Chapter VI: Part 6

“A few miles beyond Newton is the great Kenyon excavation, from which
about 800,000 cubic yards of clay and sand have been dug out, part
being carried to form the line of embankment to the east and west of
the cutting; and the remainder, deposited as spoil banks, may be seen
heaped up, like Pelion upon Ossa, towering over the adjacent land.”
p. 55.

“Beyond Chat Moss we traverse the Barton embankment, crossing the low
lands for about a mile between the Moss and the Worsley Canal, over
which the railway is carried by a neat stone bridge.” p. 57.

{32} In evidence that the observations which will be found in the course of this letter, relative to the effects of momentum, are not of such recent origin in my mind, as Mr. Badnall states his idea relative to this “undulating railway” to have been in his, I beg to direct attention to the testimony given by the Appendix.

{33} I give this latter doubling to “excite the energies” of a renowned steam-coach proprietor; who, in answer to the question, “If your steam-coach has, as you say, gone at the rate of between thirty and forty miles an hour over common roads, how fast would it run on a rail-road?” replied, “_At least_ 250 miles an hour.”

{34a} By heading their prospectus, “Capital, 3,000,000_l._”

{34b} There is one manifestation of “_skill_ and experience” {34c} in the manner in which the Committee have been induced to lend their sanction to statements in their Report, which merits observation. The paragraph immediately preceding the abstract of the estimate, states that “The locomotive engines will, in no part of the line, have to surmount an inclination greater than 1 in 340; and for the first 50 miles out of London, none greater than 1 in 528. This degree of approach to a level, will render the locomotive engines much more effective, and subject them to less wear and tear than they are on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, part of which has an inclination of 1 in 98.”

At page 60 of Mr. Treasurer Booth’s “Account of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,” is given a “Section of the line of Railway, from Liverpool to Manchester,” which states that for 5-9ths of a mile (_from_ Liverpool) it is “level;” that for the next 5⅛ miles it has a fall of 1 in 1092; for the next 1½ mile, a rise of 1 in 96, &c. &c. according to the following table:—

MILES. 5/9 Level. 5⅛ Fall, 1 in 1092; or 1 foot in about l-5th of a mile. 1½ Rise, 1 in 96; or 1 foot in 96 feet. 1⅞ Level. 1½ Fall, 1 in 96. 2½ Fall, 1 in 2640; or 1 foot in half a mile. 6½ Fall, 1 in 880; or 1 foot in 1-6th of a mile. 4½ Rise, 1 in 1200; or, 1 foot in about ¼ of a mile. 4½ Level.

Now as it appears from this, that, with the exception of the mile and half which rises at the rate of 1 in 96 (up from l-6th to l-3rd of which their momentum carries them) the part of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway over which the locomotive engines work, has no rise that is half so sharp as the 1 in 340, nor any which is near so sharp as the 1 in 528, adverted to on the Bristol line, it surpasses my comprehension to conceive what there can possibly be to “render the locomotive engines much more effective, and subject them to less wear and tear than they are on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway”; while I am beyond measure surprised, that the confidence of gentlemen could be so misled, as to expose them to a refutation so palpable, as the statement they have thus been betrayed into admits of.

{34c} “Confound that word! my unfortunate pen
Had well nigh prefixed to it _i_ and _n_.”

{38a} “_Extraordinary Performance by Steam Power_.—On the occasion of a scientific gentleman lately visiting the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, some very extraordinary performances were effected. On two occasions, a load amounting to 100 tons, was drawn by one engine from Liverpool to Manchester, a distance of above 30 miles in an hour and a half; being at the average rate of 20 miles an hour. It is said no former performance effected on the rail-road has come near this result.”—_Liverpool Advertiser_.—_Times_, 25_th_ _June_, 1832.

{38b} The tunnel which I constructed at Brighton, was strong enough to bear the pressure thrown on it by one-third of a vacuum. One-fourth of a vacuum would move above 4000 tons in a tunnel 8 feet in diameter, while any tunnel I might now lay down, would be ten times stronger than that I laid down at Brighton.

{40} Dr. Hutton, at the end of a table of resistances to bodies moving through still air, at rates varying from two to thirteen miles an hour, says, “The resistance to the same surface is nearly as the square of the velocity; but gradually increasing more and more _above_ that proportion as the velocity increases.”

{41} A hint on this point. The engine with which Watt first proved his principle was not equal to a _dog’s_ power. There is one now in Cornwall said to be of 1000 horses power.

In our first steam-boats, engines of only two or three horses power could be employed; and the proposition to use larger ones was met by the usual exclamation, “Impossible!” We have now many steam vessels in which engines of 200 hones power are employed; while there is one in which they are above 300 horses power.

{45} The average produce per acre, throughout the island, is estimated at 2½ quarters for wheat, 4 for barley, and 4½ for oats; average, 3⅔rds.

{46} “_Steam-Engines_.—It has been ascertained that there are now in
Great Britain not less than 15,000 steam-engines at work; some of
almost incredible power. In Cornwall there is one of one thousand
horses power.”—_New Monthly Magazine_, _for July_, 1831.

Independent of the large air-pumps which the iron masters themselves use, those I put up to exhaust air from the tunnel which I constructed at Brighton would, if worked at an extraordinary rate, have pumped five hundred thousand gallons per minute through it.

{48a} The limits of the page render it necessary that the scale of length should be in hundredths of an inch; but as the width would have been imperceptible had the same scale been observed, tenths are adverted to for it.

{48b} “Having performed what was due to his country, Columbus was so
little discouraged by the repulse which he had received, that,
instead of relinquishing his undertaking, he pursued it with fresh
ardour. He made his next overture to John II. king of Portugal, in
whose dominions he had been long established, and whom he considered,
on that account, as having the second claim to his service. Here
every circumstance seemed to promise him a more favourable reception.
He applied to a monarch of an enterprising genius, no incompetent
judge in naval affairs, and proud of patronising every attempt to
discover new countries. His subjects were the most experienced
navigators in Europe, and the least apt to be intimidated, either by
the novelty or boldness of any maritime expedition. In Portugal, the
professional skill of Columbus, as well as his personal good
qualities, were thoroughly known; and as the former rendered it
probable that his scheme was not altogether visionary, the latter
exempted him from the suspicion of any sinister intention in
proposing it. Accordingly, the king listened to him in the most
gracious manner, and referred the consideration of his plan to Diego
Ortiz, bishop of Ceuta, and two Jewish physicians, eminent
cosmographers, whom he was accustomed to consult in matters of this
kind. As in Genoa, ignorance had opposed and disappointed Columbus;
in Lisbon, he had to combat with prejudice, an enemy no less
formidable. The persons, according to whose decision his scheme was
to be adopted or rejected, had been the chief directors of the
Portuguese navigations, and had advised to search for a passage to
India, by steering a course directly opposite to that which Columbus
recommended as shorter and more certain. They could not, therefore,
approve of his proposal, without submitting to the double
mortification, of condemning their own theory, and of acknowledging
his superior sagacity. After teasing him with captious questions,
and starting innumerable objections, with a view of betraying him
into such a particular explanation of his system, as might draw from
him a full discovery of its nature, they deferred passing a final
judgment with respect to it. In the mean time, they conspired to rob
him of the honour and advantages which he expected from the success
of his scheme, advising the king to dispatch a vessel secretly, in
order to attempt the proposed discovery, by following exactly the
course which Columbus seemed to point out. John, forgetting on this
occasion, the sentiments becoming a monarch, meanly adopted this
perfidious counsel. But the pilot, chosen to execute Columbus’s
plan, had neither the genius, nor the fortitude of its author.
Contrary winds arose, no sight of approaching land appeared, his
courage failed, and he returned to Lisbon, execrating the project as
equally extravagant and dangerous.”—_Robertson’s America_, _Vol._ I.
_p._ 86–88.

{52} Items: up to the 31st May, 1830.

_£_ _s._ _d._ Bridge account 99,065 11 9 Fencing 10,202 16 5 Chat Moss account 27,719 11 10 Cuttings and Embankments 199,763 8 0 Formation of Road 20,568 15 5 Land account 95,305 8 8 £452,625 12 1

And this, exclusive both of the 300,000_l._ (nearly) which has been expended since, and of the 130,000_l._ which is the _estimated_ expense of the tunnel now in course of construction.

{53a} “_Railway Accident_.—We are sorry to have to mention a very
serious accident, which occurred on Saturday, on the railway between
Kenyon and Bolton. The locomotive engine was going up the lower
inclined plane, with a heavy load of goods, and at the turn-off at
Colonel Fletcher’s colleries, ran off the road, and was unfortunately
overturned against a bank, and fell upon the engineer and fireman,
who were killed on the spot. Two other men were riding on the
tender, one of whom was dangerously hurt, the other scalded. This
engine, we understand, was the only one which was ever worked on a
railway with wheels of six feet diameter; and, on that account, had
never been allowed to take the coaches.”—_Times_, 26_th_ _July_,
1831.

“On Wednesday morning, the engine drawing the first-class train of
carriages from Manchester to Liverpool, on the railway, had the
misfortune to break an axle-tree, when at full speed, near Chat Moss;
which, after ploughing the ground for some time, went off the rails,
and drew the whole train over the embankment, {53b} when, most
providentially, out of two hundred passengers, not a life was lost,
or a limb broken. Several persons were bruised, and some
seriously.”—_Morning Herald_, 9_th_ _December_, 1831.

{53b} There, only a foot or two above the ground.

{62} The average number of passengers drawn by the locomotive engines between Liverpool and Manchester during the most successful half year since that railway has been opened, is 87 each journey.

These boats can and _have_ carried 110 passengers at one time, though 100 may be considered an average number.

{69} Air of only three-fourths, two-thirds, half, and in Joliffe and Cornillot’s ascent, of less than half the usual density (the barometer sinking to 12.15) has frequently been respired, without any serious consequences.

{72} “Railroads, in many instances lighted with gas for a
considerable distance (in one instance for sixteen miles) are, more
or less, traversing every district of the country.”—_New Monthly
Magazine_, _July_, 1830.

“_The Liverpool and Leeds Railway_.—A bill is now under the
consideration of a select committee of the House of Commons, for the
purpose of connecting by rail-roads Liverpool with the ports on the
Humber, and thereby to bring the German Ocean and the Irish Sea, the
eastern and western sides of the island, within six hours’ journey of
each other. It is proposed to have four lines of railway, two for
swift carriages, going and returning with light goods and passengers,
and two for slower carriages, with heavy goods and animals. The
whole is to be lighted with gas, so as to be traversable by night as
well as day, and the plan of the iron rails will secure the carriages
from obstructing one another.”—_Times_, 17_th_ _March_, 1831.

“The outline of a plan has been stated to us, for lighting up the
intended line of railway from this city to London with gas. Our
correspondent says, ‘Of the practicability of the thing there can be
no doubt; and it certainly would be an improvement, and create a
great demand for coals; as the gas might be continued from the parent
line to any extent.’”—_Felix Farley’s Bristol Journal_, 3_rd_
_August_, 1833.