Chapter IX

NEWTON JUNCTION TO LIVERPOOL. Fourteen and .75 Miles.

HAVING to describe the railroad branches to Liverpool and Manchester, we shall now continue our account along the Liverpool part of the line, and in the next Chapter take the "Newton to Manchester" portion. Leaving the Newton Junction, and turning to the left, the E. becomes North, and the W. we must call South. The constant traffic on the Liverpool and Manchester line, and the numerous trains journeying to and fro, render it a much more busy and stirring scene than the Birmingham railroad is at present.

The Grand Junction Company rent the use of this Liverpool and
Manchester railway at 20,000 per annum. The exact length of the
Liverpool and Manchester railway, from the station, Lime-street,
Liverpool, to Water-street, Manchester, is thirty miles and three
quarters, and thirty yards.

A short distance from the Junction is the Sankey Viaduct, a grand and stupendous work; the arches are nine in number, and fifty feet span; the embankments leading to and from it, are from sixty to eighty feet above the level country. Newton Common and Race-ground, the stand on which is a conspicuous object, lie to the N., with the Billinge hills behind, Burton Wood S., and the Sankey Canal winds along from either side. After passing

Collin's Green Station

Bold Hall (seat of Sir Henry Houghton) appears to the S., and we soon enter on the Parr Moss, passing the Sutton copper works on the N.

St. Helen's and Runcorn Junction Station.

HERE the St. Helen's line branches to the N., and the Runcorn Gap Railway, S. Shirley Hall lies on the N. side. On the S., is the Engine-house, where an engine is stationed to assist trains in ascending the Sutton inclined plane. Proceeding through the Sutton cutting, and under several fine arches, the

Lea Green Station, (top of Sutton incline,)

at the summit of the elevation, is gained, and Rainhill level entered upon. The village of Sutton and Grove Hall are nearly hidden from view by the surrounding trees.

Kendrick's Cross Station, Rainhill.

FROM Rainhill station the line passes through a short cutting, and then descends the Whiston inclined plane. Prescot Church is on the N. side, with Ellsby Hills and Halton Castle on the S.

[Picture: Prescot Town And Church]

The town of Prescot, one mile N. of the line, lies principally on a substratum of coal, several mines of which are excavated to its very edge. The district has long been noted for the superior construction of watch tools and motion-work. The drawing of pinion-wire originated here; and small files, considered to be of great excellence, are made and exported in large quantities. Coarse earthenware, especially sugar moulds, are here made from the clay of the neighbourhood, which is particularly adapted to the purpose. The plate-glass works at Ravenhead are very extensive and celebrated. The concave and convex mirrors, and large plate-glass, being equal, if not superior to any produced on the Continent. The Church is ancient; the spire, which was rebuilt in 1789, is 156 feet high, and is a fine object from the railroad. In the Church are several monuments, one by Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A., is of great beauty. John Philip Kemble, the tragedian, was born at Prescot, in 1757. The view of the Cheshire hills in the southward distance, is rich and extensive.

Knowsley Park, seat of the Earl of Derby, appears on the N. The
mansion has evidently been erected at different periods; its most
ancient part is of stone, and is said to have been raised by the
first Earl of Derby, for the reception of his son-in-law, King Henry
VII., in whose honours the Earl had been mainly instrumental. Great
enlargement and decoration of the mansion took place on occasion of
this royal visit: a handsome stone bridge was thrown across the
Mersey at Warrington, and an embankment or causeway thrown up across
the marshes to the rising ground on the Cheshire side. Many valuable
and interesting pictures adorn the mansion, which is surrounded by a
beautiful park.

Several coal, lime, and marble works are passed on either side; and while traversing the Huyton embankment, Preston church, the Hazels, seat of Joseph Birch, Esq., and the church and village of Huyton are observed on the N. On the S. appears Childwall park, hall, and church; beyond, is Woolton hall, seat of N. Ashton, Esq.; the whole scene finely wooded.

Huyton Gate and Roby-lane Gate Stations

are shortly passed; the village of Roby lies S. of the line, and closely adjoining it. Proceeding onwards, along a pleasant but not very interesting part, Summer-hill house is seen, the seat of Thomas Case, Esq.; also, the little church of Notting Ash and Childwall hall, a seat of the Marquis of Salisbury.

Broad Green Station.

A FEW yards from the station, on the N. side, is a place for the landing of cattle, sheep, &c. The line now enters the Olive Mount excavation, which is an immense chasm, cut in the solid rock, to the depth of from 50 to 70 feet, the precipitous rock forming a grand wall on either side. The village of Wavertree lies S. of the line, after emerging from the Olive Mount ravine; Spekelands, the residence of Mrs. Earle, lies also on the S., and on the N. is the residence of C. Lawrence, Esq. Here the Liverpool tunnels commence; one, for conveying passengers, &c., into the Company's station-yard in Lime-street, turns off on the right hand, and is 2,230 yards long, 25 feet wide, and 17 feet high. The other, for the conveyance of goods, direct to the docks, in a straighter continuation of the line, is 2,250 yards long, 22 feet wide, and 16 feet high. Engines are stationed on each side of the line at this part, each of forty-horse power, to draw the trains up the inclined plane of the tunnel, in coming out of Liverpool, and let them down on their arrival from Birmingham. The locomotive engines being attached to and detached from the trains at this station.

* * * * *

"A Friend to Railways," in a letter to the Editor of the Railway Magazine, May 1838, thus describes the mode of drawing the trains up the inclined plane:--

"At the upper end of the tunnel, which is 2,250 yards long, there is
one pair of engines on each side of the road; it being found that a
much more regular motion is given by this means to the carriages.
The engines are high-pressure, with side-levers, similar to marine
engines; the connecting-rods, however, are reversed, and work the
crank downwards, and are connected to a horizontal shaft of great
strength running across and under the road in a tunnel, upon which
shaft a large drum-wheel is placed that works the rope. In each
engine-house is a raised platform, upon which the man stands who
works the engines; this platform leads to a balcony on the outside of
the engine-house, from which the man can look down the mouth of the
tunnel; a signal is given by means of an air-pipe running through the
tunnel, so formed at the upper end as to produce a sound when the air
is forced into it from the lower extremity. This, I believe, is the
invention of Mr. King, of Liverpool. The engine-man on hearing the
signal, opens the steam-cock, and the engines start instantly. This
work was designed by Mr. Grantham, of the foundery of Messrs. Mather
and Dickson, of Liverpool, where the machinery was constructed."

Having now given an account of the whole journey, we must proceed to a brief history and memoir of Liverpool itself.