a
steam engine, and had made an inclined plane from the cutting
to an embankment where the material was to be deposited, the
plane descending in the direction of the embankment, at an angle
just sufficient to enable the wagons to run down with their burdens
to the plane of their destination. The empties were drawn back
by an engine. The building of the Avon Viaduct, consisting of
eleven arches of fifty feet span, had been commenced, and, despite
unusual delays, arising from the severity of the weather in the
early part of the year, would, it was anticipated, be completed by
the winter. And "it is somewhat remarkable," said Mr. Wood-
house, the engineer, " that in many contracts to the amount of
nearly £500,000, they should have been let within less than £5,000
of the estimates."

About two years after the first sod of the Midland Counties
line was turned, on Thursday, the 30th of May, 1839, the opening
of the railway took place. The occasion was celebrated with
honour. The day was bright. The bells of St. Mary's Church,
Nottingham, pealed merrily. Thousands of people took their
places on the eminences of the Park, on the tops of houses, or on
the route of the line, to see the first train pass ; and even oppo-
sition coaches came into being under the inspiration of the event.
Special privileges were provided for five hundred favoured guests.

OPENING OF NOTTINGHAM AND DEEBY POETION.

Each of them received a ticket of admission, emblazoned with
gold, bearing the arms of the Company ; and each passenger found
a card affixed over a seat specially reserved in the train for his
accommodation. " The busy hum of the assembly, the threading
and bustling of railway -guards and policemen in their new uni-
forms, the several elegantly painted carriages, with the Company's
arms richly emblazoned on the panels," each carriage mounted
with a Union Jack or an ensign: and we have "a scene" which
the modesty of a local chronicler compelled him to " confess his
inability adequately to do justice to." At length the passengers
were seated; and then, " amid the slamming of carriage- doors, the

XOTTI.MJUAJI (OLD) STATION.

blowing of horns, and the roar of the steam," the signal was
given to start, and "at no drawling pace either." At every station,
along the line, and on the roads that crossed it, were crowds of
spectators, some of whom had climbed to dangerous eminences in
their love of science or of curiosity.

At Derby also, a wondering and cordial welcome was afforded.
Here the train stayed an hour, and then returned to Nottingham,
accomplishing the journey in forty-two minutes. And here, accord-
ing to British usage, a sumptuous entertainment had been provided,
to which all parties endeavoured to do justice ; and then once
more, the train returned to Derby, running the distance in thirty-

20 BENEFITS OF THE RAILWAY.

one minutes, part of it at the rate of forty miles an hour. The
festivities of this occasion were considered, we presume, to hare
lent a sort of anticipated lustre to the whole undertaking; for
when, in the following summer, the remainder of the Midland
Counties line was opened, the directors merely made a private
excursion over it the day before.

The benefit conferred by the railway on both the travelling and
trading classes were, however, none the less real. "For some
time," remarked a Leicester journal, "we certainly had our doubts
relative to the success of this great and expensive undertaking,
but from daily increasing experience, we have no doubt of its
paying the shareholders, judging as we do from the increase of
passengers and merchandise, together with a large concern shortly
to be opened in the traffic of coal." A number of wharfs had
already been built and let, and a large warehouse for corn was
about to be erected ; while at Loughborough, Syston, Wigston,
Crow Mill, Ullesthorpe, and Rugby, coal wharfs were being made
at the various stations, for the convenience of the farmers, many
of whom had now to send their teams to Leicester. Meanwhile
the shares advanced from 77 to 80.

Thus, one of the earliest, and, as it proved, one of the most
important, lines of railways in the country was completed. Its
cost fell within the amount of capital authorized by the Act ; and
the line was, as the directors remarked, " one of the lowest per
mile of any similar work of the same extent." But it soon began
to be suggested that it would not " be matter of any surprise to
those who are conversant with what has occurred " elsewhere, if
" additional requirements for the accommodation and safety of the
public, as well as for ultimate economy in the working of the
raid way," would have to be made at an expenditure of additional
capital ; and before long it was announced that the amount needed
would be £150,000.

At the annual meeting in 1841, it was proposed that for the
future the meetings of proprietors should be held half-yearly,
instead of annually ; and a resolution to that effect was carried in
Feb. (1842). A copy of the balance-sheet also was now for the
first time sent to each pi'oprietor previously to the meeting. The
dii-ectors declared a dividend at the rate of four per cent, per
annum, and carried forward a surplus of £2,000.

CONTROVERSY AND COMPETITION. 27

But while the Midland Counties line was thus endeavouring to
overcome the unavoidable difficulties, and to earn the reward, of
its new position, it had been gradually drifting into the midst of
the anxieties and perils of that great enemy to the financial pros-
perity of all railways — competition. The alliance it had formed
with the North Midland for the exclusive interchange of northern
and southern traffic had, from the outset, been regarded by the
Birmingham and Derby Company, which had opened its line to
Hampton-in-Arden, as a tocsin of war. It was of little avail that
the Midland Counties Board uttered a disclaimer against any
hostile intention. They alleged, what indeed was correct, that
the standing orders of Parliament required a declaration whether
any given line would be competitive or not; that the projectors of
the Birmingham and Derby had declared that their line was non-
competitive, and only a link between East and West. But the
Midland Board complained that no sooner had the Birmingham
and Derby obtained their act than they neglected their communi-
cations with Birmingham and the West ; that they hastened to
complete that portion of their line which — bending southward
from Whitacre — brought them at Hampton-in-Arden, ten miles
south of Birmingham on the way to London ; and that they then
commenced a competition with the Midland Counties for the
traffic between the North and the metropolis. This was, in the
judgment of the Midland Counties Board, to act " evasively and
delusively."

But these arguments and appeals did not avail to check the
asperity of controvei-sy and competition. Before long the directors
of the Birmingham, and Derby began to proclaim that they had
special facilities for carrying on the trade to the South; an
announcement which was energetically challenged on behalf of
the Midland Counties by Mr. W. E. Hutchinson. " Is it not," he
said, " absolutely ludicrous for a Company whose line possesses so
small a population between its termini as the Birmingham and
Derby, to talk of abstracting traffic from its direct channel by a
circuitous route of ten or eleven miles, and conveying it ' at a
remunerating charge very much less than that which the Midland
Counties must make,' and because, forsooth, they have constructed
their line ' entirely for other purposes ' ! "

The conflict, having thus commenced, waxed hotter and hotter,

28 THE TOCSIN OF WAR.

till at length it was conducted by both parties in a manner that
showed they were regardless of any loss they suffered so long as
greater loss was inflicted upon their opponents. The Midland
Counties directors complained that the Birmingham and Derby
Company was attempting " to divert the traffic between London
and Derby from the direct line, and to force it along an indirect
and circuitous one, possessing no advantages whatever over that
of the Midland Counties ; but, on the contrary, being about eleven
miles farther round. It will suffice to say," they continued, " that
the Birmingham and Derby Company, for the purpose of attract-
ing to their line, and withdrawing from the natural and direct
channel the London and Derby traffic, have adopted the altogether
unprecedented course of charging in respect of persons travelling
between Derby and London only 2s. for a first class, and Is. Qd.
for a second class passenger, for the whole distance of thirty-eight
miles from Derby to Hampton ; " while " they continue to exact
from all other passengers, though in the same carriages and going
exactly the same distance, their original fares of 8s. each for first
class, and 6s. for second class passengers. To correct " this
singular mode of charging," the directors stated that they had
applied to the Court of Chancery for an injunction ; and though
this application had been unsuccessful, they believed that " a
very different result would attend " an appeal to the Court of
Queen's Bench.

Meanwhile the directors had resolved that their own fares
between Derby and London should be " invariably charged at
rates not exceeding those charged by the Birmingham and Derby
Company." It was believed that very low fares 'might have the
counterbalancing advantage of encouraging additional traffic ; and
" even if the anxiety of the Birmingham and Derby Company to
obtain business on any terms should lead them to make still
further reductions, and to convey passengers over their line with-
out any charge whatever," yet, since the Midland Counties delivered
its passengers to the London and Birmingham line at a point
somewhat farther south than its competitor, it would have the
advantage in the conflict. At one time apprehension was ex-
pressed lest the London and Birmingham Company should provide
special facilities to Birmingham and Derby passengers for reaching
the metropolis ; but a Midland Counties proprietor stated that at

" A SCANDALOUS REPROACH." 29

a recent meeting of the London and Birmingham Company he
had himself put a question on this subject to the chairman, and
that he had received " the distinct avowal of one of the most
honourable men in existence that they would preserve a strict
neutrality." Ungenerous feeling towards the Birmingham and
Derby Company was, by the Midland Counties Board, publicly
disclaimed, and it was declared that the existing rivalry was " a
scandalous reproach to the railway system, and no less detrimental
to the dignity and respectability of the respective Companies than
inimical to their real interests."

At the half-yearly meeting, held August 13th, 1842, the chair-
man, Mr. T. E. Dicey, stated that the bill for raising the new
capital had received the Royal assent ; but that it was now for the
first time required by Parliament that the authorized amount of
shares should be subscribed for before the power to borrow
could be allowed to take effect. A dividend was proposed at
the rate of three per cent, per annum. A long and, event-
ually, stormy debate followed. Mr. James Heyworth, whose
family held about a twentieth part of the shares of the Company,
stated that many of the shareholders were " disappointed, nay,
irritated with the position of the Company. They recommended
the directors to make a searching inquiry, and wherever curtail-
ment could be made, consistent with the safe working of the line,
he hoped they would carry it out."

The dissatisfaction thus expressed led to the summoning, in the
following November (1842), of a special meeting of the share-
holders— " one of the most memorable of railway meetings," as it
was characterized at the time. It had been intended to hold it at
the Derby station, but for more adequate accommodation it was
adjourned to the Athenaeum. In a long speech, Mr. Heyworth
contended that, without intending the slightest disrespect to the
directors, he thought that the time had come at which a Com-
mittee of Investigation should be appointed to examine into " the
past, present, and probable future expenditure of the funds of the
Company (both on the capital and interest account), also with
reference to the rates and freights charged, and proper to be
charged," for passengers and goods, and to the general manage-
ment of the Company's affairs.

An animated debate ensued. The directors opposed the resolu-

30 WAR.

tion ; but to show that they did not cling to office, stated that at
the meeting of the Company in the following February, they would
" place in the hands of the proprietors the free choice of a new
Board, and that they would immediately after make such arrange-
ments as would at once transfer the direction from their own
hands into those of the persons chosen by the proprietors." In
the course of the discussion, it transpired that the secretary, Mr.
Bell, had voluntarily relinquished £'200 a year out of his salary of
£800, and that other economies had been practised. Eventually,
the resolution, appointing a committee, Avas carried by a majority
of about three to one.

Meanwhile, with only one brief interval, the competition with
the Birmingham and Derby Company continued. Amalgamation
was indeed proposed ; but the Birmingham and Derby Company
laid down the proviso that the market price of the stock of the two
Companies should be taken as the value of the respective proper-
ties,— an arrangement that would give £40 to the Birmingham
and Derby to each £60 of the Midland Counties. The latter,
however, replied, that the then price of stock did not represent the
intrinsic worth of the respective properties ; and that it would be
better that the amount should be determined by a year's indepen-
dent working of the two lines, at the expiration of which their true
value could be ascertained.

These negotiations failed, and at the half-yearly meeting, in
August, 1843, the directors of the Midland Counties Company
stated that " the attempt to divert from the Midland Counties line,
by a reduction of fares, the traffic which Avould naturally flow
along it, was still carried on," by the Birmingham and Derby
Company, "with unabated activity," even though " at prices which
could yield no profit whatever." The Midland Counties directors
announced that they were advised, on eminent legal authority,
that the mode of charging practised by the Birmingham and Derby
Company was " as illegal as it was unfair and unreasonable."
Acting upon these opinions, the directors had made application to
the Court of Queen's Bench for a mandamus to compel the
Birmingham and Derby Company to equalize their fares. A rule
nisi had been obtained, and subsequently a 'mandamus had been
" served upon the Birmingham and Derby Company, requiring
them to charge all persons equally who travel between Derby and

PEOPOSALS OF PEACE. 31

Hampton." The directors stated that they entertained the most
perfect confidence in securing a decision which -would render it
" impossible for the Birmingham and Derby Company to persevere
in their present mode of opposition."

But as with kings and nations, so with railways, — after war
comes peace ; after rivers of blood or of gold have been wasted,
come negotiations, treaties, and alliances. So when the owners
of both these two costly and valuable properties had exhausted
one another and themselves with protracted conflicts, they began
once more to think of rest and union. Amalgamation was again
proposed, and wise counsels prevailed. But concerning these we
shall have hereafter to speak.

Such were the circumstances under which the Midland Counties

LONG EATON STATION (1839).

Railway took its rise, and such were the circumstances which
gradually, but irresistibly, brought it to the eve of amalgamation
— that amalgamation which led on to the formation of the Midland
Railway Company of to-day. We retrace with interest and in-
struction the good example of " the difficulties, discouragements,
and disasters encountered by the enterprising men who, at that
date, undertook the arduous duty of constructing, from private
capital, these great public works, unaided, even discountenanced,
by the legislature and the government ; regarded with hostility,
and even with hatred, by the owners of the land they were destined
so materially to benefit j and considered, even by juries of their

32 AN AIR OF ROMANCE.

own countrymen, as proper objects of unlimited and legitimate
plunder. Yet did these brave men carry on their undertaking
steadily, and stoutly, and manfully, with sagacity, tact, and
courage of no common order, till they accomplished their great
work." Such enterprises and such men confer honour and strength
on a country, and they enlarge the sources of its wealth and the
causes of its material and moral prosperity.

And while to-day we watch the flood which poui-s its volume of
beneficence and wealth through the midland counties of England,
is there not an air of romance in the story that tells how we can
retrace through half a century the course of the earliest of the
tributary streams, and can discern how it took its rise at a little
homely inn in a remote village among the hills of Nottingham-
shire ?

But we must now go back and see how other events, con-
temporaneous with some we have narrated, have been running
their course.

CHAPTER II.

The yellow post-chaise. — The North Midland Eailway. — George Stephenson's
preference for the valley route. — Opposition from advocates of a high level
line. — Surveying for the line. — Perils of engineers. — The engineer and the
baronet. — Mr. Waterton's sanctum. — Amusing interview. — Battles in
Parliament. — Opposition by Messrs. Strutt and the Aire and Calder Navi-
gation.— Commencement of the works. — Bird's-eye view of the line. —
Ambergate Tunnel. — Bull Bridge. — Opening of the North Midland. — The
traffic then and now. — Additional capital required. — Reduction of expendi-
ture.— Generous offer of Mr. Robert Stephenson. — Improved arrangements.
— Coal rates then and now. — Disappointment. — Committee of Inquiry. —
Proposed amalgamation of North Midland with Midland Counties, and
Birmingham and Derby Companies.

Ox a beautiful moi-ning — as Mr. Binns has described it to us — in
the autumn of 1835 (three years after the memorable meeting at
The Sun Inn, at Eastwood), a yellow post-chaise might be seen
emerging from the New Inn, at Derby, and taking its way up the
Duffield Road into the country. It contained two gentlemen :
George Stephenson the engineer, who had come over from his
residence at Alton Grange in Leicestershire, and his secretaiy Mr.
Charles Binns. They had started on an enterprise of no common
importance — to find the best route for a new line 72 miles in
length, from Derby to Leeds. The project was, we believe, one of
the fruits of George Stephenson's fertile brain ; but the responsi-
bility of carrying out the work had been undertaken chiefly by
Leeds and London men. Mr. G. C. Glyn, the banker, Mr. Kirk-
man Hodgson, Mr. Frederick Huth, the German merchant, Mr.
Josiah Lewis, of Derby, and others, were on the first directorate,
and in such hands the work was likely to succeed.

It is true that the inside of a post-chaise did not seem the
likeliest place for surveying the hills and dales, the roads and
rivers, of more than 70 miles of country, and the top of the vehicle

34 " OLD GEORGE."

might, on some accounts, have been preferable ; but it was the
only means of conveyance then available for any such purpose.
Ever and anon the travellers would alight, and walk for miles,
surveying the various routes, examining the landscape from
different points of view, recording the result of their observations
on the old-fashioned county map they carried, and storing away
fragments of the stones that indicated the changing geological
formations over which they passed. And as the engineer and his
secretary journeyed on together, many a problem would " Old
George " curiously and laboriously solve, and many an anecdote
would he tell of other days, — of the toils of his boyhood, of his
tender love of all things living, fostered when, as a little lad, he
was wont to take his father's dinner to the engine in the Avood,
where he lingered and watched birds and beasts and fishes ; tales
of how he at one time had resolved to emigrate to America ; of
how he narrowly escaped, as he playfully said, of being made a
Methodist ; and of hoAv he intended to carry on the vast and varied
projects which he had then in hand on the Birmingham and
Derby, the York and North Midland, and the Manchester and
Leeds Railways.

In determining the route which the North Midland line should
follow, George Stephenson had to decide between strongly con-
flicting claims. From Derby to Leeds is a series of valleys,
through which flow the rivers Derwent, Amber, Rother, Don,
Dearne, Calder, and Aire, affording a route from south to north,
available for the conveyance of the vast mineral traffic which the
district would eventually yield. To the west of these valleys,
among the great hills of Yorkshire, were the towns of Sheffield,
Barnsley, and Wakefield, to approach which by the main line
would involve enormous earthworks, bad gradient*, and vast ex-
penditure. The engineer made his choice : he preferred minerals
to men : he would take the lower or valley route ; the towns must
be satisfied with branches.

Having thus decided, another problem awaited solution. Should
he skirt the ranges of hills which on either hand closed in the
valleys along which his line should run, and curve to the left or
right according to the ground and the gradients ? But such a
course would involve this serious inconvenience : that the collieries
in the bottom of the valley, and those on the slopes of the opposite

THE NORTH MIDLAND. 35

range of hills, would have to drag their heavy loads up to the
level of the line ; whereas by placing the railway itself in the
middle of the valley — raised only to the point necessary to avoid
the floodings of the rivers, both sides of its course would be
equally served, and the branches from the pits on the higher
ground would all slope downwards to the line. Such an arrange-
ment would obviously be the best for all mineral purposes, and
would also supply a short and level course from south to north.
To these opinions George Stephenson inclined, and the more so
because he had laid it down as an axiom that no gradient on a
mineral line ought to exceed 1 in 330, or 16 feet in a mile.
Eventually the North Midland Railway was laid out at that
gradient, except for a short distance south of Clay Cross Tunnel,
where the gradient is slightly increased. And George Stephenson
always, and not unnaturally, regarded the North Midland as one
of his favourite lines.

The decision of the engineer, however, was not adopted without
a fierce contest both within Parliament and without. Mr. Vignoles
avowed his preference for a high level route ; and he proposed a
line which should serve as a continuation of the Erewash portion
of the Midland Counties, through the ridge up to Clay Cross and
down to Sheffield. He also had surveys taken northwards to
Leeds and southwards to London ; for as engineers were at that
time the chief promoters of railway extension, it was expected
that they should be prepared to justify to Parliament the com-
prehensiveness and practicability of their proposals. The argu-
ments for and against the high and low levels were submitted to
the committee, not on lodged plans for competing schemes, but on
the North Midland Bill proper.

The views of Mr. Vignoles were supported by Lord Wharncliffe
and by other influential persons interested in Sheffield, some of
whom announced their preference for a line to run from Chester-
field direct through Sheffield, and thence over the hills to the
north ; but the plans proposed involved " excavations and embank-
ments from 90 to 100 feet deep and high," from one end of the
route to the other. Some engineers of less adventurous spirit
urged that the line should, a few miles north of Chesterfield, bend
westward, and, having touched Sheffield, should turn again east-
ward along the valley of the Don. Mr. Leather, the engineer, was

36 THE ENGINEER AND THE BARONET.

a chief advocate of this scheme ; and the war of opinion thus
waged, at length induced George Stephenson to reconsider whether
some more adeqnade accommodation could not be provided for
Sheffield ; and Mr. Frederick Swanwick, " the resident," was in-
structed to endeavour to find an available route to that town. A
local committee also was appointed to promote the same object.
But after once more trying the levels by wray of Dronfield, it was
ascertained that the gradients would be so severe that, according
to the power of locomotives in that day, the route would be im-
practicable. In fact, the tenour of the engineer's report was —
that to take the line through Sheffield with gradients equal to
those of the valley route would necessitate the formation of 8 or
10 miles of tunnels. Since that decision was pronounced a third
of a century has passed away : the impracticable has been achieved,
and a direct line runs to-day via Dronfield, over the high level
route, into Sheffield.

In making even the surveys for the new railway many difficul-
ties and some adventures were encountered by the engineers.
Thus when Mr. Swanwick was running his levels a few miles
south-east of Wakefield, he learned that numerous watchers had
been placed across his path, and that other precautions had been
adopted, to prevent his intrusion on the estates of Sir William
Pilkington. But the inventive genius of the engineer was not
unequal to the occasion. Running the risk of being brought be-
fore the magistrates, as Mr. Vignoles had been not long before, on
a charge of night poaching and trespassing, the engineer gathered
together a large staff of assistants, and made his survey while Sir
William, his watchers, and all other honest folk were supposed to
be safe asleep in bed. It subsequently happened that, in some
negotiations that took place in the library of the unsuspecting
baronet — who meanwhile had become more propitious to the
undertaking — he opened a drawer for a plan of the part of his
estate through which he understood the projected line was to
pass, " and," he added, " no other survey has ever been made
of it." His surprise may be imagined when the representatives
of the Company, as blandly as they could, at the same time un-
rolled their own documents, and showed that they were per-
fectly familiar with every acre of kthe district which he had so
jealously protected.

THE NATURALIST AND THE LAWYER. 37

On another occasion, when making their surveys in the same
neighbourhood, the engineers found their course obstructed by a
high wall. Over it Mr. Swan wick (who has since told us the
story) at once climbed, in order to ascertain his whereabouts,
and he then saw a fine wooded park spreading out before him.
This proved to be the sacredly-preserved domains of the cele-
brated traveller and naturalist, Mr. Charles Waterton, who
prided himself that here he could give " a hearty welcome to
eveiy bird and beast that chose to avail itself of his hospital-
ity ; and by affording them abundant food and a quiet retreat,
induce them to frequent a spot where they would feel them-
selves secure from all enemies;" a spot where the "shyest birds
were so well aware of their security that they cared no more for
spectators than the London sparrows for passengers." No wonder
that instinctively the engineer shrank from the commission of so
fragrant an impiety as even to linger there with thoughts of a
railway in his breast, and he at once decided to carry his line fur-
ther to tne west.

He was fortunate, as events proved, in this determination ; for
Mr. Waterton was peculiarly susceptible on the matter of the in-
violable sanctity of the home he had provided for himself and his
feathered friends, and he had odd and energetic modes of express-
ing his wrath. Moreover his anger had been especially excited
because the Barnsley Canal had dared to wind its way, and to
climb up and down by sundry locks, almost at the very gates of
Mr. Waterton's park. One day, not very long after Mr. Swan-
wick had concluded his surveying expeditions, it devolved upon
him and upon Mr. Hunt, the solicitor of the projected line, to wait
upon Mr. Waterton, in order, if possible, to secure that gentle-
man's concurrence in the undertaking. On approaching the house
by the di-awbridge over the moat, the visitors rang the bell ; Mr.
Waterton himself answered it, and curtly demanded their errand.
The solicitor in his gentlest tones intimated its nature. " Come
in," said Mr. Waterton. The visitors obeyed ; and Mr. Hunt
explained the object they had in view. Mr. Waterton answered
only with a portentous grunt. " We are anxious," said Mr.
Hunt, " to obtain the favour of your assent to the line passing
through' your property." Mr. Waterton gave another grunt.
" What reply may we return ? " inquired Mr. Hniit, one of the

38 MB. WATER-TON'S SANCTUM.

blandest of men, in his blandest manner. " You may say," ex-
claimed Mr. Waterton, " that I am most confoundedly opposed."
" May I be allowed to record that as your decision ? " continued
the solicitor. Mr. Waterton once more grunted. " I trust that if
you cannot give your assent to the bill you will be neutral ? "
" Well," replied Mr. Waterton, " I will be neutral on condition
that you will faithfully promise me one thing." " Pray, sir, what
is it ? " " It is that you take care that your railway, when it
is established, shall ruin those infernal canals." Mr. Hunt could
only in his most winning accents assxire the irate naturalist that,
while he could perhaps scarcely pledge himself to the entire de-
struction of the canal property, yet that those whom he repre-
sented would, he had no doubt, be delighted to do their best for
the attainment of so laudable an end."

"And now," said Mr. Waterton, who had by this time aired his
amiability, " come, gentlemen, and see my museum." They did
so ; and after examining a number of curiosities, which Mr.
Waterton had brought from various parts of the world,* the little
party came to the top floor of the house, and there Mr. Waterton
threw open a window, and looked out upon the grounds. " That,"
he said, " is a safe refuge for all the birds of the air. Everything
is secure. No gun is ever fired here. I understand," he added
somewhat abruptly, " that a fellow of the name of Swanwick, one
of your engineers, once came into my park intending to bring the
line this way. As sure as I am alive I would have shot him."
" Allow me," gently interposed Mr. Hunt, " to introduce to you
my friend Mr. Swanwick." " A good thing you didn't come,"
added Mr. Waterton, laughing ; " I should have shot you ! "

The bill and the plans of the North Midland Railway were com-
pleted amid the intense excitement involved in the preparation of
a vast number of other schemes. George Stephenson and his
engineers had several important works on hand ; yet everything
had to be finished by the date inexorably determined by Parlia-
ment. Early and late they laboured on, till flesh and blood could
hardly bear the strain. But within six hours of the time at which
the documents must be deposited, an experienced draughtsman
might have been seen working upon Noi'th Midland plans with the
most painstaking love of his task, adding foliage to the trees in
the parks, and touches of beauty to his handiwork generally.

OPPOSITION. 39

Suddenly several post-chaises dashed up at the door. The engi-
neer leaped out, snatched up the daintily finished plans, laid them
on the ground, remorselessly stitched them together, as quickly as
possible corded them up in bundles, and then sent them flying
away to Wakefield, Leeds, and other towns at which, before the
clock struck twelve, they had all to be delivered.

When the bill came before Parliament, serious difficulties had to
be encountered. It had originally been intended that the line
should be carried up the valley to the left of Belper, and on
through the village of Milford ; but the Messrs. Strutt expressed
apprehension lest the works should interfere with their supply of
\vater from the river, and they succeeded in driving the line to the
east of the town, through a long dismal cutting, Avhere nothing
can be seen either of the railway or from it.

The Aire and Calder Navigation, too, was a formidable anta-
gonist to the new undertaking. " That body," said Mr. G. C.
Glyn, " was perhaps the most opulent and influential of all that
were connected with canals. They might be said to possess almost
a monopoly of the traffic of a great part of Yorkshire. They werei
naturally very unwilling to encounter rivalry ; and he did nofc
blame them for it. They had accordingly met the Company with
the most inveterate opposition from the very first, both in Parlia-
ment and elsewhere."

Eventually, in the House of Commons, the North Midland
Company carried its bill ; but in the House of Lords the canal
interest so far prevailed as to secure the insertion of clauses which
would have cramped the energies of the Company, and been
seriously injurious to its prosperity. After the bill had passed,
the Railway Company endeavoured to come to terms with the
canal. But the latter insisted, at the outset of the negotiation.0,
that they should be reimbursed all the expenses they had incurred
in resisting the Railway Company in Parliament. " This," said
Mr. Glyn, " was like the conduct of the schoolmasters who ex-
tracted from the pockets of the pupils the cost of the rod where-
with they themselves were to be flogged. The directors did not
feel themselves at liberty to accede to terms so unjust and so
extravagant ; and, therefore, the negotiations were for the present
in abeyance." They hoped, however, by deviation from the
parliamentary line in the neighbourhood of Leeds to overcome

40 COMMENCEMENT OF THE WORKS.

all difficulties, and an explanation of the course of action to be
taken by the Company would hereafter be given, should the
Navigation persist in its " extortionate demands."

In the early part of the following year (Feb. 1837), it was
announced that arrangements for the commencement of the North
Midland Railway had been made. The Clay Cross Tunnel, and
other heavy works, were let. A site had been obtained for the
terminus at Derby, which gave easy access to the Birmingham
and Derby, and Midland Counties lines and Station. Application
was about to be made, to Parliament for powers to effect some
modifications of the line, at Belper, and elsewhere, and to secure
increased land for station purposes at Leeds. " The proprietary,"
said the report of the directors, with pardonable complacency,
"is highly respectable, and affords an undoubted proof of the
estimation in which this undertaking is held by the public." The
executive engineer's office was established in Chesterfield; and
arrangements were completed for the successful prosecution of the
work.

In the summer of 1838 a bird's-eye view of the course of the
North Midland line would have presented many a scene of interest.
Thousands of men were at work; nearly all the contracts were
proceeding with energy ; and where it was otherwise, " steps had
been taken to remove all cause of future complaint." The station
at Derby had been marked out; the embankment near it was
coming into shape ; the Derby and Nottingham turnpike was
being loAvered ; the tunnel at Milford was being made. At Belper
Pool, the temporary bridge over the Derwent was finished, and
the masonry was proceeding rapidly. At Wingfield, the heavy
earthworks, comprising 350, 000 cubic yards, were being excavated;
and at Clay Cross 400 yards of tunnel had been completed, and
six 15-horse whinseys were at work at the six shafts, from the
bottom of which men were tunnelling at twelve different faces,
besides the ends. To bore through a hill full of wet coal-measures
was of course, in effect, to make a vast drain into which enormous
volumes of water poured, which had to be pumped away ; while
at night the huge fires that blazed on the summit of the ridge lit
up the rugged outline of the gangs of men, gave a strange and
lurid colouring to the spectacle, and helped to make the spot the
great wonder of that country side.

A BIED S-EYE VIEW.

In other parts of the line difficulties had to be encountered,
difficulties which have since become the commonplaces of the
profession, but which then taxed the ingenuity of the engineer.
Immediately to the north of what is now the Ambergate Station
is a bold eminence, through which a cutting and a tunnel had to
be carried. While making the excavations it was ascertained
that the upper half of the hill rested on an inclined bed of wet
shale, as slippery as soap. The mass was too lofty and too steep
to allow of the removal of the whole ; yet the ordinary shape of

VIEW OF AMBERGATE VALLEY.

a tunnel would not afford sufficient strength to resist the enormous
pressure. Accordingly it was resolved so to construct an ellip-
tical tunnel of blocks of millstone grit that the flat arch of the
ellipse should receive the weight. But the work had not been
long completed when it was found that the solid stonework was
splintered to such an extent as to endanger the safety of the
structure. Fresh means had therefore to be provided: first, by
the removal of some of the superincumbent mass, and by the
drainage of the shale bed, that the material should be in part

AMBEEGATB TUNNEL.

deprived of its unctuous character ; and then, by lining most of
the tunnel with iron ribs, it became, in fact, a double tunnel, — of
millstone and of iron.

About a mile north of this work a perhaps more serious
difficulty had to be overcome. Across the path of the future
railway lay the Amber River and the Cromford Canal, so near

AMBERGATE TUNNEL.

together but at such different levels that the line must pass over
the one by an embankment and bridge, and almost at the same
moment under the other; and yet the works must be, if possible,
so constructed as to avoid stopping the navigation for more than
a few hours. As the line where it passes under the canal was
itself to be an embankment, the foundations of the piers which
were to carry the aqueduct overhead had necessarily to be laid at

BULL BRIDGE.

a considerable depth, and thence they must be raised to a sufficient
height to support an iron trough which was to carry the water.
This trough was made the exact shape of the bottom of the canal,
was fitted together closely, was then floated to its destination, and
was finally sunk on to its resting place without disturbing the
navigation, or being thenceforth itself disturbed. At this point,
known as Bull Bridge, AVC have, therefore, a remarkable series of
works. At the bottom is a river, and over it there are in suc-

BULL BRIDGE.

cession a bridge, a railway, and an aqueduct; on the top ships are
sailing, and underneath trains are running.

Among the heaviest earthworks on the line were the OakenshaAv
cutting and embankment, which required the quarrying and tipping
of some 600,000 yards of rock. There was also the Normanton
cutting, from which 400,000 yards of stuff had to be removed.
Yet the whole line, with its 200 bridges and seven tunnels, was
completed in about three years, at an outlay of about £1,000,000 a
year.

The North Midland line, as thus constructed, has two summit

44 OPENING OF THE NORTH MIDLAND.

levels. It ascends nearly all the way from Derby, until, at the
south end of Clay Cross tunnel, it is 360 feet above the sea. It
then falls till it reaches Masborough, where it again begins to rise,
and it continues to do so as far as Royston, from whence it slopes
downward to Leeds.

The opening of the North Midland Railway, which took place
on the llth of May, 1840, was celebrated in a manner similar to
that adopted by the Midland Counties Railway directors. A train,
consisting of thirty-four carriages, containing some 500 passengers,
and drawn by two engines, left Leeds at eight o'clock in the morn-
ing, was joined near Wakefield by a number of carriages from the
York and North Midland line, and arrived at Derby at one o'clock.
Here it was welcomed by the cheers of a crowd of spectators ; and
here, on the station platform, two long lines of tables had been
spread with ample provisions, at which the visitors, solaced by
music, stood to take their luncheon. After duly celebrating the
honours of the occasion they returned home, well satisfied that
they had witnessed the commencement of a new era in the history
of English locomotion.

Those who are familiar with the North Midland Railway as it
is, and who see the enormous traffic that rolls through the busy
and growing population that environ it, may have some difficulty
in understanding what the distinct was only thirty years ago.
When many of its largest and richest iron fields had been un-
touched ; when the Ambergate lime-works, and the Clay Cross
collieries were unknown ; when Staveley Avas only a name ; when
Sheffield was but half the size it now is ; when neither South
Yorkshire nor Derbyshire had sent, except by sea, a ton of coals to
London ; and when the new North Midland quietly ran over sixty
miles of almost undisturbed coal-fields, — the line was but a phantom
of what it is to-day. Since then, slowly and painfully, often under
the pressing needs of its own poverty, yet constantly inviting and
rewarding the enterprise of others around, the new Company has
had to live on fi-om hand to mouth, and gradually to develop for
others the wealth it might some day be permitted humbly to
share.

In the early part of 1841 the directors were able to report that
the traffic on their line was increasing. The quantity of minerals
conveyed was almost outstripping the accommodation at the dis-

IMPEOVED AREANGEMENTS. 45

posal of the Company ; and very considerable additions to the
traffic were expected fron the Clay Cross collieries and coke- works,
while the latter would afford the Company the means of obtaining
coke at a much lower cost than heretofore. The North Midland
Railway would also be used for conveying the produce of these
kilns as far north as Barnsley.

The increase of accommodation required for additional works
involved an increase of capital ; and this was raised by new shares
issued at 35 per cent, discount. Meanwhile strenuous efforts were
made to diminish expenditure. It was reported by a committee
that a considerable number of the Company's servants might be
discharged ; that some of the salaries had been fixed at too high
a scale ; and that other reductions might be made.

The spirit in which some who were connected with the Company
laboured to improve its position, may be illustrated by a fact that
ought to be mentioned. When Mr. Robert Stephenson had retired
from the general management of the North Midland, it was con-
sidered desirable that he should be retained as superintendent of
the locomotive department, at a salary of £1,000 a year — a sum
which was secured to him by agreement. But when the committee,
to which we have referred, held their meeting, Mr. Stephenson not
only gave valuable suggestions as to the best course that should be
pursued, but, to set an example of the economy he wished to be
practised, he wrote a letter, requesting that half of a considerable
balance due to him might be cancelled, and that £400 a year might
be deducted from his salary. These sacrifices were the more to be
commended, because Mr. Stephenson had recently incurred losses
to the amount of £10,000.

At this meeting, held in August (1841), a motion was intro-
duced, that proprietors should be permitted to travel free to the
half-yearly meetings of the Company. The chairman replied, that
it was most desirable that these meetings should be largely at-
tended, but that there was no precedent for the course recom-
mended ; the matter, however, was one which the proprietors must
decide for themselves. The motion was carried.

During this year it was decided that for the future the report
and accounts should be circulated a few hours before they were
formally submitted to the proprietors. " There were, however,"
said the chairman, " strong objections to an earlier publication,

46 A COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY.

principally as taking off from the interest of the meetings." In
those days it was also the practice for the shareholders to be sum-
moned simply by advertisement ; and when it was proposed that
each proprietor should have a circular forwarded him, the chair-
man, Mr. G. C. Glyn, demurred, on the ground that such an
arrangement would be, in banker's phrase, " unusual."

At the spring meeting, in 1842, the directors were able to report
" a continued increase in every branch of the revenue," notwith-
standing " the unexampled distress which still pervaded the
commercial world." The dividend declared was at the rate of 3
per cent, per annum. It was stated that the management of the
Company would for the future be carried on at Derby, instead of
being conducted also in Leeds and London. Mr. G. C. Glyn now
retired from the office of chairman, and was succeeded by Mr.
Newton.

The early part of 1842 was a time of disappointment to the
shareholders. Complaint was made of extravagant outlay in the
erection of unnecessary premises and in the furnishing of refresh-
ment and waiting rooms, some of which, it was declared, with the
hyperbole of disappointed proprietors, were " more like drawing-
rooms in palaces, than places of comfortable accommodation;"
and chagrin was expressed that, notwithstanding much retrench-
ment of expenditure, the dividend was at the rate of only two
per cent, per annum. The Board could only share these regrets,
and consent, however reluctantly, to the appointment of a com-
mittee of seven shareholders to examine " the position and future
management " of the Company.

The report of this committee was presented in the following
November (1842). It stated that delay in its presentation had
originated from the fact that, though it had been forwarded to the
chairman of the directors two months previously, with a request
for its immediate publication, the Board had declined to comply
until they had prepared an answer which could be circulated at
the same time. A lengthened debate followed, in which it was in-
sisted upon that, as the Committee of Investigation had recom-
mended deductions to the amount of nearly £18,000 a year, and
the directors had since admitted that £11,000 might be saved, the
case of the committee was substantially proved, and that the
administration of the Board was not deserving' of confidence,

A COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY.

This view of the matter was generally accepted ; but Mr. Newton
replied, that his colleagues were unanimously of opinion that the
recommendations of the committee could not be carried out with
safety to the public. "Then, may I ask," said a shareholder,
"the intentions of the directors ? " The chairman answered that
he really could not tell ; and in the midst of confusion he declared
the meeting dissolved, and vacated the chair.

The directors appear, however, to have done their best to carry
into effect the wishes of the proprietors. Six of the old directors
resigned their seats, and were replaced by the members of the late
committee of inquiry; and the new Board endeavoured to ac-
complish various reductions of expenditure which had been
previously proposed.

To the precise nature of these arrangements we shall have
hereafter to advert.

CLAY CllOSa JUNCTION.

CHAPTER III.

Influence of the Erewash Valley project on the politics of railway enterprise. —
Origin of Birmingham and Derby scheme. — Meeting of " the inhabitants of
Derby." — Sir Eobert Peel's speech at Tarn worth. — " Peel's Railway." —
Cordial support of the new undertaking. — The Stonebridge branch. —
Curious episode. — Commencement of the works. — Course of the line. —
Opening of the line to Hampton-in-Arden. — Discouragement. — Committee
of Investigation. — Completion of direct line to Birmingham. — Competition
with Midland Counties Railway. — Proposals for amalgamation with Midland
Counties and Northumberland Companies. — Terms proposed. — Objections.
— Shareholders' meetings of the several Companies. — Final adjustment of
terms. — First meeting of the Midland Railway Company. — Mr. Hudson's
speech. — Resolutions for consolidating the three properties. — First General
Meeting of Shareholders, July 16th, 1844. — Hopefulness of October Meet-
ing.— Large increase of capital sanctioned.

THE coal-owners of the Valley of the Erewash were destined to
exercise a powerful influence on the politics of railway enterprise
in the Midland Counties of England. It is true that their own
peculiar project, which would have brought a line to their pit
mouths, was, to their infinite chagrin, placed for years in abey-
ance ; but the very fact that that Pinxton branch was projected,
was sufficient, as we have seen, to arouse the jealousy of the North
Midland Company, and even led to the construction of yet a third
line — the Birmingham and Derby.

In September, 1835, — the same autumn that Stephenson and
his secretary went in the yellow post-chaise on their surveying
expedition to Leeds, — " Old George " came over to Birmingham,
and took up his quarters at the Hen and Chickens, in order to
make arrangements for commencing his new undertaking, by
which to connect the centre of the hardware disti-ict of England
with Derby and the North. Here he found no difficulty in asso-
ciating with himself a number of influential persons who showed

"THE INHABITANTS OF DERBY." 49

a practical interest in the enterprise. Mr. Henry Smith, — a
manufacturer, of high social standing, who might have represented
Birmingham in Parliament, had he been so disposed, consented to
be the first chairman of the Company. Mr. William Beale, — one
of the oldest and most respected inhabitants of the town, — whose
son Mr. Samuel Beale subsequently became chairman of the
Midland Railway Company, — and other gentlemen of similar
position became directors, and they constituted, as was lately
remarked by one who knew them well, " a first-rate board."

But the circumstances under which the undertaking was first
publicly submitted to the consideration of the people of Derby,
were — as the late Mr. Samuel Carter has described them to us —
more amusing than encouraging. An announcement had been
made, in terms of befitting dignity, that a deputation from the
promoters of this great enterprise were about to confer with
" the inhabitants of Derby," and to seek the support of the said
"inhabitants" in carrying it out. The deputation accordingly, at
the appointed time, arrived at the hotel, and proceeded to prepare
for the duties that lay before them, by dining together. This
important part of the programme being concluded, a messenger
was despatched to the room, to ascertain in what number " the
inhabitants of Derby " had responded to the invitation ; and he
returned with the intelligence that only three persons were
present : three persons, out of a population of many thousands,
were all who had thought it worth their while to ascertain on
what terms direct railway communication might be obtained with
Birmingham and the West of England. The deputation waited
half an hour ; and then another messenger was despatched, who
repoi-ted that now twelve people in all had arrived of " the in-
habitants of Derby." The folding doors that separated the dining-
room and the hall were now withdrawn. The deputation, with
all the dignity they could muster, advanced to the platform, and
proceeded to unfold their budget to the twelve men of Derby.
Foi-tunately there were some in that audience who were able as
well as willing to render efficient assistance in starting so great an
enterprise.

At Tamworth a more fitting assembly was convened to express
their interest in the project. Sir Robert Peel, one of the members
for the borough, spoke in warm approbation of it, and took a

50 SIR ROBERT PEEL'S SPEECH.

comprehensive view of the various similar undertakings then in
contemplation. " At the close of the next session," he said, " we
shall probably start them. Besides the lines of railway from
London to Liverpool, through Birmingham, there will be a line
between Birmingham, and Gloucester, effecting a direct commu-
nication with the port of Bristol, and, through it, to the West
Indies. We shall also find a line connecting Derby with Leeds.
Supposing this to be the case, I think, under such circumstances,
you cannot entertain a doubt, when you consider the wealth,
intelligence, and commercial enterprise of the people of Yorkshire
and the North, that they will, by some means or other, effect a
communication with Birmingham and its important adjacent
districts, as well as the other parts of the kingdom, by an union
of these great lines." He then expressed his approval of the
route that had been selected ; his belief that " on account of the
valleys and the natural levels of the country, it will be found
that the line could be executed at considerably less expense than
any other;" and concluded by saying, — -" I most cordially hope
this project will succeed ; I shall give it my assent as a landed
proprietor, and I shall support it in my place in Parliament." We
need scarcely add that at that time the name of Sir Robert
Peel was itself a tower of strength ; and so much interest did he
manifest in the undertaking, that it was come to be familiarly
designated " Peel's Railway."

The project had also substantial support from other quarters.
The great landowners — the Marquis of Anglesea, Sir Oswald
Mosley, Bart., and others, also gave in their hearty adhesion ; and
the brewers at Burton-on-Trent, and the towns and the population
on the line of road, cordially supported the undertaking. So
popular did it become, that as soon as the £100 shares were issued,
they rose to 19 premium. " The thing," as Mr. Samuel Carter
remarked to us, " took fire like a match."

The Birmingham and Derby line was, as we have seen,
originally projected in the interest of the North Midland, and
avowedly to connect Derby and the manufacturing districts of
Yorkshire with Birmingham and the West. Such an undertaking
was of course a serious discouragement to the hopes that had been
cherished by the Midland Counties that their connection with the
London and Birmingham at Rugby would secure the western trade

A CURIOUS EPISODE. 51

for themselves ; but probably they would have borne their disap-
pointment with tolerable composure had not the other proposed
branch line from Whitacre junction to Hampton- in- Arden — the
Stonebridge branch, as it was called — of the Birmingham and
Derby Company threatened the Midland Counties with direct
competition for traffic with London and the South.

Before any of the three Companies had obtained the sanction of
parliament to their projects, a curious episode occurred. The
Midland Counties board was urged by the Birmingham and Derby
to abandon their Pinxton branch, on condition that the Stonebridge
branch also Avas withdrawn. These negotiations were carried so far
that they were regarded by the representatives of the Birmingham
and Derby Company as concluded ; and on the last day on which,
the advertisements required by Parliament could be issued, the
jStonebridge branch was omitted from the Birmingham and Derby
project. To the chagrin of the latter, however, they found
that the Midland Counties Company had retained the Pinxton
branch in the announcement of their undertaking. What was to
be done ? Country newspapers were then published only once
u week, and it was now too late to amend the advertisement of
the Birmingham and Derby line in all the newspapers of the
district through which the railway was to run. Fortunately for
themselves — though not for their rivals — the acuteness of the
solicitors Avas sufficient for the emergency. They suggested that
another company might yet be projected. Another line might be
proposed from Whitacre to Hampton-in- Arden, along the precise
route of the proposed Stonebridge branch, and this might be
afterAvards incorporated Avith the Birmingham and Derby. Their
plan Avas adopted. Three days afterwards, a Birmingham paper
contained an announcement that a new Company was about to be
formed to make a line, to be called " The Stonebridge Junction
Raihvay ; " and eventually, Avhen the projects were before parlia-
ment, this undertaking Avas united with that from which it had
been temporarily severed, and the consolidated body Avas entitled
"The Birmingham and Derby Junction" Raihvay Company.

Thus did these tAvo little branch lines — the Pinxton and the
Stonebridge — vitally affect the position, the policy, and the fate
of the three great Companies with Avhich they were connected.
Had the Pinxton branch been unattempted, the North Midland

62 PROGRESS OF THE WORKS.

Avould not, at any rate at that period, have thought of urging the
formation of the Stonebridge branch, and even of the Birmingham
and Derby itself ; yet, eventually, as we shall find, it was the
Stonebridge branch that enabled the Birmingham and Derby to
carry on a fierce and effective competition with the Midland
Counties, and finally to insist on terms of amalgamation that
otherwise would never have been conceded.

In the original bill it was provided that the new line should
join the London and Birmingham Railway at a place three or four
miles south of Birmingham, called Stichford. Subsequently it
was determined to secure an independent entrance to Birmingham,
and powers were accordingly obtained for the line to follow the
course of the Valley of the Tame, to a separate terminus at Lawley
Street — now the low level goods station of the Midland Company.

In August, 1837, it was announced to the shareholders that the
work of constructing the line had been commenced. The land
had been taken ; the bridges at Derby over the canal, and the
Derwent, and the viaduct over the Anker, had been commenced ;
and the important works at Tamworth had been let to an experi-
enced contractor. Mr. Henry Smith, the Chairman, also stated
that the Company had endeavoured to obtain an amendment of
the Act to authorize them to make a line from Tamworth to
Rugby, but that the proposal had encountered such severe opposition
that it had been withdrawn. Failing in this, the directors had
decided to begin without delay the Hampton branch of their line,
by means of which they would be brought near to Rugby and have
their course opened to the South ; and it was estimated that this
part of their works might be completed within twelve months of
the opening of the London and Birmingham Railway.

By Midsummer, 1838, the whole of the land required between
Derby and Hampton had been purchased, and at a cost in excess of
the grant by estimate of only about £10,000. The cuttings and
embankments were found to be nearly equal in amount, and only
about 55,000 cubic yards to the mile ; and most of the excavations
being in red marl or gravel, abundance of excellent material was
supplied for the formation of the permanent way. Each of the
three Companies had bought ground near to Derby for a general
station; on this subject all had agreed, and we may add — they
agreed on nothing else.

THE ANKER VIADUCT.

The contractors undertook that the line should be ready to
receive the trains as early as the 30th of June, 1839, and it was
opened from Derby to Hampton-in-Arden in an unusually early
period for so considerable an undertaking. The line of country is,
hoAvever, very favourable for a railway. No tunnel was required ;
the only important embankment is that in the neighbourhood of
Tamworth, and the gradients of half the lines are slight, and on
the other half are level. The chief works of the engineer were at
the Anker Viaduct, near Tamworth, formed of eighteen arches of
30 feet span, and one oblique arch of 60 feet span. There was

THE ANKEB VIADUCT.

a viaduct of nearly a quarter of a mile in length, which rested on
1000 piles, near Walton.

The period that followed the opening of the line was, however,
discouraging. Coaches were still running between Birmingham
and Derby. Additional capital had also been spent. Only a small
dividend was paid, and the hope of futuje prosperity was depen-
dent on the completion of the North Midland and other lines,
which might bring an accession of traffic.

Thus things dragged their slow length along till, at the general
meeting held at Birmingham in August, 1841, the chairman stated

54 COMPETITION.

that, though the receipts had improved, and the prospects of the
undertaking were encouraging, he thought that it would be
desirable for the shareholders to appoint a committee to investigate
the condition of the Company, and the suggestion was adopted.
The report of this committee indicated several methods in which
the administration of affairs might be improved ; and with regard
to the future, it spoke hopefully.

The events that followed the separate history of this Company
were of little moment. Some economies were made ; expectations
were raised with regard to the effects of a proposed connection
with the Birmingham and Gloucester line so soon as it should be
finished, and with other railways to the North ; and the discussions
Avith the Midland Counties Company on the subject of the man-
damus dragged their slow length along. The contention of the
Birmingham and Derby was, that their line was the first opened ;
that it conveyed passengers from Dei'by to London for a year before
the Midland Counties was able to do so ; that it had then carried
200,000 passengers in perfect safety ; that previous to the opening
of the Midland Counties the directors of the Birmingham and
Derby had commenced negotiations for an " equitable division " of
the traffic to the South ; that the first reduction of fares had been
made by the Midland Counties ; and that the Birmingham and
Derby board had offered to refer the whole question to the
arbitration of Mr. George Carr Glyn, the Chairman of the London
and Birmingham and North Midland Railways. " Our line, too,"
said Mr. Kahrs, " is incapable of being interfered with by new
lines, except for its benefit. Not so the others. He had been for
some time expecting the announcement of a more direct line
between London and York, by way of Peterborough and Lincoln ;
and that morning's post brought news that this was already talked
of on the Stock Exchange. And what," he asked, "would then be
the position of the Midland Counties and North Midland lines ? "

At length, however, this controversy drew towards a close : and
the directors of the Birmingham and Derby Company announced
that with an earnest desire to develop the resources, and to reduce
the cost of working the line, they had " approved of a proposition
of the directors of the North Midland Railway for the amalgama-
tion of the three lines of railway which centre in Derby, as a
measure that would be highly beneficial to them all." The whole

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY COMPANY. 55

subject of amalgamation was brought tinder the consideration of
the proprietors of the three Companies ; the terms were discussed
and eventually approved ; the first General Meeting of the share-
holders of the now consolidated Midland Railway Company being
held at Derby, on Tuesday, July 16th, 1844 ; Mr. Hudson, chair-
man of the board of directors, presiding. The last dividends for
the half-year of the three separate Companies were as follows : —

£ s. d.

North Midland £100 shares 220

Midland Counties £100 shares 226

Birmingham and Derby original shares . . . .166

The total returns for the now united line amounted to about
£10,000 a week.

We have now reached a memorable period in the history of our
subject: the Midland Railway Company, as we understand it, had
been formed.

CHAPTER IV.

Birmingham and Gloucester railway. — The Society of Friends. — Early difficulties
of the new project. — The route chosen. — Tramway from Cheltenham and
Gloucester. — Progress of works. — The Lickey incline. — Norris's engine. —
Opening of part of the line. — Railway tickets adopted. — Carriage of coals. —
Committee of inquiry. — A Money bill. — Report of the committee. — Proposed
amalgamation with Midland Company. — Bristol and Gloucester. — Coal-pit
Heath tramway. — Cheltenham aud Great Western union. — Bristol and
Gloucester a broad gauge line. — Overtures for a union with the Birming-
ham and Gloucester. — Opening of the line. — An early break-down. — Incon-
veniences of the break of gauge at Gloucester. — Negotiations with
Birmingham and Gloucester resumed. — Rival claimants for a western
belle. — Terms of the settlement. — Amalgamation with the Midland Railway
Company. — Access of Midland Company to New Street Station, Birming-
ham.— Mr. John Ellis's successful negotiations.

THE line of Midland railway that now connects Birmingham and
Bristol is the result of the amalgamation of what were originally
four distinct undertakings. It is true that, so far back as 1824, it
was proposed that a through line should be made by a single com-
pany ; that a meeting, " respectably and numerously attended,"
was held at the White Lion Hotel, Bristol, to carry out the idea ;
that a large sum of money was subscribed ; that a deposit of 40s.
was ordered to be paid on each share within forty- eight hours ;
and that, at the end of that time, there was not a defaulter.
"Then why," asked Mr. George Jones, twenty years afterwards,
when chairman of the Bristol and Gloucester Company, " why
was not the scheme prosecuted? Because," he replied, "the
thing was not then well understood. We had not then a Brunei,
nor the Stephensons, nor others who might be named. A partial
survey of the proposed line was made, and legal and other expenses
were incurred, but after some months the intention was abandoned ;
and, to the credit of the parties concerned, and especially of the

THE SOCIETY OF FEIENDS. 57

solicitors, the deposits were returned with less than half a crown
a share deducted for costs."

This scheme for a united tlirough railway having thus fallen
into abeyance, the work was left to be undertaken in fragments
by various parties, and at different times ; but chiefly in two
portions — from Birmingham to Gloucester, and from Gloucester
to Bristol. To the former of these we have now to advert.

It is here worthy of remark that several of the pioneers of
English railway enterprise have been connected with the Society
of Friends. The far-sightedness in business matters with which
that body is not undeservedly credited, led several of its members
at an early period to anticipate that these paths of iron would
some day become the highways of inland communication. No
sooner was this conviction formed, than action was taken; and
while Edward Pease at Darlington, James Cropper at Liverpool,
Edward Fry at Bristol, and John Ellis at Leicester were labouring
to solve the early practical problems connected with their several
railway undertakings, the Sturges — Joseph and Charles — were
similarly engaged at Birmingham. As early as 1832 they em-
ployed Brunei — then almost a youth — to make a survey for a
cheap line between Birmingham and Gloucester. Any further
action was, however, suspended; and before long Brunei was
taken into the service of the Great Western Company.

The chief difficulty with which the friends of the Birmingham
and Gloucester railway had from the outset to contend, Avas the
commonplace one of lack of funds. Canvassing for shareholders
went on for years, and the promoters of the undertaking were
only too thankful to persuade now one person and now another to
become a subscriber. Even when the success of railway enterprise
elsewhere gave an impulse to the movement, all the arrangements
of the Company, and the very route along which the line was
taken, were cramped by considerations of economy. Captain
Moorsom, the engineer (the brother of the late chairman of the
London and North Western Company), was engaged on the modest
terms of " no success — no pay." Though the best course for the
proposed line would have been through the towns of Stourbridge,
and perhaps Dudley, Bromsgrove, DroitAvich, Worcester, and
Tewkesbury, all these places had to be avoided in order to diminish
expense ; and in the first instance the direction chosen was such

58 BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER LINES.

that even Cheltenham should not be touched. The outcry was,
however, so energetic, that this part of the arrangement had to be
modified : £200,000 additional capital had to be raised, the line
was taken more to the east ; and though "Worcester was left out,
Cheltenham was approached. We may add that the Birmingham
and Gloucester was the earliest railway bill that was sanctioned
the first time it was submitted to Parliament. One disadvantage
of the route finally adopted was, that it passed down what is
known as the Lickey Incline. To avoid this, Mr. Brunei had pro-
posed that the line should be carried farther to the east, by which
he would have secured, — what was then deemed indispensable to a
heavy traffic, — a gradient of 1 in 300. Such a course would, how-
ever, have been to give a yet wider berfch to the towns and the
population, and it was rejected.

In laying out the Birmingham and Gloucester line, the pro-
moters resolved to avail themselves of an old tramway that ran
from Cheltenham to Gloucester city and docks. It had cost about
£50,000, had been in use for mineral and goods traffic for some
30 years, and had been worked, at first by horses, and subse-
quently by locomotives built by J. J. Tregelles Price, of Neath
Abbey, near Swansea, another "Friend." This tramway was
purchased and incorporated with the new undertaking ; it was,
however, agreed that in the event of a line being brought from
Swindon to connect the Great Western Railway Avith Cheltenham,
the two Companies should share in the use and in the cost of the
tramway. Meanwhile the hopes of the proprietors were stimu-
lated by the estimate that their profits would amount to " 14 per
cent, nearly."

The first half-yearly report of the Company was presented on
February 1st, 1837. Some of the engineering works had been
commenced, and shafts had been sunk for an intended tunnel at
Moseley; but there had been difficulty at some points in con-
sequence of the exorbitant demand of the landowners. The
directors expressed their gratification that the capital of the Com-
pany had been " forthcoming with a commendable alacrity, which
left no doubt of the Avhole being obtained at the various periods at
which it might be required." But this satisfaction was short-
lived ; for in the autumn of the same year it was announced that
in consequence of a period of unexampled monetary difficulty, and

THE LICKEY INCLINE.

a reaction in public opinion with regard to such undertakings,
there had been an inadequate response to the appeals of the
directors.

In 1838 the works were rapidly advancing. The geological
formation of the country also had been found to be favourable.
Nearly 500 acres of land had been required.

Some time previous to the opening of the line, arrangements
were in contemplation for conducting its traffic up and down

TEWKESBURY.

Lickey Incline by means of locomotives. ' This was, by both
Brunei and George Stephenson, declared to be impracticable.
Captain Moorsom, however, Avheri in America, had seen engines
mount inclines equally steep, and twelve or fourteen of them were
accordingly ordered from a builder, one Norris, of Philadelphia,
the chief peculiarity of which was that their driving wheels were
only 2 feet in diameter. On arriving in this country, and being
tested, they did all that was expected from them. Subsequently,
Mr. Bury, the well-known engine builder, declared that whatever

60 AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVES.

American engines could do, lus could do ; and lie sent one witli a
five-foot driving wheel for trial. Mr. Bury, and Mr. Charles
Sturge of Birmingham, mounted the "Bury" at Bromsgrove, and
as it passed through the station, Mr. Sturge humorously called to
Gwynn, who had come with the American engines, to join him.
" No," he said ; " it's no use ; you'll soon come back again ; " and
" back again " they came ; for, by reason of some conditions which
are not easily to be explained, the larger wheels would not " bite "
the rails like the smaller ones, and the engine could not mount
the incline. The Americans have, however, since been super-
seded ; and the incline is now worked by ordinary engines, aided
by a "pilot," with pei'fect efficiency and success. The last
American locomotive was used for some time on the Tewkesbury
branch.

On the 24th of June, 1840, the portion of line between Chelten-
ham and Bromsgrove, 31 miles in length, was opened for passenger
traffic. It appears that the directors did not wait for the sanction
of the Board of Trade, who were needlessly suspicious of the safety
of some of the works. At the ensuing meeting of the share-
holders it was stated that the financial results of the enterprise
were so far satisfactory that " the cheering inference might be
fairly drawn that when the whole line was in operation the traffic
would be increased to an amount far exceeding any calculations
that had hitherto been made."

Railway tickets, as we now know them, were first adopted on
the Birmingham and Gloucester line. Mr. Edmondson,* who
invented them, consented for a trifling consideration that they
should be used by the Company, in order that their advantages
might be fairly tested and publicly known.

Among the earlier problems of railway administration was,
whether coal could be carried to any great distance from the pits
at a profit. This question came under the consideration of the
Birmingham and Gloucester directors as early as the year 1842,
when some coal merchants intimated that they wished to open a
trade on the new line. Accordingly " a small quantity was con-
veyed by way of experiment, at a price which barely reimbursed
the cost of conveyance ;" but as the result, it was reported that

* See "Our Iron Roads," by Fredk. S. Williams.

APPOINTMENT OF JOINT COMMITTEE. 61

" till a return traffic could be found, the coal trade down the line
would not be remunerative to the Company."

A special meeting of the proprietors was held on the 18th of
January, 1843, at Birmingham, in compliance with a requisition to
the directors signed by nearly 1,000 shareholders, for the purpose
of " considering and determining as to the appointment of a com-
mittee of shareholders, not being directors, of the said Company,"
who should ascertain the state of the Company, financially,
materially, and otherwise. Captain Moorsom, chairman of the
directors, Avho presided, said that the number of shares represented
by the document fell short of those which were required to make
it legal, but that the directors had waived that consideration, and
had convened the meeting. He stated that the directors saw no
objection to the appointment of a joint committee consisting of an
equal number of shareholders and directors ; but that the appoint-
ment of a committee from which directors were excluded was to
raise the question of confidence. A lengthened discussion followed,
in the course of which it was declared that the estimated cost of
the line had been largely exceeded, and that there had been many
mistakes in its administration. At High Orchard, at Gloucester,
for instance, said one of the critics, there is what is called a wet
basin, " so ingeniously constructed as to be fed by a stream of
water which is fast filling it up with mud, and so admirably
situated as to be inaccessible. The presumption would be that
this is a receptacle intended for traffic, and that it will be sur-
rounded by sheds and warehouses for the reception of goods ; but
the only buildings contiguous are six large coke ovens, which are
not at work because the coke could be contracted for elsewhere
on better terms. The wet basin," continued the speaker, " is a
melancholy spectacle; especially when it is considered that at
the bottom of its foul waters lie something like £14,000 of our
money."

No event of special interest marked the remaining years of the
annals of this line as a separate affair. We shall have shortly to
see, in another connection, the circumstances under which the
Company at length lost its individuality and became merged in a
larger and more comprehensive undertaking.

We now turn to the second principal portion of the Birmingham
and Bristol line, that which extends from Gloucester to Bristol.

62 BRISTOL AND GLOUCESTER LINE.

In doing so we must go back to the year 1838, and by a mental
effort try to realize the then condition of affairs. A tramway had
been made, extending a few miles to the north-east of Bristol, to a
point now known as the Westerleigh Junction ; here it turned
away to the left, and threw off several branches, one of which
continued to Coal-pit Heath. This tramway was called the
Coal-pit Heath line, and it was proposed that the greater part
of it should now be incorporated into the new railway to Glou-
cester.

Again, at the northern end of the projected line another railway
was in contemplation. It was to be called "the Cheltenham and
Great Western Union." It was not at that period identified with
the Great Western ; but it was to be made on the broad gauge, to
start from Swindon, to climb up and then to descend the Stroud
Valley, to emerge into the open at Stonehouse, and thence to
pursue its way to Gloucester and Cheltenham.

The Bristol and Gloucester line being thus flanked on the east
and south by the broad gauge, it became committed to broad
gauge interests ; the line was made as a broad gauge line ; and the
engineer was that dauntless champion of broad gauge schemes,
Brunei himself. In this arrangement there were important advan-
tages : the same railway from Stonehouse to Gloucester could be
used by both the new companies ; the same station at Gloucester
was available for both; a junction could be effected at Bristol with
the Bristol and Exeter system ; and negotiations were at one time
entertained by which the Great Western Company should work
the Bristol and Gloucester line. In recognition of these benefits,
it was arranged that a rent should be paid to the Cheltenham and
Great Western Union for the use of the line between Stonehouse
and Gloucester ; for . the portion between Gloucester and Chelten-
ham ; and for the three stations, £3,500 a year ; these charges to
include the maintenance of the permanent way, parochial and police
expenses, and wages. After five years the rent was to be raised
£1,000. The Bristol and Gloucester Company also agreed to
subscribe £50,000 towards the purchase of shares in the capital of a
projected extension of the Bristol and Exeter line to Plymouth.

But though the Bristol and Gloucester line was thus originated
in broad gauge interests, there were persons of influence who began
to recognise the fact that its chief value would be found as part

FIRST MEETING.

of a through route to Birmingham — a link of connection between
the West, the South-west, and the Midlands and the North of
England. It was with this view that important improvements
were effected in the gradients and course of the line within the
parliamentary limits of deviation ; involving, fortunately, a saving
in earthworks to the amount of one-fifth of the original estimate.
As early, too, as 1840 — four years before the railway was com-
pleted— direct negotiations arose between the boards of the
Birmingham and Gloucester and Bristol and Gloucester Companies,

GLOCCESTEK.

with a view to a union on equal terms of the two properties ; and
it was proposed that the portion that belonged to the Cheltenham
Company should be obtained by purchase.

The first half-yearly meeting of the Bristol and Gloucester line
was held Sept. 29th, 1842, at Bristol. It was reported that the
contracts between Westerleigh and Stonehouse were proceeding
satisfactorily. The depressed state of the iron trade had enabled
the board to supply themselves with rails on favourable terms.
Continuous timber bearings were to be used for the support of the
rails.

G4 NEGOTIATIONS FOR AMALGAMATION.

On the 8th of July, 1844, the new line was opened for passenger
traffic. A large number of persons assembled at Gloucester to
welcome the arrival of the first train ; but, unfortunately, it did
not approach with the dignity of demeanour befitting so august
an occasion. On rounding a rather sharp curve within half a mile
of its destination, in consequence of a defect in bolting one of the
sleepers on which the rails rested, the engine went off the rails,
and dragged several of the carriages after it. The train was
proceeding slowly ; the passengers alighted uninjured, and were
able to reach the terminus on foot. Here a large party partook
of a late breakfast, and speeches were delivered in honour of the
occasion.

In the year 1845 the negotiations for a union of the Birmingham
and Gloucester and Bristol and Gloucester lines, which had pre-
viously been unsuccessful, Avere resumed. It had been found that
the meeting of two independent lines with different gauges had in-
volved serious disadvantages and losses to both companies ; and
with a view of introducing uniformity of system and of gauge, it
was resolved that there ought to be identity of interest. At
present, however, it was undetermined whether the broad gauge
should be carried through to Birmingham, or the narrow gauge be
continued to Bristol : an issue which might appear of secondary
moment, but which really involved the question whether the Great
Western system was to surround the midland counties of England,
and whether it was to perpetuate a conflict of gauge between the
North and the West. This was a rivalry, too, in which — though
the Midland and the Great Western. Companies were the chief
competitors — all existing railways were concerned. And thus it
came to pass that the two western lines which had been struggling
for existence found that they were engaging national attention,
the objects of national interest, a prize to be contended for by
eager rivals. All this was very flattering to a hitherto unappre-
ciated western belle, who began to feel how pleasant it was to
flirt now with one admirer and anon with another, to weigh their
respective claims, and eventually to secure for the honour of her
alliance a very substantial settlement. The rivalry was close and
keen. The Endowment offered by the Great Western was in
share capital ; that of the Midland was in cash — a guaranteed six
per cent, dividend. The terms proposed by Mr. Saunders for the

AMALGAMATION WITH MIDLAND. 65

Great Western would have been accepted had not Mr. Ellis, on
the very same day, submitted his offer on behalf of the Midland,
and carried off the palm.

The narrow gauge lookers-on were delighted. The London and
North Western Company had been especially anxious to keep the
broad gauge in the West ; and, with the view of backing up the
Midland Company in its conflict, undertook for a time to share in

any loss the Midland might
incur by its somewhat onerous
terms of purchase. The aid
thus promised by the London
and North Western was sub-
sequently altered, by arrange-
BRISTOL. ment, into permission for the

Midland to use the New Street

Station at Birmingham, which had cost an enormous sum of money,
for the nominal rent, besides charges for porters, of £100 a year.

The terms of agreement were sanctioned by the different com-
panies in the usual manner. At the Midland Meeting, August
12th, 1845, Mr. Hudson, in commending the lease to the adoption
of the shareholders, said: "I take no credit to myself, gentlemen,

66 BENEFITS OF AMALGAMATION.

for having originated this arrangement. My friend Mr. Ellis, to
whom I wish to give all the credit which is so justly his due,
suggested to the board this bold course ; and I candidly confess
that, at first, I shrank from incurring further liabilities on the
part of the Midland Company. On looking, however, more
closely into the matter, and reflecting on the greater accommoda-
tion which by means of this arrangement we could offer to the
public — feeling, too, that small and independent companies could
not supply such advantages, and having examined carefully the
accounts, I concurred most cordially in the views of my excellent
colleague Mr. Ellis, and I am here to-day to take whatever
share of the responsibility may attach to me."

On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Ellis remarked, that when, by
force of circumstances, it had devolved upon him to negotiate the
arrangements with the Birmingham and Bristol Company, he had
not the opportunities he could have desired of consulting his
colleagues; "but having since deliberated on the matter for
weeks and months, he was more firmly convinced than ever of the
wisdom of the step which had been taken, and which it would
have been a dereliction of duty on his part to have neglected."

We may add that at the time these negotiations were concluded,
the two western lines were not earning so much as the Midland
Company agreed to give for them, and in the first eighteen
months there was a deficit of £27,500. Subsequently the accounts
of the several lines were not kept separately, and therefore the
loss or gain could not be exactly determined; but by a special
examination it was ascertained that by the end of 1848 the
western lines had paid their way, or nearly so. From that time
to the present the financial advantages of the amalgamation to the
Midland Company have been undoubted ; to say nothing of the
indirect benefits that have been derived from securing an un-
broken uniformity of gauge in the midland districts of England.

CHAPTER V.

The Leicester and Swanuington railway. — The Leicestershire] coal-fields.—
Coal below granite. — " Old George's " sagacity. — Metal tickets. — The first
steam whistle. — West Bridge station, Leicester. — Amalgamation of Swan-
nington line with Midland. — Proposed Erewash Valley railway. — Line from
Syston to Peterborough. — The battle of Saxby Bridge. — " The Railway
Mania." — Competition. — A rival line proposed from London to York. — Mr.
Hudson's indignation. — "Unusual expedients." — Parliamentary battle. — •
Proposed line from Matlock to the Midland system. — Remarkable special
general meeting. — Countless new projects. — Enthusiasm of the share-
holders.— The South Midland and Leicester and Bedford schemes. — Ani-
mated meeting at Bedford. — Proposed lease of Leeds and Bradford line.
— Protracted debate.

THE Leicester and Swannington, as we have already remarked,
was the first railway made in the midland counties of England.
While it was in course of construction, George Stephenson entered
into an arrangement with Mr. Joseph Sanders, the "father" of
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and Sir Joshua Walmesley,
for the purchase of a colliery estate at Snibston, near what is now
the Coalville station, and not far from the extinct volcano of
Bardon Hill. Here a shaft was sunk, and coal was got. Stephen-
son, however, arrived at the conclusion that, by going deeper, he
should reach a better seam than any heretofore discovered in that
district. He set to work accordingly. But suddenly his sinkers,
to their dismay, touched the granite. " Granite," every one
said, " was the earliest of all the formations ; coal could never be
below granite." " You're wrong," replied old George, in homely
words and Doric accent, but with the insight of genius, " you're
wrong. "When Bardon Hill was on fire, the pot boiled over, and
this granite is only the scum. It is no great thickness. We shall
go through it, and find the best coal below." He was right.
After proceeding downwards about sixty feet, they pierced the

LEICESTER AND SWANNINGTON LINES.

granite ; they again entered the coal measures ; they passed
through a seam which had been turned to cinders by the boiling
lava, and they reached the main coal. To these pits the new line
was to run : they were to help the railway, and the railway was
to be the making of them.

The Leicester and Swaimington line, like many others, had
troubles in its early days. At one period there was so much
trouble in securing from the shareholders its payment of calls,
that the defaulters were threatened in an original, but, no doubt,
effective manner. " I am therefore necessitated to inform you,"
wrote the secretary, "that unless the sum of £2 is paid on or
before the 22nd instant, your name will be furnished to one of the
principal and most pressing creditors of the company."

The Swannington line was opened on the 17th of July, 1832 ;
but i't may be mentioned, as an illustration of how little was at

that time known of the future capabilities of railways, that
it had not been intended that this should carry passengers. A
carriage, however, was made and placed on the line, and its traffic
was so far successful that after a while it was found that the
passenger fares paid one per cent, on the capital. The passenger
tickets first used were of metal, of the size and shape indicated in
the illustration, which is copied by our artist from a ticket lent
to us by a Midland Inspector. If a passenger went from Leices-
ter, for instance, to the then Ashby Road station, perhaps " No.
22 " would be issued to him, and the circumstance would be duly
recorded by the clerk in a book kept for that purpose, the page of
which resembled the " way-bills " of coaching days. When the

70 WAY-BILLS AND WHISTLES.

passenger arrived at his destination, the guard would place the
ticket in a leathern pouch he carried at his side, which looked like
a modern collecting box, and take them back to be used again.

For six or eight months from the opening of the Leicester and
Swanningtoii line it was in the charge of Mr. George Vaughan,
who was also manager of the Snibston collieries. Soon after the
appointment of his successor, Mr. Ashlen Bagster, a locomotive,
given by Weatherburn, while crossing a level road near Thornton,
ran against a earner's cart, the hood of which covered over the
driver, and concealed from his view the approaching train. At
that time the drivers and guards of trains were able to give the
signal of alarm only by means of a horn ; and when Mr. Bagster
heard of the misadventure he went over to Alton Grange, and
mentioned the circumstances to Stephenson. "Is it not possible,"
he suggested, " to have a whistle fitted on the engine, which the
steam can blow ?" " A very good thought," replied Stephenson.
" You go to Mr. So-arid- So, a musical-instrument maker, and get
a model made, and we will have a steam whistle, and put it on
the next engine that comes on the line." This was accordingly
done. The model was sent to Newcastle ; and all future engines
that arrived in Leicestershire were thus equipped.

It is interesting to visit the spot, by the broad canal and wharf,
where once stood the only railway station in the midland counties
of England. What are now the homely waiting-room and entrance
passage of the booking offices was then the board-room in which
the fifteen railway magnates met to deliberate on the affairs of a
line sixteen miles in length — a director to a mile ; yet those men
were then solving practical problems with astuteness and enterprise
which have since enriched the land and benefited the world.

The Leicester and Swannington line continued its independent
existence for some years, when rumours from various quarters, of
threatened schemes of competition, made the Midland board anxious
to consolidate their position in the districts they occupied. A
Leicester and Tamworth Company endeavoured to obtain posses-
sion of the Swannington ; but the Midland Company promptly
concluded their negotiations, and bought the line. In this trans-
action the directors of the Swannington were not unwilling to
give a preference to the Midland Company, which they regarded
in the light of a natural ally. The dividend at one time had been

SWANNINGTON AMALGAMATED WITH MIDLAND.

about eight per cent. ; but latterly, in order to defray the expense
of relaying the line, the shareholders had received only five. The
Midland Company guaranteed a dividend of eight per cent, on a
capital of £140,000, and consented to take over a debt of £10,000 :
these terms not being higher than those proposed by other parties.
On coming into possession of the Swannington line, the Midland
Company found it necessary to make several important improve-
ments. Near Bardon Hill the line ran up a steep " self-acting
incline," along which passengers were required to trudge, what-
ever might be the inclemency of the weather. Two sets of
passenger trains and engines were kept in use, one on the higher
and the other on the lower levels, and worked in correspondence

LEICESTER STATION (\VEST BRIDGE), 1832.

with each other. Bat such an ai'raiigement would no longer
suffice, and a deviation of the railway was now ordered to be
made, along which locomotives could freely pass. As, too, the
old line was only a single line, and passed as such through a tunnel
a mile long which could not easily be widened, it was resolved to
construct another — a loop or deviation — line, which, instead of
starting from the West Bridge station, should commence at the
Midland main line, about a mile south of the London Road station,
and should join the old Swannington at some point north of the
tunnel. The old West Bridge line would still be used, but could
be relieved of much of its former traffic.

The practical sagacity which had led to the consolidation into
one property and under one administration of what had previously
been a number of isolated if not rival interests, was now developed

72 EEEWASH VALLEY LINE.

into a policy of extension. In 1844 a company was formed for
the purpose of constructing the long-delayed Erewash Valley line ;
but in the following February, before the Act could be obtained,
the Midland Company agreed to take up the project, the price
being a minimum guarantee of six per cent, per annum on a capital
not exceeding £145,000. The line, however, was not opened till
1847, and the traffic for some time afterwards was small — a circum-
stance accounted for by the fact that a canal runs parallel with it
for its entire length, and that the canal, unlike the railway, had
an outlet to the north. The importance of making it a thorough-
fare was, however, early recognised ; and when the amalgamation
was effected, Mr. Dicey drew attention to the fact that, by con-
tinuing the line northward, a saving of six miles Avould be effected
by trains that avoided the detour by Derby ; and a rich mineral
district would also be opened up. He further contended that the
Midland would thus secure the benefit of a through relief line for
their main traffic to and from the north, similar to that enjoyed
by the London and North Western by their Trent Valley scheme.
The force of Mr. Dicey's remarks would perhaps have been at once
allowed ; but the minds of the directors were pre-occupied by
extensions which they deemed essential in order to protect them-
selves from intended aggressions on their eastern frontier.

One of these projects, immediately contemplated, was for a line
to run from Syston, a station about five miles north of Leicester,
to the city of Peterborough. It was laid out by George Stephen-
son, — its winding course being necessary to catch the towns and
their tolls, to avoid the uplands and wolds of Leicestershire, and
to prevent encroachment on Lord Harborough's park at Stapleford.
" I have always held," said Mr. Hudson, in referring to this
project, " that a line should bend to the population, and not leave
the towns;" and this line had to be bent, in order to satisfy these
varied and inexorable conditions, to nearly half a circle, and then
to run through the middle of Stamford to Peterborough. It was
estimated to cost £700,000, or £15,000 a mile. The towns along
its course pronounced in its favour ; and their interest in the
matter is not surprising, when it is mentioned that during a then
recent frost the price of coals at Stamford had risen to forty
shillings a ton, and that there had been a famine of fuel in the
neighbourhood. The greatest hostility to the undertaking was,

THE LONDON AND YOEK. 73

however, shown by the clientele of Lord Harborough ; and in one
of the attempts made near Saxby to survey the line, a conflict
took place, subsequently humorously entitled " the battle of Saxby
Bridge," which led to the incarceration of some of the surveyors
in Leicester gaol some weeks as " first-class misdemeanants."

But while the Midland Company board was thus contemplating
measures for the consolidation and enlargement of its influence,
other minds were equally fertile in devising projects for new
railways — some of which might invade the territory which hitherto
the Midland Company had regarded as its own. In 1843 twenty-
four railway Acts had been passed by Parliament ; in 1844 thirty-
seven more were added ; in 1845 the railway mania reached its
height, and in that November no fewer than 1428 railway schemes
had been authorized, or were projected — 1428 lines, with an
estimated capital of more than £700,000,000 ! But amid the
bubbles that came so swiftly to the surface of that strange and,
in many respects, disastrous time, there were some solid and
honest enterprises, one of which was destined decisively to tell on
the fortunes of the Midland Railway. This was the London and
York — a line intended to flank the Midland system from south to
north, and to " tap " its traffic at almost every vital point.

It is not surprising that such a project was resisted with no
common determination. Mr. Hudson poured upon it vials of his
hottest indignation, and declared that if there had been added to
the scheme " the humbug of the atmospheric principle, it would
have been the most complete thing ever brought before the public."
After referring to the heavy earthworks,'the gradients, and tunnels
of the proposed line, he declared that he had no hesitation in
giving a challenge to leave London with twenty carriages by the
London and Birmingham and Midland railways, and that he would
beat his rival at York ; " and more than that, he questioned
whether, in foggy whether, they would ever get there at all."

The London and North Western Company united with the
Midland in resisting the proposed undertaking, and the legal
battle that was waged proved to be one of the greatest of the
kind in the annals of Parliament. Two competitive lines to the
London and York — the Direct Northern and the Cambridge and

Lincoln — were in the field. No fewer than twenty counsel ap-
peared daily in the committee rooms ; and the Commons' Com-

74 KING HUDSON.

mittee sat six days through the greater part of two sessions of
Parliament, the standing orders being suspended to enable them
to complete so colossal an investigation. It was even alleged that
Mr. Hudson adopted unusual expedients to obstruct the progress
of legislation, so that the bill might not pass during that session.
Lord Brougham, remai'ked the Morning Herald, " adverted to the
manner in which money and time were consumed in the con-
flicting schemes before Parliament, and said that Mr. Hudson —
King Hudson — was working with a twelve-counsel power before
the committee on the London and York line. The object of Mr.
Hudson was delay, in order that a report might not be made in
the present session, and of course counsel would talk just as long
as Mr. Hudson was disposed to spend money. He was, in fact,
just as well pleased Avith a six or eight hours' speech from the
counsel opposed to him, as with a speech of six hours from his
own counsel. He hoped, however, that the committee would
disappoint Mr. Hudson, by reporting during the present session."
Lord Faversham said that Mr. Hudson, who was present, and had
heard Lord Brougham's speech — cries of " Order " — had authoi'ized
him to say that it was incorrect that he had interfered with the
committee ; whereupon Lord Brougham observed, that " the only
sovereign entitled to be present at their debate was Her Majesty.
The railway potentate had no right to be there."

Mr. Hudson, however, availed himself of another opportunity to
deny the charge ; and he stated that, instead of employing twelve
counsel, there were only five who, during the progress of the
London and York, attended on his behalf to watch the course of
the business. " When the Cambridge and Lincoln came under the
consideration of the committee," he said, " our counsel did not
attend, because Ave did not feel ourselves in a position to oppose
that Company. We therefore took no part Avhatever then in the
proceedings. Then came on the Direct Northern, in Avhich Ave
were interested, and then our counsel did attend. To say that AVC
Avere the means of obstructing the business of the committee was
a most unfair and unjust accusation, not only upon you but upon
me individually."

Meanwhile the two competitive schemes AArere merged into the
London and York ; and, as the proceedings drew to a close, the
final decision Avas awaited Avith intense interest. The committee

GEEAT NOETHEEN BILL PASSED. 75

room Avas thronged. Amid breathless silence, the chairman an-
nounced that the preamble of the bill (with the exception of the
proposed Sheffield and Wakefield branches) was proved. Loud
applause broke instantly and irresistibly forth, and then the
audience rushed helter-skelter out of the room to bear near and
afar the tidings in which so many, for good or for ill, were deeply
concerned.

Mr. Hudson did not fail to avail himself of the earliest oppor-
tunity of again expressing his indignation at the injury and
injustice that had been done to the interests of the Midland. " I
should be unworthy," he exclaimed, " of the position I hold, and of
the confidence with which you are pleased to honour me, if I were
to shrink from telling you plainly the position in which this
Company is placed by the proceedings of the House of Commons
in deciding a question in which we are so deeply interested, with-
out allowing us to adduce one tittle of evidence in the matter." He
declared that " the committee had come to a decision on the main
question, without knowing anything whatever of the matter
submitted to their judgment. (Loud cries of ' Shame, shame.')
The committee retired to consider what reason they should give,
— I will not say what expedient they should devise, — to sanction
the opposition of the London and York Company to the Doncaster
Bill ; and the reason they alleged was, that it was a competing line
with the Wakefield branch of the London and York. How the
ingenuity of man, how fruitful soever, could bring forward such an
expedient, is to me most marvellous.

" Shut out as we were from all opportunity of being heard, we
thought the most dignified course — the course most befitting you
and ourselves — would be to retire altogether from the 'committee,
and to take no part in opposition to the clauses of the London and
York bill, though I fear the public safety is deeply involved in
passing our station at York, and in the interference with our
traffic. We felt, however, that before such a committee we had no
chance of being fairly treated, and therefore it was that we
requested Mr. Austin, as appearing for the Midland and the York
and North Midland Companies, to state that, as we could not be
heard, we should at once retire from the committee and appeal to
the House. (Boisterous applause.) Those who have heard Mr.
Austin before parliamentary committees, and know how respect-

76 MR. HUDSON'S INDIGNATION.

fully he expresses his views, will at once admit that nothing could
be said by him unbecoming a gentleman ; and yet, no sooner had
Mr. Austin opened his mouth, and merely uttered the words, ' we
protest,' than the committee rushed from the room, and on their
return announced that he could not be heard. (Hisses, and cries
of ' shame.')

" Thus, gentlemen, we have been shut out from a hearing before
the committee ; but I look to the House for that justice which is
the right of the humblest individual — and certainly not less the
right of those who have embarked nearly thirty millions of money
in this and other undertakings which are affected — the justice of
not having their claims thus summarily disposed of without even
the courtesy of a hearing. (Loud applause.) I feel it difficult, as
an Englishman, to restrain my feelings when speaking of such
proceedings, but I have endeavoured not to exaggerate the facts ;
and I leave to yourselves to give an opinion thereon. (Renewed
applause.) Such a decision cannot possibly stand, and I am
satisfied that even those members of the House who are pleased
with this triumph — if triumph it may be called — of the London
and York, will, when the question is brought before the House,
give their vote that at least we shall be heard.

" Had an opportunity been allowed, we should have shown that
while the London and York proposed to save by their new line
about three-quarters of a mile in distance, we should have saved a
million and a half of money, and given the public equal, if not
greater facilities. Nothing, however, of this kind was permitted.
With breathless haste the committee were resolved to pass the
preamble of the bill — with breathless haste they are resolved to
report upon it ; but I hope and believe that our appeal to the
House will result in sending back the bill to the committee, so that
its opponents may at least bring forward their case. If, after that
examination, our schemes are found defective, of course we must
submit ; but it is one of the most cruel inflictions that could be
imposed on the owners of so large a property, that our claims
should be rejected unheard. (Hear, hear.) How can the decision
of this committee stand if it be true, as rumoured, that it was
settled by two individuals, one member of the committee not voting
at all, and another voting directly against it !

" Gentlemen, I have little more to say of the London and York

ME. HUDSON'S SPEECH. . 77

scheme. On a previous occasion, some eight or ten months ago,
I fully explained my views as to its merits, and that estimate has
not only been tacitly admitted by the parties themselves, but has
been almost literally borne out by the evidence adduced before the
committee. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, on the principle that we
have not been heard, we take our stand ; and it is the anxious wish
of my colleagues and myself to fortify our position during the short
interval ere the prorogation of Parliament by any means that may
be pointed out. I am not an alarmist, nor in the habit of giving
way to difficulties ; but on the other hand, whilst I would not
encourage the notions of the over- sanguine, I believe that this
Company is destined to maintain a high position, and that there is
nothing either present or in prospect at all tending to interfere
with its ultimate and permanent success. (Applause.) I have
nothing to add. It may be that I have expressed myself somewhat
too strongly (loud cries of ' No, no,' from the entire meeting), but
I feel that we have been hardly dealt with. I feel that we have
done nothing to forfeit our rights as Englishmen, and I trust that
some means may yet be devised of not deciding against us un-
heard." (Much applause.)

The chairman resumed his seat amid " a hurricane of ap-
plause." The motion having been seconded, was carried unani-
mously.

At this meeting, July 25th, 1845, it was mentioned that the
merchandise and mineral receipts had increased at the rate of more
than 27 per cent, on the corresponding half-year; and that the
directors had arranged for the lease of the Birmingham and
Gloucester, and Bristol and Gloucester railways ; of the Leicester
and Swannington railway ; and of the Ashby and Oakham canals.
The chairman also proposed that the Midland Company should
join certain other companies in subscribing for a piece of plate to
be presented to George Stephenson, and for a statue to be erected
on the bridge at Newcastle — the quota of the Midland Company
to be £2,000. Mr. Ellis, the deputy-chairman, said that though he
was a member of the Society of Friends, he should, " with all his
heart," second the motion. One shareholder demurred to the
application to any such purpose of the shareholders' money —
money, he said, that belonged in part to "orphans and widows ; "
whereupon the chairman declared that if any proprietor objected

78 PROPOSED EXTENSION TO BUXTON.

to the vote, " his quota should be calculated, and he (the chairman)
would repay the amount out of his own pocket ; " a remark which,
we are informed, drew forth " boisterous applause, which lasted
for several minutes."

Reference was made at this meeting to a line which had been
proposed to connect the Midland system with Matlock, Buxton,
and Manchester. Thirty coaches passed along that route every day
through the summer months, and the visitors to Chatsworth alone
amounted to sixty or seventy thousand a year. The Hon. George
Cavendish was one of the earliest supporters of the project, and
took in it 520 shares, which, he said, " I do not intend to sell."
George Stephenson, too, at a meeting of the new company, stated
that though he was about to retire from a profession in which he
had spent a long and arduous life, he had come forward to support
this line. He recollected well how the York and North Midland
had been forsaken notwithstanding his favourable predictions. He
had brought shares in it for £1, on which £6 had been paid ; and
he had had the satisfaction of holding these shares till he 'made
£250 for every £50 he had laid out. The development of this
Buxton and Manchester scheme was naturally watched by the
Midland Company with interest; and in order to secure some
measure of influence in controlling its destinies, the Midland boai-d
purchased nearly 10,000 shares, and placed them in trust, and
this number was subsequently largely increased. We may add
that the London and North Western Company, because they
did not want a line in this direction, pursued a similar course.

The year 1846 was an important epoch in the history of the
Midland Company. At the January meeting the chairman an-
nounced varied projects of extension ; and in the following May he
stated that the bills had passed the Commons, and had to be sub-
mitted for the sanction of the proprietors. It is true that the
difficulties that had latterly arisen in the railway world had some-
what abated the ardour of railway enterprise ; but the eloquence
of the chairman and the ambition of the shareholders gave such
enthusiasm to the scene, and reflected so remarkably the temper
of the times, that we must dwell somewhat minutely upon it. We
may premise that with the proxies that had been sent in, and the
shares that were held by proprietors present, there was not less
than £6,000,000 of Midland capital represented in the meeting.

NEW SCHEMES. 79

The first bill was for a deviation of the Syston and Peterborough
line. Its provisions were said to be necessary to meet some
objections made by Lord Harborough ; and it contained powers for
the construction of a small deviation that would improve the com-
munication with Stamford. The resolution was agreed to unani-
mously.

The next bill was to authorize the construction of an extension
of the Leicester and Swannington railway to Burton-on-Trent,
there again to join the Midland. The cost would be £140,000.

The next bill was for making a line fi'om Burton-on-Trent to
Nuneaton, with branches, and to authorize the Midland Company
to purchase the Ashby- de-la- Zouch canal, at a total cost of from
£70,000 to £80,000. Mr. Franklin objected to proceeding with
these schemes, on the ground that the shareholders had already
incurred sufficient responsibilities. Why not let other parties have
a chance as well as themselves ? (Hear, and laughter.) But the
resolution was agreed to.

The next bill related to the Erewash Valley line, sanctioned last
year. It was to authorize the construction of branches to neigh-
bouring coalfields, and also to the town of Chesterfield, and to Clay
Cross, in order to shorten the distance between the south and the
north. The estimate was £230,000; but the chairman said that
this bill could not be objected to,- since the undertakings were
likely to prove highly remunerative to the shareholders. The
resolution was then agreed to.

The next bill was for powers to construct a branch from
Nottingham to Mansfield, involving an expenditure of £270,000.
The line would considerably shorten the distance between these
places and the south of England. The resolution was agreed to.

The next bill was to authorize the construction of a line from
Clay Cross to join the Nottingham and Lincoln branch, and it also
was agreed to.

The next bill was for making a line from Swinton to Lincoln,
to connect the West Riding with Gainsborough and Doncaster.
The resolution Avas agreed to.

Other bills were submitted for lines to improve the communi-
cation with London and Birmingham, and Bristol and Gloucester,
and at Birmingham ; for connecting the Birmingham and
Gloucester line with the docks at Gloucester ; and for making a

80 NEW SCHEMES.

branch from the Birmingham and Gloucester to the rising water-
ing-place of Malvern. This line, the chairman remarked, was
much wanted, and likely to prove highly remunerative. Mr.
Thompson interposed that there was only one coach running to
Malvern ; but the chairman replied that that was no criterion to
go by, and of this they had an extraordinary proof in the Scar-
borough line. Befoi'e that line was made there was only one
coach, and it was therefore predicted that a railway would be a
ruinous undertaking, What, however, had been the result ? The
line was already paying 7 per cent. These bills were approved of.

The chairman said that the next bills were for power to com-
plete the narrow gauge down to Bristol, including an extension of
eight miles to Stonehouse ; for making a communication between
Bath and Mangotsfield; for carrying out the agreement for
leasing the Bristol and Gloucester, and Birmingham and Glouces-
ter lines ; for a line to connect the Midland system with Man-
chester, Buxton, and Matlock ; and for making the Manchester
and Southampton line. He asked the proprietary to leave these
matters in the hands of the directors, and their interests would
not be neglected. The bills were agreed to.

The position occupied by Mr. Hudson at this period was
remarkable, and we may pause in our narrative to notice it. " At
the beginning of the railway system," said the Neiccastle Chronicle
many years afterwards, " we find him a modest draper, doing a
quiet business in the cathedral city of York, with nothing to dis-
tinguish him from the rank and file of shopkeepers. Railways
became the passion of the hour, and the York draper was bitten by
the mania. Mr. Hudson risked all and was successful. Stimulated
by success, he played again; again fortune proved propitious.
His name became an authority on railway speculation, and the
confidence reposed in him was unbounded. For a time the entire
railway system of the North of England seemed under his control.
What Herculean energy was in the man may be gathered from a
couple of days' Avork, under Mr. Hudson's direction. On the 2nd
of May, 1846, the shareholders of the Midland Company gave their
approval to 26 bills which were immediately introduced into
Parliament. On Monday following, at ten o'clock, the York and
North Midland sanctioned six bills, and affirmed various deeds and
agreements affecting the Manchester and Leeds, and Hull and

PROPOSED LINES TO LONDON. 81

Selby Companies. Fifteen minutes later lie induced the Newcastle
and Darlington Company to approve of seven bills and accompany-
ing agreements ; and at half-past ten took his seat as a controlling
power at the board of the Newcastle and Berwick. In fine, during
these two days he obtained the approval of forty bills, involving
the expenditure of about £10,000,000. For three years matters
went bravely on, each succeeding day being a witness of greater
wonders than its predecessor." We may add, that some of those
who were best acquainted with the activities in which Mr. Hudson
was at that period engaged, are of opinion that scant justice was
done to his work, and to the motives by which he was actuated in
the performance of it.

Some of the extensions proposed by the Midland Company
encountered strenuous resistance. Lines between Clay Cross and
Newark, and between Nottingham and Mansfield, were resisted by
competitive schemes, brought forward by influential persons locally
interested ; and eventually it was thought good policy to buy off
opposition. The Boston, Newark, and Sheffield bill was thus with-
drawn for a consideration of £50,000 worth of Midland stock at
par ; and the Nottingham and Mansfield project was similarly
silenced by £40,000 stock upon the same terms. The directors
stated that they " considered this in every respect a desirable
arrangement, as giving to these parties an interest in this Company ;
and the directors trusted that their action would receive the
approval of the meeting."

At about this time the attention of the shareholders was first
seriously directed to some new railway schemes that were in con-
templation, one of which came eventually to exercise an important
influence on the destinies of the Midland Company. This was a
proposal for a new line to connect the Midland system with the
metropolis. Many complaints had been made that the only access
for Midland passengers to London was by the circuitous and un-
certain route of Rugby — uncertain because the arrangements for
the meeting of trains so frequently broke down. One gentleman,
for instance, declared at a public meeting at Leicester that he had
three times in succession been detained three hours at Rugby ;
and it was declared that many persons " hated the name of
Rugby."

Two new lines were now proposed, by the adoption of either of

82 PROPOSED LINES TO LONDON.

which it was believed that seventy miles' distance would be saved,
delays would be avoided, and lower fares would be secured. One
of these projects was named the South Midland, the other the
Leicester and Bedford Railway. The latter was intended to remain
an independent company, but to form a link of connection between
the two great rival companies, joining the London and York line
at Hitchin, and the Midland at Leicester. Its directors accord-
ingly placed themselves in communication with the London and
York board, who "offered," they said, " their most friendly support
and cordial assistance." They intended also to place themselves
in alliance with the Midland Company, but found that they were
" not received with the cordiality they had been led to expect."
They stated that they desired a friendly understanding with the
Midland Company in order to pass over their line from Leicester ;
and, with the London and York, to carry the traffic on to London ;
that the Leicester and Bedford Company were willing to enter into
arrangements with the Midland, so as to give to that company an
interest in it equal to that assigned to the London and York ; and
that they wished to act impartially to both companies.

Of course, such a project and such a policy, which would occupy
with a new and entirely independent railway the whole district
between the Midland system and the metropolis, was not likely to
commend itself to both authorities ; and they turned aside from
these overtures to encourage the solicitations of other parties who
were wishing to run a line in the same direction, and who were at
the same time anxious to be brought into entire harmony with the
Midland Company. This was the South Midland scheme, with a
proposed capital of £2,000,000, to which in the first instance both
offered to contribute £600,000, but which eventually they adopted
as their own, undertook to carry out, and for which they indemnified
the projectors for the expenses they had incurred. Meanwhile the
two new rival undertakings appealed to the public for support,
and waged dire warfare with each other. As an illustration of the
spirit in which this controversy was carried on, we may mention
that a meeting of the representatives of the various interests was
held at the Swan Inn, at Bedford, September 4th, 1846 ; and the
scene was all the livelier because the precaution of appointing a
chairman was neglected. In reply to some animadversions of Mr.
Whitbread, Mr. Macaulay, one of the solicitors of the Midland

SOUTH MIDLAND SCHEME. 83

Company, admitted that their intention had been to carry their
line at first only as far as Bedford ; but he asserted that this was
merely in order that they might see what railways south of that
town would be granted by the Legislature, and that then they
would run on by the most direct line to London. " We stated,"
he said, " over and over again, that we never intended to stop at
Bedford, but to go on by the best line sanctioned by Parliament."
" I have no hesitation in saying," replied Mr. Whitbread, "that I
believe the sole object of Mr. Hudson and his friends in taking up
the South Midland scheme was to floor the Leicester and Bedford,
and that they never honestly meant to make a line at all ; but
were quite content to be floored themselves, so long as the other
line was floored also. I belie ve the Leicester and Bedford to be as
honest a line as any before Parliament, and I am anxious to see
such a line through Bedford."

" N"o gentleman has a right," returned Mr. Macaulay, " to
misconstrue and distort the motives of another; and the only way
I can answer the unwarrantable charge just made is by a flat
denial, which I unhesitatingly now give."

A long conversation continued in the same animated strain.
Mr. Whitbread declared that the Leicester and Bedford scheme
was in existence long before the South Midland, and that the
latter was only brought out to floor it ; and Mr. Macaulay repeated
his denial. One gentleman stated that the engineer admitted
before the House of Commons that it was not intended by the
South Midland to go to Hitchin ; but that, when the bill came
before the House of Lords, the policy of its supporters had been
changed. " They felt," he said, " that they had a rotten case, and
altered their tack." Another gentleman referred to the London
and North Western Railway Company's line as the " Bletchley old
lady " ; and a third declared that it was fit only " to take the
charity children to Bedford, and bring them back again." " We
want," he said, "a direct line to London; and I implore the
Bedford people to see which is the best line, to adopt it, and not
to be any more humbugged and sacrificed by a few people who call
themselves leading men."

On the following day a meeting was held on behalf of the
Leicester and Bedford Company, at the London Tavern. A cor-
respondence was read between Mr. S. Franklin and Mr. Hudson ;

84 LEICESTER AND BEDFORD COMPANY.

in which the former proposed that the Midland Company should
purchase the Leicester and Bedford Railway at the terms given
by them for the South Midland shares, equal to about 30s. a share
for the Leicester and Bedford. Mr. Hudson, in reply, had sug-
gested the appointment of a committee to confer with him. The
meeting was held ; but no decision was arrived at. In the follow-
ing month, however, it was announced that Mr. Hudson, Mr.
Whitbread, and Captain Laws (the latter gentlemen representing
the London and York Company) had met at Derby, and that they
had arranged that the Leicester and Bedford line should be trans-
ferred to the Midland Company ; that the remainder of the deposits
should be handed over to the Midland Company, in return for
which the holders should receive 22s. worth of Midland stock for
each share ; and that the Midland Company should obtain the
Act, pay all expenses, and make the line in two years.

In July of this year (1846) a special meeting was held, to
consider a proposal to lease the Leeds and Bradford Railway for
999 years, at a rent of 10 per cent, per annum, on £900,000. The
line was at that time unfinished ; and it was estimated by Mr.
Hudson that some £300,000 additional would be required to com-
plete it. The proposal of the Midland Company's board to enter
on this lease had already encountered opposition ; and the chair-
man therefore thought it necessary to defend, at some length, the
policy of the board. As he was himself a shareholder of the line
which it was proposed to lease, some hints had been thrown out
that in this, and also in other negotiations, he had not been in-
sensible to his private interests.

" In the first place," he said, " I must give a broad denial to the
assertion that I have purchased or sold a single share since this
line came under our consideration. It has been my good or bad
fortune to be the purchaser of many railways ; and I might fre-
quently have taken advantage of my position and knowledge to
go into the market and lay out large sums of money with great
benefit to myself ; but I here publicly declare that I have never
done so, and I call upon any person who can prove anything to the
contrary to come forward and do it at once. (Applause.) I have
never in one instance purchased a single share till the whole matter
was before the public by advertisements, calling a meeting or
otherwise; nor have I ever in any way taken advantage of the

ME. HUDSON'S EXPLANATION. 85

favourable position I hold over any other proprietor. In the
Bristol and Birmingham line I never held a single share, nor do I
hold a single share now. I did not hold a single share in the
Brandling Junction ; nor do I hold shares in the Leicester and
Swannington ; nor do I hold shares in the Hull and Selby. I did
not hold shares till after the purchase in the Great North of
England, nor in the Newcastle and Darlington. I never made
a single penny by any of these purchases.

" Well, gentlemen, having cleared myself from that imputation."
(A voice : " You have not.") " Well then, gentlemen, I will sit
down, and give the honourable proprietor who says I have not, an
opportunity of stating anything to the contrary. I am a public
man, the property of the public, and I need hardly assure you I
have a great desire to maintain that position which entitles me to
the public confidence. The amount of responsibility which rests
upon me in connection with this Company is so great, that I am
satisfied if anything can be urged against me derogatory to my
character, it would be a most unfortunate thing for the proprietors,
for whose interests I have to act."

The chairman here resumed his seat ; but at the request of the
meeting he rose again, and proceeded with his address.

" Well, then, we come now to the consideration of the question,
whether it is prudent for this Company to lease this railway or
not upon the terms proposed. In asking that this Company should
lease this line at 10 per cent., I am not proposing anything which
is unprecedented. In the case of one of the Lancashire lines, they
have leased a Yorkshire line at 10 per cent ; the Great North of
England have leased the Newcastle and Darlington at 10 per
cent. ; so that I am not introducing to you a line to be leased at an
undue rate of interest. Why, just consider : you yourselves this
day are receiving as much as 9 5- per cent, on your money. (No,
no.) But you are; you have only paid £88 upon your shares."
(A voice : " You have no right to say that.")

The Chairman : " I am stating nothing but facts. The Mid-
land proprietors are receiving 9j per cent, on their money, and
have still the privilege of participating in future creations.

" For my own part, gentlemen, I am perfectly satisfied that the
line will yield a very large income and percentage even upon the
price that is now put upon it ; and if you will allow me to take it

80 LEASE OF LEEDS AND BRADFORD LINE,

as an individual, I am quite satisfied I should make a large income
over and above tlic sum which you are about to pay for it."

An animated discussion followed. Mr. John Ellis, as " entirely
a friend of the Midland Company," urged that " it was essential to
the prosperity of the Midland that they should complete this
purchase. The line was necessary for their protection, and if it
fell into the hands of a company now in existence, which the
chairman would not name, but which was the London and York,
where would the Midland Company be then ? Away would
go half their traffic from London to Glasgow and the North."

Mr. Brancker, of Liverpool, contended that the important
proposal now submitted to the meeting had been insufficiently
announced ; that the shareholders had been taken by surprise ; that
numbers of those present had not heard a whisper of the intended
lease until they were on the road to, or after they arrived at, the
meeting : that some less burdensome conditions should devolve
upon the Midland Company ; and that he should therefore move
as an amendment that the special meeting be postponed for two
months. This amendment was seconded. After some discussion
the original resolution was put, and only six hands were held up
against it. We may add that it was announced that the main-
tenance of the permanent way south of Derby had been let by
public tender at a price which would effect a saving to the Com-
pany of nearly £6,000 a year.

CHAPTER VI.

Extensions projected. — The zenith. — Opening of the Syston and Peterborough
line. — Death of Mr. George Stephenson.— Mutterings of a storm. — Mr.
Hudson's resignation. — Committees of Investigation. — Eeports. — Poor divi-
dend.— Opening of further portion of Great Northern. — Access to Wor-
cester.— Arrangement about Leeds and Bradford line. — The Great Exhibi-
tion. — Audit committee appointed. — Proposals for getting nearer to
London. — "Little" North Western Company.— Commutation of payment
to Leeds and Bradford proprietors. — Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and
Midland Junction. — Dispute between Midland and Great Northern. —
Leicester and Hitchin line proposed. — Proposals of amalgamation of
Midland with London and North Western and Great Northern. — Select
committee of House of Commons report against amalgamation of large
Companies. — A period of rest. — Traffics. — Eesignation of Mr. Ellis. —
Appointment and death of Mr. Paget.— Ee-appointment of Mr. Ellis. —
Continuation of Erewash line to Clay Cross. — Seven per cent, dividend. —
Extensions.

THE period from 1847 to 1854 witnessed first the rise, then the
culmination, and next, for a time, the decline of the prosperity of
the Midland Railway. The confidence that was cherished by the
directors and proprietors may be illustrated by the fact that on the
6th of March, 1847, no fewer than thirteen bills were submitted
for approval, and that, as the records of the period remark with
sufficient succinctness, they were " unanimously sanctioned ; after
which the chairman adverted to them in the whole, saying, they
had now given their sanction to 251 miles of railway, the estimated
expense of which would be £4,680,000 — a large sum ; but the
directors, in consideration of the interests of the shareholders,
could not have omitted any of the proposed works."

At the autumnal meeting, August 12th, 1847, great progress
was still reported in the affairs of the Company. The dividend,
after paying the amount of £47,384 upon the guaranteed 6 per
cent, stock and shares of the Birmingham and Bristol, was at the
rate of 7 per cent. ; and the gross receipts were not much less than

88 PROGRESS AND PROSPERITY.

£500,000. The stations at Chesterfield, Woodhouse Mill, Clay
Cross, Stretton, Belper, and Gloucester had been enlarged ; an
extensive wharf at Saltley had been built ; and the Westerleigh
branch of the Bristol and Birmingham had been made into a
locomotive line. A bridge under the main line at Tamworth for
the Trent Valley line had been completed ; passenger and engine
sheds were being built at Leeds: and the Leicester station was
being enlarged. A short branch line to the canal and some
quarries at Little Eaton, near Derby, Avas about to be commenced ;
and the electric telegraph was being extended from Birmingham
to Gloucester.

Prosperity to the Midland Company was now reaching its zenith.
At the eighth half-yearly meeting, held on the 12th of February,
1848, a dividend at the rate of 7 per cent, was again declared.
Additional repairing shops were being built at Derby. Accommo-
dation was being furnished for the corn traffic at Lincoln, Leices-
ter, Loughborough, and elsewhere. The new Nottingham station
was approaching completion, and progress had been made with
that at Leeds. The line from Nottingham to Mansfield was
proceeding. The Syston and Peterborough was nearly ready.
The works on the Leicester and Swannington would shortly be
finished ; and the extension through Ashby to Burton-on-Trent
was being carried forward. And as the last of the old contracts
for the maintenance of the way would expire in the following
July, it was now resolved to set apart £20,000 annually to provide
for future renewals.

A comparison of the rolling stock of the Company at three
different but then recent dates will show how rapid had been the
development of affairs. Each estimate was taken on the 31st of
December.

1845. 1846. 1847.

Engines and tenders 95 .. 113 . . 164

Carriages 282 . . 366 . . 578

Horse boxes arid carriage trucks .... 95 .. 151 . . 225

Breaks and parcel vans 56 .. 104 . . 167

Wagons 1256 . . 2386 . . 5886

At this meeting the chairman appeared before his constituents
in high spirits. He reminded them that he had previously pre-
dicted that the probable revenue for the half-year would be

PROGRESS.

£600,000, and that his anticipations had been fulfilled ; he stated
that with regard to the dividend, " every sixpence of interest that
could be fairly charged to the revenue account had been so
charged;" and he mentioned, as an evidence of the improved
power of their engines, that an express had on that morning run
to the North, with newspapers containing the budget of the year,
at the rate of fifty-four miles an hour — a speed, he added, which
he believed had never been exceeded on the narrow gauge.

The earlier half of the year 1848 was not free from difficulty ;
but the gross receipts surpassed those of the corresponding half-

NOTTINGHAM STATION.

year by upwards of £22,000, and a dividend was earned at the
rate of 6 per cent, per annum.

At the August meeting a shareholder inquired if the report was
true that Mr. Hudson was about to leave the Midland Railway.
The chairman replied that he could assure the honourable pro-
prietor that he had " no intention whatever of doing so. He
would say further, that so long as he had health and strength and
enjoyed the confidence of the proprietors, and until he felt that he
could no longer preside over their affairs to the advantage of the
Company, nothing on earth should induce him. to leave the
Company."

Before the meeting concluded, Mr. Hudson made reference to

90 MUTTERINGS OF A STOEM.

tlic death of Mr. George Stephenson, who hitherto had almost
always been present to witness their proceedings. "History," he
said, " would record his name as that of a great and distinguished
man."

The next ordinary meeting of the proprietors was held on the
7th of September, 1848, in one of the large engine houses attached
to the Derby station. It was announced that there had been an
increase from goods' traffic during the half-year of £47,300 ; but
that in passengers there had been an abstraction of traffic in
consequence of the opening of part of the main and loop lines of
the Great Northern, and the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln-
shire Railways ; but as the falling off had been general over the
system, it was hoped that it might be attributed to general causes
which improved trade would rectify.

Various negotiations were now completed for improving the
relations of the Midland with neighbouring companies. The
directors agreed to find the plant, and to work the Ambergate,
Matlock, and Buxton line, between Ambergate and Rowsley. The
North Staffordshire Company entered into treaty for the use of the
Midland stations at Derby and Burton-on-Trent. It was arranged
that Midland trains should run over the South Yorkshire lines
between Swinton and Doncaster. An agreement was entered into
with the Little North Western Company for the use of the
Midland station at Skipton; and traffic arrangements were also
made between the Midland and London and North Western
Companies, which it was believed would be mutually advantageous.
It was announced that for the future their management would be
conducted by sub-committees of the directors, which would watch
over the several departments of traffic, locomotion, permanent way
and works, and finance.

We are now gradually approaching a new era in the history of
the Midland Company. Its career since the first amalgamation
had been marked by almost steadily increasing prosperity ; times
of anxiety were now drawing on. The first mutterings of the
storm were heard from the north, when, on the 28th October, 1848,
at a meeting of Liverpool proprietors, the conduct of the directors
was severely criticised. A full explanation of affairs had, how-
ever, been promised by the board, and under these circumstances
they must await its publication.

RESIGNATION OF MR. HUDSON. 91

At the February meeting, 1849, however, complaints were made
of a want of fulness in the published accounts; and eventually
the chairman consented that the item of £36,000 for parliamentary
expenses charged against capital should, if the proprietors wished
it, be placed against revenue. A shareholder alleged that the coal
business of the Company was carried on at very insufficient profit ;
but to this it was replied by Mr. Ellis, that it was even more profit-
able than the passenger traffic. Mr. Hudson, with some warmth,
defended the course he had pursued ; stated that he held from
£16,000 to £17,000 worth of stock in the line, which was about
as much as when first he joined it ; and concluded by asking
Avhat motive but to serve the proprietary could he have in "leaving
his home, filled with friends, to travel all night in order to wait
upon them that day " ? His remarks were heartily received by
his audience, and a vote of confidence in the directors was carried
amid "tumultuous applause."

But two months afterwards, on the 19th of April, 1849, an
extraordinary general meeting Avas held at Dei-by, to decide as to
the nomination of a committee of inquiry. The room Avas densely
crowded. Mr. John Ellis, M.P., presided, and read a letter from
Mr. Hudson. It stated that, during his chairmanship of the Mid-
land Company he had been identified with the York and North
Midland, and the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Companies, all of
which hitherto had had a common interest ; but that now that the
Great Northern Railway had been sanctioned, and new relations
were arising, and new alliances were contemplated, he thought it
would be more satisfactory to the shareholders of the Midland
Company that he should resign his office. Mr. Ellis added that
this was also a resignation by Mr. Hudson of his position on the
direction.

When they met last in that room, 011 the 15th of February,
Mr. Ellis continued, some gentlemen from Liverpool proposed the
appointment of a committee of inquiry into the administration
and accounts of the Company. The directors then thought it
right to oppose that resolution, and they were supported by the
proprietors. A very few days, however, had passed, when cir-
cumstances came to their knowledge which led the board to see
that it would be advisable for the shareholders to look for them-
selves into the position of affairs. They could not \n\t be seriously

92 COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION.

affected when the Great Northern Railway was completed. For
his own part, he considered that the best way to recoup any losses
they might thus sustain was by a more intimate alliance with the
London and North Western Company ; and as he was on the
North Western direction, he was, he thought, in the best position
for coming to a conclusion on that subject. " I can see no way,"
he said, " in which the two Companies can injure, and many ways
in which they can serve, each other; and I do not hesitate to give
my opinion that the London and North Western is the natural
ally of the Midland."

Mr. Wylie, of Liverpool, then rose to move a resolution appoint-
ing a committee of investigation to examine into the management
and affairs of the Company, " with full powers to call for all
books, papers, accounts, and documents, and to take such other
steps as they may deem advisable," and to report to the share-
holders at an adjourned meeting. After stating some of the cir-
cumstances that had led to this proposal, he added, " Yesterday
we had an intei'view with the directors ; and I am happy to say
they met us as frankly as we wrent to them, and the committee
we propose has the perfect confidence of the board."

The report of the committee of investigation is dated August
15th, 1849. Professional accountants had examined the books
of the Company. They stated that " the accounts published and
laid before the proprietors from time to time, although not suffi-
ciently comprehensive, yet, in respect of the matter they did
contain, are in due accordance with the authentic books of the
Company." Proper attention, however, had not always been
paid to the vital question, not at that time clearly understood,
of the distinctions to be maintained between revenue and capital.
For instance, since the amalgamation, thirty-six miles of the
Midland Counties line, part of the Sheffield and Rotherham, and
thirty-five miles of the Birmingham and Gloucester had been
relaid at a cost to capital of more than £900,000, which was
" strictly chargeable to revenue." The accountants at the same
time laid it down as a principle that revenue ought to bear only
the " expense incurred in a bare renewal of a worn-out road," and
that substantial improvements might be paid by the capital. The
committee had requested Mr. W. H. Barlow, the resident engineer,
to state precisely what had been done with this £915,997. He

BEPOET OF COMMITTEE. 93

reported that in his judgment the appropriation to capital of the
whole, or nearly the whole, amount was correct. He stated that
heavier rails had been substituted, because heavier engines were
now run ; that the stations had been enlarged ; that the main-
line rails had been used for additional sidings and branch lines,
where they were as valuable as new rails ; that the maintenance
of the permanent way would hereafter be less expensive ; that
3,000 tons of rails had been used in making points and crossings
for new works ; and that 1,000 tons of new rails had been sent to
the Leeds and Bradford line. He argued, therefore, that the
whole outlay was thus for " the permanent benefit of the line.
The shareholders might contend with justice that revenue is not
chargeable with more than the working expenses, repairs, and
depi'eciations of the year, and that they were not bound to expend
money to give an improved future value to the undertaking."
And the committee expressed themselves satisfied with Mr. Bar-
low's explanation.

The report suggested important changes in the direction ; and
especially the immediate selection of some new directors " either
in addition to, or in substitution of, an equal number of the
present board." The committee mentioned that several proposals
had been made with regard to the constitution of the board by
the appointment of a stipendiary chairman, who should give his
whole time to the Company ; or that there should be a chairman
and two or three other directors paid to devote their whole time
to the service of the Company ; or that the number of the directors
should be increased.

In reply to the proposal to appoint a stipendiary chairman, it
was contended that such an officer " might arrogate to himself
more authority than the rest of the board chose to submit to, and
thereby create disunion ; or it might be, on the other hand, the
rest of the board might think him entitled to have much of his
own wTay." Similar criticisms might be offered on a scheme by
which two or three of the directors should devote their whole
time to the Company. " As to the third plan," said the com-
mittee of investigation, " that of increasing the directors to
twenty, with the same allowance as at present, there are none
of the objections to which the other two are liable. The number
being greater would afford the chance of there being in it more

94 REPORT OF COMMITTEE.

men well qualified for the appointment, and the expense would be
no greater to the' Company. The great object," they added,
" is to appoint capable men, whose position and character are a
guarantee for their integrity, and who at the same time are
willing to appropriate a due portion of their time to the proper
and effective management of the affairs of the Company."

In regard to the rolling stock, the accountants had stated that
a deterioration of the value of the locomotives had taken place to
the amount of not less than £100,000, and in carriage and wagon
stock of more than £70,000.

Mr. Robert Stephenson, however, who had been requested to
report on this subject, rebutted these calculations with great
minuteness, and then adds : " The accountants appear to me to
treat the value of the railways and stock as if the concern were
about to be broken up and sold for what it would fetch. The
question appears to me rather to resolve itself into this : Is the
productive power of the concern increased or decreased? The
permanent way has been made more substantial. The engine
stock has been made more efficient and economical, and the stock
of carriages has not only been extended, but in some cases im-
proved in value ; in a word, from the commencement, the Midland
lines and stock have unquestionably, as a producing machine, been
approved in value, which leads me to the opinion that the amounts
which have been hitherto carried to capital have been legitimately
so placed."

The committee of investigation then report with tedious minute-
ness upon the arrangements that had been made by the board in
regard to the Leeds and Bradford, and the Erewash lines ; but
into these details we need not follow them. Concerning the
Ei'ewash, they justly remarked that, " from the exceeding rich-
ness of the valley in minerals, as well as from the extensive iron-
works of the Butterley Company being situated on or near the
line, your committee think that in a few years it is likely that
this line will be remunerative in itself, as well as become a most
valuable feeder of the main line."

The adoption of this report was opposed by Mr. Wylie. He
declared that " a more incomplete and inconclusive document he
had never seen ; " that it was " a report of opinion and not of fact,
of apology and not of substance." He also demurred to the value

DISAPPOINTMENT. 95

set upon the Leeds and Bradford line. An animated discussion
followed, and eventually Mr. Wylie admitted that he " approved
of the conduct of the committee generally, but complained of the
incompleteness of the report." The chairman gave some additional
information, and promised to furnish any returns which might
be found in the office ; the amendment was withdrawn, and the
original resolution carried unanimously. The chairman added
that he must take his fair share of any blame that attached to the
adoption by the Midland Company of the Leeds and Bradford
line ; but he informed the meeting that the Manchester and Leeds
had offered as much as or more for the line than the Midland had
given.

The half-yearly meeting took place on the 27th of February,
1850, and between 500 and 600 shareholders were present. The
proceedings occupied six hours. The total receipts for the half-
year amounted to more than £600,000, being, however, a decrease
of nearly £20,000 on the corresponding period of 1848. Out of
this large sum the balance available for dividend was little more
than £100,000, which would justify a dividend of only tAventy-five
shillings for the half-year upon the open stock. A line from
Leicester to join the Swannington at Desford had been opened in
the previous August, and one from Kirkby to Mansfield in October,
1849. Various suggestions were made for the reduction of ex-
pense, for the promotion of friendly co-operation with other
companies, for the diminution of excessive parochial rates, and
for the improvement of the dividends of the Company. It was
mentioned that the railways of this country traversed 3,000
parishes, that the rates levied in these parishes amounted to
£800,000, and that of this amount the railways had to pay
£250,000, though they never brought a pauper to a parish, or
caused a shilling of expense. At this meeting Mr. Wylie, in a
speech of nearly two hours' length, stated that he represented
1,200 shareholders in and about Liverpool, who held shares to the
amount of £1,623,000, but which were now worth only £524,000
in the market. Their leases and guarantees, he said, had shorn
them of their strength. He contended for a reconstruction of the
board. His motion, however, was defeated.

In the early part of the year 1850 a further portion of the
Great Northern line was opened for traffic ; the two companies

96 LEEDS AND BRADFORD LINE.

charging equal fares to all places to which both ran. But so
serious was the shock to the finances of the Midland, that at the
autumnal meeting, August 23rd, 1850, the dividend was only
sixteen shillings on the consolidated stock, the value of Avhich
had sunk from £160 to £32 and £33. The board consoled their
constituency with the announcement that arrangements had been
made with the York and North Midland and other companies for
a joint use of the Leeds station ; that the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolverhampton board had agreed that, when their line was
opened, the Midland Company should run over it into Worcester,
instead of, as hitherto, landing passengers and goods at Spetchley,
to be forwarded four miles by omnibuses and wagons ; and that
it was hoped that little additional capital would be needed. The
Midland Company had 500 miles of railway, and all that remained
incomplete was a small portion of the Erewash Valley branch,
and the " lift " at Birmingham, for which £50,000 had been
voted, both of which would be finished in about six weeks. Every
yard that they intended to make would then be at work. At this
meeting a suggestion was made that, with a view to economy,
lighter engines should be used for some of the work of the line ;
but it was replied that such an arrangement would be inapplicable
to the Midland traffic, which was of a heavy mixed description ;
indeed, nineteen of the engines they possessed were not strong
enough for the work. It was also mentioned that it was not
intended to appoint a general manager, as the existing arrange-
ment was satisfactory ; and that an experiment of having low
fares for short distances had succeeded so well, on what might be
called the " omnibus traffic " of the Rotherham line, that it would
be attempted in other places. It was decided that a statement
of the salaries of officers who received more than £100 a year
should be submitted at each half-yearly meeting ; but this regula-
tion was subsequently, on an appeal from the chairman, rescinded.
Before the proceedings closed, a debate again arose with regard
to the Leeds and Bradford line, whereupon the chairman said
he regarded the reopening of this discussion with solicitude, as
having "a tendency towards repudiation." He had very little
or no personal interest in the matter, never having had but twenty
shares in the Leeds and Bradford Company, which he purchased
at a high premium, and which he believed he had sold before the

WORCESTER.

lease was entered into. He was a party to tlie lease at the time
it was arranged, when they were all rather too sanguine as to the
value of railway property, and he warned the proprietors to be
careful how they interfered with any engagement which they had
previously sanctioned by a large majority. He had received
several letters on the subject, one of which, from Lord Lifford,
remarked that " any attempt to disturb the lease would put an
end to confidence in railway property, and damage the char-
acters of those who did it as honourable mei^cantile men."

WOBCESTEE.

In the autumn of the year 1850 the junction with the London
and North Western Company at Birmingham, and also the link
between the Mansfield and Erewash Valley lines were completed ;
and the branch of the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton
Railway from Abbott's Wood to Worcester was opened. The
passenger receipts during the half-year fell off to the amount of
nearly £8,000, through the competition of the Great Northern
Company ; but the increase on goods rose to upwards of £32,000,
leaving a sum available for dividend of 25s. for the half-year.

For some years after the Midland had secured access to
Worcester, they continued to run their through trains on their

98 GREAT EXHIBITION TRAFFIC.

main line, and they used the loop via Worcester only for the local
traffic. Eventually, however, they obtained permission to send
the whole of their traffic by the loop, and to do so on very
moderate terms ; this concession being granted by the Great
Western as a sort of sop that the Midland should not oppose the
bill for the amalgamation between the Great Western system and
the West Midland lines.

A special meeting of the Midland Company was held on the 4th
of June, 1851, chiefly to approve the acquisition " of the estate
and interest of the Leeds and Bradford Railway Company." Mr.
Ellis stated that the bill had already passed the Commons. It
was considered to be a very important measure ; and he made an
appeal for the withdrawal of the opposition which it was under-
stood some gentlemen intended to make. Mr. Brancker replied
that the Leeds and Bradford scheme was a "preposterous under-
taking," " concocted in iniquity," and " not calculated to benefit
the Company;" and that, therefore, he responded to the appeal
of the chairman with " great personal sacrifice." Mr. Wylio
accepted the bill as the best course to be pursued under the
circumstances ; and the resolution was unanimously adopted.

The year 1851 was in some respects both remarkable and dis-
appointing. The opening of the Great Exhibition created the
expectation that the receipts by railways would be unusually large.
These anticipations, however, were not realized. A multitude of
passengers were conveyed to and from the metropolis, but the
competition of the Great Northern Company led to the adoption
of such low rates that the wonder was that the lines paid at all.
From Leeds to London for 5s. was a merely nominal fare ; yet it
was found that 5s. with full trains was remunerative. But the
extraordinary flow of passengers to and from London greatly
diminished the traffic elsewhere. The Birmingham and Gloucester
traffic, for instance, which was untouched by the Great Northern
competition, was affected in a remarkable degree. In one week in
August the receipts on that line were £400 less than in the
corresponding week of 1850, and in another week were £550 less,
though on that line there had been no reduction of fares. " The
fact is," said the chairman, " there has been nobody going to
Cheltenham this year ; scarcely anybody to Scarborough ; and
the little Matlock line has experienced a decline in its receipts

AUDIT COMMITTEE APPOINTED. 99

this year amounting to 20 per cent. All this is entirely owing to
the Exhibition."

At the autumnal meeting of 1851 a committee was appointed
consisting of five shareholders, each of whom held stock to the
amount of not less than £2,000, to select gentlemen who, on behalf
of the shareholders, should examine and report on all the financial
matters of the Company. On the same occasion attention was
called to the fact that many proprietors who held very small
amounts of shares Avere accustomed to apply for the free passes
issued to those Avho wished to attend the shareholders' meetings,
until the privilege had come to be frequently abused. At the
previous meeting, for instance, one person who held less than £5
of stock and seven others who held less than £10 worth had
obtained passes, five of whom had not attended the meeting ; and
233 persons holding less than £100 of stock had obtained tickets,
nearly half of whom were not present at the meeting. Under
these circumstances a resolution was adopted, that hereafter " no
proprietor holding less than £100 in stock, or shares to that
amount, is entitled to ti'avel to and from the meeting free of
charge."

In the report presented at the half-yearly meeting on February
27th, 1852, the directors stated that the position of the Midland
Company in relation to surrounding railways had been the subject
of anxious consideration. It appeared to them, they said, to be
essential that the Company should now " be permanently identified
with some Company having a line to and terminus in London."
Impressed with this conviction, the directors had had repeated
interviews with the representatives of the London and North
Western Company, in order, if possible, to agree upon terms for
an amalgamation of the two undertakings. Each board had made
a distinct proposition, and they had actually come within 2| per
cent, of an arrangement : but £60 to the £100 was the lowest price
that the Midland directors would consent to take (being a dividend
of £3 for the Midland to £5 to the London and North Western),
while £57 10s. to the £100 was the highest that the London and
North Western would offer. Mr. Ellis, the chairman, said that
he had been asked why we had been " so foolish " as to refuse 57|
" when his Company was paying only 55s." But they were not
to deal as if their line was about to be broken up in a year or

100 PROPOSED AMALGAMATION WITH NORTH WESTERN.

two ; and the directors wore satisfied that the proportions on
which they had fixed were the lowest that they ought to recom-
mend the shareholders to accept. If the directors could only
succeed in making a satisfactory arrangement for their traffic to
London, he had no doubt that the best policy of the Midland
Company would be to lie by for a while, and their position would
improve. They were at present 011 a friendly footing with the
London and North Western Company, whose interest it also was
to work amicably with them ; and he, therefore, felt as satisfied as
if the amalgamation had actually been effected.

An important negotiation wTas at this time concluded with
another North Western Company, commonly called, for the pur-
pose or way of distinction, " the Little " North Western, by which
the Midland Company would be able to run from Skipton, which
was the end of their Bradford line, to Lancaster and the shores
of Lancashire at Morecambe Bay, whence communication could be
opened with the Lake District and the north coast of Ireland.
The arrangement was to date from May, 1852, for 21 years, and
the rent to be paid was one-half of the gross receipts until they
should exceed £52,000 a year, when two-thirds of the excess
beyond that amount was to be handed over to the North Western.

A special meeting of the Company was held on the 12th of
May, 1852, chiefly to consider the propriety of commuting the sum
of £90,000, then payable as annual rent to the Leeds and Brad-
ford proprietors, into a permanent stock of £1,800,000 in 18,000
shares of £100 each, and bearing interest after the rate of 4| per
cent, per annum for 5 years, and afterwards at 4 per cent, per
annum in perpetuity. The effect of this operation would be a
saving of £9,000 per annum till the 1st of July, 1857, and after
that of £18,000 a year. The arrangement was approved.

The sanction of the shareholders was also given to a negotiation
which had been carried on with a very short line with a very long
name. It was " the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland
Junction," which ran from Ambergate to Rowsley, and was part
of a scheme incorporated six years before, with the intention of
connecting Ambergate with Cheadle station, near Manchester. At
that time the Manchester and Birmingham Railway (now part of
the London and North Western system) had frequently been in
dispute with the lines that stretched southward ; and after various

A BATTLE OF LOCOMOTIVES. 101

attempts to obtain an outlet in other directions, had projected an
independent route toward London by the Churnet valley (a line
afterwards made by the North Staffordshire Company) ; and now
they gladly joined in an enterprise for making a Buxton and
Matlock line, which would furnish access to the Midland system.
They accordingly obtained powers to subscribe £190,000 to the
new scheme. But in the same year a change came over its policy.
The Manchester and Birmingham Railway was itself incorporated
into what is now the London and North Western Railway, the old
jealousies with the southern lines of course ceased, sympathy with
the new project was turned into alienation, and then financial
difficulties arose which suspended further railway enterprises of all
kinds. In consequence the capital was, in 1848, reduced, and the
larger scheme shrank to the modest proportions of a line 11^
miles long, from Ambergate to Rowsley. It was now proposed
that the Midland Company should work the line for 19 years, and
pay a rent equal to 2| per cent, on £421,300 of called-up capital.
The Cromfoi'd Canal, which, in order to prevent injurious com-
petition, had previously been purchased by the projectors of the
railway, was also to be taken over by the Midland Company, on
condition that interest was paid on its capital to an amount not
exceeding £110,000. As the Midland Company held more than
14,000 shares in the Rowsley line, it might in this arrangement be
said to be dealing to a certain extent with its own property ; the
London and North Western Company, hoAvever, had some 9,500
more, and all its susceptibilities had carefully to be regarded.

In August of this year (1852) some wars of words that had been
waged between the Midland Company and the Great Northern
culminated into a Avar of deeds. " The Great Northern having
attempted," says a chronicler of the time, " to carry out its
agreement with the Ambergate, by running engines into the
Nottingham station, which is the Midland property, the Midland
did neither more nor less than seize the Great Northern engine,
Avhich had brought a train down, just as it Avas about to start with
a new load of passengers to London. The course taken was in
accordance Avith the elephantine dimensions of the object seized,
and after the fashion of elephant hunters. Thinking the engine
might be like a Avild elephant, refractory, the Midland sent some
of its own kind to hem it in before and behind, and thus bore it off

102 CROW MILLS VIADUCT.

in triumph, while the poor passengers were obliged to sit patiently
looking on at the contest and capture of the trespassing
engine."

During the autumn of the year (1852) heavy floods damaged
various parts of the line, bursting culverts, causing slips in em-
bankments and cuttings, and undermining the foundation of one
of the river piers of the Crow Mills Viaduct, near Leicester. It
appears that a miller, who lived hard by the viaduct, was the first
to see the timbers yielding, and that he took immediate steps to
give the alarm up and down the line. The whole structure soon
afterwards fell with a tremendous crash into the boiling waters
beneath. The miller, we believe, received £100 from the Midland
Company as a reward for his opportune services. Very exag-
gerated reports were circulated as to the injury the lines had
received : some estimated it at £100,000, and others at much
more; but the actual outlay was about £10,000. It was found
that heavier rails than those at first used were required for the
permanent way ; and that large additions were necessary to the
rolling stock. Meanwhile a considerable amount of debentures
were, by a fall in the money market, renewed at a saving of £7,000
a year ; and an improved arrangement with the post-office brought
in an additional £4,000 per annum.

But the most important transaction of this period Avas the
revival of a project for the extension of the Midland system. Five
years previously, as the reader will remember, an Act of Parlia-
ment had been passed to enable the Midland Company to make a
line from near Leicester to Hitchin. The state of the money
market, the depression of railway property, and other circum-
stances had prevented any progress being made Avith that scheme ;
and in July, 1850, the powers of the Act expired. The time,
hoAveArer, had now come at which so valuable an undertaking
ought no longer to remain in abeyance ; and some of the principal
landowners in the neighbourhood of Market Harborough, Ketter-
ing, and Bedford appointed a deputation to wait upon the Midland
board with offers of support in carrying out such an enterprise.
Mr. "Whitbread, through whose estates the proposed line Avould run
almost continuously for betAA-een seven and eight miles — about one-
eighth of its course — promised to sell all land that the Company
might require at £70 an acre, which was its simple agricultural

PROPOSED LINE TO LONDON. 103

value ; and the Duke of Bedford and other landowners signed
contracts to the same effect. The discovery of fields of ironstone
in Northamptonshire, on the route of the line, was another
•weighty argument in its favour ; and it was obviously important
that the Midland Company, with its 500 miles of railway, and
£17,000,000 of capital, should no longer be kept more than 80
miles from the metropolis, where, at Rugby, it was delivering to
the London and North Western not less than 325,000 tons of coal,
besides goods and passengers — an amount constantly and enor-
mously increasing. It was, too, notorious that the pressure oj
traffic on the line from thence to London was becoming extreme,
and would before long require in some way or other to be
relieved.

Such were the facts that presented themselves to the minds of
the directors, or were urged upon them by the deputation ; and
it was also significantly stated that in the event of the present
overtures being rejected, the parties locally interested would
immediately form an independent company, and that the line
would be made. The Midland directors in reply requested that
a month might be afforded for the consideration of the matter ; and
in that interval they arrived at the decision that it was essential
to the protection of Midland property that such a railway should
form part of the Midland system. " No man," said Mr. Ellis, who
had been taught by some costly experiences in the past, " has a
greater horror of extensions than I have ; " but he stated that he
was convinced that such a line as that contemplated ought not to
be in the hands of persons who might have interests at variance
with those of the Midland Company. It had also been ascertained
that such a line could now be made for an amount lower than any
former estimate. " I have no hesitation," he added, " in saying
that this is the most important line the Midland Company has ever
promoted."

Another great question affecting the politics and the future of
the Midland Company, and indeed of railway administration in
England, now came under the anxious consideration of the Mid-
land board. It will be remembered that in the early part of the
year certain terms had been proposed for an amalgamation between
the Midland Company and the London and North Western, but
the negotiating powers had been unable to arrive at an agreement.

104 FRESH PROPOSALS OF AMALGAMATION.

The two companies, however, remained on very friendly relations
with each other ; the subject of their possible union was not un-
frcquently referred to in conversation ; and after a meeting held
of committees of both companies, a letter was, on the 14th of
August, 1852, addressed by the secretary of the London and North
Western Company to the secretary of the Midland Company, to
the effect that he was instructed to state that a " special committee
has the authority of the board to meet a similar committee of your
board, and discuss the question of a closer union or amalgamation
of the two undertakings."

It is not a little remarkable that two days afterwards a similar
communication was addressed by the chairman of the Great
Northern Company to the chairman of the Midland. " I have
frequently said to one of your colleagues," wrote Mr. Edmund
Denison, " that in my opinion an earnest attempt ought to be
made to unite the Great Northern and the Midland Railways ; and
the sensible letters which lately passed between Mr. Glyii and Mr.
Russel have determined me to propose to my co-directors (and
they have this day consented) that I should at once address a
letter to you, offering the principle of a complete amalgamation of
the Great Northern and Midland. They compete with each other
in the south and in the north, and they cross each other at two or
three important points. There are double stations at several
towns, and duplicate trains run where single ones would serve
the public equally well. A very large annual expenditure wrould
therefore be saved, which would improve the dividends and the
real value of both properties.

" An amalgamation of these two railways is so natural, from
peculiar circumstances, and is so inevitable, that I apprehend
no parliamentary objection would be offered, the two capitals
united not being larger than the London and North Western alone."
Mr. Denison went on to suggest that the eastern side of the
kingdom might thus come to have its terminus at King's Cross,
and that the traffic of the western would be quite as large as the
Euston Square and Paddington termini could accommodate. " I
see no difficulty," he added, " in the manner of settling the terms
of amalgamation ; but I shall not say a word in detail upon that
point until I hear that your board take a favourable view of the
object proposed."

NEGOTIATIONS. 105

In reply to this communication, Mr. Ellis expressed his gratifi-
cation at the frank way in which the subject had been approached.
" Our board is," he said, " equally with yourself , alive to the serious
evils which are the inevitable result of competition between two
lines Avhich approach and intersect each other, and which have
double stations at so many places." They \vished to put an end
to the running of " double trains where single ones would serve
the interest of the public equally well," and " to prevent a reckless
outlay of capital in the construction of new lines." He added that
candour required him to state that a similar communication had
been received from the London and North Western Company ; but
that the whole subject should have the early and most serious
attention of the board.

These circumstances were mentioned at the half-yearly meeting
of the Midland Company. The chairman, however, stated that any
discussion upon them would at that time be inopportune, and
likely to compromise the ability of the board to do justice to the
interests they represented. "We ask you, therefore," he said,
" to leave the affair in our hands for the present. We shall lay
before you the result of any proposition made or any negotiations
entered into as early as possible, and I trust the course we re-
commend will be entirely acquiesced in by the proprietary." This
course was heartily assented to ; and two shareholders who
attempted to address the meeting were immediately hissed
down.

The correspondence between the Midland Company and the
Great Northern was continued by Mr. Ellis, on the 9th of October,
1852. In a letter addressed to Mr. Edmund Denison, the Midland
chairman said that further reflection " only tended to confirm the
opinions he had expressed in his previous letter." " Entertaining
these views," he continued, " I am prepared cordially to co-operate
with you in the measures best calculated to effect the object which
we both seek to obtain ; and I have the satisfaction to assure you
that there exists on the part of the directors of the Midland and
London and North Western Companies, a sincere desire to come
to an amicable and satisfactory agreement with your Company.
They are willing to do so by means of an extended arrangement,
to be settled by referees of high standing, fully empowered to
determine the matter upon a consideration of the objects and

106 NEGOTIATIONS.

intentions of the Legislature in sanctioning the respective under-
takings. Should you, however, deem it better to promote a bill to
authorize a more complete and lasting union of interest between
the Great Northern and the united London and North Western
and Midland Companies, our boards will be prepared to give that
view of the question their immediate and f avoui'able consideration."
He added that these opinions had the unanimous assent of the
Midland and London and North Western boards, and that a joint
deputation would be prepared to meet a deputation from the Great
Northern board, "fully empowered to discuss and arrange the
details of this important question."

These letters were read at a special meeting of the Midland
Company held at Derby, on the 3rd of November, 1852. Mr.
Ellis, the chairman, spoke at great length on the evils of com-
petition, and the fact that Parliament had sanctioned lines that
ought never to have been made ; that railway legislation had been
a disgrace to the age, and that the question of amalgamation
must inevitably engage the early consideration of the Legislature.
Then, turning to the position of the Midland Company, he said
that there were some wlio thought the Midland Company should
stand alone. " It could stand alone, there was no doubt of that ; "
but the greatest benefits would accrue to both Companies by an
identity of interest. He concluded by moving the following
resolution : " That it is expedient to effect a permanent union of
interest between the London and North Western and Midland
Railway Companies, and to amalgamate the undertakings on the
following terms, viz. : That the relative values of the two under-
takings be ascertained and fixed by three referees of high stand-
ing." The resolution was carried by a very large majority, and a
bill in accordance with this decision was submitted to Parliament.
It was, however, eventually withdrawn, in consequence of the
appointment of a select committee of the House of Commons,
which advised the House not to allow any amalgamation during
the session, and which also reported against the amalgamation of
very large companies.

We may pass lightly over the next few years in the history of
the Midland Railway. A period of rest had arrived between the
excitements and dangers of the past, and the time when a bolder
policy might be initiated. Four years since, and the dividend was

"WALKIXG SOFTLY." 107

only 16s. ; it was now 35s. The competition of the Great Northern
had carried off a large amount of the passenger traffic, and it was
only by an increasing goods traffic that the Midland Company had
been able to hold on its way.

No wonder that for some time to come it " walked softly." The
only outlay of importance in the year 1854 was in the construction
of a narrow gauge line along side the broad gauge from Gloucester
to near Stonehouse, and the making of a mixed gauge (instead of
broad only) from thence to Bristol. Arrangements also were
effected of an economical and mutually beneficial nature, between
the Midland and the London and North Western Companies for
the interchange of traffic.

In 1855 the abstraction by the Great Northern of Midland
passenger traffic continued; but the chairman, Mr. Beale, not
unnaturally drew comfort from the fact that the goods and mineral
traffic had had a " prodigious increase." With a wise foresight he
expressed the belief that that was " a certain and fast-growing
traffic, which was peculiarly their own."

The years 1856 and 1857 were almost as uneventful as their
immediate predecessors. The turning of certain timber bridges
into iron and stone ; the arrangement of sorting sidings at Toton
and Rugby ; improvements in the method of keeping the accounts
of the Company ; the reference to Mr. Gladstone of some weighty
matters that were in dispute between the Midland and the North
Western, Great Northern, and Sheffield Companies ; and the open-
ing, on the 8th of May, 1858, of the Leicester and Hitchin line —
on which the Wellingborough Viaduct is perhaps the most in-
teresting work — were the chief events of the period. It is, how-
ever, worthy of note that so severe had been the injuries inflicted
by the Great Northern competition upon the Midland Company,
that in 1857, with 500 miles of railway (without the Hitchin
extension), their passenger traffic Avas £30,000 less than it had
been ten years previously, with only 377 miles open. In 1847
their earnings for passengers were 5s. "2d. a mile, and in 1857 they
were 4s. 0\d. Happily, the development of goods and minerals
had partially recouped this loss.

In the report for July, 1858, the directors referred to the
resignation of Mr. Ellis and Mr. Beale, the chairman and deputy-
chairman of the Company, and also to the election of Mr. G. B.

108

PROGRESS.

Paget, who, however, had survived his appointment only a brief
period. In consequence of this lamentable event, Mr. Ellis had
consented for a short time to resume the duties of the chairman-
ship.

The only circumstance worthy of special notice in the year 1858
was the severe conflict carried on between the Midland and the
surrounding and competitive lines. This, however, at length
abated, and all parties returned to more remunerative relations
one with another.

In 1859 the directors resolved to extend the Erewash Valley
line up to Clay Cross, near Chesterfield. An Act for the purpose

WELLINGBOROUGH VIADUCT (1858).

had previously been obtained, but in consequence of the depressed
state of the finances of the Company the powers had been allowed
to expire. The proposed line could be used as the main line to
the North ; and it would open out a coal-field of the greatest value.
The directors also, in conjunction with the Great Western, resolved
to dispose of the Gloucester and Cheltenham tramway. That
ancient road had become " like a house without a tenant ; an
expense without an advantage ; a load without a profit." A suit-
able hotel was to be erected at Leeds. The Castle and Falcon,
Aldersgate Street, London, was obtained for the erection of goods
warehouses ; and twenty acres of land were purchased, near the

ROTVSLEY TO BUXTON EXTENSION.

109

Great Northern terminus, for a Midland goods station ; £1,000
were also set apart for a footbridge from the Derby passenger
station to the locomotive sheds.

On the 25th of May, 1860, the Midland Company was authorized
to construct a railway, 15 miles in length, between Rowsley and
Buxton, there to be connected with a line about to be made by the

MOXSAL DALE.

London and North Western from Whaley Bridge to Buxton. For
many years past various projects of extension had been entertained.
As far back as 1845 several competitive schemes were proposed
for thus uniting the eastern and midland counties of England with
Manchester and Liverpool. The Boston, Nottingham, Ambergate,
and Midland Junction, for instance, proposed to unite with the
Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland Junction, and thus to

110

ROWSLEY TO BTJXTON.

provide a through route from the Lincolnshire to the Lancashire
coast. But great difficulties had to be overcome, on account "both
of the ownership of the land and the formation of the country.
Buxton, for instance, is about 1,000 feet above the level of the sea,
and if a line were made to get up to it, how would it get down
again by decent gradients to Manchester ? Although eventually
the valley of the Derwent was adopted, and Buxton was left out

CHEE VALE.

in the cold, other routes had been thought of. One was by Eyam,
Chapel-le-Frith, and the Peak ; the other, by Castleton and Whaley
Bridge. In either case the local population and the trade to be
served were of the scantiest ; and hence one that went by Baslow
Moors came, by the commodities which it was considered would
form its chief traffic, to De designated the " Bilberry and Besom
Line," while the other through the Peak * was known, on account
of the innumerable tunnels on its course, as the " Flute Line."

* Another, subsequently proposed, was called the " High Pique Line."

EOWSLEY TO BUXTON.

Ill

The then Duke of Devonshire gave his consent to a line being
made through his park at Chatsworth, on condition that it was by
a covered way, and there is no doubt that that route would have
supplied the best levels ; but the present duke objected to such an
invasion of his ancestral domains ; and after much, negotiation
with the Duke of Rutland, it was decided that the line should be
carried along its present course, at the back of Haddon Hall.

A thousand special precautions had, however, to be observed.

CHEE VALE.

None of the trees were to be removed or lopped by the contractors
or navvies during the progress of the works ; agents and keepers
were set to watch the property and the game ; one duke wanted
the principal station to be at Bakewell, and the other required
that it should be at Hassop, and both had to be built ; and the
line through the park of Haddon Hall was carried along the hill-

* The northern end of Chee Tor Tunnel is seen in the distance.

112 EXTENSIONS.

side by the excavation of portions — half cutting, half tunnel —
which were then covered in.

These difficulties being overcome, and the heavy works of Monsal
and Miller's Dale being provided for, the mighty limestone crag
of Chee Tor barred the way. This is the second tunnel to the
north of what is now Miller's Dale station. Many an engineer
had carried his imaginary line from Ambergate to Buxton thus
far, but had gone no farther ; for, in addition to the ordinary work
of piercing a hill of solid mountain limestone, there was the fact
that the rock rose abruptly 300 feet in one face above the river,
that consequently no shafts were possible, that the tunnel must be
made wholly and only from the two ends, and that before the
southern end could be touched the river must be spanned by a
bridge, and the bridge be approached through another tunnel.

The work, however, was done, and the line to-day carries the
traveller through perhaps the most interesting series of railway
works to be found in England.

At the spring meeting, 1861, the chairman had the satisfaction
of announcing a dividend at the rate of 7 per cent, per annum.
" The revenue accounts," he said, " were most satisfactory. The
rate of increase had been greater than on any other line in the
year;" and the directors decided upon some extensions of the
Midland system. One of these was in Wharfedale, near Leeds,
and was to be carried out in conjunction with the North Eastern.
Another was from Evesham to Ashchurch, in the valley of the
Avon. A third was from Whitacre on the Midland line to Nun-
eaton, 4by means of which, in conjunction with the line from
Leicester to Hinckley, the Midland Company would have access
from Leicester to Birmingham. Further, a few years previously
an independent company had made a short line of two or three
miles from the Birmingham and Bristol to Dnrsley. But such a
scrap of railway could scarcely be expected to pay if worked by
itself, and it was now agreed to ti-ansfer it to the Midland Company
for some £10,500, that being something like half its cost. Un-
fortunately, as time passed on, the remarkable increase of traffic
which the Midland Company had been enjoying began to wane, in
consequence of the general depression of trade. And so the year
1861 drew to a close.

CHAPTER VII.

The short line with the long name. — London and North Western's Disley
line. — A " block" line. — Midland and North Western " most hostile." — Pro-
posed Midland line to Manchester. — Duke of Devonshire's support. —
Whaley Bridge and Buxton extension of North Western Company. — " The
Three Companies' Agreement " to exclude the Midland from Manchester. —
" The Triple Agreement." — The Midland shut out. — A chance meeting. —
Negotiations between Sheffield Company and Midland for access to Man-
chester via New Mills. — Evidence in favour of new Midland line. — Town
clerk of Manchester. — Manchester Chamber of Commerce. — Mr. Cheetham.
— Other witnesses. — Opposition of London and North Western Company. —
Offer of " facilities " over North Western line from Buxton to Manchester.
— Sir Joseph Paxton's evidence. — Opposition of Great Northern. — Supposed
encouragement to a breach of agreement. — Gouty patients. — Death of Mr.
John Ellis. — Eminent services of Mr. Ellis. — Proposed Midland line to
London. — The " destiny " of the Midland. — Insufficient accommodation of
Great Northern via Hitchin for Midland traffic. — Delays. — Five miles of
coal trains blocked at Eugby. — Witnesses from St. Albans. — Great Northern
propose to double their line. — Eeply to the proposal. — Mr. Allport's evidence.
— Other projects in the field. — Camden Square. — Horticultural perplexities.
— Bill passed. — Proposed line from Cudworth to Barnsley. — Other railway
projections and working alliances.

rE have already referred to a short railway with a long name that
ran from Ambergate as far as Rowsley — a portion of what had
originally been intended to form a connecting line between Man-
chester and the Midland System. In 1852 this fragment was
leased to the London and North Western and Midland Companies
for 19 years, at 2| per cent, interest upon the capital, the North
Western being glad to retain a legal hold upon the property in
order to prevent this line, or any extension of it, from ever becoming
part of a through route from Manchester to the metropolis. It
was under the influence of the same considerations that the North
Western, in the following year (1853), also encouraged a project
for a new line from their system at Stockport, by way of Disley,

113

114 THE DISLEY LINE.

to Whaley Bridge. It was, indeed, stated at the time that the
scheme originated with independent parties ; nevertheless, clauses
were inserted in the bill giving power to the London and North
Western to work the line ; and eventually, out of a capital for the
Disley line and Buxton extension of £310,000, the North Western
advanced £299.000. " The accounts show," said Mr. Allport,
" on the face of them that the line is London and North Western."
To the construction of this Disley line the Midland Company
were naturally and necessarily opposed. They were so because
they were vitally affected by any measures for completing the
links in the chain of communication across Derbyshire to Man-
chester; because, though the two companies were on terms of
amity, and had previously always acted on the matter conjointly,
the Midland were now excluded from participation in the contem-
plated arrangements ; and because the Midland Company's board
believed that an effort was being made to fill up the country with
a line of a designedly inferior character — a line for blocking up
the way, and not for opening it. " The proposed railway," said
Mr. Allport, " for some reason which does not appear on the face
of it," is run along the high country where there is little or no
population ; and instead of taking the valley with a gradually
rising ascent, " it goes up a steep gradient out of Buxton, to fall
down again. The line appears to me to have gone up the hill for
the sake of going down again." These criticisms on the project
seemed to have given offence to the London and North Western
Company ; and they complained to the Midland board that Mr.
Allport's evidence was " most hostile." The Midland board, how-
ever, replied that they concurred in the statements of their general
manager ; that he had their sanction in giving evidence against
the bill ; that they regretted to find that such a course was deemed
most hostile ; and they " would have been glad if, by previous
communication between the two boards, means had been devised
for preventing even the appearance of hostile interests."

On the last day of the year 1856 the Midland Company made
a proposal to the London and North Western that the idea
originally contemplated in the scheme for the Manchester, Buxton,
Matlock, and Midland Junction Railway — and set forth in the
name that the Company bore — should be carried into effect, and
that a through route should be made. The Midland board stated

NOKTH WESTEKN LINE TO BUXTOK. 115

that they would subscribe £200,000 towards such an object. It
was also known that the Duke of Devonshire was willing to
contribute £50,000, and that he had even offered a passage for the
line through his park at Chatsworth, if it were necessary. The
North Western directors, however, replied that, though the local
traffic ought to be accommodated, and though they were prepared
to join with the Sheffield Company in making a line suitable for
that purpose, they could not, as Mr. Stewart, the secretary, ex-
pressed it, " recommend their proprietors to become parties to so
costly a scheme" as that now advocated.

Meanwhile, however, the North Western Company were pro-
moting, at their own expense, and without the co-operation or the
knowledge of the Midland Company, an extension of their Disley
line to Buxton — an expense nearly equal to the share they had
been asked to contribute for the through line. To this project
the Midland Company made no parliamentary opposition. They
had been refused a hearing on the original Whaley Bridge Railway,
on the ground that they had no locus standi; and they were advised
that they would have no better claim to appear against the exten-
sion than against the original line. The Act for the Whaley
Bridge and Buxton line was accordingly obtained (1857).

While the London and North Western Company was thus
steadily drawing on towards Buxton, and doing so by works
which could never be available as a through line for either Com-
pany, other powers were being brought into play which it was
hoped would even more effectually shut out the Midland Company
from any access to the North. An agreement, which had made
the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company a dependency
of the L'ondon and North Western, came, in 1857, to an end ; in
the following year, despite the strenuous opposition of the North
Western, the Sheffield Company entered into alliance with the
Great Northern, and thereby opened a new route between the
metropolis and Manchester; and now these three companies,
having abated their mutual rivalries, joined in a compact with one
another to keep away all intruders from their territories.

With this design an agreement called " The Three Companies'
Agreement" was made, and application was made to secure for
it the sanction of law. It succeeded in passing the Commons ;
but was rejected in the Lords, on the ground that it ought not to

116 " THE THREE COMPANIES' AGREEMENT."

bear prejudicially upon the Midland Company. What followed
is worthy of note. In 1860 another application was made to
Parliament for its sanction to this agreement. Again it was
opposed by the Midland, who urged the adoption of a " Four
Companies' Bill," in which their interests were protected. Both
bills, however, were thrown out ; and then the three companies
resolved to act as if, though twice rejected, their bill had passed ;
and they succeeded by mutual arrangements in excluding the
traffic of the Midland from the entire district. The North
Western stopped the Midland at Stockport, and the Manchester
and Sheffield at Hyde. Subsequently it was ascertained that by
adopting a northerly and circuitous route the Midland Company
could yet reach a point of the Yorkshire and Lancashire line, and
so find a route for its traffic f rom London to Manchester ; and an
agreement was made, February 28th, 1861, with that intent.
But the arrangement had not subsisted more than a few months
when it was suddenly terminated ; and it transpired that an
agreement, dated as far back as 1850, and called the " Triple
Agreement," had been entered into between the Lancashire and
Yorkshire, the Sheffield, and the North Western Companies, by
Avhich they undertook to exclude other companies from the traffic
which they jointly commanded, and to use every exertion and
inducement to confine this traffic to the lines of the said three
companies ; and they agreed that if any other company attempted
to divert any of this traffic, the highest tolls should be charged.

The Midland Company was now effectually excluded from access
to Lancashire by any existing route ; and the only alternatives
that remained were, either to abandon all hope of carrying their
traffic in that direction, or to construct an extension of their own
Bnxton line — which was approaching completion — to Manchester.
Instructions were therefore issued to their engineer to examine
the country with a view to a through Midland route direct from
near Buxton to Manchester.

One day, in the autumn of the same year (1861), the Midland
chairman, Mr. Beale; the deputy- chairman, Mr. Hutchinson; and
Mr. Allport were visiting the country " promiscuously," as Mr.
Sergeant Wrangham called it, through which such a line would
have to pass. They were not surveying ; " the country had been
surveyed fifty times by various parties." They had plans that

PROPOSED MIDLAND LINE TO MANCHESTER. 117

had previously been made, and the ordnance maps with various
lines marked upon them ; and while driving, walking, and asking
their way through the country, they unexpectedly, in a bye lane,
met a dog-cart, on which Mr. Lees, one of the directors, and two
of the officers of the Sheffield Company were riding. " And what
are you doing here ? " the latter good-naturedly demanded. "We
will show you," was the reply. " You know the country ; perhaps
you will accompany us." The Midland officers then stated the
object they had in view — to endeavour to select a route for a new
line to Manchester. The gentlemen of both companies remained
together during the day ; and in the course of conversation it was
suggested by the Sheffield directors that it would be undesirable
for an independent line to be made side by side with their own,
and that it might be possible for the Midland Company to have
the use of the Sheffield Company's line from New Mills to Man-
chester. It was further proposed that Mr. Allport — who had
previously been for nearly four years General Manager of the
Sheffield Company, and was intimately acquainted with all its
details — should have an interview on these proposals with the
chairman of the Sheffield Company. This was done ; and the
result was that it was agreed that the Midland should run its own
trains over the railways of the Sheffield Company " to or from
Manchester, and every other place in Manchester, in Lancashire,
or Cheshire, or beyond," and that thus the work would be done
by " one hand."

But though these arrangements simplified the course of the
Midland Company, and though not a single landowner opposed the
project, the bill encountered the determined resistance of the other
powerful interests that had enjoyed a monopoly of the carrying
trade of the district ; and the Midland Company had to gather up
their best arguments to prove the necessity of the line.

One of these was found in the fact that existing routes were
inadequate. Suppose, for instance, a passenger wished to go from
Nottingham to Manchester, two routes were available. By the
Great Northern, he would be first carried due east twenty-three
miles to Grantham ; from Grantham he would turn northward as
far as Betford ; then westward via Sheffield to Manchester — a
most circuitous course. Or, by the other route, he would proceed
by the Midland Railway to Derby, by North Staffordshire to

118 PARLIAMENTARY EVIDENCE.

Macclesfield or Crewe, and then by the London and North
Western to Manchester, — by three different companies, with three
different sets of trains, and all the contingencies involved in their
adjustment, or want of it.

Evidence to like effect was given by various competent persons.
For instance, on the 7th of March, 1862, the General Purposes
Committee, which represents the corporation of Manchester, passed
a resolution that they were " decidedly of opinion that increased
facilities of communication between this city and Derby, Leicester,
Nottingham, and other places in the Midland district are now
much required ; " and they directed that a copy of this resolution
be transmitted to the solicitor of the Midland Railway. In cross-
examination (March, 1862), Mr. Cripps inquired of Mr. Heron,
now Sir Joseph Heron, the town clerk of Manchester, whether he
had not been " a gi*eat advocate for a communication between Man-
chester and London by means of the Great Northern system."
Mr. Heron replied that by desire of the corporation he had given
expression to a desire for such increased accommodation, and that
undoubtedly it had been secured.

"You have had," asked Mr. Cripps, "increased facilities?"
"Yes; we have had increased facilities; we have an excellent
second route to London, and we have the fares reduced from two
guineas, at which they previously stood, to £1 13s. by express
trains, Avhich is a very great public advantage." " I understand,"
continued the council, " that you have nothing to complain of at
present, so far as Manchester and London communications are
concerned?" " I have not come here," replied the witness, " to
make any complaint whatever." " Manchester has a choice of one
of two routes to London ?" "They have; and I suppose there
would be a choice of three if this line were made." " Should you
come here equally for a communication for a fourth route ? "
" That depends ; it is quite possible a fourth route might not be
objectionable."

The Manchester Chamber of Commerce also expressed its desire
for more direct communication with Derby, Leicester, Nottingham,
and other Midland towns; and asked that legislative sanction might
be given to any measure that might appear best calculated to
provide it. Influential manufacturers, too, bore similar testimony.
Mr. Cheetham, of Staleybridge, for instance, stated that his firm

PARLIAMENTARY EVIDENCE. 119

paid some £1,500 a year for carriage of yarn between his works and
Nottingham, Derby, and Leicester; yarn which was made into
stockings, a large amount of which subsequently returned to
Manchester. Serious inconvenience arose to men of business from
having to travel by routes so circuitous, and to owners of goods
from having to deal Avith two or three companies in the carriage
of freight. He was of opinion that the new route would be " very
much the best, the most direct, and the shortest."

Mr. Ken worthy, the mayor of Ashton, another cotton spinner,
gave similar testimony, and especially to the importance of having,
if possible, one company responsible for any delay or loss that
might occur in railway transit. " It is not," he said, " a question
of law, but of getting practical redress. We have had great
difficulty in fixing the complaint on the different companies.
Latterly we have had very great trouble indeed."

The general manager of the firm of Messrs. S. & J. Watts stated
that they had very large transactions with retail dealers in about
fifty towns in Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire.
Hosiery, lace, and gloves were bought to the amount of £100,000
a year ; all sorts of drapery goods were despatched to the same
districts, to the value of £50,000 a year, and the delays in the
transmission of this costly property were considerable. Buyers,
too, found the routes to Manchester so inconvenient that it was
necessary to come one day and return the next, a circumstance
which greatly tended to hinder trade. " I have been left," said
another witness, "dozens of times at the North Staffordshire
station at Macclesfield in times past, sometimes as long as two
hours, and sometimes with fifteen or sixteen other passengers."

These arguments were eagerly resisted by the London and
North Western and Great Northern Companies ; and when it Avas
found that direct opposition might be unavailing, the North
Western offered that its OAvn route from Buxton to Manchester —
the Disley line as it Avas called — should be used by the Midland
Company, instead of the new line it was proposed to make.
" Assuming," said Mr. Hope Scott, " that the London and North
Western Company are Avilling to give full facilities, backed, if
necessary, by contingent running powers in case of misbehaviour,
and are Avilling to be at extra costs entailed by greater steepness
of gradients, Avhy should not the Midland traffic be sufficiently

120 OPPOSITION OF NORTH WESTERN.

accommodated over the Disley line ? " "I cannot go into those
details," replied Sir Joseph Paxton. " My opinion is, that they
will not offer such powers." " But I do offer them," returned Mr.
Scott. " I offer you facilities, with contingent running powers in
case of abuse. I offer you facilities into Manchester." " We
know," replied Sir Joseph, significantly, "what 'facilities' are."
" If," he subsequently added, " we had running powers over the
Disley line direct into Manchester from Stockport, and accom-
modation was given there for the traffic, then I think it very
likely that my board and the other directors might think that
sufficient ; but I do not think it is. I think it a very poor way
of finishing a great communication between London and Man-
chester, and Manchester and the Midland districts."

His concluding observation was subsequently confirmed by Mr.
Beale. " My opinion," he said, " and the opinion of the entire
Midland board is, that the proposed facilities would be totally
inadequate, and that they would not give the open vent which the
immense traffic of the important Midland district requires. I
believe this line, if made, will be one of the main arteries of the
kingdom for railway traffic. I may tell my lords that in eleven
years the gross traffic of the Midland has increased something like
ninety per cent., of which probably upwards of sixty per cent, is
upon the development of old lines, and not in the slightest degree
in connection Avith additional lines, and I feel personally quite
sure that the public cannot have accommodation unless the line is
granted."

When, too, the route by the Disley line was thus offered to the
Midland Company, an important qualification was introduced into
the terms. The North Western Company expressly required that
the traffic should be what they called "proper traffic "; and they
stated, for instance, that they would not take Birmingham and
Bristol traffic ; though, of course, if the Midland had a line of their
own, their ti'affic might flow that way. It is true that the Xorth
Western secretary promised that his company would take any
ti'affic that they might fairly be required to convey ; but the
Midland Company were not satisfied to leave the question of what
might be " fairly required " to the decision of another and rival
board.

An objection made by the London and North Western Company

OPPOSITION OF GREAT NOETHERN. 121

to the proposed Midland line was, that it would run more or less
parallel with the existing Disley route, and that this would imply
a needless outlay of capital. Bat such an arrangement, it was
replied, was frequently found advantageous where there was a
diversity of interests. Duplicate lines run for six or seven miles
north of Peterborough ; the one belonging to the Great Northern
Company, the other to the Midland ; there being merely a fence
between them. Between Leeds and Bradford there are also
duplicate lines, and between Birmingham and the Staffordshii-e
districts there are three.

The opposition to the Midland scheme made by the Great
Northern Company Avas based on other grounds. They contended
that the Sheffield Company had no right to give the Midland
Company facilities of access by New Mills to Manchester, inasmuch
as by doing so they would violate obligations previously incurred
towards themselves. " I charge the Midland Company," said
Sergeant Wrangham, " not with the breach of any agreements,
but with abetting the Sheffield Company in breaking agreements
that tHey have had with us, the Great Northern." To this it was
replied on behalf of the Sheffield Company, that they might not
unnaturally say, " Here is a Company that intends to reach Man-
chester by a line made side by side with ours. Will it not be
better that this multiplication of lines should be avoided ; that as
they 10 ill come into the town, we should let them come, and come
over our route, and utilize to our advantage, as well as their own,
a part of our line ? " To enforce their views the Great Northern
filed a bill in Chancery.

One of the objections made before the parliamentary committee
to the Midland extension, gave rise to an amusing conversation.
It was supposed by the opponents of the Midland line that passen-
gers for Buxton would necessarily have to change carriages at
the junction at Black well.

Mr. Merewether : " Will you assume that a man comes near the
great through line to Blackwell Mill ? "
Dr. Robertson : " Yes."

Mr. Merewether : " That is the junction for your invalid ? "
Dr. Robertson : " Yes."

Mr. Merewether : " My learned friend has referred to gout — gout
is a disturber of the temperament ? "

122

BLACKWELL MILL JUNCTION

Dr. Robertson : " It is."

Mr. Merewether: "Your gouty patient, — a gouty merchant
from Manchester, — is of quite as warm a temperament as most
people."

Dr. Robertson : " Hear, hear."

Mr. Merewether: "Will you bring him from Manchester
with his gout and his Manchester temperament ? Will you pnt
him out at Blackwell Mill to get into the branch train to go to
Buxton?"

BLACKWELL MILL JUNCTION.

Dr. Robertson : " I have been told so. . . ."

Mr. Merewether : " Do you put it as a medical view, that going
along a gradient of 1 in 60 * would exasperate a gouty patient
more than being put out at the station at Blackwell, and being
sent round to Buxton ? "

Dr. Robertson : "I consider that going along a gradient of 1 in
60 would exasperate any man, gouty or not."

The Act of Parliament by which the line was sanctioned was
* The Disley route.

TRENT STATION.

123

passed, and the railway was opened for public traffic on the 1st of
June, 1863, the day named in the contract.

An improvement of great importance was during this year
effected in the arrangement of the passenger service, by the
opening, on the 1st May, '1862, of the Trent Station. At this
point great and increasing difficulty had been experienced in the
safe and expeditious conduct of the traffic. Trains came in from,
and went out in, four different directions — east to Nottingham,
west to Derby, north to the Erewash, and south to London. At

^^^-^

TBENT . STATION.

one time it was the practice to take passengers who were going
from Nottingham to London round by Derby and back to what is
now Trent, an 18 miles' journey for nothing. Subsequently the
Nottingham trains were shunted into a siding at Kegworth, and
there they wraited till the Derby portions arrived. The opening
of the Erewash line, too, necessarily created a dangerous level
crossing of lines at right angles at a place called Platt's Crossing,
about 200 yards north of what is now the Trent Station.
With regard to the spot _itself, its lines, curves, cross-overs, and

124

MR. JOHN ELLIS.

junctions, Sir Edmund Beckett had offered some playful criticisms
iii words to the following effect : " You arrive at Trent. Where
that is I cannot tell. I suppose it is somewhere near the river
Trent ; but then the Trent is a very long river. You get out of your
ti'ain to obtain refreshment, and having taken it, you endeavour
to find your train and your carriage. But whether it is on this
side or that, and whether it is going north or south, this way or
that way, you cannot tell. Bewildered, you frantically rush into
your carriage ; the train moves off round a curve, and then you

BEAUMONT LEYS, NEAK LEICESTEB.

are horrified to see some red lights glaring in front of you, and
you are in immediate expectation of a collision, when your fellow-
passenger calms your fears by telling you that they are only the
tail lamps of your own train ! "

On the 26th of October, 1862, Mr. Ellis, who had for so long a
period been connected with the interests of the Midland Company,
died. John Ellis came of a goodly stock : his forefathers were
honest Yorkshire yeomen. His father, Joseph Ellis, removed into
Leicestershire in 1784, where he occupied, until his death, in 1810, a

MR. JOHN ELLIS. 125

farm which required in its management unusual skill and industry
to work it successfully. Left at the age of twenty-one with the
care of his brothers and a sister, John Ellis succeeded to a small
patrimony, and the good name of his father, which he was wont
to say was his best inheritance. He followed his father's calling,
and in early life, at Beaumont Leys, near Leicester, he could
plough and sow, reap and mow, with any man. In the harvest
field it is said that he did not know his equal ; and even when
rising to eminence in his calling he did not abandon these homelier
employments. He milked his cows until he went to Parliament.
Meanwhile, through the late Mr. James Cropper, of Liverpool,
he had become acquainted with George Stephenson, and hence
the circumstances arose that led to the connection of both of them
with the Leicester and Swannington Railway. He early identified
himself with the policy of Free Trade; and, before a parlia-
mentary committee, expressed the opinion that the English farmer
should prepare to grow Avheat at £2 10s. a quarter ; and he added,
" He can afford to do so ; " "a bold thing," it has been remarked,
" for a farmer to say in those days."

In 1847, he was sent to Parliament for the borough of Leicester.
" He entered into his new duties," says a local writer, with char-
acteristic earnestness ; his sagacious judgment and practical
knowledge on all questions which he pretended to understand,
soon gave him a position in the House, and his opinion on such
subjects was not unfrequently asked by some of our leading states-
men."

Mr. Ellis was from the first a director of the Leicester and
Swannington Railway, and, for some years, of the Midland
Counties Railway. On the amalgamation of the latter with the
North Midland and Birmingham and Derby Companies, he was
placed on the joint board, and appointed Deputy-Chairman. In
1849 he was elected Chairman of the Midland Railway. On re-
signing this office, in 1858, the directors gave expression to the
" deep pain" which they experienced at the event ; " but, remem-
bering," they said, " the express conditions upon which he
consented to withdraw a previous resignation, they felt precluded
from further pressing upon him the duties and responsibilities of
the chair." They rightly recalled the fact that Mr. Ellis had
undertaken his office " at a period of unusual difficulty and

126 "DESTINY" OF THE MIDLAND EAILWAY.

mistrust, when embarrassment and ruin hung over so many under-
takings of a similar kind ; " but that he had encountered the
perils of the crisis with a determination which rose superior to
the danger, with a confidence which cheered his colleagues, and
with a practical sagacity which was of immediate and decisive
value.

The gratitude of the shareholders was expressed by a vote of
1,000 guineas. Part of this sum was expended in a service of plate,
and the remainder in a full-length portrait by Lucas ; in the back-
ground of which is a view of the works and tunnel entrance of
the Leicester and Swannington Kailway. The portrait hangs in
the shareholders' room at the Derby Station.

" He will be greatly missed," said a local writer, " by his
associates in public life and in works of charity. We shall miss
his well-known face and figure in our public meetings and in our
streets. We shall miss his Avise counsel and his genial, warm-
hearted converse. He has won the respect of all who knew him.
His name will be a household word amongst us, and there will
long be a kind thought and a good word for John Ellis."

A period had now arrived in the administration of the Midland
Company when it was called to confront new and grave respon-
sibilities. Hitherto its area of operations had been restricted to
the Midland districts of England; but its vast and increasing
traffic southward suggested the inquiry whether it ought not to be
placed in direct communication with the metropolis itself. There
were some who thought, and some who said, that the Midland
Kailway had no right to Aviden its field of operation. When the
Manchester Extension Bill was before the Lords' committee, Mr.
Hope Scott, the counsel for the London and North Western Com-
pany, declared that the " destiny " of the Midland Company
forbade its further development. " My learned friend," re-
plied Sir W. Alexander, " Avas tempted to indulge in a someAvhat
hyperbolical phrase, when he said that it was not the destiny of
the Midland Company to go to London or to Manchester. It Avas
rather a strange term to use. Destiny ! Avas it the destiny of the
London and North Western Kaihvay Company, AArhich was origin-
ally a line to Birmingham and Liverpool, to join the Caledonian ?
Was it their destiny to seek a line to West Hartlepool ? Was it
their destiny to seek, as they Avere doing a feAv days ago, a line to

INCREASE OF LONDON TRAFFIC. 127

Merthyr Tydfil ? Yes ; that they are doing. Was it their destiny
to seek a line to Cambiidge, the very head-quai'ters of the Eastern
Counties territory, which they did when they obtained the line
from Cambridge to Bedford ? I dare say these lines were passed
by my learned friend's able advocacy."

On the contrary, the Midland Company had advisedly looked
forward to the time when it would require to have a line of its
own to the metropolis, and it had expressly avoided any negotia-
tion which might seem to commit it to a narroAver policy. When,
for instance, in 1858, an agreement between the Great Northern,
the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, and the Midland
Companies, was drawn up by Mr. John Bullar, in which there was
what is called the " amity clause," under which the Companies
were to abstain from aggression into each other's territories : in
this agreement it was declared that nothing it contained was " to
prevent the Midland Company making a line to London after
notice " had been given.

At length the time drew on when the Midland board had to face
the question of how best to deal with its vast and increasing
London traffic. " Perhaps," said Mr. Allport, in 1862, "there is
hardly another instance of a large system increasing like ours."
In five years the amount of goods and minerals had risen from
676,000 tons to 1,111,000, and was steadily augmenting. True,
the Great Northern Company was bound to allow the Midland the
use of their London goods and coal stations ; but it was soon
found that these were so inadequate that the Midland Company
had to go to Parliament for powers to acquire a large amount of
land for a goods station of its own.

The accommodation provided by the Great Northern for the
Midland passenger trains was also insufficient. Experience has
proved that there are certain times of the day most convenient to
the London public to travel, and five o'clock in the afternoon is
one of these times. Accordingly, the Great Northern started one
of its chief express trains at that hour ; this was f ollowed by a
large local traffic ; and it became undesirable that the Midland
express should follow earlier than 5.35, and even then it was often
pulled up by signals before it reached Hitchin. It is true that the
Midland were entitled by agreement to fix the running of their
trains at hours mutually convenient, and that there was an appeal

128 DIFFICULTIES AND DELAYS.

to arbitration. ; but, as Mr. Allport remarked, " no arbitrator can
enable you to perform physical impossibilities." In fact, in 1862,
the Exhibition year, there were nearly 1,000 Midland passenger
trains and nearly 2,400 goods trains delayed between Hitchin and
King's Cross. " The Midland," said Mr. Allport, " can never tell
with anything like certainty at what time their trains will reach
King's Cross. They may be in good time at Hitchin, but delays
constantly occur between that place and London, especially near
the terminus at Hollo way, where the trains are kept waiting oub-
side the tunnel till the station is cleared inside, and they can be
admitted. Or if the Midland trains come from the north, depend-
ing perhaps for its time of starting on other trains still farther
north, and is late at Hitchin, they find of coui'se that other trains
have already started before them, and they must take their chance
— being a stranger company ; and having no control over the
management, they cannot order a slow train to shunt and let a
Midland express pass, though on their own lines such a practice
would be at once adopted. Constant complaints are made to the
Midland Company of these irregularities, and the Great Northern
on many occasions have frankly admitted their inability to avoid
them."

Nor was it only on the Great Northern line that the Midland
Company had to contend with these difficulties and delays. An
enormous traffic was also sent from the Midland system to London
via Rugby. In fact, in 1862, the Midland Company paid the
Great Northern £60,000 for tolls to London, in addition to rents
for the use of their London Station, and to the London and North
Western no less than £193,000 for traffic by Rugby ; and such
was the crowded state of that company's line, that, though they
had laid a third pair of rails for fifty miles for the up trains, from
Bletchley to London, they were unable to accommodate the traffic.
On one occasion they suddenly gave notice that they could not
convey the mineral traffic from the Midland system : and the coal
trains accumulated at Rugby till they were five miles long, to the
infinite annoyance of the sellers at the fields, and of the buyers in
London, who were depending on the arrival of the coal for the
supply of their customers. The embarrassment of the Midland
Company, too, may be imagined when they received such messages
as, — " Stop all coals from Butterley Colliery for Acton, Hammer-

A " MOST UNFOETUNATE COUNTY." 129

smith, and Kew, for three days, as Willesden sidings are blocked
up." " The North London are blocked with Poplar coals for all
the dealers ; Camden cannot receive any more from Poplar."
" You must stop the whole till London is clear." " Rugby is
blocked so as not to be able to shunt any more." " Camden and
the North London are blocked with coals."

In addition to the necessity that thus existed for adequate
accommodation of the through traffic of the Midland Company to
the metropolis itself, it was apparent that a new railway up the
country that lay between the Great Northern line on the east and
the London and North Western on the west would be locally
beneficial. Grave complaints, for instance, had been made of the
insufficiency of the communications directly south and north of
St. Albans. Proposals had been made with a view to amendment ;
and one witness stated that his land was surveyed " almost every
winter," but no improvement had been made. " If a railway is
made," said another witness, " it will multiply our trade at St.
Albans double or treble."

At this period (March, 1863) the county of Bedford generally
was described by one of the witnesses as " the most unfortunate
county in England," as regarded its railway communications.
" We have nothing," he said, " but the Great Northern running
from Hertfordshire to Bedford, across the estate of Mr. Whitbread
at the outskirts, and from Bletchley on the Duke of Bedford's
estates on the other side ; but with respect to the interior part
of the county we have no communication at all." By a new
line it was declared " the whole district would be immensely
benefited."

" I believe," said a witness, " that the Great Northern Company
do all they can, but they cannot do justice to the district with a
junction line." It was estimated that the proposed line would
serve 50,000 people who did not then have the advantage of railway
facilities.

Such were some of the data that led the Midland Company's
board to resolve to construct a line of their own from Bedford to
London, and their intention was approved by their constituency.
There " was not a single dissentient voice that I know of,"
said Mr. Allport, " though one shareholder objected, who usually
objects to everything."

130 OFFEB OF GREAT NORTHERN COMPANY.

Meanwhile, the Great Northern Company, naturally loath to
lose such a customer as the Midland, made an offer of fresh
facilities and rights over the Hitchin and London line — in fact, of
running powers in perpetuity. But in return they required that
the Midland Company should guarantee a rent of £60,000 a year
instead of £20,000. If it were found that the traffic of the two
companies could not be carried on by the existing lines, the Great
Northern undertook to put down one or two additional lines
between Hitchin and London.

But when the best answer of the Great Northern Company to
the demand by the Midland for adequate facilities for its growing
traffic, was an offer to widen the Great Northern line at the
expense of the Midland, the rejoinder was easy and complete. If
the old line had to be doubled, the cost would be altogether
disproportionate to the benefits referred. Besides the earthwork,
there were many of the overbridges that would need to be rebuilt,
a large viaduct to be widened, nine tunnels to be doubled, stations
to be altered, a suitable junction between the Great Northern and
Midland to be made at the London end, a new terminus for the
Midland to be erected, and a gradient between Hitchin and Bed-
ford to be improved. It would obviously be better to make a new
line in a new country, to accommodate new districts, to create new
traffic, and to secure independence for both companies. " It is
impossible," said Mr. Allporfc, " that you can reconcile the interests
of these two great companies " on the same railway. " We are
ahvays second best ; and whether there are four lines or a dozen
lines, the same thing would be true."

Besides all this, it was by no means improbable that the districts
which the Midland Company proposed to occupy would, if aban-
doned by them, be taken up by another company, and employed as
a formidable competitor against Midland interests. Such a line
had, in fact, been in contemplation. " The year before last," said
Mr. Beale to the shareholders, " a project of that kind was brought
forward by persons of great talent, who very nearly succeeded in
carrying forward a scheme going over the very district which we
have proposed to take. If such had been the case, we should have
had to buy it back from the projectors. " The Midland Company
does not want to be dragged into a Trent Valley business, and
have to buy a line at an enormous premium ; and if they did

CAMDEN SQUARE GARDENS. 131

not make a line from Bedford, the work would be done by others."
Another point that came under the consideration of the parlia-
mentary committee may be cited, as showing the manner in which
individuals are sometimes disposed to assert their rights. It arose
from the circumstance that the Midland line was to be carried
through the Camden Square Gardens in Camden Town, where it
was arranged that a cutting, which must first be made, would be
arched over, and that then the garden should be restored to its
previous condition. With these terms Lord Camden, the pro-
prietor, was satisfied. Not so, however, one of the witnesses. " It
is utterly impossible," he said, " that the garden could ever be
restored ; because the trees were of fifteen years' growth, the lawn
was as old, and got finer and finer every year, and the whole
appearance of the square had been improving."

" Then you think," asked the counsel, " leaving alone the trees,
and taking the shrubbery and lawn, it could never be restored for
a great length of time, if at all, to its present state ? "

" No. Because this covered way would act as a great drain, and
the grass would not grow."

For these and similar reasons, the parties alleged that " the
injury to the property was excessive," and that the works "would
generally affect the value of the property in the neighbourhood."
In cross-examination this momentous matter was again referred
to.

Mr. Venables : " Your trees are large trees, and of fifteen years'
growth, you say? "

"Yes."

" Have you examined the plans, and seen how many of them
would be disturbed ? "

" I have not counted the number, but there are several of them
that would be disturbed."

" Would there be more than six disturbed ? "

" No ; I would not say actually."

" If it should turn out that six trees fifteen years old were taken
out of 400, would that be an enormous evil ? "

" I think it would be a great evil ; but I think many more would

disturbed."

" You know that it is not beyond the resources of gardening
ingenuity to put in trees fifteen years old, is it ? "

132 HORTICULTURAL PERPLEXITIES.

" Quite."

"I respectfully differ from you. But at all events, supposing
you had half a dozen or a dozen trees disturbed, and young ones put
in in their places, do you not think that that might be compen-
sated for by money ? "

And all this was about two poplar trees, two laburnums, and two
horse-chestnut trees, — such wonderful vegetable productions as are
to be found in an average London square !

Eventually, however, the Chairman stated that " the committee
were of opinion that the preamble of the bill had been proved; "
but so considerate were they of the feelings of the owners of the
property in Camden Square, that it was ordered that, if they
wished, they should have " a clause which would enable them to
seek for compensation for consequential damage."

In the course of the year the Midland Company applied to
Parliament for power to make a line to connect their main line at
Cudworth with the town of Barnsley, by a branch about four miles
in length. That town was the centre of a district containing some
66,000 persons, and the chief seat of the linen manufacture — the
Dundee of England — and produced a fabric worth nearly £500,000
a year, but it had no communication with the Midland system,
except by an omnibus over a very rough road, and it was also very
inadequately accommodated otherwise. One of the witnesses
declared that " there was no town of equal importance in the
kingdom, and indeed there were very few villages, which have
such execrable railway accommodation as we have." The station,
which was the joint property of the Lancashire and Yorkshire and
the South Yorkshire, has " one room 20 ft. square, which serves at
once for the booking offices of three railways, for a spice stall, and
the sale of the daily papers," and also as a waiting room. Another
room, " by a very gross abuse of language," called a ladies' waiting-
room, was so small that " one lady of modern dimensions would
occupy a very considerable portion of it." In fact, the station
arrangements violated the most ordinary requirements' of decency.
The witness stated his conviction that if a railway were made from
Barnsley to Cudworth, all the arrangements would be improved,
since " it would lower the character of the Midland Company to be
associated with such station accommodation as existed." "One
thing we have for our consolation," he added, "that under no

BARNSLEY VIADUCT.

133

combination of circumstances could the accommodation be worse."
That the railway facilities of the town were not highly appreciated,
may be inferred from the fact, that of a population of 66,000 in
and around Barnsley, there went up to London by the Great
Northern in the Exhibition year, an average — if we may be excused
the form of calculation — of only a passenger and a quarter a
day!

The line that the Midland Company proposed to run from Cud-
worth to Barnsley was four miles and a-half in length. It was to

BARNSLEY VIADUCT.

pass almost close to the large collieries known as the Mount
Osborne and the Oaks. From the former some 162,000 tons were
raised every year — an amount which could be largely augmented
if there were proper communication ; and from the Oaks the yield
in 1862 was 180,000 tons.

The directors also decided to recommend the construction of
several other extensions ; to make a branch from Duffield to
"Wirksworth and the High Peak Railway ; to run a branch from
Staveley to the Doe Hill Valley, in order to open up a large and
valuable coal-field ; to double the Ashchurch and Tewkesbury

134

EXTENSIONS.

line ; to join with the Furness Railway Company in making a
railway to be called the Furness and Midland, for the purpose of
connecting the coast lines of Cumberland and Westmoreland and
the Lake District with the Midland Railway at Wennington, on
the Little North Western Railway, and with Carnforth. This line
is about ten miles in length, and was to cost £150,000, of which
the Midland Company was to contribute one-half. Bills were also
submitted to Parliament to enable the Midland Company to make
working arrangements with the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and
Midland Junction ; with the Kettering and Thrapstone extension
to Huntingdon ; the Peterborough and Wisbeach ; the Redditch
and Evesham ; the Nailsworth and Stonehouse ; and the Metro-
politan.

FOOTBBIDGE IN MONSAL DALE.

CHAPTER VIII.

Arrival of a memorable period. — Claims of Sheffield to increased accommoda-
tion.— Town's meeting. — Communication with the Midland board. — Terms
settled. — Eemarkable change of opinion in Sheffield. — Rival_schemes pro-
duced.— Extraordinary pretensions of new company. — Plan for meeting the
difficulty. — Rival scheme defeated. — Midland Company's bill passes. —
Projected extensions of the Midland system. — Mr. Beale's resignation as
chairman. — Mr. W. E. Hutchinson becomes chairman. — Mansfield and
Worksop line projected. — Opposition of the dukes. — Rival line proposed by
Great Northern. — Proposed line from Barnsley to Kirkburton. — Evidence. —
Criticisms of Mr. Mereweather. — Proposal rejected. — Death of Sir Joseph
Paxton. — Mr. W. M. Thompson a director. — Bedford and Northampton
line. — Evidence. — Passing of bill. — Tottenham and Hampstead Junction. —
Cheshire lines. — Proposed new line between Liverpool and Manchester. —
Necessity for additional railway accommodation between Manchester and
Liverpool. — Cost and probable returns of the projected railways. — New line
from Manchester to Stockport.

The year 1864 was memorable in the history of the Midland
Railway. It began with an attempt to meet public claims, and to
strengthen the position of the Company; but before long the
directors were called, with their utmost resources and skill, to
repel an attack upon their most vital interests, — an attack,
which, if successful, would have entailed the most serious
consequences on all the future of the Midland Company.

When the route of the North Midland Railway was selected by
George Stephenson, he thought it better to follow the course of
the valleys, and to leave the town of Sheffield among the hills on
the left, to be afterwards connected with the main line by a branch
from Masborough. But with this subordinate position, a popula-
tion so vast and industries so thriving were not likely to remain
permanently satisfied, and the complaints of the Sheffield people
would have been entertained by the Midland board at an earlier
period, had it not been for financial difficulties of their own.

135

13(5 SHEFFIELD.

Pi'essure, however, of all kinds, gradually increased. The
little passenger station, built some twenty years before, became
utterly unsuitable for the traffic ; but being jammed in between
principal streets of the town, and bounded by numerous vast and
costly works, it appeared impossible by any attempt at enlarge-
ment to meet the necessities of the case.

Meanwhile the trade of the town increased enormously. During
the year 1863, one firm, that of Mr. John Brown, consumed nearly
100,000 tons of coal, and 45,000 tons of pig iron. Nearly 30,000
tons of the iron came over -the Midland system from Derby, Clay
Cross, Hull, from Morecambe, and even from Scotland. " We pay
to the Midland alone," said Mr. Brown, " from £35,000 to £40,000
per annum for the conveyance of our minerals and pig iron, out of
which £12,000 is paid direct to the Midland Company by us, for
what we call 'goods outward ; ' that is to say, manufactured goods."

At length the Midland board received an intimation that, on
the 5th of December, 1863, a town's meeting under the presidency
of Mr. Brown, the mayor, would be held, to consider the question
of railway communication. The chairman of the Midland board
shortly afterwards returned an official assurance that his board
had resolved, " if assured of the suppoi-t of the town," to " recom-
mend to their shareholders to apply, in the session of 1864, for an
act for a direct line from the Midland Railway near Chesterfield,
to Dronfield and Sheffield." This letter was submitted to the
town's meeting, the chairman of which spoke in terms of warm
appreciation of the intended action of the Midland board. He
stated that he had no doubt of the good faith with which the
promise had been made ; and it was generally admitted at the
meeting that the accommodation which the town needed could be
best supplied by the Midland Company. It was at the same time
suggested that a little pressure from without might be useful to
support the Midland directors in commending the project to their
shareholders. " The meeting," said Mr. Thomas Smith, a solicitor,
" should have faith in the Midland Company, which alone could
do for the town that which was really wanted — put it on the main
line (cheers) . It has been admitted, however, that directors some-
times required a little pressure with their shareholders, to enable
them to carry projects of this kind out. With a view to supply
the necessary pressure, and put the town in a position to secure a

TOWN'S MEETING. 137

railway to Chesterfield, if they should show any further hesitation,
and also in order to support and protect the interests of the town
in the matter, he (Mr. Smith) advised the formation of an inde-
pendent company, which should, by arrangement with the Mid-
land, prepare to give the necessary notices, and deposit plans, the
independent company withdrawing on the Midland Company going
to Parliament in earnest" (cheers). A committee was appointed
to watch over the interests of the town, and to see that the new
line and station met their just expectations. After the meeting
the mayor sent to the chairman of the Midland Company an ac-
count of the proceedings.

Under these circumstances the Midland board took immediate
action. At the general meeting on the 3rd of February following,
they obtained the sanction of the shareholders to a bill involving
an expenditure of £500,000 for the projected line; and their
engineer was instructed to make his survey of the difficult country
through which the railway would have to pass. A deputation,
also, from the Sheffield committee had an interview with the Mid-
land board, and received a renewal of the pledge given to the
mayor ; and at the end of the same month, the Sheffield committee
forwarded to the directors a resolution which they had just passed,
expressive of their satisfaction with the action of the board ;
taking care, however, to add the following warning against any
infringement of the understanding already arrived at : " That this
committee, while they rely on these promises, yet desire to impress
on the board of directors the peril of any departure from these
assurances, as the general public are most anxious on the point, at
the earliest period of making the line."

On the 10th of July, 1863, the engineer of the Midland Com-
pany met the committee at Sheffield, produced his plans and
explained them. It was, however, considered that " the position
and approaches of the station appeared too far removed from the
business part of the town," and " several departures from the plan
in that particular " were suggested, and in these " Mr. Crossley
coincided." The Sheffield representative reported that if this
plan, as thus amended, " be confirmed by the survey, your deputa-
tion thinks that the scheme will, as a whole, be satisfactory to the
town."

By these arrangements a very costly and difficult but admirable

138 EXCELLENT LINE.

line was offered by the Midland Company to the town of Sheffield,
and the offer was officially accepted by its municipal authorities.
Some 1,200,000 yards of cutting, and about an equal amount of
embankment, a viaduct 260 yards in length, and tunnels more
than 2,000 yards long would be required ; the work of which would
cost £40 a yard for tunnels, £60 for viaducts, and Is. a cubic yard
for earthworks. The whole would involve an outlay of half a
million of money. But the benefits conferred would not be dis-
proportionate to the expenditure. Hereafter the principal trains
from north to south would run directly through the town ; in fact,
Sheffield, instead of being approached by a branch from Mas-
borough, would for all the future be on the main line of the
Midland system. Passengers from the south, instead of having
first to go north to Masborough and then back to Sheffield, would
save eight miles ; while the distance from Chesterfield to Mas-
borough itself would, over the new route, be only slightly increased.
Instead of the old Sheffield station — which would be devoted to
goods — the new one would be three or four times the area, and
would have unlimited facilities for extension ; and all the just
expectations of a large population and a thriving industry would
be more than satisfied.

It was now August. Apparently everything had proceeded
fairly and in good faith ; when suddenly, to the amazement of the
Midland board, it was discovered that some of the very parties
with whom these negotiations had been conducted were engaged
in prosecuting, not a friendly bill, to be used merely in the event
of the Midland's default, but one in the highest degree competitive
and hostile ; that the mayor himself was to be chairman of the
new company ; that a large expenditure was to be undertaken ;
and that it was intended to make a rival line to Bastow, Bakewell,
Winster, Ashbourne, and Stafford, with a fork from near Sheffield
through Dronfield to Chesterfield, at the heart of the Midland
system ; and that people of great local influence and wealth had
committed themselves to this scheme. In fact, despite corre-
spondences, conferences, and agreements, the Midland Company
and the Midland line were thrown overboard, and for the time
being appeared, under the fresh influences that had arisen, to be —
nowhere.

The Sheffield corporation, the Cutlers' Company, the Sheffield

RIVAL SCHEME. 139

people, Mr. Fowler the engineer, Mr. John Brown of the Atlas
ironworks (both natives of the town), were of one mind in the
advocacy of the new enterprise, — an enterprise which would not
only have put the new line into the hands of strangers, but would
have tapped the traffic blood of the Midland system at its heart.
The Midland board could hardly believe their ears ; and the only
defence which at the moment they seemed able to offer to the
assault was — their recognised position, their character as a Com-
pany, and the sanctions of good faith. And so the time drew on
when Parliament should decide.

When Parliament met, the rival scheme came out in full bloom.
It cheerfully proposed that, in lieu of the proposed Midland line,
the ground should be occupied by a railway to be called the
Sheffield, Chesterfield, and Staffordshire Company, which should
run in the direction named by its title ; that the Midland Company
should have the option of using it " on fair terms " ; and that the
Staffordshire Company should have running powers at arbitration
tolls, not only over the whole of the Midland system, but even on
to other lines, indeed " to everywhere " ; and that the new com-
pany should have their own clerks and agents at the Midland
stations to which they had running powers. Even for traffic going
to the extremities of the Midland system, and beyond, on to points
as distant as Bristol or Carlisle, this little bit of a company, with
its 12 or 14 miles of railway, if it sent passengers or goods on its
own line for a distance of only one, two, or three miles, claimed to
receive the rate for the whole distance, and the Midland Company
was, as well as it could, to reclaim its share of the amount.
"Here is a company," said Mr. Allport, "about which no one
knows anything, who come and propose that, at arbitration tolls,
they should run over the whole of the Midland system, by merely
making 13 or 14 miles, and that in the very midst of our system !
I think it is a most unreasonable thing."

K"or should the fact be overlooked that, if the Staffordshire line
had been made instead of that of the Midland Company, the great
want of Sheffield would have remained unsatisfied. Sheffield
would still, for all Midland purposes, have remained on the branch
from Masborough. "It is idle," said Mr. Allport, "to suppose
that we should use and pay tolls upon a link of 13 or 14 miles in
the midst of our system, with all our traffic passing through. The

140 DEMANDS OF SHEFFIELD COMPANY.

number of passengers taken tip at Sheffield, as compared with the
number we should take through, would be not more than 1 to 10 ;
and it is not to be expected that we should transfer from our own
line of traffic to another and competing company. I have no
hesitation," he added, " in saying that the whole of the Midland
passenger traffic would go via Masborough, as at present."

But the proposal of the Midland Company to make a direct line
through Sheffield had not only to endure the neglect of its sup-
posed supporters in Sheffield and the preposterous pretensions of
the Staffordshire scheme ; the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln-
shire Company was scarcely to be outdone in the exorbitancy of
its claims. That company is connected with the Midland by a
branch at Eckington, a station between Chesterfield and Mas-
borough, by means of which it conveys certain traffic on to
Sheffield. But it was contended that if the Midland Company
made a line of its own directly through Sheffield, some traffic
which had formerly travelled via Eckington might go by the new
and better route. So, for this small disease, the Sheffield Com-
pany proposed a sufficiently comprehensive remedy.

They stated that, when the Midland Company had their through
line to Sheffield, Chesterfield would become the point of junction
between the two systems, and that the Sheffield Company ought
to have running powers over the Midland line from Eckington to
Chesterfield, and there make its exchange with the Midland. " As
the lociis," they said, " is going to be changed physically, AVO ask
that we should be removed from Eckington to Chesterfield ; " and
they proposed that a clause should be inserted in the Midland bill
that, at the new point of exchange, " the said companies shall
grant to each other mutual facilities by through booking, through
rates, and otherwise, for the convenient transmission of the traffic
of their respective systems ; " in fact, that the Midland Company
should be compelled to grant through booking at arbitration rates.
In the event of the Midland train arrangements being remodelled,
and, for instance, the Midland expresses not stopping at Chester-
field, the Sheffield Company claimed that the exchange of traffic
should be made at Trent junction, the Sheffield Company having
running powers on to Trent. They would thus, though a line
running from east to west, have a position in the heart of the
Midland system, with a spur running north to south.

ASTUTENESS OP MIDLAND COMPANY'S ADVISERS. 141

These demands were considered by the Midland Company to be
inadmissible. The Midland Company, they said, is going to spend
half a million of money to make a better route from Chesterfield
to Sheffield; but because in doing so a small quantity of the traffic
of another company may be diverted from a route along which it
has previously flowed, that company is to be allowed to take up a
position, under the guidance or caprice of an unnamed arbitrator,
in the midst of a great system of railway which has cost some
£23,000,000 of money, and to the construction of which the other
company has not paid a penny. Every new line, of course, is
made for the more convenient transmission of traffic somewhere ;
but it was unprecedented that the owners of the less cpnvenient
route should have to be compensated, and compensated at such a
price as this. When the Midland Company made its extension
from Buxton to Manchester it was strenuously opposed by the
London and North Western and the Great Northern Companies,
because it was seen that some of their traffic would be diverted ;
but they never asked to be reimbursed for their loss, or for running
powers over the new Midland route as a price for their loss. When
the Midland Company sought for an act to enable them to construct
a new line from Bedford to London, the Great Northern well knew
that £60,000 worth of Midland traffic would be diverted from their
rails, but Parliament never thought of granting them compensa-
tion. The loss, too, actually sustained by the Sheffield Company
would be infinitesimal in comparison with the price at which they
asked to be reimbursed. The total value of the traffic of all com-
panies exchanged at Eckington was of the gross value of £60,000
a year. Out of that there was a sum of £5,000 or £6,000 for
" terminals " which the Sheffield Company would still enjoy ; and
deducting this amount out of the £60,000, their share would not
exceed £20,000 or £21,000. The Midland Company, however,
undertook to provide trains to carry on without delay all the traffic
which the Sheffield Company should still bring to the place of
exchange at Eckington.

But while enemies were thus exhausting every resource to give
effect to these claims, the friends of the Midland Company were
not idle. One day, as Mr. Samuel Carter was travelling in a train
to London, there glanced across his mind this thought : — " We
have heard much about this new company, — its vast works, its

142 ASTUTENESS OF MIDLAND COMPANY'S ADVISERS.

large cost, and the deposit paid, — but we have heard nothing
about shareholders. Who are they ? What are they ? Are there
any ? Or is the proposed company, after all, unreal and illegal ? "
These inquiries were soon answered — answered by the discovery
that though the deposit had been paid, yet the three names of the
depositors bore the same address; and at once it was suspected
that the amount, instead of representing a proportionate payment
of a large number of bond fide shareholders, as Parliament re-
quired, had been borrowed en bloc for the mere purpose of a
deposit, that the standing orders of Parliament had been evaded,
and that in fact there were no shareholders.

But how should this suspicion be verified ; how should the truth
be known ? The reply was original, but conclusive. " Summon
the depositors themselves by Speaker's warrants ; put them in the
box ; ascertain from their own lips the exact circumstances of the
case ; raise the question of the legality of the entire proceedings,
and secure, not only a favourable decision, but one which will
establish a precedent for the prevention of any similar proceedings
hereafter."

The course thus proposed was adopted, and at the commencement
of the proceedings before the Commons' committee, March 11,
1864, it was proved by the evidence of the depositors themselves,
that the whole amount of the deposit had been obtained as a loan
from the Guardian Insurance Company on behalf of the promoters
of the Sheffield, Chesterfield, and Staffordshire Railway Bill. On
hearing this announcement and the comments of counsel on either
side, the committee stated that they were " of opinion that, as the
matter was one of very grave importance, they would require time
to consider it." Meanwhile, however, as witnesses on both sides
were present, the committee would hear the case on its own merits.
The result of this hearing was satisfactory. After a protracted
inquiry, it was decided in the House of Commons' committee that
the Sheffield, Chesterfield, and Staffordshire Bill should be rejected;
and the Chesterfield and Sheffield line of the Midland Company
was approved.

Such, however, was the vitality of the quasi-defunct undertak-
ing, that it followed with its opposition the Midland Company's
bill into the House of Lords. It was hoped by its friends that,
though their own bill had been rejected, yet, by securing, even for

MR. SAMUEL BEALE. 143

one session, the rejection also of the Midland bill, an opportunity
might be secured in a future session of again advancing their own
scheme. In this, fortunately for the Midland Company, and, we
may add, for the town of Sheffield, they were defeated, and the
Midland bill became law.

In the course of this year (1864), projects were announced for
the formation of several small but not unimportant lines. One
was from Yate, near Bristol, to Thornbury. It was easy of con-
struction, and led to a valuable iron field. Another was from
Mangotsfield to Bath, and its formation would connect that city
with the narrow-gauge system of the country. A third was from
near Derby, past Melbourne, to a junction at Breedon-on-the-Hill,
with a tramway that belonged to the Midland Company, and led
to Ashby-de-la-Zouch. This line would be six miles in length, and
would cost £40,000. Meanwhile satisfactory progress was being
made with the numerous works already in hand.

It was matter of sincere regret to his colleagues that in the
course of this year Mr. Samuel Beale, M.P., who bad been, with
much " energy and talent," for many years the chairman of the
Midland Company, found it desirable, on account of his health, to
relinquish the responsibilities of that office, though he consented
to remain a director. It was unanimously resolved by the share-
holders, on the motion of Mr. Barrow, M.P., that £1,000 should
be placed at the disposal of the board to provide some suitable
acknowledgment for Mr. Beale's services. The amount was ex-
pended in the purchase of plate, which was duly presented ; and,
in return, Mr. Beale gave to the shareholders his portrait, which
was placed in the proprietors' hall at Derby, side by side with
that of his old and lamented friend, Mr. Ellis. In the autumn of
this year, Mr. "W. E. Hutchinson, a member of the Society of
Friends, who had been connected with the Midland Company from
its commencement, was elected to the chairmanship, and Mr. "W. P.
Price, M.P. for Gloucester, was appointed deputy-chairman.

The year 1865 and 1866 witnessed an important increase to the
responsibilities of the Midland Company. Heavy works were in
hand, the new ones were in contemplation. During the summer
of 1865, the New Mills extension was rapidly advancing ; the
Dove Holes Tunnel, which governed the rest of the work, was
nearly three-fourths through ; the tunnel on the Chesterfield and

144 EXTENSIONS.

Sheffield line was going forward; the Duffield and Wirksworth
branch was commenced ; and the contracts of the London and
Bedford line north of the Brent were let.

In addition to these undertakings, further extensions had be
come necessary in consequence of " numerous hostile schemes "
projected by rival companies. " It would have been more con-
sonant with the feelings of the directors," said the Chairman, at
the February meeting, " if they had been enabled to state that
there was not a single bill to be brought before Parliament ; but
they felt that they could not shut their eyes to what was going on
around them, for there were districts that required railway accom-
modation, and other parties were already at work in the Midland
district." " I believe," remarked the Chairman, in August, " that
this further construction is necessary for the stable and permanent
position of the Company." The proposed new lines were eighteen,
extending for a distance of eighty-one miles, at a cost of £1,684,000 ;
besides a railway from Barnsley to Kirkburton, and an arrange-
ment with the Great Northern and Sheffield Companies for what
we shall have to speak of more fully hereafter — the Cheshire
lines.

In the course of this year (1865) an important movement was
made for the purpose of connecting together the middle and
northern districts of Nottinghamshire — the county in which the
Midland Company had its birth. The line that ran north of
Nottingham ended at Mansfield in a cul de sac, or in expressive
railway phraseology, " a dead end " — always a bad thing both for
a line and for a district ; and so matters had remained for years.
Several abortive attempts had been made to diminish the incon-
venience that was felt ; and when in 1860 a bill was brought
before Parliament for a line from Mansfield to Worksop, such
serious difference of opinion arose with regard to the subject
between the Dukes of Newcastle and Portland, through whose
property the intended line would pass, that the project was
withdrawn.

At length, in the summer of 1864, it was intimated to the
Midland Company that these obstacles were removed, and that
both noblemen would lend their support to the projected line.
But other difficulties arose ; for the Manchester, Sheffield, and
Lincolnshire Company now appeared with a scheme almost

PROPOSED MANSFIELD AND WOEKSOP LINE. 145

identical with that of the Midland ; nor were they appeased
until they were promised running powers to Mansfield in return
for running powers over their line on to Betford.

A fresh survey was now ordered of the district, and several
improvements were made on the scheme of 1859. It had, for
instance, been intended that the extension to Worksop should
turn off from the Nottingham and Mansfield line, at a point
some distance south of Mansfield; that it should bend to the
west, and that there should be a second station at Mansfield
It was now determined to carry a new through line across the
town, and to build a new station within a few yards of the market
place. At its northern end the line would join the Manchester
Sheffield, and Lincolnshire to the west of Worksop, near the
Shireoaks Colliery. Uninterrupted communication wrould thus
be provided between Mansfield and Worksop on the one hand,
and Sheffield on the other.

The district, too, through which the line would pass, deserved
better accommodation. At Steetley, between Whitwell and
Worksop, are the quarries of valuable stone from which it is
believed that Southwell Minster was erected, and which the
chairman of the committee remarked was probably " the most
famous of all building stones." The quarries at Mansfield are
of high quality, but have only a limited though lucrative trade.
The proposed railway, with the branch intended to be made to
Newark, would open what one witness described as " most magni-
ficent quarries of magnesium stone." The line Avould also pass in
the neighbourhood of the finest timber district in England. The
Duke of Newcastle's agent stated that the mere thinnings of 4,000
acres of woodland fetched from £6,000 to £10,000 a year ; and that
they were used chiefly for pit and manufacturing purposes. The
Shireoaks Colliery, too, which the line would approach, contained
several beds of valuable coal ; and the engineer and manager ex-
pressed a conviction that the entire district which the line would
traverse was " a mineral field; " or, as another said, "full of coal."
Mr. Heming, the agent for the Duke of Newcastle, also stated his
belief that the " entire length " of the line was "full of minerals.''
These opinions have since been confirmed : and eventually, as the
time drew on for the opening of the line, thousands of acres of
coal-fields were leased to coal-owners, and it is believed that the

146 GEE AT NOETHEEN COMPETITIVE SCHEME.

Mansfield and Worksop line will rival, if not outvie, the mineral
productiveness of the Erewash.

But while the Midland Company was thus contending for the
importance of a line between the centre and north of the country,
another competitor — in the interest of the Great Northern — came
upon the field, and proposed a railway from Mansfield to Retford.
On its behalf it was contended that Retford was the second largest
cattle market in the kingdom ; that the Mansfield limestone
quarries would be benefited by the Retford route as well as by
the other; that whatever went north-east of Retford should be
carried direct to Retford ; though it was admitted that whatever
went westward or north-west would go better by Worksop, and
that delay in the transit of minerals did not much matter. It was
of little consequence — some one humorously suggested — if a load
of pig iron was detained ; but if a truck of pigs were starved to
death in winter weather, or if fish or fruit coming from Hull were
delayed en route at midsummer, the consequences might be un-
pleasant to all concerned.

The Midland replied that theirs was the better route, because
they passed through a population twice as numerous as on the
line to Retford, and because the latter ran through a purely
agricultural country without minerals. The decision of Parlia-
ment was given in favour of the Midland bill.

Application was also made in the course of this year (1865) for
powers to make a line from Barnsley to Kirkburton, there to join
a line projected by the London and North Western from Kirk-
burton to Huddersfield. These two companies agreed that if the
Midland bill were sanctioned, a joint station should be made at
Kirkburton, and each company should have running powers over
the line of the other company. It was urged on behalf of the
Midland jproject that it would be of special value, as the country
was " full of mills in the centre, and full of coal at one end."
At Huddersfield there were as many as four hundred warehouses
for woollen goods, and nearly as many mills. It was also shown
in evidence that part of the traffic on the Barnsley and Kirk-
burton line would consist of leather, bark, and timber. Upon
this point Mr. Merewether thus cheerily criticised the evidence :
" I shall not question whether there is some coal in the valley,
whether there are some woods in the valley, whether the beasts

PROPOSED LINE TO KIRKBURTOX. 147

there have hides, and whether they are ultimately taken off and
tanned at another place. Of course there are woods everywhere,
and you will not find me contending that round most trees there
is not bark, or to deny that that bark is used in tanning. But
this gentleman conies and says that this line would be of great
advantage to him, because it will help him to the bark. The
greatest distance from either end is six miles. The middle of the
line is three miles from the end. Your lordships know what is
done with bark. It is first of all stacked upon the spot, and must
be left to dry, and after being dried, it does not want a bit more
locomotion than can be helped. Take the middle part of the line,
and assume that there is a wood upon it. The oak does not grow
so that when the bark is stripped it can fall into the railway
wagon. It has to be put upon a wagon for conveyance to the
rail. Do you suppose that the bark will travel three miles to the
railway, then be unshipped into the trucks, be taken six miles to
Barnsley, and unshipped there ? Or is the railway to go and
collect the hides of the dead oxen ? Hides sold in the Barnsley
market are either the produce of the beasts killed by the Barnsley
butchers, or the one or two hides which the butcher brings in his
cart to sell, having left the carcase in the village. Beasts do not
die in heaps. They are killed individually, and to present to your
lordships a line picking up hides is absurd. That disposes of the
leather business, the bark business, and the timber business."

Two vacancies occurred during the year 1865 in the direction.
One, said the chairman, " by the death of our deeply-lamented
and highly- valued colleague, Sir Joseph Paxton," who for sixteen
years had been a member of the board ; and the other by the re-
tirement, through ill-health, of Mr. E. H. Barwell. The seat of
the latter was filled by the appointment of Mr. M. W. Thompson,
of Bradford. During the year an Act was obtained for making a
line — in which the Midland Company eventually became in-
terested— called the Bedford and Northampton Railway. The
affair came about in the following way : —

Three or four years previously, the Midland Company had re-
ceived notice from the London and North Western that they
intended to exercise the old common law right of passing along a
public highway, and that they should pass along the " public high-
way " of the track that ran from Wichnor, on the Birmingham

148 BEDFORD AND NORTHAMPTON LINE.

and Derby line, to Burton-on-Trent. To this the Midland did not
demur ; but they likewise gave notice that they should use similar
powers from Wellingborough to Northampton, where they had
bought land, and where they opened a temporary station im-
mediately adjoining that of the North Western Company. The
two companies also agreed that the tolls from Wichnor and from
Wellingborough should be fixed at the same amount.

Complaints now arose of the inadequacy of the means of com-
munication between Bedford and Northampton ; and when a
proposal was made by a company called " The Bedford, North-
ampton, and Weedon," to make a line in that direction, it was
warmly supported by parties locally interested. The traffic of the
district, they declared, had to be carried on by private vehicles or
by carriers' carts. " The agricultural interests of that neighbour-
hood," said Mr. Hurst, of Bedford, " are very extensive. There is
a great deal of extremely well-cultivated land, and it would be a
great convenience to have this line to convey agricultural produce
from one place to the other. Bedford, too, is a very improving,
and is becoming a very important town. It has very extensive
commercial and grammar schools — I should think an arrangement
of schools hardly second to any in the kingdom. These schools
are all but free, and the benefits thus conferred might be greatly
extended if the facilities of access were increased." " I reckon,"
said another witness, " that every acre of land properly worked
ought to produce something like half a ton of cattle or corn to
be exported or imported," and that the freightage thus supplied
should, if possible, be accommodated.

Similar evidence led to Parliamentary sanction being given to
the bill, with the omission of the part that extended to Weedon,
it being thought to be difficult to make a good junction with the
London and North Western main line. The Midland Company
did not consent to the terms on which they would adopt this new
project until about three weeks before the bill was submitted to
Parliament ; but eventually they agreed to work the line when
completed for seven years, at forty per cent, of the receipts, and
at fifty per cent, afterwards.

The Tottenham and Hampstead was another line that arose
under somewhat similar circumstances, and that came under the
control of the Midland Company under somewhat similar con-

TOTTENHAM AND HAMPSTEAD LINE. 149

ditions. It starts from Kentish Town ; runs up alongside of and
then over the Midland main line ; crosses over the Great Northern,
with which it forms a junction over the Edgware and Highgate
Railway ; and reaches Tottenham on the Great Eastern line. It
has also a connection with the Hampstead and City Junction
Railway. It has no independent terminus of its own ; but is, by
its very nature, a dependency on the stronger systems upon which
it abuts. By means of it the Midland Company gains access to
the Great Eastern system generally, and the Great Eastern, which
long desired to have a station more westerly than that at Shore-
ditch, has admission to the St. Pancras terminus.

In the course of this year, 1865, a bill was submitted to Parlia-
ment, which was destined to place the Midland Company — along
with the Great Northern and the Manchester, Sheffield, and
Lincolnshire — in a commanding position for sharing in the traffic
of Liverpool. It is true that, in a sense, the Midland was already
there; but it was amid circumstances of great disadvantage to its
mighty competitor, the London and North Western Company. In
1861, the three companies already named had obtained power to
make a line of their own from Garston to the Brunswick Dock at
Liverpool — a terminus where but little passenger traffic was likely
to be obtained ; but besides this, the access from the east was by
a railway "made up," as Mr. John Fowler remarked, "of bits of
local lines constructed for other purposes," which chiefly belonged
to the London and North Western, and which only " incidentally "
came to be available for a route from Manchester to Liverpool.
Between Timperley and Garston were several curves, which had
to be cautiously passed ; and between Manchester and Liverpool
there were no fewer than ninety-five level crossings. On the up
journey the driver of an engine had to meet sixty- four signals, and
on the down journey sixty signals. On the one way he would
have to obey a signal on an average of every thirty-six seconds,
and on the other every thirty-eight seconds, and he would pass
over a level crossing every twenty-four seconds throughout his
journey.

Practical difficulties also arose in the working of the railway,
from the fact that part of it was under the control of another and
a competitive company. Mr. Charles Turner, for instance, gave
evidence, that though the line ran near his house, and he would

150 ACCESS TO LIVERPOOL.

have been glad to have availed himself of it, yet he had been
detained so often, and, as he thought, so needlessly, that he had
determined not to go by it again. " It is perfectly obvious," he
said, " that whenever there is difficulty, instead of running our
traffic, which they engaged to do, as their own, they make our
traffic subservient to theirs." The difficulties thus to be con-
tended with may be illustrated by the fact that when the three
companies * were about to commence running to Liverpool, they
sent in to the London and North Western a list of twelve trains
which they wished to put on — trains of course fitting their own at
Manchester; and the answer received contained an objection to
every train on the list. Mr. Cawkwell, no doubt, would have con-
tended that the objections so alleged were good and sufficient ; but
this only seemed to show more conclusively the necessity of the
three companies having a line of their own, and of their ceasing
to intrude where they were not wanted.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the three companies were
gradually led to the conclusion that it would be necessary for
them to have a line of their own — a line which should be con-
nected with their several systems at or near Manchester, which
should take a new and independent route, and which should
proceed to a central station in the middle of Liverpool. The com-
panies were supported in this decision by the demands that had
arisen at Liverpool for more adequate railway accommodation.
The vast growth of business in that great seaport necessitated in-
creased means for carrying it. Between the years 1822 and 1863
the timber trade had trebled. The tonnage discharged into Liver-
pool in 1864 was nearly 5,000,000 tons. It had become, in fact, a
sort of axiom among Liverpool men, that the trade doubled every
fourteen or fifteen years. In five years the traffic between London
and Liverpool increased 40 per cent. ; that is to say, in 1859 it
was worth £227,000 a year, and in 1864 it had risen to £306,000
a year. If four years more elapsed (1869) before the new line was
opened, it was estimated that the traffic would have increased to
nearly double what it was in 1859 ; yet no really new line, till the
opening of that now projected, would have been provided.

* The Midland, the Great Northern, and the Manchester, Sheffield, and
Lincolnshire Companies.

TRAFFIC OF LIVERPOOL. 151

Similarly, the railway traffic between Liverpool and Manchester
was worth £180,000 a year ; and if the amount sent by canal was
added, it was estimated that the total would be doubled. Again,
if to Manchester were added the towns usually classed with it, the
railway traffic between the Manchester district and Liverpool
would be worth, it is believed, nearly £400,000 a year.

But the means of carrying on this traffic had by no means in-
creased in similar proportion. It is true, as the counsel for the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Company remarked, that the " most
enthusiastic hogshead of sugar cannot want to go in less than two
hours and a half from Liverpool to Manchester, and the most rapid
piece of timber may be satisfied with a journey of three hours."
But, on the other hand, it became a serious matter when it could
be said that a new line was now asked for " upon very much the
same grounds as the late George Stephenson, and those who em-
ployed him, proposed the first Manchester and Liverpool Railway.
I do not think," said a witness, " I am exaggerating at all in
saying that the existing means of communication between Man-
chester and Liverpool are almost as insufficient for accommodating
the present traffic as the two canals, which existed many years
before, have become insufficient since that time."

The effect of all this told injuriously in various ways upon the
traffic and business of the town. Thus, that important trade, the
cart owners, complained that the accommodation was so insufficient
that they were detained in the streets for their loads for most un-
reasonable times. One, who carted 150,000 bales of cotton in a
year, said that the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company kept his
carts standing idle while they loaded their own, and that he had
known as many as 57 carts kept waiting for four hours con-
secutively. Another stated that he had seen 78 carts at a time
waiting to go to the Lancashire and Yorkshire line. Merchants
also asserted that they suffered serious hindrances in the conduct
of their business. Sometimes the timber trade would, in conse-
quence of snow, be delayed for a week or two. In fact, they said,
" when an order is received from the country, it is the practice to
send down to the wharf to see whether ' the goods ' can take it in ;
and if they cannot, we do not send it until we receive permission.
If a man orders 1,000 feet, of timber, and says it is to go by the
Lancashire and Yorkshire line, we have to send to that company

152

FURTHER ACCOMMODATION REQUIRED.

to see if they can receive it. We are obliged to know the state of
a railway before we can send the goods. If we do send the goods
without asking their permission, they very often send it back
again."

" It is impossible," remarked Mr. Heron, the Town Clerk of
Manchester, "to doubt that the proposed line would be advan-
tageous ; and, as it appears to me, it is an absolute necessity that
those great systems (the three companies) should have a com-
munication with Liverpool as they have with Manchester, within
their own power and under their own control." As an evidence,
too, of the inadequacy of the accommodation then provided, it may
be mentioned that at that time no passenger train ran on the
London and North Western line between the vast populations of
Liverpool and Manchester at a later hour in the day than half-
past seven o'clock.

LIVERPOOL, FROM THE MERSEY.

CHAPTER IX.

Important period in Midland Bailway politics. — The West Coast route to Glas-
gow.— The East Coast route to Edinburgh. — Midland Company complains
that it is excluded from its share of Scotch traffic. — Difficulty of Midland
passenger traffic to Scotland. — Proposals of London and North Western. —
Joint ownership and running powers at arbitration rates offered. — Practical
difficulties. — Proposed local line from Settle to Hawes. — Overtures of Mid-
land Company to North of England Union. — Proposed Midland line from
Settle to Carlisle. — Support of landowners. — Hesitating opposition of Lon-
don and North Western. — Objections to admission of Midland to Citadel
Station at Carlisle. — Eeply of Midland Company. — Kadford and Trowell
Line. — Opposition of Lord Middleton and others. — Ashby and Nuneaton
line. — Eival scheme of London and North Western. — Joint ownership.

THE year 1866 dated an important epoch in the politics of the
Midland Railway extension. While looking forward to the com-
pletion of lines that would connect the Midland — by the Furness
and Midland — with the Lake District ; by the Buxton extension
with Manchester ; by a connecting link with the South Western
system ; and by the Bedford line with the metropolis, — the
directors again turned their eyes to the far north, and sought
to devise some means by which they might obtain a share of the
vast traffic carried on between this country and Scotland.

Nor was this unnatural or unreasonable. Just as the London
and North Western Company, when it reached Liverpool, had
secured access by way of Preston, Lancaster, Carlisle, and the
Caledonian line, — by what is called the West Coast route, — to
Scotland; and just as the Great Northern had, by association with
the North Eastern and North British Companies, been able to
carry a large through traffic between London and Edinburgh —
by what is called the East Coast route ; so the Midland Company,
having come to occupy an influential position in the midland
counties of England, and having stretched its great highway from
London to Lancaster, arrived at the conclusion that the time had

154 ROUTES TO SCOTLAND.

come when it should form a third and. central route from south to
north, and should enjoy a fair share of an increasing traffic, worth,
even at that period, not less than £1,500,000 per annum.

The precise position which the Midland Company occupied with
regard to the Scotch traffic was as follows : By a lease for 999
years of the Little North Western line, it had a line of its own
as far as Ingleton. Here the Midland line ended ; but it was in
connection with another line belonging to another company which
ran northward, along the magnificent vale of the Lune, which at
Tebay joined the main line of the Lancaster and Carlisle. This
Ingleton and Tebay extension originally formed part of the scheme
of the Little North Western ; but the projectors fell into difficulties,
and after spending several thousands of pounds upon the land,
and on the partial construction of the works, they were abandoned,
and in this state they remained for several years. When times
mended, a fresh application was made to Parliament for powers
to complete the line, and the Lancaster and Carlisle Company also
asked for similar authority ; and they, being the more responsible
body, were successful. They accordingly completed the works,
through a very difficult and mountainous country, and at enormous
cost. Subsequently the Lancaster and Carlisle became practically
London and North Western, for it is vested in that company
according to terms so comprehensive that they are worthy of
quotation : the North Western is to have control of the line for
1,000 years, " the plant, rolling stock, and movable property to be
used by the lessees during, and to be restored at the end of, the
lease " !

Such was the position of affairs down to the year 1866, and the
Midland Company was in consequence under the necessity of
sending its Scotch traffic over the lines of a company with which
it was in competition in almost every large town in England ; and
the effect of these disadvantages was decisive. Between towns
as large as Birmingham and Glasgow the Midland did not carry
a passenger, and the goods it conveyed in a year would have filled
only a few wheelbarrows ; while over the Waverley route the
Midland Company sent only about two tons of goods a day, and a
passenger once a fortnight. The personal inconveniences also
suffered by those who travelled from any part of the Midland
system to Scotland were considerable. " It is a very rare thing,"

COMPLAINTS OF MIDLAND. 155

said Mr. Allport, " for me to go down to Carlisle without being
turned out twice. I have seen twelve or fifteen passengers turned
out at Ingleton, and the same number at Tebay. Then, although
some of the largest towns in England are upon the Midland
system, there is no through carriage to Edinburgh, unless we
occasionally have a family going down, and then we make a
special arrangement, and apply for a special carriage to go through.
We have applied in vain for through carriages for Scotland over
and over again. I have frequently had letters from passengers
complaining that they could not get booked through. I have sent
letters also to Mr. Johnson from passengers requiring to come to
Derby when booking to Glasgow, and they have been told to go
by way of Crewe instead of going by Ingleton. I have been in
trains myself with passengers who have been booked from Glasgow
to Derby by Crewe."

It became, too, a practice of the North Western in the summer
months to have their nine o'clock express from London divided
at Preston into two. The first portion ran quickly to Carlisle,
reaching Edinburgh and Glasgow an hour earlier than before;
but the London and North Western Company declined to stop
that portion of the train at Tebay, where the Midland passengers
might have joined it, and they were taken on by another train
which left at ten o'clock. " They say they cannot stop," said
Mr. Allport, " although I find in their time-table that that train
from London stops at Stafford and at Lancaster— Lancaster, for
example, with 10,000 inhabitants, while Tebay is practically,
through the Midland system, in connection with a population
exceeding 1,000,000." The consequence was, that the Midland
could not advantageously compete for express traffic ; and thus
passengers had to find their way by different and devious routes
on to the London and North Western, in order to catch the express
trains of the North Western. " I have been by a fast train," said
Mr. Allport, "from Derby to Ingleton, and then been attached to
a train with six or eight coal-trucks to be carried on to Tebay."

The Midland also complained that at Carlisle it had to encounter
a fresh series of difficulties. Needless and invidious hindrances,
it was alleged, arose in the forwarding of Midland goods. " I am
sure," said the manager of the North British Company, "there has
been ill-will. There has been systematic delay."

156 CLAIMS OF MIDLAND COMPANY.

At length these difficulties in the conduct of the traffic became
so serious that the Midland Company opened communications
with the London and North Western, in which a better access to
Carlisle was insisted upon. The reasonableness of the claim was
not denied ; and at length the London and North Western men-
tioned terms upon which the Midland might bring their traffic
over the Lancaster and Carlisle. One proposal was, that the two
companies should share the line, each paying half the rent, and
each running over it, without tolls, as if it were their own. But
inasmuch as the London and North Western, by its local position,
was likely to throw a greater proportion of traffic on the line than
the Midland, it was obviously unreasonable that the latter should
pay half the cost of the rail and enjoy less than half of the
advantage.

Another proposal was, that the Midland Company should have
running powers over the line at arbitration rates. But arbitration
rates would involve constant difficulty. Suppose, for instance, a
contractor applied to the manager of the Midland Company for a
rate from London to Glasgow, the whole case — with all its par-
ticularities— would have to be submitted for the approval of the
manager of the London and North Western Company ; and if he
did not assent, the case must go to arbitration. " But," said Mr.
Allport, " scarcely a day passes but we are obliged to meet cases
by altering our rates at some one or other of our large towns ;
and if we had to wait, either for the consent of the London and
North Western Company to an alteration of those rates or for
arbitration, the time would be gone by, and the traffic would be
lost. Parties come to me, and within a very short time three or
four of the principal iron-masters have come to me and said,
' Here is a contract for 20,000 tons, and if you can reduce your
rate on the lot to so and so, we can tender, and probably obtain
the contract against our competitors.' But the decision had to be
made instantly. This very contract I have named was in com-
petition with many iron-masters, and the London and North
Western would have had a direct interest in refusing to give their
assent."

In the light of such considerations, the Midland Company
claimed the absolute control over their own rates. As to the
stations on the Lancaster and Carlisle itself, arbitration rates

PROPOSED MIDLAND LINE TO CARLISLE . 157

might suffice ; but for the through traffic to Carlisle they must be
free, for Carlisle meant the Scotch traffic. " Do you insist upon
the control of your rates as an indispensable condition ? " asked a
deputation from the North Western board of a deputation from
the Midland board. " Then," said the London and North Western
Chairman, "the negotiation is over."

The course now pursued by the Midland Company was also
affected by some special circumstances. In the session of 1865 a
bill had been introduced into Parliament for making a line, to be
called the North of England Union Railway, from Settle to Hawes.
Originally this railway was projected by gentlemen locally inter-
ested, who supported it because it would promote local conve-
nience, and because it would enhance the value of their estates.
The chairman of the company was Lord Wharncliffe ; and the line
would have cost about £500,000.

The Union Company's bill had received the sanction of the
Commons, and would doubtless have passed through the Lords
had not the Midland Company interposed and come to an arrange-
ment with its supporters. By this it was agreed that, since the
line had been projected chiefly for local^* purposes, and a gradient
had been adopted which would have been unsuitable for a good
through line, the bill should be withdrawn ; and that it should be
reintroduced in the session of 1866, with a better gradient, by the
Midland Company. " We gave up the line," said Lord Wharn-
cliffe, in his evidence before the House of Lords, " on the distinct
understanding that the Midland Company should apply for the
bill this year."

Such were the circumstances under which a bill of the Midland
Company came before Parliament for a through line from near
their Settle station to Carlisle. It received the cordial support of
numerous witnesses. There was not an opposing landowner on its
entire length. And the reasons for such support were obvious : the
necessity for such a railway was great, the benefits it would confer
were numerous, and the injury it would occasion was nil. It is
true that, on the map, the line looks as if it ran almost close to
the London and North Western Railway ; but in reality it occu-
pies an entirely different series of valleys, which are separated
from those on the North Western line by a range of hills.

Lord Wensleydale gave expression to the anxiety of the people

158

POLICY OF NOETH WESTERN COMPANY.

locally interested to be supplied with direct communication, in
order that they might send their agricultural produce to the
populous manufacturing districts of Lancashire. Such was the
satisfaction felt at Appleby when it was announced that the bill
had passed the Commons, that the church bells were rung, and
the people, as was quaintly remarked, " wrote to the newspapers,
and did everything proper under the circumstances." Another
witness, Mr. Matthew Thomson, who resided at Kirkby Stephen,
and who mentioned that the proposed railway would pass " through
about fifteen different estates " which he owned, besides others be-

CABLISLE STATION.

longing to his sister, declared that there was " only one feeling "
among the landowners as to the importance of the line, and that
it would be of "very great advantage to the occupiers there for
the purpose of taking their produce to the consuming districts, as
well as for bringing into the district those things which they
requii-e." "I have only heard of one dissentient voice in the
whole district of Eden valley," said a farmer, who sent more than
5,000 pounds of butter every year to Sheffield, and it came from a
gentleman who "had a few trees he was partial to."

The policy of the opponents of the Midland Company's bill was
undecided. Mr. Allport had had frequent conversations with the

OBJECTIOXS OF XORTH WESTERX. 159

manager of the Caledonian Company ; but he " never raised the
slightest objection to the Midland Company using the Carlisle
station "; on the contrary, " always expressed himself most anxious
to see them there." Before the case closed, however, it was inti-
mated that Mr. Hope Scott would address the committee on behalf
of the London and North Western and Caledonian Companies.
" My learned friend Mr. Hope Scott," said Mr. Merewether, " is at
this moment, I am told, on his legs in another room ; but he is
rapidly terminating.* We have looked at his notes over his
shoulder, and we find that he is getting sufficiently near the
end of his speech for us to assure you that he will be here very
shortly."

The London and North Western professed that its objection to
the Settle and Carlisle bill was, that the Midland Company in-
tended to use the Citadel Station at Carlisle. " If the Midland
Company," said Mr. Cawkwell, "had come for a line to Carlisle
without touching our station or interfering with our property, I
do not think we should have opposed them now. ... If they
had made their own provision at Carlisle, it would have been a
different thing." Even so late as the period at which the bill
reached the Lords, and when Earl Amherst, the chairman of the
committee, asked Mr. Merewether if he intended to oppose the
line generally, or to confine his opposition to the question of the
Citadel Station, the learned counsel hesitated. At that moment,
however, a whisper reached them from behind, and he remarked
that it was " a ticklish question." On the matter of the Citadel
Station a protracted discussion then took place. It should be
mentioned that it was originally constructed by the Caledonian
and Lancaster and Carlisle Companies. In 1860 it consisted of a
single platform for both up and down trains ; but, as several other
companies sought admission into it, it had been gradually en-
larged, till the total cost had amounted to not less than £250,000.

The design of those who opposed the use by the Midland Com-
pany of the Citadel Station was, however, not founded upon those
facts. It is obvious that if they could have compelled the Mid-
land Company to land its passengers a mile or so east or west of
the station to which all other lines from north and south con-
verged, the effect would have been to exclude it from the very
* Legal phraseology, it appears, has its peculiarities.

160 EEPLT TO OBJECTIONS.

traffic it sought to share. If the Midland Company made a new
station, " how could they," Mr. Cawkwell was asked, " conduct
their Scotch passenger traffic ? " " They could form a junction,"
was the reply, " with the Scotch companies out of Carlisle, by
which an exchange could be effected." " Then your suggestion
is," it was returned, " that we should not have stopped at Carlisle
at all for the purpose of through traffic, but have joined the Scotch
companies somewhere to the north of Carlisle? " Mr. Cawkwell's
only answer was, " Our suggestion is, that you should not use our
property for the purpose of your through traffic." "When, there-
fore, the London and North Western resolved to concentrate their
objection on the use by the Midland Company of the Carlisle
station, they well knew that if they succeeded in that they suc-
ceeded altogether — that without Carlisle station the Settle and
Carlisle line would be useless for the objects for which it Avas
intended to be made. To this assertion of exclusive right on the
part of existing companies to the Citadel Station, the reply was
conclusive : for, by the bill of 1866, which authorized the amal-
gamation of the Caledonian and Scottish North Eastern, it was
expressly declared that, " whereas the railways of the Midland
Railway Company form one of the lines of communication be-
tween the metropolis and Scotland, it is expedient that nothing
should be done which shall impede or obstruct the flow or transit
of traffic of every description freely and expeditiously over the
lines of the Midland Railway to and from Scotland." And accord-
ingly running powers, and also the use of the Caledonian portion
of the Carlisle station, were granted to the Midland Company.

The argument from exclusive right being thus set aside, it was
contended that, though there was sufficient accommodation in the
Citadel Station for the six companies already there, it would be
impossible to admit a seventh. But to this the reply was conclu-
sive, both in fact and in argument. It was conclusive in fact.
" In my opinion," said Mr. Rowbotham, the manager of the North
British, " the station is not at all crowded." " It is perfectly
idle," said Mr. Allport, " to assert that the station cannot accom-
modate the Midland traffic. I have had the traffic taken out at
two or three stations, and in and out of the Carlisle station, both
with reference to goods and passengers. There have been 106
trains a day, from the 4th of February to the 3rd of March, going

REPLY TO OBJECTIONS. 161

south, from Carlisle : about 37 or 38 passenger trains and 69
goods trains ; that is the average for the month. At the north
end of the Derby station — which is a very similar station to the
Carlisle — we have 320 trains out and in, against 106 at Carlisle.
At Leeds again, which is purely a passenger station, we have 225
passenger trains in and out of the Leeds station over a neck of line
very like this at Carlisle. I have no hesitation, too, in saying that
the trains in and out of the Newcastle station for passengers are
at least ten times more in number than the trains in and out of
the Carlisle station. I could find a hundred stations in England
with very much larger traffic, varying from double up to ten times
the amount, with less accommodation than they have at Carlisle."

Besides the reply from fact, there was also an argument. "How
was it," it was asked, " that during the two years in which nego-
tiations were going on for the Midland to run over the Lancaster
and Carlisle line it was never suggested that the Citadel Station
was insufficient, and that it was never once proposed that it should
be enlarged ? " "Having pointed out," said Mr. Venables to Mr.
William Clarke, the chief assistant-engineer to the London and
North Western Company, " the impossibility of working the Mid-
land traffic under this system, will you now point out how it was
to be worked if they had come by joint ownership over the
Lancaster and Carlisle ? "

Such were the arguments submitted to the consideration of
Parliament ; and the bill passed.

Besides the great and overshadowing project of thus connecting
the Midlands of England with Scotland, some other plans of ex-
tension were also contemplated. One of these was for a short line
from a station called Radford, near Nottingham, to connect the
Mansfield line with the Erewash Valley Railway, in order to avoid
the circuitous route by Trent, and to diminish the distance by
about five and a half miles. It was also intended, by means of a
branch from Codnor Park to Ambergate, to have a more direct
route to Manchester, instead of that by way of Derby. The bill
was opposed by three gentlemen — a landowner, a clergyman, and
a nobleman. The landowner alleged that the line would injure a
considerable residential estate and other properties which he
possessed, and that some other route might be preferable. To
this it was very naturally replied that, if an alternative line were

162 RADFOED AND TROWELL LINES.

proposed, the relative merits or demerits of each could be deter-
mined ; but that it was impossible that " a mere ghost of an
imaginary railway should be put in competition with our flesh and
blood, or our iron and ballast railway." The rector of Trowell
adopted a similar course of objection, and was met by a similar
reply.

Lord Middleton's case was more definite. It was alleged on
his behalf that injuries would be inflicted on his estate by the
projected line. The proposed line would, it was said, sever for
two miles the connection of his property with the neighbouring
Nottingham and Grantham Canal. Undoubtedly it would, was
the reply, if no bridges or roads were made over the railway ; but
then bridges and roads would be made, and must be made,
and the Company was perfectly willing to make them. " The
petitioner had," he said, "at great expense, laid out a large
extent of land for the purposes of the manufacture of bricks,"
etc. True ; but for any loss on that expenditure he would be
paid. The proposed line, it was further declared by the objectors,
would " prevent the use of a canal, called Bilborough Cut,"
which had been " used by the predecessors in estate of your
petitioner during many years." True, the canal " had been " so
used by the said predecessors ; but it had been stopped up for 53
years. On a part of the bed of it there was an avenue of trees,
25 to 30 years old ; while on other portions corn crops grew, or
cattle grazed. A bit of the canal remained open, and on it some
kind of boat had a short time since been made to float, and this
was the only vessel that had been upon the water there within
the memory of man. In addition to all this, it was declared, on
behalf of Lord Middleton, that a considerable portion of the estate
"contained very large and valuable deposits of minerals." True ;
but the said deposits were lying beneath old exhausted workings
full of water, and it was probable that if any deeper beds were
opened, they would be flooded also.

Finally, it was contended that Lord Middleton had certain
rights over the cut, and that he was required by Act of Parlia-
ment to keep it open. To this it was replied that the ownership
and the Act were of little avail if part of the canal was actually
filled up, and the whole of it disused. " Did you consult your
legal advisers," said Mr. Rodwell, " with regard to the terms on

ASHBY AND NUNEATON LINE. 163

which the Bilborough Canal was held ? " " No," replied Mr.
Crossley; "I consulted the facts."

Eventually, however, the engineer of the Midland Company
stated that he had discovered a plan by which the railway could
be made, and at the same time " the Bilborough Cut be saved, if
it were worth saving." By a slight deviation of the line, it conld
be made to go under the canal. The additional cost to the Com-
pany would be £1,000.

In 1866 the Midland Company projected a line from Ashby-de-
la-Zouch, in Leicestershire, to Nuneaton. It was designed to
accommodate the large coal-fields somewhat to the west of the
Leicester and Burton Railway, extending between Hinckley on
the south and Moira on the north. The cost was estimated at
about £300,000. The route selected was prescribed by the nature
of the country and the situation of the collieries. But side by
side with this proposed line a competing scheme was projected. It
was described by a name which gave to it what a critic designated
" an entirely illusory aspect of respectability," the " London and
North Western and Midland Counties Coal Fields Railway ; " the
fact being that the Midland Railway was entirely opposed to it.
The project was brought out in the name of private parties. The
chairman of the board of promoters was Sir Cusack Roney, a
gentleman who must have had considerable experience in such
matters, for it is said that at that time he held office in fifteen
different railway companies in England and Ireland. The pro-
moters, however, looked with hopefulness to the London and
North Western Company for patronage. " They feel," said Mr.
Karslake, " that their little bantling can hardly support itself
in a state of existence, unless it have something to which it can
cling; and hence we find the extreme anxiety that they have
shown in attempting to affiliate their infant upon the London and
North Western Company. We do not find that that attempt has
succeeded. A. sort of faint declaration was put forth, that if this
line were made, then possibly the London and North Western
proprietors might be invited to subscribe for it ; but the utmost
that we find that is done is this, that if this line should be sanc-
tioned, then the London and North Western will work it. It is
just one of those lines which, unless it is assisted by another
company, must die a natural death."

1(34

JOINT OWNERSHIP.

At length, however, it was formally announced that the London
and North Western Company would subscribe £250,000 towards
the share capital of the Coal Fields Railway Company, would
work and maintain it, and would send over it all their traffic from
Burton-on-Trent for Nuneaton, Rugby, or the south. In return
the North Western was to be rewarded by direct access to Derby,
the head-quarters of the Midland system. It is true that they
were already at Burton-on-Trent, and could exercise their rights
at common law to run over the ten miles thence to Derby ; but

BUGSWORTH VIADUCTS — 1866 TO 1885.

they preferred an independent route, though it would have in-
volved an outlay of £950,000.

On the other hand, the Midland Company contended that their
line would cost less than £300,000 ; and that they ought not to be
exposed to competition when they offered ample accommodation
to the new comer; but they consented that the North Western
should be joint proprietors with themselves in the Ashby and
Nuneaton, " either by contributing half the capital or by paying
to the Midland a fair interest on the outlay. Consequently," said
Mr. Venables, " if there is any public object whatever in taking

BUGSWORTH VIADUCT. 165

London and North Western traffic to Derby, we sliall take it with-
out the expenditure by anybody of a shilling for that purpose, and
we shall not only do that, but we shall give them at Derby a com-
munication with all the other railways that radiate from Derby,
whereas they would come to a cul de sac at Derby, and would
have, at some future time, to obtain some other way of getting on
to the other railways. That we offer them instead of spending
£700,000 in pure waste." To these terms the London and North
Western eventually acceded; the Coal Fields Railway Bill was
withdrawn, and the Ashby and Nuneaton was sanctioned.

The autumn of 1866 was marked by floods disastrous to
property and life ; and in November a singular accident occurred
at the viaduct over the Aire at Apperley Bridge, by which the
traffic of the Midland to the north-west, to Scotland and Ireland,
was temporarily arrested. There was also a landslip on the
Manchester extension at Bugsworth, by which sixteen acres of
land on which the railway stood slipped down the valley, and
necessitated the deviation and re-construction of that part of
the line. The particulars of these remarkable incidents, and
the remedies adopted, will be found in our description of the
line.

CHAPTER X.

Glasgow and South Western Company. — Policy of Midland Company. — Door of
Scotland shut against them. — Proposed amalgamation of Midland with the
Glasgow and South Western. — Lateral and longitudinal amalgamation. —
Bill before Parliament. — Bill rejected. — Heavy responsibilities of Midland
Company. — Misgivings among shareholders. — Meeting of Proprietors on
May 29th, 1867. — Mr. Hutchinson's explanation. — Circular of shareholders.
— Meeting at Corn Exchange, Derby. — Proposal to abandon the Settle and
Carlisle line. — Efforts to obtain terms from London and North Western. —
Approval of amalgamation bill. — Position of Midland system. — Meeting,
August, 1867. — Time of anxiety. — Circular of December 14th. — Alarm. —
Criticisms. — Defence of Midland policy. — Special General Meeting, January
15th, 1868. — Mr. Hutchinson's explanation. — Committee of Consultation.
— Eeport of Committee.— Keighley and Worth line. — Five millions' bill. —
Negotiations with London and North Western for access to Scotland. — Bill
brought before Parliament. — Opposition. — Abandonment. — Bill rejected.—
Progress of lines.

THE period we are now approaching' was marked by events of
great interest in the chronicles of the Midland Railway. The
earliest of these was in connection with the various efforts made
by that Company to obtain a share in the vast and increasing
traffic carried on between this country and Scotland. This had
been chiefly conducted along two routes, that on the East Coast
by the Great Northern, North Eastern, and North British ; and that
on the West Coast by the London and North "Western and Cale-
donian : the Midland board was now of opinion that by virtue
of its natural position and growing importance it might justly
claim to form a third and Midland route to Scotland. With this
object it resolved, as we have seen, to seek Parliamentary power
to make a line up the series of valleys which lead from Settle to
Carlisle, where it would reach the door to Scotland, and whence it
might, by means of the Glasgow and South Western Railway,
find its way onward to the North.

166

GLASGOW AND SOUTH WESTERN COMPANY. 167

The Glasgow and South. Western was originally a line from
Glasgow to Ayrshire, and it is still frequently spoken of as the
Ayrshire Railway. Subsequently it was extended, via Dumfries,
to Gretna, where it falls into the Caledonian, along which it
reaches Carlisle, and by means of which it obtained power to use
the Citadel Station. The distance between Carlisle and Glasgow
over the South Western is 124 miles; by the Caledonian about
105 miles ; but the latter have to suffer the disadvantage of
inferior gradients. The special significance of the position of the
Glasgow and South Western line was, that whereas the North
British was identified with the East Coast route, and the Cale-
donian with the London and North Western, it provided the only
independent course along which a third railway from the South
could hope to reach the heart of Scotland.

Scarcely, however, had the Midland Company decided that they
ought to make the Settle and Carlisle line, and to endeavour to
secure an uninterrupted course into Scotland, than it was ascertained
that the Glasgow and South Western were on the eve of amal-
gamation with the Caledonian. In fact, powers had already been
obtained which would almost have enabled these companies to
amalgamate without further leave or licence ; it was reasonable
to suppose that they would not allow them to slumber ; and on
the 17th of August, 1866, the Secretary of the Caledonian
Company addressed the secretary of the Glasgow and South
Western on the subject. " His board," he said, " thought it advis-
able that the opportunity afforded by the recent powers," obtained
by the two companies, " to enter into an agreement for the
management and working and apportionment of the revenues of
the two undertakings should not be lost sight of ; and having no
doubt that your board reciprocates the feeling," they had ap-
pointed a committee to meet a committee of the Glasgow and
South Western Board, in the hope that an agreement might be
come to.

For the Glasgow and South Western to amalgamate with the
Caledonian was, however, in effect to amalgamate with the London
and North Western ; for these two companies were identified in
policy and interest. So that, had this further amalgamation been
consummated, the effect would have been that the Midland
Company would have found that it had made 80 miles of very

168 LONGITUDINAL AMALGAMATION.

costly railway from Settle to Carlisle, through, a comparatively
unproductive country, solely to reach Scotland, but that the door
of Scotland was shut by the hands of the several competitors in
their faces. Only one course appeared possible to the Midland
board ; to enter into alliance with the Glasgow and South
Western, with a view to the identification of their interests ; and
negotiations to that end were opened, and terms were arranged
for the subsequent amalgamation of the two properties.

Such a union of continuous lines would, it was believed, be in
the public interest. Lateral amalgamation, that is, of parallel
lines of railway, may repress the fair competition that arises from
the working of two independent routes between the same termini ;
but longitudinal amalgamation, that is, of lines which, not being
parallel, can never be competitive, facilitates through traffic by
being held in one hand, guided by one policy, and directed to the
most efficient conduct of traffic over long distances. Though Mr.
Hope Scott humorously remarked that in Mr. Venables' " great
longitudinal principle there is about as much latitude as I ever
found in describing a longitudinal case," yet we believe that this
principle is sound. " The Glasgow and South Western Company,"
continued Mr. Scott, " has been threatened, says my learned friend
Mr. Venables, with fraternity or death. It has, however, been
able to live, and what is more, it has been able to grow fat. It
has reached, says Mr. Johnstone, a dividend which we will call 6|
or 7, whichever you please. It has reached that dividend during
the last two years, during which the Caledonian Company has had
extra means of oppression over it. It has managed to give a
tit-for-tat to the Caledonian Company. It has got to Greenock,
which is the best portion of the traffic. It has got running powers
and facilities over the Caledonian and over the North British, and
has, I say, now a dowry to take with it of 1,000 miles of traffic
belonging to other companies. Nay, more ; it has reached a
situation which enables my friend Mr. Venables to open it as with
a case of amalgamation on equal terms, because the Midland
Company and the Glasgow and South Western are in an equal
state of prosperity. So that the oppression of the Caledonian
Company has not done much harm to the Glasgow and South
Western Company; for it has found itself flourishing; its per-
manent wav is in excellent order ; its rolling stock is the same,

MB. HOPE SCOTT. 169

and is abundant and sufficient ; so that my learned friend Mr.
Venables is really obliged to lament that they are not insolvent,
because he would then have had a better reason for his bill."

Mr. Hope Scott could not allow, even in the discussion of details,
however dry, an opportunity to pass for the play of his wit. In
the course of Mr. Venables' speech, that gentleman had said of the
Midland Company, " they are a prosperous company, and perhaps
that is the reason why they have always been a straightforward
company." " This," said Mr. Scott, " is an odd view of morality
certainly ; but of course my learned friend is fully entitled to
describe his own clients, the Midland Company, as he likes best.
If he had said they had always been a straightforward company,
and therefore they had been a prosperous company, one would
have understood the moral of it ; but the odd thing is, that, having
said this of the Midland Company, and having declared elsewhere
that the property of the Glasgow and South Western is equal to
that of the Midland Company, he has nowhere called the Glasgow
and South Western a straightforward company. Now, sir, I think
that was wrong. But in truth he could not do it, for he will not
trust them out of his sight, and that is the reason why he asks
you to pass this bill. . . . Perhaps, sir, by the time when this
question ought properly to come before Parliament, your places
may be filled by gentlemen whose seats depend considerably upon
the votes of lodging enginemen and discompounded stokers, whose
views of railway legislation may be entirely different from your
own.

" But, sir, the only argument which is alleged for this antici-
pation— these espousals which are not to become marriage for four
years — is that the lady is fickle ; ' fraternity ' — not the dagger,
not death ; ' fraternity,' a something more kindly than fraternity,
might influence her, and she might slip through their fingers."

Mr. Denison, on behalf of the North British, expressed his belief
that the Settle and Carlisle would not be completed, and that
therefore any such amalgamation as that now proposed was pre-
mature. " We had it," he said, " from Mr. Allport, that nothing
had been done upon the Settle and Carlisle line. I cross-examined
Mr. Allport (as one always does such a witness) with fear and
trembling, because sometimes one gets the worst of it ; but I do
not think I got the worst of it, because what I got from Mr.

170 ME. DENISON.

Allporfc was, that he was not the man to tell us about it. Now,
sir, do you think that if much of that land had been bought, Mr.
Allport would not have known of it ? Do you think that if the
line had been staked out he would not have known of it ? Do
things go on with the Midland Company which that very able
gentleman does not know of ? "

In answer to Mr. Denison's remark, that the amalgamation
would be premature, because the Settle and Carlisle was not made,
Mr. Venables said : " As to the question of how much money has
been laid out, how many stakes have been placed, how many
surveys have been made, that might have been very important if
this had been a poor owner, or a new company incapable of creat-
ing the line which they are authorized and required to make. It
is very true that the refusal of this amalgamation, shutting the
door to the West of Scotland in our faces, would undoubtedly
greatly diminish the value of the Settle and Carlisle line. But I
think it is not an argument likely to weigh with the committee
against the bill, that it will utilize and employ for the benefit of
the public parliamentary powers which have already been given
after full inquiry. The passing of this amalgamation bill will
involve the completion of the Settle and Carlisle undoubtedly, as
an indispensable condition. To say, therefore, that it is an argu-
ment against this amalgamation, that we have not made, and
perhaps have not begun, and perhaps may not make, the Settle
and Carlisle line, is an inconsistent argument. There is no doubt
that the fear of the opponents is, not that it will not be made, but
that it will be made, and that by its being made this amalgamation
will be efficient. Can there be any better proof that we shall
make the Settle and Carlisle line ? Moreover, what harm will
this amalgamation do to anybody if we cannot use it ? " In this
view of the matter the Committee of the House of Commons
appear to have concurred ; and on the 23rd of May, 1867, they
declared the preamble to be proved.

In subsequently urging the measure upon the sanction of the
Lords' Committee, among the advantages likely to accrue from the
amalgamation of the Midland with the Glasgow and South Western,
it was shown that a healthy competition would be secured.
Although no fresh capital would be expended, and no fresh lines
be constructed, the independence and power of free competition on

ME. VENABLES. 171

three great routes between England and Scotland would be per-
petuated. There would be no necessity for passengers or goods to
travel by any particular company. Three direct routes would be
open, and open more effectually after amalgamation than before.

" "We come, my lords," said Mr. Venables, " not to rob anybody,
but to accommodate the public, and to get a share of profit in
accommodating the public ; and if we can give a shai'e of the
accommodation to the amount of one-third of all the possible Scotch
traffic, we shall possibly get a third of the traffic. Of that the
London and North Western will lose something, the East Coast
companies will lose something ; but all three companies together,
by improved accommodation and increased competition, will develop
the traffic in such a way that in a short time probably the proportion
of each company will, notwithstanding what may have been lost to
the Midland, be quite as great as at present."

In concluding his speech Mr. Venables said : " We say, my lords,
it is a great advantage in this kind of scheme that we do not ex-
pend one shilling of capital — that we merely utilize the expenditure
of capital which Parliament has already sanctioned. We say that
we are entitled, not so much in our own right as in the public
interest, to have an independent route to Carlisle. We say that,
for reasons we have suggested to your lordships, the North British
Company, which no doubt is entitled to great consideration, will
not be injured by this line ; and we say, that if the amalgamation
pure and simple were to be injurious to the North British line,
nevertheless, as they themselves now say, they are ready, if the case
arises, to suggest protection against possible damage ; and I say,
my lords, none of the modes of protection which have have been
suggested are injurious or unjust to the Caledonian Company. I
think, my lords, there probably never was a case in which so great
an advantage could be gained with so little loss. There has hardly
been an attempt to dispute the preponderance of advantage to the
public ; and I think the evidence results in showing that there
would be no hardship whatever to the railway companies,"

The committee-room was cleared. After a time the counsel and
parties were called in. The chairman then announced that " the
Committee had given the most serious consideration to the case,
and they were of opinion that it was not expedient to proceed
further with the bill."

172 ACTION OF MIDLAND SHAREHOLDERS.

While the Amalgamation Bill was thus occupying the attention
of Parliament, an event of much interest was occurring among the
directors and shareholders of the Midland Company itself. Doubt
had long been cherished by some of the proprietors as to whether
it was wise to prosecute this amalgamation ; and their misgivings
at length took the shape of overt and organized opposition. An
opportunity for expressing these opinions occurred at a meeting of
the proprietors held in Derby on the 29th of May, 1867, to consider
the propriety of formally considering several bills then before
Parliament. Before it took place, rumours were rife as to the
hostility with which the policy of the directors was in some quarters
regarded. More than 1,000 shareholders were present, the atten-
dance being so large that the meeting had to be adjourned to the
Corn Exchange. Mr. Hutchinson, as usual, presided, and with
much self-mastery proceeded to address himself to the business
of the day.

After some preliminary remarks, he stated that the great business
on which the decision of the proprietors was to be obtained was the
bill for the amalgamation of the Midland and Glasgow and South
Western Companies. When the Settle and Carlisle line was projec-
ted, Carlisle was regarded as the ultimate resting-place of the Mid-
land Company northwards. But, the chairman stated, when he and
his colleagues met the directors of the Glasgow and South Western
Company in Scotland in the previous September, they were sur-
prised to find that in a recent session of Parliament the Caledonian
and the Glasgow and South Western Companies had obtained
clauses which, if exercised, would have amounted practically to an
amalgamation. Had these powers been put into effect, the Midland,
when they reached Carlisle, would have found the road to Glasgow
practically in the hands of one company, and that company the
most close and intimate ally of the London and North Western
Company, which competed with the Midland in every great town
into which the Midland ran. Under these circumstances the direc-
tors came to the conclusion to recommend the shareholders to apply
for a bill to amalgamate the two companies. Deputations from the
Midland directors visited the line and works of the Glasgow and
South Western ; similar deputations came over the Midland ; the
accountants of both companies had several times examined the
accounts, and their report was favourable ; and the amalgamation

EXCITED MEETING. 173

would secure for the Midland Company a direct route from London,
through the heart of England, to Glasgow ; and a share of a traffic
between the two countries which was estimated at £1,500,000
per annum, and which was every year increasing.

An animated discussion followed, in which strong opinions were
strongly expressed on both sides of the subject. Another meeting
was held on the following Tuesday, in the Shareholders' Room,
when the subject was still further debated, and the decision was
reserved till the 13th of June.

These discussions, however, had accomplished important ends.
They had cleared the air ; they had prepared the way for action
when the final vote was to be given.

Meanwhile, a number of influential shareholders availed them-
selves of the interval to submit by circular some considerations
which they thought might be useful to fellow-proprietors who had
not been present at the meeting. They stated that several of them-
selves had at one time entertained " a strong objection to the bill ; but
further reflection, and the full discussion which the subject had
undergone, had changed their opinion, and they were now unanimous
in regarding the adoption of the bill, which contained no power to
create new capital, as of vital importance to the interests of the
Midland Company. A similar change of opinion, they believed,
had taken place to a large extent among the general body of share-
holders." They urged all the shareholders to attend the adjourned
meeting on the 13th, and to judge for themselves.

The meeting, which had been formally adjourned to the Corn
Exchange, was very large and excited, though in excellent temper.
A new element was now introduced into the debate. Since the last
meeting the Midland Committee of the Railway Shareholders'
Association had opened negotiations with the London and North
Western Company with a view to ascertain on what terms the
North Western would give the Midland access to Carlisle over the
Lancaster and Carlisle line. It seems to have been thought by this
deputation that hitherto the Midland Company had been entirely
in the wrong, and that the London and North Western directors
were ready, if rightly approached, to make the most liberal con-
cessions. Mr. William Sale, a Manchester solicitor, who acted as
the secretary of the Association, was one of a deputation who had
waited upon Mr. Moon and other directors at Euston Square.

174 NEGOTIATIONS.

Subsequently he called upon Mr. Carter, the solicitor of the
Midland Company, stated that he had acted as the official organ
of the Midland Committee, that he had obtained a statement of the
terms which the North Western authorities were prepared to con-
cede, and that these terms he now officially communicated to the
.solicitor of the Midland Company. It subsequently transpired,
that though Mr. Sale was the official medium of conveying these
terms, yet that neither he nor the Association had any responsibility
as regards their approval. At this our readers will not be surprised ;
for it appears that the latest and best terms which the friends of
conciliation could obtain from the North Western Company were
as follows : — " That it be referred to the President of the Board of
Trade to inquire and ascertain what the point of difference was
between the Midland and North Western Companies in the recent
negotiations respecting the Lancaster and Carlisle line, to determine
which company was right, and what should be done as to such point
of difference in the event of the Midland Company abandoning the
Settle and Carlisle line."

When these negotiations and their results were described by the
Chairman of the Midland Company to the meeting, they were
received with derisive laughter, and a warm response was given to
his announcement that he had placed that document before his
colleagues for their consideration, and he might tell the meeting
that the Board considered the discussion of such terms would be
idle. The first thing the London and North Western proposed, was
to refer to the President of the Board of Trade as to what was the
point of difference, and which party was right and which was wrong
with regard to the offers which had been made. That question had
already been referred to and had been decided by a higher tribunal,
namely, a committee of the House of Lords. The case of the
London and North Western Company was argued before that
committee by the most able and accomplished advocates of the
parliamentary bar. Witnesses were examined on both sides ; the
voluminous correspondence which had taken place between the
companies on the subject of the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway
was put in evidence ; and with what result ? Why, after all, that the
House of Lords declared the preamble of the Midland Company's
bill to be proved, and they passed the Act for making the Settle
and Carlisle railway, which they would not have done had they con-

A POLL. 175

sidered that fair terms had been offered to the Midland Company
for the use of the Lancaster and Carlisle railway, and that free
access had been offered by the London and North Western to Carlisle.
What the London and North Western Company proposed was
something like this : — Two parties have a suit — a law suit, if
you choose ; the verdict has been given in favour of one of these
parties, upon which the other party turns round and says,
" We will now submit this matter to arbitration." Mr. Hutchinson.
added, that such an offer and such conduct could only be described
as childish.

An animated, and at one time somewhat angry, discussion
followed, after which a show of hands was taken on the resolution,
for which there was an immense majority. A poll was demanded ;
the voting occupied two hours, and then the chairman moved an
adjournment of the meeting till the following Friday, to receive the
reports of the scrutineers. The result was as follows : — Present,
and by proxies, approving the Bill, 1,570 persons holding Capital
stock, £4,880,615 ; Present, and by proxies, not approving the
Bill, 1,028 persons holding Capital stock, £1,450,814.

The position at this period occupied by the Midland Company
was one of satisfaction not untinged with solicitude. Having the
weight of many and heavy responsibilities, they were looking for-
ward to a time of relief. They were paying interest on a large
amount of capital which, as it was expended on works still in-
complete, was earning nothing. When those works are finished,
" we shall have a system of railway," said a writer of the time,
" which plants one foot in London and another in Bristol, whose
trunk lies upon the best portions of the midland counties of Eng-
land, and covers Manchester, Liverpool, and Sheffield ; whose head
rests on Carlisle, and whose arms, extending east and west, grasp
with one, by way of the North British, the traffic of Edinburgh,
and with the other, by the Glasgow and South Western, the trade
and commerce of Glasgow."

In August, 1867, the directors reported that their working
expenses had increased in consequence of the payment out of the
revenue for the reconstruction of the Apperley Viaduct, of a
bridge at Tamworth, and other works injured by floods in the
previous year ; there had also been a loss of revenue from having
to work traffic over the lines of other companies. The amount

176

PERIOD OF ANXIETY.

of unproductive capital had increased to £5,000,000. The loss
of the Glasgow and South Western Amalgamation Bill, and the
withdrawal of some others, had made it necessary to charge
the cost of promoting them to revenue instead of capital, because
there would now be no capital accounts under those bills against
which they could be charged.

At this meeting an arrangement with the Metropolitan Company
Avas sanctioned. The Midland Company was to have the use of
the Metropolitan from King's Cross Junction to Moorgate Street ;

APPEELEY VIADUCT.

the former fixing the number and times of their own trains. The
Midland was to pay a mileage proportion of gross receipts from
traffic, a minimum being fixed for the first year of £4,000, of £5,000
for the second, of £6,000 for the third, and of £7,000 for the fourth
and each succeeding year. They wei'e also charged £5,000 a year
for the first three years for the use of the intermediate stations,
and from £4,000 to £6,000 a year for station accommodation at
Mooi-gate Street. The Midland Company also undertook to pay
6d. a ton for goods, and 4d. for coals, up to 50,000 tons, and 3d. for
every ton above that quantity. The total fixed minimum charges

THE FIVE MILLION BILL. 177

under the agreement were to amount to from £14,000 to £15,000
a year.

The latter part of the year 1867 was a period of great anxiety
to all the moneyed interests of the country ; the conspicuous break-
down of some of the principal railway companies brought discredit
on railway property and on railway administration generally; and
though the proprietors of the Midland Company were confident of
the substantial soundness of their property, many ^ad misgivings
on account of the undefined magnitude of their own financial
liabilities, concerning which the Chairman had publicly remarked
that they " would far outstrip the estimates made four or five years
ago."

Affairs, however, were moving quietly on, when, on the morn-
ing of the 17th of December, a "circular" was received by the
proprietors from the directors — an unusual document for them to
send. It stated that " under ordinary circumstances the directors
would not have deemed it necessary to issue reports of their pro-
ceedings except at the general meetings of the Company ; but as
they are about to deposit a bill in Parliament proposing a large in-
crease of capital, they felt it due to the shareholders to submit to
them, without delay, an explanation of the causes which rendered
this application necessary."

The introduction was ominous. The circular proceeded : — " At
the last half-yearly meeting the Chairman announced to the pro-
prietors that the cost of the extensions into London, and of the
stations there, would largely exceed the parliamentary estimates.
It has, in fact, been found that the value of the property required
and the amount of compensations have been enormously in excess
of what was anticipated, and it would be seen that the cost of
carrying the works of a railway into London is such as to defy
all previous calculation ;" and additional capital for the London
line alone would be required to the amount of about £2,150,000.

Further, it had been ascertained, in constructing the Sheffield
and Chesterfield and other lines, that there would also be " a large
increase of expenditure beyond the parliamentary estimate " to the
extent of £1,350,000.

" It has also been found necessary to provide new engines and
additional plant and rolling stock, to meet the requirements of the
increased traffic of the Company. For this purpose the sum of

178 ALARMING RUMOURS.

£960,000 has been expended out of the sums voted by the pro-
prietors at various half-yearly meetings, but the necessary powers
to raise the capital have not as yet been obtained. It is now
therefore proposed to include this expenditure in the present bill,
with power to raise a further sum of £540,000 to meet future
requirements.

" The total addition to the capital of the Company will thus
be £5,000,000, of which it will be proposed to raise £3,750,000
by shares, and £1,250,000 by borrowing powers."

This circular fell like a thunderbolt through a sensitive atmo-
sphere. Not that it said very much more than had been previously
known ; but the statements so recently made, that " all previous
calculations " had been exceeded, that capital had been spent for
which " the necessary powers had not " as yet been obtained ; and
the demand for a round sum of £5,000,000 additional capital,
seemed sufficiently alarming.

The wildest rumours were afloat. It was confidently declared
that the Company " had been brought up, as the Americans phrase
it, ' short,' by a banker or money lender, for this £960,000, or
some other sum of money ; and that in dire necessity they asked
for all these millions, in order to get the trifle that they wanted."
The severest criticisms were offered. It was declared that Mr.
Hutchinson and his colleagues had spoken " with a frankness
which almost amounts to recklessness." The directors were " upon
the horn of a dilemma, for either they and their chief officers are
flagrantly ignorant of matters which, if fit for their posts, they
ought to understand, or there had been a deliberate concealment
of the facts from the proprietors." A pamphlet asserted that the
Midland property had been gradually depreciating, and, mile for
mile, was not worth as much as in 1865. " The Midland Railway
Company," said the Economist, "has this week created a panic
such as only a great and respected railway can create." " Is up-
wards of £30,000,000 sterling," demanded the Bullionist, "to be
imperilled for the sake of an idea H "

Other writers, however, drew other lessons. The Midland pro-
prietors, said one, "must discriminate between the lond-JiJi'
objurgations of their fellow-shareholders and the coarse bellowing
of speculators, whether dating from Liverpool, Manchester, or
elsewhere." " Though unexpectedly large," said the Observer, " as

CRITICISMS. 179

the new London lines and stations may be, the company will
ultimately get a fair return for their outlay." " Laying a bill
before Parliament to ask for a very large sum," said the Economist,
" is a step so sure to provoke inquiry, that that of itself is pre-
sumably honest."

The present writer thus expressed himself, in the columns of the
Daily News, with regard to the entire position of the Midland
Company, and endeavoured to soothe the alarms of the share-
holders. It has, he remarked, become the fashion in certain
quarters to assert that this Company has become " ambitious and
aggressive, consumed with a greed of power that has led it to
encroach upon the just rights of innocent and injured neighbours.
From whom do these complaints arise ? They come, in part at
least, from friends of the Great Northern, a company expressly
intended to flank the whole Midland system from south to north ;
a company so directly competitive, that immediately the Great
Northern was opened the Midland's receipts fell thousands of
pounds a week, and Midland shares drooped to the lowest point
they ever reached. These complaints come from friends of the
London and North Western, a company which, beginning with a
simple route from London to Livei'pool and Manchester, spread
east and west and north from Leeds to Merthyr Tydvil, and from
Peterborough to Holyhead, which occupies the head-quarters of
the Great Eastern at Cambridge, which competes with the Mid-
land in every important town it has, and which has recently
announced that it has obtained access to one of the most westerly
points of the Great Western system at Swansea.

" On the other hand, who can deny that the Midland extensions
have been legitimate in themselves, and likely to be remunerative
to the Company and beneficial to the public ? When, in 1862, the
Midland had become, next to the North Eastern, the greatest coal-
carrying railway in England; when, besides rent charge for
stations, it was paying the Great Northern £60,000 a year for tolls
on traffic between Hitchin and London (though forbidden to take
up or set down for its own benefit any local traffic whatever), and
yet could receive no adequate accommodation either on the rails
or at the terminus ; and when the Great Northern board had to
admit that it was unable to yjrovide for the increasing traffic
except by laying down four lines of rails instead of two : when, in

180 DEFENCE OF MIDLAND POLICY.

addition to all this, the Midland Company was sending traffic via
Rugby to London of the value to the London and North Western
Company of .'£193,000 a year, and yet at one time five miles of
laden coal-trucks had to wait at Rugby, unable to proceed, causing
infinite chagrin to the sellers in the coal-fields and to the buyers
in London, surely the time had come at which the Midland
Company might be permitted the privilege of wishing to provide
accommodation for itself. When the Midland system was within
thirty miles of Manchester, and could reach it by a link with the
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line, only a few miles long,
was it not reasonable that the staple trades and vast coal-fields of
Leicestershire, Notts, and Derbyshire should desire some better
access to Manchester than, on the one hand, by Grantham and
Retford, or, on the other, by Derby and Macclesfield, over the
lines of three several companies, whose trains never ran through ?
And was it not right that the shortest route that exists between
London and Manchester should now be opened up ? When the
200,000 inhabitants of Sheffield were demanding to be put upon
the main line of the Midland, when they were applying every
possible pressure to the Company, and when the ubiquitous North
Western was pushing in with a competitive scheme, by which they
tried to obtain compulsory powers over the heart of the Midland
system, would it have been expedient that the directors should
have still insisted upon landing all their Sheffield passengers at the
miserable station at Masborough, and then sending them by a
branch to the more miserable station at Sheffield, into which the
train now runs like a rat into a dust bin ?

" It was this deprecated policy of ' extension ' that has given the
Midland Company the measure of prosperity it enjoys. Before its
extensions it was a mere dependency of the London and North
Western, and that board tried hard to buy it up at £57 10s. for
each £100 share. And from the time when these negotiations
failed that powerful company has laboured, by open attack and by
secret treaties, to sap the resources of the Midland and to draw
around it a cincture which should cripple it in every limb. It
was ' extension ' that alone emancipated it from bondage ; it was
' extension ' that raised its shares from about £30 to the £140 at
which they have recently stood, and at which before very long
they will stand 'again. ' I believe,' said Mr. Hutchinson at a

MR. HUTCHINSON'S EXPLANATION. 181

Midland meeting, ' there is no railway in this kingdom whose
original traffic has been so fiercely attacked as ours.' "

A special general meeting was held on Wednesday, Jan. loth,
1868, and it was anticipated with much interest and excitement.
The large hall was crowded, and in order to give increased space —
we cannot say " accommodation " — a number of the benches had
been removed, and many hundreds of proprietors had to stand.
But whatever the world outside might have thought, and what-
ever the misgivings of individual shareholders might have
suggested, the applause with which the directors were welcomed
when they entered the room showed that the confidence of the
constituents was undiminished. " There'll be no fighting to day,"
said a gentleman standing near us. " That cheer shows it."

The Chairman stated that the meeting had been summoned in
anticipation of the usual half-yearly meeting, in order to give an
explanation of the circular of Dec. 14th, and to point out the
provisions of the money bill which had been deposited. It had,
he said, been suggested that a committee of large and influential
proprietors shall be appointed for the purpose of consulting with
the directors on various matters which are involved in the bill,
and he was sure that the board would very gladly avail themselves
of the assistance of such a committee. After explaining some
minor provisions of the bill, he proceeded to explain the causes of
the increased outlay on the line to London. He showed that the
cost of the works originally contemplated had not so much been
augmented as that the works themselves had been enlarged.
" Undoubtedly," he said, " the value of the property, especially in
London and the neighbourhood, rose very considerably since 1862,
when the plans were deposited for this railway ; but we also found
that the traffic to and from London was so rapidly increasing, that
if the line had been carried out in only its original proportions, by
the time it was opened for traffic the accommodation would have
been wholly inadequate."

Complaints, he said, were made of the enormous increase in the
cost of the London line, but this had arisen mainly because of the
increased capacity and cost of the accommodation provided. Ori-
ginally about two acres of land had been secured for the passenger
station ; afterwards it was found that four acres would be neces-
sary. Originally it had been intended to raise the flooring of the

162

MR. HUTCHINSON S EXPLANATION.

station to the required height by filling it up with earth ; after-
wards it was decided to excavate it for cellarage, and fifty shops
were to be built into the walls that faced the roads. Originally it
was arranged to approach the London station by embankment;
afterwards it was found that if some 3j acres of land were arched
over for coal drops, at least 250,000 tons of coal could be disposed of,
and a rent for cellarage be secured. " It being evident," said the
engineer, " that the productiveness of the line and its beneficial
influence on the Midland system would be limited only by the
capabilities of the London terminus to receive and despatch traffic,
it was decided to utilize as far as practicable every yard of ground

BBEtiZ VIADUCT.

which was available for traffic purposes. Additional works had
also been required by Parliament during the passing of the Act.
They include a covered way through Camden Square, an expensive
iron viaduct and other onerous conditions regarding the passage
through the Saint Pancras burial-ground, the providing of bridges
for two additional lines of rails for all the railways crossed AVI thin
the metropolis, and clauses for drainage, involving considerable
extra expense, inti-oduced by the Metropolitan Board of Works.
There is also the construction of the Brent Viaduct of nineteen
arches, required by the Grand Junction Canal Company, instead

ME. HUTCHINSON'S EXPLANATION. 183

of an ordinary bridge, and this viaduct is built for four lines of
rails."

It thus appeared that, after apportioning the expenditure which
had arisen for additional works, " there remains," said the engineer,
{:a sum of about £200,000, which represents the excess of expendi-
ture over estimates, the greater part of which is attributable to the
large increase in the price of labour and materials which has taken
place since 1863, when the estimates were made. The effects of
the increase of prices compelled three of the contractors to abandon
their contracts, and the works had to be transferred to other con-
tractors, at higher prices, in addition to considerable loss arising
from the transfer of working plant, etc."

It is remarkable that the magnificent roof of the station, which
might be regarded as the costliest work of all, fell considerably
within the estimate. It was originally intended to build it with a
span of two arches, and the parliamentary estimate was £5 per
square yard for roof and platform. Subsequently it was ascertained
that it might be erected with only one span at a cost of about £4
a yard.

On the line itself additional works had also been provided. It
was at first decided to lay down only two lines of railway from
London to Bedford. Land had now to be bought for four, the
overbridges had to be built for four, for several miles rails had to
be laid for four ; and the cost of four lines of such railway for the
first few miles out of London could not be less than £500,000.
Originally it was proposed that iron rails should here as elsewhere
be used ; now steel ones were to be adopted ; but iron cost some £6
a ton, steel cost £13, and hundreds of tons are wanted for every
mile. Instead of 209 acres of land near London, 470 acres have
been bought ; and instead of 368 acres for the rest of the line to
Bedford, 710 had been obtained. This increase of cost, indeed,
must have been large ; but how much larger would it be a few
years hence, when every yard of the Company's property will be
hemmed in by the masses of houses which close around the
precincts of every new London line — houses which are often built
expressly with the expectation that their sites will be wanted, and
that large profits will be realized ?

Such were the main facts to which with great clearness — without
haste and without rest — Mr. Hutchinson called attention. He

184 REPORT OF COMMITTEE.

dealt in a similar manner with the increased outlay which had
been made in other parts of the' line ; and after a lengthened,
minute, and exhaustive, not to say exhausting, speech, concluded
by announcing the future policy of the Board : " It is — suspension
of all works which will not involve too great a sacrifice ; postpone-
ment of all new lines not yet commenced, or upon which a small
outlay has been made ; application to Parliament for an extension of
time to complete them ; the most rigid economy in the expenditure of
all moneys, whether capital or revenue ; the utmost exertion made
to increase the receipts, and the cultivation of the most friendly
relations with all the neighbouring companies." He concluded
amid the " loud applause " of the meeting.

Mr. Edward Baines, M.P., then rose, by request of the chairman,
to propose the appointment of a Committee of Consultation to
confer with the directors especially as to the extent to which the
projected lines and works could be relinquished or postponed, and
to report to the half-yearly meeting to be held in February. Mr.
Baines and other gentlemen supported this resolution with much
ability ; and the chairman having stated that all information which
might be required would be furnished with the greatest pleasure
to facilitate the inquiries of the committee, the resolution was
heartily and unanimously adopted.

The committee thus appointed set to work immediately. They
had many meetings. They received minute explanations from the
directors and officers of the Company, and they passed over the
whole line from Bedford to London, and carefully examined the
works at St. Pancras.

The report of the Committee of Consultation was formally
presented to the shareholders on the 19th of February, though it
had previously been printed and circulated. " It is the duty of the
committee to report," they said, "that they have received convincing
proof of the integrity with which the affairs of the Midland
Company have been conducted," of " the trustworthiness of its
published accounts," of " the diligence and zeal of the board and
its officials in the performance of their duties," and " the gi-eat
vigilance and ability " that have been " displayed in watching
the interests of the Company throughout the wide field over which
its lines and works are spread, in developing its mineral and other
resources, and facilitating the traffic of the country. The attention

REPORT OF COMMITTEE. 185

of your committee has also been directed to the principles upon
which the expenditure of the Company has been classed under
the respective heads of capital and revenue, which seem to them
to be such as effectually to guard against the frequent error of
augmenting the apparent available profit, by charging to capital
that which should be borne by revenue. Your committee find that
all charges relating to the renewal, strengthening, and improvement
of the permanent way, works, stations, bridges, and rolling stock,
are paid out of revenue ; and in addition to this, nearly the entire
cost of the carting stock and wagon covers, amounting to about
£90,000, which by most other companies is entirely provided out
of capital, has been paid out of revenue during the last few years.
Interest upon the very large amount of unproductive capital, now
amounting to about £5,000,000, is all borne by revenue."

They expressed regret that the company had been led fco under-
take engagements " beyond what could be properly undertaken at
any one time," involving " an amount of liability which cannot be
met without great inconvenience to the shareholders." But they
added that it was true that these works had been " undertaken
when commercial confidence was unlimited, and when the spirit
of competition among the great railway companies was beyond
control." They were sorry that there should have been delay in
the application to Parliament for the creation of additional capital
until so large an amount had become indispensable ; and also that
the sums of money originally estimated for the different works
should have been so largely exceeded. On the other hand, they
wished to make every allowance for wise alterations and improve-
ments that had been made on the original plans.

The Committee regretted that they were unable to advise any
reduction in the amount for which application should be made to
Parliament. The money bill for £5,000,000 must be passed in its
integrity, after obtaining which it would be competent and advisable
to make other applications for the postponement of some of the
undei-takings. They had also felt it their duty to communicate
with the chairman of the London and North Western Company
with a view to such an arrangement of terms with that company,
for such a use by the Midland of the Lancaster and Carlisle as
should justify the abandonment of the Settle and Carlisle. They
were gratified to state that they had been received by the London

18G AGREEMENT WITH NORTH WESTERN COMPANY.

and North Western officers with frankness and friendship, but that
before any further action could be taken in that direction the
Midland Company's money bill must be obtained.

The meeting of the shareholders at which this report was
presented was the ordinary half-yearly meeting of the proprietors.
It was stated that the increase of traffic had been large, amounting
to an average of £4,700 a week. The expenditure in carrying the
traffic had also increased.

On the 13th of April, 1868, the Keighley and Worth Valley line
was handed over to the Midland Company. It had previously
been maintained by the contractors of the Valley Company, though
worked by the Midland Company.

Towards the close of the year 1868 terms of agreement were
drawn Tip between the Midland and the London and North Western
Companies by which the former was to have free and full access to
Scotland over the Lancaster and Carlisle, and by which the Settle
and Carlisle was to be abandoned. It was arranged that the
Midland Company should have equal rights with the London and
North Western " of user and control " between Ingleton and
Carlisle, " with joint management by a joint committee, with a
standing arbitrator, and with full power to the Midland Company
to fix their own rates and fares." The Midland Company was to
be " allowed to carry local passenger traffic between Low Gill and
Carlisle, and from the receipts of the traffic so carried to be allowed
15 per cent, for working expenses," the balance to be paid to the
London and North Western Company. The Midland Company
was to pay " a mileage proportion " of rates and fares, the annual
minimum being £40,000 a year for the use of the line. The London
and North Western wTas to provide accommodation at intermediate
stations for passenger and goods traffic ; the Midland Company
having power to place their own servants there if desired, for whom
accommodation should be provided at a rate to be settled by
arbitration . The agreement was to be for 50 years. Both com-
panies were to unite in applying to Parliament for the abandonment
of the Settle and Carlisle line.

In the report of the spring meeting of 1869, it was announced
that the directors had continued the negotiations with the London
and North Western for the use of certain parts of the Lancaster
and Carlisle line " as a substitute for the Settle and Carlisle line,

ABANDONMENT BILL. 187

Avhicli many of the shareholders wished to abandon " ; and that
eventually terms had been agreed upon. Mr. Edward Baines, M.P.,
and others expressed their satisfaction at this settlement of the
matter, as it was supposed to be. " The Consultation Committee,"
he said, " were of opinion, as they had been throughout, that it
would be a very great misfortune to lay out more than £2,000,000
in constructing a line which for 80 miles would run side by side
with another railway, the use of which could now be obtained on fair
terms. If the directors could have obtained those terms from the
beginning, they would never have dreamed of promoting the Settle
and Carlisle line."

The attempts thus made to secure an abandonment of the Settle
and Carlisle line were, however, unsuccessful. After a conflict of
six days, the Commons' Committee decided that the evidence given
by the Midland and the London and North "Western did not justify
any such arrangement. To this conclusion they were, we believe,
chiefly led by the opposition of the Lancashire and Yorkshire and
North British Companies, the former of which declared that it was
their desire to avail themselves of the Midland's Settle and Carlisle
line if it were made, and that they wanted a route to the North
independently of the London and North "Western. It is curious to
observe how, in the ebb and flow of railway politics, when the
Lancashire and Yorkshire, a very few years later, were endeavour-
ing to amalgamate with the North Western, it then came to find
that the making of the Settle and Carlisle was an argument for the
rejection of the amalgamation ; or at any rate a reason why certain
special concessions should be made to the Midland Company on the
withdrawal of their opposition to the amalgamation.

In referring to this subject, Mr. Hutchinson stated to the
meeting, that though the rejection of the abandonment bill " had
been a disappointment to many shareholders," no alternative was
now left to the directors but " to acquiesce in the decision of
Parliament, and to proceed with the construction of the line." He,
however, comforted the proprietors by stating that, though hitherto
they " had been unable from certain causes to obtain any exact
estimate of the Scotch traffic," it was proved in " the discussion on
the abandonment bill that the amount of traffic passing via, Carlisle
alone, between places in England and places in Scotland, was
between £1,300,000 and £1,400,000 ; " so that, the amount pass-

188

PKOGKESS OF NEW LINES.

ing by way of Berwick, the east coast route, being some £500,000,
the total might be set down at nearly £2,000,000.

During the year an extension of time was obtained for the con-
struction of the Mansfield and Worksop, Mansfield and Southwell,
and some other lines ; powers were taken by which the Midland
Company obtained the Evesham and Redditch line, and also the
Tottenham line by which the Midland obtained access to the Victoria

RETAINING WALLS, HAYERSTOCK HILL STATION.

Docks. " A very extraordinary increase," said the Chairman, " has
taken place in the traffic during the seven weeks of the current
half-year, amounting to more than £8,000 per week, a sum which
far surpassed their most sanguine expectations."

The dividend, which had increased in the spi'ing, was in the
autumn further augmented by a half per cent. It was announced
that the receipts had increased £8,400 a week, and that the
unproductive capital of £5,000,000 had been reduced to half that
amount ; £1,000,000 of which was on the new Sheffield line. The
Cud worth and Bamsley line was opened for local goods on the
28th of June, 1869 ; the Bath and Mangotsfield for passenger traffic

PEOGEESS OF LINES.

189

on the 4th of Augnst ; the Melbourne and Sawley line, running via
Castle Donington to Trent, was ready ; and all the engineering
works of the London and Bedford were completed, except a small
part of the roof of St. Pancras Station. It was ordered that the
hotel should be carried to the necessary height and finished in a per-
manent manner, and that those portions that were originally intended
for the Company's offices be added to the hotel. It was announced
that the bills for a joint use by the Midland, Great Northern, and
Great Eastern of certain lines, for a new station at Lynn, in
Norfolk, and for giving certain powers to the Midland, in conjunc-
tion with the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company,
over the Marple, New Mills, and Hayfield Junctions had been
granted.

ST. PAXCRAS GOODS STATION (1869).

CHAPTER XI.

Opening of new line to Sheffield. — Unstoue Viaduct. — Expiration of lease of
Ambergate andBowsley line, and amalgamation with the Midland Company. —
Terms. — State purchase of telegraphs. — Resignation of Mr. W. E. Hutchin-
son as Chairman of the Company. — Appointment of Mr. W. P. Price, M.P.,
as Chairman, and Mr. E. S. Ellis, Vice-Chairman. — Amalgamation of the
Midland and the " Little " North Western. — Opening of coal-lines. —
Complimentary dinner to Mr. Hutchinson. — Speeches of Mr. Hutchinson
and Mr. Allport. — Progress of the Company. — Battle of the coal-rates
between Midland and Great Northern. — The agreement. — The rupture of
the agreement. — Line to King's Norton. — Midland and Sheffield Companies'
new projects. — Arrangement. — Great Northern Company's Derbyshire lines.
— Objections of Midland Company. — Great Northern line from Newark to
Leicester. — Midland Company carries third-class [passengers by all trains.
— Wolverhampton, Walsall, and Midland Junction line. — Bedford and
Northampton line opened. — Slip at Dove Holes Tunnel.

THE commencement of the year 1870 was signalized by the opening
of the new line from Chesterfield to Sheffield. " Direct " com-
munication, such as it was, between the two towns had for some
time been carried on by means of an extraordinary vehicle, not
unlike an old-fashioned French diligence, which might for years
afterwards be seen turned out to grass and rottenness in a field at
Dronfield, and which has been faithfully depicted in the accom-
panying illustration. The people residing in that district may
Avell have been surprised at the improvement between the old
means and the new, when, on the 2nd of February, 1870, they
found they could now accomplish the journey in a few minutes
at almost any hour of the day, and with perfect comfort and
convenience. The line, however, was opened without any official
recognition on the part of the Company. It is true that some
enterprising country people at Dronfield left their beds at an
undesirable hour in a February morning, in order that they might
be able to say that they saw the up Leeds express pass at 4.7 ; but
the first down train entered Sheffield station, says an eye-witness,

190

OPENING OF SHEFFIELD LINE.

191

"just as if it had been accustomed to do so any time for the last
ten years. Spruce collectors asked for your tickets, and slammed
the doors, and went their way, and left you to go yours ; the whole
affair being so business-like and formal and matter-of-course that
the operatives, who at twelve o'clock came down in considerable
numbers to see what was to be seen, must have returned to their
homes considerably disappointed. We have witnessed far more

UKSiOSE VIADUCT, CHE&Tiittl'lliLD Ai\D BHE1T1ELD LINK.

iss and ceremony over the opening of a drinking fountain or the
1 inauguration ' of a new parish fire-escape."

An important arrangement was about this period concluded.
Our readers will remember the little railway with the long name
(the Manchester, Buxton, Matlock, and Midland Junction) that
ran between Ambergate and Rowsley, and that had already
occupied a prominent place in the world of railway politics. This
line formed a portion of the Midland main route to Manchester,
but was partly owned by the London and North Western Company,
and was held by the Midland on a lease which would expire at
Midsummer, 1871. In anticipation of this contingency, and know-

192 GOVERNMENT PURCHASE OF TELEGRAPHS.

ing that it was possible that for its renewal terms that were too
exacting might, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, be
claimed from the Midland Company, an excellent alternative line
had already been made from Duffield, a station a little south of
Ambergate, up to Wirksworth — a line which could, if necessary,
be continued to Rowsley, and there, joining the Midland main line
to Manchester, form an admirable substitute for the existing one.
The stroke of policy on the part of the Midland Company saved it
at the critical moment from serious embarrassment. As it was,
the negotiations came so nearly to a dead-lock that the Midland
Company's board ordered surveys to be prepai*ed for the completion
of the alternative line ; and it would have been carried by a tunnel
under the Heights of Abraham at Matlock, up the left side of
Darley Dale to Rowsley. At the last moment, however, the matter
was adjusted, and the directors were able to announce in the report
(February, 1870) that they had "negotiated the heads of an
agreement with the Matlock directors for vesting the undertaking
in the Midland Company alone," who would now take the railway,
and also the Ambergate Canal, " with all liability and obligations
thereon, and pay the shareholders of the Matlock Company at par
in a 5 per cent, stock, with the option of converting it into Midland
ordinary stock at any time within twelve months from the expira-
tion of the lease."

This year was memorable for the supposed transfer to the
Government of the telegraphs of the country, including those
belonging to the railways. We say, the supposed transfer ; for, as
our readers are by this time aware, the whole affair was one of the
most stupendous blunders, to use no harsher term, ever transacted
even by an English Government department. It is true that
money was paid by John Bull enough to buy all the telegraphs ;
the only mistake was, that it was paid to the wrong parties ; it
was not paid to those who had the telegraphs to sell. In a word,
it was just as if the reader employed a land-agent to buy the free-
hold of an estate, and the cash was given him, but he handed it all
over to a lessee who had only a short expiring lease ; and the
purchaser soon afterwards discovered that he had to buy the estate
over again from the freeholder.

At the present moment the telegraphs on the principal railways
are still the property of those railways ; and they will have to be

MR. HUTCHINSON'S KESIGNATION. 193

purchased and paid for before they can become the property of the
Government. On this subject Mr. Allport said at a meeting of the
Statistical Society : " What did the Government do in the case of
the telegraphs ? They gave thirty years' purchase on the enhanced
price of a property which the sellers had not in their possession.
In the case of the Midland Company, for instance, the greater part
of the wires and instruments belonged to the Company, which had
an agreement with the Electric Telegraph Company expiring about
the end of 1873 or the beginning of 1874. The Government gave
the Telegraph Company thirty years' purchase ; but the Govern-
ment has yet to buy what belongs to the Midland Company, and
an arbitration as to the amount to be paid is now pending."*

At the spring meeting of shareholders (1870) Mr. W. E.
Hutchinson announced his intention to relinquish his chairman-
ship of the Company. He had arrived, he said, at a period of life
when some relaxation from business was desirable and necessary ;
and as he had devoted nearly a third of a century to the service of
the Company, he thought the time had arrived when he might
retire from the chair. Very cordial acknowledgments were made
of the services of the Chairman. Mr. Edward Baines, M.P.,
proposed that the sum of £1,000 should be placed by the share-
holders at the disposal of the Board, partly to be expended in
procuring a portrait to be placed on the walls of the Board Room,
and the remainder at the disposal of Mr. Hutchinson, for some
memorial to be presented to him. Mr. Bass, M.P., desired, through
Mr. Baines, to express his opinion that Mr. Hutchinson had been
"a most zealous, most upright, and most able servant of the Com-
pany."

At a special meeting held in May, the new Chairman, Mr. W. P.
Price, M.P., presided. The contrast between the gravity with
which the previous Chairman uniformly conducted the proceedings,
and the livelier fashion of his successor, struck many. An illus-
tration of the humour in which Mr. Price sometimes indulged
may be mentioned.

Mr. Hadley, with lugubrious accents and manner, deplored (he

* "Ought the State to Buy the Railways? A Question for Everybody."
By a Midland Shareholder. Price One Shilling. London : Longmans, Green
&Co.

194

COMPLIMENTARY DINNER.

appears always to be deploring something) the slow progress made
on the Settle and Carlisle line, the -works on which had been
retarded by the weather. Mr. Price assured Mr. Hadley that he
deeply regretted that the directors could not control the climate ;
but added, " I have no doubt if we had Mr. Hadley among us we
should be blessed with perpetual sunshine."

In the course of this year the Little North Western came under
the permanent control of the Midland Company. A lease which
had been running since February, 1860, at a rental equal to 3| per
cent., had hitherto involved the Midland Company in loss ; but
calculating on a future improvement in the traffic, it was agreed to
give " a progressive dividend at 3| per cent., in and for the year

SAWLEY BRIDGE, NEAK TRENT.

1871 ; increasing by \ per cent, in each of the years 1872, 1873,
arid 1874, and reaching in 1875 its final and maximum limit of 5
yper cent." The Sawley and "VVeston, and the Tibshelf and Tiver-
/ sail (coal) lines were during this year opened for traffic.

On the 20th of December, 1870, a complimentary dinner was
given at Derby to Mr. Hutchinson, at which the testimonial was
presented that had been voted at the general meeting of the 16th
of February ; at which, as Mr. Price said, they desired " to record
their appreciation of the eminent services their late Chairman had
rendered to the Company, and to crown with their gratef ul approval
the services of a long and faithful career." In the course of the

PROGEESS OF MIDLAND COMPANY. 195

proceedings Mr. Hutchinson remarked that his connection with
the Company dated from 1837, now 33 years ago ; and, he added,
" it sometimes makes me sad when I remember that very few of
my colleagues of that period are now left. At this table, my
brother-in-laAV, Mr. Burgess, and Mr. Barlow, our consulting
engineer, with myself, alone remain ; and, with the exception of
two or three other gentlemen who have long ceased to be connected
with railways, are all that are now left of the old Midland Coun-
ties Railway Board, with whom I began my railway life as a
director. It unfortunately happened that the Midland Counties
Railway and the Derby and Birmingham Railway had each of them
routes from Derby to London, in one case by\ way of Rugby, and
in the other by way of Hampton ; and the consequence was that
a very severe competition soon ensued for the traffic, and I found
myself in fierce opposition to my worthy and excellent friend and
predecessor in the chair, Mr. Beale, to our excellent legal adviser,
Mr. Carter, and to the present able and efficient officers of this
Company, Messrs. Allport and Kirtley. 'We contended together
for a considerable length of time ; but at last our Derby opponents
called in the aid of their ' big brother,' the North Midland, and
the consequence was that negotiations commenced, and peace was
ultimately made between us on the basis of an amalgamation of
the three companies. Since that period we have laboured earnestly,
zealously, and harmoniously together, in order to promote the
prosperity of the amalgamated companies, the mileage of which
then became 181 miles in length.

" I have seen," he continued, " many fluctuations in the fortunes
of the Company. I have seen £100 shares quoted at more than
£190, and I have seen them quoted as low as £32 or £33. I have
seen our dividends at £7 7s. 6d. per cent, per annum, and I have
seen them as low as £2 Is. per cent. Our highest rate of dividend
was achieved during the chairmanship of my excellent friend, Mr.
Beale, in, I think, 1864."

In referring to the career of the Midland Company, Mr. Allport
subsequently remarked : — " I say it advisedly, that the Midland
now stands in a position second to none in this kingdom. There
is one fact which I think shows the position of the Midland Com-
pany perhaps as well as anything else that could be named. You
will remember that it AVas proposed in the year 1867 to give a

190 CONTEST WITH GEEAT NORTHERN COMPANY.

third member to each of seven of the largest towns in this country.
It is a singular fact that the Midland Company, in its own right,
goes to every one of those seven towns, and is the only railway
that does. It is true that to each place there are two or more
railways ; but no other railway goes to the seven towns except the
Midland. I will mention them : — Bristol, Birmingham, Sheffield,
Leeds, Bradford, Liverpool, and Manchester. A short time ago I
had taken out the population of the country which the Midland
Railway accommodates. I think by the census of 1861 the popu-
lation of England, Wales, and Scotland was about twenty-two to
twenty-three millions. The Midland Railway runs to upwards of
ten millions of that population."

The remarkable progress of the general traffic that had of late
years been made on the Midland system will be indicated by the
following summary : —

1851. 1861. 1870.

Capital Expended ... £15,802,614 £21,101,133 £36,851,000

Miles of Line 496 620 826

Average Weekly Return £22,814 £40,476 £70,000

So that, as a writer remarked, the Midland has gone on " in-
creasing and cheapening the national service that it performs.
It has been on an enormous scale a public benefactor. By
facilitating trade, and stimulating manufacturing industry, —
rendering marketable mines of mineral wealth which were for-
merly almost locked up for want of means of transit, — the Midland
lines have promoted almost incalculably the public welfare. We
might venture to say, that for every shilling the Midland share-
holders have had in return for their outlay, the country at large
must have gained several shillings."

The year 1871 was signalized by the protracted conflict between
the Midland and Great Northern Companies on the subject of
coal-rates. " The shareholders are doubtless aware," said the
report at the quarterly meeting, " that after many years of nego-
tiation between the two companies, having for its object the freest
interchange of coal traffic between their respective systems, and
the opening of the Midland coal-fields to the Great Northern
Company," the rates at which they should thereafter carry the
produce of these coal-fields to market were adjusted so as to be
" fair one with the other." The circumstances that followed were

THE AGKEEMENT. 197

then described by the present writer in a letter in The Times, in
which he said : —

" The Agreement. — Before the year 1863 a severe competition
had been carried on between the Midland and the Great Northern
Companies for the coal traffic, especially to London. The conse-
quence was, that there was such, uncertainty as to the rates, that
coal- owners refused to undertake new contracts or to sink new
pits ; and this vast industry, which requires safe data on which, to
calculate, and ground of confidence in the future, was in confusion.
As the trade suffered, the railways suffered ; and eventually the
two companies resolved to end the strife and to seek relief from
several embarrassments in the future by what is known as ' the
agreement of 1863.'

" This agreement provided that the rates for coal from the
Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Notts, and Leicestershire collieries should
' be equitably adjusted to each other.' Accordingly a list of such
adjusted rates was prepared and adopted ; these rates being by
the express terms of the agreement based on ' the shortest existing
route by the Midland and Great Northern, or by such other
routes and lines as may from time to time be agreed upon by the
parties hereunto.' It was also provided that in the event of
any difference hereafter arising as to these rates, arbitrators
should have ' full power to settle what is fair.' The two com-
panies also declared that they would ' in all respects ' carry on
the traffic ' faithfully the one towards the other, and according
to the spirit and intent of this memorandum ; ' and that they
would not, by any 'means or inducements whatsoever, prevent
such traffic from being carried, or the revenues therefrom divided
and apportioned in accordance with the bond fide intent and mean-
ing of the terms of this memorandum.'

" The spirit and aim of this agreement were thus as plain
as words could make them ; but an additional safeguard was
provided. In the mineral districts occupied by the Great
Northern and Midland there were two other companies — the
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, and the South Yorkshire
(the latter now merged into the former), and they were the owners
of part of the through route. These companies were accordingly
invited to furnish a list of rates at which they would deliver
their coals on to the Midland and Great Northern respectively,

198 RUPTURE OF THE AGREEMENT.

and they did so. Inasmuch, however, as it was possible that at
some future period these rates might be modified, and that
thereby the fixed through rates already agreed upon by the
Great Northern and Midland Companies might be affected, the
contingency was provided against ; for, by a minute adopted at a
meeting on the 12th of February, 1863, the Midland and Great
Northern finally approved their list of rates, ' subject to such
alterations as may be rendered necessary by any subsequent
action of either the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Com-
pany, or the South Yorkshire Company.' By these arrangements,
both in spirit and in letter, every security was taken that the
integrity of the through rates of the two contracting companies
should be preserved ; an adjusting machinery also was provided
for rectifying any irregularity that might arise ' by any sub-
sequent action ' of other parties ; and in case of difficulty arbitra-
tors were invested with ' full power to settle what is fair.'

" The Arbitration. — The rates agreed upon remained in oper-
ation without objection till 1868, when the Great Northern Com-
pany desired that an alteration should be made in the rates from
the South Yorkshire collieries. The Midland Company contended
that the rates were only what was fair, and in 1869 the matter
went to arbitration. Sir - John Karslake was appointed sole
arbitrator, and the two companies agreed that he should have
' full power to determine ' the rates for coals carried ' by either
or both of the companies ' to the ' places mentioned in the said
agreement,' so as ' to secure to the companies the full benefit
intended by the said agreement.'

" The Award. — The arbitration occupied sixteen months. Evi-
dence was taken that fills a folio volume ; the subject was
dealt with under all its aspects ; and the decision of the arbitrator
may be summed up in his concluding words : — ' I award that no
alteration be made in the rates for coal in the said agreement or
submission to arbitration mentioned and referred to.'

" The Rupture of the Agreement. — Scarcely was the award pro-
nounced when the representatives of the Sheffield Company were
invited by the Great Northern to King's Cross ; * and as the

* On a subsequent occasion, Mr. Denison, the counsel for the Great Northern
described in the following remarkable words the action of his Company :— " The

TERMINATION OF THE STRIFE. 199

result, the Sheffield Company decided no longer to deliver their
South Yorkshire coal direct to the Great Northern at Doncaster,
as heretofore, but to send it by a circuitous route and at a
considerably reduced rate to the more southern point of Retford,
the Retford rate on to London (which was originally fixed for
the convenience of the collieries situated on the Sheffield Rail-
way, and for which Retford and Beighton are the legitimate
routes) being also less than from Doncaster. The effect of this
diversion of traffic was to create just that disturbance of the
through rate for the correction of which machinery had been
provided by the minute of February 12th ; and it therefore
became the duty of the Midland Company to claim that the
adjustment should be made. But with this claim the Great
Northern Company refuses to comply.

" The consequence was, that the through rate from South
Yorkshire to London was reduced by lid., and the Midland
Company wras compelled to make a similar reduction in its rates
from Derbyshire ; and other reductions have since been made
by the Great Northern, which the Midland Company has been
obliged to follow, until they now involve a loss to the share-
holders of the two companies to the amount of several thousand
pounds a week."

The conflict continued for many months, the Midland Company
lowering their rates as the Great Northern lowered theirs. At
the August Midland meeting it was stated, that although the
directors were "not able to report a final settlement of the matter
in dispute, the disastrous competition from the London coal
traffic had been abated. Various meetings of the managers and
deputations of the Midland and Great Northern Boards had taken
place; but at the last of these it appeared that the Great Northern
Company were not in a condition to deal absolutely with their
own rates, and that any arrangement between the two companies
would virtually have left the rates of both subject to the control
of others. This, in the opinion of the directors, rendered any
agreement impracticable ; and it was therefore determined that
the Midland Company should pursue its independent course, and

award was in August of 1870. . . . We began to look at the agreement,
and see whether we could drive a coach and six through it." — Evidence, Great
Northern Raihvay (No. 2) Bill, May 2nd, 1872, p. 9.

200 SOUTH WESTERN JUNCTION.

an increase had been effected in the rates to London, to date from
the 1st of May."

A bill was passed during this year (1871), which authorized
certain parties in Birmingham to construct a railway from the
commercial centre of the town to King's Norton in Worcester-
shire, but to be worked by the Midland Company. " The line,"
said Mr. Price, " was much desired by the neighbourhood. It
would give to the Midland Company an admirable goods station
in the commercial centre of Birmingham, and there was a
prospect of a good suburban traffic. It was one of those lines
which, if the Midland Company did not desire to work it, which
they did, they could not possibly allow to pass into other hands."
An arrangement was also made for the Midland Company to share
with some other companies in the lease of a line near London,
called the South "Western Junction. It turns off from the Mid-
land Company's line near Cricklewood, and running southward,
joins, as its name indicates, the South Western Railway. The
line had been earning 5| to 6 per cent. ; the lessees undertook
among them to guarantee 7 per cent.

In the autumn of 1871 the railway world was filled with
rumours that the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire coalfields of
the Midland Company were to be entered in all directions by a
series of lines connected with the Grantham and Nottingham
branch of the Great Northern, and, — in association with the
London and North Western, — were to be continued through the
Erewash Valley to Derby and Burton and to the North Stafford-
shire lines. The same company had further resolved to construct
lines from Newark to Melton Mowbray, Leicester, and Market
Harborough. Other railway pi'ojects in these districts were also
in contemplation.

Such was the conflict of contesting claims. As, however, the
parliamentary session drew on, it was suggested that there should
be some adjustment of affairs before war actually broke out. " I
had occasion," said Mr. W. P. Price, M.P., the Chairman of the
Midland Company, in subsequently recounting the circumstances,
" to meet Sir Edward Watkin on other business. After having
disposed of that business, the conversation naturally turned
upon the lines which either had been deposited at that time or
which were going to be deposited; and Sir Edward Watkin,

GREAT NORTHERN DERBYSHIRE BILL. 201

taking the map which, he had on his table, and a pencil, sketched
out what the known and deposited lines of all the companies
were. It was suggested by one or other of us, I do not remem-
ber which, that it would be a very good thing if the lines pro-
moted by the three companies could be abandoned for the session,
in order to await the issue of the proposal then made to amalga-
mate the London and North Western and the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Companies. I told him, that, so far as we were con-
cerned, we were in some little difficulty about one portion of our
scheme, namely, the line from Nottingham to Saxby, because we
were feeling very much oppressed by the increasing traffic upon
the mineral portions of our line, and we were extremely anxious
to get an alternative route for some of it : but I offered at once
to abandon the Doncaster line, and the Hassop and Dore line,
and the line from Manton to Bushton ; and he agreed to
abandon his Doncaster line, his Market Harborough line, and
another. Eventually these concessions were definitely arranged ;
and the proposed competitive lines of the Midland and the Man-
chester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Companies were withdrawn.
Proposals to the like effect were made to the Great Northern,
but, for reasons that will soon appear, were declined.

The Derbyshire bill of the Great Northern was brought before
the Commons' Committee, May 2nd, 1872. It may be thought
that it would have been better that this particular measure
should have been promoted simply on its own merits, and that it
should have been separated from recent incidents in the annals
of the Great Northern Company; but Mr. Denison, wisely or
otherwise, distinctly indicated the influence under which the
project had been conceived. He referred at some length to what
he called " the disputes of last year, which," he said, " instead of
being settled, have gone on and got worse instead of better, until
it has become necessary to settle them by the promotion of this
line." No wonder that Mr. Venables, on behalf of the Midland
Company, complained. " We are mulcted," he declared, " in
many thousands, by a deliberate breach of faith on the part of
the Great Northern ; and not content with that, and not content
with having triumphed by repudiating their honourable debt,
they now came to inflict upon us another and more serious and
more permanent injury.' .

202 DEFECTS OF THE GREAT NORTHERN LINE.

Although the bill of the Great Northern was eventually passed,
there are two or three points connected with the opposition
of the Midland Company which may be noticed. The first is,
the remarkable fact that, if the proposed line was supposed to be
for the good of the coal-owners of the Erewash and Mansfield
Valleys, none of those gentlemen, with two unimportant excep-
tions, could be prevailed upon to give evidence on behalf of the
new project. Indeed, they felt that a company like the Great
Northern, that was so deeply interested in the South Yorkshire
coalfields, and which had lately shown such hostility to the
Derbyshh'e coal-owners, could now have no favourable intentions
towards them. "I think," says Mr. Robert Harrison, of East-
wood, the manager for Messrs. Barber, Walker & Co., who men-
tioned that their total output was nearly 750,000 tons for the
year, " I think the Great Northern have always fought against
the Derbyshire collieries in aid of the South Yorkshire coalpits."
The London and North Western, too, " has always," said Mr.
Venables, " discouraged Derbyshire coal for the protection of
Lancashire, and," added the learned counsel, " I say it will be an
unprecedented thing to make a line for the purpose of discour-
aging and checking the competition of the districts through
which that line passes." "I think it would be ungrateful," said
Mr. Sanders, the mineral agent for the Shipley Colliery Company,
" if I did not come here to speak for the Midland Company.
And I may say also that nineteen-twentieths of the coal-masters
in the EreAvash Valley are of the same opinion. I have been
connected," he added, " with the Coal-owners' Association for the
last 20 years nearly, and I never saw them so united on any-
one subject as the question of the Great Northern being intro-
duced into the Erewash Valley." " We cannot," he said, " be
better served than we are now. The power of the Midland to
cany coal is in excess of the pOAver of production."

Criticisms were also offered with regard to the construction of
the new railway. " The Midland Company's line," said Mr.
Crossley, " all the Avay from Codnor Park to the Trent, with one
exception of a few yards, is on a descending gradient and in
favour of the load; on the other hand the Great Northern line is
on a gradient rising for more than two miles in sections of 1 in
100 against the load." The Midland Railway has been laid out

THIRD CLASS BY ALL TEAINS. 203

by Mr. Jessop so as to follow the natural valley ; and "the lines
and tramways fall naturally into it ; whereas the Great Northern
would in some parts have to be carried on an embankment to
the height of 51 feet above and across the Midland. " There-
fore I say," remarked Mr. Crossley, "that coals can be conveyed
on the Midland Railway at a profit at a much lower rate than
they can be conveyed on the Great Northern at a profit."

The half-yearly report, presented to the proprietors in August,
1872, stated that the Great Northern Company's bills for lines
into Derbyshire, and also from Newark through Melton to
Leicester, both of which the Midland had opposed, had met with
the approval of Parliament. The bill for the fusion of the Mid-
land and the Glasgow and South Western Railway Companies,
which had again been sanctioned without a dissentient voice at
the spring meeting of shareholders, had been suspended on account
of the appointment of a Joint Committee of the two Houses to
consider the general question of railway amalgamation.

With reference to these events, Mr. Price, the Chairman, said,
that in his judgment the invasion of the Derbyshire coalfield
was " inconsistent with good faith towards ourselves, and with
the integrity of treaties. We believe the lines were uncalled for
in the public interests ; and they were not even supported by
those local interests which they were supposed to be especially
designed to serve. We believe that the lines of the Midland
Company were fully competent to the traffic, no insufficiency
having either been alleged or proved. But since Parliament in
its wisdom has thought fit to sanction the invasion, we have no
alternative but to submit ; and as the subject is a very painful
one, and as any discussion would be fruitless, we think that
silence is the more dignified and discreet."

Other circumstances of interest occurred during this year in
connection with the Midland Railway. One of the most important
of these was with regard to third-class passengers. On the last
day of March, 1872, we remarked to a friend : " To-morrow morn-
ing the Midland will be the most popular railway in England."
Nor did we incur much risk by our prediction. For on that day
the board at Derby had decided that on and after the 1st of April
they would run third-class carriages by all trains ; the wires had
flashed the tidings to the newspapers ; the bills were in the hands

204

THIKD CLASS BY ALL TRAINS.

of the printers, and on the following morning the directors woke
to find themselves famous, not perhaps in the estimation of railway
competitors, but in the opinions of millions of their fellow-country-
men, who felt that a mighty boon had been conferred upon the
poor of the land. This step had, we believe, long been in con-
templation, and in deciding to adopt it the board had had to
prepare for what some expected would be a serious sacrifice of
revenue ; but reasons of high policy won the day, and tens of
millions of passengers who have since been borne swiftly and

SLIP AT DOVE HOLES CUTTING.

comfortably over the land have been grateful that instead of* the
narrowness and greed so commonly and often so unjustly attributed
to railway administration, a statesmanlike and philanthropic
temper has prevailed and triumphed.

Great pressure was subsequently put upon the Midland Com-
pany to consent to the withdrawal of these benefits ; and it must
be admitted that the folly and injustice of the Government in
inflicting a fine upon the railways for their liberality would have
amply justified such a course. Several of the companies have
somewhat increased the fares for those who travelled by fast

AN ELEVATED POLICY.

205

third-class trains ; happily for the public, the Midland Company
has remained firm to its original purpose. " If there is one part
of my public life," recently said Mr. Allport to the writer, " on
Avhich I look back with more satisfaction than on anything else,
it is with reference to the boon we conferred on third-class
travellers. When the rich man travels, or if he lies in bed all
day, his capital remains undiminished, and perhaps his income
flows in all the same. But when a poor man travels he has not
only to pay his fare but to sink his capital, for his time is his
capital ; and if he now consumes only five houi-s instead of ten

DOVE HOLES CUTTING CLEARED.

in making a journey, he has saved five hours of time for useful
labour — useful to himself, to his family, and to society. And,"
Mr. Allport added, " I think with even more pleasure of the
comfort in travelling we have been able to confer upon women
and children."

" I felt saddened," said Mr. Allport, on a subsequent occasion,
" to see third-class passengers shunted on a siding in cold and
bitter weather, — a train containing amongst others many lightly-
clad women and children, — for the convenience of allowing the
more comfortable and warmly-clad passengers to pass them. I
have even known third-class trains to be shunted into a siding to

206 A SLIP.

allow express goods to pass. I have witnessed it with pain and
sorrow. I have been accused, and for this alteration with regard
to second-class carriages, of communism and democracy, of wishing
to do away with all sorts of institutions. Yet," he added, " I
would not undo what I have done for a million of money — the
million which a gentleman in the railway world thought it right
to say it would have been worth the while of the railway com-
panies to give me, to buy an estate to retire upon."

In the course of the year the sanction of the Midland share-
holders was given to a bill promoted for " the construction of
railways between Walsall in Staffordshire and the Midland Railway
in Warwickshire, to be called the Wolverhampton, Walsall, and
Midland Junction," and containing permissive power for the Com-
pany to enter into agreement with the Midland Company for its
working and maintenance. The Bedford and Northampton
Railway was opened in June, 1872. The line starts about two
miles and a half north of Bedford, and runs chiefly through
cuttings to Northampton. Some of the gradients are heavy — one
is one in eighty-four.

During a tremendous storm, of thunder, lightning, and rain, on
the 19th of June, 1872, which deluged the country far and wide,
a slip took place at the northern entrance of the Dove Holes
Tunnel on the Manchester line, crushing in part of the covered
way that extended beyond the tunnel, and laying an arrest upon
the traffic for several weeks. Goods trains, however, were able
to run on the 28th of July. The repairs cost £10,000, irrespective
of the loss and the diversion of the traffic. " The inconvenience
to the public," Mr. Price remarked to the Midland shareholders,
" was very much decreased by the assistance rendered by the
London and North Western Railway Company ; and I am happy
to take the opportunity of publicly expressing our grateful re-
cognition of their aid."

CHAPTER XII.

Negotiations between Sheffield and Midland Companies. — Forty days' battle in
the Commons. — The chief portions of the bill rejected. — "Flirtations" of
the Sheffield Company. — Bill for amalgamation of Midland and Glasgow
and South Western. — Mr. Price resigns the Chairmanship to become a
Railway Commissioner. — Eise of the price of everything connected with
railways. — Improved communication between Midland and North Eastern
system. — Origin of the Swinton and Knottingley line. — Congestion of
traffic at Nonnanton. — Sir Edmund Beckett and the Aquabus. — Eival de-
signs.— Evidence. — Decision of committee. — Bill passed. — Running powers
under the bill. — Manton and Rushton line sanctioned. — Cheshire Lines Com-
mittee bill, for extension to North Docks at Liverpool. — New line to Wigan.
— Bill sanctioned.— Midland Company's access to South Wales. — Existing
through routes. — Mr. Noble's evidence. — Mr. Venables' speech. — Hereford,
Hay and Brecon. — Proposed amalgamation with the Midland. — Three
years' litigation. — Swansea Vale line. — Evidence. — Midland proposal to
lease the Swansea Vale. — Terms. — Brecon and Neath Railway. — Evidence.
—Bill passed. — Testimonial to Mr. Price. — Abolition of Second Class. —
Opposition of other companies. — Lord Redesdale. — Settle and Carlisle line
opened for goods. — Capital Account. — Chairman's retrospect.— Lease of
Somerset and Dorset. — Floods. — Cost and profit of St. Pancras Hotel. —
Mr. M. W. Thompson, Chairman. — Tribute to the memory of the late
Chairman, Mr. E. S. Ellis. — Mr. Allport's retirement from office of General
Manager. — Appointment of Mr. John Noble. — Doubling of Belsize Tunnel.
— Hellifield Junction. — "John Noble" expresses. — New station and line
at Market Harborough. — Report of Select Committee on railways (rates
and fares). — Death of Mr. W. E. Hutchinson. — Dore and Chinley Railway.
— Cost of English railways. — Special meeting with respect to Mr. Mun-
della's bill.

THE great political work of the Midland Company during the
parliamentary session of 1873 arose out of events to which
reference has already been made. The negotiations that had
taken place in the previous year between the Midland and the
Sheffield Companies, and which led to the temporary abandonment
of their competing schemes, were followed by an agreement to

promote a joint line direct from north to south from Askerne,

• 307

208 MIDLAND AND SHEFFIELD COMPANIES* PEOJECTS.

near Doncaster, to the Midland line at Rushton. On this scheme
the Midland were not unwilling to enter, as the loss they had
sustained by the intrusion of the Great Northern into the Derby-
shire coalfields had led them to consider whether they could not
claim or reclaim a share of that North Eastern traffic which they
had originally enjoyed, but of which the Great Northern had
largely deprived them ; and the Sheffield Company was glad of a
free access to London and of an independence it had long coveted
from the " jealous and somewhat hostile neighbours," as Mr.
Venables described them, with which it was surrounded. The
contemplated outlay was £2,600,000 or £2,700,000, or about
£23,000 a mile, on a mileage of 115 miles. It was anticipated
that coal would be found upon more than half of the entire route.
" The line is to be constructed," said the Company's report, A at
joint and equal cost, and with equal rights of user, with running
powers to the Midland Company on to the South Yorkshire
Districts, and to Grimsby and New Holland ; and to the Sheffield
Company over the Midland Railway from Rushton to London. It
is also proposed, as part of the scheme, to open out, by a line
between Conisborough and Shireoaks, an important coalfield at
present without access to the markets, and from which a valuable
traffic will be secured to the joint lines."

After a forty days' conflict of great severity, the Commons'
Committee granted to the Midland and Sheffield Companies the
Rushton and Melton portion of the line, also the part from
Conisborough to Shireoaks, but took out the great intermediate
links of the scheme, and all the running powers to be interchanged
between the Midland and the Sheffield Companies, and thus left
the Midland " to find a body for their head and tail by means of
the existing lines, a practicable but somewhat circuitous route."
In this mutilated condition the bill went up to the Lords, who
still further "amended" it by striking out the Rushton and
Melton portion, leaving only the Shireoaks — a mere fragment of
the original scheme ; and the Midland, having duly considered
the altered condition of affairs, decided to withdraw what re-
mained of the bill.

In subsequently referring to the various efforts made by the
Sheffield Company — of which this was the latest — to enter into
alliance with one or another of the surrounding companies, Sir

FLIETATIONS. 209

Mordaunfc Wells playfully remarked : " What have the Sheffield
done ? They have flirted with the North Western since 1856 ;
they then flirted with the Great Northern ; they then flirted with
the Midland ; then they flirted with the Eastern Counties and the
coal-owners. Then, in 1872, they flirted again with their old
love, the London and North Western ; and now, in 1873, there is
a mild flirtation between Sir Edward Watkin and Mr. Allport ;
and, like all flirts, mark my words, the Sheffield will be left
without an alliance with any of them, and will entertain that
feeling which all flirts entertain towards all mankind when they
have been left completely in the lurch, and she will move about
society on her own hook, catching whom she can. This is not the
less true because it creates a little mirth."

In the course of the year there was a renewal of the application
for the amalgamation of the Midland and the Glasgow and South
Western. "You are aware," said Mr. Price, " that a bill for that
purpose was approved by you in 1869, and another last year ;
the former of these having passed through the Commons, being
rejected by the House of Lords, on account of, as we are informed,
the insufficient security for the completion of the Settle and
Carlisle line ; and the latter bill having been postponed last year
to await the report of the Joint Committee of both Houses on the
great question of railway amalgamation." This Joint Committee
rejected the amalgamation bill, for reasons which nobody knows.

At the conclusion of the proceedings at the spring meeting of
proprietors, Mr. Price asked permission to inform the shareholders
that that was the last occasion on which he should have the
honour of addressing them from that chair. " It is, no doubt,"
he said, " a matter of sufficiently public notoriety that I have
accepted office as one of the three Commissioners to be appointed
under the Railways and Canal Traffic Act." He spoke of the
great pain with which he severed himself from a company and
from colleagues with whom he had been intimately associated
for nearly one-and-twenty years. " I cannot claim to be one of
the fathers of the undertaking, but I may at least say with truth
that I have stood by its cradle, and watched and aided others in
fostering its growth. From this time henceforth the Midland
Company to me must be as one of the great commonwealth of
railway enterprise."

210 SWINTON AND KNOTTINGLEY LINE.

During tins year the Midland Company lost by death the
sei'vices of one who is not undeserving of special notice, Mr.
Matthew Kirfcley, their locomotive superintendent. His father
a colliery owner ; himself, at the age of thirteen or fourteen,
employed on that cradle of the railway system, the Stockton and
Darlington line, and afterwards on the London and Birmingham,
he was early and through his life identified with railway interests.
He drove the first locomotive that entered London, in 1839.
When the Derby and Birmingham was opened he was selected
by the Stephensons as locomotive superintendent ; on the union
of the three lines which formed the Midland Company he retained
the same position ; and here his responsibilities steadily increased
until some 7,000 men were directly under his control, including
2,000 at Derby. " He was a man of clear sagacity and well-
balanced judgment, and possessed a power of organization and
arrangement which enabled him to exercise an effective control
over the whole of the extensive concern for which he was respon-
sible. In nothing was he more distinguished than in his command
of men. Simple in his manners, easily approachable, able to
sympathise with the workmen's position and difficulties, and
strictly candid, he was singularly happy in dealing with com-
plaints. While sympathising and conciliating, he was also firm
and decisive, and, like all strong men, employed few words to
convey his resolves." Mr. Kirtley died May 24th, 1873.

The year 1874 witnessed some quiet but important develop-
ments of the Midland system, both in the area of its operations
and in the policy by which it was administered. In its earlier
months much time and labour were devoted to securing the pass-
ing of important bills for new lines. One of these was for a
railway to improve the communication between the Midland and
the North Eastern systems. It appears that after the great fight
of the previous session for the bill by which the Midland and
Sheffield Companies were jointly to reach the North Eastern at
Askerne, Mr. Harrison, the engineer in chief of that Company,
" formed a very strong opinion " that such a line would not have
been advantageous to the parties concerned ; but " from the
Ordnance surveys and contour lines, and some sections " which
he obtained, he considered that the right direction in which to
run such a line was between Swinton and Knottingley ; and " I

PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES. 211

then suggested it," lie said, " to Mr. Allport, and also to the
officials of the North Eastern Company." " That," said Mr.
Harrison to Mr. Allport, " in my judgment, is your course north-
ward. It will give you almost an unobstructed road, as there is no
traffic scarcely upon the line from Knottingley to York ; the Great
Northern having removed the whole of their through traffic on
the new line from Askerne to York, you will have as good access
to York as the Great Northern." " I was very much impressed
with that," Mr. Allport subsequently remarked; "and after dis-
cussing it with Mr. Harrison, and ascertaining from the North
Eastern that they were quite willing to exchange running powers,
so that York might be the common point of exchange both with
the Great Northern and ourselves, I submitted the plan to the
Midland directors, and it resulted in this bill."

The main object contemplated by this line, as we have re-
marked, was to improve the communication between the Midland
and North-Eastern systems ; " and that," said Mr. Venables, " is
not a small object." The Midland Company includes more than
1,200 miles of railway, and the North Eastern some 1,450 miles ;
" both of them have a very large traffic, and from their geogra-
phical position and their peculiar resources of traffic there is a
very large exchange, which we propose to improve and facilitate."
The intended line would shorten the distance from the North-
Eastern to Sheffield by seven miles, and would in a still greater
degree facilitate the interchange of traffic. The present point of
exchange is Normanton, and the approach of the North Eastern
to that station is from a place called Burton Salmon, one of the
most crowded parts of the system ; while at Normanton the weight
of traffic exchanged in 1872 was more than 1,500,000 tons and
the passengers 680,000 ; the proportion of the Midland being about
half the tonnage and some 278,000 passengers, taking no account
of the Midland main traffic north and south. The position of the
Normanton station, with a heavy embankment at the north and
a deep cutting at the south, rendered it difficult to extend the
area of the station so as to avoid an increasing congestion of
traffic. "We have acquired," said Mr. Allport, " about as much
land as we can ; we have spent within the last few years a large
sum of money, but we cannot keep pace with the requirements."
In the previous month of November the delays amounted to nearly

212 PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES.

1,000 hours ; which, calculating an engine to work ten hours a
day — an outside estimate — would mean that the services of four
engines were entirely wasted at that station ; and as all railway
companies consider that an engine costs from £1,000 to £1,500 a
year, a loss of £4,000 or £6,000 a year on engine power alone was
thus incurred, besides all other inconvenience and loss contingent
thereon. "Any one, in fact," said Mr. Harrison, the North
Eastern engineer-in- chief, " who has travelled from Normanton
to York, must be perfectly aware of the absolute necessity for
doing something to get rid of the stoppage which takes place
there."

Another of the practical difficulties created by this defective
communication between the two systems was mentioned by Mr.
Tennant. " We have," he said, " an express train starting from
Newcastle at 10 o'clock in the morning, taking passengers that
have come in by local trains from Tynemouth, Shields, Hexham,
Morpeth, Alnwick, and as far as Berwick. We cannot start it
earlier than 10 o'clock without seriously interfering with a large
number of local passengers. The train arrives at York quite in
time for a train to go on to London ; but we have not been able
to make it fit in at Normanton with an important train of the
Midland Company which goes through to Bristol and the West
of England. We tried it for some time, and we failed ; we had
not time. Of course our suggestion to the Midland Company was
that they should start their train later : but they are tied up at
Bristol, and various other places on the line, with other companies'
trains, and they could not start it later ; and we could not start
ours earlier. Although a passenger can start from Newcastle at
10 o'clock and go right through to London, he must start at half-
past eight o'clock to catch a corresponding Midland train to the
West of England, and from the local towns somewhat earlier."

This important project of the Midland and North Eastern
Companies was not, however, allowed to be brought forward
without resistance. Another line was advocated by the Great
Northern and Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Companies,
which, starting from Swinton or Mexborough, would run to
Knottingley. Mr. Denison, who afterwards became Sir Edmund
Beckett, and, more lately, Lord Grimthorpe, and who appeared
on its behalf, thus referred to Mexborough : "I am old enough

OBJECTIONS AND EEPLIES. 213

to remember when Mexborough was a very small place upon the
banks of the Don ; when we used to travel from Swinton by a
vehicle which should have its name perpetuated. It was called
by an ingenious gentleman 'the Aquabus,' meaning a vehicle
which went by water through the river Don. He evidently
thought it necessary to keep the word ' bus.' But since that time
Mexborough has become a sort of Castleford, or almost a sort of
Middlesbrough ; it has iron works and glass works, and it builds
boats ; though, I am afraid, no more aquabuses."

The main difference, remarked Sir Edmund Beckett, between
the proposed railway of the Midland and North Eastern and that
which he advocated " is, that our line has more junctions, and
goes to more places " than the rival line, and is to a certain extent,
a more "local line;" "but at the bottom, the two lines are so
very identical " that there is little in many respects to choose
between them. It appears also that the promoters and the Shef-
field Company offered not only that the Great Northern but the
Midland and North Eastern should share in it ; but the proposal
was by the latter companies declined. "Therefore," remarked
Sir Edmund, " it cannot be said that the Sheffield Company are
desirous to make this line with the object of shutting everybody
else out of it. On the contrary, they desire to get everybody into
it. The object has been to make a line that should be an open
route or highway to everybody who was inclined to use it upon
fair terms."

The proposal for a joint use of the line was objected to by the
representatives of the Midland and North Eastern, on the ground
that it was undesirable that any part of the control of the railway
should be in the hands of those whose interest it would be to
thwart the design of those who projected it. " It is said," re-
marked Mr. Venables, "that the four companies could get on
remarkably well together. Bat we know that if the four com-
panies were upon the line, in some way or other their conflicting
interests must be adjusted, occasionally to the injury of one,
occasionally to the injury of another, always to the inconve-
nience of those who are to be postponed. Upon a railway, as
upon any other kind of horse, if two men ride, one must ride
behind ; and if four men ride, three must ride behind. We
naturally decline to subject this traffic, which is wholly inde-

214 LOCAL OBJECTIONS.

pendent of any rival companies, to their control. They would
be only too happy to put a block there which would deprive us
of any opportunity of improving the communication in our own
hands. They would be glad to take in a dozen companies, and
would be ready to take the chance of any inconvenience which
might arise. The present route, by which the Midland Company
and North Eastern connect, is absolutely in their own hands.
They meet at Normanton, Avith nobody between them, — with no
partner north, with no partner south ; they have the control in
their own hands. It is now proposed, that because they ask to
be allowed to create a great public benefit, by shortening the line
and improving the service, they are not to do it unless they let in
two other companies. What do we take away from them ?
What wrong do we do them ? We take nothing away from them
whatever except this, — that whereas we have now a compara-
tively circuitous route to the North, we propose to make a direct
one."

In drawing his address to a conclusion, Mr. Venables referred
playfully to one or two local objections to the line. One was by
the Vicar of Ferry Bridge, " who evidently thought he ought to
have been told that the Midland and North Eastern Companies
would have a station " at his village. If he had only known that
there will be one, " I suppose he would not have come here. But
as they will have a station, he and his parishioners will be as
happy as the day is long, and will be always travelling backwards
and forwards along our line." Another series of petitioners
declared that in their opinion " the railway proposed by the Mid-
land Company would seriously interfere with the amenities of
Ackworth and the district ; " and on a witness being asked whether
he thought the said "amenities" would be compromised, he em-
phatically replied, "Most undoubtedly;" though what he or the
district meant by the phrase, we must leave to the imagination of
oui' reader.

On the case for both parties being completed (June 10th, 1874),
the committee room was cleared, and the members remained in
consultation for upwards of an hour. When the parties to the
bill were re-admitted, and the counsel were seated at the table,
and silence was restored, the Chairman announced that " the
preamble of the Midland and North Eastern Bill was not proved,

MANTON AND RUSHTON LINE. 215

and also that the preamble of the Leeds, Pontefract and Sheffield
Junction Bill was not proved." So extraordinary a decision was
regarded as in the nature of a practical joke ; it called forth a
roar of laughter, in which we are informed the members of the
committee heartily joined. A few days, afterwards, however, the
Midland and North Eastern Bill was re-committed and passed.
The estimated cost of the line was £480,000 ; the distance fifteen
miles.

The Midland Company also sought for parliamentary powers to
construct a line from Acton to Hammersmith. By means of the
North and South Western Junction, which turns off from the
Midland at Brent, Acton was reached, and from thence it was
desired to pass on to Hammersmith, and along the Hammersmith
Extension to the Metropolitan District.

This line was objected to by the Great "Western Company, on
the ground that it was an infringement of an agreement made
between that company and the Midland in 1863, by which they
agreed not to interfere with each other's "district." To this it
was replied, that London could not be called a " district" for any
such purpose. Such an interpretation, it was contended, would
have prevented the Great Western reaching the docks at the East
of London, because the Midland was there before them ; would
have even shut the Midland out of London ; and was contrary to
public policy. " According to such an interpretation, the Midland
Company could never," said Mr. Allport, " except subject to the
veto of the Great Western, give any additional accommodation
in London ; and, conversely, the Great Western could never, except
subject to the veto of the Midland Company, do the same. I can-
not conceive anything more anti-public than a restriction of that
kind in the hands of three great companies ; and I am quite sure
that it never crossed the mind of any Midland director or officer
that that clause had the slightest bearing on operations in
London." On July 1, 1874, the Lords' Committee decided that
" it was not expedient to proceed with this bill."

Another Midland project of this year was for a railway of fifteen
miles from Manton, on the Syston and Peterborough, to Rushton.
Its design was, in conjunction with the Nottingham and Melton
line already sanctioned, — and a link of the Syston and Peter-
borough Railway, — to supply an alternative route from the great

216 CHESHIRE LINES EXTENSION.

central coalfield of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire to Rushton
and the South. Two years previously (1872) a similar bill had
been applied for, but had been withdrawn. In 1873 matters had
been suspended by reason of the endeavour of the Midland and
Sheffield Companies to carry their joint line ; but that having been
rejected by Parliament, this was revived, and eventually it was
approved.

The Cheshire Lines Committee (who, as our readers are aware,
represent the Midland, Great Northern, and Sheffield Companies)
this year (1874) applied to Parliament for some important exten-
sions of the area of their operations. The railways of this com-
mittee commence at a place a little east of Stockport (at Godley
Junction) and run through Stockport, Altrincham, and Warrington,
to Liverpool ; down also to Knutsford, Northwich, and Chester,
with branches to Winsford and other places. A line also is in
course of construction which will run to a central station in
Manchester, within two or three minutes' walk of the Exchange.
The committee now desired to obtain communication with the north
end of Liverpool. The three lines owned some 2,000 miles of
railway ; had spent, in their joint operations, about £6,000,000 in
money ; and had access to the Brunswick Docks, commonly called
the South-end Dock System, at Liverpool, where they secured a
traffic inwards and outwards in 1873 of 300,000 tons ; but they
had no connection with the docks that stretched six miles in length
to the north of the town, and which were steadily extending north-
ward, except by means of tramways alongside the docks, which
are constantly occupied by other companies, and by omnibuses
carrying local traffic. On those docks it was said that the London
and North Western and Lancashire and Yorkshii-e Companies had
no fewer than twenty stations ; and the Cheshire Companies
claimed some share in the advantages of direct access to such
important sources of traffic. The proposed line, too, would free
the streets of Liverpool from an enormous amount of cartage.

In the previous year (1873) the Cheshire Companies had, under
their several powers, bought twenty-three acres of land for station
purposes ; but at present they had no access to it. The only ways
of reaching it were either by making an underground or deep-cut
line through Liverpool (and such a scheme had been contemplated
in the previous year, at a cost, it was currently reported, of some-

PROPOSED FACILITIES AT BIEKENHEAD. 217

tiling like a million and a half of money), or by a line skirting
Liverpool on its eastern side. The latter course was preferred.
The line would, including branches, be thirteen miles long, and
would cost £600,000.

The proposed railway would also render another important
service. The Midland Company has access from the North over
its own line from Skipton to Colne ; and it has running powers
southwards from Colne to Preston, Manchester, and Liverpool ;
these privileges having been conceded when the Lancashire and
Yorkshire were in Parliament to amalgamate with the East
Lancashire, as the price of the withdrawal of Midland opposition.
The line now proposed to the north of Liverpool would join the
Lancashire and Yorkshire near Aintree, and would thus give direct
communication between the Cheshire Companies' Liverpool ter-
minus and the Midland route to Colne, Skipton, Settle, and
Carlisle.

Objections to the new scheme were made by the companies
already in possession of the district. They said of the proposals
of the Cheshire Committee, " that they were entitled to complain "
of them. " Yes," replied Sir Edmund Beckett, " I dare say they
will complain. They cannot be prevented from complaining.
They were displeased at our getting access to Manchester ; they
were displeased at our getting access to Liverpool ; and they are
displeased at everything we have done." It was objected that
certain junctions proposed on the line were badly designed. " I
never knew," returned the counsel, " a junction that was not
badly designed, when it was designed by another company." This
line secured the sanction of Parliament.

The Cheshire Lines Committee also sought, under their Ad-
ditional Powers Act, for further facilities at Birkenhead. It
appears that under the Act of 1861, which amalgamated the
Birkenhead line with the London and North Western and Great
Western, " facilities " were allowed to the Cheshire Lines Com-
mittee. Yet these facilities operated in so ineffectual a way, that
the Cheshire Companies felt compelled to seek for powers to run
their trains from their own system at Helsby, over the main line,
and through the station of the two companies, in order to reach
the docks at Birkenhead, and there to conduct their own traffic.
" We do not ask," said Mr. Allport, " for any powers over their

218 EXTENSION TO WIGAN COALFIELD.

station or goods wai-ehouses, or the sidings in their stations, but
simply to pass over their main lines to enable us to get to the
Dock Board lines." The main contention on the part of the
Cheshire Companies was admitted by Parliament ; and the pre-
amble of the bill was proved (April 30th, 1874) ; but instead of
running powers being granted, it was thought better that the two
companies should be " bound to give all possible facilities to the
Cheshire Lines Committee from their stations to all parts of the
Birkenhead Docks ; otherwise it would be in the right of that
committee on a future occasion to apply to Parliament for com-
pulsory running powers."

A third proposal, in this instance of the Midland and Sheffield
members of the Cheshire Committee, was to obtain power to
connect the railways of the three companies by a line eleven and
a half miles long, and at a cost of £300,000, with the Wigan coal-
field. Wigan was on the North Western and Lancashire and
Yorkshire lines, " hitherto a kind of preserve of those two com.
panics." The line was to stai-t from Glazebrobk, on the New
Manchester and Liverpool line. This Wigan coalfield covers about
half the proposed line.

In submitting the claims of the new line, the Chairman of the
Committee took occasion to remark that ," the whole matter ap-
peared to the committee to lie in a nutshell. Of course we must
have the engineer before us to prove the woi'kability of the line.
But the whole thing turns on the question whether or not you
can make out a case of a sufficient amount of traffic to warrant a
new line. The committee want to know about the whole district,
such as what is the probable amount of coal that there is ; how
many millions of tons would be likely to be obtained ; " and he
intimated that they would prefer the evidence of some colliery
surveyor who knew the whole of the country. As to delays, the
Chairman added, " We know it stands to reason that there must
be delays where there is a large amount of traffic. I know the
Lancashire and Yorkshire system, and I know that delays are
enormous."

This demand it was not difficult to meet. The mineral wealth
of the district was enormous. There were several places raising
quantities of coal of which the unit is 100,000 tons a year.
"There is one works alone where it is 1,800,000 tons; there are

EAILWAYS IN SOUTH WALES. 219

others which are raising 200,000, 300,000, and 400,000 tons. In
fact, the figures are so large that they give one hardly any more
definite ideas than the miles' distance of the planets and stars,
which one says by heart without receiving clear impressions from
them."

It was also shown that, so far as the Midland and Great
Northern were concerned, this was a sealed district. Mr. All-
port stated that such a line would be a valuable piece of railway
construction, and more valuable to the Midland than to either
of the other Cheshire Companies. The London and North Western
had entered the Derbyshire coalfields, " competition seemed to be
the order of the day," and he " did not see any reason wrhy the
Midland should not get into the Lancashire coalfields ; " and " the
difference between Wigan and London by the Midland lines now
in construction would only be about three miles more than by
the London and North Western." There would thus practically
be between Wigan and London " an alternative route, almost
identical in distance writh the North Western main route. Then
again, in London we serve different districts. We have now five
depots in London : one at St. Pancras, which is at least a mile
from Camden Town; we have two on the south side of 'the
Thames ; one at Walworth Road, and another at Battersea ; and
we provide coal depots in various parts of the City. We have
also been frequently asked to get Wigan coal into Nottingham
and Leicester, and told that although they are both close to coal-
fields, they want the cannel coal of Wigan for gas manufacture."
" I know," he added, "several of the large coal and iron masters
of the district, and for many years they have asked me why we
did not get a line into that country."

The bill was granted, subject to some engineering modifications,
to avoid unnecessary interference with the London and North
Western line.

A successful effort was also made during this session (1874) of
Parliament to improve the position of the Midland Company in
the Principality. The condition of railway affairs in South Wales
was as follows : — The three great railway systems that approach
the West of England — viz., the Midland, the North Western, and
the Great Western — had access, by something like parallel lines,
to Swansea. The London and North Western had two routes to

220 MIDLAND COMPANY'S ACCESS TO SOUTH WALES.

South Wales. These converged at Shrewsbury, a station the joint
property of that company and of the Great Western, and from
thence the line proceeded vid Hereford and Abergavenny to the
mineral lines in the mineral valleys running generally north and
south, with a terminus at Dowlais. They had also another route
vid Llandovery and the Vale of Towy Railway to Swansea. The
Great Western had the coast line, formerly known as the South
Wales, reaching to Milford ; and also the system of lines once
called the West Midland, which conducted them to Worcester,
Hereford, and by the Vale of Neath to Swansea.

The third route was the Midland. " In this part of the world,"
said Mr. Venables, " as in most other parts of the world, the
Midland Company form a competing system with the London and
North Western Company and the Great Western Company."
They came by their own line to Stoke Works, near Worcester,
and from thence had running powers by the Great Western to
Swansea. These had been granted as part of the condition that
the Midland Company should not oppose the union of the Great
Western and West Midland systems. But such powers are
practically useless unless local traffic can be obtained ; " because,"
as Mr. John Noble, then the Assistant General Manager of the
Midland, said, " in running over another company's line, the
running company makes no profit upon that running ; the running
company is merely allowed the bare cost of working its trains over
the railway ; and the whole of the profit of the transaction goes
to the owning company. We therefore should have to run over
more than 100 miles, if we ran all the way to Swansea, for nothing
more than the bare cost of working the trains, and perhaps it
might not even cover that." The Midland were, therefore, de-
sirous of obtaining access to South Wales by some other route
less encumbered by these "local traffic " difficulties; and the
Hereford, Hay and Brecon and Swansea Vale lines (already con-
structed) supplied the want.

" I think," said Mr. Venables, " it will appear upon the face
of the map that it is desirable that all these great companies who
approach this district (all of which approach it by more or less
inconvenient ways) shall have each the most convenient way of
approaching it. The North Western have that advantage, and
the Great Western have that advantage, and these two companies,

THE HEREFORD, HAY, AND BRECON LINE. 221

either of which, would willingly exclude the other, are now, not
unnaturally, combined to exclude the Midland." " The North
Western has nothing to say against us except what it can say
with perfect truth, viz., that the amalgamation of this line will
enable the Midland Company to compete with the London and
North Western for traffic to South Wales, and it is for the sake
of establishing that competition that we ask for these powers."
" The sole question is, whether we, taking a traffic to South
Wales, shall take it conveniently and cheaply by utilizing lines
which Parliament has already sanctioned, because we do not
propose to make a single additional mile ; and it appears to me
that when Parliament has sanctioned a line it requires a very
strong argument to establish the proposition that the line should
remain a block, and be absolutely useless ; but that has been from
first to last the policy of the Great Western with reference to the
Hereford, Hay and Brecon."

It appears that this line (the Hereford, Hay and Brecon) was
authorized in the year 1859, having been promoted by a nominal
company, but really by a contractor, Mr. Savin, who also was the
originator and maker of the Brecon and Merthyr line. Financial
delays and difficulties arose in the construction of the lines ; but
they were completed, and remained in his hands till 1864. In
1865 the circumstances of many lines in this district, and of the
Hereford line among them, were very unfavourable : " 1866 was
the collapse of many railways." The Hereford line had been
amalgamated with the Brecon and Merthyr; but in 1868 was
released from that connection. Its condition at this period was
deplorable. " While the Brecon and Merthyr had it, they
allowed the interest upon the debentures to get into arrears, and
had contracted other debts for which the Hereford was liable ;
and therefore, when the railway came back again, they had neither
engines nor carriages nor wagons ; they had no money, they had
the line in bad order, they owed a great deal of money, and some
of their debentures were overdue."

Eventually, however, the Hereford Company made overtures
the Midland Company to take the working of the line, and
these were favourably received ; and though the Great Western
had hitherto not concerned itself about the Hereford Company,
yet, "having," said Mr. Venables, "a very strong rivalry with

222 "GLOEIOUS UNCEETAINTY OF THE LAW."

the Midland Company, it now opposed every obstacle which could
be devised by human ingenuity to the traffic " of the Hereford
line. Complicated and costly legal battles were fought ; and
though, at length, the Great Western were defeated by the Here-
ford Company, yet resistance was still offered to the Midland in
the agreement they had with the Hereford to use the line ; its
validity was challenged, and the right of the Midland to use the
connecting line giving access to the railway was disputed. At
length, to bring matters to an issue, a formal demand was made
for the admission of a Midland train to the junction line. The
line, however, was blocked, not only by signals, but with an engine
and half a dozen wagons ; and the Great Western authorities ad-
mitted that this was done by their orders, and they declared that
they would obstruct the line by force if necessary. To avoid an
actual collision the Midland Company simply protested against
such proceedings, and then appealed to the law ; and the result
was, that during three years' litigation passengers coming from
the West by the Hereford Railway had to get out at the Moor-
fields Station of that line, and to go by omnibus to the Great
Western station, which the Midland Company had the right to
use. The traffic was "very nearly killed," as Mr. Noble expressed
it, " by the block ; " for " passengers were not very likely to
choose being carried in an omnibus through the streets of Here-
ford when they could get by a through line." Meanwhile the
matter was before the Master of the Rolls, Lord Romilly, and
the Midland Company was defeated ; an appeal was then made
to the Lords Justices James and Mellish, who did not even call
upon the Midland Company to reply, but set aside the previous
decision, and declared that the Midland Company had " a lawful
right to come to and from the Great Western line " as " one con-
tinuous line of railway." " Being of opinion," said Lord Justice
Mellish, " that the agreement itself is legal, and being of opinion
that the Midland are entitled to use the Great Western line by
virtue of the agreement with the Great Western, I am of opinion
that the decree that has been made must be reversed."

The Midland Company in their bill now urged upon Parliament,
that as the London and North Western and the Great Western Com-
panies had been authorized to amalgamate various lines that gave
access to this South Wales system, similar advantages should be

HEEEFOED, HAY, AND BEECON LINE. 223

conferred upon themselves. They expressed themselves prepared to
join other companies in providing additional station accommoda-
tion at Hereford, which was urgently needed ; whereas to such
a purpose the Hereford Company alone was unable to contribute
" anything, because they had no funds." " I may say," remarked
Mr. Noble, " on the part of the Midland Company, that we are
quite ready to consider with the other two companies the most
desirable way of giving that accommodation to the city of Hereford
which they desire to have."

"With regard to the district served by the Hereford line, Mr.
Charles Anthony, six times mayor of Hereford, stated that that
city was looked upon as the capital of the district. " There are,"
he said, " an enormous number of cattle bred in Radnorshire ;
and on the west side of the city we have some of the finest timber
for general purposes, and pit timber particularly, which should
find its way to Birmingham, Derbyshire, and Staffordshire. The
citizens generally attribute its enormous increase in the markets
to the opening up of the country by the Midland Railway. The
markets have enormously increased. The inhabitants generally
think that the competition would be most wholesome and bene-
ficial to the trade of the city as well as to the country."

" For the sake of the traffic on the Hereford, Hay, and Brecon
itself," said Mr. Noble, " it would not be worth our while to
work it. It only becomes valuable to us as affording the means
of access to places beyond Brecon. To those places the London
and North Western and Great Western have got their own in-
dependent routes. Now the largest places beyond Brecon to
which this line takes us for the purposes of this bill are Merthyr
and Dowlais, which are two very large and populous places, con-
taining together 100,000 people. There are also some of the
largest ironworks in Wales here ; " and both the other great
companies have, or will shortly have, a route of their own to
both places, so that neither of them are likely to use the Hereford
line, " because it would simply be abstracting traffic from their
own railway." The Midland Company has, however, every reason
for encouraging traffic by this route. " There is now a very large
traffic from the ironstone fields of Northamptonshire to those
very large ironworks at Dowlais. We are now," continued Mr,
Noble, " sending fifty or sixty thousand tons of ironstone every

224 NEARLY STARVED TO DEATH.

year into those works. Then there is also a very large cattle
traffic which comes out of this district to the grazing districts of
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire ; " and there is the anthracite
coal, which goes largely into the midland and eastern districts.

For the sake of the local line it seemed imperative that some-
thing should be done. " The Great Western Railway," said Mr.
Noble, " are trying to starve that poor little Hereford Railway ;
they have nearly killed it, and want to finish it." " If the bill
was not sanctioned," said Mr. Venables, " the Hereford line would
in all probability be shut up ; and there would be a very well
laid-out line, going through one of the most remarkable and
pleasant and beautiful countries, and affording a means of com-
munication with the north and the country inland to the whole
of South Wales, absolutely useless." " I do not think," he said
in conclusion, " it will be contended that the public advantage
is not exclusively upon our side, or that any possible material
advantage can be gained by the rejection of our bill. It will be
contended by the London and North Western that they will lose
some traffic, which perhaps they will. It will be contended by
the Great Western that they will lose some traffic, and that they
ought to be protected in their two claims, — one of which is to place
a truck across the junction at Hereford, and the other is to force
us either to use these impossible running powers, or not to get
into South Wales at all. They will support these two contentions
to the best of their ability — probably with great ability ; but the
greater the ability they show in proving that they are for this
purpose the enemies of the human race, the better for me."

When the claims of this bill were submitted to the committee of
the Lords they " decided (July 3, 1874) to reserve their decision
until they had heard the evidence on the next bill." On the
following day they resolved to give their sanction to both
measures.

The other line was the Swansea Vale, which it was proposed
also to add by amalgamation to the Midland. We have already
seen that the Hereford line brought the Midland Company as far
as Brecon. From Brecon its traffic could go south to Merthyr,
Tredegar, the Taff Vale, and Cardiff by other lines ; but the Mid-
land wished to go south-west to Swansea by a line in effect its
own. Between Brecon and Swansea lay two railways ; first the

THE SWANSEA VALE RAILWAY. 225

Brecon and Neath, and then the Swansea Vale. To the latter we
will now refer.

The Swansea Vale Railway was originally promoted as a private
line, the property of some colliery owners and others, who wished
to send the produce of their pits and works down to the harbour
and docks of Swansea. The collieries, steel, tin, copper works and
foundries, upon this line are so numerous, that, as the manager
declared, " they extend nearly every four or five hundred yards
from one end of the line to the other." Meanwhile the demands
of the district were increasing, and an unopposed bill was, in that
session (1874), before Parliament for a large increase of the dock
accommodation of Swansea, at a cost of £400,000 or £500,000.
To go back, however, to the year 1846, we find that an attempt
was then made to obtain the sanction of Parliament to the little
railway company, but that it failed in consequence of some inci-
dental circumstances. Still, the construction of the line went on,
and eight miles were completed.

At length, in 1855, the Company succeeded in obtaining their
Act of incorporation, and by subsequent legislation, in extending
the railway up to a place called Yniscedwyn, and westward to
Brynammon, where it joins the Llanelly line.

Difficulties, however, were numerous. " We are a small com-
pany," said Mr. Starling Benson, the chairman, " and have had to
work expensively ; we have also had to borrow money at a high
rate of interest. For some years we paid no dividend, then two
or three per cent., and gradually we got up to six per cent." And
its later prosperity had arisen, he declared, " simply upon the
prospect of our becoming Midland." Having, too, been originally
intended only for local purposes, it was constructed, except at the
stations, with a single line ; its stations were little better than
waiting sheds ; its siding accommodation was scanty ; and at
Swansea, though there was a wooden passenger station, there was
no goods station of any kind. " I have been over the line a great
many times," said Mr. Noble, " and it is quite evident that they
are completely overpowered by their present traffic." Their
rolling stock, too, was insufficient. " We have had to lend them
an engine or two already," said Mr. Noble. To put the line into a
proper condition for the public service, it was necessary that a
large sum of money should be expended. " It must," said Mr.

226 DIFFICULTIES OF SMALL COMPANIES.

Noble, " be something very large " — " a very large sum, no doubt."
The doubling of the line, which was indispensable for the proper
development of a through route, would "certainly cost more," de-
clared Mr. Venables, "than £100,000." But all this the little
company was not prepared to undertake. "Although," as Mr.
Venables observed, " a local company may be earning a good in-
come on its line, it cannot afford to lay out large sums of capital."
A great company can afford to make improvements whenever they
are required, because the amount is only a fraction of the whole
capital ; but if a small company were to spend 50 or a 100 per
cent, on its capital in improvements, it would for a time seriously
cripple its position. The consequence practically is that, so long
as a company like the Swansea Vale can get a moderate dividend
on its capital, it will be slow to make improvements. At the
same time a larger company would not lay out its money on a
foreign line — a line which it did not practically own.

Another disadvantage of the Swansea Vale Company — ex-
perienced by all small companies under similar circumstances —
was, that they could not find enough trucks to carry on a business
over large and distant lines. " If they come back empty," said
the Chairman, " the loss of time is so great that they are not used ;
but if they belonged to one of the large companies, they find traffic
to load them with near the spot, and they deliver the loads, and
there is something else to send back again." " We find, as a small
company, that we cannot afford the proper accommodation which
the colliery trade requires. We cannot find the trucks and those
things which a large company can do." "We are also at a disad-
vantage through the smallness of our line, that in case of accident
or temporary stoppage of our traffic we cannot average our losses.
A large accident or a lock-out would take away all our dividends."

This line (the Swansea Vale) the Midland Company proposed
to make their own by a perpetual lease, and by guaranteeing a
dividend of 6 per cent, per annum on a capital of about £145,000.
All this was provisionally arranged. But the difficulties of the
case had not yet been overcome ; for between Brecon (the most
westerly point of the Midland) and the most easterly point of the
Swansea Vale lay the property of a third company, the Brecon
and Neath Railway. How was their concurrence so to be secured
as to provide a thorough and uninterrupted communication be-

BRECON AND NEATH LINE. 227

tween the Midland system and Swansea ? The solution of this
question Avas to be found in the fact that at a previous period it
had been arranged between the Brecon and Neath and the Swan-
sea Vale Railways, that they should interchange certain running
powers over each other's lines, " so as to establish a direct route
between Swansea and the North of England." The words were
that the Swansea Vale were " to have the right, if they think fit,
to run over and use with their engines, etc., the Brecon and Neath
Railway." A through route northward was thus secured, of which
the Swansea Vale was the first stage, the Neath. and Brecon the
second ; and (what had now become) the Midland the third ; there
being " through invoicing and through booking," and all "in the
fullest and most unreserved manner."

It so happened, that up to the period when the Midland was
contemplating these amalgamations, this Brecon and Neath had
been by no means in a prosperous condition. The great highways
of the London and North Western and Great Western had carried
the traffic by other routes, and this line had been reduced to a
state of starvation. " At this moment," said Mr. Noble, " its work-
ing expenses are, I think, 93 per cent, of its entire receipts." Mr.
Denison, who appeared on its behalf, admitted before the Commons
Committee that " it had gone through great calamities — it had
never earned a penny for itself — it had been in a most miserable
condition — it had passed through all the stages of poverty because
it had not been in a proper physical condition."

Under such circumstances the proposal of the Midland Company
seemed highly advantageous. It was, that the Midland Company
should take over, with the Swansea Vale line, the running powers
it had over the Brecon and Neath, and use them as the Swansea
Vale could have used them ; in payment for which the Neath and
Brecon would receive their mileage proportion of the through rate.
This Avas the largest amount which the Midland Company pro-
fessed to be able to give ; for if they charged the same as their
competitors for a through service, and yet allowed the Brecon and
Neath a greater share than their mileage proportion, it is plain
that the rest of the line would have to receive less than its mileage
proportion, which it could not afford to take. " It would," said
Mr. Noble, " be a bar toll ; " and the practical result would be
that the Avhole line, Brecon and Neath included, would lose the

228 PROTESTS AGAINST AMALGAMATION.

through traffic altogether. Mr. Noble, however, stated that his
company was prepared to allow the Brecon and Neath, if they
believed that a mileage proportion was " an insufficient remunera-
tion for the traffic carried in Midland trains over their railway, to
have the right to go to an arbitrator, and ask him how much more,
if any, they should receive out of the through rate." " There is,"
he said, " a precedent for this, in the terms on which the Midland
Company obtained running powers over the South Staffordshire,
by the Act of 1867."

But against these proposals the Brecon and Neath entered its
protest ; and urged Parliament to refuse its sanction to the
amalgamation. Piqued at the less favourable terms offered to
itself, or backed up by other influences, it declared that it did not
want the Midland to come over it at all, and did not want to be
made a through route. This may seem very unnatural and
strange ; but the underlying motive came out in the remarks of
their counsel. It simply meant that more money was wanted from
the Midland Company — of course a very natural desire, considered
in itself. " We say," remarked Mr. Pember, " here are two com-
panies who are properly bought up, and naturally we think that
you ought to buy us up properly too. If not, we say, let us alone."
To this, of course, the Midland Company could reply : " If we did
as you wished, and bought you up, and paid the market value for
you, we should pay you next to nothing. If we buy you at any
price you might put upon yourselves, we should pay you too much.
We will therefore adopt the middle course ; and as the Swansea
Vale are prepared to sell us their right to running powers over
your line, we will buy that and pay you a mileage proportion of
all the large traffic we shall be able to bring over your half-starved
and almost moribund system."

The advantage of making these little fragments of railways into
an efficient through line was obvious to the men of business in the
Swansea Vale. Mr. Pascoe Grenfell, for instance, of the firm of
Pascoe, Grenfell & Sons, copper and iron smelters, of Swansea,
cordially supported the amalgamation of these lines. He mentioned
that his firm carried on business with the London and Liverpool
and the Midland and Northern districts : that the price of copper
averaged about £100 a ton ; but that in the process of manu-
facture it rose to nearly twice that amount ; that under recent

ADVANTAGES OP THROUGH LINES. 229

arrangements their goods were delivered via the Midland Company
remarkably well; that goods sent away on the afternoon of one
day were delivered at Birmingham on the next morning, and at
Hull a few hours afterwards (about as quickly as a letter) ; and
that this was of the greatest service to their business. " Our
trade," he said, "has changed very much of late years, since the
introduction of railways and telegraphs. Our customers and con-
sumers do not keep, as they used to do, stocks of copper, but they
now depend entirely upon us ; and sometimes we have a telegram
in the middle of the day to send something off the very next
day. Then often we have to make shipments, perhaps of copper
of a highly manufactured nature — say at Hull. "We have a tele-
gram two or three days before, to say that this copper is going
to the Baltic, or Russia, or somewhere else ; that the copper
must be there at a certain time, as the ship will sail at a certain
date."

Similarly a large coal-owner spoke with regard to his anthracite
coal. " It cannot be found elsewhere," he said ; " it is perfectly
smokeless, and is the best fuel for making iron that is known,
except charcoal. In Burton-on-Trent too, they use nothing else
for malting, but anthracite coal." Another coal-owner and
tin-plate manufacturer expressed his desire to see adequate
accommodation and a through route provided. The provision on
ten or twelve miles of the Swansea Vale line was totally
insufficient. " I should like to have a double line made, because
we are very often choked up, and our trucks are left for weeks
without being able to get at them for want of local facilities." Of
all companies," said another, " the Midland Company do their work
the quickest. A truck-load of block tin would be worth £1,000 ;
and if I wanted the quickest despatch, the Midland Company
manages, somehow or another, to deliver quickly, and I can get it
down on the third day ; whereas on the other companies' lines I
have not got it till perhaps four, five, six, seven, or eight days.
These little delays, from which I suffer," he added, " are not less
to me than £1,000 a year."

It was further contended on behalf of the Midland Company,
that, if the demand of the Brecon and Neath were conceded, and
Parliament were to consent to exclude the Midland, and to make
this " a block line " to shut the traffic out, and practically, to a

230 A NEW POLICY.

large extent, to shut up the line, it would assuredly not be to the
public interest — that interest which was certainly considered when
powers were given by Parliament for the construction of the line.
" In the hands of the Midland Company," said Mr. Venables, " it
means a line for facilitating the traffic ; whereas, in the hands of
the other companies, it would be a line for local traffic, but a block
line for through traffic."

" If," said Mr. Noble, these two bills — the Hereford, Hay, and
Brecon, and the Swansea Vale — should pass, I reckon that we
should put life into about 150 miles of the worst railway property
in the kingdom. There is the Hereford line earning nothing ;
there are eight miles of the Mid Wales, and sixty miles of the
Brecon and Merthyr, which we feed. The Brecon and Merthyr
has nobody else to look to ; and here are altogether about 150
miles of railway, Avhich, if our traffic is allowed to run over this
lines, will have life put into them. The capital expended on these
lines has been some millions."

Such was the view taken by Parliament ; and the bill passed,
July 4th, 1874.

In the month of June the testimonial awarded in the previous
August was presented to the late chairman, Mr. Price, who had
devoted no fewer than twenty years of the best portion of his life
to the service of the Midland Railway Company.

In the autumn of this year (1874), the Midland Company
announced their intention of adopting a new line of policy with
regard to their passenger traffic — a policy destined to produce
important effects on the railway travelling of this country. The
course which had already been taken of allowing third-class
passengers to travel by all trains had entailed consequences which
perhaps few had originally anticipated. By the suppression of
some of the old third-class trains the distance run on the Midland
line was found to be reduced some 500,000 miles a year, and thus a
saving was effected of £37,000 ; yet the number of additional
passengers conveyed on that line during the year was 4,000,000,
bringing additional benefit to the Company of £220,000 a year.
The marvellous productiveness of third-class traffic was also
illustrated by the fact that, out of an increased number of
passengers during the years 1870 to 1873 on our railways generally,
of 113,000,000, no fewer than 111,000,000 of these were third-class

ABOLITION OF SECOND CLASS. 231

passengers. On the Midland system the returns in 1873 were as
follows :

First-class passengers 1,136,405, who paid £228,739
Second „ 2,487,590 „ 208,395

Third „ 18,370,053 961,312

Total 21,994,048 £1,398,446

It thus began clearly to appear that the public at large — looking
at the nature of the accommodation provided, the price charged,
and their own resources — preferred the third class ; that less than
15 per cent, of passengers travelled second class ; and that the
trains must be carrying a large and increasing proportion of dead
weight in the form of empty second-class carriages. Of course
railways do not exist to run trains, but to carry passengers and
goods; and hence the subject pressed on the attention of the
Midland Board, whether it would not be better to abolish the
second-class carriage altogether. This might be done without
injury to the public, if second-class passengers could be carried
at second-class fares in first-class carriages; and hence the
question arose, whether the sacrifice of revenue involved could be
fairly borne by the shareholders ? On inquiry it was found that
already first-class passengers were travelling between, for instance,
such towns as Nottingham and Derby and Bradford and Leeds, at
second-class fares ; and that — even if the liberality of the Company
to the public led to no increase of receipts (an improbable circum-
stance)— the total loss incurred by the Company by charging only
three-halfpence a mile for all (except third-class passengers),
and allowing all such to travel in first-class carriages, would
amount to only £25,000 a year. Such an arrangement would also
secure some economical advantages to the Company. By avoiding
the necessity for new rolling stock for new lines about to be
opened ; by the saving of coal through the reduced weight of the
trains ; by diminishing the wear and tear of empty carriages and
of the permanent way ; by lessening labour in the ticket and
audit department by having only two classes to deal with instead
of three ; and by more compact trains under more complete
control of the engine, and insuring the greater punctuality, not
only of passenger trains, but of goods and mineral trains : — all
these were sources of economy, which the directors believed would

232 ANGER OF OTHER COMPANIES.

be highly remunerative to the Company. Taking these and other
facts into consideration, the directors startled the railway world
and the public generally by the announcement that, on and after
the 1st of January, 1875, the second-class passenger would be
abolished, and that all the benefits hitherto exclusively enjoyed by
the first-class passenger would be bestowed henceforth also upon
the second-class.

The response made to this announcement by the other railway
companies was unequivocal. They scarcely attempted to conceal
their fears and chagrin at the loss that might accrue to them from
the sacrifice of part of their first-class receipts. Ruinous competi-
tion and retaliation against the Midland Company was threatened.
" If you put your hand into our bread-basket," said a director of
another company to a Midland director, " we will put our hands
into your coal scuttle." Repeated conferences were held at Euston
Square — "the Percy and the Douglas both together" — and minatory
voices came through the closed doors. " The proposal," said the
Railway News, " to readjust the rates for the carriage of minerals
has, we know, been entertained at Euston ; and this, if carried out,
must very seriously affect the Midland. We believe we may say
that the representatives of the two great competing companies are
now taking counsel as to how, without injury to themselves, they
may most efficiently retaliate upon the Midland ; " and the threat
succeeded in depressing the market value of railway securities to
the amount of several millions sterling. Midland shareholders, if
holders of other railway stocks, became alarmed.

Meanwhile some of the leading organs of the press, instead of
estimating the enormous value of the boon about to be conferred
on the public, were critical, irresolute, or adverse. It was declared
that the announcement of the Midland Board was " a bolt out of a
blue sky." An esteemed ex-member of Parliament complained that
the new policy of the Midland had been " decided upon in such
profound secrecy, and sprung upon the world without a public
demand." Another writer, whether complimentary or otherwise,
affirmed that Mr. Allport was " the Bismarck of railway politics."
"This is not railway reform," remarked a fourth, "but re volution."
"It is really and literally a revolution," observed a London daily
paper, " in railway economy." " The change," said an influential
weekly journal, " is, in our opinion, most revolutionary. We feel

EAILWAY EEVOLUTION. 233

bound to condemn the hasty step which the Midland Company has
taken. . . . We should recommend railway shareholders to
take the matter into their own hands." " We see no reason for
ecstasies," remarked another, " over the latest move of the Midland
Railway Company. It will inflict great annoyance on every lady,
and some annoyance on every man with a black coat, who travels
by that system of lines." " A democratic and social revolution,"
observed another, " seems to be looming in the railway future. If
the second-class is to be definitely abolished," it will amount, in fact,
" so long as we are upon a journey, substantially to the excision of
the great middle class from English society." " The press and the
public," remarked a West of England journal, in an article on the
" Revolutions in the Railway World," " are against the turn-the-
world-upside-down policy of the Midland." " Of all the changes,"
said a country journal, " possible in our railway arrangements,
that which has been announced by the Midland would have been
the last that would have been asked for." A legal luminary
thought that the powers of the Railway Commissioners might be
invoked to resist the abolition of the second class, on the ground
that every railway company is bound to afford " all reasonable
facilities for the receiving, forwarding, and delivering of traffic."
" An era of fresh discomfort and fresh inconvenience in travelling,"
another authority declared, " is being prepared for us."

It would have been no wonder if, in the face of such criticism —
amid the misgivings of friends, and threats of railway rivals— the
Midland Board had yielded, and had revoked their decision.
Surely they might have expected a different response to the
announcement of a policy so high-minded and statesmanlike.
Happily they stood firm while the storm blew ; and after a Avhile
it abated. As discussion proceeded, light began to spread. The
travelling public, who, as The Times remarked, had not at first
appeared " in the least grateful for the boon," began to express
themselves in its favour. The Daily Telegraph, referring to the
complaints that the first-class passengers would henceforward have
less of the luxury of exclusiveness, playfully remarked : " The real
sufferers are those poor fellows the rich ; " but it thought that
even such might be brought to contentment with the new arrange-
ments, if the Company would "woo these tassel -gentles back again"
by the Pullman carriage, and by generally, for their behoof,

234 LIGHT SPREADING.

" gilding the refined gold." " The highest practicable fares for
the least possible accommodation," said another writer, " is
henceforth to be a policy of the past ; " and it began generally
to be admitted that the new plan should be tried.

The Midland Board stood firm. A circular, issued by Mr. Ellis,
the Chairman, explained the policy of the directors, and con-
ciliated the confidence of the shareholders ; and at a special
meeting of the proprietors summoned to decide upon the matter —
though mournful warnings were uttered, and portents or pictures
were painted of the Midland Company deserted by its friends and
hemmed in by its foes — the views of the directors were sanctioned
by an overwhelming majority of votes, by proxies ten to one, and
by capital represented by the proxies to the amount of six to one.
As the year drew to a close, and the arrangements for the working
out of the new policy came to be seen, it was found that the
improvements made in the third-class carriages — with cushioned
seats, and separate compartments, and wider space, and foot-
warmers for winter — would be so great, that the net result would
be that the third-class carriage was abolished ; that second and
first-class carriages only were retained, with the third and second-
class fares. Subsequently Lord Redesdale brought in a bill into
the House of Lords, which may be described as " an Act to compel
railway companies to charge first-class passengers higher fares
than the companies are content to take, and to compel second-class
passengers to travel in less comfortable carriages than the com-
panies are willing to provide ; " but " the wisdom of Parliament "
did not encourage legislation so retrograde. Millions of passen-
gers are now travelling with incomparably more comfort, millions
are paying far lower fares than ever before, and the railway
system of the country was never so popular, and so deservedly
popular, as it is to-day.

In the course of the spring half-year several new lines were
opened — the Eadford and Trowell; the Mansfield and "Worksop,
on the 1st June ; the Ambergate and Codnor Park, six and a half
miles long; the Clifton Extension, a mile and three-quarters;
and some smaller branches about a mile in length.

In July (1875), the Midland Company commenced running their
own trains over the London, Chatham, and Dover line into
Victoria Station, and the Chatham and Dover service was con-

NEW LINES OPENED. 235

tinned to Child's Hill and Hendon. An unbroken and convenient
means of communication was thus established between the northern
and southern suburbs.

On Monday, the 2nd of August (1875), the Settle and Carlisle
Railway was opened for goods traffic. It was wisely resolved to
postpone the use of the line for passengers until all the works
were completed and consolidated. " We desire," the Chairman
publicly remarked, " whenever the passenger traffic is passed over
the line, that it shall be in a perfectly satisfactory condition."

Mr. Ellis also announced that the traffic receipts per mile from
passengers were greater than they had been for any half-year
during the past twenty-five years. With regard to the large out-
lay of capital on additional works, the Chairman mentioned that
it was indispensable, "in order to keep pace with the traffic that
pours in upon us," and at the same time it was necessary that
railway proprietors should realize the fact that railway construc-
tion is much more costly than it was a few years ago. "Lines,"
said Mr. Ellis, " which then could be constructed at a cost of
£30,000 a mile, will certainly now cost £45,000 to £50,000 a mile.
I am satisfied that I am within the mark when I say that you
must add at least 50 per cent, to the cost of construction of all
new lines of railway at the present time, as compared with what
they would have cost six years ago."

In the course of his address, Mr. Ellis gave the following in-
teresting retrospect of railway events that had fallen within his
own observation : —

"It is forty-seven years on the 17th of July last, since I at-
tended the opening of the oldest portion of what eventually came
to be the Midland system, I think with my friend Mr. Hutchinson,
and perhaps one or two other shareholders now in this meeting.
Then was started in England the first locomotive to convey pas-
sengers, that ever ran south of Manchester. Mr. Crossley, lately
our chief engineer, was present on that occasion, and there was
also a gentlemen whose name I can never recollect without venera-
tion, and that is George Stephenson. Let me say, now I mention
his name, that I think we ought to have a portrait of that eminent
man hung in this room. Many of the gentlemen who took part in
the early progress of our railway system have left us. But we
still have at this board three directors who have taken part in

236 A EETROSPECT.

some of those earlier proceedings of the Midland Railway. First,
there is my friend Mr. Hutchinson, who, I believe, has given many
of the best years of his life to the service of the Company.* Next,
there is Sir Isaac Morley, who has been chairman of one of your
most important committees for upwards of twenty years. And
third, there is my old friend, Mr. Mercer, who has attended here
almost weekly for a very great number of years. Mr. Hutchinson
is the only remaining member of the board who came on at the
amalgamation of 1844. Now, if the Midland shareholders have
derived some benefits from the development of the great railway
system, it is very gratifying to feel that the community amidst
which we live have derived equal or greater benefits."

The Chairman referred to a proposal which had been made that
the private ownership of wagons on the Midland system should be
gradually extinguished. " I believe," he said, " there are at
present something like 40,000 wagons, principally coal wagons,
running about our system, these wagons being owned by 300
different proprietors. The cost and inconvenience of having to
assort these wagons when they are mixed up together, so as to
deliver them at the different collieries to which they belong, is
very great ; besides which, we have not the proper control of
the construction of these wagons, and we think that it is very
desirable that the Company should control in some way their con-
struction. We have therefore arrived at the conclusion, after very
careful and anxious consideration, that it is the duty of the Com-
pany gradually, and by consent, not by compulsion, to purchase
these 40,000 wagons. To do so will, of course, require a large
amount of capital, and we propose in the next session of Parlia-
ment, to apply for powers to raise £1,000,000 on account of these
purchases."

In the autumn (1875) it was announced that another important
addition was to be made to the Midland system, by the union with
it and with the London and South Western Companies jointly of
the lines known as the Somerset and Dorset Railway. The lines

* Mr. Hutchinson was for several years the superintendent of the Midland
Counties line. He resigned this office in July, 1840. The Board requested his
acceptance of £500, in acknowledgment of the special services he had rendered
" in the very difficult circumstances connected with the opening of a new line,"
and they recommended his appointment as a director.

AMALGAMATIONS. 237

grouped under that name were originally formed under different
auspices. On the 17th of June, 1852, an Act was passed authoriz-
ing the construction of a railway from the harbour at Highbridge
on the Bristol Channel, across the Bristol and Exeter line, with
which it had a junction, to Glastonbury. Highbridge is situated
on the north side of the river Brue, which is navigable to this
point for vessels of 80 tons burden ; and Glastonbury, about 13
miles distant, is a place of great antiquity and some modern in-
terest. Three years later extensions were authorized to Wells and
Burnham, with a pier at the latter ; and the year following, powers
were obtained to construct another line from Glastonbury to
Bruton, a distance of 12 miles. The company is also interested in
the tidal harbour at Burnham. These railways constituted the
Somerset Central.

The Dorset Central had a later origin. It was not till 1856 that
the Act was passed authorizing the construction of a line from
Wimborne, on the Dorchester extension of the London and South
Western, to Blandford, a distance of about 10 miles. In the
following year it was resolved to continue this line along the Vale
of Blackmore, a distance of 24 miles, to the Somerset Central at
Bruton. The capital to be expended was £400,000.

On the 1st of September, 1862, the two companies were
amalgamated as the Somerset and Dorset on equal terms, the
lines thus united being 66 miles in extent ; and as, by an arrange-
ment with the South Western, they obtained access to the port at
Poole, they formed a through communication between the English
and the Bristol Channels.

Some nine years of an uneventful and unsatisfactory history
passed away, when it was thought that some extension of the
company's lines, which would secure access to the new line of the
Midland at Bath, would give the Company a better chance of
success. Accordingly, in August, 1871, powers were obtained to
construct a branch from the line at Evercreech to a junction with
the Midland at Bath, and with a branch to the Bristol and North
Somerset at Radstock.

The progress of the Company, however, has not been encourag-
ing ; and, though the Midland brought traffic on to the line, and
opened through communication over the line to Bournemouth, the
Somerset and Dorset endured the sorrows of a poverty-stricken

238

SOMERSET AND DORSET RAILWAY.

company ; its engine power was inadequate, and its arrangements
defective ; and though it probably did its best, the public suffered
in those ways in which the public always will suffer unless a
railway is fairly prosperous — a truism on which persons both in
Parliament and out may reflect with profit.

This state of things continued for some time, when the Midland
Company, having by various leases reached Swansea, the policy of

amalgamation by lease came to be the order of the day. The
Great Western by these means obtained exclusive possession of
most of the large area of coalfields covered by the Monmouthshire
lines ; and then, it is understood, opened negotiations with the
Somerset and Dorset with the view to a similar appropriation,
hoping thereby to occupy the whole territory stretching between
its Bristol and Exeter extension and the South Western Company's

DISASTEOUS FLOODS. 239

district, and thus to secure an almost undisturbed monopoly of the
West. Fortunately for the public, the Midland and South Western
interposed, and concluded arrangements with the Somerset and
Dorset, by which they are jointly to lease and to use it. These
terms came into practical operation on the 1st of November, 1875 ;
and subsequently the sanction of Parliament was obtained in the
usual way.

The Midland Company also purchased from the new Manchester
South District Railway Company their rights in a projected line
from Manchester, by way of Chorlton-cum-Hardy and Northenden,
to Alderley.

The autumn of 1875 was marked by deluges of rain and by
floods, which spread over wide districts of the country, and were
in some instances destructive to the railway communication. The
midland counties had their full share of these troubles. The river
Trent rose seven yards ; Burton-on- Trent Avas flooded, and its
artesian and other wells were deluged in surface water and town
sewage, and had to be emptied before they could again be used ;
and on one day 10,000 loaves had to be sent into the town and
distributed gratuitously, to save the people from famine. Trent
Station became almost an island. The lower part of Nottingham
was like a sea. Engines and trains had to pass through two feet
of water ; while, near Newark, the line was carried away, and a
temporary bridge had to be erected before the communication
could be restored. The scenes thus presented were in the highest
degree remarkable, and will live long in the painful recollections
of many.

The Settle and Carlisle line was opened for passenger traffic on
the 1st of May (1876) ; and as the first Scotch express, with the
last new Midland carriages and its stately Pullmans, rolled out of
St. Pancras Station, it was remarked, " That's the finest train that
ever ran since railways were invented ! "

At the half-yearly meeting, held in August, 1877, the making a
line from Hassop to Dore was mentioned. It would open up a
new Midland route to Manchester, along which a great amount of
traffic would go. It was stated that the abolition of second-class
carriages had now had a fair trial, and that, "comparing the
11,000,000 of people carried against the 1,000,000 in the second-
class carriages, the measure had been successful." The Chairman

240 HALF-YEARLY MEETINGS.

said that the third-class passenger traffic upon the Midland system
formed 90 per cent, of the whole. He also mentioned that the
total amount expended on the Settle and Carlisle line, had, up
to this date, been £3,808,381. The Somerset and Dorset line
had for the past two half-years been a burden upon the Company,
and it would continue so for some time, because, when taken
possession of, it was in a most miserable condition. " I think,"
he said, " I never saw a railway so completely worn down " ; but
from motives of policy it had been leased.

At the meeting held on the 19th of February, 1878, the Chairman
said, that whereas in 1873 the consumption of coal in an engine
was 57 Ibs. a mile, this had been reduced to about 51 Ibs. a mile.
With regard to the St. Pancras Hotel, although it had cost the
large sum of £400,000 during the previous year, it had paid the
Company a moderate interest, and subsequently Mr. Ellis stated
that the receipts gave " a very handsome net revenue." The
Chairman said he thought there was some ground of complaint
against railway companies for not supplying what are called non-
intoxicating drinks at a more reasonable price. He also mentioned
that the Company had purchased 12 or 13 acres of land, beside St.
Pancras Station, at a price of £110,000, and that on this site they
proposed to erect an additional goods station.

At the meeting held in February, 1880, Mr. Matthew William
Thompson took the chair for the first time. In reference to the
late Chairman, whose place he occupied, he said : " Scarcely a day
passes that he is not prominently in my recollection. He was
nearly 23 years a member of the Board; a man of untiring in-
dustry, sound judgment, and high principle ; a staunch supporter
of the Midland Company, and one whom we can ill spare." At this
meeting a resolution was passed, electing Mr. James Joseph All-
port a Director, in place of Mr. E. S. Ellis, and empowering the
presentation of £10,000 to Mr. Allport on his retirement from the
office of General Manager, as " an expression of the gratitude of
the shareholders for the services rendered by him during 26|
years, and as an acknowledgment of the exceptional ability }
energy, and public spirit, which have so largely contributed to the
progress and development alike of the Midland Railway, and of
the great industrial districts which it unites." " When he first
joined it in 1853, the Midland Company was, as its name denotes,

NEW LINES AND ROUTES. 241

a mere isolated inland system, surrounded by powerful neighbours,
whose interests were not at all times identical with its own." It
was mentioned at the meeting that when Mr. Allport's salary was
raised to £4,000 a year, he had had an offer from the Great Eastern
Railway of £7,000 a year. At this meeting the sum of £1,000 was
voted, to provide for a testimonial to be given to the widow of the
late chairman, as expressive of the high appreciation felt by the
Company for his services, and of sympathy with the family.

It was also announced that a bill was being promoted by the
Company for making a second tunnel into London. The Belsize
tunnel was then carrying " all the traffic it could, and no more could
be got through it." The new tunnel was nearly a mile and a half
in length, and would cost over £430,000. At the meeting held in
August, it was stated that £20,718 had been expended on
Hellifield New Station. The Chairman said : " I may state that
Hellifield is between Settle and Skipton. By the opening of a
line from Hellifield to Chatburn, worked by the Lancashire and
Yorkshire Railway Company, the Midland has access to a different
part of Lancashire from that to which it had access when the
whole of the traffic came by way of Colne and Skipton and the line
to Liverpool and Manchester, and the other chief towns in
Lancashire. The route between Carlisle and the other towns in
Lancashire, as representing Scotland and Liverpool, is shortened
by something like twelve miles. We hope and believe that
through the Hellifield station, as by way of Colne and Skipton, a
large traffic will, from time to time, flow on to the Midland line
from Scotland, in the direction of Lancashire, and from Lancashire
in the direction of Scotland. This Chatburn and Hellifield line
has been opened very recently."

On the 1st of June, 1880, a new service of trains from London
to Leeds was commenced, running over new lines from Kettering
to Manton, and from Melton Mowbray to Nottingham. As a
gentleman remarked to the Chairman on the platform at Notting-
ham : " You have done a big thing. For the first time you have
placed Nottingham, with its 200,000 inhabitants, on the main line
of the Midland system. Hitherto that town had been served only
by branches ; its tide of traffic from south to north need now no
longer suffer by diversion among its cross currents and eddies
that converge at Leicester and Trent, but can move swiftly and

242 MARKET HABBOEOUGH JUNCTION.

uninterruptedly along the broad straight course provided for
it."

Referring to this matter, the Chairman said : " Nottingham had
been upon a branch line for many years. The trains running
through from London in the direction of Liverpool and Manchester,
which were also carrying carriages for Leeds and Bradford, were
getting exceedingly heavy and difficult to manage, and it was
thought we should separate the Leeds and Bradford trains,
accommodating thereby Sheffield and Nottingham, from the
Manchester and Liverpool trains, as there was no good service
of trains between those towns and London. That was adopted
on the 1st June last year. When the time came for reducing
trains, as we have done sometimes, in the month of October, we
thought it inadvisable to take off these trains, and these trains are
still earning just as much as under all circumstances we should
have expected. We have also put on additional trains, not only
with the intention of accommodating Leeds and York, but the
West of England."

The Chairman further mentioned that an arrangement had been
made with the London and North Western Railway Company,
with respect to the junction at Market Harborough. The North
Western had recently allowed the Great Northern to run to Market
Hai'borough, said Mr. Thompson. " It is very inconvenient that the
traffic on the Midland main line should be blocked by the London
and North Western trains, or by the Great Northern trains. We
have now agreed with the North Western, by which we can go to
Parliament for power to make a line for ourselves. The new line
will be the Midland line ; the old line will be the London and
North Western. We have arranged with them that they shall
have a separate goods yard of their own, that we shall have a
separate goods yard, and the station shall be joint." The Midland
capital taken by the Bill was in all £120,000.

At the half-yearly meeting, held on the 15th August, 1882, the
Chairman, in referring to the question of rates, said that the Select
Committee, which had been sitting on the subject, reported "that
on the whole of the evidence they acquit the Railway Companies
of any grave dereliction of their duty to the public, and that they
find that the rates for merchandise on the railways of the United
Kingdom, are in the main considerably below the maximum

MB. HUTCHINSON AND ME. JONES. 243

authorized by Parliament." With reference to the Parcel Post —
the bill promoting which had passed — the Chairman mentioned
that the Postmaster General and the Railway Companies had
worked well together for one common object — the affording to all
classes a more ready and economical distribution of parcels.

Among the special expenses of the half-year were those
connected with important improvements in signalling. "We have
been pulling up the wires that hitherto have worked our signals,
and have been putting in rods, and this has been charged to
revenue. Bridges, also, which were built to carry engines of a
much lighter weight than those that are noAV running, and when
they travelled at a much slower rate of speed, have had to be
strengthened nearly all over the line, and a large number of them
rebuilt. We have been doing that out of revenue."

At the February meeting, 1883, a minute was read, expressing
the great sorrow of tli£ Board for " the death of their esteemed
friend and senior colleague, Mr. William Evans Hutchinson, who
had held important posts in the Company." At the Special General
Meeting, a bill was sanctioned for a line from Skipton to Ilkley.
It had the approval of the Duke of Devonshire.

At the meeting on 15th February, 1884, it was announced that
the contract for erecting the boundary walls and the pillar founda-
tions for the new warehouse on the land adjoining St. Pancras
Hotel had been let, and the contractor had commenced the work.
It would not, however, be convenient to go on with that work until
the new Belsize Tunnel was completed. An independent company,
it was announced, was promoting a line from Dore — a Midland
station between Sheffield and Chesterfield — to Chinley, another
Midland station between Chapel-en-le-Frith and Manchester.

At the meeting of February, 1885, the Chairman announced the
death of Mr. Jones, who had joined the Board in 1859, and who
previously had been an auditor of the Company. " Regularly at
his post, taking, almost up to the last, an active interest in the
business, he may be said to have died in harness."

In the past half-year, the Company had begun to print the fares
on the passenger tickets. " We have now issued 7,000,000 of such
tickets," said the Chairman, " and have sent more or less of this
number to 450 out of 460 stations, to which we intend to send
them."

244 SPECIAL GENEEAL MEETING.

Mr. Tonmaii Mosley moved the following amendment to the
report : " That the shareholders of the Midland Company, believing
that their interests are closely bound up with the interests of
British trade and agriculture, consent to no fresh legislation on
railway rates and charges which does not provide for the removal
of the unjust preferences now given to foreign goods and foreign
produce, and, without adding to the existing charges, correct those
anomalies in home rates.

At the eighty-fourth half-yearly General Meeting of the
Company, held February 19th, 1886, Mr. Thompson stated there
had been more than 105,000 fewer first-class passengers than in
the corresponding period of the previous year, and that there had
been nearly 80,000 more third-class. Of passenger traffic, the
miles run were 7,021,997, or 212,233 miles more ; and the earn-
ings per train mile had been 3s. 7^d., or fths of a penny per
mile less. He mentioned also that 250 tons of steel sleepers had
been ordered from a Belgian, and 250 from an English house for
trial ; but they had not been laid down long enough to supply
reliable data. At this meeting Mr. Carbutt referred to the
complaints often made, that English railways sometimes charged
more for the carriage of goods than German railways, and in
reply he stated the startling fact that " the cost of obtaining an Act
of Parliament in England amounts to the same cost per mile as to
construct a railway in Germany"

On April 2nd, a special general meeting of Midland Proprietors
and Debenture Holders was held at Derby, to consider the bill that
had been introduced into Parliament by Mr. Mundella. Mr.
Thompson said : " I think I am not wrong when I say that this is
the first time that any Government has entertained the idea of
compulsory interference with Parliamentary bargains as to rates
and tolls, and followed it up by introducing into the House of
Commons a bill so drastic in its character as this measure. I have
no doubt I can satisfy you that so far as the Midland Company is
concerned, the bill points in a large degree to simple confiscation.
We have now maximum rates and charges, upon the faith of which
being preserved to us by Parliament our capital has been invested —
this Parliamentary security is to be taken from us whether we
like it or not, and what are we to have in return for it ? Just
what the President of the Board of Trade for the time being, be

SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING.

245

he strong or weak, or anxions for popularity, may think just and
reasonable."

After a full statement of the matter, the Chairman moved, Mr.
C. J. Blagg, of Cheadle, seconded, and the meeting unanimously
adopted the following resolution: " That this meeting regards with
alarm those proposals of the Railway and Canal Traffic Bill which
provide for the compulsory revision of the maximum rates and
charges prescribed by the Midland Company's Acts of Parliament,
and which confer upon the Board of Trade a power of interference
with rates legally charged, whilst recognising the expediency of a
fair reclassification of merchandise traffic. This meeting emphati-
cally protests against the compulsory enactment of any revised
scale of tolls as most unjust to railway shareholders who have
invested their capital on the faith of their present Acts of
Parliament."

LEA WOOD, NEAR CROJIFORD.

CHAPTER XIII.

Who was Saint Pancras? — Historical associations. — "An abomination of desola-
tion."— Chaos and Cosmos. — The Fleet Sewer. — Four acres of stowage. —
The roofing. — One span or two ? — Construction of the roof. — The travelling
scaffold. — Three floors of railway. — Colouring of the roof. — General ap-
pearance of the station. — Mr. G. G. Scott.— Midland Grand Hotel. —
Entrance hall. — Grand staircase. — Drawing and reading room. — Private
and bed rooms. — Clock tower. — Basement. — Old St. Pancras Churchyard. —
Junction with the Metropolitan. — Kentish Town. — Belsize Tunnels. —
Brent Junction. — Woodcock Hill Tunnel. — Elstree.— Badlett.— Gorham-
bury. — Sopwell Nunnery. — St. Albans. — Harpenden. — Beds. — The Chiltern
Hills. — The Lea. — Luton Hoo. — Luton. — Dallow Farm. — Harlington. —
Flitwick. — Ampthill. — Houghton. — Elstow. — Bedford. — Bedford and
Leicester line. — The Ouse. — Sharnbrook Viaduct. — Northamptonshire. —
Ironstone. — Wellingborough Viaduct. — The Ise. — Kettering. — The Baptist
Mission House. — Kushton. — The Triangular Lodge. — Leicestershire. —
Market Harborough. — Wigston. — Leicester. — Historical associations. —
Syston. — Barrow Line works. — Mount Sorrel works. — Soar Bridge. — Lough-
borough. — Trent Bridge. — Trent Station. — Borrowash. — Derby. — Duffield.
— Belper. — Crich Hill. — Lea Hurst. — High Peak Eailway. — Willersley
Castle. — " The cradle of the cotton manufacture." — Matlock. — Darley Dale.
— Seat of Sir Joseph Whitworth. — Chatsworth. — Bakewell. — Monsal Dale. —
Miller's Dale and Viaduct. — Chee Vale. — Buxton. — Blackwell Junction. —
Manchester Extension. — Dove Holes Tunnel. — "Swallow Holes." —
Engineering operations. — Chapel-le-Frith Viaduct. — Bugsworth slip. — Line
reconstructed. — New Mills. — Hayfield. — Marple. — Central Station at
Manchester. — Main line to Liverpool. — Eisley Moss. — Eailway works. —
Warrington. — Garston. — Central Station at Liverpool.

" AND who was Saint Pancras ? " we inquired of a friend who was
sauntering with us on the departure platform of the Midland Com-
pany's London terminus, and who eloquently expatiated on the
wonders of the place. " Who ? " he replied, stroking his beard
and looking as wise as could be expected under the circumstances,
" Why, of course, Saint Pancras was — yes — he was — that is, she
was — ahem — well, to tell the truth, I haven't the faintest idea ! "

216

"AN ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION." 247

So we may as well mention that Saint Pancras was a Christian
martyr ; and that the seal of the vestry of the London parish
named in his honour represents him with a sword uplifted in one
hand and an olive branch in the other.

This spot has also other interesting historic associations. Here,
formerly, a principal Roman station and encampment stood ; and
hard by is Battle Bridge, where a great battle was fought between
the Roman legions and the Britons under Boadicea. In later days
the neighbourhood was devoted to pastoral pursuits ; and in the
time of Queen Elizabeth, Nash could send his greetings to Kemp
the actor in the words : " As many alhailes to thy person as there
be haicocks in luly at Pancredge." Afterwards the ever-encroach-
ing metropolis drew near, and then covered the once pleasant fields
with an interminable wilderness of bricks and mortar, of dwelling
places and shops, of factories and " works."

Last of all the Midland came ; and when it came, wrought a
mighty revolution. For its passenger station alone it swept away
seven streets of three thousand houses, and a church ; Old St.
Pancras Churchyard was invaded ; and Agar Town was almost
demolished. Yet those who knew that district at that time have
no regret at the change. Time was when here the wealthy owner
of a large estate had lived in his mansion ; but after his departure
the place became a very " abomination of desolation." In its
centre was what was named La Belle Isle, a dreary and unsavoury
locality, abandoned to mountains of refuse from the Metropolitan
dust-bins, strewn with decaying vegetables and foul-smelling frag-
ments of what had once been fish, or occupied by knackers' yards
and manure-making, bone-boiling, and soap manufacturing works,
and smoke- belching potteries and brick-kilns. At the broken win-
dows and doors of mutilated houses canaries still sang and dogs
still lay sleeping in the sun, to remind one of the vast colonies of
bird and dog-fanciers who formerly made Agar Town their abode ;
and from these dwellings wretched creatures came, in rags, and
dirt, and searched amid the. far-extending refuse for the filthy
treasure by the aid of which they eked out a miserable livelihood ;
while over the neighbourhood the gasworks poured their mephitic
vapours, and the canal gave forth its rheumatic dampness, extract-
ing in return some of the more poisonous ingredients from the
atmosphere, and spreading them upon the surface of the water in

248

CHAOS.

a thick scum of various and ominous hues. Such was Agar Town
before the Midland came.

But it was some time after the Midland Company resolved to
occupy the ground before Cosmos arose out of Chaos. The ground
was " cleared," so to speak, of its former dwellings and population ;
but it long presented a scene more confused and desolate than it is
possible to describe. On every hand were huge mounds of earth ;
heaps of burning clay ; the fragments of streets ; and labourers

DOUBLING OF METBOPOLITAN RAILWAY.

digging in holes and passages thirty or forty feet below the level
of the earth, apparently intent on something ; but what that some-
thing was, no one could divine. Parallel with the Euston Koad a
mighty trench was made, in which eventually a tunnel was laid
for the use of the Metropolitan Company, when it needs to double
its present railway. Further back, another mighty cutting came
sweeping round, along which the Midland Company's underground

* This engraving represents the scene as it appeared under what is now the
front of the hotel. The hoarding on the left cut off the works from Euston
Boad.

ST. PANCRAS UNDERGROUND.

249

junction with the Metropolitan was to be made. So vast indeed
were these subterranean operations, that the St. Pancras Station
is, in fact, as a writer has remarked, " like an iceberg, the greater
portion below the surface ; " and, remarkable as is the engineering
skill displayed in the mighty building which towers so majestically
above all its neighbours, "it is as nothing compared with that,

THE FLEET SEWER.

not indeed ' displayed,' but concealed below." For right under-
neath the monster railway station are two other railways, one
above another, and none the less wonderful because they will
never see the light of day, but are " irrevocably doomed to ' waste
their sweetness ' on even less than desert air. These works are
the Underground Railway and the Fleet Sewer ; " while the
branch of the Metropolitan that joins the Midland, " not only

250 ST. PANCEAS UNDERGROUND.

crosses it ' slantendicularly ' at the southern extremity, but theuce
runs up under the western side of the station, only to recross at
its northern end to the eastern side, where it gradually rises to its
junction about a mile down the line."

The Fleet Sewer was a very difficult work. The Underground
Railway operations were " comparatively simple — the mere driving
of a tunnel in a somewhat eccentric direction and through rather
delicate ground. The Fleet Sewer affair involved the ' taking up '
a main artery of metropolitan drainage, the diversion of a minia-
ture,— indeed scarcely a miniature, — Styx, whose black and fetid
torrent had to be transferred from its bed of half -rotten bricks to
an iron tunnel running in an entirely different direction, and that,
too, without the spilling of ' one drop of Christian ' sewage. To
what signal grief came the Metropolitan Company, in its dealings
with this identical difficulty, will be remembered. It is no little
to the credit of the engineers of the present undertaking, that,
profiting, no doubt, by the experience then so dearly purchased,
they have succeeded in their delicate task without an accident or
a hitch."

In designing the St. Paiicras Station, it was found that, in order
to cross the Regent's Canal at a suitable height, and to secure
good gradients and proper levels for stations at Camden Town,
Kentish Town, and Haverstock Hill, it would be necessary to raise
the level of the terminus from twelve to seventeen feet above the
Euston Road, which passes in front; and originally it was in-
tended to obtain this elevation by making a solid embankment of
earth. Second thoughts, however, were best ; for the station
being bounded on three sides by roads, and the difference of eleva-
tion being such as to admit of the construction of a lower floor
with direct access to these streets, it was resolved that the whole
area should be preserved for traffic purposes, and that communica-
tion with the rails should be secured by means of an hydraulic lift-
opposite the centre of the station, at the north entrance. It was
also determined that iron columns and girders, instead of brick
piers and arches, should be used ; and, as the area was to be de-
voted to the accommodation of Burton beer traffic, the distances
between the supports were arranged at such intervals as to allow
of the largest number of barrels of beer being placed between
them. These distances were found to be twenty-nine feet four

ROOFING THE STATION.

251

inches. As the great outlines of the superstructure had neces-
sarily to be adjusted to the position of the supports below, the
unit of the entire fabric came to be founded on the length of a
barrel of beer.

The changes thus contemplated were so important that they led
to a reconsideration of the question of roofing the station. " It
became obvious," said Mr. Barlow, the consulting engineer of the

ST. PANCRAS CELLARS.

Midland Company, " that if intermediate columns were employed,
they must be carried down through the lower floor, be about sixty
feet in length, and of much larger diameter than the rest of the
columns under the station. Moreover, these columns must have
carried large areas of roofing in addition to the flooring, involving
a greatly increased weight on its foundations, which must have
been enlarged accordingly ; and as some of them would necessarily

252 THE EOOF.

have been placed on the tunnel of the St. Pancras branch, special
means and increased expense would have been required to carry
the imposed weight at these places."

On the other hand, if an arched roof were used that spanned the
station, then its floor girders would make a ready-made tie ; all
the usual arrangements of roller ties required in ordinary roofs to
provide for the effects of variations of temperature, would be
avoided ; the cost of the columns and their foundations, and of a
longitudinal girder to connect them, and of a valley drain between
the roofs would be saved ; and the whole area would be available
for station purposes. "When, therefore, it is considered," says
Mr. Barlow, " that the Company obtained their station in the me-
tropolis at such great cost for land and works ; that its total area,
in reference to the extent of railway, is less than that of any of
the other important metropolitan termini ; and that the Midland
system is not yet in communication with all its expected sources of
traffic, — the sacrifice of a width of five or six feet, for the entire
length of the most valuable part of the working space of the
station, could hardly have been justified, even if the saving had
been greater than is estimated. As the station has been built, the
whole working area is free from obstruction of any kind ; and the
Company may make any alterations in the arrangements of the
lines and platforms which may from time to time best suit their
large and growing traffic. The roof is of great strength ; it is not
more costly than other roofs previously erected ; and in regard to
its general effect and appearance, it will probably not be deemed
unsuitable for the London terminus of so great and important a
system of railways as that of the Midland Company."

But we must now go down into the foundations and see how
the work of construction is being carried on. In what seems to
be the confusion of earthworks worse confounded, the men are
laying vast quantities of concrete one-and-twenty feet down in
the London clay, and fifty-four feet below the surface of the
ground ; on these they will build massive brick piers ; the piers
will carry the columns that support the floor, and each brick pier
will have to stand a pressure of five-and-fifty tons. Gradually
order appears. The work of 100 steam lifts, 1,000 horses, and
6,000 men tell their tale. The colossal brick walls and arches
which form the underground tunnels are built deep down in the

ENOEMOUS STEENGTH OF EOOF. 253

cuttings prepared to receive them. ; 720 cast-iron columns, each
thirteen inches in diameter, are set with stone bases on the piers ;
across the station are forty-nine main wrought- iron girders; fifteen
similar ones are placed longitudinally ; 2,000 intermediate girders
and innumerable "buckle" plates are riveted together; and thus
arise four acres and a half of what will serve at once as the roof
of the cellars and the floor of the future passenger station. Its
strength is everywhere sufficient to carry the enormous weight
of locomotives. The cost of the ironwork was £3 a square yard.

Such being the construction of the cellar and floor of the
station, we may now look at the superstructure. Under ordinary
circumstances, an erection of this kind would consist of two side
walls with a roof resting upon them, but in this instance it may
be described as all roof. The girders of the walls and roof spring
directly from the undermost foundation, and the iron floor of the
station takes the place of ties which hold the whole together.
These roof girders, too, are of remarkable construction, resem-
bling in their appearance a lobster's claw, from which the shorter
nipper has been broken off ; and instead of being set, so to speak,
horizontally, they are fixed vertically in pairs, the two pointed
extremities meeting, and forming a Gothic arch overhead.

In the arrangement of these girders a special contingency had
to be guarded against. It was not enough, by means of massive
concrete and brick foundations, to resist the pressure downwards :
it was necessary also to provide ample resistance against all
pressure upwards. "A building 100 feet in height by 700 in
length offers, as may well be imagined, a considerable object
for the attack of a gale of wind ; and, being too tightly bolted
together to run any risk of being blown down, like an ordinary
structure of wood and brick, exchanges this danger for that of
being blown bodily over, like a ship thrown on her beam ends
by a squall of wind, or carried up, like an unruly umbrella,
straight into the sky. To provide against these contingencies,
the same piers which prevent it from sinking into the ground
are also utilized to prevent its being lifted from it. Through
each pier, at a distance of twenty-one feet below the surface,
is run an ' anchor plate ' of great strength, and to the extremities
of these each girder is made fast, by means of strong iron rods
three inches in diameter. Each girder, therefore, if it lifts, must

254 BEARING THE ROOF.

not only lift with it the enormous additional weight of a solid
brick pier twenty-one feet in depth, but must drag this mass,
like a stupendous double tooth, from the solid earth in which
it is embedded."

Having provided against these two dangers, there is yet a third.
Besides the weight to be supported and the lifting tendency to
be restrained, there is also what is termed the lateral "thrust."
In a building of ordinary construction this is partly borne by the
walls on which it rests, and these are strengthened by buttresses,
erected where the pressure comes. In this roof the " thrust " is
resisted by the solid ground itself, in which the lower end of each
girder is, as we have seen, embedded, while the iron floor of the
station supplies the place of ties, and binds the whole structure
together. For all structural purposes, therefore, the building was
complete before any of the walls were commenced ; and they are
in fact mere screens or partitions, contributing in no way towards
the solidity of the edifice. " In result we have an arch, not only
of extraordinary lightness and beauty, but of equally extraordinary
strength ; whilst in point of economy, the difference in the walls
and the dispensing with the ties give it obviously an almost equal
advantage." The weight of each of the principal arches is fifty
tons. We may add that when the roof of the station was origin-
ally designed by Mr. Barlow, it was his intention that it should
at the south end " terminate against the walls, in the same way
as the roofs of the Cannon Street and the Charing Cross stations.
But the acceptance of Sir G. G, Scott's design for the station
offices and hotel led to this arrangement being departed from.
In the original design the hotel was carried over the upper portion
of the southern range of station offices ; but as it was feared the
steam and smoke of the engines would find entrance into the hotel
windows, Sir G. G. Scott planned a second gable and screen for
the southern end, so as to separate the passenger station from the
hotel buildings."

The method by which this stupendous structure was reared was
not a little remarkable. In order to provide an elevation from
which the men could work to raise the girders and form the roof,
a new plan was adopted. A gigantic travelling scaffold was
designed by the Butterley Company, Mr. (now Sir) G. J. N.
Alleyne being the manager. It consisted of two parts, each made

A TBAVELLING SCAFFOLD. 255

in three divisions, so that each part of either stage could be moved
separately; and eight miles in length of massive timber, 1,000 tons
weight, and containing about 25,000 cubic feet of timber and
eighty tons of ironwork, were used in their formation. Besides
these, there were more than 200 tons of timber employed in fixing
them together ; and 100 tons of stone and iron were usually in
actual use upon them, making a total of 1,300 tons ; the whole of
which had to be carried upon an area of the station not exceeding
90 feet in length and 200 in width; or, in other words, by not
more than 96 of the iron columns planted below.

Here then was an enormous scaffolding of 1,300 tons weight ;
but it was even more startling to discover that it stood upon
wheels, that the wheels rested on rails, that the rails extended
from one end of the station to the other, and that thus the same
scaffolding availed for every part. The process by which the
movement was accomplished was very simple. A workman was
stationed at each wheel, who placed a crowbar in such a position
that it could be brought to bear against the wheel. When all
were ready, a signal-man stood with a loose iron plate and a
hammer, which were to serve as a gong, and the moment he
struck it each workman pressed his crowbar lever-like against
the wheel. The whole mass at once moved a distance of about
an inch and a half, and this with very little exertion on the part
of the men. The signal was again sounded, the movement was
repeated, and any required distance was reached in a few minutes.
We may add, that when the scaffolding was done with, it was
bought by the Company at the rate of about 9d. a foot, instead
of its full value of about I5d., and that half of it was cut up,
with which to form the wooden block pavement of the station.

No other roof of so vast a span has been attempted. It is
double the width of the Agricultural Hall, at Islington. It is ten
yards wider than the two arches of the Great Northern terminus,
each of which is only 105 feet. We say "only"; yet it is but
the other day when those arches were considered to be a triumph
of modern engineering. There is, in fact, in the world nothing of
the kind that will bear comparison with it. Yet, gigantic as
" is its span — for it measures 240 feet across, and rises to a height
of 100 feet above the rail level — and constructed as it has been of
hundreds of tons of iron framing, it looks so light and pretty from

256 A TEST OF STRENGTH.

below, that the first impression is that it cannot possibly bear
even the glass and slate with which it has been covered. It is
only when the pieces of framework are examined separately before
being lifted into their places, and the elaborate system of inter-
lacing is seen, nnder which each section is made to bind the
other until the whole is girdered and ' tied ' together in almost
indissoluble bonds, that all fears vanish, and any sceptic has the
ground fairly taken from beneath him."

The strength of this vast structure is, indeed, enormous, and
even surprised so experienced an engineer as Mr. Barlow. One
day, shortly after the roof was finished, when visiting the works,
he found a party of men engaged in raising some of the iron
girders^ which form the screen that hangs across the northern
end of the roof. These men had fastened a block, not to one
of the principals, but to one of the cross pieces, and not at the
crown of the arch, but at the side of the arch ; through this block
they had passed a rope, and with it they were raising masses of
ii-on weighing up to as much as seven tons each. Mr. Barlow
at once interposed ; but he was assured by an experienced sub-
ordinate in charge of the details of the work, that they had lifted
even heavier weights by the same means with perfect safety on
the day before ; and an assistant, who was directed to ascertain
the deflection produced by the strain, found that it amounted to
only three-sixteenths of an inch, and that the moment the weight
was removed the iron recovered its position.

The rapidity with which the work of erecting the station was
carried on was remarkable. The last fourteen principals of the
roof were placed in their position in seventeen weeks, each being
29 feet 4 inches from the other ; and the slating and glazing
followed at the same speed. There are two acres and a half of
glass in the roof. " In consequence," says Mr. Barlow, " of a
delay in obtaining face-bricks for the side Avails, a considerable
number of ribs were erected, boarded, slated, and glazed before
the side walls were built ; and in that state the roof endured
several gales of wind, one of which was unusually heavy, without
the slightest visible movement."

As now completed there are three levels of railway, one above
another, at this station : the lowest is the St. Pancras branch
down to the Metropolitan ; it crosses on a curve obliquely from

MAGNITUDE OP THE WORK. 257

the western to the eastern side. Above this are the rails of the
lower floor which communicates with the street ; and aboAre this
again are the rails and platforms of the passenger station. There
is also the portion of the second line of the Metropolitan Railway
which passes under the end of the hotel and under the southern
approaches of the station. Of the magnitude of the work gener-
ally, some idea may be gathered from the fact that in the station
and its approaches some 60,000,000 of bricks, 9,000 tons of iron,
and 80,000 cubic feet of fourteen different kinds of dressed stone
have been employed.

It may be interesting to add that the twenty-four main ribs,
with bolts, ornamental spandrils, etc., cost something more than
£1,000 apiece. It is estimated that a roof with two spans instead
of one would have cost only about £6,000 less. With reference to
the colouring of the roof of the station, an important improve-
ment has lately been made. When originally completed, it was
of a dark-brown hue, and looked heavy and dull.

Of the general appearance of the St. Pancras terminus the
reader can judge for himself. Occupying a site in the Euston
.Road, between the Great Northern and London and North Western
stations, it is incomparably more complete and ornate than either
of them. The design of the station offices and hotel is from the
pencil of Sir G. G. Scott ; it was selected from a number sent in
for competition ; and is in the ornate Pointed Gothic style. The
total frontage is about 600 feet. It is not too much to say that
" it is one of the chief architectural ornaments of the metropolis,"
— that it is " a veritable railway palace." As another authority
has declared, it is "the most perfect in every possible respect
in the world."

Before we take our place in the train, and journey over the
Midland system, there is one part of the station which deserves
special notice. It is the Grand Hotel, which, since it has been
completed, has been wisely regarded as unsurpassed and perhaps
unequalled for combined comfort and magnificence in Europe.
Not very long ago we had the pleasure, in company with the
manager, of seeing over it from the laundries and kitchens to the
summit of the clock tower, and it may be interesting to our
readers to know in detail what the final arrangements will be.

The entrance into the hotel for foot passengers and carriages

258 THE PUBLIC ROOMS.

will be direct from the Euston Road into the western curved wing*.
Alighting under a magnificent porch, the guest will find himself
in a large hall. Immediately to the right are the offices of the
manager, for " information," and of the bedroom clerk ; and on the
left is one for hall porters, and for letters and parcels. Passing
along the corridor, there are various offices, and then the passenger
lift, which ascends to the fifth story. To oar right we enter the
general coffee room, which sweeps along the whole curved wing of
the building, 100 feet long by 30, 24 feet high, and ventilated with
shafts.

Turning through a door at our left, we find ourselves at the foot
and in front of the grand staircase. It rises to the third floor, is
lighted by three two-light windows which continue up to the roof,
a height of 80 feet, and are divided by four transom windows ; the
whole being crowned by a groined ceiling, with stone ribs and
carved bosses at the intersections, filled in with Portland concrete
a foot thick, the face being finished with Parian cement, which
some day will be coloured and decorated. The groined ribs spring
from stone corbels, and are supported by polished green Irish
marble columns.

Ascending the first floor of this staircase, on turning to the
right we reach the general drawing and reading room, a spacious
and beautifully decorated and furnished apartment. The five
front windows look into Euston Road, over a terrace, which will
be adorned with flowers and plants,' and covered with an awning
in summer. Three side windows look westward down Euston
Road, and three others eastward along the whole frontage of the
building. From hence we enter the music room, another splen-
didly furnished apartment ; and immediately adjoining there Avill
be "the private coffee room," for the use of which it is intended
to make a somewhat higher charge, in order to keep it more select.
We are now near the west end of the corridor, which runs from
one end of the building to the other, a total distance of some 600
feet, conducting to noble suites of bedrooms and sitting-rooms.

We pass along the deep -piled silent Axminster carpet. On our
right are suites of rooms, with a balcony in front, looking out upon
the wide space in front of the hotel and on to the Euston Road.
The spacious and lofty apartments, the handsome furniture, the
Brussels carpets, the massive silken or woollen curtains, and the

THE CLOCK TOWEE. 2-59

pinoleum blinds ; the wardrobes, chests of drawers, clocks, writing
tables, sofas, arm-chairs, with which they are supplied, leave
nothing to be desired by the wealthiest and the most refined. On
the north side of the corridor are apartments equally well appointed,
side by side with others less spacious ; while on the floors above
there are from, three to four hundred other bedrooms, of various
sizes, but all finished and furnished with completeness. Yet all
are to be enjoyed Avith such moderation of cost that it is obvious
that the design of the Company has not been how to make the
largest amount of profit out of the hotel, but to give the largest
amount of comfort to their passengers. Continuing our ascent of
the grand staircase, we reach the second floor, wholly occupied by
private apartments and single bedrooms.

From the eastern end of the fifth floor we enter a room which
leads into the clock tower. Here we climb a series of iron ladders, .
and at length find ourselves out on the open, 130 feet above the
ground. Above are the four faces of the clock. They are of iron
and glass ; they are thirteen feet in diameter ; and they are illumi-
nated at night. The hour hands are three feet seven inches, and
the minute hands six feet in length. This clock, as well as that
over the platform, was constructed by Mr. John Walker, of Corn-
hill, London.* From our lofty elevation outside the clock tower
we look around and beneath. Far below is the mighty roof of the
station itself, with its ribs and ridges of glass and iron. There are
also the Great Northern station and Hotel, both seeming dwarfed
in their proportions by the contrast with the Midland. The dome
of St. Paul's and the column of the Monument are beneath the level
on which we stand ; while for miles in all directions stretch inter-
minable lines of streets, the roofs of countless thousands of houses,
the spires of churches, and the vast black swollen receivers of
gasworks ; and just beneath us, adorning a lofty pinnacle of the
hotel, a giant figure of Britannia looks benignly over to the east,
with her trident in her hand, but, sad to say, with an electric rod
thrust into the crown of her head ! The clock tower itself is 240
feet in height.

We descend into the basement of the hotel, where, however,

* The platform clock dial is of slate. It is eighteen feet in diameter. The
length of the hour hand is four feet five inches, and that of the minute hand
seven feet three. It is the largest clock at any railway station in England*

260 THE REFECTORY.

there are more departments of interest than we can stay to de-
scribe. We walk over the sawdust-strewn floors to the bottling
room, where the bottler is at work ; cellar after cellar is unlocked
for us, where perhaps £10,000 worth of wine is treasured tip in
thirty-six gallon casks piled one upon another, or stored away in
stacks of bottles arranged with geometrical precision in open
wooden bins. Here is the plate room, where the elegant handi-
work of Messrs. Elkington is cleaned and placed ready for use.
Now we stand in the kitchen, before a fireplace with a vast iron
screen full of iron cupboards that keep plates, dishes, and covers
hot for use ; and turning back the screen, we see the huge fire, in
front of which a couple of dozen joints could be cooked at once.
" Potatoes for one," says a voice behind us, for an order to that
effect has come on a ticket down the lift ; " potatoes for one,"
repeats a subordinate, who with a little gum sticks a ticket on the
handle of the cover under which the said potatoes are immediately
deposited ; a warning bell rings, and the lift carries ticket and
potatoes swiftly away to their destination. And as with the
potatoes so with ten thousand other commodities and comestibles
eveiy day.

We linger for a moment in the refectory, where the chief pastry-
cook and his assistants are at work. A wedding party is at break-
fast upstairs, and we watch the cunning skill with which the
wondrous piles of viands of magic mould and brilliant hue and
wondrous delicacy have been reared, the builder striving to deceive
even the connoisseur as to the composition of the dish before him,
and to make him feel, as he thrusts his spoon into the mystic mass,
that he is solving a conundrum. Here is a mighty salmon girt
around the ribs with a gorgeous wrapping, and with a parsley
crown about his neck, — a victim adorned for sacrifice 5 while there,
in one fell pile, the breasts of a Avhole covey of partridges lie in a
rounded glistering tomb of jelly.

We pause for a moment to cool ourselves before the bed of ice
covered with canvas, on which rests fowls, game, and fish, oysters
in their shells and shell-less. We notice in the next apartment
that the vegetables are cooked by steam, in iron steam-chests ;
and then we are in the boiler room, with two boilers each 16-horse
power, which alternately supply steam and steam-power for the
whole establishment.

THE LAUNDRY. 261

Hard by is the laundry. Here the washing machine, six feet
in diameter, boils by steam and washes to a snowy hue from 2,500
to 3,000 pieces of linen a day of average size ; in twenty minutes
the centrifugal wringing machine will extract all the water ; and
after having passed through the drying closets, the heated rollers
of the two steam mangling machines will bring them a stage
nearer fitness for use ; and finally the airing room will, we dare
say, finish them off. But of that we know nothing except that
from the fervent heat of its threshold we made a precipitate
retreat. The linen of visitors staying at the hotel is got up in a
department by itself. Whichever of these subterranean abodes
we visit, order, cleanliness, and method seem to reign supreme.

Among the minor arrangements we may mention that the venti-
lation of the kitchens is conducted up the " service " staircase and
shaft, being completely separated from the establishment generally ;
that a dust shaft runs from the top floor to the bottom, provided
with a closed mouth on each for the reception of dust, and termin-
ating in a fireproof cistern ; that apparatus for the prevention and
extinction of fires is provided in all parts of the hotel; that
electric bells and speaking tubes run in all necessary directions,
giving the maximum of accommodation with the minimum of
noise ; and that an office for the receipt of letters is found on every
floor, a leaden weight coming down from the top to the bottom
each time the letters are despatched, in order to prevent any one
of them being by chance lodged in the tube in its descent.

" This hotel," Augustus Sala said, " is destined to be one of the
most prosperous, as it is certainly the most sumptuous and the
best conducted hotel in the empire."

But our train is alongside the departure platform, ready to
start ; so we must away, asking our kind reader to accompany us
in our journey, and we will endeavour to beguile the way by
telling some facts of interest with regard to the Midland line over
which we travel, and by pointing out some objects worthy of
special notice in the scenes among which we pass.

The train has scarcely left the platform of the station, when we
find that we are crossing over the graveyard that belongs to Old
St. Pancras Church. The difficulty of caiTying the line here
without any avoidable disturbance of the graves of the dead was
extreme; and although every precaution was adopted, it is said

202 ST. PANCRAS CHURCHYARD.

that a serio-comic incident occurred. " The Company had purchased
a new piece of ground in which to re-inter the human remains
discovered in the part they required. Amongst them was the
corpse of a high dignitary of the French Romish Church. Orders
were received for the transhipment of the remains to his native
land, and the delicate work of exhuming the corpse was entrusted
to some clever gravediggers. On opening the ground they were
surprised to find, not bones of one man, but of several. Three
skulls and three sets of bones were yielded by the soil in which
they had lain mouldering. The difficulty was, how to identify
the bones of a French ecclesiastic amid so many. After much
discussion, the shrewdest gravedigger suggested that, being a
foreigner, the darkest coloui-ed skull must be his. Acting upon
this idea, the blackest bones were sorted and put together, until
the requisite number of rights and lefts were obtained. These
were reverently screwed up in a new coffin, conveyed to France,
and buried Avith all the pomp and circumstance of the Roman
Catholic Church."

After passing the churchyard, we cross over the Regent's Canal.
Here during the construction of the works was a scene of the
busiest activity. " Engines," said a writer at the time, " are
flitting to and fro, dragging trains loaded with bricks to the
station, and returning laden with clay. Employed in the manu-
facture of the bricks are two machines that turn out 20,000 each
per day, and two others that manufacture 10,000 each per day.
These are dried and burnt by a new mode, which is the invention
of a German, and while the bricks are being burnt the clay mould
is drying. The building in which this is done is circular, divided
into 24 cells, each capable of receiving 15,000 bricks. A chimney
passage goes from the interior of each cell to a centre shaft, and
the roof of the cells forms the drying ground for the clay. Over
the whole is a light tile roof. By this arrangement the most
important processes in brickmaking are carried on independently
of the weather."

The line now passes under the North London Railway by a bridge
of three arches ; and their construction was a matter of no
ordinary difficulty, on account of the ceaseless traffic on the lines
above ; it was, however, accomplished without the interruption of
an hour. The Midland main line is here joined on the right by

KENTISH TOWN. 263

the branch which comes up from the Metropolitan. The lines
actually converge near the Camden covered way ; but the point
for the transfer of passengers is at Kentish Town station, where
every arrangement is provided for the interchange of communi-
cation between the Midland, the Metropolitan, and the London
Chatham and Dover systems.

Immediately north of Kentish Town is a locomotive establish-
ment. Here, too, the Tottenham and Hampstead branch line
diverges to the left, and, rising by a steep gradient, passes over the
main line, and bears away to the right. By its means access is
obtained to several suburbs of interest in the north of London;
and also, rid Stratford, to the Victoria Docks, and to the Great
Eastern Railway generally.

A little north of Kentish Town we pass Haverstock Hill station.
Here in the cutting \ve observe that, in addition to the massive
retaining walls erected on either hand, iron girders stretch across
the line from wall to wall to help to resist the inordinate pressure
of the London clay. At the entrance to Belsize Tunnel it was
found necessary even to erect a series of arches or bridges over
the line, the lights and shadows of which, as the traveller passes
under them, having a surprising effect.

This London clay, though troublesome to the engineer, has
however its merits. Of it London is built. It fills up what was
an ancient gulf of the ocean, and varies from 300 to 600 feet in
thickness. Its dark tough soil is occasionally intermixed with
green and ferruginous sand and variegated clays, and it contains
enormous quantities of organic remains. The fossils of this
deposit, — crabs, lobsters, and other Crustacea, and leaves, fruits,
stems of plants, and trunks of trees, — are innumerable. And it
may not make a railway journey through these clay cuttings less
interesting when we know that we are riding where crocodiles and
turtles have formerly walked, and where nautili have spread their
sails to the wind.

We have now entered Belsize Tunnel. The ceremeny of laying
the first brick of this important work took place on the 27th of
January, 1865, at Barham Park, and was in the midst of a driving
snowstorm, and of a foot deep of half melted snow. A score or
thirty gentlemen assembled to support Mr. Price, then the Deputy
Chairman of the Midland Company, who was to officiate on the

264

BELSIZE TUNNEL.

occasion ; and the brick bearing his initials was laid some five feet
below the surface of the ground in a circular cutting that would
eventually form the shaft ; " the said brick being destined, by the
gradual undermining of the earth beneath, to take its place at the
bottom of the shaft, where it joins the top of the tunnel." A
short and lively address from Mr. Price released the shivering
group from their duty, and they adjourned to a large timber shed

BELSIZE TONNEL, SOUTH ENTRANCE.

where the contractor had provided luncheon ; where, as the Deputy
Chairman remarked, each sought to "manifest an honourable
rivalry to excel ; " and where "an amount of energy and cheerful
industry " were witnessed which had only to be imitated by other
labourers on the field, and eventually all material obstructions to
their great enterprise would pass away.

During the subsequent progress of this work the scene presented

INSIDE A TUNNEL. 265

was one of much interest, though perhaps to many it could
scarcely be called attractive. " We obtain access to the tunnel,"
said a writer, " through the contractor's yard, quite a little town
in itself, with its offices, dwellings, workshops, stables, etc. About
150 men are employed in or near the yard, and it is the home of
above 100 horses. Mr. Firbank has about 1,300 men employed
upon his length, and many portions of the work are prosecuted
night and day without intermission. The tunnel is about a mile
and a quarter in length, and in many parts above 100 feet deep.
The stuff, or ' muck,' as our guide seemed accustomed to call it, is
uniformly clay, but not uniform in its density. In some cases it
has been met with so hard as to require to be blasted by gun-
powder. We have heard of many stories that have been considered
apocryphal, of live toads being found in blocks of stone and coal ;
but it is a true story, we believe, that in this tunnel a live frog has
been found, imbedded in the stiff clay, at a depth of 80 feet from
the surface.

" There are five shafts to the tunnel, two of which are to be
permanent. We did not splash through the clay, — it was too
tough for splashing ; but getting to the shaft mouth, — and dodging
the two gin horses that a.re employed to raise and lower the
workmen, to haul up the clay, and to lower the timber, bricks,
mortar, and other materials, — we sprawled the best way we could
into one of the clay wagons, and were swung off and let down to
the bottom. On our way we asked our guide (who answered any
question put to him very cheerfully, but was by no means a
speechmaker), ' What is that pipe for ? and that ? and that ? '
And the answers were, ' For air, water, and gas.' And so, sure
enough, we found, when we got bumped out at the bottom, and
hastened, to the serious damage of our shins, from under the
dripping wet and very heavy pellets which kept descending the
shaft, that the tunnel is actually lit with gas, and supplied with
water and air from the upper regions. We had no occasion to
make a note that the expenditure of gas was on a profligate scale.

" The lights, however, were only where the workers needed
them, and we gladly accepted a tallow candle, with an improvised
clay socket, to light us on our way in this Plutonian region.
About eighty yards on each side of the bottom of the shaft there
is a species of illumination, and strange sounds proceed from both

266 INSIDE A TUNNEL.

quarters. Passing along in one direction we reach the lights, and
find about a dozen men at work, half a dozen with pickaxes
tearing away at the tough clay, and accompanying every stroke
with a stentorian noise, half grunt, half groan, which may be a
help, but which we thought a waste of lung power ; other men
were constantly employed in filling the loosened clay into the
railway trucks, which run on a gauge 1 foot 7| inches, and other
two in pushing the filled trucks to, and the empty ones back from,
the shaft bottom. The miners are protected by immensely strong
shorings, which are shifted from time to time as need requires.
Leaving the navvies at the end, we floundered to the other end of
the tuhnel, and there found half a dozen bricksetters casing the 12
feet length which had been cleared for them by the navvies. We
may here remark that this is the uniform practice in each of the
five shafts. Navvies having cleared a length of 12 feet, the
centres are put up, and the bricklayers take their place, the miners
proceeding to another end. Both of these classes work night and
day continuously by relays. Some of the labourers in the tunnel
work for two days and the intervening night without cessation.
The finished tunnel is about 25 feet wide, and about 26 feet from
the crown of the arch to the bottom of the invert. The brickwork
is 3 feet 6 inches thick all round. There are 33 cubic yards of
brickwork in each lineal yard of tunnel, and every 12 feet length
consumes 50,000 bricks.

" Returning up the shaft, we observe that it has bands of elm,
which we learn are about ten inches by six, placed at distances of
six feet. These Avere used, we believe, for the travelling down-
wards of the brickwork, which was commenced near the surface,
and let down by gradual excavation, — a method common in the
construction of colliery shafts. The Avails of the two permanent
shafts, one of Avhich is twelve feet and the other fifteen feet in
diameter, have to be lined with blue Staffordshire bricks, Avhich are
almost as hard as iron, and impervious to moisture. The walls of
the shaft Avill then be about eighteen inches thick.

" There is nothing very wonderful about boring a hill right on
from one side, and coming through at the other, within a feAv
yards to the right or left, higher or loAver, than Avas intended ; but
we confess to regard it as a great triumph of science and of
engineeinng skill, that ten sets of men should be let down one

ETIENT JUNCTION. 267

hundred feet below the surface of the earth, and that two other
sets should be set to work on the sides of the hill, and that all the
twelve parties should meet, not in a, zig-zag hole, but with an
opening, even in roof, sides, and bottom, of a massive and costly
tunnel."

We may add that the tunnel runs askew under the well-known
grove of trees on the hill of Belsize Park, the line being 120 feet
beneath them. On emerging from the tunnel we pass under a
railway, which is carried by a bridge over our heads. It is the
Hampstead Junction of the London and North Western Company,
running from Camden Town to Willesden. Since the opening of
the Midland line to London, a second Belsize tunnel has been
made alongside the first.

BfUDGE U.NDKB IIAMI'STKAI) JUNCTION.

We now approach a place of some importance in the administra-
tion of the London goods and mineral traffic of the Midland
Company — the Brent Junction. Here more than 150 acres of land
have been obtained for the use of the locomotive department, and
especially for the marshalling of trains for the various lines in the
neighbourhood of London to which the Midland has access, or for
their being re-marshalled as empties for the down traffic of the
Midland Company. Here also the South- Western Junction bears
away to the left, communicating with the South- Western system ;
and over it through Midland trains run direct to Richmond and
other places to the south of the Thames. Access is also obtained
from hence to Clapham Junction, which, Mr. Venables remarked,
'• is the road to everywhere."

263 MILL HILL.

Leaving Hendon, the line runs in a direct course for many
miles ; and to the left of it, and almost parallel with it, is the old
Roman road to St. Albans. A little more than a mile from Hendon,
and nine miles from St. Pancras, a railway passes under the
Midland. It is a branch of the Great Northern, and runs to
Edgware, which is about a mile and a half left of the Mill Hill
station of the Midland Railway. Here, upon the wooded hills to
the right, may be seen the facade of Mill Hill School, under the
able presidency of Dr. Weymouth.

We are now passing through a district singularly rich and
pleasant, and soon we reach the northern confines of the county.
When we enter Woodcock Hill by Elstree Tunnel, 1,060 yards
long, we are still in Middlesex ; before we have emerged at the
northern end we are in Herts. The boundary, unless we can see
through the carriage roof and the tunnel top, is invisible, for it is
along the summit of the hill. On emerging from the tunnel, we
have passed the village on our left. It stands on elevated ground,
near the site of the Roman station of Sullonicae, one of the three
pi'incipal Roman stations connected with this county of which any
traces remain. The manor was granted by Offa to St. Albans
Abbey. The village, though ancient and small, stands in four
parishes. A ,

The county of Herts, which we are now crossing, has many
features of interest. " There is scarce one county in England,"
wrote Camden, that " can show more footsteps of antiquity." The
competition for land here became at one time so keen that it was
a common saying, that " He who buys land in Hertfordshire, pays
two years' purchase for the air." At one time silk and cotton
were largely manufactured in this county. Turnips were first
introduced here in the time of Cromwell, who gave £100 to the
farmer as a reward for his enterprise ; and wheat, at Wheat-
hampstead, on the Lea, is so fine, that it has given its name to the
district.

Geologically, the county forms part of the London chalk basin.
There are some 47,000 acres of chalk in Herts, and we shall see
much of it. Three miles from Elstree we reach Radlett station,
which at one time it was proposed to name Aldenham, after
another village in the neighbourhood. Soon after leaving Radlett,
we cross over the little stream of the river Colne, and immediately

HERTFORDSHIRE. 269

afterwards pass on the left what some will consider to be the most
picturesque residence on the Midland line ; while the cedars of
Lebanon that adorn the park give dignity to the scene. It is
Parkbury Lodge.

We now run in an almost straight line till we come in sight of
the town and abbey of St Albans, to the left of which we see the
wooded hills of Gorhambury, where Lord Bacon had his country
residence. This place derived its name from one De Gorham,
who in the twelfth century, built a mansion, which, being called
Gorham-bury, gave its name to the estate. Two hundred years
afterwards it was re-annexed to the abbey, to which it had
previously belonged ; some two hundred years later Henry VIII.
gave it away ; and subsequently Gorhambury was sold to Nicholas
Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of Queen Elizabeth.

At a short distance westward of the old mansion, Sir Nicholas
erected a new one. Here he was frequently visited by the queen,
who dated many state papers from Gorhambury. It is recorded
that one day, when Sir Nicholas was under the " hands of his
barber, the weather being sultry, he ordered a window before him
to be thrown open." Being corpulent he fell asleep, and on
awakening found himself in a cool draught, and " distempered all
over." " Why," he demanded of the servant, " did you suffer me
to sleep thus exposed ? " The servant replied, that it was because
he durst not awake his master. " Then," said the Lord Keeper,
" by your civility I lose my life ; " and in a few days afterwards
he died.

But while we have been telling this story of Gorhambury, and
long before we have finished it, we have passed another spot of
interest, Sopwell Nunnery, and reached St. Albans. Sopwell
Nunnery was founded in 1140, on, it is said, the site of a humble
dwelling constructed of branches of trees by two women, who
lived here in abstinence and seclusion. Tradition gives us an
unlikely derivation from the fact that these women were wont to
sop their crusts in a neighbouring well, and thus gave the name
to the place. There were thirteen sisters, for whose support
sundry estates were left. In 1541, Henry VIII. gave the site and
buildings to Sir Richard Lee, who enlarged the premises as a
dwelling, and the surrounding grounds he enclosed as a park w^ith
a wall.

'270 ST. ALBANS ABBEY.

Verularn was an important British city, and, according to the
Roman historians, more ancient than London. British coins, said
to have been struck here, bore the name of Ver. Under the
Romans the town attained the dignity and privileges of a free
city ; but this honour was dearly purchased by bringing upon it
the vengeance of the hosts of Boadicea. Subsequently, however,
it rose to its former lustre as a Roman city. During the persecu-
tion of the Christians under Diocletian, Albanus, or Alban, was
here martyred ; and in order to inspire terror in others of his
faith, the story of his death was inscribed on marble and built
into the prison walls. Yet within a few years after the cessa-
tion of that persecution, a church was founded in honour of his
memory, on the spot where the abbey church of St. Albans
now stands ; and the marble that told the tale of his shame
was removed, and memorials of his fidelity were erected, both
there and over the city gates.

The massiveness of the ruined walls twelve feet in thickness,
built of flint and Roman tiles ; their wide extent ; the immense
embankments called the Verulam hills, and the deep ditches
against them ; the traces of temples ; the innumerable coin and
other antiquities, — not to mention what Camden tells about
marble pillars and cornices, and statues of silver and gold,—
afford abundant testimony of the magnificence of this ancient
city.

Many a remarkable story, too, is told in the annals of yonder
abbey. How it was enriched with costly garments and vessels,
and with the relics of the saint, one of which, we are assured, was
restored by monks from Nuremburg, who said that Canute had
brought it to them ; — how the abbey was relieved from all ecclesi-
astical jurisdiction except that of the Pope himself ;— how Henry
II. withstood the Pope, and kept the abbacy vacant for months ; —
how it is recorded, many a year afterwards, that the abbey was
furnished with the modern device of chimneys, probably the first
occasion on which such an event is recorded ; — how within sound
of its walls the battle of St. Albans was fought in 1455, the king,
Heni-y VI., being present ; and a second battle a few years after-
wards;— how in the reign of "bloody Mary," "a little heap of
ashes and a blackened circle on the grass " on the Abbey Green
told that another martyr had fallen at St. Albans for the truth of

ST. ALBANS.

271

God; — and how eventually the monastery was dissolved, and its
lands divided — all these are chronicles of undying interest and
pathos, but over which we may not longer linger. The abbey has
of late been restored largely by the munificence of Sir Edmund
Beckett, the eminent parliamentary lawyer, recently created Lord
Grimsthorpe.

To turn to conventional railway matters, we may mention that
the staple trade of the town is gentlemen's straw hats ; ladies'
hats being made at Luton. St. Albans is also a great place for

ST. ALBANS.

watercresses. " When they are in season, and it is warm weather,"
remarked the station-master to us, " we send away perhaps two
tons or more a night, for months together." They go chiefly to
London and Manchester, and are packed in hampers containing
half a hundredweight each.

Leaving St. Albans we pass among beautiful hills and dales,
woods and meadows, farms and farmsteads, till we see on the left
an open common, running over the hillsides, and we soon reach
the pretty village of Harpendcn, nestling down along the side of
the valley to the left of the line, and almost embosomed in wood.

272 HARPENDEN AND THE LEA.

This place, familiarly called Harden, belonged in the reign of
Edward I. to a family named De Hoo. The church appears to
have been erected in Norman times. It is built in the form of a
cross, with a tower at the west end.

A mile north of Harpenden we run through Westfield Wood,
soon after through Ashfield Wood ; and we think of the time when
these Chiltern Hills were covered with dense forests, the haunts of
wild bulls and stags, and bears and wolves, and the hiding-places
of outlaws and robbers. We now see a river and a railway ap-
proaching us from the right. The former is the Lea, which gives
its name to Luton and Leagrave, — " the gulfy Lea with sedgy
tresses," as Pope said ; " the wanton Lea, that oft doth lose its
way," as Spenser declared. The railway is the Luton and Dun-
stable branch of the Great Northern. It diverges from the main
line between Hatfield and Welwyn, and, bending to the west, here
passes under the Midland line, and proceeds with a devious course
on through Luton to Dunstable. Immediately after we had passed
over it we cross the Lea, and are in Bedfordshire. From hence on
to Luton the view is very beautiful. We look down from the em-
bankment upon the rich masses of beech and birch woods that
encircle the waters, the park, and the mansion of Luton Hoo, one
of the noblest residences in this county. It was reconstructed and
improved by John Earl of Bute. The river Lea, which meanders
through the park, has been formed into a lake nearly a quarter of
a mile in width, with islands and plantations, at the fooi of the
eminence on which the house is seated.

In passing through the chalk cutting near Luton Hoo Park, the
geologist may observe a remarkable seam, separating the upper
from the lower bed of chalk rock. Though it does not average
more than a foot or eighteen inches in thickness, it is useful " as a
line of demarcation between the upper and lower beds of the cre-
taceous series." Though not uniformly compact, it is excessively
hard, and when struck with a hammer has a metallic ring.

The town of Luton is pleasantly situated in a valley between
two extended series of hills. Before reaching the station we see
the church on our left, the handsome embattled tower of which is
chequered with flint and freestone. At the corners are hexagonal
turrets. On the north side of the choir are a vestry-room and a
chapel founded by Lord Wenlock. He lived in the reign of Henry

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LUTON.

273

VI., and Bray ley tells us that he rendered services to the Crown,
and received rewards ; was severely wounded in defence of the
king at the battle of St. Albans, but afterwards joined the Duke
of York.

Luton is the second town in the county.

Concerning the trade of this town, it has been quaintly said : —

" Some ladies' heads appear like stubble fields :
Who now of threatened famine dare complain,
When every female forehead teems with grain ?
See how the wheatsheaves nod amid the plumes !
Our barns are now transferred to drawing-rooms ;
And husbands who indulge in active lives,
To fill their granaries, may thresh their wives.
Nor wives alone prolific, notice draw :
Old maids and young ones — all are in the straw."

The neighbourhood of Luton is full of historic associations.
One of the most interesting spots is Dallow Farm. As the train
runs along the embankment to the north of the station, the travel-

274 DALLOW FARM.

ler may see, about half a mile to the left, just under a wood that
crowns the height (exactly as depicted by our artist), the gables
of an old farmhouse nestling in the valley. This is Dallow Farm.
It Avas one of the five manses given by King Offa to the Abbey of
St. Albans in 795. On the dissolution of the abbey, the house, like
others, was sold or given away, and became henceforth private
property. " In the persecuting times of Charles II.," says .Dr. J.
Hiles Hitchens, " the Nonconformists met here, secluded from
general observation, for divine worship ; and in the roof of the
house is the trap door by which some of the persecuted Noncon-
formists escaped from their pursuers. It is said that John Bunyan
was concealed for several days in this house. When liberty of
conscience was granted by James II., the worshippers in the Dallow

DALLOW FAKM.

Farm removed to Luton, and formed themselves into a Christian
community."

Before reaching Leagrave station, the traveller may notice a bed
of chalk like that previously observed. It is so hard that blasting
was necessary to excavate it. It divides into thin laminae, and the
natural cleavages have a greenish tinge. It contains numerous
fossils.

At Leagrave is an excavation in the drift formation that exhibits
a series of sands, gravels with water- worn flints, and clays. The
village of Leagrave is on the left of the line. The Lea, which
gives it its name, rises at Leagrave Marsh.

About a mile south of Harlington is an excavation known as the
Charlton Cutting, upwards of a mile in length, through the range

HAKLINGTON AND FLITWICK. 275

of hills that constitute the watershed of the district, the springs
on the north-west side flowing towards the Ouse, those on the
south-east forming the source of the Lea. The Chiltern Hills also
form the north-west chalk escarpment, and the scenery from them
at various points is very picturesque.

The hill now observed upon our right is known by the Saxon
name of " Wanluds Bank." Its naturally rounded sides have been
scarped in a remarkable manner, but when or by whom we are
unable to ascertain. A short distance before we reach Harlington
Station, and between the two hills on the left, is the rising ground
of Conger Hill. Behind it is the village of Toddington ; and its
old park is close on our left. Harlington is prettily situated to the
right of the station. The cutting at Harlington at the north-east
side of the hill, where it faces the Oxford clay and green sand strata,
exposed a thick bed of heavy dark clay, containing a profusion of
selenite crystals.

Flitwick station is nearly three miles north of Harlington.
Near it are two cuttings in what is called the lower greensand,
consisting of white and yellow sands with bands of ironstone.
These strata extend for considerable distances across the county ;
and may be- observed at Sandy on the Great Northern, and at
Leigh ton on the London and North Western, Railways.

Less than two miles forward we reach Ampthill, pleasantly
situated on two hills near the centre of the county. In the church
is a mural monument to the memory of Richard Nicholls, who fell
in battle, and the ball with which he was slain (a five or six
pounder), is preserved. An inscription tells that it was " the
instrument of death and immortality."

Passing northward out of the cutting, we observe upon our
right the stately mansion called Ampthill House. It was built by
Lord Ashburnham in the time of Charles II. The Park is remark-
able for its ancient and stately oaks. Houghton Park is now
united with it. Houghton House was built by the Countess of
Pembroke, sister of Sir Philip Sydney. With the exception of
some ornamental portions, which form a picturesque ruin, it has
been pulled down. Fine views may from hence be enjoyed over
the northern parts of the county. At the town entrance to the
park was a lodge, " and a pear-tree, on which Sir Philip is re-
ported to have written part of his Arcadia." The entire neigh-

276

ELSTOW.

bourhood is very beautiful, and a favourite resort for pleasure
parties.

As we approach Bedford, the excavations are slight, and ex-
hibit only the drift sands and gravels of the rich valley of the
Ouse, in which have been discovered " indubitable evidence that
herds of elephants and other similar creatures roamed the primeval
hills and forests of Bedfordshire."

Just as we pass over the London and North Western Railway,
we have upon our right a spot of interest to every Englishman,
the birthplace of John Buiiyan. He was born at Elstow, in 1628,

and was one of the ringers in the church seen among the trees on
our right. The tower is detached.

It is thought that the name Bedford- is the Bedicanford of the
Saxon Chronicle, the word signifying "a fortress on a river."
Mention is made of a stronghold on the south side of the Ouse ;
and subsequently Rufus erected a castle with an entrenchment,
and with thick and lofty walls. " While this castle stood," says
Camden, " there was no storm of civil war that did not burst upon
it. ' He speaks of its ruins, in his time, overhanging the river on
the east side of the town. Not many years ago its site might
be traced at the back of the Swan Inn, where there is now a bowl-
ing green. Within the walls of the old gaol on Bedford Bridge,

BEDFORD.

277

For

the immortal allegorist wrote his " Pilgrim's Progress."
seventeen years he was a Baptist minister in Bedford.

We now enter on the Bedford and Leicester portion of the

Midland line. This, as our readers are aware, was intended and
was used for several years to give the Midland a nearer approach,
via, Hitchin, to London, than had previously been possessed by

278 LEICESTER AND HITCHIN' LINE.

way of Rugby. The opening of the direct through Bedford and
London line has, however, thrown the Bedford and Hitchin por-
tion into the position of a subordinate branch.

In travelling from Bedford to Leicester, the trains have to
ascend to and to descend from five summit levels, two of them of
considerable length and severity. The principal are the Irchester
and the Desborough " banks," each of which rises some fifty feet
a mile for four miles, or 200 feet in all, and then fall for a similar
distance. The cuttings are fifty or sixty feet deep, and the em-
bankments are fifty or sixty feet high, as deep and as high as they
could with safety be carried. " But if you could not alter your
banks and cuttings," we inquired of the engineer, " might you not
have got over the difficulty, or at any rate diminished it, by
tunnelling ? " " Yes," replied he ; " by putting tunnels at your
summit levels, and viaducts at the lowest part of your embank-
ments the proportion of earthwork would have remained the same,
and the levels might have been immensely improved. But there
was one objection to that: we hadn't the money to do it with.
It was just at the time of the Russian war ; money and men were
very difficult to get, and the shareholders could not be induced to
raise more than a million, with which to construct a line sixty-
three miles long. ' Now, Charles Liddell and John Crossley,' said
old John Ellis, ' there are £900,000 to make your line with. If it
can't be done for that, it can't be done at all. So you must put
all your fine notions into your pockets, and go and do it for £ 15,000
a mile. And then there is the rolling stock to find.' 'And it
took,' said Mr. Crossley, a great deal of " scraping," to get it
done.' Mr. Brassey was the contractor for the work, and Mr.
Horn was his agent." " Which Brassey ? " we asked. " Thomas
Brassey," was the reply. " There was only one Brassey. There
are Brasseys who are members of Parliament, and that sort of
thing, but there was only one Brassey — that was Thomas."

About a mile north of Bedford we cross the Ouse for the second
time. Within a distance of seven miles we pass over it no fewer
than seven times ; and the river has so winding a course through
this county, that though, as the bird flies, the whole distance
would be less than seventeen miles, the water flows not fewer
than forty-five.

A little more than three miles brings us to Oakley station.

"THE MIDMOST OF THE MIDLANDS." 279

Before reaching it we see the village on our left, and behind it the
park, through which the Ouse winds its way. Oakley House is a
seat of the Duke of Bedford. We now ascend the long incline
called Sharnbrook Bank. A little south of Sharnbrook we cross
over the Ouse by a viaduct. It is the most important viaduct on
the line between Bedford and Leicester, and, remarked the
engineer to us, " it was a very troublesome one to make. The
water was twenty-five feet deep, and the foundations had to be
carried twenty-five feet down through the soft clay at the bottom
before a foundation could be found." This bridge has lately been
rebuilt ; in fact, the line has here been doubled, and a second
bridge has been erected alongside the first.

The new portion runs to the east of the old one. It is called
the Winnington and Wellingborough deviation. Its southern end
is just south of Sharnbrook station, six miles from "Wellingborough.
By running at a lower level and passing through a tunnel, it
avoids the necessity of climbing the steep gradient of Sharnbrook
bank. The greatest difference of level is about 40 feet, the
gradient of the old line being 1 in 120, of the new at its worst, and
for only a short distance, 1 in 165, and this in favour of loaded
trains for London. The deviation is three and a half miles in
length.

About a mile south of Irchester station we enter Northampton-
shire, " the midmost of the midlands." It is so far from the sea,
and fish are supposed to be such a rarity, that a proverb declares
that " the mayor of Northampton opens oysters with his dagger."
The county is three times as long as it is broad, and stretches from
the highlands of Edgehill to the fens beyond Peterborough. It is
singular that it has no rivers but those to which it gives birth ;
and its own waters flow both east and west, to the Wash and the
Severn. Once it was a land of " great herds of svvyne," of char-
coal burners, and wood growers and woodlanders. At a later
period it was declared by Norden that " the fertilitie, salutarie
ayre, pleasant prospects, and convenience of this shire in all things
to a generous and noble mynd" early "allured nobilitie to plant
themselves within the same ; " and, he adds, even " the baser sorte
of men here prove wealthie, and wade through the world with
good countenance to their calling." It is now a land of " spires
and squires," of rich pastures, — the worst of which, Drayton

280 NORTHAMPTONSHIEE IRONSTONE.

averred, " are equal to the best elsewhere ; " of ever-recurving
ridge and furrow ; of hedgerows and of ash-trees innumerable, —
the favourite tree of the Anglo-Saxon.

After passing, on our left, the village and church, we run tinder
a road, immediately north of which is the ancient Roman station
of Irchester, on the verge of which very extensive fields of iron-
stone have, of late years, been opened. Mr. W. Butlin smelted the
first piece of ore from this county, and he is regarded as the father
of its iron trade. It is remarkable that so lately as in 1836 a shaft
was sunk at Kingsthorpe, near Northampton, for coal, "while all
the while iron was lying unheeded on the surface. Domesday
Book had spoken about the " Ferraria " in this district of Edward
the Confessor ; slags were found in all the old forest lands ; royal
furnaces existed at Geddington in the reign of Henry II. ; but the
impression seemed to be that the iron had been brought from else-
where to be smelted here. Morton refers to the red lands of
Rothwell and the neighbourhood, and adds : " There is no iron ore
to be met with in this county." The existence of ironstone appears
to have first been noticed by a railway traveller, who happened to
see blocks of it brought to mend a road near a station. " Thus,"
says an observant writer, " the iron road led and paved the way to
its own resources."

A mile north of Irchester the line reaches the verge of a wide
valley, along which the Nene flows (and in winter often overflows),
and down which the London and North Western Railway from
Blisworth to Peterborough runs. The Midland crosses the river
and the rail at right angles by a long and lofty embankment, by a
viaduct and a bridge. The viaduct is represented in our sketch.*
The erection of it was a difficult matter ; for, after they were
built, all the abutments and the wings slid forwards, without,
wonderful to say, displacing a single brick. It was necessary,
however, that the side arches should be taken down and rebuilt.
" This was a very singular instance," Mr. Crossley remarked to us,
" of how solid masonry may shift without injuring itself. The
accident was caused by the pressure of the bank behind the brick-
work."

Almost immediately south of Wellingborough station there is a
timber bridge over the Ise ; and from near the station itself two

* See page 108.

WELLINGBOKOUGH.

branch lines, right and left, communicate with the North Western.
That to the left gives the Midland Company access to North-
ampton.

Wellingborough is situated on an eminence to the west of the
station. It was rebuilt, in 1738, after a fearful fire. The town
is said to have derived its name from its wells or springs, one of
which, "the Red Well," a chalybeate, was formerly in high repute.
Charles I. and his queen resided here under canvas for nine days,
to have the benefit of the waters.

LOCOMOTIVK ESTABLISHMENT, WELLINGBOKOUGH.

The requirements of the Midland system and the development
of the iron trade in this district have greatly altered the character
of the town and its neighbourhood. Instead of being a quiet
station in the midst of a purely agricultural district, it has been
made the first great mineral and goods station on the Midland line
put of London. Its distance is about sixty-five miles from the me-
tropolis, making a journey to and from Wellingborough a con-
venient day's work for a goods engine, and accordingly large
locomotive establishments have been erected.

232 KETTERING.

In various cuttings north of Wellingborough the clay is very
heavy, and the banks, after they were made, slipped repeatedly.
" These oolitic clays," remarked the engineer to us, " are very
soapy ; and the ironstone, a ferruginous oolite, presses heavily
upon them. After wet weather the clay becomes a mass of grease,
and then the stone slides off into the cutting. These slips just
north of Wellingborough station were so frequent that at length
they exposed the abutments of a three-arched bridge. It is now a
bridge of five arches," as seen in the engraving.

Beside the line to the north of Wellingborough, we observe a
river winding its way in so devious a fashion that it is sometimes of
a horse-shoe shape. This is the Ise. It rises north-east of Ketter-
ing, receives a tributary from the north-west, then flows almost

TH3 BAPTIST MISSION HOUSE, KETTEltlNG.

close to the railway down to Wellingborough. It is twenty-four
miles long.

After passing some large ironworks on the right, we reach the
next station, Finedon ; and then comes Isharn, with its large mill,
known as "The Woollen Mill." The embankment curving towards
us from the right is the commencement of the Kettering and
Huntingdon branch, at the junction of which we are abreast of a
spot on our left of great interest to many. It is the village of
Pytchley, the home of the Pytchley hunt.

The next station is Kettei-ing, the houses of which rise up the
hillside on our right ; and above all is the noble spire of the
church. Almost immediately after clearing the station the pas-
senger may see on his right a large white building, with three

RUSHTON.

dormer windows in the roof. It is known as the "Baptist Mission
House," for in one of the parlours, on the 2nd of October, 1792,
Dr. Carey, Andrew Fuller, and others founded missions to the
heathen, and a collection was made of £13 2s. 6(7. the firstfruits of
a harvest of millions sterling devoted to the highest well-being of
man. Fifty years afterwards some 10,000 persons assembled here
to celebrate the jubilee.

Leaving Kettering, we rise up a heavy incline. The new line
to Manton runs parallel with us and then bears away to the right,
and soon we are in the neighbourhood of the Glendon iron pits.*

UfSHTON T1UANGULAR LODGE.

Keeping along the old main line towards Leicester, Ave soon
reach the pretty village of Bush ton. Within 100 yards of the
station, on our left, is the singular Triangular Lodge, built by Sir
Thomas Tresham. It was the rendezvous of the conspirators of
the Gunpowder plot : and " it would certainly be no unfavourable
place ; for its form and isolation deny ears to its walls. The
trinary symbolism which exists in the name and arms of Tresham

* For dc?cript:on of Kettering and Mautou line see chapter xvii.

284 LEICESTERSHIRE.

(three trefoils) is here shown forth in every conceivable archi-
tectural form and device."

From the Treshams, the estate at Rushton passed into the
family of the Lords Cullen. It is said of the second viscount, that
" he had been betrothed, at the age of sixteen, to Elizabeth Trent-
ham, a great heiress, but had, while travelling abroad, formed an
attachment to an Italian lady of rank, whom he afterwards de-
serted for his first betrothed. While the wedding-party were
feasting in the great hall at Rushton, a strange carriage, drawn
by six horses, drew up, and forth stepped a dark lady, who, enter-
ing the hall, and seizing a goblet, ' to punish his falsehood and
pride,' drank perdition to the bridegroom, and having uttered a
curse upon the bride, in stronger language than we care to chronicle,
to the effect that she should live in wretchedness, and die in want,
disappeared. The curse was in great measure fulfilled."

The clean little village next seen on the left, close to the line, is
Desborough. Just beyond the station we reach the summit of the
incline, and we now begin a descent which extends for between
three and four miles, at the rate of 1 in 132, nearly to Harborough.
This is called the Desborough Bank.

Crossing the Welland, we enter Leicestershire, and are at
Market Harborough, formerly spelt Haverburgh. The fine church
is said to have been founded by John of Gaunt, as a penance for
one of his crimes. The town has no lands belonging to it ; hence
a threat sometimes used to children, "I'll throw you into Har-
borough field."

Immediately to the left of the station is a burial-ground, and in
it a mortuary chapel. It occupies the sight of an ancient edifice,
of which the porch and the circular doorhead are, we believe, the
only remains. It ~\vas originally the parish church, and was named
St. Mary-in-Arden, or " the church in the wood." It achieved an
evil reputation for the celebration of clandestine marriages ; the
curates were " ignorant and disorderly," and at length the privi-
lege of matrimonial and other services was transferred to the
church in the town. Subsequently the steeple fell upon the
church, and for thirty years it lay in ruins. The parish of St.
Mary is in two different townships, manors, counties, and dio-
ceses. Market Harborough gave shelter to Charles I. on the night
before the battle of Naseby, and from hence Cromwell dated his

MARKET HARBOROUGH. 285

despatches to Parliament, announcing the victory. At Harborough
vehicles may be obtained by which the field of Naseby, seven
miles distant, may be visited.

Market Harborough station and the line along which the Mid-
land Railway ran for many years was the property of the London
and North Western Railway Company. The time came when,
through the great increase of traffic, it became necessary for the
Midland Railway to be not a mere tenant but to have free access
to and through this part of its system. This might have been
accomplished by carrying a new deviation line to the north of the
town, joining together the two ends of its own railway ; but this
would have meant two different railway stations in two different
parts of Market Harborough, and all the inconvenience to through
passengers arising therefrom. The Midland line, which ran from
south to north, must be lifted up and carried over the London and
North Western which runs from west to east, and yet the plat-
forms of the two stations must, if possible, be on the same level.
All this, at great cost, has been accomplished. The Midland and
the London and North Western lines now enter the new joint
station from the south and west side by side and at the same level,
and the North Western keeps this level. But the Midland soon
begins to rise by a gradient of 1 in 200, in order to get the neces-
sary height of 26 feet by which it may pass over the North Western
and then it falls by a drop of 1 in 165 down to the old main line
proper of the Midland Railway.

Running through the fat pastures of Leicestershire we reach the
two Kibworths, one on either side the line. Kibworth Beau-
champ, on our left, was the birthplace of Dr. Aikin, the
father of Mrs. Barbauld. On the right are the prettily situated
church and rectory of Kibworth Harcourt. A little to the south
of Kibworth is Tur Langton, where King Charles watered his
horse on his flight from Naseby. Almost immediately north of
Kibworth is a summit level of the line.

The next station is at Glen Magna, the village of which was
once declared to be " great for nothing, except for containing more
dogs than honest men." On our left is the Union Canal. When
originally proposed, this undertaking shared the opposition
cherished against all innovations. It was urged that no canal
should be allowed to come within four miles of a populous town ;

28G

LEICESTER.

employment, it was said, would thereby be secured to carriers in
conveying the various cargoes to and from the wharves.

There are two stations at Wigston, — one on the main line, the
other on what was formerly the main line, but is now only a
branch, from Rugby to Leicester. The village used sometimes to be
called Wigston Two Steeples, on account of having two churches.
There is now direct communication from hence, via Whitacre, to
Birmingham.

As we approach Leicester, we see at Knighton Junction the line

from Burton-on-Trent and Ashby curving in on our left ; and then,
through a tunnel 100 yards long, under the " Freeman's Piece,"
we have the new cattle-mai'ket on our left, and the cemetery on
our right.

The town of Leicester is full of historic associations. It makes,
says an old chronicler, " an evident fair show of great antiquity."
Here a British temple stood, and sacrifices were offered. Here the
Romans held an important military position. Here the Saxons
erected walls of " amazing thickness and strength," " like great

LEICESTER. 287

rocks," to defend themselves against the desolating incursions of
the Danes. Here in Norman times was a city " well frequented
and peopled.'' From this spot, in 1485, Richard went to fight the
battle of Bosworth Field ; and hither his dead body was brought
" without so much as a clout to cover it, trussed behind a pursui-
vant-at-arms, like a calf — his head and arms hanging on one side
the horse, and his legs on the other, all besprinkled with mire and
blood ;" a spectacle, says Hutton, which "humanity and decency
ought not to have suffered." In the Civil War the town was
successfully besieged by the king ; and the house where the
Parliamentary committee had sat was, we are told, destroyed,
"every soul therein was put to the sword," and the kennels ran
down with blood. A few weeks later the battle of Naseby was
fought, and the town was now surrendered to Fairfax without a
shadow of resistance.

When it was decided to bring the Midland Counties railway into
Leicester, the station was to have been in the lower part of the
town, near St. George's Church. The present site was, however,
eventually selected ; the amount of land secured being about nine
acres : " an extent," said some local authority, " manifestly
absurd," but which has since been found to be totally insufficient.
When first erected, the station was pronounced a " magni-
ficent building." It contained offices connected with the general
administration of the new Company : these have long since been
transferred to Derby. The board room opened on to a balcony,
from which a view of the line could be obtained. The platform was
on only one side of the line, and was sheltered by a projecting
shed.

Leaving Leicester for the north, we pass on the left the vast
buildings and sidings provided for the goods and mineral traffic.
Cleai'ing this busy scene, we have on our right the new Borough
Asylum ; beyond which, among the trees, is the village of
Humberstone, where a coarse kind of alabaster is quarried. On
the opposite side of the line is Belgrave, from whence the eldest
son of the Marquis of Westminster takes his title. A little farther
on, on the same side, the spire of Thurmaston Chui'ch appears.

Four miles from Leicester we reach Syston, passing on our way
through a cutting in which large blocks of gypsum have been laid
bare. The old station stood on the right of the line, but a new

238 THE BARROW LIMEWORKS.

one has recently been erected. Immediately beyond is the South
Junction with the Syston and Peterborough branch of the Midland
Railway. Syston village is to the right. Soon afterwards we
see the rivers Soar and Wreke winding their several ways.

There are three spots in the district through which we have
been passing, where, according to tradition, a remarkable event
occurred. A giant, we are assured, once took three mighty leaps,
and cleared the whole distance from Mount Sorrel to Belgrave.
His first leap was to Wanlip ; his second to Birstall, where he
burst himself and his horse; his third, for he managed to take
another, to Belgrave, where he was buried. Hence the saying :
" He leaps like the bell-giant of Mount Sorrel."

Three miles from Syston we reach Sileby, the railway embank-
ment cutting the village in two ; but access between the two parts
is obtained by a lofty railway bridge of two arches of considerable
height.

We shall not have travelled far before we see on our left the
celebrated limestone pits and kilns of Barrow-on-Soar, the white
smoke from which so drifts through the train, whenever the wind
is westerly, that the passenger can recognise the spot by night as
well as day. These works supply some of the finest, if not the
finest, hydraulic lime in England.

A little beyond Barrow limeworks we see upon our left a spot
well worthy of a visit, — the Mount Sorrel granite quarries. As
we walk over the little branch line, about a mile long, that
conducts to the Soar and the hill of the Soar, we think of the time
when on the height before us, still called the Castle Hill, there was
built, towards the close of the Conqueror's reign, a stately castle ;
a castle which, in King John's reign, became, as Camden tells us,
" a nest of the devil, a cave of robbers ; " a castle which stood here
till Henry III. gave command to the forces of Nottingham to invest
and destroy it.

The huge granite rock, Mount Sorrel, is described by Professor
Sedgwick as an " outlying boulder." How precipitous are its sides
is shown by the fact that when a well was sunk for the use of the
works to a depth of 100 feet within a distance of 100 yards
from where the granite begins, no trace of granite was found, — all
was clay.

Immediately past the next station (Barrow-on-Soar) on our left

THE SOAR BRIDGE. 289

is Quorndon, winch for a hundred years has been the metropolis of
fox-hunting ; and a mile forward the line crosses the Soar, just
after it has divided into two, the two portions running for some
miles on either side of the railway. The bridge is on the skew,
and rests on two series — each of ten iron pillars — which go down
into the bed of the river. The traveller may perhaps here observe
with surprise, that after the river has been divided it seems the
wider and deeper for the division. The reason is, that the waters
on the right of the line are dammed up for the convenience of two
mills.

The railway bridge that here passes over the Soar has recently

BOAR BRIDGE NEAR BARROW-ON-SOAR.

been reconstructed and enlarged. The new portion was first built.
Screw piles were driven into the bed of the rivei', and then the super-
structure was built of wrought-iron girders. After the portion
necessary for the widening of the line was completed, the main-line
traffic was diverted on to the new portion, and then the old
main-line bridge was taken down, and constructed on the new
method.

In the recent doubling of the width of the line a difficulty arose
here in consequence of the embankment, when tipped, slipping
forwards into the river Soar. To stop this " I got," said Mr.
Crossley, " several old Trent barges, good for nothing but to be
broken up, for about £4 apiece, loaded them with ironstone slag,

290 LOUGHBOROTJGH.

which is very heavy, and practically insoluble to water, and put
them to form the ' toe,' as our men call it, — the ' foot,' as you
would call it, — of the embankment. We thus obtained a firm
foundation at the bottom of the river ; and it held up the stuff
afterwards put upon it. As, however, we had taken a slice off one
side of the Soar, we had to restore the area of the water-way by
widening the river on the other side."

For some miles along this part of the line we have the noble
range of Charnwood Hills on our left. " These rocks," said Pro-
fessor Sedgwick when visiting them, " are of igneous origin, and
are entitled to be called mountains."

Loughborough, said Lei and, is " yn largeness and good building
next to Leyrcester of all the markette tounes yn the shire, and hath
in it 4 faire strates, or mo, well paved." Leaving the station for
the north, we pass along an embankment over Loughborough
Moors, famous for their pasturage and hay. A mile to our left is
Dishley Grange, with a ruined church in the middle of a farmyard,
where Robert Bakewell, of sheep-breeding renown, was buried.
We now recross the Soar, and enter Nottinghamshire by a bridge
recently constructed in a manner similar to that adopted with the
Soar bridge near Barrow; only instead of screw piles, cast-iron
cylinders were used. These were forced down into the bed of the
river on to a foundation of red marl, were emptied, and built in
from bottom to top with solid brickwork. The superstructure was
then erected.

The next station is Hathern, formerly spelt Hawthorn, said to
have derived its name from the hawthorn trees which grow with
unusual luxuriance in the parish. From the embankment to the
north of the next station (Kegworth) we see on our left the village
and the fine spire of the church ; and soon, on our right, we observe
two mansions, the larger one being Kingston Hall, the residence of
Lord Belper.

We now approach a ridge of hills running from east to west,
known by the name Red Hill. To this point the line from Lei-
cester has been doubled, giving two up and two down roads ; one
ehiefly for passengers, the other for goods. The congestion of
traffic at this part of the Midland system rendered this duplication
necessary.

Trent Bridge consists of three arches, each of 100 feet span.

TRENT STATION. 291

The piers and abutments are of stone. At the north end are two
land arches of 25 feet span, under which the Trent often pours its
swollen volume of water. The bridge was commenced in June,
1838, the ironwork being supplied by the Butterley Company.

The northern end of the Red Hill tunnel is of castellated archi-
tecture, the arch being flanked by towers and battlements of stone,
contrasting well with the wood-clad hill behind. The tunnel is
170 yards long. The material through which it was made was of
so hard a texture that much of it had to be blasted away with gun-
powder.*

Scarcely have we emerged from the tunnel, than we are passing
over the beautiful Trent, the waters of which spread out widely on
either hand. Immediately after passing over the Trent Bridge, we
cross the " Cranfleet Cut," as it is called, a short canal, the locks
of which are under the railway, through which vessels may pass
in order to avoid the weir. Less than a mile forward we are at
Trent station.

The Trent station was opened on the 1st of May, 1862, though it
was not completed in some details till some time afterwards. It
has greatly facilitated the interchange of passenger traffic from
north and south, east and west. It is possible, however, that it
has now reached its palmiest days ; and that before long, by means
of the new lines in course of construction from Melton Mowbray to
Nottingham, and that already opened from Badford to Trowell,
Nottingham itself may be placed on the direct main line north and
south of the Midland system ; Derby and the west being served by
a service of trains starting from Leicester. At any rate, such an
arrangement would be worthy of consideration.

At the Nottingham end of Trent station are sidings set apart
for the use of men who have charge of the asphalting of station
platforms between Lincoln and Derby, Trent, Syston, and Peter-
borough. The materials consist of engine cinders and gas tar,
riddled out into three sorts, and then mixed together hot, the heat
being produced by the burning of a little coal. Some small white
stone, obtained from Trent river- ballast, is sprinkled over the work
when it is nearly finished. The coarsest and second kinds of
material are used for what is called " bottoming," and the best for
"topping."

* See page 13.

292 BORROWASH AND SPONDON.

Leaving Trent station for Derby, we pass the " Sheet Stores " of
the Midland Company where tarpaulins are made and mended, and
are soon at Sawley. This station was formerly named Breaston,
after a village half a mile to the right of the line ; it is now called
Sawley, after the name of a village a mile to the left. The change
was made to avoid the confusion that might arise from the simi-
larity between the sounds of Beeston and Breaston. Sawley was
formerly Salle or Sallowe ; and at one time it had a charter to hold
markets and fairs, and also a market-house. These privileges
have lapsed through disuse.

Passing Breaston, the spire of which seems to have crushed down
the tower, a large square mansion embosomed in trees is seen on
the summit of a hill. It is Hopwell Hall. At the time of the
Norman survey, we are told there were in Sawley, Hopwell, and
Draycott " a priest and two'churches, a mill, one fishery, and thirty
acres of meadow."

The old station at Borrowash (pronounced Burrow-ash) was on
the bank of a cutting twenty-five feet high ; a new one has been
erected a little farther west. On the right of the line the strong
stone wall is the retaining wall of the Derby Canal, which runs
alongside the line and above the level of the railway. With the
canal on the right and the Derwent on the left there is just room
for the railway to pass. The canal had to be diverted from its
course for a distance of half a mile.* It is believed that there was
here a British tumulus, or barrow, and that the place derived its
name from " the ashes of the Barrow," Barrow-ash.

Spondon (locally pronounced Spoondon) is the last station before
we reach Derby. The manor is in Domesday Book named Spon-
dune ; and at that time it had a priest, a church, and a mill.
From this point may be seen, to our left, the distant Gothic towers
of Elvaston Castle, the seat of the Earl of Harrington. In 1643,
the Parliamentary forces, under Sir John Gell, attacked and took
Elvaston. To complete his conquest over his enemies, according
to one historian, Sir John first mutilated the effigy of Lord Stan-
hope in the church ; " nor did his revenge stop here, for he married
the Lady Stanhope." The grounds are entered by gates which
formerly belonged to the palace of Madrid.

After leaving Spondon station the line divides into two routes.
* See page 22.

DERBY.

293

The left is what is called the Spondon curve. It was made in
order to give additional facilities of access to Derby station, so that
trains, instead of having to " back " either in or out, can now run
through.

Derby, the central station of the Midland Railway system and
the seat of its administration, formerly had its chief distinction as
the first place where a silk mill was erected in England. This was
in 1718. Many throwing mills have since been erected in Derby,
and this branch of industry became the staple of the town.

Soon after leaving Derby, and running up the noble valley of
the Derwent, we pass on our right the Little Eaton Junction ; and
then we are close to the church on the right of the line, and the
village of Duffield is on our left. The church contains a monument
to the memory of Anthony Bradshaw. There are the figures of
himself, his two wives, and twenty children, whom he perhaps
naturally, but prematurely, considered would include his whole
family: but three other children being subsequently born, who
could not be similarly immortalized, their names and configura-
tions have, sad to say, been invidiously consigned to oblivion !
Immediately to the north of the station is the site of what was
once the strong fortress of " Duffield Castle." No traces of it
survive, except the name it has given to the " Castle Orchards."

At Duffield station the branch to Wirksworth commences. In
looking at the map it seems at first sight strange that a long and
excellent line should be made through so quiet a country for the
accommodation of so small a town as Wirksworth, especially as it
is only three or four miles from Cromford or Matlock stations on
the main line to Manchester. But the wisdom of the policy that
led to its construction has already been shown.

Leaving Duffield, the interest of the scenery increases. We are
now passing from the quieter valleys around the banks of the
Trent, and the southern district of the county, and are approaching
"the southern outliers" of the mountain range known as the
backbone of England, some of the mighty articulations of which
occupy the northern parts of Derbyshire, and are popularly known
as the Peak. The wide valley of the Derwent contracts; the
rounded hills grow steep and rugged ; and all around are woods,
which hang over the rocks and shelter the ferns and undergrowth
beneath. We have already crossed and recrossed the Derwent

294 CRICII HILL.

and tunnelled under the hills. We now pass another tunnel and
another bridge, and are at Belper.

Belper is well situated ; but little of it is seen by reason of the
line running through a cutting about a mile in length, and under
some bridges on the way. The traveller will, however, have the
consolation, such as it is, of knowing that he is passing very near
to mills that employ about 2,000 hands ; and if he is sitting with
his back to the engine, and looks sharply out of the window at his
right hand, he may obtain a glimpse of the mills of Messrs. Strutt,
and of the Derwent, which here, held back by a weir, gathers up
its waters to supply the " power."

Emerging from the Belper cuttings and from another hill-side,
on the ledges of which the ferns have planted their roots, and from
which they hang their foliage over the cold stones in graceful
forms, we cross the Derwent. A fine valley opens right and left,
and we are at Ambergate.

Hitherto the line had been running north, but here its direct
course is stayed. In front of us rises the hill of Crich, which
compels the main line to turn away to the right and the Manchester
line to the left. The name Ambergate is derived from the river
Amber and the word gate, a passage. Here three beautiful valleys
meet, from the north, the west, and the south. The Derwent,
overhung with wooded hills, sweeping from the west, and then
curving away to the south ; the bright, meandering Amber
pouring its waters into the Derwent ; the " halfpenny bridge,"
with its three arches spanning the river ; the castle in the meadows ;
the uprising crags and cliffs, almost hidden by the birches
and beeches that bend over them ; and the distant hills filling up
the background, — form a scene of singular interest and beauty.*

Crich Hill, which rises loftily above us, is itself deserving of a
special visit. " There is one spot," says Dr. Mantell, " which perhaps
is not equalled in England for the lesson it teaches of some of the
ancient revolutions of the globe. It is called Crich Hill." The
country around consists of horizontal strata of millstone grit ; but
Crich Hill, a mass of limestone, has been thrust through the once
superincumbent strata, the layers of limestone being broken and
bent by the dome-like position into which they have been forced.
But Avhat could have forced this vast mass of matter to an elevation

* Sec page 41.

LEA HURST.

nearly 1,000 feet above the sea ? A geologist might suggest that
it was the result of volcanic action. And he would be right ; for
a shaft has been sunk through the limestone hill by miners who
wei-e in pursuit of lead, and the ancient melted lava has been
found lying beneath. " Such is Crich Hill — a stupendous monu-
ment of one of the past revolutions of the globe, with its ai'ches of
rifted rock, teeming with mineral veins, and resting on a central
mound of molten rock, now cooled down."

Leaving Ambergate, the line sweeps away to the left; then,
skirting the slopes of Crich Chase, we see beneath us the valley
of the Derwent, and beyond are the hills, covered with woods, that
form part of Alderwasley Park (pronounced Arrowslea) , " famous
for its oak timber."

At Whatstandwell station, locally abbreviated into Watsall,
there is a considerable trade and traffic in the fine stone of the
district. From this point also a view may be obtained of Lea
Hnrst. If the traveller will crane his neck out of the window, and
look right ahead in the direction in which the engine is pointing,
he will see, about a mile and a half away, a hill-top crowned with
trees, and the gable of a house peering from among them. The
house, though almost covered with ivy, is a comparatively modern
erection. Its quaint mullioned windows and high gables, and its
oriel, crowned by an open balustrade, projecting from the south
end, look down the valley of the Derwent, while all is sheltered
from the east by the woods and hills of Lea and Holloway. It is
the home of one of England's most honoured daughters — Florence
Nightingale. On the left we see the steep inclined plane of the
High Peak Railway. It runs from the Cromford Canal to the
Peak Forest Canal at Whaley Bridge, in Cheshire. It cost nearly
£200,000, but did not pay, and eventually it was leased to the
London and North Western Railway Company in perpetuity.

As we approach Cromford station we observe, across the meadows
to our left, standing on a platform on the hill-side, the mansion of
the Arkvvrights, — Willersley Castle. It was built in 1788. It is
quadrangular and castellated ; it has embattled parapets and a
to\ver gateway in the centre. Thick waving woods and the rocks
of Wild Cat Tor fill up the background. Richard Arkwright, the
founder of the family, was the thirteenth child of a working man
at Preston. He was apprenticed to a barber, and carried on his

296

CROMFORD.

trade at Wirksworth. He patented his spinning jenny in 1769.
Near the line on the left is Cromford Church, founded by Richard
Arkwriglit. It contains a monument by Chantrey. Cromford
was " the cradle of the cotton manufacture." Immediately past
Cromford station is a tunnel, and then a cutting through the rock.
Our engraving exactly represents the beautiful appearance
presented by this cutting in a recent winter, with its walls of ice.
Our illustration is copied from a photograph taken at the time.

WILLERSLEY CUTTING. A WINTER SKETCH.

Less than a mile from Cromford we are at Matlock Bath. The
Heights of Abraham, which are to our left, is a name given on
account of their supposed resemblance to those at Quebec. We
pass from this beautiful spot by a tunnel under the High Tor,
which rises, a mass of limestone, almost perpendicularly from the
water's edge, to a height of nearly 400 feet, its base being hidden
with tangled underwood, its slopes covered with elms, ashes, and

MATLOCK.

297

sycamores, mingled with the light forms of the birch ; Avhile the
Derwent winds rapidly at its base, mtirmuring over a rocky bed.
Passing Matlock Bridge, which is situated at the " convergence
of two valleys which descend from Tansley Moor to join the
widening vale of Derwent," and noticing the town which of late
years has risen up on its slopes, we are running up the pleasant
valley of Darley Dale. Hard by is the cold and naked slope of

HIGII TOR, MATLOCK BATH.

Oker Hill, a singular insulated eminence, probably of volcanic
origin, rising abruptly from the plain. It is stated to be the site
of an entrenched fort erected by the Romans to overawe the
disaffected Britons, whom they had driven from the neighbouring
lead mines. To this military station " the Romans gave the name
of Occursus, or the hill of conflict," of which Oker Hill is a
corruption. Near the southern verge of the hill are two sycamore

203

STAKCLIFFE HALL AND HADDON HALL.

trees, said to have been planted by two brothers, who resolved here
to part for ever. Wordsworth commemorates their sorrow and
their separation.

Up the wide glen on our right is Stancliffe Hall, the residence
of Sir Joseph Whitworth, of engineering renown. The site is one
of extreme interest and beauty. In his grounds are quarries of
fine stone, from one small corner of which St. George's Hall,
Liverpool, was built. These quarries form natural rockeries of vast
size. In the churchyard of Darley Dale is a yew-tree, said to be
2,300 years old. Its girth is 10 yards.

UAJ>DON HALL.

Continuing our way up this beautiful valley, we approach
Bowsley station. Just before reaching it we see the confluence
of the Derwent, which comes down from the right, with the Wye,
which has flowed down from Buxton. To the right of the station
is what was formerly the terminus of the Ainbergate and Bowsley
line. It is now the Midland goods station. On the left of the
passenger station is the well-known " Peacock," with its gables
and mullions of the 16th or 17th century, and its good fishing
quarters.

We are now in the neighbourhood of two spots of the deepest
interest to tourists, — Haddon Hall and Chatsworth. The former

ROWSLEY AND CHATSWOKTH.

290

is situated about half-way between Rowsley and Bakewell, and is
an admirable specimen of the baronial mansions of the 15th and
16th centuries, and is in perfect preservation. Chatsworth is
some three miles to the right of the line, and is accessible by any
of three or four routes : — by road from Rowsley ; by a charming
footpath walk among the woods, and over the fields direct from
Haddon Hall ; and by road either from Bakewell or Hassop. It is
a magnificent residence of an owner distinguished for the highest
culture, taste, and wealth. Haddon should first be visited. Its
modest proportions, quaint style, and towers and battlements,

CHATSWOUT1I.

nestling among the woods, will not unfit the mind for the appre-
ciation of " the Palace of the Peak," with its superb appointments,
its picture and sculpture galleries, its orangery and arboretum, its
conservatories, and its aqueduct, and the boundless beauty within
and around.

About a mile from Rowsley we enter the tunnel or covered way
behind Haddon Hall, to which reference has already been made,*
and on emerging from it we skirt the sides of a range of hills
beneath which the Wye meanders in endless turns along the

* Page 111.

300

MONSAL DALE.

meadows, and soon the spire and town of Bake well come into view.
This is the principal market town of North Derbyshire. Here,
in 924, Edward the Elder planted an entrenched fortress and
military station to overawe the disaffected Mercians. The remains
of these works may still be traced. On the summit of the Castle
Hill is a square plot with a tumulus upon it, hollow at the top ;
and around are fields known as the Warden Field, the Castle
Field, and the Courtyard. In Domesday Book we learn that
Bakewell was "a burrough." The waters were held in high
repute before the Conquest. The church occupies a commanding

NEAR CEESSBROOK.

position : it is Saxon and Norman, and also contains work of later
periods.

A mile north of Bakewell we are at Hassop station ; a mile to
the right of which is Hassop Hall, the seat of Colonel Leslie. It
was garrisoned for Charles I. by Colonel Eyre in 1643.

Passing the little station of Longstone, where it is said that
Henry VII. had a hunting seat, we run between the rocky walls
of a cutting into a tunnel through a ridge of limestone, called
Blackstone Edge. Emerging into the light, we enter on the re-
markable scenery of Monsal Dale. We would, however, recom-
mend that, if practicable, it should be approached by road from
Longstone. In doing so the tourist suddenly finds himself at the

MONSAL DALE.

301

edge of a cliff from which he can see the vale lying before him ;
the river, with the " lepping " stones and bridge, the undulating
eminences sloping steeply down, the rustic homes of the scanty
population, and, not least, the line itself, skirting the hills to the
left, its viaducts, cuttings, and station ; and in the far distance, the
tiny hole in the mountain through which runs the iron path from
these solitudes on to the busy cities of the north.*

The scenery through which we have now to pass, and the

MONSAL DALE.

engineering works by which the journey is accomplished, must be
seen to be appreciated — they cannot be described at length. The
rivers, the valleys, and the railways seem at certain points to be
almost confused together ; spot after spot of beauty flashes upon
the eye of the traveller, and then is gone. A little beyond Cress-
brook, at the northern end of Monsal Dale, is a charming view of
very unusual beauty, where the line is carried round the bend
of the river, between the two tunnels, by a retaining wall of
masonry ninety feet high. Again the line burrows into the lime-

* Page 109.

302

MILLER S DALE.

stone hills. On emerging into the light, it skirts, at a great
elevation, the valley ; and, just before reaching Miller's Dale
station, is carried over the river by a viaduct, the three centre
arches of which are of 90 feet span, and nearly 100 high. The
contrast presented between the heavy and abrupt masses of the
rocks, and the light and graceful outline of the iron bridge which
obliquely overleaps them, is very striking.

Leaving Miller's Dale station, the railway crosses the valley of

the Wye, and then passes into a tunnel. It has not run far when
it emerges into daylight, and again crosses the Wye and Chee Vale
by a single arch of masomy, the abutments of which rest on the
perpendicular rocks on either side.* The momentary glimpse of
the scenery right or left has, however, been wonderfully beautiful,
for the traveller has crossed Chee Vale at its best part. We now
pass along the side of the Vale, and have fine glimpses of some of
its interesting peculiarities. It is, however, better enjoyed by the
tourist who wanders up its bending course. Now he finds himself

* Pase 110.

THE WYE.

303

closed in on either side with rocks and hills ; then naked limestone
walls are tinted with lichens and mosses ; and anon the ledges and
slopes are covered with vegetation, and overhnng with mountain
ashes, birches, and elms, which intertwine their branches, and hang
in a thousand lines and curves of beauty over the swift flowing
waters. Now he is climbing steeply up a path a few inches wide
almost concealed by wood ; then with bending form he creeps
under the overhanging walls which the river has worn away ; now

MILLER S DALE VIADUCT.

he is crossing the Wye by a rustic and perilous bridge, and again
he is out in the green meadow-lands which fringe the river, where
he can watch the May-fly and the trout. And all this wealth of
loveliness is on the right and left of the traveller as he flashes
over the bridge between the two tunnels, half a mile or so north of
the station at Miller's Dale.

The train is now running on a lofty terrace, formed on the hill-
side, which looks down on the foaming torrent of the Wye. So
tortuous is the course of the river, that in the last three miles the
railway has crossed it five times. Four of these bridges, though

304

TOPLEY PIKE AND PIG TOE.

of iron, are of light and even elegant appearance, and at tlie same
time of great strength.

We are now in the long ravine called Blackwell Dale.

Here the vegetation thins off, and the country soon grows more
open and barren. But the river is with us, first on the right and
then on the left, till we come to the junction of the Buxton and
Manchester lines. Here we turn to the left to Buxton, and pursue
our way by a course full of interest and beauty. The lofty crags

TOPLEY PIKE.

are covered with masses of ivy, and on every ledge, round every
base, are tangled woods of ash, and oak, and birch ; and every spot
is the home of rooks and daws and starlings innumerable. Near
Topley Pike, which we see on the left, we enter a tunnel. It is
the back of Pig Tor, a " savage-looking headland ; " and on
emerging from the gloom, we enter Ashwell Dale, and immediately
pass the ivy-shrouded toll-house in the valley below, where the
line crosses the road by a lofty viaduct. Presently we come to
the Lover's Leap. It is a rock on our left close by the road,

BEAUTIES OF DERBYSHIRE.

505

crested with fir-trees, and forming the entrance to Sherbrook Dell,
a quiet glen, at the farther end of which is a waterfall.

Here we may pause to quote the words of one well competent to
speak of the beauties of this district. "He who would know
Derbyshire," says James Croston, " must follow the sweet mean-
derings of the mountain streams, winding hither and thither
through shady nooks and fairy glens, all fringed and festooned
with greenery ; where the tributary rills come trickling down

from the mossy heights, gladdening the ear with their tiny
melodies. He must loiter in her bye-lanes, between banks rife
with ferns, foxgloves, and blooming harebells ; where the thick
hedgerows and the nodding trees mingle, and form a bower over-
head, and the bright sunbeams, playing through the leaves, dapple
the green sward with their restless and ever-changing shadows."
Here in abundance is the trailing " lichen, that clings so fondly to
the weather-beaten rock ; the green moss that wreathes itself
round the decayed and rotten-looking stump of some old, withered,

306

BUXTON.

and blasted tree ; the green, dustlike confervae, — all these, with a
host of others, unfold their beauteous forms."

We are noAV at Buxton, where the stations of the Midland
Company and of the London and North Western join one another.
Concerning the past history of this town, we are told by a writer,
" that in the seventeenth century, the gentry of Derbyshire and
the neighbouring counties repaired to Buxton, where they were
crowded into low wooden sheds, and regaled with oat-cake, and

ASHWELL DALE BRIDGE.

with a viand which the hosts called mutton, but which the guests
strongly suspected to be dog."

But we must return to Blackwell Mill, where we left the main
line in order to pay a visit to Buxton. And here we may remark,
that when it was resolved to make an extension of this Buxton
line towards Manchester, serious difficulties had to be encountered.
" The thing was," as a practical engineer remarked to the writer,
" having got up the hill, how were we to get down again by work-
able gradients." This problem, however, was eventually solved by

DOVE HOLES TUNNEL. 307

the ability and experience of the engineer-in-chief, Mr. Barlow,
assisted by Messrs. Campbell, Campion, and Langley. As early
as 1860 Mr. Barlow had begun to study the country with a view
to the selection of the best route ; and eventually he fixed upon
that along which the line now runs. It passes with a gradient of
1 in 90 up a remarkable valley, without water, known as the
Great Rocks Dale, following for the first two miles of its course
the tortuous course of the valley, with heavy cuttings and em-
bankments, till it reaches Dove Holes, where the summit level is
attained, and from whence there is a descent through a very heavy
rock cutting to the Dove Holes tunnel. The hill penetrated by
this tunnel forms the northern side of the range known as Cow
Low ; and though it stands high and bleak, it is the lowest pass
through the hills which, commencing in Derbyshire and extending
northwards through Yorkshire, form what is termed the Backbone
of England. The gradient is 1 in 90, "the best that could be
obtained without going underground altogether;" and the Mid-
land line is no less than 183 feet below the level of the London
and North Western, which passes overhead.

In the Dove Holes hill, through which the Midland line passes,
says Mr. Barlow in some particulars with which he has favoured
us, •" the mountain limestone ceases. The beds dip rapidly to the
west, and the old red sandstone and shales then commence and
continue onwards for many miles. The tunnel is 2,860 yards in
length, about a third of it being in limestone, and the remainder
in sandstone and shale.

" Near the south end of the Dove Holes tunnel, and closely ad-
joining the turnpike road that leads from Chapel*en-le-Frith to
Buxton, is a well-known spot called ' the Swallow Hole.' It is so
named because a considerable brook, which rises some miles distant
in the direction of Buxton, ran to this hole and there disap-
peared." This brook attracted the attention of the engineer
when laying out the course of the line ; but one or two other cir-
cumstances subsequently occurred which he did not anticipate.
" Between what is now the south end of the tunnel and the turn*
pike road, there are some limestone quarries in the direct course of
the railway $ in the rocks of which are matiy natural fissures which
form caverns of various depths. Shortly before commencing the
works it was found that a considerable body of water was running

308 AN UNDERGROUND RIVER.

through one of these fissures, the flow being distinctly audible in
the quarry. Ladders, ropes, and lights were procured ; the fissure
was explored ; and at a depth of thirty feet a yery considerable
stream of water was seen to be flowing underground from the direc-
tion of the Swallow Hole. The effect of this discovery led to such
an impression of the peculiarity of the district, and the costly and
speculative character of all works carried on in it, that contractors
declined to undertake the responsibility except on terms which
were considered excessively high. This was an unexpected diffi-
culty to the Company ; but, after much deliberation, it was decided
to make the tunnel without a contractor, and Mr. James Campbell
was appointed to carry out the work, under the superintendence
of Mr. Barlow.

" One of the first operations now to be undertaken was to divert
this underground river ; or, by attacking it above ground, to pre-
vent it flowing underneath until it was out of harm's way. Ac-
cordingly a channel was cut near the Swallow Hole, in the
direction of the Great Rocks Dale, and the water was turned
along it. But now another remarkable circumstance occurred.
The river ran along its new course to a point about half a mile
south of the tunnel; but here it found another fissure, into which
it fell, and disappeared. So matters continued for some 'six
months, when, it seems, the brook filled up this underground cis-
tern ; and then it resumed its course along the diverted watercourse
which had been provided for it. Finally it found another fissure
not far from the present Peak Forest station, into which it has
been running ever since, .and from which it is believed there is an
underground outlet down the Great Bocks Dale." The course cut
for the brook is a total length of nearly two miles, through land
over which the Company had no legal power ; and so great was the
difficulty, even tinder the special circumstances, of acquiring this
right, that eventually parliamentary authority had to be secured
to take possession of the land under one of the " additional
powers " Acts.

" The body of the underground waters," Mr. Barlow continues,
" being thus diverted from the tunnel, the operations of sinking
the shafts and driving the heading from the lower end were com-
menced. These operations were of great difficulty from the
extreme hardness of the beds of sandstone and the quantity of

TUNNEL MAKING. 309

water contained in the lull. Nevertheless, by great patience and
perseverance, and the excellent arrangements of Mr. Campbell,
the work proceeded, and the tunnel, as completed, is one of the
finest and most substantial works in the country.

" At the north end of the tunnel there is a considerable cutting
formed in the beds of sandstone and shale. The beds rise
rapidly towards the north-east, and here a slip occurred, suddenly
bringing down an extensive mass of shale which filled up the cut-
ting, and crushed up fourteen wagons before they could be got
out. This part of the line was then re-formed by a massive
covered way in masonry."

The perforation of this mountain occupied more than three
years. So numerous were the watersprings that were tapped in
the progress of the tunnelling, that as many as six engines of
from twenty to fifty horse power were employed at a time in
pumping. The gangs of navvies had. in this lonely wilderness, to
extemporize habitations for themselves, by the erection of conical
mud huts, or cave-houses of two or three rooms each cut in the solid
rock, or by cottages built of stone. Many difficulties arose with the
men, especially in consequence of the feuds that existed between
the English and the Irish navvies ; and eventually the latter were
driven off the field, and were afraid to return unless they were
specially protected at night by the police. The engineer promised
that they should be taken care of ; and he arranged with the
authorities that three policemen should be placed at his disposal.
These he directed to appear at certain points of the works, and in
certain attitudes and positions, at certain times ; and, taking an
Irishman under cover of the night to these points at the right
moments, he showed one after another of what seemed to be a little
army of constables. The three policemen grew into a multitude ;
the Irishmen were satisfied of the abundant sufficiency of the pro-
tection afforded, and they returned to their work.

After leaving the tunnel and covered way at the northern end
of the Dove Holes, " the line," says Mr. Barlow, " emerges upon
a table-land forming the watershed between the Black Brook on
the east side and the brooks which rise on the west side and run
towards Whalley Bridge. Following the apex of this table-land,
the line passes close to Chapel-en-le-Frith, where there is a com-
modious station ; " after which it crosses the Black Brook and a

810 A LANDSLIP.

tramway of the Sheffield Company, at Chapel Milton, by a stono
viaduct of fifteen arches, one hundred feet high. The line then?
by a falling gradient, skirts the hill-sides till it runs along a timber
viaduct and by a stone one at Bugsworth, where for a moment we
must pause.

Here, towards the close of 1866, a remarkable incident occurred.
It had been a very wet autumn. England had been drenched with
rain ; every brook had become a river, every river had overflowed
its bed, and the lowlands had been drowned. Railroads generally
had suffered ; the permanent ways of the old lines had been sod-
dened, and the works of new ones had been carried on with
extreme difficulty and with many delays. The new line to Man-
chester had, however, been completed ; goods trains had run for
months, and it was intended that in a short time the passenger
traffic should commence, when it appeared that there were symp-
toms of an inclination in some parts of the works near Bugsworth
to give way horizontally. The first movement was in the bridge
just north of the viaduct, a bridge that crosses the public road ;
but the fracture was comparatively slight. Then it was found that
the five-arched viaduct was going ; and that, though it had been
built in the form of a curve, it had, by the pressure of the slip,
become straight. Two cracks opened in the arches of the viaduct
large enough to have held the body of a man ; the road bridge was
ewept away ; three large ash trees that had grown on the north
side of the high-road were carried to such a distance that the road
when reconstructed, instead of being to the south of them, is now
to the north ; and no fewer than sixteen acres of land went down
towards the river at the foot of the hill. Here the bed of the
"Black Brook," a tributary of the Goyt, was raised several feet
so that it became dry ; and the stream had to find a new course
for itself in an adjoining field in the next county, Cheshire, instead
of Derbyshire ; but eventually, as an observer remarked, it
"fought its way" backward to its old bed.

" And did you know about this slip ? " we inquired of a
respectable-looking countryman who had come to fetch his
milk-cans from the station.

" Yes " he replied. " It was a wonderful slip ; but we were not
altogether surprised. The road had been partly on the move
before. The hill is mostly clay and shale, and it slipped off some-

TIME TO BE MOVING. 311

tiling harder I expect. However, it went at last, and no mistake.
A goods train ran over the viaduct, if I recollect aright, that
morning ; but it was the last. That day and the day after, this
road was all of a move. The walls were crackling down ; the
fences were going; the whole hill-side seemed," as he repeated,
" of a move. The regular road was stopped ; the walls tumbled
down, stone after stone, and piece by piece ; the road went, and
they had to make a new one. The station windows cracked. Yon
house was all agait agoin'. It was moving day by day before
it went. The owner had a little farm," he added, " and he
stayed till he durst not stay any longer."

" You see," said the tenant of the ruined house, as we looked
down on some heaps of stones that once formed his premises, " you
see, when the paving stones of the cottage floor began to stand up
on end, I told my missus it was time we were moving." " Had
you lived there long ? " " Yes, we'd been here a matter of several
years," he replied. " Yon was the house, where the big heap is,
and that was the ' shippen ' at this end of the garden, where I
kept my cows. There we stayed, missus, and big dog, and cows,
and all, till we dursn't stay any longer. Then we flitted."
" And were any of you hurt ? " " No. We got ourselves out, and
part of the furniture out ; but some of it, — chest of drawers and
such-like, — was jammed in, and we had to leaA*e it. A carpenter
came from the railway to try to fasten up the roof of the shippen ;
but I told him it wasn't no use : and it wasn't. So we let the pigs
out of the sty and the cows out into the field, and they weren't
hurt. But you see these two dead ash trees. They were killed
by the slip. They were moved and twisted underground ; and
when their roots were breaking they cracked like thunder. So
when I knew it was no use and I couldn't do anything, I came and
stood up here on the bank and watched the house go. It fell at
three times, the middle first."

The means adopted by the railway company to restore the line
were as effective as the disaster was great. For about ten weeks
more than four hundred men were employed night and day — as
many as could find elbow-room to work. The line itself was first
divei'ted on to solid ground. The bottom of the landslip, which
had its seat in the shale, was drained by underground headings of
great depth, having lateral headings in every direction in which

312 EFFECTIVE REMEDIES.

water could be detected. Meanwhile a new viaduct of great
strength, containing about 50,000 feet of Baltic timber ; two skew
bridges of 30 feet span, with wrought-iron girders ; a connecting
embankment at one end, and a deep rock cutting at the other,
were completed. " The total length of the deviation is about 300
yards. The viaduct has 60 openings of about 20 feet between the
centres of the uprights, the greatest depth being about 56 feet."
Every difficulty was at length effectually overcome, and the line
was opened for passenger traffic in February, 1867.*

The arrangement thus made — vividly depicted in our sketch on
page 165 — was intended to be provisional. Almost the last
engineering service rendered by Mr. A. A. Langley, before he left
the Midland Company to become for a time the chief engineer of
the Great Eastern Railway Company, was the construction of the
new Bugsworth Viaduct, and the first work that devolved upon
him on his return to the Midland, was again to deal with it. A
new and permanent structure has now been erected, running about
midway between the old original line that slipped, and the
temporary wooden viaduct. Before the wooden one was built,
the engineer had constructed an elaborate system of headings in
depth from nothing to 80, and even 100 feet. It was, in fact, all
headings. By a heading is meant a hole in the ground about four
feet square, filled with pipes with stones outside the pipes. In
order to prevent the accumulation of surface water coming down
the hill and pressing against the new embankment, the engineer
cut a grip seven feet or so in depth to intercept it, and it is earned
away under the embankment through a cast-iron pipe four feet in
diameter ; the pipe, in order to resist the enormous pressure of the
bank, being strengthened within by steel columns. The embank-
ment itself required the greatest care in its construction. It was
made of ashes and clay mixed in carefully-determined proportions.
It could not have too much clay, or it would have slipped ; and
if it had had too much ashes it would have burnt away. The
whole place was scoured for ashes ; special arrangements were
made with gas-works, and the engine-sheds were cleared out at
Rowsley and Sheffield. Meanwhile the old original viaduct w:is
all removed by the aid of gunpowder, except the first bridge at
the southern end. In the construction of the new bank, which

* See page 1C4.

MANCHESTEE AND LIVERPOOL LINE. 313

now carries the main line, 25,000 tons of ashes, and 32,000 tons of
earth, stone, and clay were used. This has made an excellent
embankment.

The next station to Bugsworth is New Mills, where we are upon
the line of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Company ;
now, however, with the little branch on the right to Hayfield, the
use of it is shared by the Midland Company. Three miles and a
half farther on we arrive at Marple, whence the trains diverge
respectively to Manchester and Liverpool.

The Midland Company in conjunction with the two other
Cheshire companies, has its Manchester terminus at the Central
station in the rear of the Exchange.

Leaving this station, " the line traverses the western suburbs of
Manchester, crossing the river Irwell by an iron bridge of large
span, and passing for several miles through the property of the De
Trafford family, via Urmston, Flixton, and Glazebrook stations.
Pi'oceeding from Glazebrook, the line is carried over what is
termed Risley Moss ; which, in reality, forms a part of that
extensive ' bog ' well known as Chat Moss, where the elder
Stephenson, in the construction of the first Manchester and
Liverpool line, had to contend with such enormous difficulties, and
which at this point is about twenty- five feet deep. In the case of
the Cheshire lines, the whole length of about two miles that passes
over the morass was first drained on each side of the course of this
railway ; temporary cuttings, resembling canals, were provided,
and the water was drained from the moss for upwards of eighteen
months before the contractors were able to proceed with the
excavations down to 'formation level.' These difficulties were
eventually overcome, and the line has remained stable ever since.

" Leaving Risley Moss, Padgate station is passed, and at about
sixteen miles from Manchester the ancient town of Warrington is
reached. Very important engineering works were required at this
place, as the Company's new Central station had to be erected
near the centre of the town. Extensive cotton-mills, workshops,
and other valuable property were removed to enable the engineers
to construct the viaduct, which carries the line across the town at
a height varying from twenty to twenty-five feet above the street
level. A handsome and commodious station, with platforms
protected by glass and iron roofing, was here erected, and owing

314

MANCHESTER AND LIVERPOOL LINE.

to this station being adjacent to the business portion of the town,
the line has been found of immense service for local traffic between
Liverpool and Manchester. Continuing westward, the line is
carried by a viaduct about sixty yards in length across the Sankey
Brook Valley and St. Helen's Canal, and passing through
Farnworth, Ditton, and Halewood, reaches Garston, a place which
within the last twenty years has risen from a small village to an
important and nourishing seaport town.

" The remaining six miles of the journey to the Central station
is constructed through rock cuttings and a number of short
tunnels, the terminal station in Liverpool being at the junction of
Ranelagh and Bold Streets, the most frequented and central point
in the town of Liverpool. The engineering works on the last six
miles of railway were extremely heavy and costly. This is
admitted to be, both as regards accommodation and completeness,
one of the finest termini in the kingdom."

CHAPEL MILTON VI.VDUCT, CHAPEL-EN-LE-FRITH.

CHAPTER XIV.

Trent. — The Erewash Valley. — Long Eaton. — Erewash Canal.— Stanton Gate. —
Ilkeston. — The Shipley Collieries. — Codnor Castle and Park. — Pinxton
Tramway. — Kirkby Castle. — Coates Park Tunnel. — Alfreton. — Clay Cross. —
Return to Ambergate. — Crich Hill. — Limeworks. — Bull Bridge box. —
Wingfield Manor House. — Clay Cross Collieries. — George Stephenson. —
Coals and railways. — Winger worth Hall. — Chesterfield. — Tapton House. —
" Old George," his rabbits and bees. — " Revolution House." — Dronfield. —
Bradway Tunnel. — Beauchieff Abbey. — Yorkshire.— Sheffield. — Sheffield
and Rotherham line. — Wincobank. — Masborough. — Old main line from
Chesterfield. — Staveley. — Treeton. — Rawmarsh. — Cudworth. — Barnsley. —
Royston. — Walton Hall. — "Wakefi eld. — Normanton. — Leeds. — Kirkstall
Abbey. — Airedale.— Otley and Ilkley Branch. — Wharfedale. — Ben Rhyd-
ding.— Apperley Gap. — Thackley Tunnel. — Guiseley Branch. — Bradford. —
Saltaire. — Bingley. — The Worth Valley. — Haworth. — Charlotte Bronte. —
Keighley. — Kildwick. — Skipton. — Colne Branch. — Yorkshire dales. — Gor-
dale and Malham. — Settle. — Clapham. — Ingleborough. — Hornby Castle. —
Lancaster. — Morecambe. — Carnforth. — Engineering difficulties and sue-
cesses. — The Lake Side Station.

From Trent station we take our departure along the great trunk
line, up the Erewash Valley, for the north. Time was, and not
far distant, when both the vale and the line were in different
financial circumstances from those of to-day ; and amusing stories
are told of how the original projectors of the railway had to hawk
their shares about, and how they considered it a triumph of
diplomacy when they had disposed of one or two. Now the line is
loaded with the mineral wealth of the valley. In fact, a map of
the valley marked with the spots that indicate the coalpits, looks
as if the district were suffering from a malignant attack of black
small-pox.

The Erewash Valley is called after the name of the river, which
first issues from a grassy bank near Kirkby, and is represented in
the initial letter on the first page of this volume. The river itself

315

316 THE EREWASH VALLEY.

is said to derive its own title of Ere wash, Erwash, or Eire wash,
from the Cambro-British word Erwyn, the river of heroes. It sepa-
rates Derbyshire and Notts ; and, as the line crosses and recrosses
the water, the traveller is now in the one county and now in the
other. The valley and the line descend from within three or four
miles of Clay Cross to the Trent station, and thus form a specially
convenient incline for the loaded trains of minerals bound for the
south ; while, from the slopes on either hand, many tributary
branch lines feed the trunk. In addition to the mining population
with which the valley teems, there are numerous villages occupied
by small manufacturers of hosiery and lace, who take their
products to the county town, and bring back supplies of food and
clothing for themselves.

One of the first of these is the large and increasing village of
Long Eaton. Extending to the northward are engine stables and
sidings of Toton, a place of much importance in the working of
the mineral traffic of the district. For this service some five-and-
twenty miles of sidings have been laid down.*

The Erewash Canal now comes into view. This work was
begun in the year 1777, by the coalowners, in order to secure a
water-way from Langley Mill to the Trent, opposite the Soar.
The railway and canal run nearly parallel with each other for
many miles. The general direction of the canal is nearly north
for eleven miles and a quarter ; it falls 108 feet by means of
fourteen locks. So great was the traffic that at one time the
shares sold for three times the original value.

On a hill-top upon our left, the village and church, with a large
chancel, of Sandiacre now appear. It was formerly called Saint
Diacre. Stapleford is on the right, and on the high ground behind
is Bramcote. At Stapleford is the handsome residence and
grounds of Colonel Wright. We soon observe, about half a mile
to our left, the smoking chimneys of the vast ironworks of Stanton
Gate. The river Erewash meanders on our right, and the Ere-
wash Canal runs parallel to us on our left. The village of Trowel 1
is now near the line on the east ; and, just as we pass over the
river, and are for a moment in Nottinghamshire, the branch line
from Badford to Trowell joins us. We have not remained in
Notts for half a mile when, crossing the Erewash, we are again in
* For a description of these sidings see " Our Iron Roads,"

CODNOR CASTLE. 317

Derbyshire ; then another minute, and we recross the river. The
hills on our left are occupied by the town and church of Ilkeston.
We now pass through an undulating but uninteresting country,
thinly wooded, with pits at work or worked out every here and
there, until on the hill, about three-quarters of a mile on the left
of the line, may be seen, by good eyes, the remains of Codnor
Castle. Here, six hundred years ago, on an eminence in the un-
disturbed seclusion of the park, was a castle, deeply moated,
approached from the east by an avenue of trees, which looked far
down the valley of the Erewash. On this western side was a
spacious courtyard, well fortified ; the massive round towers were
battlemented, and had cruciform loopholes for the bowmen.
Within these defences was the main building, portions of which

CODXOll CASTLK.

remain, consisting of outer and inner walls, and containing several
windows and doorways, part of a turret, and a chimney. Near
the ruins is the dovecote, a circular stone building of considerable
height, covered by a tiled roof, from which a square wooden turret
rises. The immensely massive walls are honey-combed within for
hundreds of bed-chambers. Near is a spacious pond, which,
though on the summit of a high hill, is said never to be dry, a
circumstance which has given rise to a local distich : —

" When Coclenour's pond runs dry,
Its lordes may say good-bye."

But " good-bye " they have said long ago ; and now the district is
known only for its ironworks. These are connected with those

318 ALFKETON.

at Butterley by a private railway. In every direction on the hill-
side are pouring forth the red gleaming fires of the blast and
puddling furnaces, and the smoke of the huge chimneys ; while
all around are tramways, canals, engines, and trucks, bearing their
costly burdens hither and thither. The new lines of the Great
Northern may here be seen upon the right.

Just beyond Pye Bridge, the Midland line divides, and curves
right and left. To the right it runs on to the well-known collieries
and district of Pinxton, and in the course of a few miles joins the
direct line from Nottingham to Mansfield. The old Pinxton
tramway ran in the same direction, the curves of which had to be
altered before they were suitable for a railway. It had wound
right and left around the bases of the little hills on either hand.

Returning to the main line at the north of Pye Bridge, we enter
on what is known as the Erewash Valley Extension, a much more
modern affair than the Erewash Valley line. The act was obtained
in 1859, and the construction was begun in 1860. The line is
short, bat there are some heavy works upon it. One of these is
a cutting through sandstone and "bind;" and another is the
Coates' Park tunnel, some 1,200 yards in length, which runs through
the upper coal measures. It touches some " smut " at the lower
end of the tunnel.

Almost immediately north of the tunnel is Alfreton, the Alfred-
ingtune of the Saxons, said to have been built by Alfred the Great,
and where, it is state'd, he had a palace. Here on a fine day is a
beautiful view of some of the Derbyshire hills, Crich Stand being
conspicuous upon the summit of the more southern of them.

The town of Alfreton is about a mile to the left of the station.
At Westhouses a branch bears to the right, and passing within
two miles of Hardwick Hall joins the Mansfield and Worksop
railway a little north of Mansfield. The main line, which has
been rising to this point, now begins to fall away to the north. It
rises again at Doe Hill, and then inclines downwards as far as
Clay Cross ; before reaching which we find ourselves near, and
almost under, the church of North Wingfield, which stands boldly
on the crest of the hill. At Clay Cross the direct line from Derby
joins us.

At this point we must ask our reader to pause in his journey j
and then to take a flight more easy to accomplish in fancy than in

AMBERGATE. 319

fact. On our first trip from London to Manchester and Liverpool,
we turned off the old North Midland line to Ambergate, and swept
away to the left. We will now return to Ambergate, and come
along the line from thence to Clay Cross.

The station at Ambergate stands near the southern entrance of
a tunnel, to which we have already referred.* The Crich Lime-
works were erected by George Stephenson at a cost of £20,000,
for the purpose of .profitably disposing of the small coal produced
from the Clay Cross pits. There are twenty kilns ; and these
would burn, if required, 1,000 tons of limestone a week, and would
consume some 500 tons of coal. When these works were first
established, lime was largely used by farmers for their turnip
lands. A few years afterwards, however, Liebig published a book
to show that when lime and manure were mixed, the lime absorbed
the ammonia, and did more harm that good.

Leaving the limeworks, we cross the -Amber several times in a
short distance, we pass over a road, and then under what seems to
be an ordinary bridge, but it is the aqueduct of the Cromford
Canal, and heavily laden barges are perhaps being towed over our
heads while we are running beneath. This is Bull Bridge, the in-
teresting peculiarities of which we have already described.f

A mile or so farther on, the line enters a cutting, and approaches
the Wingfield Tunnel. The tunnel is short, but a fine view may
be enjoyed from the top of the hill through which it passes. Crich
Hill is south-west, and north and south is the valley of the Amber,
closed in by copses, farms, and wood-covered hills, while the river
winds through the meadows beneath. Half a mile from the north
end of the tunnel on the summit of a hill on our left, partly hidden
in summer time by trees that climb up its slopes, are what appear
to be the towers of a castle, a spot that grows more and more
beautiful as it is approached by the visitor. It is the ancient
manor house of Wingfield, " one of the most charming ruins in
the kingdom," and " a goodly specimen of domestic architecture
of the later part of the fifteenth century." " The great hall is
more than seventy feet long." Wingfield was built by Lord
Cromwell. Mary Queen of Scots was detained in confinement
here for nine years, under the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury,
who was husband of " Bess of Hardwick." During the Civil War
* Page 42. t Page 43.

320

WINGFIELD MANOR HOUSE.

Wingfield was taken from the Royalists by Sir John Gell, and the
castle dismantled.

A short distance north of Strettoii Station, and just before \ve
enter the Clay Cross Tunnel, is another summit-level of the line,
and from hence it continues to fall down as far north as Kilnhurst.
From the red sides of the heavy cutting a tincture of iron seems
to flow on our left, and the black wall on the right appears to be
made of coal. The Clay Cross Tunnel passes under a cold and
dreary hill, on which is built the mining town of Clay Cross, and
over which runs the ancient Bykneld Street. Coal has been
worked in this neighbourhood for a hundred years.

W1XGFIELD HANOll HOUSE.

When the North Midland line was in course of construction, the
question arose how the locomotives were to be supplied with coke,
no coal at that time being allowed to be used ; and George Stephen-
sou, the engineer — as a friend of his remarked to us, — " tried to
get to the bottom of this subject, as he tried to get to the bottom
of any and every difficulty, greater or less, that presented itself to
his mind. He learned that coke was made near Dronfield for
some steel melters ; he traced the bed of coal that supplied this
coke as far as Staveley, where the Midland would pass ; and he
entered into communication with the Duke of Devonshire's agent
for the lease of the Staveley pi-operty. But before concluding
any arrangement, Stephenson sent by the Chesterfield Canal and
by sea to London, and to the coke ovens of the London and Bir-

CLAY CROSS COtLIEEIES. 321

mingham Company at Camden Town, samples of the deep soft
coal of Staveley, and of the black shale coal at Dronfield, that it
might be determined which of the two would yield the better fuel
for locomotive purposes. The report was so strongly in favour of
the Dronfield coal that the negotiations for the lease of Staveley
(which did not then yield the black shale coal) were relinquished.
The outcrop of the Dronfield coal was traced to the neighbour-
hood of Clay Cross, and it was found in the cutting at the south
end of the tunnel. Overtures were now made for the Winger-
worth estate, where it was intended to sink pits and work the coal
for railway purposes ; but these negotiations also came to an end.
Stephenson then bought and leased some small properties in the
immediate neighbourhood of Clay Cross, sank a pit, built a nuin-
'ber of coke ovens at a cost of £3,000, and on the day of the open-
ing of the North Midland line, not only supplied all the engines
with coke, but sent a train of coal from Clay Cross to Derby."

For thirteen years after the Clay Cross collieries were opened
they had to contend with difficulties. Other pits had been sunk,
the yield of coal in the district had greatly augmented, and yet
the area of consumption had enlarged but little. In addition to
this, a strong prejudice existed against the coal itself. Its bitu-
minous character made it resemble the seaborne coal of the North,
so familiar to and valued by Londoners ; and the metropolis would
then, as now, have welcomed it ; but it was considered impossible
that it should be carried so far by railway, and sold at aremunera*-
tive price, in competition with the north country coal brought by
the coasting colliers. But in the midland counties the bright
swift coal of the district was cheap, and the people preferred it.
Nottingham, Derby, Birmingham, Leicester, Burton, would have
none but it. This new coal, they said, " was not their kind of
coal."

In the year 1847 ironworks were established at Clay Cross>
principally for the purpose of using the coals that were not saleable
at a profit in the markets. The native ores were for a long time
smelted without much success ; but for many years ores have
now been brought from Northamptonshire, which, when mixed
with those of Clay Cross, have proved of excellent quality for all
foundry purposes.

Two miles to the north of Clay Cross, Wingerworth Hall stands

322 CHESTERFIELD.

boldly out on the slope of the hills on our left. It was purchased
by Nicholas Hunloke, in the reign of Henry VIII. " His grand-
son, while attending on James I. in his progress through Derby-
shire, fell dead at the king's feet." The Hall was held by the
Parliamentary forces in 1643. " The grounds extend for a con-
siderable distance up the slopes of the hills."

On either hand a river may now be observed following the
course of the line. It is the Rother, which, when first seen, is a
little stream ; but as it attends the line, and is crossed and re-
crossed, the brook eventually becomes of sufficient importance to
give its name to Rotherham.

Four miles north of Clay Cross is Chesterfield. It derives its
name from the Castle Hill at Tapton, a little to the north of the
town, of which " castle " or " Chester " it was " the field." It
stood on the Roman road that ran from Derby to York. The
neighbourhood has been the scene of many vicissitudes in English
story. The town itself has little to attract ; though its remarkable
rather than beautiful spire is a conspicuous object. It is twisted
out of its original position, both to the south and west, probably
by the heat of the sun acting through the lead with which the
wooden spire is covered.

Just beyond this hill is another, on which Tapton House is
situated. This was the residence of George Stephenson ; and his
friend, Mr. Charles Binns, the manager of the Clay Cross works, has
recounted to the writer many interesting incidents of the habits
of the eminent engineer. " He was a man," said Mr. Binns, "of
very large ideas. He was large in all his ideas. He was large in
his religious ideas. If you put anything new before him in science
or nature, he kept it in mind till he had worked it out as far as
possible to its ultimate results. If it were a peculiarity in an
animal, ' Why,' he would inquire, ' was it so ? ' If there was
some difference of form in an object, ' How did it become so ? '
He would tell how that his father had an engine in a wood ; and how,
when George was a little lad, he used to go and watch the birds,
their nests, and their ways ! He was tenderly attached to all
animals. He kept rabbits at Tapton, and he loved to notice their
habits, and to sport with them. He had a tiny dog ; and he would
put it among the rabbits to see them play together. They would
stamp their feet at it, and gambol and run races with it ; and Old

DEONFIELD AND BEADWAT TUNNEL. 323

George would look on to see that on no consideration the dog
should hurt the rabbits or the rabbits the dog. He was also very
fond of bees. He did not understand them scientifically ; but he
would go with his wife 'Betty,' as he called her, and watch their
ways, and would poke his finger into the hive till they clustered on
his finger. They never stung him, except once ; and then he got
some carbonate of soda and cured the wound. He was as pleasant
a man as you ever could find when he was in a good humour ; but
if he took a dislike to any one, it was very difficult to get him rid
of his prejudice against the offender." Trinity Churchyard, on the
opposite hill, to the north of Chesterfield, contains the grave of
George Stephenson.

About a mile forward, the line, which from Clay Cross has been
doubled, divides ; two of the four lines of railway bearing away
to the left, and carrying the traveller along the new main line
towards Sheffield. A heavy embankment leads past the Sheep-
bridge Station and the extensive works of the Sheepbridge Iron
Company ; and soon afterwards we see to the north the village of
Whittington. Here formerly was an inn called " Revolution
House," because in 1688 a meeting of " Friends to Liberty and
the Protestant Religion " adjourned here after they had assembled
on the moor. In 1788 the centenary of the event was celebrated
by many persons of influence and eminence.

Passing over Tinstone Viaduct, to which wre have already re-
ferred,* we see to our right a mineral line curving away to the
east. From this point the Midland Company are about to make a
loop of their own, which, touching several collieries and works,
will join the main line at the south end of Dronfield Station.
From Tinstone we climb up an incline of 1 in 90 to Dronfield, on
the Drone.

A mile north of Dronfield we enter the great Bradway Tunnel.
It is a mile and a half long, through millstone gi'it, and it pierces
the hills that so long separated Sheffield from direct communica-
tion Avith the South. In sinking the shafts of this tunnel the in-
flux of water was so great that it is estimated some 16,000 gallons
flowed in every hour, and it had to be pumped out by means of
seven or eight engines erected for this purpose, and working day
and night. As soon, however, as the " heading " was driven

* i'a™e 191.

324 BEAUCHIEFF ABBEY AND SALL.

through, — a soi't of little pioneer tunnel, — " we got rid," remarked
Mr. Crossley the other day, "of the water; and this is an illus-
tration of the advantages of having a heading in such works.
This water, coming from the millstone grit, was of unusual purity,
was carried down to Sheffield, and there furnishes an unfailing
supply for all station purposes."

On emerging from the tunnel we are in a deep cutting through
shale and sandstone, along the foot of which we see the once
underground river which the tunnelling set free. On coming out
into the open we have on our left the river Sheaf, — after which

BEAUCHIEFF ABBEY.

Sheffield takes its name, — and which alone separates us from York-
shire.

Beauchieff station is near a spot of much interest, Beauchieff
Abbey. Five minutes' walk on the right of the line would bring
us within sight of the short thick tower of the chapel, and a lane
leads to the gates of the Beauchieff estate, immediately wdthin
which is the chapel. On the left of the abbey a long ridge rises,
covered with dark green woods. Service is held in the chapel
every Sunday. A bend in the road which wrinds up the hill
beyond the abbey is the way to Beauchieff Hall, a mansion built
in the reign of Charles II. The village of Norton lies about a
mile farther back. Here an obelisk of Cheesewring granite
stands on the village green to the memory of Chantrey, who was

SHEFFIELD. 325

born here in 1781, and who was buried here. The house, "which
has been modernized and spoilt," is at Jordansthorpe, to the left
of the village from which Chantrey in his early days used daily
to carry milk on the back of a donkey to Sheffield. Adjoining
the village is Norton Hall, the residence of Mr. Charles Cam-
mell.

Returning to Beauchieff station, and renewing our journey, we
see the Sheaf still upon our left. We flash over it for a moment
into the next county, and back again into Derbyshire ; and at
Heeley we again enter, and shall for many a mile remain in,
Yorkshire. Of this county it has been said : " It is not only that
a vast extent of landscape studded with church and tower and
minster, with crumbling walls of castle and abbey, and rich with
the site of many a famous battlefield, stretches away till it is lost
among the grey masses of the opposite hills ; but that the whole
wide scene, so beautiful and so interesting from its host of associa-
tions, is looked upon from a rough foreground, purpled with
heather, and broken into deep scars of rock; or from the lofty
hill of wood, with a foam- whitened stream dashing onward from
below, and then winding out from the hills to glance like a thread
of silver across the wide green landscape." There is, we may add,
" no part of England of equal extent which is so rich in historical
sites, or which has maintained so decided a political importance
from the very dawn of history to the present day."

Sheffield is approached through a tunnel under the grounds of
the Duke of Norfolk, who has a seat hard by. The station is
built in the valley of the Sheaf. This site was chosen simply
because almost insurmountable engineering difficulties prevented
the selection of a more central position. It was not an easy work
to build a railway station over a river like the Sheaf. Yet it was
done ; and three arches of fifteen feet span, and of great length
cover in the river and carry the line. The station buildings stand
on the solid ; the rails and roof are over the water. " The roof
is of iron and glass, and is supported by forty-two iron columns.
There are one and three-quarter miles of wrought-iron girders, and
about 90,000 bolts and rivets in the roof ; and 37,500 feet of glass.
The footbridge is 105 feet long. The clear span is ninety feet,
and the weight about thirty tons. The total weight of the
wrought and cast iron is 630 tons. The building is of rock-faced

326 SHEFFIELD AND ItOTHERHAM RAILWAY.

wallstone, tool-dressed, and the style of architecture is Grecian,
with Gothic headings. The platforms are 700 feet long, and 30
feet wide." At the north end are two docks ; at the south end
there is one. Four lines of railway run through the station ; a
spacious area opens in front of it, and it has all the appliances
suited for the administration of the executive and the accom-
modation of the public.

Leaving the station for the North, we pass through heavy and
difficult works, in what is called " The Park." This is a high hill
of sandstone overlying coal measures and clay ; but the stone had
been quarried, and nothing but debris left in its place ; and the
coal had been " got," so that, as Mr. Crossley remarked, " We
dare not tunnel. The only course left Avas to make an open cut-
ting for about half a mile, with an immense number of bridges,
till we came out into the valley of the Don. We cross over the
river and the turnpike road with a bridge, and then Ave have a
long viaduct through the low part of Sheffield."

After passing Attercliffe and leaving on our left the old Sheffield
station, we are on the old Sheffield and Rotherham line, upon
Avhich we shall run nearly as far as Masborough. This railway,
when originally contemplated, like all the earlier lines, en-
countered much opposition. " A hundi^ed and twenty inhabitants
of Rotherham," Ave are told, "headed by their Vicar, had petitioned
against the Bill, because they thought the canal and the turnpike
furnished sufficient accommodation between the two toAArns, and
because they dreaded an incursion of the idle, drunken, and dis-
solute portion of the Sheffield people as a consequence of increasing
the facilities of transit." These and similar objections had
Aveight; and the Lords' Committee rejected the Bill in 1835.
But the promoters Avere resolute ; in the following year they were
successful; and on the 31st of October, 1838, the line was opened.
A pilot engine was sent first, and then followed the train itself,
Avith its " very elegant " carriages painted yelloAV, carrying Earl
Fitzwilliam, the directors, and other influential persons, who Avere
delighted with the " wonderful velocity " Avith which they " shot
along ; and who AA-ondered still more Avhen on the return journey
they passed the pilot engine."

The region through Avhich we pass from Sheffield to Masborough
would be a desolation Avere it not full of the grimy life which

MASBOROUGH AND ROTHERHAM. 327

does its dark and necessary work ; and, in doing it, tears open the
bowels of the earth, flings vast masses of debris in every direction,
and fills the air with inky smoke and endless din.

Brightside is on the Don. Its name is scarcely so appropriate
to the district as that of Grimesthorpe, through which we have
just passed. The next station is Wincobank, on the hill of which
is a " large camp, nearly circular, with a deep ditch and vallum,"
from which extends north-east what is called the Roman Ridge.
It is a bank partly natural, formed by a fault in the coal forma-
tion, and partly artificial. On its south side is a deep ditch. This
ridge has been traced from Sheffield as far as Masborough. " It
is probable," says Murray, " that these lines formed the main
defences of the Brigantes on this side of their territory."

Masborough is the next station. The ironworks here, founded
by Samuel Walker in the middle of the last century, were pro-
bably at one time the largest in Europe. Southwark Bridge, over
the Thames, was made at Masborough.

Rotherham, standing to the east of Masborough, is at the con-
fluence of the Rother and the Don. The noble proportions, lofty
spire, and crocketed pinnacles of the church of All Saints may be
discerned, even though, as Rickman remarks, there are the " tall
black cones of the Masborough forges for a foreground."

Having arrived at Masborough by what is now the direct main
line of the Midland Company, we may glance at the other route,
which for some years formed an integral part of the original
North Midland Railway, and served as the only available line
from the South to Sheffield. The point of divergence was, as we
have seen, a little north of Chesterfield, where both lines cross
Whittington Moor. Bearing a little to the eastward, we soon
reach Staveley, a place of historic interest, now better kuowu for
its vast and famous ironworks. How greatly the largest antici-
pations of mineral wealth of this district have fallen short of the
actual result may be illustrated at Staveley. When the North
Midland line was being made the Staveley Company asked that
sidings might be provided for their use. To this request the rail-
way authorities demurred; but eventually it was arranged that
the sidings should be put in, but that the Staveley Company
should pay interest on the outlay until the traffic sent on to the
railway should amount to 20,000 tons a year, after which they

328 RAWMAESH, WATH, AND DARFIELD.

should be free. At the present time the Staveley Company places
on the railway that amount of traffic many times told.

Passing over a viaduct of five arches, we approach Eckington,
on the wood-encircled hill on the left of which is Renishaw Hall,
the seat of Sir G. Sitwell. The handsome church and village of
Eckington are seen about a mile to the west after we have left the
station, though partially shut in by woods and hills. It is a busy
little place, with some foundries for making scythes and sickles.
The Renishaw furnaces are close to the station.

Three miles from Eckington we pass the Beighton Junction of
the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway. The Mid-
land Company has no passenger station here, though the line is
useful for the interchange of goods traffic. Half a mile forward
we cross the Rother. We now pass under a bridge which carries
the Sheffield line over our heads, and a fine viaduct belonging to
that company is seen on our left. Another mile brings us to
Woodhouse Mill station ; and two miles farther on we have before
us, on our right, the village of Treeton, in which it is said that
Bradshaw, " the regicide," was buried ; but from whence his body
was subsequently removed, and hanged at Tyburn. When actually
passing Treeton we cannot see it, for we are in a cutting ; but it
is visible either on approaching or on leaving it.

Leaving Masborough through a cutting, the line bends away
for three or four miles to the right, along the valley of the Don,
till we reach Rawmarsh. Here are the Rockingham China Works,
" where porcelain four-post beds have been made." On the right,
over the Don, is Thrybergh Park. For three centuries it belonged
to the Reresbys ; but in 1689 it was gambled away by Sir William
Reresby, who became " a tapster in the King's Bench prison."

Wath station is on an embankment. This village is called
Wath-upon-Dearne, to distinguish it from another Wath. The
Midland line crosses the Dearne just north of the station, and the
river with various windings accompanies the line on the left
nearly till we pass through a tunnel, 149 yards long, and reach
Darfield. The village and church stand on an elevation, from
whence a wide range of country may be seen. The traveller may
observe from the railway the monument erected in the church-
yard over the remains of the 189 men and boys who were killed,
by an explosion in the Lundhill Colliery in 1857.

BARNSLEY, CUDWORTH, AND ROYSTON. 329

From Cudworth there is a branch to Barnsley. This line com-
mences about three-quarters of a mile north of the Cudworth
station, and soon carries us over one of the most imposing works
on the Midland system — the Barnsley Viaduct. * It is more than
1,000 feet in length ; has three stone piers, on which massive
girders rest ; and the space from one abutment to another is
supported by fourteen very lofty iron piers. These are bolted
together, and, though light in appearance, form a very safe and
substantial structure.

Barnsley is situated on two eminences, and used to be called
" bleak Barnsley." The " bleak " is now changed to " black." It
is estimated that the value of goods manufactured here is not less
than £1,000,000 annually. There are some fifty collieries in the
neighbourhood.

Resuming our journey from Cudworth to the north, we observe,
on our left, the square tower of the church of Royston. We have
now reached another summit level of the line, having been
ascending, though by excellent gradients, almost the whole
distance from Kilnhurst ; the line now continues to fall away as
far north as Methley. Near Royston is the Chevet viaduct of
thirteen arches ; and on our left, about half a mile distant, are
Chevet Park and Hall, a house of the time of Henry VIII., and
the residence of Sir Lionel Pilkington, Bart. On our right, after
passing the fine woods of Haw Park, a view may be obtained of
Walton Park, a spot to every naturalist of romantic interest.
About two miles north of Royston is the Chevet Tunnel, 688 yards
in length, passing through which we reach Sandal and Walton
station ; and then are on a lofty embankment, from which views
are obtained east and west over a wide sweep of country. On a
hill crowned with trees are the scanty remains of Sandal Castle,
where the Duke of York rested the night before the Battle of
Wakefield. From a great distance on the right a line is seen
approaching, which at length passes under the Midland. It is the
Great Northern from Doncaster to Wakefield. And less than half
a mile farther on we are running over another line that comes
from east to west ; it is the Lancashire and Yorkshire, from
Pontefract to Wakefield. On the summit of the hill to the east
is the square tower of Croffcon Chm-ch. From this embankment,

* Page 133;

380 NORMANTON AND METHLEY.

too, Walton Park can be seen to the south-east. When the
observer is passing over the second of the two railways, he svill
notice that the canal winds its way in a serpentine form like a
gigantic letter S. Over the top of the S, and on the summit of
the hill, is a wood, with a dip of open land immediately on its
left : that wood is in Walton Park. The Hall itself stands low
over the hill, — is, in fact, almost surrounded by the water of the
lake. The Midland has access to the Kirkgate and Westgate
stations at Wakefield, both of which are points of junction with
other lines.

Resuming our journey on the main line, we next pass Oaken-
shaw. A mile north of Oakenshaw we pass under a Roman road ;
and a little farther on a branch of the Lancashire and Yorkshire is
seen approaching on our left from Wakefield ; it joins the Midland
at Goose Hill Green. Another mile brings us to Norman ton.

Of Normanton itself we see little, though it lies immediately to
our right. But on leaving the station we run for some distance
on embankments of considerable elevation, from whence extensive
views may be enjoyed over a wide range of country to the east and
west of the line. A mile from Normanton station the North East-
ern line passes off to our right, and soon afterwards we cross the
canal, the locks of which are conspicuous, that has come hither
from Wakefield, and now falls into the Calder ; then we cross the
Calder River itself. The woods on our left are in Methley Park,
the seat of the Earl of Mexborough.

The line now pursues its course on an elevation along the
valley of the Aire, the flat meadows of which are formed by
deposits from fresh water inundations laid on the rugged basis of
an old arm of the sea. The river and its canal are conspicuous on
our right. At Woodlesford station we see the fine woods of
Svvillingtonon the hills on the right. Beneath them are extensive
coalfields. Here also is the well wooded deer park of Temple
Newsam, perhaps the Templestowe described in Ivanhoe. The
next station is Hunslet, from which we soon reach the Wellington
Terminus at Leeds.

On leaving the grimy manufacturing suburbs of Leeds, near
which the Wellington station stands, we are charmed to find
suddenly that our train is pursuing its way up the beautiful valley
of the Aire, with its watercourses and water power, its quarries

LEEDS.

331

and woollen manufactories, its wooded hills and stately mansions
innumerable.

The first object of special interest that we pass is the abbey of
Kirkstall. It is on our right ; and in no other part of England are
" the centuries brought into such close strange contact " as in a
spot like this, in which " many a manor and grey village church,
rich in memorials of ancient days, rises with a strange and almost
pathetic contrast" alongside of the enormous factories and towns
of modern civilization.

The abbey was founded by Henry de Lacy, In 1152, in fulfilment
of a vow ; and here a colony of Cistei'cian monks were invited to
settle from Fountains Abbey. They throve, got into debt, got out
again, and were finally " dissolved" in 1540, the site being granted
by Henry VIII. in exchange to Thomas Cranmer, and eventually
it came into possession of the Earls of Cardigan.

The church is in the form of a cross, with a square tower at the
intersection ; but in 1799 a large part of the tower fell. The east

332

KIRKSTALL.

window is pointed ; the west is Norman. Noble remains survive
of the nave and aisles, of cloister, court, and chapterhouse, of re-
fectory and infirmary. " It is to the neglect of two centuries and
a half," says Whitaker, " the unregarded growth of ivy, and the
maturity of vast elms and other forest trees, which have been
suffered to spring up among the walls, that Kirkstall is become, as
a single object, the most picturesque and beautiful ruin in the
kingdom. Add to all the mellow hand of time, — the first of all
landscape painters."

On reaching Apperley, a line is seen rising by a rapid gradient

KIRKSTALL ABBEY.

upon our right. It is the Otley and Ilkley branch, and was opened
August 1st, 1865. The line runs through the magnificent scenery
of the valley of the Aire, towards the upland which separates it
from the valley of the Wharfe. The principal station is Guiseley,
which crowns the bridge, and up to which the line rises nearly all
the way by a gradient' of about 1 in 60 ; but as it sweeps on
through the magnificent dale of the Wharfe, it descends at first by
a gentle fall and then by a heavy gradient. Menstone Junction,
the next point on the line, is situated at one angle of the triangle
by means of which the two railway systems communicate

WHAKFEDALE.

333

Another angle is occupied by the next station, Barley, and the
third is at Milnerwood Junction. The lines between Menstone and
these last two points are the exclusive property of the Midland
Company. Between Milnerwood and Burley, however, is the
central portion of the joint line from Otley to Ilkley, over which
the two companies run in common, and which is one of the most
beautiful portions of the whole route. The length of the North
Eastern line from Arthington to Ilkley is about nine miles ; but
that of the new portion from Otley is only six. From Ilkley to

BEN EHYDDINO.

Burley the line is a steep ascent. The only cuttings are near
Bui-ley, and they are not of great depth. The deepest met with
on this part of the line is between Milnerwood and Otley. It is,
however, through a sandy formation, whereas a deep cutting in the
neighbourhood of Guiseley is through rock. The remainder of the
line to Otley lies at the base of Otley Chevin.

This valley of the "Wharfe has, however, special interest to
many beyond that created by the beauty of the scenery. Around
its breezy hills and flowing waters cluster memories of health

334

BEN BHYDDING.

restored and of life prolonged. Ben Rhydding and Ilkley have
thus become centres of attraction to growing numbers. Thirty-one
years ago, where there are now the vast and stately mansion and
the thriving village, were then only the wide ranges of the
heathery hillsides and the game and sheep pastures extending
away for many a mile on every hand. Mr. Stansfeld, a relative
of the present member of Parliament, had however, been to
Graeffenberg, under Preissnitz, and had derived so much benefit

BEN RHYDDING, NORTH WING AND TOWER.

from the medical treatment he received, that he resolved to form
a company, and to plant a similar establishment here ; his motives
in this undertaking being both philanthropic and financial.
Accordingly he erected what is now the central part of this
noble building, in the Scottish baronial style of architecture, and
Ben Rhydding came into being. The work was successful. In
1847 Dr. Macleod came as the physician in charge ; eventually he
became the proprietor, and won for himself wide and deserved

ILKLEY.

335

esteem for his skill, kindness, and enterprise. Important additions
were from time to time made by him to the building. The north
and then the south wings were added, and other improvements
effected, until standing on the slopes of the moorland hills, 560
feet above the sea, enclosed with wood, and adorned with gardens,
flowers, and a thousand objects of interest, Ben Rhydding has
become one of the most beautiful and attractive spots in England.
More than seventy acres of land are connected with the mansion ;

accommodation is provided for 150 patients ; and everything is
supplied that is calculated to insure the health and comfort of the
inmates.

Ilkley is the next station, whence a new line is in course of con-
struction up the valley of the Wharfe to Skipton. It will be
about twelve miles in length, and will pass through a country of
hill and dale, of pasture and vale and moorland, and will also
bring the visitor almost to the threshold of Bolton.

We are now in the midst of the beauties of the Vale of the
TVharfe. Looking down upon us from the hill on our right is

336

BOLTON ABBEY AND THE NEIGHBOURHOOD.

Middleton Lodge ; and in the dale itself is Hollin Hall, said to be
the birthplace of Bishop Heber of renowned memory. Leaving
the railway and passing on by the flowing river, amid rich
meadow lands, and spreading homesteads, and forest trees, and
now and then a busy silk-mill, we come in sight of Bolton Abbey
and Hall.

We enter the park, and here the scene spread around us is full
of beauty. The river and the stepping stones, the tombs of the

MIDDLETON LODGE.

dead, the ivy-mantled ruins, the lichen- stained wall, the traceried
windows, the moss on the stones, the subdued roar of the river,
and the wash of the waterfall, the wind sighing among the trees,
the rich foliage of the woods that climb upon the hills, the dark
cedars contrasting with the light foliage of the spring trees, the
quiet green meadows, and the valley closed in by the hills of
Simon Seat and Barden Fell, — all are fraught with interest and
beauty.

We enter the woods, where the red deer of the ancient stock
and the old oak trees may still be found ; and here Bardon Tower
rises among the heathery hills and deeply wooded dales, — a spot
full of historic associations of the deepest interest.

APPEELEY.

337

Returning to Apperley, and pursuing our way westward, wo
cross the valley and river of the Aire by means of a viaduct.
Here, in the month of November, 1866, an incident of special in-
terest occurred. There had been for some time such a downfall of
rain as had been unknown in the recollection of " the oldest in-
habitant " of the district. The river Aire had been fed by tribu-
tary rills that now down the slopes of the valley as far away to the
north- west as Malham and Clapham, — rills that had swollen into
torrents ; and on the night of the 16th the river near Apperley had
overflowed its banks to a breadth of half a mile, until all com-
munication by road had been arrested. A platelayer was return-

HOLLIN HALL.

ing along the line from his work, when, on passing over the
viaduct, he suddenly discovered a rent in the masonry of the stone
arch he was crossing, — so suddenly, indeed, that he nearly fell into
the abyss, and only by a leap reached the other side in safety. He
hastened forward with the tidings; the station-master at Apperley
immediately made arrangements to stop the down trains ; and then,
knowing that an up goods' was nearly due, went forward to meet
it. Hurrying along the line lantern in hand, and followed by the
platelayer and station-porter, he had not reached the viaduct when
he saw the goods' emerge from the tunnel. The red lights were
waved ; the driver saw them, and shut off the steam, the fireman

338

APPERLET BRIDGE.

applied the brakes, and then both men leaped off and escaped.
Had they stayed to reverse the engine, it, too, might have been
saved ; but with the momentum it had acquired it came onward,
fell into the hole, struck the already broken arch with a fearful
crash, and in a few minutes the viaduct went down like a pack of
cards, carrying with it engine, tender, guard's brake, and a train
full of dead meat intended for the London market. " We had just
time," said the station-master, " to get back to the station, where
the signals had stopped the Otley train full of passengers coming

BOLI'ON ABBEY AND HALL.

from Otley 'statutes,' when we heard the crash of the falling
viaduct. All was broken to pieces except the engine ; and all the
fragments were washed away except the heavy oak frameworks
and the wheels and springs. A gang of thirty men from the
locomotive staff came down from Derby ; put rails into the river
under the engine- wheels ; drew her inch by inch by windlasses out
on to the meadow, and up an incline on to the line. Then they
did the tender the same. But they were three days and three
nights before they could make a start with the engine." The

SINGULAR CIRCUMSTANCES.

339

most energetic measures, also, were at once adopted for the re-
construction of the road : the piers were rebuilt ; sixty new iron
girders were cast, brought, and fixed in their places ; and in five
weeks from the time the viaduct fell " Apperley Gap " was closed,
and the traffic was resumed. It had been estimated by competent
judges that the work would have required six months to complete.
Soon after leaving the viaduct we enter the tunnel that pierces
Thackley Hill. Here, also, a singular combination of circum-
stances occurred. The rain had been falling long and furiously,

THE STEPPING STONES, BOLTON ABBEY.

and the London express had just passed the hill, when a flash of
lightning struck the southern entrance of the tunnel, and flung
the heavy coping stones down upon the line as if they had been
pebbles. Meanwhile, beyond the western end of the tunnel, alarm
had been felt lest a reservoir connected with a mill should burst
its banks ; and the owner, to prevent its contents flowing upon his
property, had had the bank cut, so as to turn all. the water upon
the railway. The water accordingly swept its way two or three
feet deep into the tunnel, carrying with it bales of wool and

340

GUISELEY BEANCH.

barrels of oil, against which the express ran, and by which (for-
tunately without injury) it was arrested. To be sealed up in a
tunnel by lightning at one end, and to be met by a deluge at the
other, was a remarkable combination of misfortunes.

Emerging from the tunnel we have a range of wooded hills upon
our left, and the Aire on our right. Across it, approaching from
the north, is a new branch railway from Guiseley to Shipley,
which has been made to place Ilkley and Bradford in immediate
communication. Though the line is short, the works are heavy.

ABOVE THE STRID.

The engraving represents one of the viaducts, — not the largest.
It carries the line over the valley of the Aire.

At Shipley the branch line turns away, and runs up a wide
valley down which the Beck flows from Bradford to the Aire at
Shipley. This town is said to have derived its name from being a
" broad ford " over a marsh. At Bradford the Midland Company
is spending a large sum of money in endeavouring to provide
adequate accommodation for passengers and goods. Here the
Company books more travellers than on any other station on its
system ; and it is arranging to provide four times the accommoda-

SALTAIRE.

341

tion it now possesses. This is the greatest work on which the
Company is now engaged.

Resuming our journey from Shipley northward we observe that
a great improvement has been made at this junction. The old
curve, as the chairman has described it, was " sadly too sharp, and
very inconvenient." There was here a hill of excellent stone that
the Company turned into a quarry which was worked and used for
railway purposes for many years. When the stone was nearly ex-
hausted, the land was used for putting thereon a much straighter
line. The cost was nearly £10,000.

BABDON TOWEB.

Less than a mile from Shipley is Saltaire — named after its
founder, Sir Titus Salt, Bart., and the river beside which it
stands. Of the processes carried on in the factory, which covers
twelve acres, and where eighteen miles of cloth a day can be
made, we can say nothing ; but of the town, the chapels, the
baths, the almshouses, the infirmaries, the schools, the club and
institute, and the Saltaire Park, it has been well remarked that
the whole is the realization of a great idea, and shows " what can
be done towards breaking down the barrier that has existed
between the sympathies of the labourer and the employer."

342

BINGLEY.

Rising behind Saltaire to a height of nearly 1,000 feet is a hill,
the summit of which is known as Baildon Common. The train
now runs through Hirst Wood ; and then the country opens
suddenly and beautifully on either hand, the hills on the right
looming largely and finely to the north ; and, passing through a
tunnel 150 yards long, under part of the town, we reach the
pleasantly situated worsted-making Bingley.

Near Bingley are, what were somewhat glowingly described at
the time as, " the noblest works of the kind perhaps to be found
in the universe, namely, a fivefold, a threefold, a twofold, and a
single lock, making together a fall of 120 feet ; a large aqueduct

AIREDALE VIADUCT, ON GUISELEY LINE.

bridge of seven arches over the river Aire, and an aqueduct on
a large embankment over Shipley Valley." On the day of the
opening " five boats of burden passed the grand lock, the first of
which descended through a fall of sixty-six feet in less than
twenty-nine minutes."

About a mile from Bingley, on the summit of the steep hill on
our left, are some large square rocks projecting over the precipice,
and easily recognised. They are known as the Druid's Altar ; and
behind them is the wide expanse of Harden Moor. Beyond the
rugged heights on the opposite side of the valley is the far wider

KEIGHLEY.

343

expanse of Rumbold's Moor, behind which, to the north, at a
distance from Bingley, as the bird flies, of five or six miles, is
Ilkley.

As the line runs on an embankment from which we have fine
views on either hand, we notice that the hills on the left gradually
decline ; and, as we skirt round the outlying flank of some of them,
we find a valley opening to the south, at the entrance to which
Keighley is situated, down which comes the river Worth, and up

which runs the Worth Valley branch of the Midland Company.
It rises about 500 feet in less than five miles. Here is one spot of
special interest : the village of Haworth, — the home of Charlotte
Bronte. The moors that stretch around are " a wilderness, feature-
less, solitary, saddening," but with " the blue tints, the pale mists,
the waves and shadows of the horizon," and the line of " sinuous
wave-like hills, the scoops into which they fall only revealing
other hills beyond of similar colour and shape, crowned with wild
bleak moors."

844

KEIGHLEY.

Hard by Keighley station are the works of Messrs. J. and J.
Craven, the mansion of the partners, and the ornamental chimney-
stack. The chimney is double, and up one of the two shafts is a
spiral staircase which conducts to an observatory near the top,
from which far-reaching views may be obtained. The town is one
of the busiest and wealthiest in Yorkshire.

The line continues its course to the north-west, — the noble range
of hills of Bumbold's Moor on our right, — passing spots the names
of which are suggestive to the antiquary. We now approach the
hills on the right, on which rise the village, church, and hall of
Kildwick, the latter furnishing, says Murray, " a very good

example of a Craven ' hall,' " of the seventeenth century. Passing
Cononley Station, we run over the Bradley " Ings," or meadows ;
and, keeping the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on our right, we soon
reach Skipton, the so-called " capital " of Craven. It is spoken of
in Domesday as Scepeton, from seep, a sheep. It is still sur-
rounded by vast sheep walks. A castle, which has survived from
the times of the Conquest, stands on ground so elevated that from
its battlements we have looked down into the rooks' nests, built on
the topmost branches of the lofty elms, and watched the parents
feed their callow young.

NIPHANY VIADUCT.

343

Some three miles west of Skipton we cross over the river Aire.
One illustration represents the timber construction which long
carried the line ; the other depicts the stone and iron structure
that has lately been erected.

NIPHANY VIADUCT, NEAR SKIPTON (AS IT WAS).

NIPHANY VIADUCT (AS IT is).

The course of the Midland is to the north-west among the
western dales of Yorkshire, shut in by rugged hills and wide-
stretching moors covered with heather — scenes abounding with
variety, beauty and grandeur.

At Bell Busk station we are at the nearest point from Malham,

346

GORDALE AND MALHAM.

three and a half miles distant, close to which are Gordale and
Malham Coves. " Gordale chasm is probably unrivalled in
England (and even in the Scottish highlands we should not easily
find a scene that would surpass it) in its almost terrific sublimity."

Gordale chasm, terrific as the lair

Where the young lions couch." — WORDSWORTH.

At Malham the Aire takes its rise. It is speedily augmented by
a stream from the cleft rocks of Gordale and other small branches,
and flows south through an undulating country till its valley
opens into the broader and more level regions of Craven."

;'.v',/<-!
- '»#--

CLAPHAM STATION AND VIADUCT, AND INGLEBOROUGH.

At Hellifield there is a new line which places the Lancashire
and Yorkshire Company in direct communication with the
Midland, and, via the Settle and Carlisle, with the North.

The next station we pass is Long Preston, and soon afterwards
the junction of the Settle and Carlisle line is seen on our right.
Setl is the Anglo-Saxon for a seat. Five miles and a half forward
we pass over a remarkable timber viaduct, and are at Clapham,
where the trains for Scotland were long wont to turn off to the
right, and running for four or five miles to Ingleton, came under
the control of the London and North- Western Company.

LANCASTER.

347

Between Bentham and Wennington we enter Lancashire, where
we find the junction of the Midland and Furness Railway, and
then pursue our way by Hornby. The castle stands on a conical
hill washed by the river, — a site formerly occupied by a Roman
villa. It is a place full of histories of sieges and struggles " from
the time of the notorious Colonel Charteris down to the period
when the poet Gray received inspiration from its battlements."
Anon we proceed down the beautiful valley of " the stony Lune,"

AQUEDUCT NEAK LANCASTEK.

as Spenser calls it, to the Green Ayre station of the Midland
Company at Lancaster. The Castle station of the London and
North-Western Company is a short distance farther forward.
Some of the Midland trains run into it.

From Lancaster the Midland Company has immediate access to
Morecambe. We pass over the iron bridge across the Lune
depicted in our sketch, and leaving on our left another and older
bridge which conducts to the Castle station, we run under the

348

MORECAMBE.

lofty embankment of the Lancaster and Carlisle line, and are soon
out in the fields on our way to Morecambe. A few yeai-s ago the
very name, except as that of a beautiful and dangerous bay, was
scarcely known ; and in the present time, in all legal documents
the old name of Poulton, an obscure fishing village which stood
upon this spot, is retained. Within the last twenty years, how-
ever, a large and increasing town has arisen : the promenade has
been completed ; by the aid of the Midland Company the sea-wall

LANCASTER.

has been extended ; the new pier has been built, improvements and
enlargements have been made in all directions ; and visitors and
residents have become so numerous that the place is known among
many as " Little Bradford." The handsome and commodious
railway station, the pleasant seaside views, the interest of the
neighbourhood, the wide-spread bay, the cheering coastline of hill,
and to the north and west the mountains of the Lake District,
have made Morecambe one of the most attractive spots on the
English coast.

Returning to Wennington Junction, and curving to the right,

MIDLAND AND FUENESS LINE.

349

we are on the Midland and Furness line, and soon passing Melling,
we run over a viaduct of thirteen arches that crosses the Lune.
Here a fine view of the river may be enjoyed, with Hornby Castle
in the distance. Emerging from a tunnel under Melling Moor, we
observe various country seats, pleasantly situated on the hill- sides ;
and on our left, at Arkholme, across the valley, is the noble
residence known as Storr's Hall ; and, in a few minutes, we cross
over the London and North- Western main line, immediately north
of Carnf orth station, and reach the Carnf orth station of the Furness
Company. Here, strictly speaking, we should pause, and leave the

MORECAMBE.

rest of our journey westward to the historian of the Furness lines.
But that company has a special intimacy with the Midland, and
there are two points which they may be considered to hold almost
in common : access to the Lake District by the Lake Side station,
at Windermere, and to the Isle of Man and Ireland, "via Piel Pier,
near Barrow-in-Furness. We may, therefore, briefly refer to
these two places.

Leaving Carnf orth for the West, we pass along the line of
coast that encloses Morecambe Bay on the north. Many hairbreadth
escapes are recorded of those who used to try to cross these sands

350

WINDERMERE.

even on foot. " The registers of the parish of Cartmell show that
not fewer than one hundred persons have been buried in its
churchyard who were drowned in attempting to pass over the
sands. This is independent of the similar burials in other
churchyards in adjacent parishes on both sides of the bay. The
principal danger arose from the treacherous nature of the sands,
and their constant shifting during the freshes which occurred in
the rivers flowing into the head of the bay."

At Ulverston we pause, and take the branch line that leads in
a north-easterly direction up the beautiful valley of the Leven to

LAKE BIDE STATION, WINDERMERE.

the southern verge of the lovely lake of Windermere. Here the
traveller, instead of finding himself, as at the Windermere station
of the London and North- Western Company, a mile away from the
lake, and several miles from Ambleside, has simply to walk from the
platform of the station on to the deck of the boat, and he is in the
midst of scenery which grows more and more delightful, until he
reaches the northern shore of Windermere, within a mile of
Ambleside. This is incomparably the more pleasing route by
which to visit the Lake District.

CHAPTER XV.

The Settle and Carlisle projected. — Extraordinary difficulties of the country. —
Mr. Sharland.— Settle Station. — "Machines" and bogs.— Craven Lime-
works. — Stainforth. — An old tarn. — The boulder clay. — Geologists and
engineers. — " Slurry."— Selside. — A pothole. — Blea Moor. — A moorland
town. — Batty Moss Viaduct. — Storms. — "A forlorn party." — The contrac-
tor's hotel. — Blea Moor Tunnel. — A boiler up a mountain. — Dynamite and
potted lobster.— The Dent Valley.— Dent Head.— Arten GUI.— Cow Gill.—
Views of the country.— Gar sdale. — "The Moorcock." — The Hawes
Branch. — An extraordinary embankment. — Dandry Mire Viaduct. —
Eemarkable geological formation. — Lunds Viaduct. — Westmoreland. —
Mallerstang. — Ais Gill Viaduct.— Deep Gill.— Pendragon Castle.— The
Countess of Pembroke. — Intake Bank. — Birkett Tunnel. — Wharton Hall. —
Kirkby Stephen. — Smardale Viaduct. — Alarming incident. — Enormous
works. — Boulders. — Crosby Garrett. — Gallansey Cutting. — Crow Hill
Cutting. — Helm Tunnel. — Orm and Ormside. — Appleby. — Branch lines to
Penrith and the Lake District. — The Border wars. — Battle Brow Bank. —
A skew bridge. — Newbiggin Hall. — Amusing incident. — Crowdundle Beck
and Viaduct. — Westmoreland.— Culgaith. — The Eamont and the Eden.—
Longwathby. — Robberby Beck. — Eden Lacy Viaduct. — Long Meg and her
Daughters. — Lazonby. — Kirkoswald. — Barren Wood. — The Nunnery and
its history. — Armathwaite. — Drybeck Viaduct. — A landslip. — Eden Brow.
— Heavy works. — Carlisle.

IF a long day's work or pleasure is wanted, commend us to one of
the newspaper expresses. We do not mean to say, that to leave
St. Pancras at 5.15 a.m. would not tax the fortitude of the most
inveterate early riser, unless he had spent the night at the
Midland Grand ; but the ordinary specimens of our sleep-loving
race might manage to catch the train in its downward course, say
at Bedford, Leicester, or Trent. At any rate, whoever does not
go, the newspaper express train goes, with eager speed and exact
punctuality; and the traveller on the Midland finds himself
careering along the magnificent valleys of the High Peak country
at a time when common mortals are eating their breakfasts ; and
has reached Manchester at ten o'clock.

351

352

THE SETTLE AND CARLISLE LINE.

Our errand, however, was in a somewhat different direction.
We had heard, as everybody had heard, a great deal about a
certain new railway in the North, which was to bring England and
Scotland more closely together. " The Settle and Carlisle " is a
line which (as dear Tom Hood says of Miss Kilmansegg's leg) was
" in everybody's mouth, to use a poetical figure." Some millions of
money had been spent upon it ; Midland shareholders had long
eagerly awaited its completion ; and the great east and west coast
lines had been preparing, with whatever fortitude they could

PIEL PIEB, NEAB BABBOW-IN-FUBNES8.

summon, to share a traffic worth, it is said, two millions a year,
with their great and growing Midland rival. It was generally
understood that the line was approaching completion ; that some
twenty goods trains a day would soon be hastening up and down
those then silent valleys, and that the passenger traffic would
commence as soon as the stations were finished and the road was
consolidated. So we resolved to go and see that part of the world
for ourselves.

It was well known, when the Midland Company decided to

EXTRAORDINAKY DIFFICULTIES OF THE COUNTRY. 353

secure a route of their own to the gates of Scotland, that no
common difficulties would have to be overcome. Years before,
Mr. Locke, the eminent engineer, had been daunted by the
obstacles he met, and had declared that even a west coast route to
Scotland was impossible : and when, later on, the Lancaster and
Carlisle was made, it had to be carried over the gorge of Shap,
which, with the best gradients that could be found, required an
incline for many miles up and down of 1 in 70. Across the whole
North of England lay too the giant Pennine Chain, which seemed
resolved to bar the way against any further access for an innovat-
ing and obtrusive civilization.

Undaunted, however, by these obstacles, Mr. Allport, the General
Manager, and Mr. Crossley, the Engineer-in-chief of the Midland
Company, went down to see for themselves what could be done.
In their researches they ascertained that there was one, and only one,
practicable route. The great wolds and hills that stretch far
over the West Biding of Yorkshire are fortunately bounded by
one series of natural valleys that run from south to north, flanking
the western outlines of the county, continuing across Westmore-
land, and forming part of the great Eden Valley of Cumberland.
But when we speak of a series of valleys, we must not be mis-
understood. It was no easy thing to find a route for a railway
even among these. Over any such path frowned the huge masses
of Ingleborough, and Whernside, and Wildboar, and Shap Fells ;
and if a line were to wind its way at the feet of these, and up and
down these mighty dales, it would have to be by spanning valleys
with stupendous viaducts, and piercing mountain- heights with
enormous tunnels ; miles upon miles of cuttings would have to be
blasted through the rock, or literally torn through clay of the
most extraordinary tenacity ; and embankments, weighing perhaps
250,000 tons, would have to be piled on peaty moors, on some parts
of which a horse could not walk without sinking up to his belly.
" I declare to you," said a somewhat rhetorical farmer to us,
" there is not a level piece of gi-ound big enough to build a house
upon all the way between Settle and Carlisle." A railway for
merely local purposes might indeed have been made by running up
and down steep gradients, and twisting and twirling right and
left with rapid curves, so as to avoid cuttings or embankments ;
but such a line would have been useless for the very purposes for

A A

354 MR. SHARLAND.

which the Settle and Carlisle was to be [constructed. An ascent
would also have to be made over the country to a height of more
than 1,000 feet above the sea, by an incline that should be easy
enough for the swiftest passenger expresses and for the heaviest
mineral trains to pass securely and punctually up and down, not
only in the bright dry days of summer, but in the darkest and
greasiest December nights. Knowing all this, the engineers set
to work. However great the obstacle that lay in their path, they
had simply one of four courses to take — to go over it, or to go
under it, or to go round it, or to go through it : go they must.
Hence the marvellous variety of work, the endless resources of
ingenuity, and the immense demands of labour and capital which
characterize this remarkable railway.

After the visit of the General Manager and Engineer, the first
pioneer sent into this remarkable country on behalf of the Midland
Company was a young engineer named Sharland. A Tasmanian
by birth, he had been for some time professionally engaged on the
Maryport and Carlisle Railway, and had become familiar with
this entire district. Immediately on his appointment he started
off to find the best route for the proposed line, and in ten days
walked the whole distance from Carlisle to Settle, taking flying
surveys and levels, and determining on what he considered the best
course for the railway to take. Unhappily, a very few years
afterwards, though he was apparently strong, and unusually com-
manding in figure and appearance, the toils of his work and the
severity of the climate to which he was exposed suddenly developed
lurking seeds of disease, and he died at Torquay, regretted by all
who knew him.

The first sod of the new line was cut near Anley, in November,
1869 ; and, by the time of our visit, skill, energy, and money had
brought the work nearly to its completion. As our train began to
slacken speed for Settle Station, and we saw the new line curving
away to the north, we were at the base of a rugged but beautiful
valley, down which the roaring Ribble runs. Near the southern-
most end of this valley, the town of Settle (" quite," says an
admirer, "a metropolitan town") stands among wooded hills,
overhung, as one writer says, "in an awful manner," by a lofty
limestone rock called Castleber ; while far beyond, on the left and
right, rise above the sea of mountains the mighty outlines of

SETTLE.

355

Whernside and Pennegent, often hid in the dark clouds of trailing
mists. Up this valley the new line runs, pursuing its way among
perhaps the loneliest dales, the wildest mountain wastes, and the
scantiest population of any part of England; yet destined to
become one of the world's highways, along which the busiest mer-
chants, the costliest produce, and the ponderous mineral wealth of
England and Scotland will hie their way.

Settle presented, when we first saw it, a strange and confused
appearance. The pretty passenger station, built of freestone and
in Gothic style, was nearly finished ; the walls of the spacious
goods shed were almost ready to receive the roof, and the com-
modious cottages hard by for the Company's servants would soon
be completed; but around were whitewashed wooden sheds, the
temporary offices or homes of the Company's staff, and innumerable
piles of contractors' materials no longer required, but ready
marked off in lots for a great clearance sale.

It is the dinner hour, and a strange silence prevails throughout
the works. Navvies are taking their siesta on the great piled-up
baulks of timber, in various and grotesque attitudes ; apparently
sleeping as composedly, and certainly snoring as satisfactorily, as
any alderman could hope to do on his feather bed ; while ever and
anon some foreman or mason comes to his wooden cottage door,

THE AMBULANCE.

and wistfully gazes at the strangers, wondering what their errand
may be. Two vehicles (if so they could be called) standing in the
yard, deserve special notice. One, the ambulance, a covered-in
homely-looking four-wheeled conveyance, has completed for a
time its humane but melancholy work, and is marked with chalk
as a " Lot " for sale.

" And what is this for ? " we inquired, as we stood in front of

356 BOGS.

the other vehicle, one which our Scotch friends might well call " a
machine," that consisted of a huge barrel, over which was a light
cart-body and shafts, so arranged that as the horse pulled, the
bai'rel would turn round underneath like a gigantic garden roller.

" You'd be a long while before you guessed," was the reply ;
and our attempts were in vain. "We used to fill it," said our
informant, "with victuals, or clothes, or bricks, to send to the
men at work on the line, across bogs where no wheels could go.
I've often seen," he added, " three horses in a row pulling at that

THE BOG CART.

concern over the moss till they sank up to their middle, and had
to be drawn out one at a time by their necks to save their lives."
And another Midland engineer subsequently remarked that he
had watched four horses dragging one telegraph pole over the
boggy ground, and the exertion was so great that one of the
horses tore a hoof off.

But the dinner-hour is over. A busy tribe of masons are chip,
chip, chipping the rough stones into shape ; the carpenters are fitting
their timbers together ; the cattle are driven into the truck for the
dinners of the colony of " Batty Wife's Hole " up the line ; the
locomotive that is to convey us has drawn, with full steam up,
alongside the platform ; and Mr. E. 0. Ferguson, the Company's
engineer, is ready to start. We are ready also, and in a minute
our engine is puffing and snorting its way up the incline of 1 in
100 that runs fourteen miles and more to the summit level, near
the entrance of the great Blea Moor Tunnel.

Leaving behind us the stone-built and cleanly houses and
streets of Settle, we rise up a heavy embankment containing a

STAINFOKTH.

357

quarter of a million cubic yards of earth, and then enter a blue
limestone cutting, where spar lodes of copper have been found,
and a likely place, it was thought, for lead. We now pass the
works of the Craven Lime Company, which, by favour of the
Midland authorities, had for some time past been sending off
large quantities of lime and limestone by the then unopened rail-
way. The great kiln is formed by one continuous chamber, built
in an oval, and communicating with the flue, so that the fire is
never allowed to go out, but keeps travelling round. The workmen
stack the coal and lime in front of the fire, and when the lime is

SHERIFF BROW BRIDGE.

burnt and has become cold, it is unloaded, and the kiln is re-
stacked. The lime is said to be of admirable quality for fluxing,
bleaching, and agricultural purposes, as it is nearly perfectly pure.
Three miles fi'om Settle we reach Stainforth. Here, about half
a mile on the left of the line, the Ribble has a fall down a rock
twenty feet in height. This is Stainforth Force ; and though the
cascade is not itself visible from the train, we can see the spot
where the fall must be. Just beyond the Force we observe what
we learn is the site of a Roman camp ; a large column of rough

358 HELWITH.

stones indicates the centre, and is thought to be part of the re-
mains of the camp itself. A mile beyond Stainforth we for the
first time pass over the wide rocky bed of the Ribble by a three-
arched bridge. Here the engineers had great difficulty in selecting
the best route to be taken ; the alternatives being, whether to cross
and recross the river, or by two very heavy cuttings, and perhaps
tunnels, to take the line farther to the east. The bridge is built
at an angle of 34 degrees, and the long wing walls that sustain
the embankment are of ingenious construction, though they were
not liked by the builders on account of the number of " quoins "
or corners they required.

We now recross the river, and enter a cutting seventy feet in
depth, the clay slate strata of which have the remarkable pecu-
liarity of standing perpendicular to the level of the line ; they are
also rippled like the sands on the seashore. Here a county road
has for many years been carried over the Ribble by a little bridge ;
but the county authorities refused the railway company permission
to make a level crossing, so the public road had to be diverted
and conducted over the river and the railway by a viaduct of con-
siderable length, which, standing beside its little old predecessor,
furnished, our engineer remarked, a contrast between " bridges,
ancient and modern." Near this spot the line passes along what
was once the bed of the river, which had to be diverted along a
new course blasted out for it; and by the side of the river a long
wall has been erected to protect the embankment from floods. The
people at Helwith are chiefly engaged in working the slaty kind
of stone we passed in the cutting. It comes out in bedded slabs,
perhaps 15 feet wide and 18 feet long, varying from six inches to
two feet in thickness, according to the natural beds.

We now run for nearly half a mile on the only bit of level line
between Settle and Blea Moor. It is on the bed of an old tarn,
through which the engineers had to sink for the foundations of the
bridge : and in doing this they found they were at the bottom of
what had been a lake. To our right lies the quaint old village of
Horton in Ribblesdale, behind which are the great heights of
Pennegent, rising, as one has said, from the deep vale, with his
rounded back, like a monstrous whale. " Where is Pennegent
near ? " we inquire of Mr. Ferguson, our engineer. " Near no-
where," he replies. "Everything is near Pennegent." We now

THE BOULDER-CLAY. 359

stop at a wooden tank to give our engine water, for it is the best
water on this part of the line, and then we enter a cutting. It
is of a material we have noticed before, and the fame of which
has spread far and wide among engineers, — the boulder-clay.
Geologists will take ns back to what they call the glacial period,
and tell ns how, when much of this fair England was lying under
the wild waste of waters, the boulder-clay lay as the soft mud
beneath ; and how the melting icebergs dropped their freights of
boulder stones, scratched, grooved, and striated by mighty glaciers
into the clayey bed beneath. But the engineer views the subject
from a different standpoint. He will narrate how it resists
almost all his efforts to cut through it ; how it is to-day so hard
that it must be drilled with holes, and blasted with gunpowder ;
and how to-morrow, because some rain has fallen, it will turn into
a thick gluey clay, so adhesive and tough that when the navvy
sticks his pickaxe into it he can hardly get it out again ; or if he
does, will not have loosened so much as a small teacupful of stuff.
Even when it has come out as dry rock and been put into the tip-
wagon, a shower of rain, or even the jolting of a ride of a mile to
the tip end, will perhaps shake the whole into a nearly semi-fluid
mass of " slurry," which settles down like glue to the bottom of
the wagon, and when run to the " tip head " will drag the wagon
over to the bottom of the embankment. " I have seen," said our
engineer, " sixteen tip-wagons lying at one time at the bottom of
the tip ; and they would all have gone if we had not put on what
we call a bulling-chain between the tip-rails, which, the moment
the wagon tipped its load, pulled up the wagon, and prevented it
from following."

"I have known the men," remarked Mr. Crossley to us the
other day, " blast the boulder-clay like rock, and within a few
hours have to ladle out the same stuff from the same spot like
soup in buckets. Or a man strikes a blow with his pick at what
he thinks is clay, but there is a great boulder underneath almost
as hard as iron, and the man's wrists, arms, and body are so
shaken by the shock, that, disgusted, he flings down his tools,
asks for his money, and is off."

Two miles from Horton, and nine miles from the junction south
of Settle, is the village of Selside. Half a mile from the line is a
remarkable chasm in the limestone called a "pot hole" and named

360 BATTY GREEN.

after one Allan Pot. Explorers from Settle have descended it by
means of rope ladders to a depth of 300 feet. These pot holes
seem to be fathomless; for they will carry off any amount of
water poured into them, and save all trouble of surface drainage.
There is an underground stream into this pot hole, and there is a
waterfall from it. The engineers also found a similar hole sixty
feet deep near the line, and to prevent the possibility of any slip of
the works in that direction, they filled it up. In doing this, an
old tip-wagon fell to the bottom ; and it being more trouble to
recover it than it was worth, it was left there.

Four miles from Selside we cross the turnpike that runs from
Ingleton to Hawes ; and now the heaviest part of the works begins.
The changes here made by the construction of the railway have
been stupendous. A few years since, not a vestige of a habitation
could be seen. The grouse and here and there a black-faced
mountain sheep, half buried among the ling, were the only visible
life. Beyond the valley lay the great hill of Blea Moor, an out-
lying flank of the mighty mountain Whernside, covering 2,000
acres of land, where sundry farmers feed their sheep according to
the number of "sheep gaits" they possess. A few months after-
wards, dwellings had been erected for the 2,000 navvies who were
to work at the viaduct and tunnel, and £20,000 worth of plant
had been put upon the ground before the works could be com-
menced. We may add that the principal owner of the moor
required the Company to bury their telegraph wires in order to
prevent injury to his grouse when on the wing.

This is the moorland town, if by such a title it can be dig-
nified, of Batty Green. Tradition offers two explanations of the
origin of the name — a name which, till recently, was local and
obscure, but which henceforth will be identified with some of the
most important and difficult railway works in the land. Once upon
a time, we are told, a person named Batty wooed and won a fair
damsel who lived in Ingleton Fells ; but after a while he fell into
evil ways, and went on from bad to worse, until his wife sought
refuge from her miseries in a watery grave in what is locally called
a "hole" of fathomless depth. The other tradition, scarcely so
affecting, is, that the aforesaid Mrs. Batty, pursuing the even
tenour of her conjugal and domestic duties, was simply wont to
supply her washtub with water from a " hole " which has thus

THE TOWN OF BATTY WIFE.

361

had fame thrust upon it. We leave our readers to make their
choice which tradition they prefer.

The town of Batty Wife had, when we visited it, a remarkable
appearance. It resembled the gold diggers' villages in the
colonies. Potters' carts, drapers' carts, milk carts, greengrocers'
carts, butchers' and bakers' carts, brewers' drays, and traps and
horses for hire, might all be found, besides numerous hawkers who
plied their trade from hut to hut. The Company's offices, yards,
stables, storeroom, and shops occupied a large space of ground.

RIBBLEHEAD VIADUCT, BLEA MOOR.

There were also the shops of various tradespeople, the inevitable
public- houses, a neat-looking hospital, with a covered walk for
convalescents, a post-office, a public library, a mission house, and
day and Sunday schools. But, despite all these conventionalities,
the spot was frequently most desolate and bleak. Though many of
the men had been engaged in railway making in rough and foreign
countries, they seemed to agree that they were in " one of the
wildest, windiest, coldest, and dearest localities " in the world.
The wind in the Ingleton Valley in the winter was so violent and

362 SNOWED UP.

piercing that for days together the bricklayers on the viaduct were
unable to work, simply from fear of being blown off. At the
present time, though the viaduct is wide and well protected by
substantial parapets, such is the fury with which the western winds
blow up the hollow between Whernside and Ingleborough that
it is averred that it Avould be at the risk of one's life for a person
in such weather to walk over alone. Yet here five great rail-
way works follow one another in succession — the viaduct, the
embankment, the cutting, the tunnel, and then another viaduct.

The labour of commencing and carrying to a completion so
remarkable a series of works in such a district was necessarily
increased by the local difficulties. In former times, when coaches
ran between Lancaster and Richmond, the journey across these
elevated wilds was allowed to be most harassing. It was no
unusual thing for rain to come down upon the travellers " in
torrents ; for snow to fall in darkened flakes or driving showers of
powdered ice ; for winds to howl and blow with hurricane force,
bewildering to man and beast ; for frost to bite and benumb both
hands and face till feeling was almost gone ; and for hail and sleet
to blind the traveller's eyes, and to make his face smart as if beaten
with a myriad slender cords." And now all these hardships had
to be borne by the workmen on the line. " The wet heather, the
sinking peat, the miry and uneven pathways, the little rills
draining the hills and winding and leaping on the edge of the huts,
dark clouds dissolving in showers and drenching everything
permeable to water, the wind moaning in the brown heath in
sympathy with the people and the place, were sights and things
to be remembered in a ramble over the moors."

Even Mr. Sharland, at the commencement of engineering
operations in this district, was destined to learn a lesson of the
severity of the climate. When he was engaged in staking out the
centre line of the then intended Settle and Carlisle, and had taken
up his quarters at a little inn on Blea Moor, on a bare and bleak
hill 1,250 feet above the level of the sea, and miles away from any
village, he was literally snowed up. For three weeks it snowed
continuously. The tops of the walls round the house were hidden.
The snow lay eighteen inches above the lintel of the front door, —
a door six feet high. Of course all communication with the
surrounding country was suspended. The engineer and his half-

A FORLORN PARTY. 363

dozen men, and the landlord and his family, had to live on the
eggs and bacon in the house ; in another week their stock would
have been exhausted; and it was only by making a tunnel,
engineer- like, through the snow to the road, that they got water
from the horse-trough to drink.

Such were the scenes among which, in the first week of
December, 1869, a " forlorn " party, as military men might well
call it, commenced the gigantic undertaking of making the Settle
and Carlisle Railway. It was known that at this point the
heaviest work would have to be done; and here, therefore, according
to the practice of railway people, the task was begun. Half a dozen
men might be seen wending their way across the moors, and
carrying with them a levelling staff. The first thing to be
accomplished was to ascertain the best means by which to open
communication between the Ingleton road and the mountainside
through which the tunnel was to be made. Picking their way
among the peat bogs and the heather, sinking in every now and
then, perhaps up to their knees, they at length reached the
hillside of Blea Moor, and surveyed the prospect spread out
around them. For miles and miles away stretched the bare and
rugged hills and the rolling mountains and moors ; not a vestige
was to be traced of a human habitation, or even of any sort of
shelter for man or beast. As they looked southward, the vast and
gloomy outline of Whernside lowered over them on the right;
Ingleborough was before them ; and Pennegent and the great
hills of Western Yorkshire were to their left.

But they did not stay long in contemplation, and it was decided
that a tramway should be laid across the moors from the Ingleton
road up to the mountain. But here, at the outset, difficulties
arose : the landowners were hostile to any practical operations
being taken, and a bill for the abandonment of the line was, by the
influence of sundry Midland shareholders, being pressed upon
Parliament ; so, although arrangements could be made, no definite
action could be taken till the following June. By that time it was
thought that perhaps the abandonment bill would be rejected ;
possession could be obtained of the land, and work be commenced.
On so desolate a field of operations, it was of course necessary
that accommodation should be secured for the workmen. The
Midland Company are renowned for their hotels — of which they

364

A WAN.

have three, in London, Derby, and Leeds; their contractors now
provided a fourth, of which we are happy to give an engraving.
It was what one of Mr. Charles Dickens' friends would call " a
wan"; what the reader, with more decorum, would perhaps
designate " a cai-avan," on four wheels, resembling those vehicles
in which certain peripatetic pot and brush sellers take up their
residence, and from which they dispense their wares to a confiding
public. Here ten contractors? men lived for many months hard

THE CONTRACTORS' HOTEL, BLEA MOOR.

by the Ingleton road ; and from thence they sallied forth day by
day to work.

In addition to the spacious and cheerful accommodation thus
provided, some tents were erected on the hillside of the future
tunnel, the materials for which were carried on donkeys' backs.
These preliminaries completed, and possession of the land being
legally secured, the work of construction commenced by the forma-
tion of the tramway across the moor, from the road to the foot of
the hill. This was a distance of two miles and a half. As Mr.
Ashwell remarked to us, " we worked like Yankees, and laid nearly
a mile a week. A month after we began, we had a locomotive
running over it. We used it till within a month of the opening
of the line, and some of it was there the other day. It would
scarcely, however, have done for a main thoroughfare, for there
were gradients of 1 in 25, and of 1 in 16 ; and there were curves of
two and a half and three chains' radius ; * but up and down and
in and out we went till we reached our destination."

Meanwhile arrangements had to be made for getting stone
suitable for the works. A quarry had to be found. " Ordinarily,"

* A chain is 66 feet ; a curve of one chain radius is therefore a circle of 132
feet diameter. A three-chain radius would mean a circle the diameter of which
is 132 yards.

DEUGS AND BOILERS. 365

said Mr. Ashwell, " you can get the help of the people of the
district, who tell you of the brooks, or the stone-pits, or where you
are most likely to find anything you want ; but the only inhabitants
here were the grouse. Search had therefore to be made, and trial
holes to be sunk in various directions ; and eventually, in the
bed of a mountain beck, about half a mile from what is now the
tunnel mouth, stone was traced; and from it, eventually, upwards
of 30,000 cubic yards were taken."

The first work at the tunnel itself was the sinking of the shafts.
This was done by the aid of a " jack roll," which is like the
windlass over a common well, until horse gins could be got into
position ; and these in their turn were superseded by four winding
engines, placed at the four principal shafts, with which the work
involved in making the shaft and lifting out the debris was
accomplished.

" But how in the world did you ever manage to get that lumber-
ing, ponderous engine up here ? " we inquired of our friend Mr.
Ashwell. " Pull it up with a crab," he replied. "A crab ! " we
asked ; " what's that ? " " Well, a windlass perhaps you call it.
We fixed the windlass in its place ; laid a two-foot gauge road up
the hillside in places sometimes as steep as one foot perpendicular
rise in two and a half feet length, and then dragged it up 1,300
feet above the sea. By having crabs placed one above another, we
pulled up first the boiler, which weighed two tons and a half, and
then the engine, the lot weighing very likely six tons. The
riveters put it together. It was a strange thing to hear the ' tap,
tap ' of the riveters' hammer up there in that howling wilderness.
When one engine Avas set to work, we used it for drawing up some
of the others."

" And did you get them all up that way ? " " Well, no ; we
had to get another up the flatter side of the hill ; and that was
more difficult still, because of the bogs. We managed that on a
drug — a four-wheeled timber wagon sort of thing. It was an un-
commonly strong one, you may be sure. We brought it along the
Ingleton road ; and then, for two miles and a half, we pulled it by
means of two ropes working round the boiler ; as one rope was
drawn off the other was rolled on. And so, stage by stage, we
dragged it over the rugged and boggy ground, and up to the top
of the mountain on which it stands." And there for four years

366 SHAFTS, HEADINGS, AND DYNAMITE.

and more those engines did their almost ceaseless work, the two at
either end winding materials or men up the inclined planes from
near the tunnel mouths, while the others were lowering bricks and
mortar, in " skeps " down the shafts, or raising the excavated
rock or the water that found its way into the workings, and
threatened, ever and anon, to drown them out.

From the tunnel ends, and from the bottoms of the shafts
" headings " were run till they met. " You see," said Mr. Fergu-
son, the engineer, " there is room for only four men to work at one
time and one place in making a tunnel ; and if we had not had
shafts from the top, the tunnel would really have had to be bored
by eight men, and I am afraid the patience of the Midland share-
holders would have been exhausted before the Blea Moor Tunnel
was finished. But every shaft we sank gave us two more faces to
work at, and two more gangs could be put on. By such an ar-
rangement, seven shafts and two tunnel entrances would give six-
teen tunnel faces ; sixteen gangs of men, day and night, could
work ; and thus the tunnel could be completed in four years,
instead of thirty-two, a period which would have landed us in
1903." Besides, four at least of these shafts are permanently re-
quired for the proper ventilation of the tunnel.

"When we had made our shafts," continued our engineer, " we
began to run headings north and south, till, at last, they met.
The strata through which we had to pass were limestone, grit-
stone, and shale ; but in making the heading we chiefly followed
the shale, because it was the easiest, though this sometimes
brought us to the level of the rails, and sometimes to the top of
the arch. We now started what we termed a ' break up ' ; that is,
we enlarged a certain portion of the tunnel sufficiently to enable us
to put in the arch in brick, filling in the space behind the brick-
work with debris, which, being interpreted, means any loose rock
we could get hold of. We then excavated the tunnel down to the
floor, till the level of the future rails was reached."

So the work went on, from Sunday night at ten till Saturday
night at ten ; relays of men relieving one another at six in the
morning and six at night. The rock was broken up by hand-
drilling, the holes being filled with dynamite, gun-cotton, or gun-
powder, and fired by means of a time fusee. " What is dyna-
mite ? " Dynamite looks very much like potted lobster. It will not

BATTY MOSS VIADUCT. 367

explode unless heated to 420 deg. Fahrenheit. If a match is
placed against it, it burns like grease. It can be carried about in
one's pocket ; and is even carried about in the men's trousers'
pockets to warm it for use. At the same time it has such terribly
explosive powers that railway companies dare not convey it ; and
every ounce used on this line had to be carted from either Carlisle
or Newcastle, and cost about £200 a ton, or more than five times
as much as gunpowder. We may add that the temperature of the
headings, before they were joined, was 80 degrees ; but, when the
passage was made through, the heat fell 23 degrees, and the ther-
mometer stood at 57. Black damp was met with in the headings,
and also an explosive stone ; yet, although the strata through
which the tunnel passed were of so hard a nature as to require
blasting throughout, the compressed air in the hill forced the stone
outwards where excavations had been made ; and the atmosphere
had such an effect on the rock, that the tunnel had to be arched
from end to end. It was anticipated that the cost of the tunnel
could not be less than £45 for every yard formed, and we have no
doubt these expectations have been more than realized.

Meanwhile the task of erecting the viaduct at Batty Moss was
laboriously carried on. It stands on the watershed of the Ribble
and on Little Dale Beck, and is the largest work on the line, con-
sisting of 24 arches, the height of the loftiest from the bottom of
the foundation to the level of the rails being no less than 165 feet.
The arches are each of 45 feet span, and they are nearly semi-
circular in shape. The foundations have been carried 25 feet down
through the peat-washing and clay, and they all rest upon the
rock. The arches are of brick ; and in constructing them, an arch
was finished in fine weather every week, the first five of them being
completed in five weeks. It is estimated that a million and a half
of bricks were used in these arches. The work is of the most solid
and durable character, and the stones are of very large dimensions,
some of them weighing seven or eight tons, and many courses
being from three to four feet in thickness. Every sixth pier is
made of enormous strength, so that if, from any unlooked-for con-
tingency, any one arch should ever fall, only five arches could
follow. The lime used for mortar is hydraulic lime from Barrow-
on-Soar. The first stone of this vast structure was laid by Mr.
William Ashwell, October 12th, 1870 ; and the last arch was

368

BATTY MOSS VIADUCT.

turned in 1874. Our engraving represents the Batty Moss Viaduct
in course of construction. As many viaducts embellish these
pages, it was thought it would be more agreeable to the reader to
have some of them depicted in some intermediate stage of their
erection.

But we now move forward from the viaduct on to the great em-
bankment that succeeds it ; and as we do so, we notice right
athwart our path the mighty range of Whernside, nearly 2,500 feet
in height ; so, to avoid it, the line bends to the right, and before

BATTY MOSS VIADUCT.

long we enter the cutting that leads to Blea Moor Tunnel. We
first run through a short tunnel and under a mountain stream
called Force Gill. This gill was the source of much trouble to the
engineers, for it carried away their temporary bridges and drowned
their quarries ; but it now runs peacefully above our heads along
a large stone trough that has been set with hot asphalte to insure
its being watertight.

The cutting itself is through strata principally of millstone grit
and black marble, both of which cropped out on the surface before
the work was begun, and some 400,000 cubic yards of which had
to be removed before the tunnel entrance was reached. How

INSIDE THE

369

many hypothetical marble mantelpieces were destroyed in the
process we have not been informed.

We can now see through the " spectacles " of the powerful little
engine which is drawing us, that we are approaching the mouth of
what may perhaps be more strictly called the " covered way " that
leads to the famous Blea Moor Tunnel. It was intended to make

BLEA MOOR TUNNEL — NORTH ENr.

the entrance some distance farther north ; but ev.entually it was
thought safer (in order to avoid any slipping of earth down the
mountain or down the sides of the cutting, which would have been
nearly 100 feet deep) to cover in the cutting, and, in effect, to
commence the tunnel 400 yards farther south.

We are now in the tunnel. Nothing is to be seen but the lamp,
which our engineer has just lit, dangling from the roof, and

B B

370 BLEA MOOR TUNNEL.

throwing its bull's-eye light on the tunnel wall. Nothing is to be
heard but the roar of our puffing snorting little engine, and the
hollow reverberation of the mighty cavern. Onward we go,
beneath a mountain, which rises yet 500 feet above our heads ;
when suddenly some sharp shrill whistles are sounded, the speed
is slackened, and we find ourselves slowly moving among groups
of scores of men with flickering lights and candles stuck on end on
the projecting crags of the rocky tunnel sides. For a moment we
pause. " What's up ? " shouts a deep voice ; and some answer,
inarticulate to us, is returned.

The steam is turned on ; again we move forward into the thick
black night ; other whistles follow ; other lights glimmer and
gleam ; another group of workmen is passed, looking, by the red
light of their fire, a picture fit for Rembrandt ; and at last, not
unwillingly, we emerge into the sweet bright light of heaven.*

Four hundred yards from the southern entrance of the tunnel
we were at the summit level of contract No. 1 ; some 1,150 feet
above the sea, a greater elevation than that attained by any other
railway in Egland except the Tebay and Darlington branch of the
North-Eastern, wrhich at Stainmoor is 1,320 feet above the sea.
The line now begins its descent towards Carlisle : the tunnel itself
inclines downwards, and its drainage runs north.

Alighting from our engine, we stroll forward to look at the next

* "I shall not forget as long as I live the difficulties that surrounded us in
that undertaking. Mr. Crossley and I went on a voyage of discovery — ' pro-
specting.' We walked miles and miles ; in fact, I think I may safely say, we
walked over a greater part of the line from Settle to Carlisle, and we found it
comparatively easy sailing till we got to that terrible place, Blea Moor. We
spent an afternoon there looking at it. We went miles without seeing any
inhabitant, and then Blea Moor seemed effectually to bar our passage north-
ward. But to the skill and energy of the engineer we are indebted for over-
coming the difficulty. But such is my recollection of the afternoon, that when
Mr. Williams, the painter, said he should like to paint in the background of
the portrait something illustrative of the Midland Railway, I then gave him the
' History of the Midland Railway ' by Mr. Williams of Nottingham, and point-
ing to the engraving of Blea Moor contained therein, told him to put that in it
and you will find Blea Moor in the corner there. If I have had one work in
my life that gave me more anxiety than another, it was this Settle and Carlisle
line."- — Speech of Sir. Allport, on the presentation to himself and Mrs. Allport o
their portraits by the chief officers of the Company. August, 1876.

DENT HEAD.

371

viaduct : it is in the magnificent Dent Valley, the town of Dent
being, however, some eight miles to our left. This viaduct is 200
yards long, of ten semicircular arches, rising 100 feet above the
public road, and also over a little mountain torrent that falls into
the Dent, which runs hard by on our left. The line continues tip
the valley of the Dent, which is richly cultivated at its base, but
is enclosed right and left by hills that soon become too steep to
retain the soil, much of which is carried downwards into the
meadows, or is washed away by the waters of the river Dee, which
rushes and roars over a bed wonderfully paved, as though by hand,

DENT HEAD VIADUCT.

with black marble ; the line itself skirting along the hillside at
an elevation of some 300 feet above the stream, and not more than
200 yards from it.

But it was time for us to return to Settle. We had been drawn
up, as we have said, by an engine ; but " No. 568 " had gone, and
our carriage was to run down the incline of 14 miles by itself. In
the morning, when ascending, we noticed that only the up line of
the permanent way was in use, and we asked whether there was
any possibility of meeting a train coming down. " Oh no," said
our engineer ; " there are only two other small engines on the road,
and they always cut out of the way when they see us coming."
So having been drawn back through the tunnel by one of the

372 KIBBLE HEAD.

aforesaid little engines, and started off at the other end on our
descent, we trusted to the law of gravitation, the strength of our
brake, and the skill of our engineer. " We can drop you down in
twenty minutes," he remarked ; and all we need add is, " drop us
down," he did.

Resuming with the company of our reader our journey north-
ward, we ought, however, to pause and visit a spot of much
interest, — the spring at Ribble Head. " The source of this im-
portant river is at a short distance from the Hawes Road, between
Batty Green, and Grearstone Inn, on the right-hand side. The
water issues from the springs in the limestone rock with a grassy
mound in the centre ; and then, after purling over a bed of pebbles
for about twenty yards, it drops with a jingling sound through
various openings, and continues its course for some distance un-
derground." It is pleasing to look upon this "insignificant
stream, murmuring its sweet mountain music, and its clear water
sparkling in the morning sunshine, and then to compare it with
its full-grown sslf at Lytham."

A MIDLAND TRAIN SNOWED UP NEAB DENT (1881).

Starting northward from the Dent Viaduct, and creeping up
the side of the hill, we reach, at about 17 miles from the
commencement, the end of the first contract, and enter on " No.
2." This was about 17 miles in length; was placed in the hands
of Messrs. Benton and Woodiwiss in September, 1869, and was
commenced early in the following year. It includes some of the
most difficult work between Settle and Carlisle.

Dent Head (where the Dent takes its rise, and from whence it
flows into the Lune) is at the beginning of this contract, and is
one of the wildest and loneliest parts of Yorkshire. All around
is wild moorland, closed in by vast hills. A few minutes' walk
along the heavy cutting brings us to what is now known as the

AETEN GILL VIADUCT.

373

Arten Gill Viaduct. The gill is deep ; the banks on each side are
steep ; and before the viaduct was commenced there was a waterfall
of 60 feet descent. The stream is spanned by a viaduct 660 feet
long, of eleven arches, each of 45 feet span, and the rails are 117
feet above the water. The viaduct is built of the same sort of
stone as that which, when cut and polished at Mr. Nixon's marble
quarries close by, is known by the name of black or Dent marble.
Great difficulty was experienced in obtaining a firm foundation for
several of the piers, and then they had to be sunk in some cases
as much as 55 feet. " It would be impossible," said the resident

ARTEN GILL VIADUCT.

engineer, " to build piers to such a depth in loose ground like this,
and to keep the sides from falling in ; we therefore use strong and
numerous supports ; and to look down some of these foundations
ready for putting in the masonry, it seems like one confused mass
of timber and strutting." The foundations were, however,
eventually laid on the rock, and then the lofty superstructure was
reared.

The method by which the erection of such works is carried on
in the case of these high viaducts, is indicated by our engraving.

374 THE VALE OF DENT.

A light timber stage, called a " gantry," is constructed on each
side of the work, sufficiently wide to allow of the piers and abut-
ments being built between. A jenny, or crane, is then placed on
a movable platform extending from one stage to the other. The
materials are wound up either by hand or steam power, and are
then moved slowly along till they can be lowered to the exact
position they are to occupy. As soon as the masonry is built up
to the height of the gantry, a fresh lift of timber is put on, the
crane is raised to the new height, and so the work is continued to
another stage. By these means stones of great size can be used :
one in this viaduct measures fourteen feet by six feet, is a foot
thick, and weighs more than eight tons ; and the total amount for
this work alone was upwards of 50,000 tons.

Dent Dale is about ten miles in length. " It is," said a writer
fifty years ago, " entirely surrounded with high mountains, and of
difficult access to carriages, having few openings where they can
enter with safety. In this secluded spot landed property is greatly
divided ; the estates are very small, and for the most part occupied
by the owners." Yet in this " secluded spot," the engineer has
come, and where " carriages could scarcely find a safe entry," he
has laid down his paths of iron, and run his mighty trains.

In the neighbourhood of this part of the line the scenery, says
our engineer, is " beautiful. A bird's-eye view is obtained of the
vale of Dent. Nearly 500 feet below, now sparkling in the sun-
light, and now losing itself among some clusters of trees, winds
the river Dent, while, first on one side, then the other, is the road
that leads to Sedbergh. No busy smoky town is to be seen close
by or in the distance ; nothing but the greenest of green fields,
speckled over with lazy herds of cattle, Avhile here and there lie
the homesteads whose inhabitants have that simplicity of life
which rural solitudes alone can give. The valley, however, is not
always a scene of peace and quietness. In July, 1870, there swept
along it one of the most terrific storms that had occurred for many
years. A thunderstorm caused the river to swell so suddenly that
a wave of several feet in height came rushing, not only along the
bed of the river, but also along the road, with resistless force,
carrying everything before it."

A short distance from the northern end of Cow Gill is Black
Moss or Rise Hill Tunnel, one of the largest works on the line,

THE MOORCOCK.

375

Leaving it the line emerges into Garsdale. Here a different view
from that with which we have become familiar appears ; and in-
stead of a wild and dreary waste, we have a kindlier clime and
brighter scenes. Some 400 feet below us the stream may be
observed winding over its rocky bed at the foot of the steep-sided
valley, in the direction of Sedbergh; while to the west the country
opens out in extensive views. Soon we see, upon our right, a
roadside inn, called " The Moorcock," notable in the district as
standing at the junction of three roads. This inn is at the head
of three valleys : the Wensleydale, winding eastward down to

- "

DANDBY MIKE VIADUCT.

Hawes, along which the Midland has a branch line in course of
construction; the Garsdale Valley, going westerly towards Sed-
bergh ; and the Mallerstang, leading northwards towards Kirkby
Stephen. These valleys and their roads all meet ; and travellers
innumerable have been wont to dismount their mountain ponies at
" The Moorcock " to refresh themselves with mountain dew,
pei'haps the more willingly from the thought that it has been
many a mile since they had such an opportunity before, and that
it will be many another before they will have one again.

As an indication of the inaccessibility of this spot, we may
mention that every tip wagon here used by the contractor had to

376 A RAILWAY IN THE GLACIAL PERIOD.

be brought by road up from Sedbergh, and that the carriage of
them cost a guinea each. At this point 100 were required.

At Hawes Junction is a branch to our right which unites at
Hawes with the North- Eastern. North of Hawes Junction the
main line runs along an embankment. When it was made the
tipping was carried on for two years. But the peat yielded to the
weight placed upon it, and rose on each side in a bank, in some
places fifteen feet high. After more than 250,000 cubic yards had
been deposited, it was decided that a viaduct of twelve arches over
the deepest part of the works must be made. This is Dandry
Mire Viaduct.

In carrying on these works a curious circumstance occurred. A
gullet (a sort of preliminary cutting, with steep sides, just big
enough for a few tip wagons to be pushed in) had been made, and
the rails laid in it. But "in the night the rain fell; the walls of.
the gullet slipped in ; the road was buried several yards deep in
slurry and mud, and_ there it was left. Two years passed away.
Another and deeper gullet was made onward from the cutting ;
and to their surprise, the men, as they were digging out the
boulder clay, found the remains of a former tram-road. " A
splendid discovery," said one concerned in the work, "for a
geological fellow. He could prove lots from this. ' Here is a
railway in the glacial drift, — in the glacial period ; rails, sleepers,
and all. Then the world must have been inhabited then ; and
they had railways then; and very likely a Settle and Carlisle
railway into the bargain.' ' There is nothing new under the
sun.' "

"A short distance farther on," says Mr. Story, "is Lunds
Viaduct, of five arches, and in the bottom is the quarry from which
a great number of the viaducts and bridges were built. Another
short tunnel, and a mile or two farther the line crosses over Ais
Gill Moor, and attains its highest altitude of 1,167 feet above the
sea, from whence it falls almost uninterruptedly down to Carlisle,
1 in 100 being the ruling gradient. The country here is very wild
and rugged. Stone walls mark the division of the properties, and
scarcely any house can be seen, to remind one that the country is
inhabited. On the wrest rises Wild Boar Fell, with its grandly
impressive outline, which, after sunset, looms dark and terrible,
and seems to frown, on all around. On the east is Mallerstang

THE FOEEST OF MALLERSTANG.

377

Edge, which rises to an altitude of 2,328 feet above the sea, five
feet higher than the Wild Boar opposite. A very narrow con-
stricted valley runs between, along which in winter the wind
sweeps with bitter blasts."

Three miles from " The Moorcock," and in a cutting, we enter
the county of Westmoreland. We are now passing down what
all old maps designate " the forest of Mallerstang," — renowned for
its deep woods and its hunting parties, — though few traces of the
forest can be found. Skirting along the hill on the left of the
valley, in order to avoid too rapid a descent, we cross over

OO-LERSTANG.

numerous culverts, through which the mountain torrents flow
down from the limestone hills toward the river Eden, covering it
with rich soil. " Mallerstang," says an interesting writer, " with
its high mountain ranges on the east and west of the line, with
the farmsteads and fields on the slopes and in the hollows of the
hills, will often call forth the admiration of railway travellers.
Baugh Fell, Wild Boar Fell " (with its great cape-like head, on
the summit of which the shepherds were wont to hold their horse
races), " Lunds Fell, and High Seat, with their compeers, will

378 TENDRAGON CASTLE.

always, when free from mists, form an exquisite mountain land-
scape. At one time Mallerstang, with its ci-owding forest trees,
was the haunt of wild animals and of every variety of game ; and
here the lordly owners of the manor, with their retainers and
serfs, were wont to make both woods and hills echo Avith their
shouts of glee over the slain of the chase. Though the upper part
of the Eden Valley is now occupied by a few industrious and
peaceful farmers and shepherds, there was a time in the past when
the slogan of border chiefs and their clansmen sent a terror through
Mallerstang, and when fire and sword did terrible work to man
and beast. The desolation in Mallerstang and other portions of
Westmoreland was so complete that the county, with those of
Durham and Northumberland, was considered by William the
Conqueror not worth surveying."

To the east of the line, to be seen as we pass over Intake Bank
and just before we enter Birkett Cutting, are the ruins of Pen-
dragon Castle. Tradition tells us that it was erected by Uter
Pendragon, and that he wished to make the river surround the
castle, but failed ; and hence an adage that " Eden will run where
Eden ran." Here Sir Hugh Morville, of a Noi-man house, lord of
Westmoreland, one of the knights implicated in the murder of A
Becket, held his brief but lordly tenure ; and his sword was long
preserved in Kirkoswald Castle as a memento of the assassination.
After being deserted for more than a century, the famous Anne,
Countess of Pembroke, — who, dressed in " a petticoat and waist-
coat of black serge," built castles and churches, founded hospitals,
spent £40,000 on her "manor mills," fought great law-suits, and
married two husbands, with whom she had " crosses and con-
tradictions,"— took the restoration of the castle in hand. It is
said that she could " discourse of all things, from predestination
to slea-silk ; " and that when an objectionable candidate was
forced on one of her boroughs, she Avrote, " I have been bullied by
an usurper ; I have been neglected by a court ; but I will not be
dictated to by a subject. Your man shall not stand." In 1685,
however, Pendragon Castle once more fell.

Intake Bank is about 100 feet high. At this point an extra-
ordinary circumstance occurred ; the tipping proceeded for iivelve
months without the embankment advancing a yard. The tip rails,
during that whole period, were unmoved, while the masses of slurry.

INTAKE BANK.

379

as indicated in the engraving, rolled over one another in mighty
convolutions, persisting in going anywhere and everywhere, except
where they were wanted.

The line now enters Birkett Cutting and then the tunnel, both
made through what is called the Great Pennine Fault. Here we
pass through shale, mountain limestone, magnesian limestone, grit,
slate, iron, coal, and lead ore in thin bands, all within a hundred
yards.

" The most curious combination," remarked Mr. Crossley, " I

INTAKE EMBANKMENT.

have ever seen." The strata rise up from a horizontal position till
they are nearly perpendicular.

Of the geological formation of this district, Phillips * remarks,
that " the whole escarpment of the Pennine chain from Brampton
to Kirkby Stephen has been caused by an immense disruption
coincident with the elevation of a ridge of partially exposed slate
rocks. The effect of this disruption is the relative displacement
of the strata on the two sides of it (in one part to the extent of
1,000 yards at least) for a length of 55 miles. Perhaps the whole
world does not offer a spectacle more impressive to the eye of the
* " Geology of Yorkshire."

380

KIRKBY STEPHEN.

geologist than that afforded by the contrast between the mighty
wall of mountain limestone rocks, soaring to the height of 2,500
feet above the vale of the Eden and the plain of Carlisle, and the
level beds of the red sandstone deposited in later times at the foot
of the ancient escarpment, upon the relatively depressed portion of
the same mountain limestone series."

About a mile before we reach Kirkby Stephen the line passes
through the Wharton Park estates, and about half a mile on our
right is Wharton Hall, the seat of the now extinct Dukes of
Wharton.

BIRKETT CUTl'ING.

The market-town of Kirkby Stephen lies nearly two miles to
the east of the station, and is 300 feet below the level of the line.
From Kirkby Stephen the works of the railway are compara-
tively light till we arrive at Smardale Viaduct. It is 130 feet
from stream to rails ; its length is 710 feet. In sinking the
foundations of this viaduct an unexpected difficulty appeared. The
river seemed to be running clear immediately over the solid rock,
which appeared to supply an excellent foundation. " We began
to sink," remarked the engineer to us, " but not a bit of rock was

SMAKDALE VIADUCT.

381

to be found. The limestone rock and the ' brockram ' were gone ;
and we had to go down 45 feet through the clay till AVC came to
the red shale, and upon it we built."

The viaduct is a noble work. It is erected of a grey limestone
obtained from a quarry about a mile higher up the stream. No
better material could have been found. " Self-bedded as it was,
not much labour was required to bring it to the proper shape ;
and the immense blocks in which it could be wrorked, rendered it

SMAKDALE VIADUCT IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION.

well adapted for the construction of such narrow piers." As no
sand, or anything like sand, could be obtained on this contract,
the material used was clay burnt hard, and ground with lime in
mortar mills. Thia proved an admirable substitute. The parapets
and arch quoins are of millstone grit. More than 60,000 tons of
stone were used in the construction of this viaduct. It crosses
over Scandal Beck and also over the South Durham Railway;

382 AN ALARMING INCIDENT.

and a siding at some little distance from this point, running into
the South Durham, enabled the Midland contractors to bring 1,000
tons of material a week for several months on to the works of the
new line. From this viaduct we can see on the right " the Nine
Standards," as they are called, on the hills to the right of Kirkby
Stephen ; to the north-east is the Pennine range ; on the south-
east the mountains of Ravenstonedale, while beneath us are the
rich lands and woods of the valley, and the fine slopes of Scandal
Beck.

The work of constructing Smardale Viaduct was commenced in
the autumn of J1870, and occupied four years and a half. As its
completion was regarded with special interest, the contractors
invited the wife of the engineer-in-chief to lay the last stone.
Accordingly this massive block, six feet in length, was, with fitting
ceremony, lowered into the bed prepared for it, and it will long
bear the inscription : " This last stone was laid by Agnes
Crossley, June 8th, 1875."

In connection with the prosecution of these works in this district
an alarming incident occurred. A party engaged on the line were
one evening returning from their duties, and, having a rough road
to walk upon, and a good incline, it occurred to them (engineer-
like) that they could ride down the hill in a tip wagon.
Accordingly they placed a plank as a seat across a wagon, and
having armed themselves with a piece of timber called " a sprag,"
to be used if required as a brake, they set off. Merrily they went
along, and the excellence of the pace, which increased every
moment, was unquestionable. At length, as they were approaching
their journey's end, and as the line some distance forward was
blocked with loaded trucks, it was thought wise that the speed
should be reduced ; and accordingly the brakesman leant over the
side, and applied his sprag. A sudden blow, however, knocked
it out of his hand ; he jumped off to pick it up, but could not
overtake the wagon. "And there we were," said an engineer,
who was one of the party, " running down an incline of 1 in 100 at
20 or 30 miles an hour, with a ' dead end ' before us, blocked up,
and going faster every minute." Mr. Woodiwiss, the contractor,
seized the plank on which the passengers had been sitting, and
tried to sprag the wheel with it; but could not get it to act, till,
at last, by standing on the buffer behind, putting the plank

EFFECTS OF THE CLIMATE. 383

between the frame of the wagon and the side of the wheel, and
pressing it sidewise, he managed to pull up the runaway truck just
in time to prevent a perhaps fatal collision.

Contract " No. 2 " now ends. Mr. J. Somes Story was the
resident engineer, and on our visit he courteously supplied us, as
did all his brethren, with every assistance for the preparation of
this narrative.

The work actually accomplished on this contract aloue was
enormous. Forty-seven cuttings, five viaducts half a mile in
length, four tunnels, altogether a mile long, 68 road bridges, and
100 culverts, besides fencing, draining, and a thousand other
things, form an extraordinary accumulation of work. Added to
this was the fact that, owing to the high level to which the line
was carried (nearly 1,200 feet above the sea), it was found the fall
of rain instead of being some 25 inches average, as at London, was
at Kirkby Stephen 60 inches, and at Dent Head, 92 inches. The
effect was injurious in three ways : the number of working days
per week was reduced from six to three or two ; the men left for
parts of the country where the weather and the work were more
settled ; and the cuttings and embankments were soddened and
damaged. The wildness as well as the wetness of the country, the
scarcity of population and of accommodation made it impossible to
induce the men, unless they were allowed to work short time and
at excessively high wages, to remain. A hundred and sixteen huts
were erected for them ; reading rooms, schools, and chapels were
provided ; but with only partial success. Though 1,700 or 2,000
men were the greatest number at work at one time, more than
33,000 came into and went from the service of the contractors on
this one portion of the line. And apart from the severity of the
work or of the weather, " they are a class of men," remarked the
engineer, " very fond of change."

A quarter of a mile from Smardale Beck the line enters a tunnel
through limestone rock mixed with flint ; and thence we pass
along an open cutting 740 yards in length, and nearly 50 feet deep,
forming an immense gorge in the rocks, from which 70,000 yards
have been excavated.

The peculiar nature of this material occasioned special difficulty.
The silica ran into the limestone in such a way that part was of one
material, and part of the other ; the workman did not know which

384 DRILLING.

he was coming to, and he sometimes blunted half a dozen steel
drills to make a hole a foot deep.

" Now just explain," we inquired of our engineering friend on
this section (Mr. Drage), " exactly how this drilling is done."

" Well," he said, " the direction in which the hole is to be made
is usually pointed out by the ganger, and the hole is then bored
either by a drill or a jumper. A drill is a short steel bar, and
when pointed in the right spot, is hit on the head with a heavy
hammer; the jumper is longer, and is jumped up and down in the
hole by the man who holds it, until he has got to a sufficient depth.
The jumper is seldom used in tunnelling, there being less room for
the workmen."

" And at what rate do they carry ou such work ? "

" They will get a foot down through limestone in half an hour
or so ; and the men who jump will earn 10s. a day at the rate
of about 5d. a foot, in eight or ten hours a day."

" When the hole is made, what next r* "

" The safety fuse is put in, which is like a long string, and is
composed of some explosive material covered with canvas. It is
very tough, and when lighted burns gradually. The hole is then
charged with gunpowder, about a pint — or two 'tots,' as they are
called, — being usually enough ; and sometimes four ' tots,' are used
in a shot. The fuse is put first, then conies the powder, and lastly
the ' tamping,' as it is called, which is the material that is
rammed in to fill up the hole. When the hole is drilled, a stone is
put upon it until other holes are ready. Then the men retreat,
sometimes 100 yards away, and the shots are fired by a man
appointed for that service. It was he who also put the powder in."

" Your drills must wear out rapidly in such work ? "

" Yes ; but there is always a smith's shop near at hand, and he
sharpens the drills by heating and then hammering them out to
an edge."

Sometimes in breaking up the boulders that lay, tons weight, in
the way, dynamite was used. A bit of it as big as half a candle,
which in shape it somewhat resembles, is laid on a rock, the fuse
is attached to it, a lump of clay as big as two fists is squeezed on to
it, and when fired it will split the boulder through and through into
any number of pieces — a boulder as big as a horse. It seems to act
downwards as it' a multitude of wedges were driven, down into it.

OEM AND ORMSIDE. 385

Leaving a cutting, we are on Crosby Garrett Viaduct. It
crosses the village at a height of 55 feet, and has six arches. It is
principally built of the limestone from the cutting we have just left.
" At Crosby Garrett," Mr. Crossley remarked, " we found the same
red shale bed that we had at Smardale; and this revealed the
interesting fact that the mighty limestone hill which we had to
pierce in making Crosby Garrett Tunnel was superimposed upon
the shale, and must be newer a great deal than the shale."

From Crosby Garrett the line goes along an embankment to
Gallansey Cutting, where the strata present a remarkable appear-
ance, being coloured, before the grass grew over them, with masses
of purple, yellow, and blue, and containing clay, sand, marl,
limestone, and sandstone intermixed, as though some violent
convulsion of nature had destroyed the regularity of the beds.
Lumps of limestone and sandstone are still to be seen near the
bottom of the slopes.

Two miles from Crosby Garrett, at Griseburn, is another
viaduct, of seven arches, 74 feet above the stream'. The piers and
abutments are built of limestone brought from the cuttings
already passed, and the arches are turned with bricks made on the
spot.

Not far from this work we enter Crowhill Cutting. It runs to a
depth of 40 feet, and for a distance of half a mile through boulder
clay. In forming the gullet through some parts of the cutting,
masses of granite were found, some weighing as much as four
tons each, and so numerous were the boulders that, as the engineer
expressed it, " there was as much boulder as clay." The granite
was like that seen over the hills at Shap, ten miles away ; and
the amount of gunpowder consumed in blasting was enormous,
sometimes as much as a ton a week. The work occupied more
than five years and a half, and huts for 100 men had to be built.

From hence we pass along an embankment nearly half a mile
in length, and in some places 60 feet deep, till we reach Helm
Tunnel, in the neighbourhood of which the " Helm wind " blows
iu terrific blasts from the west ; and we soon reach the station and
then the viaduct of Great Ormside. The work up to this point
was very heavy. After the temporary roads had been laid for
tipping the banks the ground in some places slipped away so that
the metals had to be lifted and packed up with stones to enable

c c

386

ORMSIDE VIADUCT.

the contractor's engines to pass up and down. This doing the
work over and over again, here and elsewhere along this line, not
only caused extraordinary delays, but swallowed up large sums of
money.

Orm, after whom this village and this viaduct are named, was
governor of Appleby Castle in 1174. The Ormside Viaduct has a
noble appearance from the point at which we had the pleasure of
sketching it. The lofty piers, the wide expanse of the work, the
green and wooded slopes down to the broad and rushing Eden,
which the line now crosses for the first time, and the view betwee
the arches, of the winding river, and of the background of woods,

OEMSIDE VIADUCT.

hills, and mountains, present a scene full of interest and beauty.
The viaduct is of 10 arches, 90 feet high. The sight from the
viaduct itself is equally fine. Here the Eden bends away beneath
the deep woods on the west ; close at hand stands an immense
rock, looking like the lower basement of an ancient castle ; while
almost immediately opposite is a remarkable projection of lami-
nated red sandstone wondrously waterworn, called Clint Scar.
From Ormside a beautiful walk to Appleby by the river-side may
be enjoyed.

The next place we reach is Appleby, 42| miles from Settle.

APPLEBY.

387

The view of the town as seen from the line and depicted in our
engraving, is very pleasing. The station is on a considerable
elevation, and is 525 feet above the sea, although there has been a
fall of 212 feet since we left Crosby Garrett. Directly in front of
us is the church. The town is almost encircled by the river ; and
the left is closed in by the hill, covered with fine trees, among
which stands " Appleby Castle," the residence of Admiral Elliott;
while in front of it, near the lodge gates, is the grand keep of
Ctesar's Tower, 80 feet high, and covered with ivy, said to have
been the Aballaba of the Romans.

APPLEBY.

Many an interesting and many a tragic story might be told of
the annals of Appleby. Though it is the county town, it has now
only seme 1,500 inhabitants; but the time was when the popula-
tion is believed to have exceeded 11,000. The fire, sword, and
plunder of Scottish invaders again and again laid it low. The
castle, the Countess of Pembroke records, had been " of note ever
since William the Conqueror's time, and long before." " I con-
tinued," she remarks, in 1651, " to lie in Appleby Castle a whole
year, and spent much time in repairing it."

388

APPLEBT.

As an illustration of the smaller matters that have to be re-
garded in laying out a new railway, we may mention that it was
found necessary that some 50,000 gallons of water daily should be
provided at Appleby for the supply of passing engines ; but
though the engineers searched far and wide over the neighbouring
fells, the nearest mountain streams were some three miles distant,
and eventually a pumping-engine had to be erected.

IIELVELLYN.

From the line in the neighbourhood of Appleby the traveller
may catch a distant view of the mountains of Cumberland and
Westmoreland, and the visitor who wishes to see the Lake District
may from here make a detour into that beautiful region. From
Appleby he will take the line to Penrith, and thence proceed to
Keswick. From Keswick he can go by road southward to
Helvellyn.

GBASMERE.

389

Proceeding south from. Helvellyn the visitor may reach Gras-
mere. It is, as Dr. William Graham, of London, remarked to us,
" the most beautiful bit of God's earth I know."

About a hundred yards from the Prince of Wales Hotel, is the
house where Wordsworth first lived at Grasmere. In 1808, he
removed to Allanbank ; in 1811, he took up a temporary residence
at the Parsonage ; thence he removed to Rydal Mount, and even-

390 NORTH WAKD FBOM APPLEBY.

tually he was laid in his grave in Grasmere churchyard. Im-
mediately south of Grasmere is Bydal.

Returning from the Lake District by Appleby, and leaving for
the North, there is a heavy embankment called Battle Barrow
Bank, some 40 feet high, and containing a quarter of a million
cubic yards of material. Hard by this spot, in 1281, a white
friary was established, near which once stood a home for lepers.
A farmhouse now occupies the site. Along this bank we cross over
a skew bridge. Some idea of the serious nature of railway work
may be conveyed by the fact that this bridge, small as it seems,
contains about 5,000 cubic yards of masonry, and that in building
it 10,000 loads of stone were required. These were fetched from
the Dufton quarries, two miles away, and involved no fewer than
10,000 journeys, each of four miles out and home, a distance of,
say, 40,000 miles, which is nearly twice the distance round the
world.

Three-quarters of a mile from Appleby Station, and near the
old Roman road, the line crosses the Eden Valley line of the North
Eastern, with which it has communication by a branch, and then
enters a cutting, 50 feet deep, of boulder clay, with here and there
a bed of sand. " Going northward," says Mr. Drage, " we reach
Long Marton, where we get a splendid view of the mountain pikes
which lie on the east of the line, three miles away, called Murton,
Dufton, and Knock, and rise respectively 1,950, 1,570, and 1,306
feet above the level of the sea. Along the sides of the fells near
these pikes are several lead mines, which return a fair profit to the
proprietors. Trout Beck, at Long Marton, is crossed by a viaduct
of five arches, 60 feet high. It is built of red sandstone from the
excellent quarries in Dufton Gill, about two miles east of the line.
At Stamp Hill, a mile farther on, some gypsum quarries near to the
line are being worked, and the produce is sent away by the Eden
Valley line from Kirkby Thore. The cutting here, and also the
one at Blackleases, about a mile farther on, is through boulder clay
of somewhat lighter description than that found in cuttings at the
south end of the contract. Each of the two former cuttings is
about a quarter of a mile long, and they are 25 and 40 feet deep.

" The village of Kirkby Thore lies a mile to the south-west, and
is the reputed birthplace of the renowned Hogarth. The scenery
around this district, embracing Lowther, Shap, and the interven-

NORTHWARD FEOM APPLEBY.

391

ing villages, is very grand ; the country gently rises towards the
Lake District. Saddleback and Skiddaw are seen standing out
among the distant mountains. A little farther on is Newbiggin,
a village near Crowdundle Beck. The line here passes through

the estate of W. Crackanthorpe, Esq., of Newbiggin Hall ; and the
fine old oak-trees, and the wood on the banks of the Beck, present
a lovely appearance. The line is now 100 feet lower than at
Appleby."

392 NEWBIGGIN.

Newbiggin Hall stands at the northern end of the village. Over
the front door is an inscription : —

" Christopher Crackanthorpe men did me call,
Who in my tyme did builde this Hall,
And framed it as you may see,
One thousand five hundred thirty and three."

The church at Newbiggin tells of the merits of one Richard
Crackanthorpe, a clergyman, " who brought reputation to this
family ; " and of whom " King James I. used to say he ought to
have been a bishop ; but," the inscription significantly adds, " he
never made him one."

Six miles distant is Newbiggin Station. Here in the early days
of the Settle and Carlisle line, the engineer told us of an incident
that had occurred to him. He and his staff had been one day
busily engaged in making their surveys not far from this wood,
when an elderly gentleman, with frilled shirt very carefully got
up, and the rest of his dress to match, came up to the little party.
"May I inquire," he asked in a somewhat decided tone, "in what
you are engaged on my property here ? " "We are surveying for
a new line," was the reply. " A new line ! " he exclaimed ; " where
to and from ? " " From Settle to Carlisle." " And which way is
it to go in this direction ? " " Our present plan," replied the en-
gineer, " is to go through that wood." " What ! through my wood,
my old oak wood, that no one has touched a bough of for years and
years ! " and the proprietor became as indignant and excited as a
benignant old gentleman with a frilled shirt-front could be expec-
ted to be. Mr. Sharland, however, did his best to explain the
matter and to pacify the proprietor, and they parted.

Subsequently Mr. Allport and Mr. Crossley, being in the neigh-
bourhood, called on Mr. Crackanthorpe, the Druid-like reverer of
his ancient oaks, and placed such arguments before him that he
was somewhat placated ; and afterwards, meeting Mr. Sharland in
the midst of the oak wood, their discussion of the matter was
renewed with a calmer equanimity. " Well," said Mr. Crackan-
thorpe, " there is only one condition I have now to make." " You
have only to name it, sir, and it shall be attended to," was the
reply. "It is that you spare me the largest and finest oak in my
wood." " Certainly." " Do you know what I want it for? " con-

CROWDUNDLE VALE.

393

tinned the proprietor. " No, sir ; but whatever you want it for, it
shall be saved." " Well," said Mr. Crackanthorpe, good naturedly,
"it's to hang you and all the engineers of the Midland Railway
upon it, for daring to come here at all ! "

Near the village of Newbiggin is Crowdundle Beck, which
derives its name from the fact that the dale receives the united
streams from Croix Fell, and Dun Fell. Here is the Written
Crag, as it is called, because of the inscriptions in Latin found
upon it. "At Crowdundalewath," said Camden, "are to be seen

CBOWDUNDLE VALE AND VIADUCT.

ditches, ramparts, and hills thrown up." They are about half a
mile south-east of the Written Rock, and cover about twenty aci*es
of ground. CroAvdundle dell is deep and narrow. The viaduct,
some 55 feet high and 100 yards long, crosses about half of it,
and an embankment the other half. The water of the beck flows
at the foot of the wood-covered hills on our left, over a gravelly
bed some 20 or 30 feet wide, and then passes away under one of
the northern arches of the viaduct. The hill and tunnel to the left
in our engraving are to the north of the line, and in the direction
of Carlisle. The scene presented during the progress of the works

394 CBOWDUNDLE.

has been well described by one who visited them. " In the deeply
wooded glen at Crowdundle Beck," he says, " where the previous
night nothing was to be seen but sombre-looking trees, deserted
masonry, and earth excavations, and where a deathlike silence
reigned, now all was life and kwork and noise. The rattling of
steam cranes, the puffing of engines, the clang of masons' and
carpenters' tools, and the din of tongues, and the singing of birds,
were like life from the dead. The stillness of ages appeared to be
ruthlessly broken, and the wooded banks of the once secluded glen "
will now become more and more familiar with the rolling trains
and the intrusion of civilization. Where the workmen who were
so busy all came from, and at that early hour, seemed wonderful,
for human habitations were not to be seen.

" On reaching the almost perpendicular bank on the Cumberland
side of the viaduct, I was richly paid for the toilsome ascent, for
the views of mountains and woods, all robed in their summer hues,
were grand beyond description. Light-coloured clouds hung like
beautiful drapery on the mountain ranges in the Eden Valley and
Mallerstang, and the misty gauze, flushed with sunshine, draped
Murton Pike with rare beauty. On the west and north the coun-
try was thickly wooded, and on the east was a partial glimpse of
Cross Fell, and the neighbouring mountains. On the south-west
the country was more open, and green meadows and pastures and
graceful trees formed a picture of such a charming character, that
the image of beauty can never fade from one's mind. To brighten
the enchanting scene there was the little stream far down, chant-
ing its ceaseless song, and with its silvery wavelets forming a well-
defined boundary of Westmoreland and Cumberland."

The next railway work of interest is at Culgaith, locally called
Coolgarth, and formerly written Calfgarth. It is a tunnel 660
yards long, through hard red marl ; and then there is, as one has
described it to us, " a nasty piece of sidelong ground running down
to the Eden. The narrowness of the space along which the line
had to pass, brings the foot of the slope close to the river, so that
an encroachment was actually made upon the water, which caused
an alteration of the county boundary." This spot is called Waste
Banks. Then comes a short tunnel, which it was originally in-
tended should be a cutting.

About a mile beyond Waste Banks, a beautiful view opens out

EDEN HALL. 395

to the west, and we see below us the confluence of two rivers : the
one on our left is the Eamont, locally called Yammon, which has
come down from Ulleswater, and now falls at right angles into the
Eden. Many streams, indeed, find their way northward to the
Eden. A local couplet says :

" There's Lootbcr, and Yammont, and lile Vennet Beck;
Eden conies, and clicks 'era a' by the neck."

Looking up the Eamont we see finely timbered slopes running
ruggedly down to the sides of the rapid river, where the salmon
are sporting, and where the fishing, we are assured, is " something
wonderful." It is interesting to notice that the salmon seldom go
farther up the Eden than this point : they prefer the Eamont on
account of its gravelly bed. Here, as we pause abreast of the
junction of the two rivers, and look in a north-westerly direction,
we have a view of Eden Hall, the residence of the Musgraves —
chiefs of the famous border clan of that name. The estate is
beautifully wooded, and abounds in every kind of game. There is
also a vast rookery among the woods towards the Hall ; while to
the water's edge the deer come strolling down to drink. The rail-
way runs through about four miles of Sir B. Musgrave's grounds,
and takes some 55 acres of his land. At the outset the baronet
was strenuously opposed to such an intrusion upon his property ;
but, eventually, he was one of the most energetic enemies of its
abandonment.

The village of Longwathby, or Long-waldeof-by, as the name
was formerly spelled (Langanby, as it is locally pronounced), is
now upon our right, and near it is a fine old bridge of three arches.
A mile forward is a viaduct of seven arches over a stream called
Briggle Beck; and another half-mile brings us to Robberby Beck
(a suggestive name), crossed by a Gothic arch of considerable
size. The Eden has been on our left since we passed Waste
Banks ; but near Little Salkeld Station it takes a fine bend to the
right, and we cross it by a viaduct of seven arches. Here some
difficulty was experienced by the engineers in getting a foundation
down on the red sandstone, in consequence of the gravel that had
accumulated in the bed of the river ; and it became necessary to
make a cofferdam. Accordingly a double row of piles was driven
into the bed of the river so as to form an oval ; " puddling " was

396 DEUIDS* TEMPLE. — LAZONBY.

put between the two series of piles, to keep the water from
running in ; the water inside the oval was then pumped out by
engines, and the foundation excavated and cleared. The river,
however, is subject to heavy floods. The autumn of 1872, when
this undertaking was being carried on, was extremely wet ; the
piles were flooded over, ana some of the temporary work was
carried away ; but, at last, all difficulties were overcome, the work-
men laid their masonry on the rock, and raised thereon the piers
which to-day carry the arches and the trains. This is the Eden
Lacy viaduct. We may add that on crossing the Eden we are on
the red sandstone ; hitherto from Settle nearly all has been lime-
stone.

On the summit of a hill now upon our right we may find the
remains of a Druids' temple, known by the name of " Long Meg
and her Daughters." "Long Meg" is an upright unhewn square
stone, 15 feet in girth, and 18 feet in height, the corners of which
point to the four points of the compass. Long Meg's numerous
progeny, it has been playfully said, " of 66 strapping daughters,
form a circle of about 350 paces, and there, in an erect attitude,
await the commands of their grandmother. Some of these juveniles
measure from 12 to 15 feet in girth, and 16 feet in height. In
that part of the circle nearest Long Meg, four of her daughters
form a square figure, and towards the east, west, and north, two of
her more bulky daughters are placed in the circle at a greater
distance from each other than any of the rest. No doubt this
arrangement was made that the elder daughters might keep watch
and ward over the younger ones."

About a quarter of a mile from this interesting spot the line
goes through the grounds of Colonel Sanderson, whose house is
seen on the right ; and the bridge, which it was necessary to erect,
is the most ornamental work on the line. After passing over a
long embankment, we run through an egg-shaped tunnel, from
which we emerge near Lazonby. In the valley to our right is the
ancient village of Kirkoswald, sloping down from the north towards
the river bank, and named after the renowned " king and martyr "
of Northumberland ; and near the " kirk " are the crumbling re-
mains of an old castle, — once " one of the fairest fabrics that ever
eyes looked upon." From this point onwards for miles the scenery
is full of loveliness.

BARON WOOD AND SAMSON'S CAVE.

397

Before long we enter and run for some three miles through an
ancient and extensive forest, called Baron or Barren Wood, in
some places thickly timbered with oak and ash, fir and beech ; and
in others covered with brushwood and bracken. A heavy cutting
runs through the wood for a distance of nearly a mile ; and at one
point the line is so near the river, that on the one side it has the
appearance of being in a deep cutting, and on the other upon a

BABON WOOD CUTTING.

precipice that slopes 150 feet sheer down to the water's edge
The scenery at this point is such that the traveller will often wish
he were able to stop the train every few minutes to enjoy it.
Here, among beautiful views, are the remarkable rocks that raise,
for perhaps 100 feet, their " shattered and fretted summits, and
form the entrance to what is known as Samson's Cave. The
water washes the base of these huge rocks ; but some pieces of
iron and wood have been driven in as hand-holds, and footsteps
have been cut in the rock for the convenience of the curious."
So, says a visitor, moving cautiously round the jutting crag, he
passed under these " overhanging rocks, worn by age, rain, sun-

398

THE NUNNERY.

shine, and storm into such fantastic shapes," and, with some sense
of relief, reached a point of safety at the entrance to the cave. In
doing so he disturbed a colony of jackdaws ; and a hawk flew
from its eyrie, on a ledge among some stunted shrubs, just where
a honeysuckle was coming into flower, strewn with down and
feathers.

On the other side of the river is some of the most beautiful
sylvan scenery in Cumberland ; and the " Nunnery " walks are of

=•% .-'-^'. .^:
V- •-- T*C~-'- ^

great repute on account of their ancient date and their present
loveliness. They abound with " shady paths beneath archways of
living green, leading down to the margin of the Eden." The river
banks sometimes appear like beetling precipices, and anon are
softened down with shrubs and trees ; while farther on a wall of
rock rises on either side the torrent, and the glen becomes narrower
and more gloomy. Two successive cataracts roar down the rocky
slope ; the second, " after its desperate leap, being nearly involved
in midnight darkness by the mass of wood which overhangs i(s

ARMATHWAITE. — DRYBECK VIADUCT. 399

abyss," while the " over- arching cliffs and solemn shades rever-
berate the roar."

The Nunnery is so named from the religious house established
here by William Rufus, who " trembled, like other profligates,
amidst his impiety, and was willing enough to secure a chance of
heaven, provided it could be obtained by any other means than
virtuous practice." At the dissolution its inmates' consisted of a
prioress and three nuns, whose revenues from 300 acres of land
and other property were said to be only eighteen guineas, — the
smallness of the amount being attributed to the border conflicts.

Returning to the line, we pass along a sandstone cutting ; then
through a hill of sand ; two tunnels quickly follow, beyond which
is a rock cutting; there is a third tunnel ; and once more, a cutting
60 feet deep. All along our course the Eden winds beneath us
with majestic curves and wonderful beauty, until, at Armathwaite,
with its ancient quaint old square castle ; its picturesque viaduct
of nine arches 80 feet high ; its road bridge of freestone ; its
cataract, where the water " pours in sonorous violence over a bed
of immovable crags, which whirl the steam into eddies ; " and its
elm, said to be the finest in Cumberland, — we are surrounded by
objects of interest and. beauty which (to employ an expression
never used before) it is more easy to imagine than to describe.

Soon after leaving Armathwaite we pass over one of the heaviest
embankments on the line. It stretches from the station to a little
beyond Drybeck viaduct, and contains nearly 400,000 cubic yards
of material. As two and a half or three such yards of "stuff"
would quite fill a tip wagon, it is plain that at least 133,000
separate journeys had to be taken, and 133,000 such loads had to
be filled and emptied, before even this one work could be com-
pleted. This viaduct has seven arches, and is 80 feet high above
the surface.

About a mile forward, and before reaching High Stand Gill, we
pass a point where the river Eden curves so closely under the
sloping hillside that serious difficulty arose in carrying on the
work. " Shortly after we began to tip," remarked the resident to
us, " a landslip took place, and the whole ground (some five acres)
began to move. The ground between the line and the river ' blew
up,' on account of being unable to resist the pressure of the em-
bankment ; and the whole thing slid down towards the water."

400 HIGH STAND GILL AND CUMWHINTON.

It had been known at the outset that this spot would be trouble-
some ; and it had even been confidently predicted that no railway
could ever be carried here. A proposal had been made that the
line should be carried farther to the left, by piercing the hill with
a tunnel ; but the hill itself was on an inclined bed, and, enormous
as it was, might, if tunnelled, move. The engineer-in-chief, Mr.
Crossley, finally resolved to carry the line across the slope ; and
though the incline of the bank was 200 feet fr,om top to bottom,
and though the bank slipped, and carried with it trees forty or
fifty years old for a distance of 150 feet, driving the river side-
ways actually into the next parish, the difficulty was eventually
overcome by similar means to those which were employed at the
Soar Bridge, in Leicestershire. The hillside was also cleared of
water by means of vertical shafts driven into the ground, and
deep drains carried from one to another ; and these holes were
filled in with rock, which also served as a friction bed to stay the
movement of the slip. The whole of the contents of the previous
heavy cutting, containing upwards of 160,000 yards, were tipped
here before a safe foundation could be provided. Before reaching
High Stand Gill Station, is a viaduct 60 feet high, with four
arches ; and on the left of the station are considerable gypsum
quarries. Immediately forward we pass over a long and heavy
embankment, containing about 190,000 yards of earthwork and
several bridges ; and the line then passes under the public road
by a handsome skew three-arched bridge.

From hence to the end of our journey the country and the rail-
way works become more quiet and less interesting. Cumwhinton
Cutting, however, is 1,100 yards long and 40 feet deep. A mile
farther on is Scotby, and soon afterwards we pass into the large
goods station of the Midland Company, which here occupies an area
of some 40 acres. The contractor for the whole of these works,
from Crowd undle Beck northward, was Mr. John Bayliss ; the
engineer of the last contract was Mr. Paine, of Carlisle. The
passenger trains run about a mile forward into the Citadel Station
of Carlisle, and join the companies that congregate there.

CHAPTER XVI.

Derby to Birmingham. — Little Chester. — Fiadern. — Repton. — Foremark Hall.
— The Dove. — Burton-on-Trent. — Drakelow Park. — Barton. — Needwood. —
Tamworth. — Whitacre Junction. — Lawley Street. — Birmingham. — King's
Norton. — Worcester and Birmingham Canal. — Weoly Castle. — Hawksley
Hall. — Cofton Hall. — The Lickey Incline. — Working the incline.— Broms-
grove. — Stoke Works. — Brine springs. — Droitwich. — Legends and facts. —
Westwood Park. — Worcester. — " The 0. W. and W." — Croome Court and
Park. — Defford Viaduct. — Bredon Hill. — Gloucestershire. — Ashchurch
Junction. — Cheltenham. — Ermine Street. — Gloucester. — Hill range. —
Priory of Llanthony.— Broad Barrow Green. — Stonehouse. — Nailsworth
branch. — Woodchester Park. — Dursley. — Berkeley Castle. — Stinchcombe
Hill. — Stancombe Park. — Nibley. — William Tyndale. — Wotton-under-
Edge.— Tortworth — Wickwar. — Yate. — Thornbury Castle and Town. — Coal-
pit Heath line. — Mangotsfield. — Bridges or tunnels ? — Bitton Cutting. — The
Golden Valley. — Weston.— Bath. — Kingswood. — Bristol.

WE must now ask our reader to return with us to Derby, and to
go with us over the Midland Railway to the West. In our journey
we shall travel, in the first instance, over one of the oldest portions
of the Midland system, — the Birmingham and Derby line, as it
was called. And we may add, that the construction of it was
easy ; that the works are light ; and that there is no tunnel.

Leaving the Derby Station we pass under the Manchester and
London Road, and soon the village of Little Chester is seen on our
left. It was formerly a Roman castra. Emerging from a cutting,
we are in a fine open country, the verdant valley of the Dove ;
and we now cross, by an iron bridge, the Trent and Mersey Canal,
which runs for a considerable distance on our right. This watery
highway, sometimes called the Grand Trunk Canal, is between 90
and 100 miles in length ; and at one time was so prosperous that
its £50 shares were worth from £600 to £700 each.

On the right is the village of Findern, formerly owned by the
powerful family of the Fyndernes. There is a tradition that

401

D D

402

FINDEBN AND BEPTON.

" Fyndern's flowers " never died. On the left among the trees,
is the lofty spire of Repton Church. This village is full of
historic interest. It was once a Roman colony ; it was long the
capital of the Saxon kingdom of Mercia, and the burial place of
kings ; on several occasions it was a battlefield ; it was the site of
a rich priory ; and its church was twice destroyed. N"o wonder
that it is a favourite haunt of the antiquary, and that it well
rewards the researches of the English student of history. But
long before these facts can be stated we have reached Wellington

DERBY.

Station, standing on. an embankment. Less than a mile west of
Willington we pass under a bridge, and then immediately over a
tributary of the Dove ; while to the right the Dove itself, crossed
by two bridges, may be observed. Over the nearer bridge is the
road to Derby ; the farther one carries the canal over the Dove
by a bridge of nine arches. "We now cross the Dove. The village
of Egginton is on the right ; and on the left the topmost battle-
ments of Newton Castle rise among the trees on the summit of
a hill.

BURTON-ON-TKENT.

403

We are now at Burton-on-Trent, so called to distinguish it from
the fifty or sixty other Burtons in the land. There are few small
towns, it has been remarked, so rich in historical associations as
this. " More than one pitched battle has been fought near it ;
and the Trent, in its vicinity, has often been disputed inch by
inch, and blood has flowed like water." But "bitter " as may be
some of the memories of the past, bitterness has been the chief
source of the material prosperity of this town, and the traffic thus
yielded to the Midland Company has been large.*

Leaving Burton, a branch bears away on our left to Ashby-de-
la-Zouch and Leicester. We also see Drakelow Park, situated on

DERBY CURVE BRIDGE.

the Derbyshire side of the Trent, " where King Henry II., with
his army forded the stream in pursuit of his disaffected barons."
The line now passes close to the village of Branston, and then we
reach the station of Barton and Walton-on-Trent. The church
at Barton was built by " Dr. Taylor, one of three sons of a
peasant in whose cottage Henry VIII. was entertained by the
forester when he lost his way in hunting."

The Midland passes over the Trent Valley line of the London
and North Western.

Leaving Tamworth we pass over the Anker Viaduct. f The

* It was remarked on one occasion by aome humorous member of Parlia-
ment in the House, that Mr. Bass had " bitterly " complained about something
or other.

f See page 58.

404

BIRMINGHAM.

next embankment crosses the Fazeley Canal, which, connects
Birmingham with the Coventry and Trent and Mersey Canals.
At the village of Fazeley, part of which may be seen on the right,
in 1785, Mr. Peel established his cotton mills, and there are still
extensive cotton works and other manufactories here, belonging
to the family. Passing Kingsbury Station we soon reach Whit-
acre Junction, now an important point in this part of the Midland
system, as it affords connection with Leicester on the east, Hampton
on the south, Birmingham on the south-west, and Derby on the
north. It is by the Wigston and Whitacre Junctions that the
Midland Company now has direct communication between London
and Birmingham.

HAMPTON STATION.

A run of ten miles over a level line, and through fat meadow
lands, brings us to the confines of Birmingham. Here we see
upon our right the very extensive goods and mineral station of the
Midland Company, at Lawley Street, formerly also the passenger
terminus of the Birmingham and Derby line. We soon reach
New Street Station, said to be the largest in the world.

At King's Norton, seven miles from Birmingham, " paper and
rolling mills, india-rubber works, gun-barrel and bayonet manu-
factories flourish. The hamlet of Lifford, hard by, confers the
title of viscount on the noble family of Hewitt." The church has
a remarkably fine crocketed spire. A " curious vocal pedigree "
records that the ancestoi's of a parish clerk here held their office
for upwards of two hundred years. The Worcester and Birming-
ham Canal on our left passes through a tunnel nearly two miles

THE LICKEY HILLS.

403

long ; and it is so straight that it can be seen through from end to
end. We shall shortly observe on our left, down in the valley,
the fine open sheet of water which forms the reservoir.

Nearly two miles from King's Norton we pass close by North-
field on our right, where there are the ruins of an ancient fortress,
called Weoly Castle. It must at one time, with its defences, have
occupied nearly two acres of
ground, and it was surrounded
by a large deep moat, filled with
water from a brook. The parish
church has, on the north side,
an ancient doorway, with a
round Saxon arch, which is
thought to have been part of a
Saxon building. The country
around is well timbered.

LAWLEY STREET GOODS STATION,
BIRMINGHAM.

"We now pass Hawks-

_ _ _ _ ley Hall, at the foot

of the Lickey Hills.
"The old mansion was fortified and garrisoned for the Parliament;
but, in 1645, the soldiers refused to defend it when they saw it
attacked by the king in person, and it was demolished." The fine
range of the Lickey Hills is now seen on our right. On their
summit is a monument in memory of the sixth Earl of Plymouth.
We now enter Groveley Tunnel, 400 yards in length ; and then
pass through the Cofton estate. The Hall is an interesting timber
mansion of the sixteenth century. As we pass along the embank-
ment, we observe another picturesque half-timbered house, with

40G THE LICKEY INCLINE.

numerous gables ; it is Barnt Green House. At Barnt Green
Junction the Midland line to Redditch, Evesham, Stratford-on-
Avon, and Ashchurch turns off on our left.

The Lickey Hills consist chiefly of new red sandstone, the
summits and sides of which are, says Murchison, "covered with
a vast quantity of the pebbles of the disintegrated conglomerate of
that formation ; but their northern end, called the Lickey Beacon,
is a trap rock. A lower ridge of quai'tz is composed of the older
rock, extending for a distance of three miles, having all the
appearance of a mountain chain, being covered with heath ; while
the higher Lickey, which attains an elevation of 1,000 feet above
the Severn, is verdant to the summit, a distinction which is well
explained by the difference in their lithological structure."

At Blackwell we arrive at the verge of the most interesting
railway works on this line, — the Lickey Incline. Our readers are
aware of the circumstances that originally led to the selection of
this route for the railway, and that it rendered unavoidable the
passing doAvn this incline. It is interesting, however, to recount
the difficulties which were involved in the arrangement, and to
observe the way in which they were overcome. The seinous
question was, how so steep an incline as 1 in 37 for two miles,
from a point 400 feet above Cheltenham, could be worked safely.
At an early meeting of the Birmingham and Gloucester Company,
we find the Chairman referring to the subject. He stated that
" increased economy had been practised in the locomotive depart-
ment;" and, as an illustration, "on the Lickey Incline they had
done away with tenders, and had substituted tank engines, in
which the waste steam was turned into the boiler, the water of
which was kept at a great heat. They had, he said, solved the
problem whether the inclined plane should be worked by loco-
motive engines, as at present, or whether it would be better to
have fixed engines, or the pneumatic railway. It had been ascer-
tained that a fixed engine could, not be worked at less than £1,200
a year, and they all knew the inconvenience which attended the
use of ropes."

Before the descent of a train begins, care has to be taken by
the driver to have his engine well under command. It is not
simply that the gradient is steep, but that the condition of the
rails and the power of the brakes to act upon them may, in a few

THE LICKEY INCLINE.

407

minutes be changed. A fall of snow or a shower of rain has so
altered the " bite " of the wheels that, whereas the control was
complete, the wheels now glide over the glass-like surface almost
or entirely uncontrolled ; and, in years gone by, a heavy mineral

train has been known, with all its brakes on, and its wheels
" spragged," to sweep unhindered down the incline through the
Bromsgrove station, and to run a mile and more away along the
flat line at the foot before its course could be arrested. At night,

408 BEOMSGROVE AND STOKE WORKS.

too, the sight has sometimes been strange. The wheels being
" spragged," and not turning, of course the particular part that
pressed on the rail became hotter and hotter, so hot as to throw
off fibres and flakes of molten metal twisted into all conceivable
forms, and every wheel sent out a blaze of heat and light so as
almost to make the train appear to be on fire. " I have seen,"
said a gentleman to the writer, " tons of bits of metal, that have
thus been burned off the old iron tires, lying on the ballast of the
Lickey Incline." Pilot engines have, of course, to be used to
assist the trains in ascending the Lickey, but the heaviest trains
are the mineral that descend it in going to the west.

About half-way down the incline, on the left of the line, is
a reservoir, the water of which is carried in pipes laid under
the six-foot down to Bromsgrove, for the engines and station.
Formerly the Company had to pay £50 a year for the water they
here required.

Two miles and a half beyond Bromsgrove is the Stoke Works
Station, a seat of the salt manufacture, at the head of which is
John Corbett, Esq., M.P. The Romans required the Britons to
pay tribute of salt (salarium) as " salary." The word salarium
is said to have originated the term " salt " as used at Eton. Rock
salt at Stoke was discovered in 1828. At Droitwich the brine
flows on the surface. Here the ordinary springs are pure ; but a
"brine smeller" from Cheshire, after examination of the geological
formation of the locality, expressed his belief that mines might
here be opened, and his predictions were verified. " The salt,"
says Murray, "is in beds of immense thickness."

We now leave the Midland proper (unless travelling by a
"special" or a through goods train), and run to .Worcester and
on to Norton Junction, by the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolver-
hampton division of the Great Western.* The distance between
the two pairs of rails (popularly called the six-foot) is here wider
than usual. It is accounted for by the fact that formerly there
was the mixed gauge for both broad and narrow gauge trains ;
but the outer rail has been removed. This portion of the line
is now under the administration of a joint committee of the two
companies.

* The Midland through goods continue on the old main Midland line route
via Droitwich Road, Dunhampstead, and Spetchley.

WESTWOOD PABK.

409

On approacliing Droitwich, the line turns to westward across
the Salwarp River ; and running along the north side of the town,
again bends southward, and reaches the station.

Immediately to the right of Droitwich Station is Westwood
Park. It has 200 acres laid out in " rays of planting," around
the mansion. The fine old mansion stands on an eminence, and
forms a square, from each corner of which is a wing. The house
was the retreat of divers Royalists and High Church divines
during the Civil War, who " repaid the hospitality of Dorothy

WESTWOOD PARK.

Lady Pakington, by aiding her in the composition of her cele-
brated work, ' The. Whole Duty of Man.' " She also had " The
Decay of Chinstian Piety " attributed to her !

Worcester is said -to have derived its name from Wyre-Cester,
the camp or castle of Wyre ; a forest of that name still existing.
Many traces of Roman occupation have been found in the town
and county. During the Heptarchy Worcester was the principal
Mercian see. After the Conquest, Earls of Worcester were
created, and the civil power was entrusted to them. Worcester
was the first city that openly espoused the cause of Charles I.
" Twice," says a sound Royalist, " the desperate valour of the
cavaliers made a stand in the main thoroughfare, and thus by
their gallantry stayed the foe, and gave the young king time to
escape. This was the memorable 'Worcester fight'; and for her

410 CROOME COURT.

services on this and the preceding occasions, the city bears upon
her scroll, ' Oivitas fideUs.' " *

Leaving Worcester in a south-easterly direction, we see the
broad flood of the Severn flowing southward. Dyer tells us of
the " copsy bank," and

" Mountain woods,

And winding valleys, with the various notes
Of pipe, sheep, kine, and birds, and limpid brooks,"

that are found where " the wide majestic wave of Severn slowly
rolls," and upbears "the trading bark." It rises in Plynlimmon,
in Montgomeryshire.

Two miles and a half from Worcester, we see Crookbarrow Hill

.ZWffi™- :-~3jf

on our left. It was formerly a Roman and perhaps also a British
station. The name means a " hill of burial." In later days there
was here a manor house surrounded by a moat. We now have
the village of Norton on our right close to the line ; and the range
of hills we have had upon our left crosses our path, and winds
its way more directly south. Emerging from them, the Oxford,
Worcester, and Wolverhampton line (commonly called "the 0. W.
and W.") takes its course eastward ; and we join the old main
line of the Midland.

Three miles south of Abbotts Wood Station, we pass through
a wood, full of game, and observe upon our right the fine park
of Croome Court, the seat of the Earl of Coventry. Here, on
what was formerly little more than a barren heath, a former

* See page 97.

DEFFORD BRIDGE.

411

earl " planted the slopes, drained the morasses, drew his belts of
plantation round lands rendered fertile by his skill and laudable
perseverance," and filled the scene with quiet beauty.

The next station is Defford, just south of which is the remark-
able viaduct over the Avon depicted in the engraving. It is iron
throughout, from the lattice floor of the permanent way, through
which we look down upon the river flowing beneath us, to the
covering of the massive buttresses upon which the iron columns
and their tables stand. The entire structure rests upon piles
driven into the bed of the river. Some years ago, in order to
ascertain whether these were sound, they wei-e examined by

DEFFORD BRIDGE.

divers. An engineer too, being of an adventurous turn of mind,
resolved to make a personal investigation, equipped himself in
the diver's costume, and went down into the river. But, while
moving about in semi - darkness, his inquiries were abruptly
terminated by his falling over a heap of stones ; his inverted
position interfered with the proper action of the diving appar-
atus ; the water rushed in ; and he was within an ace of being
drowned. Fortunately, his friends came to the rescue, and he
was jerked up out of the river, as one of them expressed it, " like
a great fish at the end of a line,"

412 GLOUCESTEE.

The fine mountainous mass of Bredon Hill that now stretches
on our left rises to the height of nearly 1,000 feet, and divides the
Vale of Evesham from the Cotswold district. On the summit is
a tower, from which widespread views may be enjoyed.

At the important junction of Ashchurch, the line from Barnt
Green, Bedditch, and Evesham, joins us from the east; and the
line to Tewkesbury and Malvern goes away to the west.

Leaving Cheltenham, the railway, which has been running
nearly south, bears away to the south-west, towards Gloucester.
Leckhampton Hills are nearly 1,000 feet high, and include some of
the boldest of the Cotswolds. " They are broken more precipi-
tously, and exhibit a greater extent of bare rock of granulated
stone than any other." One of these scars, from its craggy and
gigantic form, is called the Devil's Chimney.

The origin of the city of Gloucester is believed to be British.
It was then called Caer Gloew, which, according to Camden,
means "the city' of the pure stream;" others think that Gloew
was the name of the founder. So much for fame ! The noble
Gothic tower of the cathedral, surmounted by four pinnacles, is
plainly seen from the line, as we leave the station for the South.

We have scarcely cleared the suburbs of Gloucester than, about
half a mile on our right, and near the deep southern bend of the
river, there are the remains of the priory of Llanthony. It was
founded, in 1187, by monks who had been driven from an older
priory of the same name in Monmouthshire. After the dissolution
the buildings were used as farm offices. The principal entrance
(on which are the arms of the Earls of Hereford), the walls of the
great abbey barn, and some of the domestic buildings, remain.

A mile after passing Haresfield, on our left is a range of hills,
called Broad Bidge or Broad Barrow Green, inore than 700 feet
high, on which is the site of a remarkable camp. There is an en-
trenchment 15 feet high, and 600 yards long, stretching from one
side of the hill to the other. The bold promontory, called Beacon
Hill, is " enclosed by a transverse vallation, 50 feet deep, and con-
taining 15 acres ; " it is connected with the former. Here, it is
thought, Avas a British station, subsequently occupied by the
Romans. A spot resembling a praetorium may be traced; and on
this a beacon, which would be seen from afar, was afterwards
placed, and hence the name of the hill.

BERKELEY CASTLE. 413

The Great Western, alongside of which we have been running,
now rises and bears away to the left, while the Midland bends
slightly to the right. At Stonehouse each company has a station.
Whitefield was curate of Stonehouse, and commenced his out-door
preaching in the churchyard, " the church being too strait for the
people."

At Stonehouse we observe a line bearing away to our left ; it is
the Nailsworth branch of the Midland. It crosses the Stroudwater
Canal, follows the course of the Great Western for a couple of
miles, and then turns southward.

Three miles from Stonehouse, and twelve from Gloucester, we
are at the junction of the line that runs to the old town of Dursley.
Leland speaks of it as " a praty clothinge towne." Dr. Edward
Fox was born here. The town stands at the foot of a steep hill
covered with woods of beech.

We are now at Berkeley Road Station, and about two miles to
our right, behind the rising ground, in this beautiful vale of
Berkeley, are the town and castle. The manor was granted by
the Conqueror to a retainer, and Berkeley Castle was founded soon
afterwards. It is nearly a circle in form, the buildings standing in
an irregular court, with a moat. The lofty and massive keep is
the most ancient part ; it is flanked by towers. During more than
seven centuries it has stood, and has witnessed many memorable
transactions. Here Edward II. was murdered, it is recorded, with
a plumber's iron " intense ignito." " His crie," says Holingshed,
" did move many within the castell and town of Birckelei to com-
passion, when they understode by his crie what the matter ment."
The dungeon room, leading to the keep, is said to have been the
scene of this tragedy.

Half a mile south of Berkeley Road Station we are abreast of
Stinchcombe, beyond which is Stinchcombe Hill, rising 725 feet
above the sea, and behind it is Dursley. The hill is a favourite
resort of visitors, for from its summit ten counties can be descried.
South of Stinchcombe Hill is Stancombe Park, near which is the
site of a Roman villa.

On Nibley Knoll is a column 111 feet high, erected in memory
of William Tyndale. The hill that extends southwards from thence
is occupied by Westridge Wood, in which is a Roman encampment.
Under the southern end of the hill is Wotton-under-Edge, which

414 MANGOTSFIELB TO BATH.

derives its name from its situation, immediately under an " edge "
of the Cotswold Hills.

When abreast of Wotton-under-Edge, we have Tortworth Court
and Park on our right, the manor house and rectory being near
the station. The word " tort " means twisted, and it well de-
scribes the upheaved strata of the earth in this neighbourhood ; for
" perhaps no district of similar extent in Great Britain presents so
many different geological formations as the picturesque tract round
Tortworth. Taking its church as a centre, this district is made up
of nearly every sedimentary deposit, from the inferior oolite to
the lower silurian rocks."

The name of Wickwar is believed to have been derived from
" wick," a turn in "a stream, and " war " ; the manor having be-
longed to the family of De la Warre. It is well watered by two
streams which run through the town. Yate village is to the left
of the station. At Yate is a gatehouse of the time of Edward I.,
the lower part of which is in excellent preservation, and has a
fire-place and mantelpiece. The road through Yate conducts to
Chipping Sodbury. Beyond is Little Sodbury, in the manor
house of which Tyndale translated the Bible.

At Yate Station a line branches off to Frampton Cotterell, and
also to Thornbury. In reaching the former we twice cross the
Frome — once on leaving the main line, and again within a short
distance of Frampton. The ancient town of Thornbury is beauti-
fully situated on the bank of the Severn. Its castle, magnificent
in its incompleteness and ruin, was begun in 1511.

The old Mangotsfield Station was closed for passenger traffic
when the new line to' Bath was opened ; and a new station more
suitable for the purposes of a junction, has been built half a mile
farther south.

Leaving the Bristol train to pursue its course by an almost
westerly route, the Bath train runs nearly south. In a short
distance a third line is seen on our left, approaching from the old
Mangotsfield Station — the three forming one of those irregular
triangles which are so convenient for the interchange of traffic and
of routes. Kings wood is now on our right ; indeed we have been
rounding it since we left the junction. Passing through a rather
deep cutting, we reach Warmley.

In designing this line (much of which runs through a valley

BITTON CUTTING. 415

closed in by hills, and crossed and recrossed by a river) the alter-
natives necessarily were — tunnels or bridges ? It must either be
carried along the slopes of the Avon Valley, and pass over the
river six times, or else it must be brought farther to the north
through the Golden Valley, and enter Bath at a different point,
and by a higher level. Fortunately bridges won the day, — lattice
iron bridges, as strong as they are beautiful.

We are now running parallel with the old Avon and Gloucester-
shire tramway, along which coals used to be brought from Coalpit
Heath, to be shipped at a1 wharf near Keynsham. The tramway
is connected with the Kennet and Avon Navigation of the Great
Western Railway Company, and it was proposed that some three
miles of it should be purchased by the Midland Company and
utilized in the construction of their new line ; but the negotiations
fell through.

Leaving Oldlands Common, where a considerable trade is carried
on in hat-making, the Midland line crosses by a cutting over the
tramway tunnel. The tunnel when made was not lined ; but it
had to be lined by the Midland Company for a distance of some
90 feet, to enable it to carry the weight.

"We now go through a heavy cutting, called Bitton Cutting,"
said Mr. Howard Allport, the resident engineer, in some remarks
with which he favoured us, " part of which is Pennant rock, as it
is locally named ; from whence we obtain a fine building stone for
the greater part of our bridges. Nearly 250,000 cubic yards of
material had to be excavated. The stone attracts the attention of
the traveller by reason of its intense redness ; but this colouring
arises, not from the stone itself, which is, when freshly broken, a
sort of grey, but on account of the nitration over its surface of
water from a thin vein of a fine haematite iron ore which lies in
the crevices of the rock. This vein is in places a few inches in
thickness, running off to nothing ; though it may be that not far
off there are considerable amounts. It lies especially in fissures,
or, as the miners call them, ' pockets,' in the rock. It has doubt-
less been carried here by the percolation of water ; and in the
course of ages the pockets gradually became filled till they formed
a solid mass. Now the water filtering through them stains with a
rich hue the rocks beneath.

" At the south end of the cutting we reach Bitton Station, which

416 BlTtfOtf BRIDGE.

accommodates Bitton, Swinford, and the neighbourhood. At the
top of the hill on the left of the station are some mounds which
indicate the former site of a Roman encampment. A tumulus
may be seen within 50 yards of the line, on the left of the station.
A beautiful elm grows on its summit."

The village of Bitton is on our left. The river Boyd has come
down the so-called Golden Valley (golden, however, only to those
who can change its coal into cash), and now runs through the
village. From Bitton southward we are on a heavy embankment,
a mile and a quarter long, containing nearly 400,000 yards of earth.
We cross the Boyd by a stone bridge of three arches, after which
Boyd- town, or Bitton, is named ; and then over the Avon itself for

BITTON BRIDGE OVEB THE AVON.

the first time by an iron lattice bridge. This is the boundary of
the counties : we are in Somerset.

About a mile farther we reach the village of Saltford, and cross
the Avon for the second time. The Great Western line, which has
just emerged from a tunnel, is seen approaching on our right.
The hills now draw in on the left, and we are in a deep valley,
along which the Avon is wending its way ; on the south side of
which is the Great Western line, and over which the Midland line
crosses and recrosses. The steep hill on our left is occupied by
Kelston Park, the trees of which almost overhang the line. At the
corner of Kelston Park, and about seven miles from Mangotsfield,
we cross the Avon for the third time ; then run under the Bristol
and Bath turnpike, the road being carried over the line by a girder

WESTON -BRIDGE.

417

bridge ; then we cross the Avon for the fourth time, and enter the
parish of Weston. Here are the hydraulic lias limestone works of
Messrs. Shaw. The Weston Station, Avhich comes next, accommo-
dates two important suburbs of Bath ; and here the Avon is
crossed for the fifth time. We now catch sight of the line of the
Somerset and Dorset Company bearing away on our right ; then
the goods station of the Midland Company; we pass over the Avon
for the sixth time, and enter the Bath Station.

This station is conveniently situated in the western part of the
town, where four roads meet. It is about half a mile from the
Great Western Station. It has this advantage over its rival, that

WESTON BEIDGE OVER THE AVON.

the Midland Station is on the level ; and those who have had to
climb the steps of the Great Western will know what that means.
The Bath Station is a handsome and commodious structure. The
three spans of the roof are 110 feet in breadth, and the length of
the covered way is 250 feet.

From Bath the Midland has access, fid the Somerset and Dorset
Railway, — which it owns jointly with the London and South
Western, — to Evercreech, Bumham, Glastonbury, and Wells,
Templecombe, Blaiidford, Wimborne, and Bournemouth, opposite
the Isle of Wight. The Midland has also free communication over
this part of the South Western system as far west as Plymouth.

From Mangotsfield to Bristol is six miles. The line at first runs

E E

418

BRISTOL.

duo west, the groat Kingswood district being to the south. It was
here that Whitefield preached to the mighty assemblies of colliers,
20,000 of whom gathered at a time to listen to his words ; and
when, he said, their tears as they ran down their black faces made
white gutters. We now reach the Fishponds Station, and are
soon at " the capital city of the West of England."

At Bristol the Midland Company has three stations : that at
Temple Mead, which it shai'es with the Great Western, a second
at St. Philips, and a third at Clifton Down.

PLATELAYERS K

J IXE NEAK YA'IE.

CHAPTER XVII.

Nottingham, Mansfield, and Worksop Hue.— A prediction. — The coalfield. — The
ironstone-fields. — Wollaton Hall. — Newstead. — Mansfield. — Worksop. —
Trent, Nottingham, and Lincoln line. — Attenborough. — Nottingham. —
Newark. — Lincoln. — Southwell. — Mansfield. — Nottingham and Melton line.
— New bridge over Trent. —Bridge building. — The line southward. — Plum-
tree. — Widmerpool. — Dalby-on-the-Wolds.— Grirnstone Tunnel. — Saxelby
Tunnel. — Asfordby Tunnel. — Melton. — Ketteriug and Manton line. — The
Wellaud Valley. — Wing. — Manton.— Syston and Peterborough line. — Mel-
ton Mowbray. — Stapleford Hall. — Burleigh House. — John Clare. — Coalville.
— Ashby-de-la-Zouch. — Moira. — Bedford and Hitchin line. — Barnt Green
and Ashclmrch loop line. — Redditch. — Evesham. — Ashchurch. — Worcester
and Swansea route. — Malvern. — Hereford. — Morehampton. — Brecon. —
Swansea. — Leicester and Rugby line. — Kettering and Huntingdon.

THE large amount of space unavoidably occupied by an attempt to
do any justice to the works npon the great main lines of the
Midland Company, and to the objects of interest around them,
compels us, however regretfully, to make but a brief reference to
the subordinate routes of the system.

One of the most important of the branch lines of the Midland
Company is that which extends from Nottingham to Mansfield and
Worksop. When it was first proposed that a railway should be
made in this direction, a certain witness, giving evidence before a
Parliamentary committee, was asked whether he was familiar with
the country between Mansfield and Nottingham. " Perfectly," he
replied. " Do you imagine a railroad could be made from Mans-
field to Nottingham? " " I should say," he replied, " it would not
pay a farthing per cent."

At that period, however, and for many years afterwards, it was
not known how vast are the mineral resources of this valley. In
1868, however, Sir Roderick Murchison, Avho had more than once
visited the Newstead and Hucknall district, expressed the opinion :
" I believe that in all that country yon will certainly find a very

420 NOTTINGHAM TO WOEKSOP.

good coalfield ; but," he added, " these rich proprietors will never
hear of having coalpits sunk near them." A very short time,
however, had elapsed before the remunerative character of the coal
trade improved ; until, by the unprecedented increase of iron pro-
duction, and the " leaps and bounds " of manufacturing industry,
the demand was so stimulated as to occasion the coal fever of 1872
and 1873, and landed proprietors here as elsewhere became anxious
to lease their royalties. It may be safely said that there is no
coalfield the possibilities of which are so large.

The trains running from Nottingham to Worksop pass uninter-
ruptedly over thirty miles of magnesian limestone and new red
sandstone. The passenger looking eastward will see one after
another costly and well-designed collieries rising, the shafts of
which have recently penetrated the top hard coal at 400 yards or
more from the surface. The royalties which have been let on the
Nottingham and Mansfield line since the year 1870, now opening
out, represent at least 500 million tons of coal.

Looking south from the Castle-rock of Nottingham, there is
another great mineral, destined to as vast a development as the
coal that lies to the north. The Mineral Statistics show no
increase of production in ironstone so rapid during the last few
years as that in the county of Northampton ; and it has been
proved to lie in equal richness through Leicestershire and Rutland,
as far as the borders of Nottinghamshire. This district the
Midland Company have now opened up by their extensions from
Nottingham to Melton, and from Manton to Bushton ; the coal on
the north, which is specially suited for smelting purposes, and the
ironstone to the south, find one another ; and all the economy of
back carriage, so much insisted on by Mr. Jevons in his work on
coal, are brought into full play.

" The Mansfield traffic," said Mr. Allport, in May, 1873, " has
been increasing at a rate that is probably unequalled on any other
line. Till recently there was very little traffic on it indeed. The
first colliery began to sell coal about eight and a half years
ago ; there are now three collieries on that line, each sending
about 300,000 tons,— nearly 1,000,000 of tons. Other royalties
which have since come into operation : that of the Duke of
St. Albans, at Bestwood, of between 3,000 and 4,000 acres, and the
Papplewick and Newstead royalties, each of similar area, those

WOLLATON HALL. 421

collieries in a few years," said Mr. Allporfc, " will be sending about
a3 much as those in existence, or from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 tons,
down that Mansfield branch."

Leaving Nottingham for Mansfield, we run for a short distance
over the direct line to Trent, and then turn off to the north. We
have not gone far before we see upon our left a new branch con-
necting this line with the Erewash rid Radford, the new and
extensive Wollaton Colliery, and Trowell, near Ilkeston. Wollaton
Hall also is seen in the park upon the left. It is a noble and
picturesque mansion, built about the year 1590, by Sir Francis
Willoughby, of stone from Ancaster, who " out of ostentation to
show his riches," carried on horses' backs in exchange for coal dug

WOLLATON HALL.

on his estate. Passing through busy mining and stocking-making
populations, we reach Hucknall Torkard, in a vault within the
church of which Byron was buried ; and soon we are in the
neighbourhood of Newstead, intimately associated with the memory
of the poet. The Leen i-ises in the grounds of the abbey. It is
stated that a former owner of the estate received £10,000 special
compensation for the injury inflicted upon it by the railway.

The summit level of the line is at Kirkby Forest, where, in the
high grounds, known as Robin Hood's Hills, is the anachronism of
a tunnel. The uplands hard by "offer pleasant rambles over
gorse and ling, and wide and beautiful views in every direction,

422

NEWSTEAD.

On a clear day, the towers of Lincoln Cathedral first catch the
eye, while the southern horizon is bounded by the rocks of Charn-
wood. Nearer home are the woods of Newstead and Annesley in
one direction, and those of Harclwick in the other, with the spires
and villages of Kirkby and Button just at our feet."

Mansfield, near the source of the small river Maun, is of special
interest as the point from which Sherwood Forest and the
"Dukeries" can best be visited. The town is crossed by a .stone

XEWSTEAD ABBEY.

viaduct, the arches of which are between 50 and 60 feet high, and
we are soon in the neighbourhood of Mansfield Woodhouse. We
now pass through a yellow magnesian limestone of a remarkably
fine quality, of Avhich there are considerable quarries near at hand.
Going forwards we soon cross the boundary of the county, and
are in Derbyshire ; and we continue in our short journey noi-th-
wards to cross and recross from Notts to Derbyshire. The course
of the line was drawn somewhat westerly to avoid infringing on
Wclbeck Park. It would have been more convenient to carry the
line somewhat farther to the right, through a natural depression
in the range of hills known as Creswell Crags, but the engineers

NOTTINGHAM AND LINCOLN LINE. 423

were required to divei-t it, and to construct a tunnel some 500
yards long. At Creswell a branch leaves tlie main line, and runs
in a westerly direction to Seymour, near Staveley, where it joins a
coal branch which formerly belonged to the Staveley Company,
but which has been bought by the Midland Company. Communi-
cation will thus be provided between the centre of the Worksop
line and the Midland system near Staveley.

The worst gradient on this line is between Whit well and Work-
sop, and is 1 in 120. The worst curves are across Mansfield, and
at the northern end of the line, about a mile and a half west of
Worksop, Avhere the junction is made with the Manchester,
Sheffield and Lincolnshire Company, over whose line the Midland
proceeds to Worksop itself.

One of the most important of the branches of the Midland
system is that which mns from Trent to Nottingham and thence to
Lincoln. The first portion was, as our reader is aware, part of the
original Midland Counties line ; the extension eastward was made
at a subsequent period. It is remarkable that this extension was
completed in the course of a year ; Mr. Hudson considering it a
matter of policy to show the advocates of the Great Northern
that the old-established companies could do the work as well as
any new projectoi'S, and could even supply a part of the district to
which the Great Northern was looking while others were thinking
about it.

Leaving Trent eastward, we cross from Derbyshire over the
Erewash into Notts ; and soon reach the village of Attenborough,
which is seen immediately on our right. It is honoured as the
birthplace of one who, in a dissolute age, retained a Puritan
simplicity of character and eai'nestness of purpose ; who took a
high place in that Civil War which laid deep the foundations of
English constitutional freedom ; who commanded the left wing of
the Parliamentary army at the battle of Naseby — the intrepid,
generous, upright Ireton, son-in-law of Oliver Cromwell. " Yet
that which is best worthy of love in thy husband," wrote Crom-
well to his daughter, Bridgett, " is that of the image of Christ
which he beai\s ; look on that, and love it best." But it was the
remains of Ireton that, after the Restoration, were dragged from
their resting-place in Westminster Abbey, hung on a gibbet at
Tyburn, and the trunk! ess head fixed on a pole. The house in

424 NOTTINGHAM.

which Ircton Avas born has a white face and is conspicuous on the
west side of the churchyard.

Approaching Nottingham, we pass on our left the junctions with
the Mansfield Valley lines, and then we see on our left the lofty
height of the so-called castle of Nottingham ; it is, however, in
fact, only the remains of a large modern mansion, burnt out, but
not burnt down, and now adapted as a museum of art. Yet
around that hill cluster a thousand historical associations of
events of the deepest interest connected with the annals of
England.

Leaving Nottingham Station we pass on our left the Great
Northern terminus ; we run alongside of the Great Northern line ;
and afterwards, curving round the wooded hill of Colwich, where
we see the new red sandstone interlaced with a stratum of gypsum,
we go under the new Derbyshire branch of the Great Northern,
and are out in a fine open country. In connection with the con-
struction of this part of the Midland line, an illustration may be
mentioned of the inordinate charges that have been levied on
railways. After the line was opened, the proprietor of an estate
through which it passed sent in an enormous claim for works
which it was alleged had not been executed, but which it was said
the Company had undertaken to do. The engineer declaimed that
the allegations were altogether untenable, and recommended the
board to reject the claim. " But, surely," they replied, " we must
have made some omissions; and will it not be better to compromise
the matter by paying part P " " No," returned the engineer; "we
have done all we promised ; I would advise that you pay nothing."
Eventually it was resolved to submit the matter to the arbitration
of the late Speaker of the House of Commons. The representa-
tives of both interests met; the claims were one by one investigated;
and every item was disallowed.

We now run through a rich and pleasant country, by Burton
Joyce, named after the family of the De Georz, where the Trent
approaches us from the south ; by Lowdham, Fiskerton, and Rol-
leston, where a branch diverges to Southwell and Mansfield ; and
then crossing the Trent, by the Weir, and running over the fine
meadow lands, we pass by Newark Castle and are at Newark
Station.

As we leave Newark, we see the spur of line that runs down to

NEWARK AND LINCOLN.

425

the Great Northern Railway ; and as we cross the Great Northern
itself, we observe on our left the remarkable bridge by which the
Great Northern crosses the Trent. The next station is Col ling-
ham, about a mile beyond which we leave Notts and enter
Lincolnshire. At Swinderby, which we soon pass, operations have
recently been earned on for the discovery of coal. After passing
Thorpe we may, from the left window of the carriage, observe
before us the hill and minster of Lincoln, which rise as a mighty
landmark in the midst of this ordinarily level county. At the
same time a range of hills is seen approaching from the left, and
it continues stretching away to the right, on which are the well-
known " hill villages," and to which the white roads are seen

NEWARK CASTLE.

climbing up. This range stretches from the north to Lincoln, and
from thence to Grantham.

Returning to Rolleston Junction we may remark that Southwell
contains the finest ecclesiastical structure in the county ; and this
is also believed to have been the site of the Roman station Ad
Pontem. " Pursuing our way northward, the line goes to Kirk-
lington and Farnsfield, two agricultural villages rich in rural
scenery. Four miles farther bring the passenger to Rain worth.
Though about ten miles have now been run, the engineering diffi-
culties have been small ; but on entering the beautiful region of
Sherwood Forest we find that the heaviest part of the work had

42G

NEAR MANSFIELD.

to bo done. From Rainworth the permanent way is on an em-
bankment, which shortly afterwards is succeeded by a cutting 32
feet deep ; then another embankment 25 feet deep, and Southwell
Road is now crossed by a girder bridge of 66 feet spaii. Not-
tingham Road is spanned by an arched bridge ; an embankment
follows ; the river Maun and the lands connected with it are
passed by nine arches 50 feet high, and 400 in length, and, taking
a curve, we are on the main line that runs into Mansfield Station.
Returning once more to Nottingham we shall learn that opera-

LIKCOLN.

tions are there proceeding for carrying a new branch of the
Midland system over the river Trent, and away to the South.
This is the Nottingham and Melton line. . It will, Avhen completed,
leave the present station to the east, pass under the bridge that
carries the London Road over our heads, cross the canal, and,
at the distance of half a mile, approach the Trent. The bridge
that will here carry the line over the river will be a noble
structure. There will be three main openings, each of 100 feet
span ; and five land arches or " flood openings " at either end, each
of 26 feet span. The river openings will be spanned by light

BEIDGE BUILDING.

427

wrought-iron bow-string girders supported by cast-iron cylinders,
which will rest on the bed of the river and be filled in solid with
brickwork. The flood openings will be brick arches with blue
brick facings, and their foundations will go an average distance of
some 20 feet down, to the rock. There will be, in fact, almost as
much work below ground as above, in consequence of the insta-
bility of the upper strata, which are liable to be scoured out or
shifted by the heavy floods to which this valley is exposed. The
parapet is in panels of brickwork, and of pleasing proportions.
" Well, now," we remarked to Mr. E. Parry, the resident

VIADUCT ACROSS RESERVOIR NEAR MANSFIELD.

engineer, " tell us exactly how you go to work in building a bridge
like this."

" The first thing Ave do," he replied, " is to set out the centre
line, and then to fix the position of the main and lesser piers.
This done, we take out the foundations of the piers, two or three
at a time, and as we go down through, — in this case, — sand and
gravel, the water comes in, and we have to keep pumping night
and day with steam puinps driven by portable engines, until the
foundations are completed and built up, nearly as far up as the
ground level, From this point we begin what is called the ' neat '

428

BEIDGE BUILDING.

work ; and we carry the piers upwards till we reach the point of
the springing of the arches. The centres — arched ribs of timber
covered with planks, — are next set up between each pier, and on,
these the brickwork for the arches is built ; the centres are then
removed and the brickwork stands of itself. Soon after the arches
are keyed in, the triangular portions between the backs of the
arches are filled up to the requisite height, and lastly the parapet
is fixed in position. Meanwhile Ave shall be sinking the cylinders
in the river, and preparing them to receive the main girders."
" How do you sink your cylinders ? "

TRENT BRIDGE, ON NOTTINGHAM AND MELTON LINE.

" The first thing is to drive a number of timber piles down into
the bed of the river in such a position that the iron cylinder may
afterwards be put within them, and so be guided down to its place.
After the timbers are fixed, they are braced by what are called
' walings,' or stout planks fixed across near the top and bottom of
the piles so as to keep them securely in position. Several lengths
of cylinder are now bolted together, and are lowered down inside
the piling to the bed of the river. The water is, if possible,
pumped out of these cylinders ; or, if this be impracticable, divers
are sent down, and the materials round the lower edges of the

BUILDING. 429

cylinders are removed. Meanwhile baulks of timber and iron rails
or other heavy things that mayjbe at hand are laid across the tops
of the cylinders, so that they may be weighted down into the
river's bed. The water is sometimes got rid of by the pneumatic
process." " What is that ? "

" By the pneumatic process air is pumped into a cylinder till it
contains three, four, or five atmospheres ; and, instead of the
ordinary pressure of 15 pounds to the square inch, there may be
40 or 70 pounds ; and the cylinder is cleared of water. In that
compressed air the men Avork. Of course, provision has to be
made so that they shall be able to get in and out, and for the stuff
to be removed without diminishing the pressure ; and this is done
by what is called an air-lock. The men first go into a chamber ;
and, the door of it being closed after them, the air in that chamber
is raised, by pumping, to the density of the air in the cylinder
below ; the door communicating with the cylinder itself is then
opened, and the men go in to their work. The pneumatic method
is at present in operation in the construction of a railway bridge
over the Firth of Tay — a bridge, I believe, two miles long. The
pressure downward of the cylinder, and the clearing away of the
material beneath it, is continued till it rests on a firm bed. The
cylinder is then filled from bottom to top with brickwork."

" Inside a cylinder is rather an odd place to work in, isn't it ? "

" Not so strange as it seems. It's only like working in a well,
perhaps eight or nine feet in diameter."

After crossing the Trent Bridge the first object of interest that
we come to is a bridge over the Grantham Canal : this is a skew
bridge, at a large angle. It has brick abutments and wrought-
iron plate girders. We now run along a heavy embankment
pierced with numerous "flood openings ;" we see West Bridgeford
on our left ; and, before we are off the embankment, which is two
miles long, we have passed the village. We next enter a heavy
cutting in the red marl. Its greatest depth is 50 feet, the material
being used in the formation of the embankment we have just left.
At the present time (December, 1875) 100,000 yards have been
excavated, or one-third of the whole ; and it is being cleared, in
fine weather, at the rate of 600 or 700 yards a day ; an amount
which will fill 320 wagons ; so that it will take about 300 such
days' work with the present number of men, to finish the cutting

430 EDWALTOH AND tLUMTREE.

" But if you put on your full strength at both ends," we inquire,
" would you not clear it sooner ? "

"Yes; but we can't put our full strength at the south end,
because most of the stuff is wanted to the north, so it must be
taken out at that end, and tipped on to the embankment. Then,
again, we cannot continue our maximum even in fine weather
without interruption. When, for instance, the embankment ap-
proaches a bridge we have to stop tipping, and the material has to
be cai-efully wheeled up to the back of the brickwork of the bridge,
and there well ' punned,' or rammed in, first on one side and then
on the other, till the embankment is well clear of the bridge ; and
not till then is the tipping resumed ; otherwise the bridge would
be shaken by the continual vibration caused by the tipping. There
are ten such bridges in a mile in this embankment."

Three miles from Nottingham is the pretty village of Edwalton ;
not unlikely, if the proprietor approve, to be a residential district
for Nottingham. The railway station is in a cutting. A quarter
of a mile farther forward we emerge from the cutting on to an
embankment, then there is another cutting and embankment and
we reach the village of Plumtree, Avhere we cross the road that
leads to Keyworth by a very oblique skew bridge.

Plumtree Station is five and a quarter miles from Nottingham.
From hence we continue with cuttings and embankments till we
reach a tunnel at Stanton-on-the-Wolds. It runs through boulder
clay and lias shale, the former being very much like the boulder
clay of the North, but not quite so bad. " We have now (Decem-
ber, 1875)," continues our engineer, " some 200 yards of the tunnel
done out of 1,100. The greatest height of the hill over head is
only about 60 feet. This would, however, have made between 80
and 90 feet of a cutting, which is too deep. There is a heavy
cutting at both ends ; and, on emerging from that to the south we
reach, at eight miles from Nottingham, Widmerpool Station."

The next object of interest is the Roman Fosse Way, which we
cross over by a girder bridge. It is said that some enterprising
and irreverent engineer suggested that sacrilegious hands should
be laid on the work of Roman times, and that the Fosse should be
somewhat twisted, to allow the Midland line to pass easily over.
Reverence for the past, however, was too strong for innovation,
and a long skew bridge has been constructed.

WILLOUGHBY, DALBY, AND GBIMSTONE. 431

The line continues with ordinary works by the villages of Upper
and Nether Broughton, which it leaves on the left : we have Wil-
loughby on our right ; and we pass under the road in a cutting
30 feet deep. " Following this cutting," says Mr. J. W. D. Harri-
son, the resident engineer on this the second contract, " is a heavy
embankment, containing nearly 400,000 cubic yards of earthwork,
which crosses the valley east of Old Dalby-on- the- Wolds. The
old hall in this village is notable as having been the residence of
Judge Jeffreys. The line crosses over the road leading from Old
Dal by to Nether Broughton, and shortly after enters Grimstone
Tunnel. This is nearly three-quarters of a mile long, and is being
worked from five shafts, the deepest about 200 feet. The stratum
here, and indeed throughout the whole of the contract, is blue lias.
In carrying on the work much water was tapped, and in several
places very heavy ground was encountered. The bricks for the
work are made 011 the spot, from the material excavated from the
tunnel, the southern entrance of which is in Grimstone Gorse,
of fox-hunting renown. A cutting a mile long, and containing
nearly 300,000 cubic yards of excavation, follows. It is divided
into two parts by a tunnel 100 yards long. The village of Grim-
stone AVC pass on our right.

" Emerging from the cutting, a short embankment brings us to
the village of Saxelby, prettily situated on the left of the line.
Two roads leading to the village are crossed over by a girder and
a two-arch bridge respectively. On leaving the village, Saxelby
Tunnel, 500 yards long, is entered ; this is at the present time
being worked from each end and from a shaft in the centre ; the
road from Asfordby to Welby crossing on the summit. Small
cuttings and embankments now alternate for a mile and a half,
when the valley that lies between Asfordby and Welby is crossed
by a heavy embankment, 46 feet deep at the deepest part, and
containing 200,000 cubic yards of earthwork. The road from
Asfordby to Welby is crossed over, the great depth of the em-
bankment necessitating a heavy bridge. At this point a tramway,
intended to carry ironstone from Holwell, a village some three
miles away, joins the line.

" Asfordby Tunnel, 400 yards long, is now entered, and a short
distance beyond the south entrance, the road leading from Asford-
by to Melton is carried over the line. The river Eye, a navigable

432 KETTERING AND HANTON LINE.

stream, is now crossed by a girder bridge, and four arches to carry
the flood Avatcr. Ten additional arches, each of sixteen feet span,
are also being erected in the adjoining field for the same purpose.
The new Great Northern Railway line passes over us at this point,
and a branch from the same line runs into the Nottingham and
Melton line shortly before its junction with the Syston and Peter-
borough Railway. The total length of this contract is seven
miles. The prevailing gradient is 1 in 200."

The chief difficulties connected Avith the construction of the
latter part of this line have arisen from the fact that, — whereas
the old Syston and Peterborough Railway followed the course of
the valleys of the Eye and the Welland, and the main line from
Leicester nortlrward folloAvs the course of the Soar, — the line from
Nottingham to Melton has to be carried at something like right
angles directly across the hills and dales of the wolds of Notts and
Leicestershire.

As this line is intended, in connection Avith the Melton and
Manton part of the Syston and Peterborough Railway, to join a
new line in course of construction from near Kettering to Manton,
and so to form a new main route direct from Nottingham to the
Midland trunk line at Kettering, we may briefly describe, in the
Avords of " the resident," the course that this latter portion has
taken. " The Kettering and Manton line," says Mr. CraAvford
BarloAV, " is about fifteen miles and three quarters in length. It
has to cross nearly at right angles the valley of the Welland, and
from the fact of this valley being bounded by high table-land on
its southern side, and by a ridge of hills of considerable height to
the nortlrward, the works of the line are necessarily of a heavy
character.

" Commencing from the southern end, near Rushton, the line
first intersects a hill of ironstone, extensiArcly worked by the
Glendon Iron Company; thence it crosses the river Ise and the
Harpers Brook by two viaducts. On reaching the village of
Corby, the line commences a descent toAvards the Welland Valley,
passing first through a considerable cutting, and thence by a
tunnel a little more than a mile in length, by which it cntei-s
the broad valley of the Welland a considerable height aboA-e the
liver, at a point about a mile south-west of the village of Gretton.
The line continues its descent by gradually following down the

STSTON AND PETEBBOROUGH. 433

hill-side, parallel to the river, for a distance of about three miles,
past Gretton and Harringworth.

" Between Harringworth and Seaton the line crosses the river
Welland itself by a viaduct about 60 feet in height and three-
quarters of a mile in length, containing about 15,000,000 bricks ;
and, after passing over the London and North-Western Company's
branch line from Rugby to Stamford, continues to intersect the
high ridge on the north side of the Welland Valley close to the
village of Glaston. This ridge is pierced by a tunnel a mile in
length. From thence the line passes on to Manton, crossing a
narrow ridge of hills near the village of Wing, through which it
passes by a tunnel of about a quarter of a mile in length."

The Syston and Peterborough branch of the Midland starts
from the Syston Junction of the main line, and for some distance
follows the course of the Wreake. Soon upon our right is Barkby
Hall, and a little farther on the tapering spire of Queniborough
Church. Here Rupert had his head-quarters in 1645. About ten
miles from the junction we reach Melton Mowbray, renowned for
pork pies and hunters. This town has become a centre of railway
communication. After passing Saxby Station the line curves to
the south, how suddenly may be seen by the views we obtain of
Stapleford Hall, the seat of the Countess of Harborough. At the
south-eastern angle of the park, we observe the now dry ditch of
what was once part of the Oakham Canal.

Manton, the next station to Oakham, is partly built upon the
hill that the railsvay pierces by a tunnel. Here the new line
south to Kettering commences.

Leaving Manton for the East, we observe a range of hills draw-
ing in from the right, on the summit of which is Wing.

Passing Luffenham and the junction with the London and
North-Western line to Rugby, AVC reach Ketton. A little more
than a mile from Ketton we cross over the Welland, and enter
Northamptonshire. After passing Stamford, with its noble
churches and its willows by the water-courses, we see upon our
right, beyond the ti*ees, " in all its pristine glory, the palatial
type of an Elizabethan house, the building of the great Lord
Treasurer — •

' Burghley House by Stamford town.' "

Passing Helpstone, where John Clare, the Northamptonshire

F F

434

COALVILLE.

poet, was born, in 1793, of pai'ents even then receiving parish
relief, and who tells us of his literary gifts, —

" I fouud the poems iu the fields,
And only wrote them down,"—

we soon reach Peterborough, join the Great Northern Railway,
enter its station, and then taking our way down to the Great
Eastern, find there the end of our journey.

There are two routes from Leicester to the Leicestershire coal-
field : one direct from the West Bridge Station, through the
tunnel ; the other via Knighton Junction on the main line. Coal-
ville — how incongruous that "ville " sounds in such a connection !

GKOBT TDKNKL AND BARDON HILL, LEICESTEB AND SWAXXINGTON LINE.

— is the centre of this coal district. The people, houses, roads,
fields, everything, are grimy. Coal-laden trucks block up the
sidings. Coal-laden trains are groaning and grunting hither and
thither. Coal lines glide off in various directions, or suddenly
turn unexpected corners and surreptitiously disappear ; while
every here and there, in the bottoms of distant valleys, and on
the tops of remote hills, may be seen the tall shafts rising amid
the green fields ; and the masses of black smoke and white steam
proclaim afar that a world of busy life is labouring in the shafts
and drifts hundi'eds of fathoms beneath our feet. A quarter of a
mile on either side the line just beyond Coalville are the pits of
Snibston on the left, and of Whitwick on the right ; while from

ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH. 435

the sidings may be seen the steep inclined plane leading up to the
Swanningtoii pits.

The only town on this line is Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It received
its name from one Alan de Zouch, a baron of Brittany, " who, in
the reign of Henry III., married the heiress to the manor." Here,
it is said, Mary Queen of Scots was a prisoner ; here James I. was
hospitably entertained ; here the Royalists held their own against
King Charles's enemies ; and here, in the church, the Countess
of Huntingdon was buried, in 1791, "in the white silk dress in
which she opened the chapel in Goodman's Fields." A mile west
of the town was "an extensive meado\v, of the finest and most

ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH CASTLE.

beautiful green turf, — surrounded on one side by the forest, and
fringed on the other by straggling oak-trees, some of which had
grown to an immense size," — on which Sir Walter Scott describes
in his story of " Ivanhoe," the " gentle passage of arms." It is
still called Ashby Field.

The coalfield of Leicestershire has been divided into three parts:
Moira, on the west ; Ashby, in the centre ; and Coleorton, on the
east. In the Moira district there are twelve workable seams of
coal, altogether not less than 55 feet in thickness ; the main coal
section being 14 feet. Hull states that in the main coal of Moira,
especially in the Bath Colliery, a stream of salt water, beautifully
clear, and of nearly the same composition as sea water, trickles
down the coal-fissures at a depth of nearly GOO feet. In the deep

436

BEDFOED AND IIITCHIN.

sinking at Moira Colliery the number of beds of all substances
passed through was 400, of "which 41 were coal, many of them
thin ; about 20 were sandstone ; and there were some seams of
ironstone. The main coal had a thickness of 14 feet ; another was
four or five feet ; and altogether 46 beds of coal were found, with
an aggregate thickness of 100 feet. The salt water that issues
here is taken down to Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and is considered to bo
beneficial for rheumatic and scorbutic affections.

There is also the Bedford and Hitchin branch, forming part
of the main line to London. By this route we cross over on a

AT EYESIIAM.

level the London and North- Western branch from Bedford and
Bletchley; and passing Elstow on the right, and Cardington on
our left, enter the Southill Tunnel, the only one on the whole line
from Leicester to Hitchin. It is about half a mile in length. It
runs through clay, which is very heavy, and required careful and
strong timbering before the lining could be put in. The work,
however, was in good hands, Mr. John Knowles being the con-
tractor ; " and John Knowles," remarked Mr. Crossley to us not
long ago, " was a good tunncller." A mile to the right of Southill
Station is a spot with the suggestive name of Dead Men's Cross.
Crossing the boundary of the county into Herts, we ere long see

REDDITCH AND EVESHAM.

437

upon our left the Great Northern main line approaching ; we draw
nearer, we rise to its level, and we enter Hitchin.

The Barnt Green, Redditch, Evesham, and Ashchurch loop line
of the Birmingham and Bristol runs near many spots of interest.
It crosses the Worcester and Birmingham Canal ; has a station at
Alvechurch, once a place of importance ; passes Bordesley Abbey,
Avhich Henry VIII. gave to Lord Windsor instead of Stanwell,
near London ; Redditch, of needle-making renown ; and Alcester,
locally pronounced Aulster, where " six hundred and odd " pieces
of Roman coin were once found in an urn, and where " urns are

3IALVEKN STATION AND HOTEL.

occasionally met with in every quarter of this vicinity, though
they are usually knocked to pieces by the inadvertence of the
rustic labourers." After passing Wixford, we reach Broom
Junction, where a branch line will take us to Stratford-on-Avon,
which contains the birthplace, the house, and the tomb of Shakes-
peare. Evesham, the next place of importance, rises from the
banks of the Avon, which here bends like a horse-shoe, and shows
the "ancient architecture of the town itself, backed by the vener-
able tower, the antique churches, and the ivied walls of its once
nourishing abbey." " The towne of Evesham," said Leland, " is

438

MALVERN.

metely large, and well builded with tyinbre. The market sted
is fayre and large. There be divers praty streets in the towne.
The market is very celebrate. In the towne is no hospitall, or
other famous foundation, but the late abbey."

We now pass Bengeworth, where formerly a castle stood ; but
the monks and the military did not agree, and it came to ruin ;
then Hinton-on-the-Green, where there is a manor-house of the
16th century ; then Beckford, where there is an old mansion
restored, in the grounds of which "is a walk 460 feet long, planted

HAY AND THE WYE.

on each side with box, which has attained the height of thirty
feet," supposed to be 400 years old ; and, in a few minutes, we
reach Ashchurch.

We have already indicated the series of lines by means of which
the Midland Company is able to pursue its course from Worcester
to the south-west, as far as Swansea. Ten miles from Worcester
we are at Malvern Wells ; and 20 miles more bring us to Hereford,
where the celebrated dispute * which took place with regard to
railway rights was put to an issue. We are now on the Hereford
and Brecon, which the advent of the Midland Company has re-
deemed from obscurity, and the district from all the pains and

* See page 222.

HEREFORD AND BRECON LINE.

439

penalties that attended the existence in its midst of a poverty-
stricken railway company. Less than five miles brings us to
Credenhill, where, on the summit of a hill upon our right, is an
encampment of 50 acres, enclosed by a double and precipitous
ditch. At Morehampton, " Offa's Dyke may be seen in an un-
altered state, 20 yards south of the station ; " at Eardisley a small
portion of an ancient castle remains, and not far away is an oak,
with an immense head, which covers a surface of 324 feet in

GLASBUKY AND THE WYE.

circular extent, and some of the branches of which are two feet
in diameter. Near Kinnersley Station is the castle, built in the
time of James I. At Whitney the line is carried over the Wye,
" considerable difficulties being experienced in its construction in
the piling of the arches of the bridge." Twenty miles from Here-
ford we are at Hay ; and four more bring us to Glasbury, the
views all along the line in the neighbourhood, with the Wye in
the foreground and the wooded hills below, being extremely beau-
tiful. Ten miles farther we are at the Talyllyn Junction, locally
called Tathlyn, of the Brecon and Merthyr; and after passing

WIGSTON AND RUGBY LINE.

through a tunnel, and seeing magnificent views of the Brcconshire
hills, we reach the county town.

From hence we travel over the Brecon and Neath line, which,
since the advent of the Midland, has been able to make very need-
ful and important improvements. We then proceed through a
district, at first pleasant and fertile, and afterwards one of the
loneliest and most desolate in the kingdom, until, at last, with
some sense of relief, we catch sight of the crowded villages and

BRECON CASTLE AND VIADUCT.

civilization of the Swansea Vale. From Brecon to Swansea is 41
miles.

Of the remaining branches of the Midland system we can say
little or nothing. There is the Wigston Junction to Rugby, by
Countesthorpe, Broughton Astley, and Ullesthorpe ; and, passing
by Churchover on the left, and Harborough Magna (so called to
distinguish it from Market Harborough), we cross over the valley
of the Avon by what was at the time declared to be " one of the
most beaxitiful viaducts in the kingdom," and are at Rugby. This

KETTERING AND HUNTINGDON.

441

station is the joint property of the Midland and of the London and
North- Western Companies. There is also the Kettering and
Huntingdon line, with its ironstone fields rapidly increasing their
output ; Kimbolton Castle, the seat of the Duke of Manchester ;
and the mansion of Hinchingbrook, once the residence of the Golden
Knight, who here entertained Queen Elizabeth ; and where Charles
I. was taken from Holmby by Cornet Joyce.

But our space is gone, and we must turn away from the thousand
scenes of beauty and interest through which the Midland passes,
to observe some of the methods by which so vast and varied an
administration is conducted.

LENTON STATION.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Shareholders and their Meetings. — The Company's Seal. — Chairman's address.
— Scenes dull, and scenes animated. — The Board. — Directors' Committees.
— The Secretary of the Company. — The General Manager. — The Super-
intendent. — Appointments. — Superintendent-inspectors. — Guards. — In-
spector-guards. — Pointsmen. —Clerks. — Tickets.— The Detective Depart-
ment.— Amusing incidents. — The Goods Department. — A visit to St.
Fancras Goods Station at night.— The Locomotive Department. — The new
Locomotive Establishment at Derby. — Visit to the works. — The erecting
shops. — The lower turnery. — The wheel turnery. — The boiler shop. — The
"buzzer." — The express. — Biding on an engine. — Awkward accidents. — " A
bird with one wing." — " Pinching " an engine. — Engine drivers and their
ways. — The night mail. — Unpleasant contingencies. — Night work. — The
mail. — The post-office van. — The running shed. — The last new engines. —
Statistics of engines. — The new Carriage and Wagon works. — Civil en-
gineers.— Services of engineers. — Conclusion.

THE ultimate source of all power of origination or administration
in a railway company, is the proprietary present, — personally or by
proxy, — at their legally convened meetings. These are usually
held, half-yearly, in February and August; and at them the report
for the half-year, a copy of which has previously been sent to
every shareholder, is submitted for adoption, the dividend is
declared, the policy of the board is explained, and other business
relevant to the occasion is transacted. The present number of the
Midland shareholders is about 40,000, and there arc 7,000 debenture
stockholders registered in the Company's books.

The meetings of the Midland proprietors are held in the share-
holders' room at the Derby Station ; though, in times of special
interest or excitement, they have been adjourned to the Derby
Corn Exchange. The scene presented on such occasions is interest-
ing and sometimes animated. The hall is spacious ; the directors'
platform extends across one end, and is decorated with the por-

SHAREHOLDERS' MEETINGS. 443

traits of several former Chairmen of the Company. Some 500
shareholders, who have left their names with the attendants at
the foot of the stairs, saunter into the room, and gradually fill the
seats. Precisely at half -past one the Chairman appears, followed
by the other directors, and these by the chief officers of the Com-
pany. After a few minutes the Chairman calls upon the Secretary
to read the advertisement legally summoning the meeting : a
necessary form, but to which no one pays any particular attention.
At its conclusion the Chairman directs that the seal of the Com-
pany be affixed to the list of shareholders, an act which gives them
their final and full qualification to take part in the proceedings.
This seal closely resembles the arms of the Company that are
painted on the passenger carriages and impressed on the covers
of this volume. The deer in a park represent the town or by of
the deer, — Derby; on the right hand, the castle and ships are
the arms of the city of Bristol ; and on the left are those of Bir-
mingham. The arms of Lincoln are depicted under the deer, with
Leeds on the right and Leicester on the left. On the seal of the
Company, Nottingham, however, is represented instead of Bristol.
The dolphin is on the left, the salamander on the right, and the
wyvern on the top of the shield. At the time of the Saxon
Heptarchy, Leicester was the capital of Mercia, and the wyvern
was the crest of the Mercian king.

The Chairman now proceeds to address the meeting. He ex-
plains the principal figures and facts mentioned in the report, and
indicates the policy, and reasons for the policy, of the board.
These speeches are uniformly received with the hearty good- will
of the meeting. " Ours," as Mr. John Ellis used to say, " is a
sort of family affair. We know if we put our money into it we
can have it out again when we want it."

It is, however, to be regretted that the dignity and interest of
these meetings are sometimes imperilled by the persistent obtru-
siveness of one or two old-established bores. A bore which
pierces through a resisting substance till it lets in light, may,
even if unpleasant, be useful ; and a shareholder who could make
an effective attack upon any important part of the policy or ad-
ministration of a public company, or point out a more excellent
way in which its business could be conducted, and who could by
facts and figures sustain his argument, might be a benefactor.

444 AMUSING SCENES.

But that 500 men of business should be compelled to waste their
time in endeavouring to understand the half-audible, half-coherent
gentlemen who will explain the exact construction and the minu-
test details of the last new mare's nest that a lively imagination
or a defective arithmetic has provided, is a trial of patience which
ought not to be made, and for which an abrupt remedy would be
justifiable.

On some occasions the scene presented at the half-yearly
meeting has been full of excitement. In the special meeting,
January, 1868, probably 1,000 shareholders were present ; many
of the benches ordinarily employed having been removed to make
standing room for the throng to crowd more closely together.
Nothing, however, destroyed the good humour and the general
sense of confidence of the Midland proprietary ; and patiently
they " stood it out " for about three hours.

Amusing incidents sometimes occur. " I should not have
addressed this assembly," we heard a legal shareholder exclaim,
with forensic indignation, " had I not been invidiously pointed out
by my learned friend — if he will allow me to call him so — as the
gentleman with the blue necktie ; " and of course so monstrous
an imputation could not but be resented. Or fancy a speaker
standing on a window-sill, high above the heads of the seething
mass of shareholders, with legs outstretched and arms uplifted
with the passion of his elocution, wishing to know, as he had done
on a previous occasion, whether certain lines affiliated to the Mid-
land system were remunerative or not ; fancy his demanding, at
the topmost reach of his voice, " Mis-ter Chair-man, I want to
know a-bont our af-fi-li-ations ! " The whole audience turned to
look at the speaker, and roars of laughter drowned the rest of his
inquiry ; while a clergyman looking up and surveying through his
eyeglass the unabashed orator, remarked to a neighbour : " What
a beautiful conception, and what a happy delivery ! "

The directors of the Midland Company are 15 in number. Each
must be a holder of not less than £2,000 of Midland stock. It is
considered desirable that the directors should be resident in, and
to a certain extent be representatives of the chief towns or dis-
tricts through which the Midland line passes, and from which it
draws its resources.

In the appointment of directors they are, in the first instance1,

COMMITTEES OF THE BOARD. 445

nominated by the board ; the selection is afterwards confirmed by
the proprietors. At various times proposals have been made for
what has been called "popularising" the directorate. But the
arguments against such a course have been deemed conclusive ;
and some of the largest public companies that have till lately
favoured the other method, are finding it better that their boards
should take a more dii'ect initiative, in the selection of gentlemen
to fill up any vacanies that may arise.

The ordinary meetings of the board are held on the first
Wednesday in the month. The directors are also divided into
several committees, which deal with various departments of
administration. There is, first, the Way and Works Committee,
which has under its control the maintenance of the line and the
real estate of the Company, the construction of new sidings, and
the alteration or re-arrangement of stations. Secondly, there is
the Traffic Committee, which has under its cognizance all applica-
tions for private sidings, traffic arrangements with other companies,
memorials from the public for increased train or station accommo-
dation, additional wagons required, and compensation ; and the
appointment of servants for the traffic department has to be
sanctioned by this committee. Proposals for new lines are con-
sidered by the board. Thirdly, the Locomotive Committee, and
Carriage and Wagon Committees, deal with the accommodation
required for the conduct of those departments. It gives orders
for additional engines, and controls the remuneration paid to
servants in these departments. The rolling-stock of the Com-
pany is under its control. Fourthly, the Finance Committee deals
with financial matters ; provides the funds out of which payments
are made ; sees that the receipts for stocks and shares are properly
accounted for, and issues share certificates and coupons.

The next is, fifthly, the Construction Committee. It is divided
into two parts : the one takes under its cognizance all questions
of construction of lines that arise north and east of Derby; the
other of all those to the south of Derby and Lincoln. Sixthly,
there is the Parliamentary Committee, which sits when parlia-
mentary business is on, and determines what powers shall be
sought in the construction of new or the maintenance of old works.
Seventhly, the Stores Committee makes the yearly conti\acts for
the supply of the materials and stores required on all the old

446 THE SECRETARY.

lines. Each November certain standard makers are invited to
tender for a year for the articles usually required. The committee
then exercises its discretion as to which tenders it will accept.
Each committee superintends and checks the disbursements con-
nected with its department ; the signature of a member of that
committee is required to every voucher for a payment ; and the
voucher is also always certified by the chief officer of the depart-
ment. Finally, the General Purposes Committee, which consists
of the whole board, has submitted to it all questions involving
additional expenditure in new works, or alterations of old lines,
increase of rolling-stock, etc. These matters are brought forward
at one General Purposes Committee for considei*ation, and, if
approved, at another for confirmation.

Passing from the board to its officers, we may notice that the
Secretary is the legal representative of the Company. He keeps
the minutes of the board and of the various committees. He has
charge of the registers of stocks, shares, and loans, and also of the
deeds of conveyance of land to the Company. He receives all
money, pays accounts, and distributes the dividends. He negotiates
the terms on which the Company exercises its powers to borrow
under the various Acts of Parliament. He collects the rents ac-
cruing to the Company. He has the adjustment of the parochial
assessment of the Company's property, for the purposes of taxa-
tion, and pays the i-ates and taxes. This department includes
seven divisions. 1st, the Secretary ; 2nd, the Assistant-Secretary ;
3rd, the Debenture Stock and Loans Office ; 4th, the Transfer
Office; 5th, the Cashier; Gth, the Rents ; and 7th, the Rates and
Taxes. In these offices some forty clerks are employed.

Mr. James Williams took his first railway appointment in 1844 ;
was on the staff of the East Lancashire, and of the Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lancashire Companies; and was chief accountant of
the West Midland Railway. He also was engaged with a lai-ge
staff in Ireland, under the direction of the Irish Railways Com-
mission, and aided in the preparation of the report submitted in
1868. Mr. Williams became Secretary of the Midland Company,
Januaiy 1st, 1869.

In the remarkable development of the Midland system that has
taken place during the last few years, Sir James Allport had his
full share of responsibility and toil. His devotion to the interests

SIR JAMES ALLPORT.

448 SIR JAMES ALLPORT.

of the Company was, in the opinion at least of rivals, only too
absorbing ; and vehement are the attacks that have, in conse-
quence, sometimes been made upon him. Yet the heat of contro-
versy has generally been tempered with some admission of the
remarkable ability with which the policy of the Midland has been
defended. " I idmit, and I admit freely," said Mr. Liddell, in a
case in which ho was opposing the Midland Company, " and I
must compliment Mr. Allport on, his great accuracy, and his
singular power of answering complaints of this sort. I think it
a most remarkable thing, the manner in which he can answer
those complaints ; and that he has done it in many cases I
admit."

Such a life as that of Mr. Allport dui'ing the years that have
witnessed the development of the Midland system from what it
was to what it is, must necessarily have been a life of conflict. To
carry on negotiations that affected thousands of shareholders, tens
of thousands of travellers, and millions of money ; which has re-
tarded or hastened the growth of towns, the progress of commerce,
the social and political relations of the nation ; to have been con-
ceraed in events by which the lines of the Company were increased
to 1,200 miles in length, its capital to more than £50,000,000, and
its income to £5,000,000 a year, could not have been done without
a practical sagacity, a mastery of detail, and a persistency of will
which ought not to pass by unnoticed. Such services, it is true,
are not in themselves conspicuous, however conspicuous may be
the results ; but it is on that account they should be the more
clearly recorded on an occasion like the present. To sit hour after
hour, and day after day, giving evidence before a committee of
Parliament, explaining the policy of a company, and the justice or
expediency of a bill ; to be ready with an infinite variety of details,
and dates, and names, and negotiations, respecting the history and
administration of the Company ; to meet the designedly ambiguous
or misleading inquii'ies of opposing counsel ; to parry their astutely
delivered thrusts ; to show how a new treaty may be negotiated
without compi-omising the validity of an old one, and how a ne\v
line may be made into the territory of an old ally without a breach
of equity, — to do this before critical professional witnesses, while
every word is recorded for future reference and use ; and to do
this till the questions and answers fill a hundred and Jifty pages

THE SUPERINTENDENT. 449

folio consecutively : all this demands qualities which it will be
allowed are rare and remarkable.

On the retirement of Mr. Allport from the position of General
Manager he was succeeded by Mr. John Noble, J.P., who had for
some years occupied the position of Assistant General Manager.

The next department is that of the Superintendent. He has
charge of the running of the trains, the safe working of the line, and
the signal and other similar arrangements. The Goods Manager
has charge of the goods stations, and warehouses, and their contents.
When a goods train emerges from a goods department on to the
main line it is under the jurisdiction and care of the superinten-
dent till it again reaches a goods station. The signalling agents of
this department are of great importance. When a new line is
being completed, or an old one is altered, the superintendent has
to prepare a report of the description, the position, the instruments,
and the mode of working the signals which he considers should be
adopted, and to submit the report to the General Manager. He
has also to select the different ranks of servants that may be re-
quired : station-masters, clerks, signal-men, and porters ; — omitting
only those connected with the goods and the " way and works " ;
— and duly considering the nature of the positions to be occupied,
and the character, qualifications, and length of service of the per-
sons to be appointed.

While new berths are thus prepared, candidates are from time
to time coming forward. When additional men are required,
nomination forms are sent to the directors to ask if they have any
eligible persons to name. These lists being returned, and other
names being perhaps added, the candidates are sent for and exa-
mined, as to their height, health, age, eyesight, hearing, ability to
read any kind of writing, and so forth. Very occasionally in-
stances have been known in which the men have satisfied the
ordinary requirements of the examination, but have been afflicted
by colour blindness which might have interfered with jthe accuracy
of their reading of night signals. Porters for the passenger de-
partment are not accepted if they are less than 5 feet 8 inches
high, or for the goods if they are less than 5 feet 7 inches. Their
age must not exceed 25. These conditions being satisfied, the
name is put down on a list of " approved candidates," from which
appointments are made as vacancies arise. Ministers and school-

o a

450 SERVANTS OF THE COMPANY.

masters not unfrequently recommend clever lads, who have grown
up in their schools, for positions in the Company's service. If
there is primd facie evidence in their favour, they have a free pass
sent to them to come to Derby for examination ; and, if eligible,
and there are vacancies, they are appointed.

The duties of Station-Masters are varied and important. "We
have elsewhere * fully described them ; and we will content our-
selves here with simply quoting the words of a playful writer who
commented on the names of those employed in this service by the
Midland Railway Company. " There are," he says, " only ten
station-masters who can be represented under their true colours ;
these are seven Browns, two Whites, and one Green. The natu-
ralist will be surprised to learn that one Eagle, two Mai-tins, two
Foxes, and a Dolphin are employed by the Company, and may be
seen booking passengers and parcels to various parts of the country.
The geologist would find Stone at Gargrave, Cliff at Elslack, Hill
at Ben Rhydding, and Home at Armley. Botanists would have to
go to Rothwell Haigh to find one solitary Fearn, and the florist
would be delighted to find at Draycott a full-blown Rose each day,
whilst a Marigold is perpetually blooming at Wolverhampton.
Timber would appear to be scarce, as there is only one Poplar at
Dronfield, one Ash at Bentham, and a solitary Twigg at Unstone.
Fruits are anything but abundant, there being only one Cherry at
Southwell, a Nutt at Barnt Green, and a good-sized Plumb at
King's Norton ; though an Orchard exists at Sandiacre, and an
Appleyard at King's Cross. It appears absurd to keep Clay at
Sutton and Potters at Ketton and Loughton. Thei-e is a Furnace
at Cromford, a Brook at Ashwell, whilst Bells are kept at Not-
tingham Road and Hampton. And, oh, how the mighty are fallen !
two Kings, one Baron, three Knights, a Marshal, a Herald, a Judge,
and a Friar lustily call out the names of their respective stations
to thousands who little dream of their former greatness. For all
domestic purposes, four Cooks have been deemed sufficient ; but
only one Carver (though Moore could be had from Oakley if re-
quired). Tradesmen would find Turners at Woodlesford and
Bugsworth, Smiths at Stanton Gate and Settle, and a Skinner at
Duffield, whilst a Master could be had from Apperlcy Bridge, if
required. A Barber is kept constantly at Pinxton, Taylors at
* Sec " Our Iron Koads."

SUPERINTENDENT INSPECTORS. 451

Bud worth, Kentish Town, and Helpstone, and ready-made Coates
sufficient for two companies are always on hand at Barnsley. A
Miller is kept at Fishponds, and a Gardiner at Bristol. Histor-
ians will be surprised to learn that the Welsh reside at Barrow,
and the Scotts at Thorpe. To provide a dinner (unless you could
put up with a Fry from Gloucester), Salmon would have to be had
from Harpenden, Bice from Hitchen, and Porter from Badford,
whilst Salt would have to be procured from Basford, and Pepper
from Camp Hill. Entrees could be had from Walsall or Berkeley,
Jelly being kept at both stations. The Stocks are at Kilnhurst
as a warning to evil-doers, and per contra at Rawmarsh an Organ
has been sent for their use. The station-master at Great Bridge is
said to be Rich ; at Belfast, Little ; Kegworth, Cross ; Thurgaton,
Kind ; Little Eaton and Haslour, Sharpe ; Hazlewood, Swift ; and
Steeton, Wright. A full-rigged Ship has long been kept at Wis-
beach, and a Brigstock may be seen unfinished at Kirby Muxloe.
If only a Rivett is lost at Broughton, it may be found at Rolleston.
The facilities for recreation are great. You may Read at Willing-
ton, Hunt at Wilnecote and Gloucester, Gamble at Water Orton,
and admire the Rainbow at Eckington, in a very few hours. Eng-
lish geography has been taken great liberties with, and we are
asked to believe that Warwick is in Lincoln, Buckingham in Black-
well, Sunderland in Crouch Hill, Bolton in Terrington, and Buxton
in Hassop. We are also told that the East is at Stoke-on-Trent.
Yorke is where he is wanted, and the garden of Eden can be seen
at St. Albans. Two stations (which shall be nameless) are handed
over to the mercy of two living Savages. Finally, to be grave, the
Tombs are at Peak Forest, and the Saxton's house at Manning-
ham ; and, though truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, it is
notorious that only one Christian is to be found amongst the entire
number of the Company's servants ! "

An important service is rendered by what ai'e called " superin-
tendent inspectors." Each of these has a division of the line
allotted to him. Any irregularity that occurs in the Avoi'king of
the traffic, the running of the trains, or the conduct of the ser-
vants, is reported to the superintendent himself, and copies of
these reports arc sent to the inspector in whose district the circum-
stance occurred. Meanwhile, every guard of a train, as he goes
along, enters sundry memoranda in a book (from which at the

452 POINTSMEN AND GUARDS.

end of the day he makes out a journal on a sheet of paper), of the
work of the train, and the times of its arrival at and departure
from every station. He also mentions any detaching or coupling
of vehicles ; states any delay that may have arisen on the way, and
accounts for it. If these entries explain themselves, well and
good ; but if any further inquiry is needed, an extract is made
and handed over to the district inspector, who sees the parties
concerned, reports upon it, and states his conclusions and the
reasons for them.

Guards are usually appointed from the ranks of porters, and
are at first employed as occasional guards with extra trains. The
station-masters are asked to give the names of the porters who are
most competent for these purposes ; the candidates are then
searchingly examined by the superintendent in all the rules of the
Company as they affect the duties of guards, and especially in all
the regulations that are provided to insure the safety of the men
and the protection of passengers in any eventuality that may
arise. The men who are approved are then put on as " porter
guards ; " those porters who prove themselves most efficient in
such services are eventually appointed as full guards. In addition
to the ordinary guards, there are a number of what are called
inspector guards, one of whom is selected to take charge of each
excursion train, a duty involving special responsibilities and care,
and all the other guards of that train are under his control.

Pointsmen have very responsible duties. The posts at which
they serve are arranged into three classes : 1. There are the most
important junctions on the system. 2. The less important junc-
tions, and where the traffic is smaller and the complications fewer.
3. The ordinary sidings and minor posts. The men enter the third
class first. Their conduct must be good for a twelvemonth
uninterruptedly before they can have an advance. In addition
the first class men have a bonus of £o every Christmas if they
have not been guilty of offence against the rules of the Company
Involving punishment. Clerks are first taken at the age of 14 to
17, and are gradually trained and promoted in the Company's
service.

W may add that the Superintendent of the Midland Railway
is Mr. e dham. He was engaged on the Birmingham and Derby
line when Mr. Allport, Mr. Kirtley, and Mr. Walklate were con-

TICKETS. 453

nected with it. He has occupied several positions of importance
on the Midland system: as station-master at Birmingham, as
district superintendent at Leicester, as outdoor superintendent,
and now for many years as superintendent.

There are two branches connected with his department on which
it may be interesting to our readers to dwell.

" There are about a hundred acres of tickets used on the railways
of the kingdom every year," we recently remarked to a friend.

" How in the world do you make that out ?" he asked.

" Well," we replied, laughing at his scepticism, "in order to make
the calculation easy for your intellect by using round numbers,
suppose we say that 100 tickets would occupy a square foot."

"Thank you," he replied ; "I admit it."

"And as there are nine square feet in a square yard, that would
be 900 tickets for a yard ; or, in round numbers again, say 1,000."

" Granted."

"Well, then, there are 4,840, or, for simplicity's sake, let us put
it at 5,000 square yards in an acre ; so that would make 5,000,000
tickets for an acre ; and as about 500 millions of passengers travel
by railway in a year, we may conclude that they require 100 acre/;
of tickets to satisfy their enormous demands. As gross receipts
from passengers amount to about £25,000,000 a year, we may con-
sider that these bits of paper come to be worth about a shilling
each on the average."

"Well," he said, " you've an odd way of suiting the laws of arith-
metic to your private convenience ; but you seem to be right."

We may now notice the measures that are adopted for the pro-
duction of railway tickets, and the various stages of their brief
but significant history. The cardboard of which they are made
is usually supplied direct and complete in shape and colour from
the manufacturers, in boxes of about 50,000 each, at a cost of about
a shilling a thousand. The colours are various, according to the
class of carriage for which they are to be used, and the ordinary
or special service for which they are wanted. On the Midland
line seven plain colours are employed — that is when the ticket is
of uniform colour ; and besides there are some half white and half
yellow, or red and blue, or drab and green. Others have a broad
band of one colour crossing a card of perhaps two other colours,
and others have five bands alternating ; white, red, blue, or green.

454 TICKETS.

Certain colours are for " down " line, and certain others for " up "
line trains. The exceptional colours are for excursion trains, and
for the different classes of excursionists, and are varied as occasion
may require. The reason why so much diversity is employed is
hecause it sometimes happens that excursion tickets are issued for
two or three succeeding days ; and by a different coloured ticket
being issued for each day, the collector can tell at a glance that the
one handed to him is the right one for that day. There are also, for
many stations, market tickets. Picnic tickets are the ordinary day
tickets endorsed.

The printing of the tickets is effected by an ingeniously con-
structed machine. If instructions are put on the back of the tickets,
this is by a separate process and with black ink. All being com-
pleted, the tickets are placed in a kind of tube or hopper, down which
they descend, and from wrhich they are drawn one by one across a
printing machine, which performs upon them two operations, the
one the printing and the other the more difficult one of giving the
consecutive numbering. This little instrument is so ingenious^
contrived that if any difficulty arises, and the consecutive numbering
does not go forward in perfect order, a spring is released, which
rings a bell, the attention of the attendant is arrested, and he at
once proceeds to ascertain the cause of the irregularity. On this
point the greatest care is taken, as on no account must any tickets
with duplicate numbers be permitted to be issued.

The number of tickets usually allowed to a railway station is a
six months' supply ; but the actual number this may represent
varies endlessly. In one instance for a particular ticket a six
months' supply may be only 50, in another case it may mean
10,000. The demand at the station for more tickets is sent, in the
first instance, to the audit office, with a specification of the station,
and route for which they are required, the number, colour, class,
and description (that is, whether they are " single " or " return "),
and also the last progressive number that was issued, and the last
progressive number that is on hand. If this requisition is ap-
proved, it is forwarded to the ticket printing department, and
executed. Orders for excursion tickets are issued direct from the
superintendent's office.

The number of tickets thus produced for the service of a large
company is enormous. Each printing- machine will, if allowed to

THE BOOKING-CLERK. 455

proceed, print 5,000 or 6,000 an hour ; but changes have very fre-
quently to be made that arrest its activities. Sometimes only five
tickets are required before the type has to be changed ; and some-
times the machine runs its course undisturbed till 10,000 are
completed. From 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 may be wanted by one
company in a year ; yet so excellent are the arrangements made,
and so respectable are the men employed, that during the thirty
years through which this service for the Midland Company has
been under the direction of Mr. Mills, of Derby, no instance has
occurred of any ticket having been misused by one of his employes.

After the tickets are printed by the department and received
by the station, they come under the cai'e of the booking-clerk.
This office is of quite modern creation. When railways were first
opened for passenger traffic, the precedent of the old coaching days
was followed : the traveller had to give his name, and to pay his
money, and then his seat was "booked," the written receipt for
the money serving as his ticket ; and the names of " booking
office " and of " booking-clerk " survive. Under his custody the
tickets have to be arranged in their order and class, and so arranged
that they are accessible at a moment's notice in compliance with
the imperative demands of paterfamilias, who, arriving at the
station at the last moment before the train is due to start, has
under his parental care three small children, who cannot be
made to stand still, and three trucks of luggage which three several
porters seem intent upon wheeling away in three divergent direc-
tions, while he is endeavouring at the very same instant to secure
his tickets, to provide the " needful," and to count the change;

In order to meet the hurried demands thus made upon the book-
ing-clerk, many ingenious arrangements have been devised within
the narrow confines of his office. The walls of the booking-office
are provided with ticket-boxes or tubes, each of which contains a
certain number of tickets, numbered, as we have already remarked,
consecutively. These tubes are made of wood with metal rims,
and are so constructed that the whole column of tickets in them
lies sloping downwards in front, while at the bottom there is a
small opening front way, through which one ticket, and no more,
will slide. As the weight of the column always presses upon the
slanting bottom ticket, it will spring forward at the least touch,
and thus the booking-clerk is enabled to get what he wants by the

45G TICKETS.

mere touch of one of his fingers. Having slipped the ticket from
the tube, he pushes it under the stamp which prints the date ; he
then takes the money, calculates the change, and pays it from
small round bowls containing gold, silver, and copper ; and all in
less time than it takes to tell.

On the departure of the train a further duty devolves upon the
station clerk. He has to make an entry of the number and classes
of tickets he has issued, and the destinations of the travellers. How
is this to be done ? Easily, through the ingenious arrangements
provided. When the clerk takes a ticket from the tube, he con-
trives, by a dexterous movement of his finger, to draw the next ticket
a little forward, so that it shall stick out a little, and serve as a
tell-tale. The train having gone, the clerk glances round for the
protruding tickets, and can see at once to what stations and for
what classes tickets have been issued. He goes to one of them.
It is, we will say, a first-class for Manchester, and is numbered 1,019 ;
and, on reference to his book, he learns that the last ticket issued
for the last train but one was 1,000. It is accordingly evident that
for the train just gone 18 first-class tickets have been sold, the
value of which comes to so much money. The consecutive num-
bers of the tickets and the amount received for them are entered
in the columns provided for the purpose.

Amusing incidents sometimes occur in the collection of tickets.
A few years ago we were in a train that had stopped at the
ticket platform. A hulking boy of about fourteen offered a half
ticket. " You're more than twelve," said the inspector. " No, I
ain't," returned the lad. " Well, then," he replied, looking him all
over, amid the amusement of the passengers and the confusion of
the youth, " all I can say is, you're an uncommon fine boy for your
age." But a newer excuse has lately been given. " This your boy,
ma'am ? " inquired a collector of a country woman ; " he's too big
for a 'alf ticket." " Oh, is he ? " replied the mother. " Well, per-
haps he is, noiv, Mister ; but he wasn't when he started. The train
is ever so much behind time, — has been ever so long on the road, —
and he's a growing lad ! "

The police and the detective department of a great railway is a
subject on which we might say much, but on which, obviously, it
behoves us to say little. It is unfortunate that such an institution
should be necessary ; yet necessary it is, not only for the discovery

THE DETECTIVE DEPAETMENT. 457

of offences committed by the few dishonest men who may find their
way into the Midland Company's army of many thousand men, but
also to guard against the eccentricities — to use a mild term — of the
public themselves. So, having some curiosity to know something
about this department of human industry and ingenuity, we had an
interview with one who was well qualified to inform us.

"Well, yes," he said; "we've a goodish bit of work to do, of
one kind or another. There are the waiting-room loiterers, who
walk off with passengers' luggage that doesn't belong to them ;
and sometimes our own men go wrong, and we have to ' run them
in,' or to get a 'creep' (a warrant) to search their houses.
There's one fellow now who used to be in the Company's service
who is ' Avanted.' "

" And so you have a regular staff who do the detective business
of your Company ? "

"Not a very 'regular' staff," he replied, smiling; "for I'm
afraid they are rather irregular in their ways and words, and
even appearance. But they do their work all the better for that,
you know."

" Perhaps so," we "answered. " And your men find themselves
in rather odd cii^cumstances sometimes P "

" Why, yes. We have had a man lie under a heap of straw
three days and nights, waiting to see who would come and fetch
away a roll of cloth that had been hidden there. And we've had
another ride on a truck sheeted down all the way from London to
Glasgow ; and what with the shunting and the shaking, he had
rather a baddish time of it before he had done. In fact, he
suffered so much that we don't of ten do that now ; but we have had
holes bored in the front and back of the covered goods trucks, so
that men inside can see forard and aft, as the sailors say. At first
we had only a few done ; and when it was found what they were
for, they came to be regarded with suspicion ; and a porter, seeing
one, would hammer it as he went by, and sing out, ' Who are you
inside ? How are you, old fellow ? ' But now we've had so many
done that nobody can tell whether they are in use or not for our
purposes ; and it's more comfortable riding in one of them than
lying flat on our face under a tarpaulin. And almost the first time
we used a bored truck we made a haul."

" How did you manage that ? "

458 PRECAUTIONS.

" Well, you know Stretton sidings. It's a lonely place in a
cutting just this side of the tunnel. One of GUI- goods trains was
robbed. It used to take wine, among other things, to the North ;
the wine casks were broached. We put two men into a bored
truck, to watch the train from end to end, whenever it stopped.
It went all right till it reached Stretton sidings, where it had to
be shunted for an express to pass. No sooner was the ' goods '
safe in the sidings than the driver left his engine, and, helped by
the signalman, uncovered a truck that carried wine, drew a lot off
into buckets, gave some of it to the signalman and brakesman, and
took the rest on to the engine for the stoker and himself. It was
a regular plant. My men saw it all, but they knew it was no use
to show themselves, for if they had then and there taken the
offenders into custody, there was no one to drive the engine. So
they were allowed to finish their little game at their leisure ; and,
after the express had passed, the ' goods ' followed, and went right
on to Masboro,' where plenty of help could be obtained, and where
they (driver and stoker) were taken into custody, and the buckets
were found wet with the wine."

Perhaps the chief difficulty in the prevention of offences of this
kind among railway servants arises from the false code of honour
which exists among the men themselves, — a code, unhappily,
found also elsewhere, — which hinders them from actively repressing
crimes which they would not themselves commit, or even perhaps
countenance, but which they will not expose. " You'll do that
once too often, mate," they will say to an offender ; but beyond a
mild remonstrance they will seldom or never go ; and should in-
quiries be made in regard to thefts which they must have seen,
their powers of observation will be found to have been singularly
circumscribed, and their memories singularly treacherous. The
culprits are thus, if not encouraged, yet connived at, and perhaps
go on from bad to worse, till they are ruined ; their companions
are suspected and compromised, and perhaps demoralized ; their
employers are robbed, and no one is really benefited by acts which,
if the honest workman would simply resolve at all costs should not
be done, would not be done.

But if the men are at fault in these matters, the public are not
blameless. Claims are made by respectable firms for robberies
which took place, not when the goods were on the railway, but

AN EXPLOSIVE REPUDIATION. 459

before they left the warehouse, and the yawning vacuity which the
consignees discovered in the hamper at the end of the journey
might also have been found by the consignor before it left his
premises. But manufacturers always assume the spotless inno-
cence of their own servants and the exceptional depravity of
railway people ; and the most distant hint to an employer that
possibly some mistake was made in packing his goods, will some
times lead to as explosive a repudiation as if his own honour
was assailed.

An illustration of this sort of thing recently occurred. A claim
had been sent in to a railway company for two dozen pairs of boots,
which, it was alleged, had been stolen while on the journey. *' I
examined the hamper myself ," said a chief of the detective depart-
ment to the writer, " and I was certain that it could not possibly
have held the quantity of boots said to have been packed in it.

So I went over to L , to see the head of the firm. I was shown

into a little office, with windows all round, and with a glazed door
at the entrance. A bland-looking white-haired venerable gentle-
man received me. I stated my errand, inquired some particulars,
suggested some difficulties, and at length ventured vaguely to hint
the inquiry whether it was possible that some error might have
been made by his people. In a moment the blandness of the
venerable-looking gentleman had gone. ' Do you mean to say, sir,'
he exclaimed, as he rose from his oak arm-chair, ' that my people
have robbed me, sir, and robbed you, sir? I know what you're
driving at, sir, but I won't have my servants insulted, and I won't
be insulted by you, sir. I shall communicate with your directors,
sir, and I wish you, sir,' he almost screamed out, as he took hold
of the office door, before which I made a rapid retreat as he
slammed it vehemently in my face — ' I wish you, sir, A VEKY GOOD
MORNING, SIR ! ' I expected and hoped that every atom of glass in
the door would have been shivered, but I am sorry to say it
survived ; and I expect," added the detective in a subdued tone,
" that the bland-looking gentleman has ever since been sending all
his goods by the London and North Western, which is our chief
competitor for traffic in that town."

" Yes," he continued, after some other remarks, " we are always
changing our plans. The thief never knows when he is safe — in fact,
never is safe. The man whom he thinks so innocent a companion, —

460 "EAST COME, EASY GO."

a greenhorn, he fancies, — is perhaps the very one who was sent to
watch his movements ; and the next day as he stands in the dock
will be a witness against him." The slice of Melton pork-pie so gene-
rously presented to an apparent accomplice was actually given to a
detective in disguise. Every detail of the incident was immediately
reported to the superintendent, and steps were taken accordingly.
The jobber, as he seemed to be, who leaned with folded arms on. the
pig-sty wall, and congratulated the owner on the fat sides of his
pigs, and slyly suggested that they must have had a nice bit of
cheap barley, knew as well as the porter who owned them that
the barley had not slipped out of the sacks quite accidentally.

Even when thieves have run all the hazards of their craft, and
have securely possessed themselves of the property of others, they
are seldom really enriched. It is " easy come, easy go " with those
who rob railways. They prey upon others ; but others prey upon
them. Many an illustration might be given, but one will suffice.
A. certain railway porter had stolen a roll of ribbed trouser cloth,
and, fearing to keep it in his possession, resolved to dispose of it
to a Jew tailor, who was known not to be unwilling to purchase
such articles at a low figure. On entering the shop with his
bundle he was cordially received by the clothier, who guessed the
nature of his errand. "And vaat can I do for you, my tear? "
the man of business tenderly inquired. " Well, you see — I'm a
porter, and I've got a bit of cloth, you. know, that I came lucky by "
(a technical term). " Quite right, my tear; and ow mootch have
you. got ? and ow mootch do you want for it ? " " Well, I don't
knoAV," replied the porter ; " you see I haven't measured it, but I
want the most I can get for it." " All right," said the Jew ; and
then looking sideways through his shop window down the street,
he suddenly exclaimed, " I say, man, koot, koot." " What do you
mean ? " urged the surprised vendor. " Koot your stick," con-
tinued the Jew, " through my back door, and run your hardest,
the police are coming," and he lifted up the movable lid of his
counter to facilitate the escape of the porter, who, leaving his
ill-gotten wealth upon the counter, was not slow to avail himself
of the advice given, and who felt considerable relief when, having
passed through the kitchen and yard of the clothier, he found
himself in another street, safe out of harm's way, and no policeman
in sight.

A JEW CLOTHIEE.

461

Next day, nothing doubting, the porter called again, and after
passing and repassing, to make sure the Jew was within, entered
the shop. " Good morning," said the porter. " Good morning,
young man," returned the Jew, with a little reserve of manner.
" Vaat can I do for you ? " " Oh, I called about that bit of stuff,
you know." " Bit of vaat ? " inquired the Jew. " The bit of cloth
I left here yesterday — you remember." " Bit of cloth you left here
yesterday ? " returned the man of business, with an air of what
our French friends call " pre-occupation " and reserve, " Vaat do
you mean, young man?" "Why, you know," continued the
porter, with emphasis, " I brought a bit of cloth yesterday to sell
you — a bit I'd come lucky by." " Vaat ! to my haus — you brought

PUNCH-BOWL BEIDGE, LOW BENTHAM, LANCASHIRE.

it here ! Vy, I never see you before in ma life. Tell me vaat you
mean."

So the man repeated in emphatic words, how that he had come
the clay before with a roll of cloth, how that he was going to sell
it, and that they were talking about the price when they were
interrupted by a policeman passing along the street, and " you
know," he added, " I left the cloth just here, and went out the
back way through your house and yard." But so monstrous an
imputation upon his reputation the Jew could no longer resist.
" Judith, my tear," he called out at the top of his voice to his
daughter, — " Judith, my tear, fetch a policeman ; here is a railway
porter who has robbed his master, and wants to bring disgrace
upon a respectable tradesman." And Judith hied herself out into

462 THE GOODS MANAGEE.

the street in apparently hot pursuit of a minister of justice.
There was no time to be lost. The terrified railway servant per-
formed a strategic movement down the street in the opposite
direction, leaving behind him for ever his ill-gotten spoils in the
possession of the tender-hearted and scrupulous Israelites.

The position of Manager of the Goods Department of the
Midland Company is occupied by Mr. Newcombe. He was
formerly a carrier by road and railway, having conveyances
working in connection with Chaplin and Home, and Carver and
Co., between all the chief towns in England and Scotland. Tn the
year 1850, owing to the principal railway companies having
determined to become their own carriers, and generally to dis-
pense with the services of agents, Mr. Newcombe accepted the
post of goods manager under the York, Newcastle, and Berwick
Railway Company, at Newcastle. In 1855 he was appointed
general goods and mineral manager of the Great Western, the
head-quarters of which were at Paddington. Two years after-
wards he was appointed to be general manager of the Midland
Railway, consequent upon Mr. Allport's retirement to engage in
iron shipbuilding, at Jarrow ; in 1860, Mr. Allport left the firm
with which he had been connected, and Mr. Newcombe was in-
duced to give up the post of general manager to enable Mr. Allport
to resume it. The board also arranged for his removal to London,
to organize and conduct the Company's carting arrangements,
which had been performed by Pickford and Co. This post he held
for eight years, when at the death of Mr. Walklate, in 1868, he
was appointed general goods and mineral manager.

The duties of the goods manager include the arrangement of
trains for all goods and mineral traffic ; the fixing and quoting of
all rates for goods and general merchandise ; the purchase and
distribution of horses and all vehicles used in the shunting and
cartage operations of the Company ; the supervision of the entire
goods and mineral staff of the Company; the appointment of
agents, clerks, and porters, subject to the approval of the board ;
attendance at conferences of various companies; and general
management, working, and conduct of all matters relating to the
goods and mineral traffic of the Midland Company.

On the vast and multitudinous arrangements by which, in the
chief towns of England and in hundreds of smaller ones, such a

ST. PANCEAS GOODS STATION. 463

department does its work, we cannot dilate. But it may give
some vividness to our understanding of the method of operation,
if we visit one principal goods station, say St. Pancras, at 10 o'clock
some night, and see what is going forward.

Having secured the assistance of a competent and courteous
guide, we pass on amid the glancing of railway lights, the sound
of passing trains, and the clatter of ponderous vehicles, to the
" Outwards " department of the great goods shed. If all is dark
without, all is light within. This " Outwards " platform, on which
we are now standing, runs the length of the shed from north to
south, — a distance which, with the additions now being made, will
be 1,000 feet or so from end to end. On the left of this platform
is the " van dock " in which the vans are standing ; on the right is
the " truck dock," where the train has been placed which is now
being loaded. All the morning and afternoon vehicles have been
coming in loaded to enormous heights with the cargoes they have
obtained at the London " receiving offices " of the Company, at the
Castle and Falcon, Regent's Circus, the Borough, and elsewhere ;
and now the business is at its height.

The appearance at first presented is one of inextricable con-
fusion. Vehicles are rattling in and out of the yard ; innumerable
and mighty heaps of bales, barrels, hampers, crates, baskets, and
bundles, throng the platform, and seem to become every moment
more numerous and more vast ; workmen run hither and thither
with little trucks loaded with goods of all sorts and sizes ; cranes
swing round in all directions, and the chaos seems to be complete.
But as we grow familiar with the scene, we find that order prevails.
We notice that the vans, as they enter the shed, are at once placed
under the orders, no longer of the drivers, but of " van shunters,"
who, with their horses, do nothing else but regulate the move-
ments of the vans, so that no place all along the " van dock " is
unfilled, or filled by the wrong vehicle. At the present moment
some eighty of them — all backed up to the left-hand edge of the
platform — are discharging their contents under the hands of a
hundred men, in four-and-twenty gangs, each with its checker,
loader, and barrow-men. Besides these there are ten capstan lads
and their foremen ; the train setters and their foremen ; and the
superintendent in charge of the whole.

The " Outwards " platform is arranged in some twenty different

464 ST. PANCKAS GOODS STATION.

" berths," as they are called, named after the principal towns to
which the Midland runs, and distinguished as such by the names
hanging overhead on great wooden labels — Birmingham, Bristol,
Liverpool, Leeds, Bradford, etc. The goods intended for these
different destinations are brought into these divisions respectively.
No sooner is the train marshalled in its dock on the right-hand
side the platform than the " truckers " bring forward the goods to
be loaded, or the cranes are worked by machinery, and " forthwith
a huge bale, or a heavy forging, is seen dangling in the air, and is
swung round and deposited in the truck or wagon as tenderly as a
mother would place her sleeping child in its cradle." In the trucks
themselves, the loaders are at work reducing the incoherent heaps
of goods into compact masses of cargo, and so adjusted that they
shall not suffer by friction or shaking on their hurried journey.

The first chief down train is the 2.35 ; it contains fruit, butter,
and wool. The fruit is from the South of England, the Channel
Islands, and France, and it goes to the midland counties and
Manchester. Twenty tons of apples and plums a day throughout
the season is not unusual, and sometimes forty tons of oranges in
a night ; each box, containing from one to two hundredweight,
must sweeten a good many mouths. The wool conies from the
London wool warehouses, where it has changed hands at the
periodical wool sales, which last perhaps a couple of months at a
time, and which supply an almost continuous traffic of wool to the
North for eight or nine months of the year.

The variety of goods thus despatched is enormous. Grocery and
tea from the docks and bonded warehouses furniture, made in
London, but unfinished, — " in the white " it is called, — to receive
the last touches of the cabinetmaker's and of the polisher's art
when it reaches its destination, and is not in such danger of being
scratched or injured by a journey ; carriage-builders' work in the
same condition, and for the same reasons ; drugs from the whole-
sale houses for country druggists ; skins from Bermondsey ;
mustard from Colman's at Norwich ; spirits (especially gin) from
the London distillers ; and oil, and a thousand commodities besides,
are consigned by metropolitan merchants and traders to the care
of the I'ailroad for their country customers. The principal work
on the " Outwards " platform has to be accomplished within a
specified period, namely, between about 2 o'clock in the afternoon,

ST. PANCEAS GOODS STATION. 465

and say 4 o'clock the next morning. This pressure is unavoidable.
The chief articles sold in London during the day cannot be packed
by the owners and obtained by the Company except in the course
of that day. The amounts brought in are constantly increasing
as the afternoon wears on, and the business from 8 o'clock in the
evening till midnight is at its height. From that time it slackens,
the last express goods leaving at 2.25 in the morning, and then
there are two " clearing up " trains, as they are called, to finish up
with. The goods received at 6 o'clock to-night at the railway
receiving offices, have to be delivered in Yorkshire by 7 o'clock
next morning, as rapidly as the Post Office delivers its letters ; and
so numerous and weighty are the trains, that each must be des-
patched to a minute at the time appointed in the working time-
tables, failing which there will be on the part of the authorities at
Derby — to use the expressive phrase of a subordinate — a "tre-
mendous noise."

We now cross over from the western or " Outwards " platform
to the eastern or " Inwards." It also occupies the whole line from
north to south of the goods shed, one side being bounded by the
trucks dock, the other by the van dock. The procedure on this
side is simply the reverse of that upon the other ; instead of
goods being received by road from the metropolis, to be sent into
the country by rail, goods are received by rail from the country to
be sent into the metropolis, chiefly by road. There is, however,
on this side an even greater diversity of goods than upon the
other. London produces a great multitude of articles which it
forwards to the provinces for consumption ; but London receives a
still greater multitude for its own use — in fact, every conceivable
article under the s'un. No wonder, then, that upon the "Inwards"
platform we find cases of hardware from Birmingham, casks of
shoes from Leicester, hampers of lace from Nottingham, agri-
cultural implements from Lincoln, crates of earthenware from
Staffordshire, skips of lint from Chesterfield for Guy's Hospital,
boxes of biscuits from Beading, sacks of seed from Wisbeach, hats
from Luton, mangles from Keighley, ale from Burton, castings
from Leeds, tins of butter from Liverpool, whisky from Glasgow,
trusses of canvas and bales of hides from Leith, and last, but not
least, " mild cured Cumberland bacon " direct from the United
States !

II H

406 ST. PANCRAS GOODS STATION.

Let us watch the process of unloading. There are five-and-
thirty wagons now alongside the platform. The side of each is let
down, and is resting on the edge of the platform, so as to form a
bridge across which the little trucks may be run direct into the
body of the wagon. The " checker " places himself alongside the
wagon with the invoice in hand, which has come from the " sending
station," and which shows what were the contents of the truck
when it was despatched. Another man, named a " caller-off "
assisted by two porters, rolls the goods out of the wagon, or lifts
them out with the crane, and the " caller-off " shouts out to the
checker the name and address upon the package, or the private
mark which is used as the equivalent. The checker examines his
invoice, and if he finds a corresponding entiy, checks it off. Mean-
while, you must take care of your head, for the crane is at work,
and the facile application by hydraulic pressui-e of Bessemer steel
to human skulls would not be pleasing. " Facile " we may truly
say, for the motion is as easy and as rapid as can be desired. First
the crane picks up a crate of earthenware from Hanley, weighing
fourteen or fifteen hundredweight ; next a case of hardware from
near Wolverhampton ; and then the truckers run in, and bring
out bags of nails, half a hundredweight each, scythes, a bicycle,
a royal prize, and a few dozen other articles which completed the
load. The truck is now clear, and as soon as room can be made
for the operation it will be run on to the "traverser," and at once
drawn sideways on to the next line of rails, or perhaps right
across to the " Outward " lines, where it will be ready to be re-
marshalled and re-loaded as part of the next down train.

We now enter a " lift," and in a few seconds have reached the
floor above, and are in a room used as a store for goods that have
lost their owners, or that have been damaged, or that await the
order of the consignee. From hence we pass into the cheese-room,
which is set apart for the convenience of one American cheese
merchant, who sometimes has here a stock of 14,000 or 15,000
cheeses, each enclosed in a wooden box, the shape of the cheese,
and each weighing about half a hundred-weight. They are dated
according to their dairies, and each is marked with the dis-
tinguishing brand.

The next apartment is a vast general warehouse for goods that
are waiting orders, but it might, we think, be called "the bottle

ST. PANCEAS GOODS STATION. 4G7

room." Here are bottles innumerable, in crates, in cases, or in
" mats " only, containing a gross each ; bottles for wine and
spirits, for salads and sauces, for fruits and pickles, for oils and
medicines ; bottles for the doctors and (with the broad arrow,
" the rogues' mark " as it is called) for the Government, besides
glass pestles and mortars, and measuring glasses, by which physic
can be administered, if the patient prefers, a quart as a dose.
These bottles come chiefly from Castleford, Swinton, and Mex-
borough, but also from Scotland and elsewhere. We find in one
part of this room a Government inspector who has a department
here, and who examines one by one the bottles and stoppers which
the contractors have sent, before they are packed up for despatch
to the India stores in Belvedere Road for transmission to the
East. In this room we observe casks nearly filled with sand,
ready to be used for the extinction of fire, for which in some in-
stances it is more effective than water.

The scale on which business is done at such a station is enormous.
The van that for a moment stops the way as we leave the " In-
wards " contains a dozen huge rolls of paper intended for a Lon-
don daily journal. We notice upon one the words " 5,863 yards,"
weighing " 598 net lb.," so that there are three miles of paper in
that roll, and thirty miles of it in the van. The amount of meat
and fish received in this station is large. Forty or fifty tons of
mackerel or of white herrings will be delivered in a day. Dead
meat from the midland counties, and even from Scotland and
Ireland, comes in regulai'ly, and sometimes 100 trucks of live
cattle will arrive for the cattle-market days. The range of build-
ings hard by, with the name of Messrs. Bass conspicuously painted
at the corner, is 300 feet square ; each of the three floors is two
acres in extent, and each contains 30,000 barrels of 36 gallons of
ale ; while the minerals received at St. Pancras, including those
sent to the other London stations of the Midland Company, amount
to some 700,000 tons per annum ; enough to fill 100,000 trucks,
or 2,000 a week ; enough in a year to make a coal train that would
stretch nearly 300 miles long, or from London to Newcastle-on-
Tyne.

A vast extension of the St. Pancras Goods Station is now in
course of construction on the west side of the present terminus.
One of the first parts taken in hand was the screen wall surround-

4G8

LOCOMOTIVE DEPAETMENT.

ing the property, about 30 feet high by nearly 3 feet thick, and
nearly 3,250 feet in length. It is faced with Leicestershire red
brick, the inner portion being of Staffordshire blue bricks set in
cement, about 8,000,000 bricks being used. The elevation on
Euston Road is tastefully ornamented with Mansfield stone, and
the brilliant Oxfordshire red brick for the " gauged " work in
arches and quoins. At the northern end of the Midland Road the
arches which carry the rails from the main line to the siding have
been fitted as offices which will let for about £50 per annum.

LOCOMOTIVE DEPABTMENT, DEKBY.

The entrances for vans and carts will be guarded by sliding doors
and hammered iron gates, which will show that this kind of iron-
work is certainly not a lost art in this country.

Entering at one of the imposing gateways the visitor will see
a forest of pillars. These iron columns, of which there are about
400, are required to support the permanent way of the miles of
goods siding to be laid down on the level of the main line. This
will certainly be the largest high level goods station in this coun-
try, and probably in the world.

The locomotive establishment of a great railway company is

EBECTING SHOPS. 469

obviously one of its most important .departments. To provide
engine power enough, and not too much, for the work to be done ;
to be prepared for any contingencies that may arise by increase of
traffic or otherwise, without being lavish in outlay ; to keep every
one of the 5,416 pieces, of which an engine is composed, in good
order; to have some 1,374 such engines and tenders in their pro-
per places, and at the right time ; and to have effective command
of the 7,000 or so men engaged in the various branches of this one
department, — this is to occupy a responsible and influential
position.

The arrangements of the locomotive establishment at Derby
have recently undergone considerable alterations and enlargement.
Of late years a large area of new buildings has been finished,
and changes have been effected which have made the locomotive
works as effective and as capacious as any in the kingdom.

The new erecting and fitting shops form a vast and complete
building. It contains three bays of 50 feet span each, and along-
side, and connected with it by large arches, a fitting shop, with
three bays 40 feet span. The whole is 450 feet long. There
are also new iron and brass foundries, together with large copper-
smiths' shop, boiler- makers' and smiths' shops, all placed in con-
venient positions for not only the new additions but also the
existing workshops. All these are of equally liberal dimensions
with the erecting and fitting shop.

When an engine is brought into this erecting shop, it is drawn
along the centre road of one of the bays till it arrives at the point
where it is wanted. It is then taken bodily up by a travelling
crane, and lifted on to the right or left pit, as one might lift a baby
out of one cradle into another alongside of it. When the repairs are
completed, the engine is taken up again, and placed on the centre
line of rails, to be drawn out of the shop. Every arrangement is
made for the simultaneous repair or erection of about 70 engines :
this, with the addition of the present erecting shops, gives a re-
pairing capacity of about 120 engines.

We enter the erecting shops, three in number : two set apart for
passenger engines, and one large shop for goods engines repairs,
" rebuilds," and new engines. In the first two of these are engines
of various kinds, sizes, and ages, in various stages of reconstruc-
tion. In the third we see a mere frame resting on an iron table ;

470 THE TUKNERY.

the next has its boilei' and firebox in position, and men are at work
inside the firebox, lighted by gas jets, supplied through flexible
india-rubber tubing ; others are in the pit beneath the engine,
while one is standing high up on the top of the boiler, busily en-
gaged at some part of the dome. Farther on are groups of men
fixing together the cylinders, slide-bars, and motion plates, etc., all
of which require the most accurate adjustment. Then we find one
under the hands of those who are clothing the naked iron loins of
the boiler with bands of wood, to keep in the heat of the boiling
water ; these bands in their turn being kept in their places by
strips of iron, while the whole are covered with thin sheet-iron
plates. After a few finishing touches from the fitters, the engine
is ready to go into the hands of the painter, there to receive the
usual coats of stopping up, priming, painting, and varnishing,
previous to the introduction to its daily labours.

In other parts of the shop may be seen men adjusting the tubes,
160 to 225 of which are required for an engine. " We are now
using only two types of boilers," remarks our friend, who ac-
companies us through the works, " one standard being adopted for
passenger engines, and one for goods. Instead of having a lot
of different sizes, we make only two : 30 or 40 sets are put in hand
at once, and any one part of a boiler will do for any other boiler
of the same standard, which is an immense boon." Small engines
are fitted with special boilers ; and, " only when worthless, are
scrapped." The erecting shops are supplied with powerful
travelling cranes, traversing from one end of the shop to the
other. These are all driven by a small endless cord or band, not
more than | inch diameter, yet so arranged that they can lift
from 25 to 30 tons as readily as the same number of hundred-
weights. The shops are also heated in winter with steam, and
the pits are supplied with ga,s through flexible pipes.

Leaving the erecting shop, we enter the Lower Turnery. The
sight which here presents itself is striking. The whole place, and
it is very large, seems alive ; wheels, shafts, and bands, above and
below, in endless variety of revolution. Planing, slotting, shaping,
and drilling machines ; axles, cylinder, crank-turning, and screw-
cutting lathes, and other machines ; and each and all attended with
a busy host of white-jacketed men standing and moving about in
every direction : a combination that in itself presents, with its

WHEEL-TURNING SHOPS. 471

throng of men, its whirl of straps and wheels, its clatter and hum
of machinery, a spectacle remarkable to a visitor, but totally in-
describable by a writer.

We descend from our elevation, and mingle in the busy scene.
Cylinders are being finished and fitted ; some are being planed on
several sides at once ; others are being bored so as to make them,
perfectly true ; a few are being surfaced up, so as to make them
impassable to even such a subtle gas as steam ; whilst others are
being finished ready to take their important share in the working
of the locomotive. Axles are being turned at both ends at once ;
while in another part may be seen a row of lathes, paring -into
shape the uncultivated form of a crank shaft (rough from the
forge) as easily as a thumb-nail might peel an orange, only with
infinitely greater accuracy. In fact, here everything is turned,
turning, or about to be turned ; turning being apparently the in-
fallible remedy for every ill, until the part is ready to fit with
some other part in the exact place assigned to it in the locomotive.

We next pass through the wheel-turning shops, where there are
about 30 lathes or more at work, together with other special tools.
In this place we see tires of from 5 to 12 cwt. being prepared
for their duties, cut and shaved, and slices taken out as easily and
remorselessly as if the metals (steel not excepted) had ceased to
be hard. Now we see a great pair of driving wheels, with the
axle in place, having six tools operating on it at once. In the
wheel-pressing shop, wheels are pressed on or off the axles by
hydraulic presses, as one would slip, though not quite so easily, a
glove on or off one's fingers. Here may also be seen large furnaces
for expanding the tire before shrinking it on the Avheel centre ;
also fires for again expanding the tire, when for some cause or
another it is required to be taken off ; also key -grooving, rim-
slotting machines, as well as many others necessary for fixing the
wheels, tires, and axles, securely to each other.

We look into the spring shop, where stalwart men are at work,
bending, setting, and tempering spi'ings of all sorts and sizes re-
quired for the different engines ; and where also in one corner may
be seen the testing machines, to which each spring is taken, and
tried before going out. We next pass into the smiths' shops, a
long building all aglow with the flames from 50 or 60 smiths'
hearths, each with a complement of men hammering and welding

472 SPRING, BOILEE, AND PATTERN SHOPS.

some red-hot piece of iron, or preparing the same for a severer
ordeal under one of the several steam hammers that are placed
down the centre of this shop.

Then there is the boiler shop, where boilers are dangling un-
comfortably in the air, or are seated in every attitude on the
ground, and where a multitude of men are driving rivets and ham-
mering plates so as to make such an unconscionable noise that,
having some regard left for our auditory nerve, for the loss of
which perhaps the Midland Company would not give compensa-
tion, we made a precipitate retreat.

Before we conclude our visit, we look into the pattern shop,
where, in every position and on every wall, are patterns, shapes,
and models of all the different parts of an engine that require
casting in either brass or iron ; where pattern-makers are at work
readjusting old models or forming new ones. Retracing our steps,
we pass back through the top or light turnery and fitting shop.
This is as busy a place as the kindred establishment below.
Wheels and straps are flying overhead in all directions ; ma-
chinery of alt kinds is in motion ; among them are emery wheels
for surfacing slide-bars, slotting and drilling, screw-cutting ma-
chines, slot drills and machines for preparing excentrics and
straps, connecting-rods, valve-spindles, slide-bars, cross-heads for
the piston-rods, pumps, injectors, whistles, brass mountings, as
well as many other details we have no time to enumerate.

But while everything is in full drive around, there is a strange
contrast in the appearance of the men. Unlike all the other de-
partments, there is an air of listlessness and apathy here. Our
presence seems to everybody far more interesting than the work
on which the men are engaged. " How is it ? " we inquire. " It's
only a few seconds," replies our guide, " to the dinner-hour, and
the men's stomachs know it. There ! that's the bu/zer." In-
stantly the men are off ; their jackets are put on as they go ; and
in less than half a minute not one is to be seen. The busy ma-
chineiy is slowly coming to a stand, and we are the solitary spec-
tators of a silent and deserted scene.

Having visited this part of the locomotive works we may watch
the locomotive itself at its Avork. And here we may remark that
there is nothing (except perhaps a good dividend) of which railway
directors and managers are so proud as of their express trains.

THE EXPKESS ENGINE. 473

Commodious stations, easy gradients, costly engineering works,
are all very well, but they are only means to an end, and the
running of these expresses is, so to speak, that end. Like a
mighty shuttle in the vast loom of the national life, the express
flies backwards and forwards on its swift and straight career, with
half a kingdom for its weft. We are, therefore, not surprised at
the pardonable pride with which those more immediately con-
cerned watch its career. One's own admiration of the locomotive
never seems to tire (except perhaps when our tire comes off).
This mighty and intricate machine, constructed of thousands of
pieces, all of which are put together, as George Stephenson used
to say, as carefully as a watch ; which an hour or so ago had not
strength enough to drag its own weight over the floor of the stable
in Avhich it stood, is now ready, with ribs, of steel, and bowels of
brass, and food of fire, and breath of steam, and with the power
of perhaps 1,000 horses, to draw a mighty train for 100 miles, if
need be, without a pause. So intricate, yet so true, will be its
movement, that some of the machinery will, as it runs, divide a
second into eight equal parts ; and the pistons will be passing
backwards and forwards along the cylinders at the speed of about
1,000 feet a minute ! Yet this stupendous power is under the
easiest control, and can be made to run at the rate of a mile a
minute or a mile an hour by a single movement of the regulator.
The scene is always one of interest and excitement before the
down express starts. The train is ready ; the engine is attached ;
the last passengers are taking their seats ; porters bustle about
with luggage on their shoulders, or trundle along mountains of
baggage in wicker-work trucks, which have the appearance of
something cross-bred between a clothes-basket and a cradle. One
man endangers the head of the public generally by the manner in
which he carries a huge box ; another is evidently of opinion that
he is perfectly justified in bruising any one's shins, because he has
first shouted, in tones which no one can understand, " By y'r
leave " ; but, as a rule, everything is proceeding as rapidly and as
orderly as is practicable. The last moment has come ; the last
farewells are uttered; the signal is given; the " chay-chay " of
the engine, at first heard at perceptible intervals, becomes a con-
tinuous sound ; and before the last van has cleared the platform,
the train is running at rapid speed on its new journey.

•174 HARD AND HOT.

The first impression produced by riding on the engine of a fast
train is exhilarating. There is a sense of novelty, of swiftness,
and of power. But if continued for any length of time, there is a
strange feeling in the calves of one's legs, — a sort of cramp, — the
effect of the firmness with which one has to stand on the footplate
in order to resist the " dither " of the engine. The next feeling is
that everything is very hard and hot. The graceful bounding
appearance that an engine seems to a looker-on to have when it is
running is appearance only. Everything on a locomotive is as un-
yielding as iron and steel can make it. Nor is it any wonder that
it is hot, for within a few feet of the footplate are three or four
hundred gallons of boiling water, and also a firebox that is a seeth-
ing caldron of fire of ten hundredweight of coals that are, not only
burning, but burning like a blast furnace under the highest possible
draught, as if fifty blacksmiths' bellows were at full woi'k upon
it; while, to prevent any lateral escape of any of this volume of
heat, its sides are covered in by a nonconducting wooden " cloth-
ing " around the boiler. Sometimes, indeed, the flame becomes so
great as to pour right through, the ten-feet length of the 200 tubes
that run from the firebox along the boiler, and, mounting up the
six or seven feet of the chimney, will flow out at the top a foot in
length. " I have known," said an engineer to the writer, " when an
engine was pulling a very heavy load, the exhaust steam (that is,
the steam that has done its work in the cylinders and is passing
away by the chimney) cause such a vacuum in the chimney, and
draw the air so strongly through the fire and along the tubes, as
to make the engine hum like~a threshing machine. I have even
known a locomotive to be, so to speak, red-hot ; that is to say, I
have seen the smokebox door at the front end of the engine, under
the chimney, red-hot. The draught had been so great that it
carried some hot coals through the boiler tubes ; the smokebox
door did not fit tight ; the draught inside sucked in the air from
outside, and soon made the smokebox plates red-hot." But this,
we ought to say, was some years ago, and was not on the Mid-
land.

Of course the moment the speed of the train is diminished, and
especially when the steam is shut off, the intensity of the draught
in the engine fire is stopped, and awkward accidents have some-
times occurred in consequence. The mass of heat, flame, and smoke

ENGINE DRIVING. 475

which has tended towards the chimney at once rises up, and en-
deavours to find egress in some other direction ; and if the furnace
door happens to be opened, it may pour out at that. If the fire is
" green " (that is, if coals have only lately been put on), there is a
large volume of a smoke that has all the properties of fire-damp,
being full of gas that will explode from the heat of the furnace
Avhen it comes in contact with the outside air. " I remember,"
said an engineer to the writer, " a foreman of locomotive works
being on an engine with me, and he was stooping down to examine
some fittings near the furnace door, when suddenly the driver shut
off the steam. The draught was arrested ; the smoke, instead of
being burnt as it passed over the fire and through the tubes, in-
stantly accumulated over the fire and at the furnace door, and
being highly charged with gas, exploded, and in an instant frizzled
off the whiskers and eyebrows of my companion, and, indeed, every
hair of his face and head that was not covered by his hat."

It is not always pleasant work to drive, or even ride upon, an
engine. Formerly no protection was afforded from the full force
of the wind and the severity of the weather, and the driver, as
he ran on the keenest winter night on the top of the loftiest
embankment, had

" To bear

The pelting brunt of the tempestuous night,
With half-shut eyes, and puckered cheeks, and teeth
Presented bare against the storm ; "

perhaps sometimes feeling, as did the sailor in the gale of wind
when it blew so strongly that, as he averred, happening to yawn
with his face to windward, he was obliged to turn to leeward
before he could close his jaws. Even under ordinary conditions
on an engine, in summer you are too hot, except your face, and
you are sometimes half blinded by dust ; in winter your feet and
body are perhaps warm, but your head is so cold that you can't
tell whether you have any ears or not. In rain, if you are running
fast, every drop that touches your face feels like a pin pricking
you. This is how it is that drivers and firemen have such red
faces — it is the effect of the weather. It also affects the throat.
A. driver of any length of service can hardly ever sing.

Speaking with a driver about his engine and his work, he

476 ENGINE DRIVING.

remarked, in his own homely and effective style, " Yes, it's
sharpish, as you say, in cold weather. I once had a fireman, —
he'd been a fitter, and been brought up in a warm shop. It was
Christmas Eve. When we were getting water at Tamworth he
put his hand into the tender to feel if it was getting full, and then
he put his wet hand on the hand rail, which was covered with ice,
and in a minute his hand was frozen to it. As he tore it away it
fetched the skin off his four fingers, just for all the world as if he
had put them on a red-hot bar. He was also frostbitten in the
chest, and was eight weeks off work. He'd never lost time before,
but in cold winters he has suffered ever since."

" We like," he continued, after some other remarks, " we like to
keep the same engine while her legs is good. Then we shift to
another while she is repaired, and then we go back again. We
like to stick to the old 'un same as we do to a house. You see
we, — the engine and me, — get used to one another ; know where
everything is to be found, and what she can do. A good engine-
man takes a pride like in his engine, as if, you know, she was his
own property, and we know what we can coax out of her ; and,
what's more, what we can't. What do I mean by coaxing her ?
Why, you see an engine wants to be managed like, same as a
woman does. We have to fire the engine on the lightest part of
the road, that is when she's running down banks and such-like,
and has the least blast on. If we put coal on Avhen the blast is
strong up the chimney, the small coal goes into the smoke-box and
flies up out of the chimney. It would be wasted, and would dirty
the carriages, and settle on them. It is the fireman, you know,
that watches the fire, and keeps the steam up by the indicator,
as the driver requires him ; and both driver and fireman have also
to keep a sharp look-out ahead.

" I've been a goodish time in the service. I started as a fitter
as a boy, mostly in the running shed. I was driving before I was
30, and had been ' firing ' before that. HOAV many miles do 1
run ? Why, 76 miles out and 76 miles home — 152 miles, or 1,000
miles with oddments in six days, or 50,000 miles in a year, if we
don't lose time or make ' over.' Time was, when. I worked goods,
I never saw my children except when they was abed ; now the
trains are worked more regular and comfortable for the men.
No ; never had an accident in my life. Have had many narrow

MUGBT JUNCTION.

477

escapes. In my opinion more men get injured by jumping off
their engines than by staying on.

" Did I ever read ' Mugby Junction ' ? Yes ; I've read it, and
don't think much to it. I don't believe any driver ever told
Muster Dickens anything of the sort. Why not ? Well, sir, if
you'd ever run over a poor fellow on the road, and had to pick his
poor dead limbs together, as I've had to do, you wouldn't speak
cold-blooded like about it, as Muster Dickens said the man did.

BUTTON SWING BRIDGE, LINCOLNSHIRE.*

'Tain't in human natur' ; 'tain't in driver's natur', leastwise. So I
don't believe a word about it. But them romancing people never
know, sir, when they're telling the truth and when they ain't —
that's my opinion."

There are many among us who, like the writer, are fond of
looking at trains. It is pleasant to watch them by day, as they
run through the silent fields, where the grazing cattle scarcely
lift their heads, and the timid sheep lie quietly in the furroAvs,

* This bridge is constructed so that it can swing round on its great pedestal
and let ships pass up or down the river.

478 THE DOWN MAIL.

and the hen-partridge crouches with her brood only for a moment
in the dry dust of the gravelly cutting, and the loose horse, though
he gallops away, and then stops and stares and snorts, is not really
frightened, but only pretends that he is.

We like, too, to go down to the roadside station at night, and
see the down mail pass. We were there the other night. All
was silence and darkness, except the sound of the rain pattering
on the roof, and the glancing lamps of two or three porters, one
of whom, with a lantern in his left hand, was writing in a small
memorandum book, while others, with lamps suspended round
their necks, were greasing the axles of some carriages, the forms
of which could scarcely be distinguished. We paced the platform
up and down for a while till we knew that the " up goods " was
nearly due. We could hear it approaching. First a distant
rumble through the pitchy darkness, and then came slowly
forwards the glancing form of a huge and powerful goods engine.
The furnace door is opened, and instantly the steam is lit up into
what seem to be mighty folds of flame ; and then, as the train
goes ponderously by, we see a long low solid line of trucks, covered
in by wet shiny black tarpaulins, which glisten in the light of the
station lamps: that train, a vast, unconscious thing — knowing
nothing, hearing nothing, caring for nothing, peering forward into
the night with its white eyes, and looking backwards on the iron
path it has been treading with huge blood-red sightless balls.

" Look up," shouts a voice. " Stand back," bawls another.
" The down mail," remarks a porter at our elbow. And scarcely
has he said the words than a great flaming eye is seen up the line ;
the gradual boom of the approaching train grows louder and
louder; the red light of the furnace glows beneath the engine
wheels ; the iron gullet of the monster flings red-hot spai-ks high
up into the air ; and then the thundering gleaming mass roars and
rushes by at fifty or sixty miles an hour ; and, as it rolls away
into the darkness at the other end of the station, the train seems
to be burning its way through the sable night, with the strength,
the straightness, and the fury of a cannon-ball. " What a fool a
man must be to travel in a thing like that," says an observer who
is standing by ; and then he adds, " Perhaps I shall travel in it
myself to-morrow."

In running engines even by day a sharp look-out has always to

AWKWARD CONTINGENCIES. 479

be kept, to see that the line is clear a-head ; lest, perchance,
through a gap in a hedge, or by a gate left ajar, the farmer's
stock may have strayed upon the line. Not long ago the driver of
an express train, on rounding a cnrve, observed, to his dismay, a
horse and cart standing right before him on the rails. There was
not time to stop ; but, believing that the more violent the blow
with which his engine struck the intruders the less would be the
hazard to himself and his train, he turned on the steam to its full,
and in a moment afterwards both horse and cart were sent to
" smithereens." The train kept on the rails, and indeed scarcely
seemed to feel the shock ; but it could hardly be pleasant to be
riding on the engine while cart-wheels and horse's legs were flying
in the air.

Other important matters have to be attended to in other parts
of the night mail. There, inside the capacious Post-Office van, is
a busy scene. The clerks are actively engaged all the way in
sorting into pigeon-holes the letters they receive upon the journey,
and in sealing up the leather bags they leave on the road. "All
of a sudden," says Sir Francis Head, " the flying chamber receives
a hard blow, as if a cannon-shot had struck it. This noise, how-
ever, merely announces that a station-post we were at that moment
passing, but which is already far behind us, had just been safely
delivered of some leather letter-bags, which, on putting our head
out of the window, we saw quietly lying in the far end of a large
iron-bound sort of landing net or cradle, which the guard a few
minutes before had, by a simple movement, lowered on purpose to
receive them. But not only had we received four bags, but at the
same moment, and apparently by the same blow, we had, as we
flew by, dropped at the same station three bags, which a Post-
Office authority had been waiting there to receive." Meanwhile
the guard — whose face, " besides glittering with perspiration,
was, from the labour of stooping and hauling at large letter-bags,
as red as his scarlet coat, which was hanging before the wall on a
little peg, until at last his cheeks appeared as if they were shining
at the lamp immediately above them, almost as ruddily as the
lamp shone upon them," — leaves his bags, pokes his burly head
out of a large window behind him into pitch darkness, in order to
ascertain the precise moment that the train clears certain stations,
and that he may duly chronicle the same in his time-bill.

480 THE RUNNING SHED.

And so, far and wide over the land, while the nation is slumber-
ing, railway trains are carrying the cargoes of "the Post Office,
not only along the great lines of communication, but in a hundred
divergent directions besides ; in a manner, for all the world, as an
imaginative writer has declared, to be compared " to the fiery
tracks and sparks created by the sudden ignition of a sack-full of
fireworks of all descriptions ; of rockets, Catherine wheels, Roman
candles, squibs, stars, crackers, flower-pots — some flying straight
away, while others are revolving, twisting, radiating, bouncing,
exploding in every possible direction, and in all ways at once."

When an engine has finished its journey of 150 or 200 miles
out and home, it usually undertakes a little trip on its own
account. Uncoupled from the train, it runs forward a few yards,
backs by a " cross over " road to the next line of rails, and then
hies itself away, like a boy just released from school, to the engine
stables.

For a good deal has to be done to a locomotive after it returns
from one journey before it is ready for another. The intense heat,
the rapid motion, and the high pressure to which every part of the
intricate and costly machinery has been exposed, renders examina-
tion, cleaning, perhaps repairs, indispensable. The engine has
become tired, so to speak, with its work, and needs an interval of
rest. Its joints have become relaxed, its tubes have become
clogged with coke, its grate bars and firebox with clinkers, and
though the water and steam are left in the boiler to cool, it will
require four-and-twenty hours before the whole engine has re-
covered its ordinary temperature.

On approaching the running shed, which forms the stable or
home of that engine, " she " is brought slowly over an ashpit which
is sunk betAveen the rails, where the furnace bars are lifted, so
that in a moment the furnace can void the red-hot contents of its
stomach, over which cold water is instantly poured. The driver
now examines the working parts of his engine, enters in a book a
report of what repairs he thinks are necessary, and there is seldom
a journey performed but he requires, or thinks he requires, some-
thing to be done. He now takes his lamps to the lamphouse to be
cleaned and trimmed by the lampmen ; and being off duty, he goes,
with his satellite fireman, homeward ; and then the cleaners conic,
push their long flexible iron rods along the tubes of the boiler.

THE CLEANING SHED. 481

clean out the firebox, and at intervals the boiler' also, for the
stomach of a locomotive is so delicate that unless regularly cleared
from all incrustation of lime from the water, she will, without
metaphor, spit it out ; in other words, will " prime."

We enter the cleaning shed. Here a .motley, merry, shining, and
greasy crew are distributed over, under, and around the travel-
stained engines, and with cloths and rags and scrapers are speedily
but effectually cleaning off the dirt ; while others are daubing
their engine over with a greasy composition, " just to preserve her
complexion," as a bystander remarks.

While we watch these grooming operations, a grave-looking
member of the locomotive staff, sometimes called the "house-
surgeon," approaches, accompanied by an engine-driver. They
enter into conversation, and after closely examining some portion
of the engine, the " doctor " looking round at the- empty stalls
says : " Well, we can't help it ; we must send it in-to the shops ; "
and we thus learn that bad weather and hard work have a delete-
rious effect even upon constitutions of iron. Near a,t hand we see
an engine slung upon its haunches, and a little knot of "men assist-
ing the "doctor" in his investigations, who at fength evidently
arrives at the conclusion that some severe surgical operations will
be necessary.

We ought here to state that three large mess-rooms have been
built for the accommodation of the men connected with this depart-
ment. The smaller of them will hold 100 men, and cooking is
carried on for nearly 200. Here also, by the wish of the men, an
arrangement has been made so that they may be addressed by
clergymen of different denominations during the meal-times. The
larger and more modern one is a spacious well-lighted building,
the walls cheerfully picked out with bright colours. The three
will accommodate 1,500 men.

At one end are placed the ovens, boiler, and steaming apparatus,
hedged in from the hungry hordes by a strong counter ; the re-
mainder is laid out with long tables and forms running parallel to
each other, and having a central gangway down the whole length
of the building. The greatest martinet of a naval officer could not
object to the whiteness of the tables and floor, the blacknese of the
stoves, the brightness of the brasswork and fittings, or to the
extreme cleanliness of the cooking pans supplied for the men.

i i

482 THE MESS-ROOMS.

We will not recount all the cook told as to tlie marks by which
the private ownership of the various dishes is known. It must be
sufficient to state that in this great room, crowded with impatient
diners, within five minutes these innumerable men, with their in-
numerable tins of food, cooked in their own innumerable ways
and carrying their innumerable cans and baskets, may be seen
quietly eating their innumerable dinners. There is also a fine
three-storeyed building erected especially for drivers' lodgings in
the event of the men being unable to get back to their homes the
same night. This building is fitted up with a large cooking stove,
with a room with fires and steam-pipes for drying wet clothes, and
with a lavatory. There are about 22 bedrooms, all comfortably
arranged, so that each man has a separate chamber, and a clean

NEW MIDLAND EXPRESS ENGINE.

and comfortable bed. The corridors and landings are all heated
by hot- water pipes, and hot and cold water can also be obtained in
abundance. Downstairs is a small room supplied with newspapers
and periodicals for the use of the men.

With regard to engines of the Midland Company, we may remark
that the new standard goods engine has six wheels coupled 4 feet
10 inches diameter, with cylinders of 17| inches diameter and 26
inches stroke. It will weigh, when in working order, about 35
tons ; and, with the boiler pressure of 140 Ibs. per square inch, is
capable of drawing, on a level, at a speed of 20 miles per hour,
a load equal to 850 tons ; and on an incline of 1 in 100, at the
above speed, will draw a load of 350 tons. The tender holds 2,320
gallons of water ; it has a coal space of four tons ; and weighs, in

NEW MIDLAND ENGINES.

483

working order, about 28 tons. The engine and tender, when loaded,
will weigh 63 tons.

The main line passenger engine, as used for express traffic, has
six wheels, four of .which are coupled, and smaller wheels at the
front or leading end. The coupled wheels are 6 feet 8 inches
diameter, with cylinders of 17 inches diameter and 2 feet stroke.
It will weigh, when in working order, 36 tons ; and with the boiler
pressure of 140 Ibs. per square inch, is capable of drawing, on a
level, at a speed of 45 miles per hour, a load equal to 240 tons ;
and on an incline of 1 in 100, at the above speed, will draw a load
of 120 tons. The tender will hold 2,320 gallons of water ; it has a
coal space of four tons ; and the whole weighs, in working order,
about 28 tons. The engine and tender, when loaded, weigh not less
than 64 tons.

Mr. Johnson has also designed and constructed a bogie locomo-

NEW MIDLAND BOGIE ENGINE.

tive, the front of which is carried by a bogie or pivot which rests
on a platform under which are the four leading wheels of the
engine. By this arrangement the wheels adjust themselves to any
curve along which they have to pass. Many of these engines are
in use on the Midland, and they can draw 14 carriages at a speed
of 50 miles an hour from London to Leicester without stopping.
The consumption of fuel is about 28 pounds a mile.

The average number of Midland engines "in steam" during
1885 was 1,379 a day ; the proportion at the principal locomotive
stations being as follows : — Derby, 98 ; Burton, 48 ; Birmingham,
92 ; Gloucester, 31 ; Bristol, 34 ; Manchester, 50 ; Hasland, 51
Staveley, 40 ; Sheffield, 54 ; Normanton, 30 ; Leeds, 72 ; Bradford,
47 ; Carlisle, 27 ; Toton, 71 ; Nottingham, 84 ; Peterborough, 38 ;

484 MIDLAND CARRIAGE WORKS.

Leicester, 47 ; Wigston, 28 ; Wellingborough, 46 ; Childs Hill, 36 ;
London, 79.

We may add that the Break-down Trains are under the control
of the Locomotive Department.

The New Carriage and Wagon Works of the Midland Company at
Derby form by far the largest establishment of the kind in England.
The land purchased amounts to no less than fifty acres, and the
actual area of the buildings is about fourteen acres. They are
approached by a line turning off under the first bridge through
which the trains pass as they start from Derby towards Birming-
ham. In a visit to this department we first approach the timber-
yard. Here, being discharged from trucks, or stacked in vast
piles, are logs of ash, elm, East Indian teak, Honduras mahogany
— worth from £15 to £20 a log, red, white, and yellow deals

THE BREAK- DOWN TRAIN.*

from the Baltic and Canada ; oak from Quebec and Stettin — worth
£5 to £50 each ; and satinwood from Kauri, in New Zealand.
Seven or eight thousand enormous butts, the lot weighing, per-
haps, 10,000 tons, are piled in apparent confusion ; but each bears
certain mysterious hieroglyphics, which tell to the initiated when
and whence it was brought, and what place it had in the stock-
taking. Overhead is a travelling crane, or gantry as it is called,
by which, aided by a stationary engine, these giant forms can be
handled and dandled about like so many gigantic babies, and can
be borne away (here we beg permission to drop our simile) to the
saw- mills to be cut up.

The first building we enter appears of enormous proportions.
It is 320 feet long by 200 wide, while the light and lofty roof,
tinged with a soft sky-blue colour, gives it a bright and airy

* For working of break-down trains see " Our Iron Koads : their History,
Construction, and Administration," pp. 360-364.

MIDLAND CABRIAGE WORKS. 485

appearance. The whirr of the machinery, and the screaming,
with every variety of harshness of note, of innumerable saws,
tell ns that this is the saw-mill. Here are a hundred machines
— for sawing, planing, moulding, shaping, morticing, tenoning,
boring, turning, and recessing — all specially designed for the con-
version of timber from the log into scantlings of every description
for wagon and carriage work.

We approach the vertical frame saw. It has, perhaps, fifty
blades, and it saws the wood into fifty slices, with a speed of
nearly 100 strokes for an inch of wood, and at the rate of eight
feet an hour. " "We like forest-grown oak the best," says the fore-
man. " Hedge-grown is scrubby and full of rubbish — knots, and
stones, and nails sometimes two feet inside the wood. But they
don't punish us so bad as they do the circulars." We pause for a
moment to look at the shaping machines, revolving some 2,000
times a minute ; in fact, so rapidly that it is only with the closest
scrutiny that we can tell that the keen blades are moving at all —
blades that will shape the wood into almost any required form.
Here also are the " endless band saws," of various sizes, and from
an inch to an eighth of an inch in width, so that they can not only
cut continuously (as their name implies), but can work in any
direction the governor listeth. The endless saw, it has been re-
marked, is " a triumph of human ingenuity." It revolves round
two wheels much in the same way as a band revolves round two
drums. " The wheels are perhaps three feet in diameter, and two
inches in thickness at the circumference. They are placed — one
as low as the workman's feet, another rather above his head —
six or seven feet apart. Round the wheels there stretches an end-
less narrow band of blue steel, just as a ribbon might. This band
of steel is very thin. Its edge towards the workman is serrated
with sharp deep teeth. The wheels revolve by steam rapidly, and
carry with them the saw, so that instead of the old up and down
motion, the teeth are continually running one way. The band of
steel is so extremely flexible that it sustains the state of perpetual
curve." The ancient stories of sword blades that could be bent
double are here surpassed by a saw that is incessantly curved and
incessantly curving. " A more beautiful machine cannot be
imagined. Its chief use is to cut out the designs for cornices and
similar ornamental work in thin wood ; but it is sufficiently strong

•180 MIDLAND CABEIAGE WOKKS.

to cut through a two-inch plank like paper," while it is itself
apparently as flexible as india-rubber.

Here are moulding machines, which can at the same time plane,
mould, tongue, or groove all four sides of a piece of timber ; also
moulding machines for moulding short pieces of timber ; and dove-
tailing machines, a very ingenious mechanical arrangement, by
which dove-tails of boards are at one operation expeditiously cut
out, and made to fit exactly together. The panel-planing machine
reduces the panel boards for carriages to an even thickness and a
perfectly true face ; and the sand-papering machine smooths the
panel so that it is ready to receive the paint. Attached to the
sand-papering machine is an exhausting fan, which withdraws the
dust, and prevents it injuring either the work or the lungs of the
workmen.

We notice in the sawing mill that, despite the work constantly
going on and the enormous power required, the main shafting,
pulleys, and belting are " conspicuous by their absence." The
fact is they are in a cellar, nine feet deep, under our feet. By
this arrangement the quick running and dangerous machinery is
kept away from the general workmen; the floor of the mill is
clear for carrying or stacking the various lengths of timber ; and
the sawdust, shavings, and other refuse from the machines can
be removed without interfering with the work of the mill. The
mill floor, which serves also as the roof of the cellar, is supported
by 500 cast-iron columns, and is made specially substantial and
stiff, in order to bear the weight and to resist the vibration of the
machinery.

We next enter the wagon shop. It also is 320 feet by 200.
Here the timber from the saw-mill, and the metal parts from the
machine shop, meet, and are built together into wagons. So com-
plete is the fit that the men here have very little actual mechanical
labour, as may be judged by the fact that " one pair of men can
build ordinary open goods wagons at the rate of one a day."

The next is the carriage building and finishing shop, where,
again, the timber from the saw-mill and the ironwork from the
machine shop meet, and are formed into carriage bodies. These
are seen in all stages of construction, and in all states of repair.
Some are just lifted off their bogies ; from others the bogies have
been removed for repair. Here are "bodies" "in frame," mere

MIDLAND CARRIAGE WORKS. 487

skeletons — like the ribs of a whale without his blubber — but withal
well-formed skeletons of sound English oak, to be covered with
panelling, to be sheathed with Honduras mahogany. Here are
carriages partly stripped of their panels, the clean bright patch
of new wood showing boldly against the deep, dead chocolate of
the old painted side. Here are some of the new Midland bogies,
fifty- four feet long, some six- wheeled, others four-wheeled ; the
latter being the type at present principally built by the Midland
Company, partly because they are found " handier " to lift.
Carriages so heavy as these, and of such a length, necessarily
gain immensely in steadiness. The body of the carriage is mounted
on a "bogie," or a bogie truck, each having two or three pairs of
wheels. Through the centre of each truck runs a massive pin,
which bolts it securely to the body, but allows it to revolve suffi-
ciently to run easily and safely round the greatest curve on any
existing railway. The interior of these carriages has all the im-
provements which have been made from time to time in railway
carriages, and several others of its own. One of these is the
clerestory roof, sometimes called the "tunnel" roof, which gives
an air of lightness and space so pleasant to a railway passenger.
The first-class compartments are upholstered in the usual way,
with movable arms ; the wood-work is of sycamore, divided into
panels by maple mouldings, and these carriages are among the
finest, if not the finest, upon our English railways. The third-
class compartments have also been improved, till they fairly com-
pete in popular esteem with the first-class. In the west end
of the carriage shop is a space set apart for the "finishing" of
carriages. This includes the veneering over the inside panels,
the insertion of the window frames and windows, the fixing of the
maple and satin wood, and the cabinet work generally. Hard by
this shop, and in practical conjunction with it, is the panel shed —
a timber building 300 feet long by 100 wide, with walls formed of
louvre boards, where is a large stock of mahogany panels, maple
boards for moulding, and also dry boards for carriage work. All
this remains for two years to season before it is used.*

The last shop on this side is for painting and trimming. It is

* From a paper contributed to the Chesterfield and Derbyshire Institute
of Miuing, Civil, and Mechanical Engineers, by Mr. T. G. Clayton.

488 MIDLAND CAEEIAGE WORKS.

nearly 400 feet by 300 ; has seventeen lines of railway, on each of
which ten ordinary vehicles can stand. For a carriage to be able
effectually to resist the action of the weather, and also to maintain
a suitable appearance, it has to receive a succession of coats.
Including the lead colour, the " filling up," the rubbing the sur-
face smoothly down, the painting, and the repeated vamishing,
there are no fewer than twenty-five operations before a carriage
is finished. Meanwhile, in their various stages of painting, they
present a varied appearance : their dull look in the initiatory
stages, the improvement made at each successive stage, until at
last they are completed as handsomely as a gentleman's carriage ;
and a bystander can see his face in the carriage almost as plainly
as in a mirror.

At the west end of this block the trimming and upholstery
work of the carriages is prepared ; indeed, much of it is being
done while the carriages are being painted. The cushions are
stuffed with horsehair, and are covered on one side with woollen
cloth, and on the other with American cloth, the latter being
cleaner and cooler for dusty and hot weather. The horsehair is
worth from a shilling to eighteenpence a pound, and a single
compartment of a first-class carriage will require 100 to 110
pounds — costing, therefore, from £5 to £8 for one compartment.
The roof is lined with what is called wax cloth, worth two shil-
lings and upwards a square yard.

On the other, the eastern, side of the yard are the buildings in
which metal work is dealt with. There is the foundry, whence, for
instance, 2,000 tons of castings are annually turned out; there is the
smithy, with its ninety-two rows of hearths; and the bolt and spring
makers' shops, which manufacture more than twenty tons of bolts
and nuts every week, and which make and repair springs. Here
also is the wheel-tiring shop. The work done by railway carriage
wheels is enormous. A wheel of four feet diameter is, of course,
twelve feet or four yards in circumference. In running a mile it
will have to turn round 440 times, and in ten miles 4,400 times ;
that is to say, in running from London to Leeds, a distance of
about 200 miles, it would turn some 88,000 times. This is a good
many turns, and a good deal of wear and tear, for one very mod-
erate journey. It is frequently necessary to remove wheels
from their axles, and to force others upon their axles, to do which

BOGIE CARRIAGES. 489

a machine with a pressure of 200 tons is applied. Here, also, the
various processes are carried on by which wheels are made or
repaired — a trade of itself; and of tires alone, remarked Mr.
Clayton, " we have 140,000 or 150,000 of our own running every
day," a number since largely increased. " Before a carriage
begins its journey," he continued, " the train examiner takes what
is called 'a pricker' (a piece of iron bent into a suitable shape),
with which he opens the grease holes to know that they are pro-
perly lubricated, and also to tell whether there is sufficient brass
in the ' journal ' against which the axle in running presses, so that
it may run with safety and ease. Experience enables him at once
to know by the ' feel ' of the pricker if all is right."

The passenger carriages that have recently been added to the
stock of the Company, and which have awakened general admira-
tion, are three feet longer than the Pullman ; they rest on two

NEW MIDLAND BOGIE CARRIAGE.

six-wheeled bogies. They have been designed with a view to
obtain very steady running at high speed, and in this respect they
leave nothing to be desired. Their length and weight cause them
to be little affected by small irregularities on the road ; and the
use of six wheels to each bogie relieves the tires and springs by
reducing the weight resting on each wheel. The use of the bogies
also enables the carriage to adjust itself to any curves along which
it has to run, and prevents the grind commonly felt with the
ordinary railway carriage, when, with its straight and rigid struc-
ture, it has to force its way along a road that bends to the right
or left.* The public are under great obligation to Mr. T. Gr.

* The name of " bogie " has occasioned perplexity and mirth. It is said that
a lady at St. Pancras station was recently asked by a porter whether she would
prefer to travel in the " compo-bogie " (the composite bogie carriage). The lady
indignantly refused.

490

PULLMAN CABS.

Clayton for his admirable design. These bogie carriages cost
about £1,200 each.

In close competition with the compo-bogie carriages of Mr.
Clayton come the Pullman cars. For long journeys they are, in
our judgment, incomparable. When an ordinary human being

INTERIOR OF PULLMAN CAR.

has sat in the most luxurious arm-chair in the world for five or
six hours, he is glad to get up, to have a change of position, to sit,
if he can, on a style, or to swing on a gate. And after one has
taken a good part of the journey, for instance, from London to
Scotland, it is a boon which the traveller appreciates, to be able,

PULLMAN CAES.

491

without annoyance to others, to stand, or move about, or go out
into " the open," or eat his dinner from a luncheon basket at a

table, or have a wash, or sit or loll on a seat or bench differently
constructed from the voluptuous arm-chair, with crimson velvet,

492 ENGINEEES.

on which he has been resting. All this, in the Pullman, he can
enjoy. Then, too, the night cars are above all praise. To stroll
on the platform at St. Pancras and see the arrangements made for
the midnight travellers, — the comfortable beds, the warm blankets,
the snowy linen, the warm room in winter, and the airy space in
summer, — all these may well make us doubt whether it would not
be better to " turn in " to the train than even to avail one's self
of the sumptuous accommodation of the " Midland Grand." We
are not surprised to learn that the night Pullmans of the Midland
Company are largely patronized, and yield a good return.

DIRECTORS' CARRIAGE.

Mr. Samuel "W. Johnson succeeded Mr. Kirtley as head of the
locomotive department. He had previously held office in several
other companies ; his last appointment, before coming to the
Midland, being for seven years that of locomotive superintendent
of the Great Eastern.

The working stock of the Midland Railway Company, December
31st, 1885, was as follows : —

Locomotives 1,732

First-class carriages 332

Composites ........ 893

Third-class carriages 1,199

Travelling post-offices and vans .... 76

Horse-boxes 352

Carriage trucks 318

Passenger break-vans 540

Merchandise and mineral trucks and break- vans . 79,969

Horses 3,166

Drays and carts 2,297

ENGINEERS.
MILEAGE STATEMENT, DECEMBER Slsi, 1885.

493

Miles
Authorized.

Miles
Constructed.

Miles
Constructing
or to be
Constructed.

Miles Worked
by Engines.

Lines owned by1)
Company . . j
Lines partly ")
owned . . . j
Lines leased or ")
rented . . . j

Total . .

Lines worked
Foreign Lines ")
worked over . {

Total . .

1,212
439J
47*

1,179
434f

47*

l,173i
195J

47*

Dec., '84.
l,165f

195J

47|

1,698|

1,661*

37*

1,416

123*
312*

1,408*

123*
309*

•

1,852

1,841*

The engineer-in-chief of the Way and Works Department,
Mr. Alfred A. Langley, is now the engineer of the Midland
Railway. From 1856-1861 he was a pupil with Mr. W. H. Barlow,
C.E., F.R.S., at Derby, on the Midland Railway. From 1861-1864
he was assistant-engineer to Mr. Barlow, during the construction
of the Rowsley and Buxton lines, and other works ; and resident-
engineer for Messrs. Hawkshaw & Barlow, in the making and
erecting of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. In 1864 Mr. Langley
became resident-engineer on the Rowsley and Buxton Extension,
and engineer and manager on various railways, and was elected
a Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers ; he became resident-
engineer of the London District of the London and South- Western
Railway. In 1873, and for ten years, he occupied the position of
engineer-in-chief of the Great Eastern Railway, having charge
of about one thousand miles of railway, and carrying out the
construction of extensive new lines and works, among which may
be mentioned the Bishopsgate Goods Station. In the latter part
of 1883 he was appointed engineer of the Midland Railway Com-
pany.

" It must be very nice to be a railway engineer," remarked a

494

ENGINEERS.

lady to a gentleman of that profession; "and be able to travel
about anywhere you want to go to for nothing."

" Yes, madam," was the enigmatical reply ; " it would, as you
say, be very nice to travel about for nothing if we were not paid
for it. But you see," he added, " railway engineers are like the
cabman's horse. The cabman had a very thin horse. ' Doesn't
your horse have enough to eat ? ' inquired a benevolent lady
passenger. ' Oh yes, ma'am,' replied cabby ; ' I gives him lots

RAIL-TESTING MACHINE AT ENTKANCE TO BELSIZE TUNNEL.

o' victuals to eat, only, you see, he hasn't any time to eat 'em.'
So it is with the railway engineer : he has lots of pleasure of all
kinds, only he has not any time to take it."

The service rendered by our engineers is worthy of more honour
than it receives. True, they are " monarchs of all they survey ; "
"yet how many persons," says one of them, " rushing through the
country at sixty miles an hour in a first-class carriage, bestow as
much as a passing thought on the labour that was expended on

EESULTS OF RAILWAY ENTERPRISE. 495

that narrow track of road that they -whirl over in even a minute
of time ! Little do they think how that portion of line was con-
structed bit by bit by the combined efforts of thousands of their
fellow-creatures, some of whom have required almost a lifetime
of study and experience before they could contribute their mite of
knowledge to the general undertaking. It may be the genius of
one man who directs and sets the whole of the mighty machinery
in motion ; but he would be powerless unless the orders he issued
to the many parts were thoroughly understood in all their many
details ; and unless every bolt, every little screw, were performing
its proper duty, the machine would collapse, and every effort to
make it move would but involve the destruction of every part."

The solicitors of the Midland Company are the eminent firm of
Messrs. Beale, Marigold & Beale, of Great George Street, .London.
Mr. Samuel Carter, formerly at the head of that firm, occupied
for several years the remarkable position of being solicitor to both
the London and North- Western and Midland Companies.

But our space has gone ; and, however reluctantly, we and our
readers must part. We have mentioned many facts of interest
with regard to the Midland Railway : we have left more untold.
We will only add, that in the growing usefulness and prosperity
of this Company in particular, and of railways in general, we have
every confidence. More than 18,000 miles of English railway
interlace the land ; 14,000 engines, which would of themselves
make a train 105 miles long, and are worth nearly £3,000 apiece,
run a distance every year equal to that from the earth to the sun
and back again ; more than 25,000 carriages bear rich and poor
by almost every train ; wagons, numerous enough to stretch from
St. Pancras to the Equator, convey our goods ; money equal to
the amount of the national debt has been invested, not on useless
wars, but for the social, commercial, and moral welfare of the
community ; and able statesmanlike minds are devising how far
all these benefits can be made more complete and far-reaching.
The midland counties have become a suburb of the metropolis.
The patriotic Welshman can travel from Pontrhydfendigaid to
Mynyddyslwyn, and rejoice. The Scot can ride from north to
south, as Lord Macaulay finely puts it, "by the light of a winter's
day." With the space and resources of an empire, we enjoy the
compactness of a city. Our roads are contracted into streets, our

496

RESULTS OF RAILWAY ENTERPRISE.

hills and dales into parks, and our thousand leagues of coast into
the circumference of a castle wall. Nineveh was a city of three
days' journey round. Great Britain can be traversed in one.
For questions of distance, we are as mere a spot as Malta, as St.
Helena, as one of the states of the ^Egean. " A hundred opposite
ports are blended into one Piraeus, and to every point of the com-
pass diverge the oft-traversed walls that unite them with our
engii-ded Acropolis."

APPENDIX

MIDLAND DIVIDENDS.

JUNE.

DECEMBER.

YEAR.

£ s. d.

18*55

M.Co.

220)
2 2 6j

300

Say 520

1815

300

3 13 9

6 13 9

1846

3 10 0

700

1847

3 10 0

700

1848

300

2 10 0

5 10 0

1849

1 10 0

150

2 15 0

1850

0 16 0

150

210

1851

150

176

2 12 6

1852

1 10 0

1 12 6

326

1853

1 12 6

350

1854

1 15 0

1 17 6

3 12 6

1855

1 15 0

1 17 6

3 12 6

1856

200

226

426

1857

226 2 10 0

4 12 6

1858

226

2 15 0

4 17 6

1859

2 12 6

300

5 12 6

1860

350

3 10 0

6 15 0

1861

326

3 10 0

6 12 6

1862

2 15 0

350

600

1863

2 17 6

3 10 0

67'6

1864

3 10 0

3 17 6

776

1865

350

3 10 0

6 15 0

1866

300

326

626

1867

2 15 0

5 10 0

1868

2 10 0

2 17 6

576

1869

2 17 6

350

626

1870

326

376

6 10 0

1871

350

3 15 0

700

1872

3 10 0

3 15 0

750

1873

376

350

6 12 6

1874

2 15 0

350

600

1875

300

600

1876

2 10 0

2 17 6

576

1877

2 10 0

2 17 6

576

1878

2 10 0

2 17 6

576

1879

2 10 0

326

5 12 6

1880

300

326

626

1881

2 15 0

326

5 17 6

1882

2 15 0

326

5 17 6

1883

2 15 0

326

5 17 6

1884

2 10 0

2 17 6

576

1885

276

2 15 0

526

1886

200

44?

K K

458

INDEX.

Agar Town, 247.

Aire and Calder Navigation, 39.

Aire, Valley of the, 330.

Alarming Incident, 382.

Alfreton, 318.

Allport, Sir James, 115, 117, 140, 195,

211, 215, 217, 219, 240, 353, 370.

447, 448.

Amalgamation, Longitudinal, 168.
Amalgamation, Proposals of, 104.
Amber, The Eiver, 294.
Ambergate, 294, 319.

Tunnel, 42.
Ambergate and Rowsley Line, 100,

261.

" Amenities " of Ackworth, 214.
Ampthill, 275.
Anker Viaduct, 53.
Anne, Countess of Pembroke, 378.
Apperley Viaduct, 176, 337-339.
Appleby, Line North of, 386, 387, 390.
Aquabus, An, 213.
Armathwaite, 399.
Arten Gill Viaduct, 373.
Ashby and Nuneaton Line, 163.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, 435.
Ashwell Dale, 304-306.
Attenborougb, 423.
Audit Committee, 99.

Bakewell, 300.

Bardon Hill Incline, 71.

Barnsley, 133, 329.

Viaduct, 134.
Baron Wood and Samson's Cave, 397.

Barrow on Soar Bridge, 288, 289.

Barrow Lime Works, 288.

Bath, 417.

Battle of Locomotives, 101.

Batty Green, Traditions of, 360.

Batty Moss Viaduct, 367, 368.

Beacon Hill, 412.

Beale, Mr. Samuel, M.P., 49, 144.

Beauchieff Abbey and Hall, 324.

Beaumont Leys, 125.

Beckett, Sir Edmund, 125, 213.

Bedford, 276-278.

Bedford and Hitchin Line, 436.

Bedford and Northampton Line, 149.

Bell, J. Fox, 9.

Belper, 40, 294.

Belsize Tunnel, 241, 243, 263-266.

Ben Rhydding, 333-335.

Berkeley Castle, 413.

Bilborough Cut, 162.

Bingley, 342.

Binns, Mr. Charles, 33.

Birkenhead, Facilities at, 217.

Birkett Tunnel, 379.

Birmingham, 404.

Birmingham and Bristol Railways,

Amalgamated with Midland, 65, 66.
Birmingham and Derby Railway, 48.

Amalgamation, 54.

Committee of Investigation, 53.

Progress of Works, 52.

Route of, 53.
Birmingham and Gloucester Railway,

57-62.
Birthplace of Midland Railway, 1, 7.

500

INDEX.

Bittern, 415, 416.

BlackweU Mill Junction, 122, 123.

Blea Moor Tunnel, 369, 370.

Bolton Abbey, 338, 339.

Booking Clerks, 455, 456.

Borrowash, 22, 292.

Boulder Clay, 359.

Bradford, 340, 341.

Brassey, Thomas, 278.

Brecon and Neath Line, 225-228.

Bredon Hill, 412.

Brent Junction, 267.

Viaduct, 182.
Bridge-building, 427-429.
Bristol, 65, 418.

Bristol and Gloucester Eailway, 61-66.
Bromsgrove, 408, 409.
Bugsworth Viaduct, 164.

Landslip at, 310, 311, 312.
Bull Bridge, 43, 319.
Bunyan, John, 276, 277.
Burton, Joyce, 424.
Burton-on-Trent, 403.
Buxton, 306.

Camden Square Gardens, 132, 133.
Carlisle, 400.

Proposed Midland Line to, 154-161.
Carriage Works, Midland, 484-488.
Cbarnwood, 290.

Forest Canal, 3, 4.
Chatswortb, 298, 299.
Chee Vale, 110, 111, 302.
Cheltenham, 412.
Cheshire Companies' Line to North

End of Liverpool, 216, 217.
Chesterfield, 322, 323.
Churchyard, Old St. Pancras, 261,

262.

Clapham, 346.
Clay, The London, 263.
Clay Cross, 59.

Collieries, 320, 321.
Coal-fields of Notts and Leicestershire,

3, 435, 436.
Coalville, 434.

Codnor Castle and Park, 317.
Committee of Consultation, 184, 185.
Committee of Investigation, 92, 93.
Compensation, Claims for, 424.
Competitive Lines proposed in 1871,

200.

Crabs, 365.

Crackanthorpe, Mr., 292, 293.
Cranfleet Cut, 291.
Crich Hill, 294.
Cromford, 295, 296.

Canal, 2, 42.
Croome Court, 410.
Crosby Garrett, 385.
Crossley, John, 278, 370.
Crowdundle, 393, 394.
Crow Mills Viaduct, 102.
Cudworth, 329.
Culgaith, 394.
Cumwhinton, 400.

Dallow Farm, 273, 274.

Dandry Mire Viaduct, 375.

Defford, 411.

Denison, Mr., Q.C., 169, 170.

Dent Head and Dale, 371, 372, 374.

Derby, 293.

Derby, " The Inhabitants of," 49.

Derbyshire, Beauties of, 305.

Desborough, 284.

"Destiny" of the Midland Eailway,

127.

Detective Department,<457-460.
Directors, Midland, 445, 446.
DisleyLine, The, 114, 115.
Dividends, Midland, 497.
Dove Holes Tunnel, 307-309.
Drilling and Blasting, 384.
Droitwich, 408.
Dronfield, 323.
Duffield, 293.

Eastwood Coalowners, 1-8, 19, 20.
Eckington (North), 328.
Eden and Earnont Eivers, 395, 399.
Eden Hall, 395.

INDEX.

501

Ellis, Mr. E. S., 235, 236.

Ellis, Mr. John, 4, 5, 65, 66, 125-127.

Elstow, 276.

Elvaston Castle, 292.

Engine Driving, 473-476.

Engineers, Midland, 492-494.

Engines, New Midland, 482-484.

Episode, A Curious, 51.

Erewash Eiver, The, 1.

Erewash Valley, The, 1, 2, 18-20.

Erewash Valley Line, 48, 72.

Evesham, 412.

Express Engine, The, 473.

Findern, 401.
Finedon, 282.
" Five Millions Bill," 177.
Fleet Sewer, 249.
Flirtations, 209.
Flitwick, 275.
Floods in 1875, 239.
" Fly Wagons " and Coaches, 16.
Free Passes to attend Meetings, 45,
99.

Gauges, Battle of the, 64.

General Manager, 447-449.

Glacial Period, Kail way in, 376.

Glasbury, 439.

Glasgow and South-Western Kailway,

166-169.

Glen Magna, 285.
Gloucester, 63, 412.
Glyn, Mr. G. C., 33, 46, 54.
Goods Department, 462.
Gorhambury, 269.

Grand Hotel, The Midland, 257-261.
Great Exhibition Traffic, 98.
Great Northern, Contest with, about

Coal Rates, 196-199.
Competition with, 95, 96.
Derbyshire Line, 200-202.

Haddon Hall, 298.
Hampton, 404.
Harlington, 274, 275.

Harpeuden, 271, 272.

Hathern, 290.

Hawes, 367.

Haworth, 243.

Hay, 439.

Helwith, 358.

Hereford, Hay and Brecon Line, 221-

223.

Herts, 268.
Herts and Beds, 173.
High Stand Gill, 400.
Houghton Park, 275.
Huddersfield, Proposed Line to, 147,

148.

Hudson, George, 75-78, 91, 92.
Hutchinson, Mr. W. E., 181-184, 195,

236, 243.

Ilkley, 435.

Ingleborough, 346.

Inspectors, 451, 452.

Intake Embankment, 379.

Irchester, 279, 280.

Iron Field, South of Nottingham, 420.

Ise, The River, 280, 282.

Isham, 282.

Jessop, Mr., 9, 10.
Jew Clothier, The, 460.

Keighley, 343.

Kentish Town, 263.

Kettering, 282.

Kettering and Manton Line, 432, 433

Kibworth, 285.

King's Norton, 404.

Kirkby Stephen, 380.

Kirkoswald, 396.

Kirkstall Abbey, 331, 332.

Kirtley, Mr. Matthew, 210.

Lake District, The, 388, 391.
Lancaster, 347.
Landslip, A, 310-312.
Lazonby, 396.
Lea, The River, 372.

502

INDEX.

Leagrave, 274.
Lea Hurst, 295.
Leeds, 330, 331.

Leeds and Bradford, 94-96, 98, 100.
Leicestershire, Legends in, 288.
Leicester, 286, 287.
Lines in and near, 68.
Station, West Bridge, 71.
Trade of, 16, 17.
Leicester and Bedford Company, 83-

85.

Leicester to Hitchin Line, 278.
Leicester and Swannington Railway,

5, 8, 67-71.
Leicester and Trent Line, Doubling of,

290.
Lickey Hills, The, 405.

Incline, The, 59, 60, 406-408.
Lincoln, 426.

" Little " North-Western Railway, 100.
Liverpool, Cheshire Companies' Line

to, 150-153.
Locomotive Department, Derby, 468-

472.
London Traffic, Increase of, 128.

Difficulties and Delays of, 128-130.
London and North- Western, Negotia-
tions with, 173, 174.
London and York Railway, 73-78.
London, Proposed Line to, 102, 103.
Long Eaton, 31.
Longwathby, 395.
Loughborough, 290.

Canal, 3, 4.
Luton, 272, 273.
Luton Hoo, 272.

Mail Train, The, 478, 479
Mallerstang, Forest of, 377.
Manchester, Central Station at, 313.
Manchester and Liverpool Line, 313,

314.
Manchester, Midland Line to, 119.

Opposition of Great Northern, 122.

Opposition of North- Western, 121.

Parliamentary Evidence, 120.

Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincoln-
shire Company, Projects of, 207,
208.
Manchester South District Railway,

Midland Purchase of, 239.
Mangotsfield, 414.
Mangotsfield to Bath, 414-417.
Mangotsfield to Bristol, 417, 418.
Mania, Railway, 73.
Mansfield and Worksop Line, 146,

147.

Mansfield Line, 419, 420.
Manton and Rushton Line, 215.
Market Harborough, 242, 284, 285.
Masborough, 326, 327.
Matlock, 297.

Metropolitan Railway, Access of Mid-
land to, 176.
Doubling of, 248.
Midland Company, Progress of, 195,

196.

Midland Counties Railway, 7-16.
Benefits conferred by, 26.
Controversy and Competition, 27.
First Meeting of , 20, 21.
First Shareholders, 15.
Opening of, 23.
Peace, 31.

Progress of Works, 22, 23.
Second Meeting of, 22.
War, 18, 29.

Midland Counties, Trade of, 16, 17.
Midland Excluded from Lancashire,

117.

Midland Policy, Defence of, 179, 180.
Midland Railway, Birthplace of the,

1,7.
Midland Railway Company, First

Meeting of, 54, 5.
Mill Hill, 268.
Midland, South, Railway Scheme, 82,

83.

Mileage of Midland Railway, 493.
Miller's Dale, 301, 302.
Monsal Dale, 302, 303.
"Moorcock," The, 275.

INDEX.

503

Morecambe, 347-349.
Mount Sorrel, 288.

Nailsworth, 413.

Negotiations, 105, 106.

Newark, 425.

Newbiggin, 392.

Newcombe, Mr., 461.

Newspaper Express, The, 351.

Nibley, 413.

Night, Running Engines by, 478.

Niphany Viaduct, 345.

Noble, Mr. John, J.P., 220-230, 449.

Normanton, 211, 330.

Northampton People, Proposals of,

14.
Northamptonshire, 279.

Ironstone, 280.

North Midland Eailway, Selection of
Route, 33-36.

Commencement of Works, 40.

Committee of Inquiry, 46, 47.

Deposit of Plans, 39.

Opening of, 44.

Progress of, 45.

Progress of Works, 43.

The Naturalist and the Lawyer, 37,

38.

Northfield, 405.
Nottingham, 16, 17, 89, 424.

Coal-fields, 419, 420.
Nottingham and Lincoln Line, 423-

426.

Nottingham and Melton Line, 426-432.
Nunnery, The, 398, 399.

Oakley, 278.

Orm and Ormside, 385, 386.

Otley and Ilkley Branch, 332, 333.

" Peel's Line," 49,50.
Pendragon Castle, 378.
Pennegent, 358.
Pig Tor, 305.
Pinxton, 7, 9.
Plumtree, 430.

Pointsmen, 452.

Price, Mr. W. P., 144, 200, 203, 230.
Progress of Midland Company, 195.
Pullman Cars, 489-492.

Radford and Trowell Line, 161, 162.
Railway Enterprise, Results of, 494,

496.

Railway Tickets First Used, 60, 69.
Rennie, George, Report of, 9, 10.
Report and Accounts, Proposal to

Circulate, 45.
Ribble, The, 372.
Rolling Stock, 492.
Rotherham, 327.
Rowsley, 299.
Rowsley and Buxton Extension, 109-

112.

Royston, 329.

Running Shed, The, 480, 481.
Rushton, 283.

St. Albans, 269-271.

St. Pancras Churchyard, 262.

St. Pancras Goods Station, 189, 462-

468.
St. Pancras Station, 250-257.

The Hotel, 257-261.
St. Pancras, Who was, 246.
Saltaire, 341.
Sandiacre, 316.
Sawley, 292.

Bridge, 194.

Saxby Bridge, Battle of, 73.
Scotland, Claim of Midland Company
to Share Traffic to, 157-161.

Routes to, 154, 155.
Scott, Mr. Hope, Q.C., 169.
Second Class, Abolition of, 230-234.
Secretary, The, 446.
Settle, 354, 355.

Settle and Carlisle Railway, Difficul-
ties of the Country, 352, 353, 361-
364.

Abandonment Bill, 187, 188.

Commencement of, 354.

504

INDEX.

Shareholders, The Midland, 442.
Meetings of, 443, 444.

Sharland, Mr., 354.

Sharnbrook, 279.

Sheffield, 136, 137, 325, 326.

Sheffield, Chesterfield, and Stafford-
shire Company, Proposed, 139-
143.

Sheffield (Direct) Line Opened, 290,
291.

Skipton, 473.

Sleepers, Steel, 244.

Smardale Viaduct, 380-382.

Soar Bridge, Barrow-on-Soar, 288, 289.

Soar Navigation, 4.

Solicitors, Midland, 495.

Somerset and Dorset Bailway, 236-238.

Sopwell Nunnery, 269.

South Midland Scheme, 82, 83.

South Wales, Midland Company's Ac-
cess to, 219-230.

Southwell, 425.

South-Western Junction, 200.

Spondon, 292.

Stamford, 72, 433.

Station Masters, names of Midland,
450, 451.

Staveley, 327.

Steam Whistle, Invention of, 70.

Stephenson, George, 4, 5, 33, 34, 48,
78, 322, 323.

Stephenson, Robert, 5, 45.

Stonehouse, 413.

Sturge, Mr. Charles, 57, 60.

Subscribers, First, to Midland Counties
Bailway, 8.

"Sun," The, Eastwood, 1, 6, 7, 8.

Superintendent, The, 449.

Swansea, 238.

Swansea Vale Bailway, 224-228.

Swanwick, Mr. Frederick, 36-38.

Swinton and Knottingley Line,210-215.

Syston and Peterborough J unction ,288.

Telegraphs, Government Purchase of,
192, 193.

Tewkesbury, 59.

Thackley Hill, Bemarkable Incident

at, 339, 340.

The Five Million Bill, 177.
The Society of Friends, 57.
Third Class by all Trains, 203-205.
Thompson, Mr. M. W., 240-245.
" Three Companies' Agreement," 116,

117.

Through Lines, Advantages of, 229.
Tickets, Bailway, 60, 69, 243, 453-456.
Topley Pike, 304.
Tottenham and Hampstead Line, 149,

150.

Treeton, 328.
Trent Bridge, 13, 395.
Dam of, 28.
Station, 291.
Trent Station, 124, 125.
Tunnel-making, 307-309.
Tunnel, " Bed Hill," 13.

Unstone, 260, 323.

Venables, Mr., Q.C., 170, 171, 211, 213,

214.

Viaducts, Construction of, 373, 374.
Vignoles, Charles B., 11, 20, 35.

Wagons, Private Ownership of, 236.

Wakeneld, 330.

Walton Park, 37, 38, 329.

Wanluds Bank, 275.

Waterton, Charles, 37, 38.

Wath-upon-Dearne, 328.

Watkin, Sir Edward, 200.

Way Bills and Whistles, 69, 70.

Wellingborough, 108, 281, 282.

Westmoreland, 377.

Weston-on-Avon, 417.

Westwood Park, 409.

Wharton Hall, 380.

Wickwar, 414.

Wigan, Proposed Line to, 218, 219.

Wigston, 286.

\Villersley, 295, 296.

INDEX.

505

Windermere, 350.

Wiugerworth, 321. '

Wingfield Manor House, 319, 320.

Winnington and Wellington Devia-
tion, 279.

Wollaton Hall, 421.

Worcester, 97, 409, 410.

Worcester and Birmingham Canal,
404.

Worksop Line, 585.

Worth Valley Line, 186, 341.

Wye, The River, 303.

York and London Railways — Compe-
tition Lines, 73-78.
Yorkshire, 325.

Zenith, The, 88.

Cutler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.

THE MIDLAND RAILWAY.

EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS.

"Brimful of information." — The Athenceum.

" A remarkable book." — The Standard.

" An able historian." — The Railway News.

" Mr. Williams shows how engineering and industrial enterprise, and even
financial matters connected therewith, can be made entertaining. His pages
bristle with facts that are instructive. . . A volume to be read." — Daily
News.

" A voluminous and most interesting narrative. . . Seldom has so elabo-
rate a literary tribute been paid to an industrial enterprise, and seldom has
there been an enterprise the history of which can so well bear to be written.
. . Told in graphic and elevated language." — Birmingham Morning and Even-
ing News.

" Exceedingly interesting and well written. . . A perfect mine of useful
information. . . Mr. Williams is so perfectly at home with his subject that
absolute reliance may be placed on all that he says. . . Capital illustrations,
admirably printed, and handsomely bound." — Figaro.

" A very interesting and lively picture of railway enterprise. We are shown
the successive developments of an ambitious and enterprising Company, always
on the alert, now dashing into a neighbouring territory, now meeting an in-
vasion on its own : if baffled in one direction, immediately seeking an outlet
somewhere else, and all the while steadily spreading its long feelers over the
country, like a vigorous octopus. It is quite thrilling to follow the almost in-
cessant warfare. . . Some excellent illustrations." — The Saturday Review.

" He has allowed nothing to escape him. . . He has the whole of the line
at his fingers' ends, and nothing seems to have occurred, from a landslip to a
banquet, from the 'caravan' on Blea Moor to the Committee Room of the House
of Commons, without the presence of the indefatigable annotator, questioning
and cross-questioning, suggesting, admiring, recording, and finally printing it
all. . . He has told a tale that was worth the telling thoroughly well." — The
Spectator.

" The history of the rise and progress of the Midland Eailway is no unevent-
ful one, nor without its dramatic episodes. . . A really thrilling story of
railway progress and enterprise." — The Examiner.

" The railway is the best in the kingdom, and this is the best of books about
a railway. . . Can be read through from beginning to end. . . His
mastery of the minutest details of his subject is something extraordinary. He

507

508 EXTEACTS FROM REVIEWS.

has caught the enterprise of the Midland Directors, and has done his work as
well as they have done theirs." — Nonconformist.

" Paper and type are of the best, and the numerous engravings which adorn
the pages are executed with a delicacy which we should admire, even if they
came before us in a Christmas book, intended for the ornament of the drawing-
room table. . . Both readable and instructive. Many pages have all the
interest of a romance." — Morning Advertiser.

" An extremely interesting study. . . Ought to be highly appreciated by
the numerous shareholders of the Midland Railway." — The Leicester Journal.

" Exceedingly readable. . . The story Mr. Williams has to tell is a very
interesting one, and he tells it con amove. . . An immense mass of informa-
tion, imparted in a pleasant, chatty way. . . A valuable contribution to the
records of British industrial and commercial enterprise." — The Scotsman.

" Mr. Williams has done his work extremely well." — Edinburgh Daily Review.

" Told with no slight graphic power. . . Mr. Williams has conferred a
great benefit, not only on the shareholders of the Midland Railway, but on the
English public. . . Told in a way that never wearies his readers. . . An
eminently instructive book." — Nottingham Daily Journal.

" Written by a gentleman who touches, as with the pen of a master, the
driest details, and invests them with the deepest interest." — Nottingham Daily
Express.

" The Midland Company have been very fortunate in their chronicler. . .
Reads like a romance. . . We cannot think that any railway officer will miss
perusing it." — The Railway Fly-sheet.

" Very readable and interesting." — The Pall Mall Gazette.

"He has never lost sight of the human element. . . We have always
before us the men who worked and strove on these several arenas. . . The
book is eminently readable ; . . enlivened by witty and keen observations,
and by suggestive incidents. . . The sparkling style and shrewd wit of our
author." — The Derby and Chesterfield Reporter.

" The rise and progress of that most representative of English railway lines.
. . History, topography, and administration, find each a place in Mr.
Williams's volume. . . The volume is one that has something to do with all
who have to do with the Midland, as shareholders or travellers." — The Graphic.

" An accurate history of the Midland Company. . . What would otherwise
be a dry story is relieved by numerous interesting personal incidents ; and its
perusal cannot fail to raise still higher the public appreciation of the spirited
management of the Midland Company."— Liverpool Daily Albion.

" A very clear and interesting style. . . The marvellous story of how the
Midland has grown from a small local line into a great system. . . Sir
Bernard Burke has written the ' Romance of the Peerage ; ' Mr. Williams has
written a ' Romance of the Railways.' . . Every proprietor of the Midland
Company will be grateful to Mr. Williams." — Railway News (second notice).

" Many a novel much less interesting." — Glasgow Herald.

" We have certainly never read so interesting a narrative in any way connected
with such a dry subject as the operations of a successful joint-stock company.

EXTEACTS FROM REVIEWS. 509

. . A happy aptitude of putting dry things in an entertaining form. " — Rail-
icay Service Gazette.

" Has graphically detailed the rise and progress of the Midland Railway. . .
An exceedingly interesting volume. . . Admirably got up in every
respect." — Midland Counties Herald.

" A most interesting historiette of commercial enterprise. The necessary
details of dates and figures are so skilfully interwoven with amusing anecdotes,
characteristic scraps from the biographies of the chief actors in this great
transformation scene, and glimpses behind the curtain of official administration,
that the development of the great system throughout its history of nearly half a
century is followed with unflagging interest. . . Graphic descriptions of the
country traversed by the main line and its numerous branches." — Birmingham
Daily Post.

" A book which it is a pleasure to handle and to read. The reader is taken
from the St. Pancras Station over the whole line, all points of any interest
being briefly and attractively brought before his notice, with the aid of the
many engravings of beautiful bits of scenery and wonderful works of art with
which the work abounds." — Herapattts Railway Journal.

"In a lucid, and at times graphic style, he tells a story which is really as in-
teresting as any romance. . . Mr. Williams has done well to weave together,
before it is too late, the story of this marvellous enterprise." — North British
Daily Mail.

" An agreeable surprise. . . A railway company is not at first sight an
attractive study, and we hardly expected much pleasure from Mr. Williams's
history of the rise and progress of the Midland Company. In this, however, we
have been mistaken — utterly mistaken. The author has an interesting story to
tell, and he tells it in an interesting manner. . . It may fairly take rank
with the class of work with which Mr. Smiles so conspicuously identified him-
self."— Nottingham Daily Guardian.

"This very able and interesting work. . . It was a very difficult task
which Mr. Williams undertook, to pursue the narrative through its various
contemporaneous and parallel threads, which in many places he has had to
disentangle from almost hopeless confusion, and we are glad to say that he has
accomplished it with a rare felicity. We feel ourselves somewhat entitled to
speak on this point. . . The whole railway world ought to feel itself
especially indebted to Mr. Williams. . . His pages are illumined by an
abounding knowledge, and a very lively interest in his subject. We cannot too
warmly commend it." — Sheffield and Rotherham Independent.

" Familiar facts, picturesque sketches, racy anecdotes, quaint allusions. . .
Intensely interesting. . . Forcible and lucid language. . . This fasci-
nating and instructive book." — Mansfield Reporter.

" A handsome, bulky volume, boldly printed, abundantly illustrated, and full
of capital reading. It is a history that wanted writing, and Mr. Williams has
told his story with clearness, judgment, and fidelity. There is hardly a dull
page in the volume. . . We can follow every winding, understand incidents
that have hitherto seemed mysterious, revive our fading knowledge of early

510 EXTEACTS FEOM REVIEWS.

conflicts, and grasp all the necessary details for a calm and comprehensive
judgment of what the Midland has done. . . A marvellous history. . .
Full of curious episodes, battles, and victories. . . Impossible for us to
convey to our readers any idea of the wealth of details and the ever-shifting
interest of what Mr. Williams has to say." — The York Herald.

" Mr. Williams deserves all credit for the artistic skill he has shown in
welding (his materials) into a narrative. . . Admirably done." — English
Independent.

" His pages are as full of fact as a history ; they are also as pleasant as
any fiction. Higher praise could be bestowed on no writer." — The Derbyshire
Times.

" To the execution of his task the author has brought energy, industry, and
ability, and the book is a monument of honest, conscientious, painstaking,
literary labour." — Salisbury and Winchester Journal.

" The Midland Eailway has found a worthy historian in Mr. Williams. . .
The story is admirably written. The author contrives to interest the reader
even when dealing with matters which in less apt hands would savour of
the driest. . . In many respects a remarkable volume." — The Liverpool
Mercury.

" The Company could not have fallen hi to the hands of a better historian
than Mr. Williams. He brings to his labour ability to write graphically ; a
tborough belief in the interest and importance of his theme ; and an enthu-
siastic admiration for the great enterprise whose fortunes he depicts so well.
Mr. Williams's book will be read with zest by hundreds remotely interested in
the Midland Eailway. The subject of the book owes its great charm to the
vivacity and freshness imparted to it by the author's admirable style." — The
Derby Mercury.

" A most interesting work. . . A labour of love. . . Looking at the
Midland as a whole, we do not wonder at the enthusiasm of Mr. Williams, and
the delight he has evidently experienced in preparing this work." — The Mining
World.

" The truly wonderful story Mr. Williams has to telL . . Mr. Williams
must be congratulated on the energy and ability displayed in the work, and on
the interest with which he has invested many of the dry details necessarily
introduced. The author, in fact, has accomplished his task in a manner which
will commend the book, not only to those who are deeply interested in the Mid-
land Eailway, but to the general public." — The Leeds Mercury.

" The charm lies in the author's treatment of his subject. Many a latter-day
romance is less interesting ; many a novel lacks its freshness and vivacity. . .
It may be read by the capitalist for information, and by everybody for amuse-
ment."— Sheffield Daily Telegraph.

" Mr. Williams has managed to tell his story in a way that cannot fail to
interest. . . Full of anecdotes and incidents which illustrate the^genuine
intelligence and grit of the men who have made the England of to-day." — The
Daily Graphic, New York.

OUR IRON ROADS:

THEIR HISTORY, CONSTRUCTION, AND ADMINISTRATION.
BEAUTIFULLY ILLUSTRATED.

OPINIONS OF SUBSCRIBERS.

A considerable number of copies were ordered by subscribers. Lord ALFRED
CHURCHILL writes that he " is much pleased with Mr. Williams's interesting
work : it is full of useful information." Other subscribers speak thus : — " I am
greatly obliged and well pleased." — " Very interesting." — " Many thanks : I am
much pleased with it." — " Most interesting, and very nicely got up." — " With
which I am very much pleased." — "Is much obliged to Mr. Williams for calling
his attention to the publication." — " With the book he is very much pleased."
— " This very interesting and beautifully got up volume, ' Our Iron Boads.' "

OPINIONS OF RAILWAY AUTHORITIES.

The GENERAL MANAGER of the Midland Bail way says : " I shall peruse it with
much interest." — The CHAIRMAN of the Midland writes : " I am much pleased
with ' Our Iron Boads.' " — Mr. ALEX. BEATTIE, an old Bail way Officer and a
Director of the South-Eastern, remarks that " It is very interesting and well got
up." — Mr. STIRLING, Locomotive Engineer of the Great Northern Bailway,
speaks of " your valuable book." — Mr. S. W. JOHNSTONE, Superintendent of
Midland Loco., thanks Mr. Williams for his " very interesting book ' Our Iron
Boads.' " — Another Midland Engineer says: "I am very much interested both
in the book and its subject. You have collected such a mass of interesting
facts relating to railways as is nowhere else to be found." — Mr. LANGDON, of the
Telegraph Department, Derby, says : " It conies out a very handsome book. I
have found much pleasure in it. It is something you can take up at any time
and always find a cheerful passage."— A gentleman in the Goods Department,
Derby, says : " I am much pleased with the work in every respect. It ought to
be in the hands of all interested in the working of ' our iron roads.' " — An
Engineer on the Brighton and South Coast observes of the book : "which I have
read and with which I am much pleased." — Mr. W. H. ASHWELL, Engineer,
Bedford, writes : " It is very interesting, especially to any one who has been, on
the line.' "

OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.

" Profusely illustrated." — Daily News.

" Abounds with pleasant and useful reading." — Economist.

" Mr. Williams's curious and fascinating volume." — Saturday Review.

" All the interest and variety of an exciting novel." — Scotsman.

"Another, and another, and yet another edition will be called for." — Liverpool
Mercury.

" We have not the slightest doubt that the handsome volume now published
will be as widely appreciated as the author can desire. The contents are as
lively as a work of fiction." — Figaro.

511

512 EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS.

" Beads like a romance. . . He writes not in a commercial or in a scientific
manner, but in a gossiping anecdotal strain, under which he manages to convey
a mass of facts and figures, which, if presented in the usual naked form, would
receive but little attention from many readers. . . Pleasant fireside read-
ing. . . Mr. Williams is sure of a large circle of readers." — Engineering.

" A brief popular history of the rise and progress of railways in this and
other countries, for which there has been found so wide a demand that it has
reached the honours of a second edition. It is evidently the result of much
well-directed research, and is put together in a careful and scholarly manner,
so that it is very readable though here and there it bristles with statistical in-
formation."— Spectator.

" That it is worthy of all the favour that may be shown to it we hasten to
affirm. . . To young readers this volume should, indeed, be one of immense
attractiveness, filled as it is from beginning to end with accounts of real won-
ders accomplished, of labours achieved, that often border closely upon the
miraculous. The work of collecting the multitudinous facts chronicled has
manifestly been pursued with inexhaustible patience. . . Full of vivacity as
a writer. . . Many of its incidents are as startling and astonishing as those
to jbe found in the pages of invented romance. . . A book remarkable in its
character from whatever side it is regarded." — Morning Advertiser.

" It is no exaggeration to say that it is better worth reading, more interesting
and amusing, than nine out of ten of the popular novels of the season. . .
We close our notice by re-affirming that Mr. Williams has produced one of the
most interesting books that ever came into our hands." — Sheffield and Rother-
liam Independent.

" This useful and pleasing book. It is the most comprehensive work on the
subject with which we are acquainted." — Sheffield Daily Telegraph.

" His descriptions and occasional sketches are readable and entertaining. "—
Herapath.

" Mr. Williams has certainly succeeded in collecting a large amount of inter-
esting information concerning our railways." — Railway News.

" Mr. Williams is an authority upon this subject, which he has quite made
his own. . . He has evidently aimed, and with (it must be admitted) trium-
phant success, at producing a popular history and exposition of the rise and
development of that gigantic system which has led to an enormous impetus
being given to social progress." — Yorkshire Post.

" A volume absorbing in interest, permanent in value, and superb in appear-
ance. It is difficult to say whether Mr. Williams is more informing or more
picturesque in his style of writing. He holds us with his fascinating pen."-
Derby Mercury.

"Mr. F. S. Williams has fairly earned the distinction of 'Historian of the
Railway World.' No one has written with so much lucidity, and, let us add,
instructiveness. . . Mr. Williams long ago won the approval of his critics
by his painstaking, unpretentious, yet eminently penetrating style." — Derby
Daily Telegraph.

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