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THE LIFE
OF
GEORGE STEPHENSON
AND OF HIS SON
ROBERT STEPHENSON;
COMPRISING ALSO
A HISTORY OF THE INVENTION AND INTRODUCTION
OF THE RAILWAY LOCOMOTIVE.
BY SAMUEL SMILES,
AUTHOR OF "SELF-HELP," "THE HUGUENOTS," ETC.
Wftb 3orttrafts anb Numterous *llustratfons.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
FRANKLIN SQUARE.
I868.








PREFACE.
THE present is a revised edition of the Life of George Stephenson and of his son Robert Stephenson, to which is prefixed a history of the Railway and the Locomotive in its earlier stages, uniform with the early history of the Steam-engine given in vol. iv.
of " Lives of the Engineers" containing the memoirs of Boulton
and Watt. A memoir of Richard Trevithick has also been included in this introductory portion of the book, which will probably be found more complete than any notice which has yet appeared of that distinguished mechanical engineer.
Since the appearance of this Life in its original form ten years
ago, the construction of Railways has continued to make extraordinary progress. The length of lines then open in Europe was
estimated at about 18,000 miles: it is now more than 50,000
miles. Although Great Britain, first in the field, had then, after
about twenty-five years' work, expended nearly 300 millions sterling in the construction of 8300 miles of double railway, it has
during the last ten years expended about 200 millions more in
constructing 5600 additional miles.
But the construction of railways has proceeded with equal rapidity on the Continent. France has now 9624 miles at work;
Germany (including Austria), 13,392 miles; Spain, 3161 miles;
Sweden, 1100 miles; Belgium, 1073 miles; Switzerland, 795
miles; Holland, 617 miles; besides railways in other states.
These have, for the most part, been constructed and opened during the last ten years, while a considerable length is still under
construction. Austria is actively engaged in carrying new lines




iv                    PREFACE.
across the plains of Hungary to the frontier of Turkey, which
Turkey is preparing to meet by lines carried up the valley of the
Lower Danube; and Russia; with 2800 miles already at work, is
occupied with extensive schemes for connecting Petersburg and
Moscow with her ports in the -Black Sea on the one hand, and
with the frontier towns of her Asiatic empire on the other.
Italy also is employing her new-born liberty in vigorously extending railways throughout' her dominions. The length of Italian lines in operation in 1866 was 2752 miles, of which not less
than 680 were opened in that. year. Already has a direct line of
communication been opened between Germany and Italy through
the Brenner Pass, by which it is now possible to make the entire
journey by railway (excepting only the short sea-passage across
the English Channel) from London to Brindisi on the southeastern extremity of the Italian peninsula; and, in the course of a
few more years, a still shorter route will be opened through France,
when that most formidable of all railway borings, the seven-mile
tunnel under Mont Cenis, has been completed.
During the last ten years, nearly the whole of the existing Indian railways have been made. When Edmund Burke in 1783
arraigned the British government for their Aeglect of India in
his speech on Mr. Fox's Bill, he said, "England has built no
bridges, made no high roads, cut no navigations, dug out no:reservoirs.... Were we to be driven out of India this day, nothing
would remain to tell that it had been possessed, during the inglorious period of our dominion, by any thing better than the orangoutang or the tiger." But that reproach no longer applies. Some
of the greatest bridges erected in modern times-such as those
over the Sone near Patna, and over the Jamna at Allahabadhave been erected in connection with the Indian railways, of
which there are already 3637 miles at work, and above 2000 more
under construction. When these lines have been completed, at
an expenditure of about ~88,000,000 of British capital guaranteed by the British government, India will be provided with a




PREFACE.                       v
magnificent system of internal communication, connecting the
capitals of the three Presidencies-uniting Bombay with Madras
on the south, and with Calcutta on the northeast-while a great
main line, 2200 miles in extent, passing through the northwestern
provinces, and connecting Calcutta with Lucknow, Delhi, Lahore,
Moultan, and Kurrachee, will unite the mouths of the Hooghly
in the Bay of Bengal with those of the Indus in the Arabian Sea.
When the first edition of this work appeared in the beginning
of 1857, the Canadian system of railways was but in its infancy.
The Grand Trunk was only begun, and the Victoria.Bridge-the
greatest of all railway structures-was not half erected. Now,
that fine colony has more than 2200 miles in active operation
along the great valley of the St. Lawrence, connecting Riviere du
Loup at the mouth of that river, and the harbor of Portland in
the State of Maine, via Montreal and Toronto, with Sarnia on
Lake Huron, and with Windsor, opposite Detroit, in the State of
Michigan. The Australian Colonies also have during the same
time been actively engaged in providing themselves with railways, many of which are at work, and others are in course of formation. Even the Cape of Good Hope has several lines open,
and others making. France also has constructed about 400 miles
in Algeria, while the Pasha of Egypt is the proprietor of 360
miles in operation across the Egyptian desert.
But in no country has railway construction been prosecuted
with greater vigor than in the United States. There the railway
furnishes not only the means of intercommunication between already established settlements, as in the Old World, but it is regarded as the pioneer of colonization, and as instrumental in
opening up new and fertile territories of vast extent in the; west
-the food-grounds of future nations. Hence railway construction in that country was scarcely interrupted even by the great
Civil War; at the commencement of which Mr. Seward publicly
expressed the opinion that "physical bonds, such as highways,
railroads, rivers, and canals, are vastly more powerful for hold



vi                      PREFA CE.
ing civil communities together than any mere covenants, though
written on parchment or engraved on iron."
The people of the United States were the first to follow the
example of England, after the practicability of steam locomotion
lhad been proved on the Stockton and Darlington and Liverpool
and Manchester Railways. The first sod of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railway was cut on the 4th of July, 1828, and the line was
completed and opened for traffic in the following year, when it
was worked partly by horse-power, and partly by a locomotive
built at Baltimore, which is still preserved in the Company's
wzorkshops. In 1830 the Hudson and Mohawk Railway was beg-un, while other lines were under construction in Pennsylvania,
[M~assachusetts, and New Jersey; and in the course of ten years,
1843 miles were finished and in operation. In ten more years,
8827 miles were at work; at the end of 1864, not less than 35,000
miles, mostly single tracks; while about 15,000 miles more were
under construction. One of the most extensive trunk-lines still
unfinished is the Great Pacific Railroad, connecting the lines in
the valleys of the Mississippi and the Missouri with the city of
San Francisco on the shores of the Pacific, by which, when com-,pleted, it will be possible to make the journey from England to
Hong Kong, via New York, in little more than a mnonth.
The results of the working of railways have been in many respects different from those anticipated by their projectors. One
of the most unexpected has been the growth of an immense passenger-traffic. The Stockton and Darlington line was projected
as a coal line only, and the Liverpool and Manchester as a merchandise line. Passengers were not taken into accoiumt as a
source of revenue; for, at the time of their projection, it was not
believed that people would trust themselves to be drawn upon
a railway by an " explosive machine," as the locomotive was described to be. Indeed, a writer of eminence declared that he
would as soon think of being fired off on a ricochet rocket as




PREFA CE.                      Xii
travel on a railway at twice the speed of the old stage-coaches.
So great was the alarm which existed as to the locomotive, that
the Liverpool and Manchester Committee pledged themselves in
their second prospectus, issued in 1825, " not to require any clause
empowering its use;" and as late as 1829, the Newcastle and
Carlisle Act was conceded on the express condition that it should
not be worked by locomotives, but by horses only.
Nevertheless, the Liverpool and Manchester Company obtained
powers to make and work their railway without any such restriction; and when the line was made and opened, a locomotive
passenger-train was ordered to be run upon, it by way of experiment. Greatly to the surprise of the directors, more passengers
presented themselves as travelers by the train than could conveniently be carried.
The first arrangements as to passenger-traffic were of a very
primitive character, being mainly copied from the old stage-coach
system. The passengers were "booked" at the railway office,
and their names were entered in a way-bill which was given to
the guard when the train started. Though the usual stage-coach
bugleman could not conveniently accompany the passengers, the
trains were at first played out of the terminal stations by a lively
tune performed by a trumpeter at the end of the platform, and
this continued to be done at the Manchester Station- until a comparatively recent date.
But the number of passengers carried by the Liverpool and
Manchester line was so unexpectedly- great,,that it was very soon
found necessary to remodel the entire system. Tickets were introduced, by which a great saving of time was effected. More
roomy and commodious carriages were provided, the original
first-class compartments being seated for four passengers only.
Every thing was found to have been in the first instance made
too light and too slight. The prize "Rocket," which weighed
only 4i tons when loaded with its coke and water, was found
quite unsuited for drawing the increasingly heavy loads of pas



viii                    PREFA CE.
sengers. There was also this essential difference between the old
stage-coach and the new railway train, that, whereas the former
was "full" with six inside and ten outside, the latter must be
able to accommodate whatever number of passengers came to be
carried. Hence heavier and more powerful engines, and larger
and more substantial carriages, were from time to time added to
the carrying stock of the railway.
The' speed of the trains was also increased. The first locomotives used in hauling coal-trains ran at from four to six miles an
hour. On the Stockton and Darlington line the speed was increased to about ten miles an hour; and on the Liverpool and
MTanchester line the first passenger-trains were run at the average speed of seventeen miles an hour, which at that time was
considered very fast. But this was not enough. When the London and Birmingham line was opened, the mail-trains were run
at twenty-three miles an hour; and gradually the speed went up,
until now the fast trains are run at from fifty to sixty miles an
hour-the pistons in the cylinders, at sixty miles, traveling at the
inconceivable rapidity of 800 feet per minute!
To bear the load of heavy engines run at high speeds, a much
stronger and heavier road was found necessary; and shortly after the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester line, it was entirely relaid with stronger materials. Now that express passenger-engines are from thirty to thirty-five tons each; the weight of
the rails has been increased from 35 lbs. to 75 lbs. or 86 lbs. to
the yard. Stone blocks have given place to wooden sleepers;
rails with loose ends resting on the chairs, to rails with their
ends firmly "fished" together; and in many places, where the
traffic is unusually heavy, iron rails have been replaced by those
of steel.
And now see the enormous magnitude to which.railway passenger-traffic has grown. In the year 1866, 274,293,668 passengers were carried by day tickets in Great Britain alone.' But
this was not all; for in that year 110,227 periodical tickets were




PREFA CE.                      ix
issued by the different railways; and assuming half of them to
be annual, one fourth half-yearly, and the remainder quarterly
tickets, and that their holders made only five journeys each way
weekly, this would give an additional number of 39,405,600 journeys, or a total of 313,699,268 passengers carried in Great BriSain in one year.
It is difficult to grasp the idea of the enormous number of persons represented by these figures. The mind is merely bewildered by them, and can form no adequate notion of their magnitude. To reckon them singly would occupy twenty years, counting at the rate of one a second for fwelve hours every day. Or
take another illustration. Supposing every man, woman, and
child in Great Britain to make ten journeys by rail yearly, the
number would fall short of the passengers carried in 1866.
Mr. Porter, in his "Progress of. the. Nation," estimated that
thirty millions of passengers, or about eighty-two thousand a
day, traveled by coaches in Great Britain in 1834, an average
distance of twelve miles each, at an average cost of 5s. a passenger, or at the rate of 5d. a mile; whereas above 313 millions are
now carried by railway an average distance of 81 miles each, at
an average cost of ls. lid. per passenger, or about three halfpence per mile, in considerably less than half the time.
But, besides the above number of passengers, one hundred and
twenty-four million tons of minerals and merchandise were
carried by railway in the United Kingdon in 1866, and fifteen
millions of cattle, besides mails, parcels, and other traffic. The
distance run by passenger and goods trains in the year was
142,807,853 miles, to accomplish which it is estimated that four
miles of railway on an average must be covered by running
trains during every second all the year round.
To perform this service, there were, in 1866, 8125 locomotives
at work in the United Kingdom, consuming about three million
tons of coal and coke, and flashing into the air every minute
some thirty tons of water in the form of steam in a high state




XPREFA CE.
of elasticity. There were also 19,228 passenger-carriages, 7276
vans and breaks attached to passenger-trains, and 242,947 trucks,
wagons, and other vehicles appropriated to merchandise. Buckled together, buffer to buffer, the locomotives and tenders would
extend for a length of about 54 miles, or more than the distance
from London to Brighton; while the carrying vehicles, joined
together, would form two trains occupying a double line of railway extending from London to beyond Inverness.
A notable feature in the growth of railway traffic of late years
has been the increase in the number of third-class passengers,
compared with first and second class. Sixteen years since, the
third-class passengers constituted only about one third; ten years
later they were about one half; whereas now they form nearly
two thirds of the whole number carried. Thus George Stephenson's prediction "that the time would come when it would be
cheaper for a working man to make a journey by railway than
to walk on foot" is already realized.
The degree of safety with which this great traffic has been
conducted is not the least remarkable of its features. Of course,
so long as railways are worked by men, they will be liable to the
imperfections belonging to all things human. Though their machinery may be perfect, and their organization as complete as
skill and forethought can make it, workmen will at times be forgetful and listless, and a moment's carelessness may lead to the
most disastrous results. Yet, taking all circumstances into account, the wonder is that traveling by railway at high speeds
should have been rendered comparatively so safe.
To be struck by lightning is one of the rarest of all causes of
death, yet more persons were killed by lightning in Great Britain,
in 1866, than were killed on railways from causes beyond their
own control; the number in the former case having been nineteen, and in the latter fifteen, or one in every twenty millions of
passengers carried. Most persons would consider the probability
of their dying by hanging to be extremely remote; yet, accord



PREFA CE.                      xi
ing to the Registrar General's returns for 1867, it is thirty times
greater than that of being killed by railway accident. Taking
the number of persons who traveled in Great Britain in 1866 at
313,699,268, of whom fifteen were accidentally killed, it would
appear that, even supposing a person to have a permanent existence, and to make a journey by railway daily, the probability of
his being killed in an accident would occur on an average once
in above 50,000 years.
The remarkable safety with which railway traffic is on the
whole conducted, is due to constant watchfulness and highly-applied'skill. The men who work the railways are for the most
part the picked men of the country, and every railway station
may be regarded as a practical school of industry, attention, and
punctuality. Where railways fail in these respects, it will usually be found that it is because the men are personally defective,
or because better men are not to be had. It must also be added
that the onerous and responsible duties which railway workmen
are called upon to perform require a degree of consideration on
the part of the public which is not very often extended to them.
Few are aware of the complicated means and agencies that are
in constant operation on railways day and night to insure the
safety of the passengers to their journeys' end. The road is under a system of continuous inspection, under gangs of menabout twelve to every five miles, under a foreman or "ganger"'whose duty it is to see that the rails and chairs are sound, all
their fastenings complete, and the line clear of obstructions.
Then, at all the junctions, sidings, and crossings, pointsmen are
stationed, with definite instructions as to the duties to be performed by them. At these places signals are provided, worked
from the station platforms, or from special signal-boxes, for the
purpose of protecting the stopping or passing trains. When the
first railways were opened the signals were of a very simple kind.
The station-men gave them with their arms stretched out in different positions; then flags of different colors were used; next




xii                    PREFA CE.
fixed signals, with arms or discs, or of rectangular or triangular
shape. These were followed by a complete system of semaphore
signals, near and distant, protecting all junctions, sidings, and
crossings.
When government inspectors were first appointed by the Board
of Trade to examine and report upon the working of railways,
they were alarmed by the number of trains following each other
at some stations in what then seemed to be a very rapid succession. A passage from a Report written in 1840 by Sir Frederick
Smith, as to the traffic at "Taylor's Junction," on the York and
North Midland Railway, contrasts curiously with the railway life
and activity of the present day: "Here," wrote the alarmed inspector, " the passenger trains from York, as well as Leeds and
Selby, meet four times a day. No less than 23 passenger-trains
stop at or pass this station in the 24 hours-an amount of traffic
requiring not only the most perfect arrangements on the part
of the management, but the utmost vigilance and energy in the
servants of the Company employed at this place." Contrast this
with the state of things now. On the Metropolitan Line, 667
trains pass a given point in one direction or the other during the
eighteen hours of the working day, or an average of 36 trains an
hour. At the Cannon-street Station of the Southeastern Railway, 527 trains pass in and out daily, many of them crossing
each others' tracks under the protection of the station signals.
Forty-five trains run in and out between 9 and 10 A.M., and an
equal number between 4 and 5 P.M. Again, at the Clapham
Junction, near London, about 700 trains pass or stop daily; and
though to the casual observer the succession of trains coming and
going, running and stopping, coupling and shunting, appears a
scene of inextricable confusion and danger, the whole is clearly
intelligible to the signal-men in their boxes, who work the trains
in and out with extraordinary precision and regularity.
The inside of a signal-box reminds one of a piano-forte on a
large scale, the lever-handles corresponding with the keys of the




PREFACE.                      xiii
instrument; and, to an uninstructed person, to work the one
would be as difficult as to play a tune on the other. The signalbox outside Cannon-street Station contains 67 lever-handles, by
means of which the signal-men are enabled at the same moment
to communicate with the drivers of all the engines on the line
within an area of 800 yards. They direct by signs, which are
quite as intelligible as words, the drivers of the trains starting
from inside the station, as,well as those of the trains arriving
from outside. By pulling a lever-handle, a distant signal, perhaps out of sight, is set some hundred yards off, which the approaching driver-reading it quickly as he comes along-at once
interprets, and stops or advances, as the signal may direct.
The precision and accuracy of the signal-machinery employed
at important stations and junctions have of late years been much
improved by an' ingenious contrivance, by means of which the
setting of the signal prepares the road for the coming train.
When the signal is set at "Danger," the points are at the same
time worked, and the road is "locked" against it; and when at
"'Safety," the road is open-the signal and the points exactly
corresponding.
The Electric Telegraph has also been found a valuable auxiliary in insuring the safe working of large railway traffics.
Though the locomotive may run at sixty miles an hour, electricity, when at its fastest, travels at the rate of 288,000 miles a second, and is therefore always able to herald the coming train.
The electric telegraph may, indeed, be regarded as the nervous
system of the railway. By its means the whole line is kept
throbbing with intelligence. The method of working electric
signals varies on different lines; but the usual practice is to divide a line into so many lengths, each protected by its signal-stations, the fundamental law of telegraph working being that two
engines are not to be allowed to run on the same line between
two signal-stations at the same time. When a train passes one
of such stations, it is immediately signaled on —usually by elec



xiv                     PtREFA CE.
tric signal-bells —to the station in advance, and that interval of
railway is "5 blocked" until the signal has been received from the
station in advance that the train has passed it. Thus an interval
of space is always secured between trains following each other,
which are thereby alike protected before and behind. And thus,
when a train starts on a journey of it may be hundreds of miles,
it is signaled on from station to station, and "lives along the
line," until at length it reaches its destination, and the last signal
of "train in" is given. By this means an immense number of
trains can be worked with regularity and safety. On the Southeastern Railway, where the system has been brought to a state of
high efficiency, it is no unusual thing during Easter week to send
570,000 passengers through the London Bridge Station alone;
and on some days as many as 1200 trains a day.
-While such are the expedients adopted to insure safety, others
equally ingenious are adopted to insure speed. In the case of
express and mail trains, the frequent stopping of the engines to
take in a fresh supply of water occasions a considerable loss of
time on a long journey, each stoppage for this purpose occupying from ten to fifteen minutes. To avoid such stoppages larger
tenders have been provided, capable of carrying as much as 2000
gallons of water each. But as a considerable time is occupied in
filling these, a plan has been contrived by Mr. Ramsbottom, the
locomotive engineer of the London and Northwestern Railway,
by which the engines are made to feed t/emselves while running
at full speed! The plan is as follows: An open trough, about
440 feet long, is laid longitudinally between the rails. Into this
trough, which is filled with water, a dip-pipe, or scoop attached
to the bottom of the tender of the running train, is lowered, and,
at a speed of 50 miles an hour, as much as 1070 gallons of water
are scooped up in the course of a few minutes. The first of such
troughs was laid down between Chester and Holyhead, to enable
the Express Mail to run the distance of 843 miles in two hours
and five minutes without stopping; and similar troughs have




PREFA CE.                      xv
since been laid down at Bushey, near London; at Castlethorpe,
near Wolverton; and at Parkside, near Liverpool. At these four
troughs about 130,000 gallons of water are scooped up daily.
Wherever railways have been made, new towns have sprung
up, and old towns and cities been quickened into new life.
When the first English lines were projected, great were the
prophecies of disaster to the inhabitants of the districts through
which they were proposed to be forced. Such fears have long
since been dispelled in this country. The same prejudices existed in France. When the railway from Paris to Marseilles was
projected to pass through Lyons, a local prophet predicted that
if the line were made the city would be ruined-" Ville traversee,
villeperdue;" while a local priest denounced the locomotive and
the electric telegraph as heralding the reign of Antichrist. But
such nonsense is no longer uttered. Now it is the city without
the railway that is regarded as the "city lost;" for it is in a
measure shut out from the rest of the world, and left outside the
pale of civilization.
Perhaps the most striking of all the illustrations that could be
offered of the extent to which railways facilitate the locomotion,
the industry, and the subsistence of the population of large
towns and cities, is afforded by the working of the railway system in connection with the capital of Great Britain.
The extension of railways to London has been of comparatively recent date, the whole of the lines connecting it with the provinces and terminating at its outskirts having been opened during
the last thirty years, while the lines inside London have for the
most part been opened within the last ten years.
The first London line was the Greenwich Railway, part of
which was opened for traffic to Deptford in February, 1836.
The working of this railway was first exhibited as a show, and
the usual attractions were employed to make it " draw." A band
of musicians in the garb of the Beef-eaters was stationed at the




xvi                    PREFA CE.
London end, and another band at Deptford. For cheapness'
sake, the Deptford band was shortly superseded by a large barrel-organ, which played in the passengers; but when the traffic
became established, the barrel-organ, as well a& the Beef-eater
band at the London end, were both discontinued. The whole
length of theline was lit up at night by a row of lamps on either
side like a street, as if to enable the locomotives or the passengers to see their way in the dark; but these lamps also were
eventually discontinued as unnecessary.
As a show, the Greenwich Railway proved tolerably successful. During the first eleven months it carried 45.6,750 passengers, or an average of about 1300 a day. But the railway having been found more convenient to the public than either the
river boats or the omnibuses, the number of passengers rapidly
increased. When the Croydon, Brighton, and Southeastern Railways began to pour their streams of traffic over the Greenwich
Viaduct, its accommodation was found much too limited, and it
was widened from time to time, until now nine lines of railway
are laid side by side, over which more than twenty millions of
passengers are carried yearly, or an average of about 60,000 a
day- all the year round.
Since the partial opening of the Greenwich Railway in 1836,
a. large extent of railways has been constructed in and about the
metropolis, and convenient stations have been established almost
in the heart of the city. Sixteen of these stations are within a
circle of half a mile radius'from the Mansion House, and above
three hundred stations are in actual use or in course of construction within about five miles of Charing Cross. The most important lines recently opened for the accommodation of the London
local traffic have been the London, Chatham and Dover Metropolitan Extensions (1861), the Metropolitan (1863), the North
London Extension to Liverpool Street (1865), the Charing Cross
and Cannon -street Extensions of the Southeastern Railway
(1864-6), and the South London Extension of the Brighton




PREFACE.                    xvii
Railway (1866). Of these railways, the London, Chatham and
Dover carried 5,228,418 passengers in 1867; the Metropolitan,
23,405,282; the North London, 17,535,502; the Southeastern,
17,473,934; and the Brighton, 12,686,417. The total number
carried into and out of London, as well as from station to station
in London, in the same year, was 104 millions of passengers.
To accommodate this vast traffic, not fewer than 3600 local
trains are run in and out daily, besides 340 trains which depart
to and arrive from distant places, north, south, east, and west.
In the morning hours, between 8 30 and 10 30, when business
men are proceeding inward to their offices and counting-houses,
and in the afternoon between four and six, when they are returning outward to their homes, as many as two thousand stoppages
are made in the hour, within the metropolitan district, for the
purpose of taking up and setting down passengers, while about
two miles of railway are covered by the running trains.
One of the remarkable effects of railways has been to extend
the residential area of all large towns and cities. This is especially notable in the case of London. Before the introduction
of railways, the residential area of the metropolis was limited by
the time occupied by business men in making the journey outward and inward daily; and it was for the most part bounded
by Bow on the east, by Hampstead and Highgate on the north,
by Paddington and Kensington on the west, and by Clapham
and Brixton on the south. But now that stations have been established near the centre of the city, and places so distant as
Waltham, Barnet, Watford, Hanwell, Richmond, Epsom, Croydon,
Reigate, and Erith can be more quickly reached by rail than the
old suburban quarters were by omnibus, the metropolis has become, extended in all directions along its railway lines, and the
population of London, instead of living in the city or its immediate vicinity as formerly, have come to occupy a residential area
of not less than six hundred square miles I
The number of new towns which have consequently sprang
B




viii                   PREFA CE.
into existence near London within the last twenty years has been
very great; towns numbering from ten to twenty thousand inhabitants, which before were but villages, if, indeed, they existed.
This has especially been the case along the lines south of the
Thames, principally in consequence of the termini of those lines
being more conveniently situated for city men of business. Hence
the rapid growth of the suburban towns up and down the river,
from Richmond and Staines Qn the west, to Erith and Gravesend
on the east, and the hives of population which have settled on the
high grounds south of the Thames, in the neighborhood of Norwood and the Crystal Palace, rapidly spreading over the Surrey
Downs, from Wimbledon to Guildford, and from Bromley to
Croydon, Epsom, and Dorking. And now that the towns on the
south and southeast coast can be reached by city men in little
more time than it takes to travel to Clapham or Bayswater by
omnibus, such places have become, as it were, parts of the great
metropolis, and Brighton and Hastings are but marine suburbs of
London.
TlIe improved state of the communications of the city with the
country has had a marked effect upon its population. While the
action of the railways has been to add largely to the number of
persons living in London, it has also been accompanied by their
dispersion over a much larger area. Thus the population of the
central parts of London is constantly decreasing, whereas that of
the suburban districts is as constantly increasing. The popular.
tion of the city fell off more than 10000 between 1851 and 1861;
and during the same period, that of Holborn, the Strand, St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, St. James's, Westminster, East and West London, showed a considerable decrease. But, as regards the whole
mass of the metropolitan population, the increase has been enormous, especially since the introduction of railways. Thus, starting from 1801, when the population of London was 958,863, we
find it increasing in each decennial period at the rate of between
two and three hundred thousand, until the year 1841, when it




PREFA CE.                     xix
amounted to 1,948,369. Railways had by that time reached
London, after which its population increased at nearly double the
former ratio. In the ten years ending 1851, the increase was
413,867; and in the ten years ending 1861, 441,753; until now,
to quote the words of the Registrar General in his last annual
Report, "the population within the registration limits is by estimate 2,993,513; but beyond this central mass there is a ring of
life growing rapidly, and extending along railway lines over a
circle of fifteen miles from Charing Cross. The population
within that circle, patrolled by the metropolitan police, is about
3,463,771!"
The aggregation of so vast a number of persons within so com.
paratively limited an area — the immense quantity of food required for their daily sustenance, as well as of fuel, clothing, and
other necessaries- would be attended with no small inconvenience and danger but for the facilities again provided by the
railways. The provisioning of a garrison of even four thousand
men is considered a formidable affair; how much more so the
provisioning of nearly four millions of people!
The whole mystery is explained by the admirable organization
of the railway service, and the regularity and dispatch with which
it is conducted. We are enabled by the courtesy of the general
managers of the London railways to bring together the following
brief summary of facts relating to the food supply of London,
which will probably be regarded by most readers as of a very remarkable character.
Generally speaking, the railways to the south of the Thames
contribute comparatively little toward the feeding of London.
They are, for the most part, passenger and residential lines, traversing a limited and not very fertile district bounded by the seacoast, and, excepting in fruit and vegetables, milk and hops, they
probably carry more food from London than they bring to it.
The principal supplies of grain, flour, potatoes, and fish are
brought by railway from the eastern counties of England and




x                      PREFA CE.
Scotland; and of cattle and sheep, beef and mutton, from the
grazing counties of the west and northwest of Britain, as far as
from the Highlands of Scotland, which, through the instummentality of railways, have become part of the great grazing-grounds
of the metropolis.
Take first " tlhe staff of life" —bread and its constituents. Of
wheat, not less than 222,080 quarters were brought into London
by railway in 1867, besides what was brought by sea; of oats,
151,757 quarters; of barley, 70,282 quarters; of beans and peas,
51,448 quarters. Of the wheat and barley, by far the largest
proportion was brought by the Great Eastern Railway, which delivered in London last year 155,000 quarters of wheat and 45,500
quarters of barley, besides 600,429 quarters more in the form of
malt. The largest quantity of oats was brought by the Great
Northern Railway, principally from the north of England and
the east of Scotland-the quantity delivered by that company in
1867 having been 97,500 quarters, besides 24,664 quarters of
wheat, 5560 quarters of barley, and 103,917 quarters of malt.
Again, of 1,250,566 sacks of flour and meal delivered in London
last year, the Great Eastern brought 654,000 sacks, the Great
Northern 232,022 sacks, and the Great Western 136,312 sacks;
the principal contribution of the London and Northwestern Railway toward the London bread-stores being 100,760 boxes of
American flour, besides 24,300 sacks of English. The total
quantity of mnalt delivered at the London railway stations in
1867 was thirteen hundred thousand sacks.
Next, as to flesh meat. Last year not fewer than 172,300 head
of cattle were brought into London by railway, though this was
considerably less than the number carried before the cattle
plague, the Great Eastern Railway alone having carried 44,672
less than in 1864. But this loss has since been more than made
up by the increased quantities of fresh beef, mutton, and other
kinds of meat imported in lieu of the live animals. The principal supplies of cattle are brought, as we have said, by the west



PRE1'A CE.                   xxi
ern, northern, and eastern lines: by the Great Western from the
western counties and Ireland; by the London and Northwestern,
the Midland, and the Great Northern, from the northern counties
and from Scotland; and by the Great Eastern from the eastern
counties, and from the ports of iarwich and Lowestoft.
Last year also, 1,147,609 sheep were brought to London by railway, of which the Great Eastern delivered not less than 265,371
head. The London and Northwestern and Great Northern between them brought 390,000 head from the northern English
counties, with a large proportion from the Scotch Highlands;
while the Great Western brought up 130,000 head from the
Welsh mountains, and from the rich grazing districts of Wilts,
Gloucester, Somerset, and Devon. Another important freight of
the London and Northwestern Railway consists of pigs, of which
they delivered 54,700 in London last year, principally Irish;
while the Great Eastern brought up 27,500 of the same animal,
partly foreign.
While the cattle plague has had the effect of greatly reducing
the number of live-stock brought into London yearly, it has given
a considerable impetus to the Fresh Meat traffic. Thus, in addition to the above large numbers of cattle and sheep delivered
in London last year, the railways brought 76,175 tons of meat,
which —taking the meat of an average beast at 800 lbs., and of
an average sheep at 64 lbs.-would be equivalent to about 112,000
more cattle, and 1,267,500 more sheep.  The Great Northern
brought the largest quantity; next, the London and Northwestern-these two companies having brought up between them, from
distances as remote as Aberdeen and Inverness, about 42,000 tons
of fresh meat in 1867, at an average freight of about cd. a lb.
Again, as regards Fish, of which six tenths of the whole quantity consumed in London is now brought by rail. The Great
Eastern and the Great Northern are by far the largest importers
of this article, and justify their claim to be regarded as the great
food lines of London. Of the 61,358 tons of fish brought by rail



xii                    PREFA CE.
way, in 1867, not less than 24,500 tons were delivered by the former, and 22,000 tons, brought from much longer distances, by the
latter company. The London and Northwestern brought about
6000 tons last year, the principal part of which was salmon from
Scotland and Ireland. The Great Western also brought about
4000 tons, partly salmon, but the greater part mackerel from the
southwest coast. During the mackerel:season, as much as a hundred tons. at a time are brought into the Paddington Station by
express fish-train from Cornwall.
The GreatEastern and Great Northern Companies are, also the
principal carriers of turkeys, geese, fowls, and game, the quantity
delivered in London last year by the former company having been
5042 tons. In Christmas week no fewer than 30,000 turkeys and
geese were delivered at the Bishopsgate Station, besides about
300 tons of, poultry, 10,000 barrels of beer, and immense quantities of fish, oysters, and other kinds of food. As much as 1600
tons of poultry and game were brought last year by the Southwestern Railway; 600 tons by the; Great Northern Railway; and
130 tons of turkeys, geese, and fowls by the London, Chatham
and Dover line, principally from France.
Of miscellaneous articles, the Great Northern and Midland
each brought about 3000 tons of cheese, the Southwestern 2600
tons, and the London and Northwestern 10,034 cheeses in number; while the Southwestern and Brighton lines brought a splendid contribution to the London breakfast-table in the shape of
11,259 town of French eggs; these two companies delivering between them  an average of more than three millions of eggs a
week all the year round! The same companies last year delivered in London 14,819 tons of butter, for the most part the produce of the farms of Normandy, the greater cleanness and neatness with which the Normandy butter is prepared for market
rendering it a favorite both: with dealers and consumers of late
years compared with Irish butter. The London, Chatham' and
Dover Company also brought from Calais 96 tons of eggs.




PREFA CE.                   xxiii
Next, as to the potatoes, vegetables, and fruit brought by rail.
Forty years since, the inhabitants of London relied for their supply of vegetables on the garden-grounds in the immediate neighborhood of the metropolis, and the consequence was that they
were both very dear and limited in quantity. But railways,
while they have extended the grazing-grounds of London as far
as the Highlands, have at the same time extended the gardengrounds of London into all the adjoining counties-into East
Kent, Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk, the vale of Gloucester, and
even as far as Penzance in Cornwall. The London, Chatham
and Dover, one of the youngest of our main lines, brought up
from East Kent last year 5279 tons of potatoes, 1046 tons of vegetables, and 5386 tons of fruit, besides 542 tons of vegetables
from France.  The Southeastern brought 25,163 tons of the
same produce. The. Great Eastern brought from the eastern
counties 21,315 tons of potatoes, and 3596 tons of vegetables and
fruit; while the Great Northern brought no less than 78,505
tons of potatoes-a large part of them from the east of Scotland
-and 3768 tons of vegetables and fruit. About 6000 tons of
early potatoes were last year brought from Cornwall, with about
5000 tons of: brocoli, and the quantities are steadily increasing.
"Truly London hath a large belly," said old Fuller two hundred
years since. ABut how much more capacious is it now!
One of the most striking illustrations of the utility of railways
in contributing to the supply of wholesome articles of food to
the population of large cities is to be found in the rapid growth
of the traffic in Milk. Readers of newspapers may remember
the descriptions published some years since of the horrid dens in
which London cows are penned, and of the odious compound
sold by the name of milk, of which the least deleterious ingredient in it was supplied by the " cow with the iron tail." That
state of affairs is now completely changed. What with the
greatly improved state of the London dairies and the better
quality of the milk supplied by them, together with the large




xxiV                   PREFACE.
quantities brought by railway from a range of a hundred miles
and more all round London, even the poorest classes in the metropolis are now enabled to obtain as wholesome a supply of the
article as the inhabitants of most country towns.
The milk traffic has in some cases been rapid, almost sudden,
in its growth. Though the Great Western is at present the
greatest of the milk lines, it brought very little into London prior
to the year 1865. In the month of August in that year it
brought 23,474 gallons, and in the month of October following
the quantity had increased to 103,214 gallons. Last year the
total quantity delivered in London by this single railway was
1,514,836 gallons, or an average of 30,000 gallons a week. The
largest proportion of this milk was brought from beyond Swindon in Wiltshire,'about 100 miles from London; but considerable quantities were also brought from the vale of Gloucester
and from Somerset. The London and Southwestern also is a
great milk-carrying line, having brought as much as 1,480,272
gallons to London last year, or an average of -28,000 gallons a
week. The Great Eastern brought nearly the same quantity,
1,822,429 gallons, or an average of about 25,400 gallons a
week. The London and Northwestern ranks next, having
brought 643,432 gallons in 1867; then the Great Northern,
455,916 gallons; the Southeastern, 435,668'gallos; and the
Brighton, 419,254 gallons. The total quantity of milk delivered in London by railway last year was 6,309,446 gallons, or
above 120,000 gallons a week. Yet this'traffic, large though it
may appear, is.as yet but in its infancy, and in the course of a
few more years it will be, found very largely increased, according
as facilities are provided for its accommodation and transit.
These great streams of food, which we have thus so summarily
described, flow into London so'continuously and uninterruptedly,
that comparatively few persons are aware of the magnitude and
importance..of the process thus daily going forward. Though
gathered from an immense extent of country —embracing En



PREFA CE.                    xxv
gland, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland —the influx is so unintermitted that it is relied upon with as much certainty as if it only
came from the counties immediately adjoining London. The
express meat-train from Aberdeen arrives in town as punctually
as the Clapham omnibus, and the express milk-train from Aylesbury is as regular in its delivery as the penny-post. Indeed,
London now depends so much upon railways for its subsistence,
that it may be said to be fed by them from day to day, having
never more than a few days' food in stock. And the supply is
so regular and continuous, that the possibility of its being interrupted never for a moment occurs to any one. Yet, in these
days of strikes among workmen,.such a contingency is quite
within the limits of possibility. Another contingency, arising in
a state of war, is probably still more remote. But, were it possible for a war to occur between England and a combination of
foreign powers possessed of stronger iron-clads than ours, and
that they were able to ram our ships back into port and land an
enemy of overpowering force on the Essex coast, it would be sufficient for them to occupy or cut the railways leading from the
north, to starve London into submission in less than a fortnight.
Besides supplying London with food, railways have also been
instrumental in insuring the more regular and economical supply
of fuel-a matter of almost as vital importance to the population
in a climate such as that of England. So long as the market
was supplied with coal brought by sea in sailing ships, fuel in
winter often rose to a famine price, especially during long-continued easterly winds. But, now that railways are in full work,
the price is almost as steady in winter as in summer, and the supply is more regular at all seasons. The following statement of
the coals brought into London by sea and by railway, at decennial
periods since 1827, as supplied by Mr. J. R. Scott, Registrar of
the Coal Exchange, shows the effect of railways in increasing the
supply of fuel, at the same time that they have lowered the price
to the consumer:




xxvi                     PREFA CE.
Years.    Sea-borne Coal.  Coals brought by Rail-  Price per Ton.
way.
Tons.           Tons.         8. d.
1827        1,882,321         nil           28 6
1847        3,280,420         19,336        20 10
1857        3,133,459       1,206,775       18 8
1867        3,016,416       3,295,652       20 8
Thus the price of coal has been reduced 78. 10d. a ton since 1827,
while the quantity delivered has been enormously increased, the
total saving on the quantity consumed in the metropolis in 1867,
compared with 1827, being equal to ~2,388,000.
But the carriage of food and fuel to London forms-but a small
part of the merchandise traffic carried by railway. Above
600,000 tons of goods of various kinds yearly pass through one
station only, that of the London and Northwestern Company, at
Camden Town; and sometimes as many as 20,000 parcels daily.
Every other metropolitan station is similarly alive with traffic inward and outward, London having since the introduction of railways become more than ever a great distributive centre, to which
merchandise of all kinds converges, and from which it is distributed to all parts, of the country. Mr. Bazley, [.P., stated at a
late public meeting at Manchester that it would probably require
ten millions of horses to convey by road the merchandise traffic
which is now annually carried by railway.
Railways have also proved of great value in connection with
the Cheap Postage system. By their means it has become possible to carry letters, newspapers, books, and post parcels in any
quantity, expeditiously and cheaply. The Liverpool and Manchester line was no sooner opened in 1830 than the Post-office
authorities recognized its utility, and used it for carrying the
mails between- the two towns. When the London and Birmingham line was opened eight years later, mail trains were at once
put on, the directors undertaking to perform the distance of 113
miles within 5 hours by day and 5j hours by night. As additional lines were opened, the old four-horse mail-coaches were
gradually discontinued, until, in 1858, the last of them, the " Der



PREFA CE.                  xxvii
by Dilly," which ran between Manchester and Derby, was taken
off on the opening of the Midland line to Rowsley.
The increased accommodation provided by railways was found
of essential importance, more particularly after the adoption of
the Cheap Postage system; and that such accommodation was
needed will be obvious from the extraordinary increase which
has taken place in the number of letters and packets sent by post.
Thus, in 1839, the number of chargeable letters carried was only
76 millions, and of newspapers 44i millions; whereas, in 1865,
the number of letters had increased to 720 millions, and in 1867
to 775 millions, or more than tenfold, while the number of newspapers, books, samples, and patterns (a new branch of postal business begun in 1864) had increased, in 1865, to 98J millions.
To accommodate this largely-increasing traffic, the bulk of
which is carried by railway, the mileage run by mail trains in the
United Kingdom has increased from 25,000 miles a day in 1854
(the first year of which we have any return of the mileage run) to
60,000 miles a day in 1867, or an increase of 240 per cent. The
Post-office expenditure on railway service has also increased, but
not in like proportion, having been ~364,000 in the former year,
and ~559,67157in the latter, or an increase of 154 per cent. The.
revenue, gross and net, has increased still more rapidly. In 1841,
the first complete year of the Cheap Postage system, the gross
revenue was ~1,359,466, and the net revenue ~500,789; in 1854,
the gross revenue was ~2,574,407, and the net revenue ~1,173,723;
and in 1867, the grosS revenue was ~4,548,129, and the net revenue ~2,127,125, being an increase of 420 per cent. compared with
1841, and of 180 per cent. compared with 1854. How much of
this net increase might fairly be credited to the Railway Postal
service we shall not pretend to say, but assuredly the proportion
must be very considerable.
One of the great advantages of railways in connection with
the postal service is the greatly increased frequency of communication which they provide between all the large towns. Thus




xxviii                 PREFA CE.
Liverpool has now six deliveries of Manchester letters daily, while
every large town in the kingdom has two or more deliveries of
London letters daily. In 1863, 393 towns had two mails daily
from London; 50 had three mails daily; 7 had four mails a day
from London, and 15 had four mails a day to London; while 3
towns had five mails a dayfrom London, and 6 had five mails a
day to London.
Another feature of the railway mail train, as of the passenger
train, is its capacity to carry any quantity of letters and post parcels that may require to be carried. In 1838, the aggregate
weight of all the evening mails dispatched from London by twenty-eight mail-coaches was 4 tons 6 cwt., or an average of about
3j cwt. each, though the maximum contract weight was 15 cwt.
The mails now are necessarily much heavier, the number of letters and packets having, as we have seen, increased more than
tenfold since 1839. But it is not the ordinary so much as the
extraordinary mails that are of considerable weight, more particularly the American, the Continental, and the Australian mails.
It is no unusual thing, we are informed, for the last-mentioned
mail to weigh as much as 40 tons. How many of the old mailcoaches it would take to carry such a mail the 79 miles' journey
to Southampton, with a relay of four horses every five or seven
miles;is a problem for the arithmetician to solve. But even supposing each coach to be loaded to the maximum weight of 15
cwt. per coach, it would require about sixty vehicles and about
1700 horses to carry the 40 tons, besides the c4oachmen and guards.
A few words, in conclusion, as to the number of men employed
in working and maintaining railways. According to Mr. Mills,*
166,047 men and officers were employed in the working of 13,289
miles open in the United Kingdom in 1865, besides 53,923 employed-on liies then under construction. The most numerous
* "The Railway Service, its Exigencies, Provisions, and Requirements." By W.
F. Mills. London, 1867.




PREFACE. 
body of workmen is that of the laborers (81,284) employed in the
maintenance of the permanent way.. Being mostly picked men
from the laboring class of the adjoining districts, they are paid
considerably higher wages, and hence one of the direct effects
of railways on the laboring population (besides affording them
greater facilities for locomotion) has been to raise the standard
of wages of ordinary labor at least 28. a week in all the districts
into which they have penetrated. The workmen next in number
is that of the artificers (40,167) employed in constructing and repairing the rolling-stock; the porters (25,381), the plate-layers
(12,901), guards and brakesmen (5799), firemen (5266), and engine-drivers (5171). But, besides the employds directly engaged
in the working and maintenance of railways, large numbers of
workmen are also occupied in the manufacture of locomotives
and rolling-stock, and in providing the requisite materials for the
permanent way. Thus the consumption of rails alone averages
nearly 400,000 tons a year in the United Kingdom alone, while
the replacing of decayed sleepers requires about 10,000 acres of
forest to be cut down annually and sawn into sleepers. Taking
the various railway workmen into account, with their families, it
will be found that they represent a total of about three quarters
of a million persons, or about one in fifty of our population, who
are dependent on railways for their subsistence.
While the practical working of railways has, on the whole,
been so satisfactory, the case has been very different as regards
their direction and financial management. The men employed
in the working of railways make it their business to learn it, and,
being responsible, they are under the necessity of taking pains to
do it well; whereas the men who govern and-direct them are
practically irresponsible, and may possess no qualification whatever for the office excepting only the holding of so much stock.
The consequence has been much blundering on the part of these
amateurs, and great loss on the part of the public. Indeed, what




XXX                    PREFA CE.
between the confused, contradictory, and often unjust legislation
of Parliament on the one hand, and the carelessness or incompetency of directors on the other, many once flourishing concerns
have been thrown into a state of utter confusion and;muddle,
until railway government has become a by-word of reproach.
And this state of things will probably continue until the fatal
defect of government by Boards-an extremely limited responsibility, or no responsibility at all-has been rectified by the appointment, as in France, of executives consisting of a few men of
special ability and trained administrative skill, personally responsible to their constituents for the due performance of their respective fmections. But the discussion of this subject would require a treatise, whereas we are now but writing a preface.Whatever may be said of the financial mismanagement of rail.
ways, there can be no doubt as to the great benefits conferred by
them on the public wherever made. Even those railways which.
have exhibited the most "frightful examples" of scheming and
financing, so soon as placed in the hands of practical men to
work, have been found to prove of unquestionable public convenience and utility. And notwithstanding all the faults and imperfections that are alleged against railways have been admitted,
we think that they must, nevertheless, be recognized as by far the
most valuable means of communication between men and nations
that has yet been given to the world.
The author's object in publishing this book in its original form,
some ten years since, was to describe, in connection with the
"'Life of George Stephenson," the origin and progress of the railway system, and to show by what moral and material agencies
its founders were enabled to carry their ideas into effect, and to
work out results which even then were of a remarkable character, though they have since, as above described, become so much
more extraordinary. The favor with which successive editions
of the book have been received has justified the author in his an



PREFA CE.                     xxx
ticipation that such a narrative would prove of general, if not of
permanent interest, and he has taken pains, in preparing for the
press the present, and probably final edition, to render it, by careful amendment and revision, more worthy of the public acceptance.
London, May, 1868.








PREFACE
TO THE EIGHTH EDITION, 1864.
Tim following is a revised and improved edition of "The Life
of George Stephenson," with which is incorporated a Memoir of
his son Robert, late President of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
Since its original appearance in 1857, much additional information has been communicated to the author relative to the early
history of Railways and the men principally concerned in establishing them, of which he has availed himself in the present
edition.
In preparing the original work for publication, the author enjoyed the advantage of the cordial co-operation and assistance of
Robert Stephenson, on whom he mainly relied for information
as to the various stages through which the Locomotive passed,
and especially as to his father's share in its improvement.
Through Mr. Stephenson's instrumentality also, the author was
enabled to obtain much valuable information from gentlemen
who had been intimately connected with his father and himself
in their early undertakings-among others, from Mr. Edward
Pease, of Darlington; Mr. Dixon, C.E.; Mr. Sopwith, F.R.S.;
Mr. Charles Parker; and Sir Joshua Walmsley.
Most of the facts relating to the early period of George Stephenson's career were collected from colliers, brakesmen, enginemen, and others, who had known him intimately, or been fellowworkmen with him, and were proud to communicate what they
remembered of his early life. The information obtained from
these old men-most of them illiterate, and some broken down
C




xxxiv                  PREFA CE.
by hard work-though valuable in many respects, was confused,
and sometimes contradictory; but, to insure as much accuracy
and consistency of narrative as possible, the author submitted the
MS. to Mr. Stephenson, and had the benefit of his revision of it
previous to publication.
Mr. Stephenson took a lively interest in the improvement of
the "Life" of his father, and continued to furnish corrections
and additions for insertion in the successive editions of the book
which were called for by the public. After the first two editions
had appeared, he induced several gentlemen, well qualified to
supply additional authentic information, to communicate their
recollections of his father, among whom may be mentioned Mr.
T. L. Gooch, C.E.; Mr.Vaughan, of Snibston; Mr. F. Swanwick,
C.E.; and Mr. Binns, of Clayross, who had officiated as private
secretaries to George Stephenson at different periods of his life,
and afterward held responsible offices either under him or in conjunction with him.
The author states these facts to show that the information contained in this book is of an authentic character, and has been obtained from the most trustworthy sources. Whether he has used
it to the best purpose or not, he leaves others to judge. This
much, however, he may himself say-that he has endeavored, to
the best of his ability, to set forth the facts communicated to him
in a simple, faithful, and straightforward manner; and, even if
he has not wholly succeeded in doing this, he has, at all events,
been the means of collecting information on a subject originally
unattractive to professional literary men, and thereby rendered
its farther prosecution comparatively easy to those who may feel
called upon to undertake it.
The author does not pretend to have steered clear of errors in
treating a subject so extensive, and, before he undertook the labor, comparatively uninvestigated; but, wherever errors have
been pointed out, he has taken the earliest opportunity of correcting them. With respect to objections taken to the book be



PREFA CE.                     5 v
cause of the undue share of merit alleged to be therein attributed to the Stephensons in respect of the Railway and the Locomotive, there will necessarily be various opinions. There is
scarcely an invention or improvement in mechanics but has been
the subject of dispute, and it was to be expected that those who
had counter claims would put them forward in the present case;
nor has the author any reason to complain of the manner in
which this has been done.
While George Stephenson is the principal subject in the following book, his son Robert also forms an essential part of it.
Father and son were so intimately associated in the early period
of their career, that it is difficult, if not impossible, to describe
the one apart from the other. The life and achievements of the
son were in a great measure the complement of the life and
achievements of the father. The care, also, with which the elder
Stephenson, while occupying the position of an obscure enginewright, devoted himself to his son's education, and the gratitude
with which the latter repaid the affectionate self-denial of his
father, furnish some of the most interesting illustrations of the
personal character of both.
These views were early adopted by the author and carried out
by him in the preparation of the original work, with the concurrence of Robert Stephenson, who supplied the necessary particulars relating to himself. Such portions of these were accordingly
embodied in the narrative as could with propriety be published
during his life-time, and the remaining portions are now added
with the object of rendering more complete the record of the
son's life, as well as the early history of the Railway System.








C ON TENTS.
PART I.
CHAPTER I.
SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.
Man's Desire for rapid Transit.-Origin of the Railway.-Early Coal Wagon-ways
in the North of England.-Early Attempts to apply the Power of Wind to drive
Carriages.-Sailing-coaches.-Sir Isaac Newton's Proposal to employ Steam-power.-Dr. Darwin's Speculations on the Subject.-Mr. Edgeworth's Speculations.Dr. Darwin's Prophecy................................................................ Page 47
CHAPTER II.
EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.
Watt and Robison's proposed Steam-carriage.-Memoir of Joseph Cugnot and his
Road-locomotive.-Francis Moore.-James Watt's Specification of a Locomotiveengine. —William Murdoch's Model. —William Symington's model Steam-carriage.
-Oliver Evans's model Locomotive....................................................... 60
CHAPTER III.
THE CORNISH LOCOMOTIVE-MEMOIR OF TREVITHICK.
Early Welsh Railway Acts.-Wandsworth, Croydon, and Merstham  Railway.Boyhood of Trevithick.-Becomes an Engineer.-His Career.-Constructs a
Steam-carriage.-Its Exhibition in London.-Constructs a Tram-engine.-Its
Trial on the Merthyr Railroad.-Trevithick's Improvements in the Steam-engine.
-Attempts to construct a Tunnel under the Thames.-His numerous Inventions
and Patents.-Engines ordered of him for Peru.-Trevithick a Mining Engineer
in South America.-Is ruined by the Peruvian Revolution. —His return Home.His last Patents.-Death and Characteristics......................................... 73
PART II.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEWCASTLE COAL-FIELD-GEORGE STEPHENSON'S EARLY YEARS.
Newcastle in ancient Times.-The Coal-trade.-Modern Newcastle.-The Colliery
Workmen.-The Pumping-engines.-The Pitmen. —The Keelmen.-Wylam Colliery and Village.-George Stephenson's Birthplace. —The Stephenson Family.Old Robert Stephenson.-George's Boyhood.-Employed as a Herd-boy.-Makes
Clay Engines.-Employed as Corf-bitter.-Drives the Gin-horse.-Appointed assistant Fireman................................................................................ 97




x=xviii                      CONTENTS.
CHAPTER II.
NEWBURN AND CALLERTON-GEORGE STEPHENSON LEARNS TO BE AN ENGINEMAN.
Stephenson's Life at Newburn.-Appointed Engine-man. —Duties of Plugman.Study of the Steam-engine. —Experiments in Bird-hatching.-Learns to Read.His Schoolmasters.-Progress in Arithmetic.-His Dog.-Learns to Brake.Duties of Brakesman.-Begins Shoe-mending.-Fight with a Pitman...Page 111
CHAPTER III.
ENGINE-MAN AT WILLINGTON QUAY AND KILLINGWORTH.
Sobriety and Studiousness.-Removal to Willington Quay, and Marriage.-Attempts
a Perpetual-motion Machine.-William Fairbairn, C.E., and George Stephenson.
-Ballast-heaving.-Cottage Chimney takes fire.-Birth of his son Robert.-Removal to West Moor, Killingworth. —Death of his Wife. —Appointed Engine-man
at Montrose. —Return to Killingworth.-Appointed Brakesman at West Moor.Is drawn for the Militia.-Thinks of Emigrating.-Takes a contract for Brakeing.
— Improves the Winding-engine.-Cures a Pumping-engine.-Is appointed Engine-wright of the Colliery............................................................ 121
CHAPTER IV.
THE STEPHENSONS AT KILLINGWORTH —EDUCATIO  AND SELF-EDUCATION.
Efforts at Self-improvement.-John Wigham.-Studies in Natural Philosophy.Education of Robert Stephenson.-Sent to Bruce's School, Newcastle.-His boyish Tricks.-Stephenson's Cottage, West Moor.-Mechanical Contrivances.-The
Sun-dial at West Moor. —Stephenson's various Duties as Colliery Engineer... 137
CHAPTER V.
THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE-GEORGE STEPHENSON BEGINS ITS IMPROVEMENT.
Slow Progress heretofore made in the Improvement of the Locomotive.-The Wylam Wagon-way.-Mr. Blackett orders a Locomotive.-Mr. Blenkinsop's Leeds
Locomotive.-Mr. Blackett's second Engine a Failure.-The improved Wylam
Engine.-George Stephenson's Study of the Subject. —His first Locomotive constructed.-His Improvement of the Engine, as described by his Son. —Invention
of the Steam-blast..................................................... 152
CHAPTER VI.
INVENTION OF THE " GEORDY" SAFETY-LAMP.
Frequency of Colliery Explosions.-Accidents in the Killingworth Pit.-Stephenson's heroic Conduct.-Proposes to invent a Safety-lamp.-His first Lamp and
its Trial.-Cottage Experiments with Coal-gas.-His second and third Lamps.Scene at the Newcastle Institute.-The Stephenson and Davy Controversy.-The
Davy and Stephenson Testimonials.-Merits of the " Geordy" Lamp......... 175
CHAPTER VII.
GEORGE STEPHENSON'S FARTHER IMPROVEMENTS IN THE LOCOMOTIVE-ROBERT
STEPHENSON AS VIEWER'S APPRENTICE AND STUDENT.
Stephenson's Improvements in the Mine-machinery.-Farther Improvements in the
Locomotive and in the Road.-Experiments on Friction.-Early Neglect of the
Locomotive.-Stephenson again meditates emigrating to America.-Employed as




CONTENTS.                           xxxix
Engineer of the Hetton Railway.-Robert Stephenson put Apprentice to a Coalviewer.-His Father sends him to Edinburg University.-His Studies there.Geological Tour in the Highlands.................................................. Page 198
CHAPTER VIII.
GEORGE STEPHENSON ENGINEER OF THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.
Failure of the first public Railways near London.-Want of improved communications in the Bishop Auckland Coal-district.-Various Projects devised.-A Railway projected at Darlington.-Edward Pease.-George Stephenson employed as
Engineer.-Mr. Pease's Visit to Killingworth. —A Locomotive Factory begun at
Newcastle.-The Stockton and Darlington Line constructed.-The public Opening.-The Coal-traffic. —The first Passenger-traffic by Railway.-The Town of
Middlesborough-on-Tees created by the Railway..................................... 216
CHAPTER IX.
THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY PROJECTED.
Insufficiency of the Communication between Liverpool and Manchester.-A Tramroad projected by Mr. Sandars.-The Line surveyed by William  James.-The
Survey a failure.-George Stephenson appointed Engineer. —A Company formed
and a Railroad projected.-The first Prospectus issued.-Opposition to the Survey.-Speculations as to Railway Speed.-George Stephenson's Views thought extravagant. —Article in the "Quarterly"........................................... 247
CHAPTER X.
PARLIAMENTARY CONTEST ON THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER BILL.
The Bill before Parliament.-The Evidence. —George Stephenson in the Witnessbox.-Examined as to Speed.-His Cross-examination.-Examined as to the possibility of constructing a Line on Chat Moss.-Mr. Harrison's Speech.-Mr. Giles's
Evidence as to Chat Moss.-Mr. Alderson's Speech.-The Bill lost.-Stephenson's Vexation.-The Bill revived, with the Messrs. Rennie as Engineers.-Sir
Isaac Coffin's prophecies of Disaster.-The Act passed........................... 265
CHAPTER XI.
CHAT MOSS —CONSTRUCTION OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY.
George Stephenson again appointed Engineer of the Railway. —Chat Moss described.
-The resident Engineers of the Line.-George Stephenson's Theory of a Floating Road on the Moss.-Operations begun. —The Tar-barrel Drains.-The Embankment sinks in the Moss.-Proposed Abandonment of the Works.-Stephenson's Perseverance.-The Obstacles conquered.-The Tunnel at Liverpool.-The
Olive Mount Cutting.-The Sankey Viaduct.-Stephenson's great Labors.-His
daily Life. —Evenings at Home................................................. 281
CHAPTER XII.
ROBERT STEPHENSON'S RESIDENCE IN COLOMBIA AND RETURN-THE "BATTLE
OF THE LOCOMOTIVE."
Robert Stephenson appointed Mining Engineer in Colombia. —Mule Journey to Bogota. —Mariquita. —Silver Mining. — Difficulties with the Cornishmen.-His Cottage at Santa Anna.-Resigns his Appointment.-Meeting with Trevithick.Voyage to New York, and Shipwreck.-Returns to Newcastle, and takes Charge




xl                            CONTENTS.
of the Locomotive Factory.-Discussion as to the Working Power of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.-Walker and Rastrick's Report.-A Prize offered
for the best Locomotive. -Invention of the Multitubular Boiler. -Henry Booth.Construction of the "Rocket. "-The Locomotive Competition at Rainhill. —Triumph of the " Rocket".............................................................. Page 301
CHAPTER XIII.
OPENING OF' THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILW.AY, AND EXTENSION OF
THE RAILWAY SYSTEM.
The Railway finished.-Organization of the Working. —The public Opening.-Fatal
Accident to Mr. Huskisson.-The Traffic begun.-Improvements in the Road,
Rolling Stock, and Locomotive.-Steam-carriages tried on common Roads.-New
Railway Projects.-Opposition to Railways in the South of England.-Robert
Stephenson appointed Engineer of Leicester and Swannington Railway.-George
removes to Snibston and sinks for Coal.-His character as a Master............ 329
CHAPTER XIV.
ROBERT STEPHENSON CONSTRUCTS THE LONDON AND BIRTMINGHAM RAILWAY.
The London and Birmingham Railway projected.-George and Robert Stephenson
appointed Engineers.-An Opposition organized.-Public Meetings against the
Scheme.-Robert Stephenson's Interview with Sir A. Cooper.-The Survey obstructed.-The Line resurveyed. —The Bill in Parliament.-Thrown out in the
Lords.-The Project revived.-The Act obtained.-The Works let in Contracts.
-Difficulties of the Undertaking.-The Line described.-Blisworth Cutting.Primrose Hill Tunnel.-Kilsby Tunnel.-Its Construction described. -Failures
of Contractors. —Magnitude of the Works. -The Railway navies........... 349
CHAPTER XV.
IMANCHESTER AND LEEDS, MIDLAND, AND OTHER RAILWAYS-GENERAL EXTENSION OF RAILWAYS AND THEIR RESULTS.
Projection of new Lines. -Dutton Viaduct on the Grand Junction. —The Manchester and Leeds.-Incident in Committee.-Summit Tunnel, Littleborough.-The
Midland Railway.-The Works compared with the Simplon Road.-Slip near
Ambergate.-Bull Bridge.-The York and North Midland. —The Scarborough
Branch.-George Stephenson on Estimates.-Stephenson on his Surveys.-His
quick Observation.-His extensive Labors.-Traveling and Correspondence. —
Life at Alton Grange.-Stephenson's London Office.-Journeys to Belgium.Interviews with the King.-Public Openings of English Railways.-Stephenson's
Assistants.-Results  of Railroads........................................................   365
CHAPTER XVI.
GEORGE STEPHENSON'S COAL-MINES-OPINIONS ON RAILWAY SPEEDS-RAIL-WAY
MANIA.
George Stephenson on Railways and Coal Traffic. —Leases the Claycross Estate.His Residence at Tapton. —His Appearance at Mechanics' Institutes. —His Views
on Railway Speed.-Undulating Lines favored.-Stephenson on Railway Speculation. —Atmospheric Railways projected.-Opporsed by Stephenson.-The Railway
Mania.-Action of Parliament.-Rage for direct Lines.-Stephenson's Letter to
Peel. -George Hudson, the "Railway King. " —His Fall. -Stephenson again visits
Belgium.-Interview with King Leopold.-Journey into Spain.................. 392




CONTENTS.                               xli
CHAPTER XVII.
ROBERT STEPHENSON'S CAREER-EAST COAST ROUTE TO SCOTLAND —HIGHLEVEL BRIDGE, NEWCASTLE.
Robert Stephenson's Career.-His extensive Employment as Parliamentary Engineer.-His rival, Brunel. —The Great Western Railway.-Width of Gauge. —Robert Stephenson's caution as to Investments.-The Newcastle and Berwick Railway.-Contest in Parliament.-George Stephenson's Interview with Lord Howick.
-The Royal Border Bridge, Berwick.-Progress of Iron Bridge-building.-Robert Stephenson constructs the High-Level Bridge, Newcastle.-Pile-driving by
Steam.-Merits of the Structure.-The through Railway to Scotland completed.....................................................................   Page  421
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY-MENAI AND CONWAY BRIDGES.
George Stephenson Surveys a line from Chester to Holyhead.-Robert Stephenson
afterward appointed Engineer.-The Railway Works under Penmaen Mawr.The Crossing of the Menai Strait.-Various Plans proposed. —A Tubular Beam
determined on.-Strength of wrought-iron Tubes.-Mr. William Fairbairn consulted.-His Experiments.-Professor Hodgkinson. —Chains proposed, and eventually discarded.-The Bridge Works.-The Conway Bridge.-Britannia Bridge
described.-Floating of the Tubes.-Robert Stephenson's great Anxiety.-Raising
of the Tubes. —The Hydraulic Press bursts.-The Works completed.-Merits of
the Britannia Bridge.......................................       438
CHAPTER XIX.
CLOSING YEARS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON'S LIFE-ILLNESS AND DEATH.
George Stephenson's Life at Tapton.-Experiments in Horticulture.-His Farming
Operations. —Affection for Animals.-Bee-keeping.-Reading and Conversation.
-Rencounter with Lord Denman.-Hospitality at Tapton.-His Microscope.A "Crowdie Night."-Visits to London.-Visits Sir Robert Peel at Drayton
Manor. — His Conversation. —Encounter with Dr. Buckland.-Coal formed by the
Sun's Light.-Opening of the Trent Valley Line and its Celebration.-Meeting
with Emerson.-Illness, Death, and Funeral.-Statues of George Stephenson.Personal Characteristics............................................................. 460
CHAPTER XX.
ROBERT STEPHENSON'S VICTORIA BRIDGE, LOWER CANADA-ILLNESS AND DEATH
-THE STEPHENSON CHARACTERISTICS.
Robert Stephenson's gradual Retirement from the profession of Engineer. —His Tubulai' Bridge over the Nile.-Railways in Canada. —Proposed Bridge at Montreal.
-A Tubular Bridge proposed.-Robert Stephenson appointed Engineer.-Design
of the Victoria Bridge.-The Piers.-Getting in of the Foundations. —Progress
of the Works. —Erection of the Tubes.-Scene at the breaking-up of the Ice in
1858.-The Night-work.-Erection of main central Tube.-Completion of the
Works.-Robert Stephenson in Parliament.-His Opinion of the Suez Canal.His Honors.-Launch of the Great Eastern.-Last Illness and Death.-The Stephenson Characteristics.-Conclusion...........................     474
INDEX...............................497.........................................








LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE                                          PAGE
Portrait of George Stephenson                 Opening of Stockton and Darlington
toface Title Page.    Railway................... 238
Portrait of Trevithick...................  46  The First Railway Coach..............  241
Tyne Coal-staith.........................    49  No. 1 Engine at Darlington............ 244
Flange-rail................................  50  Middlesborough-on-Tees............... 246
Cugnot's Steam-carriage...............  62  Map  of Liverpool and Manchester
Murdock's Model Locomotive.........  66    Railway.............................. 250-1
Symington's Model Steam-carriage..  69  Surveying on Chat Moss.............. 264
Oliver Evans's Model Locomotive....   71  Olive Mount Cutting................... 291
Trevithick's Tram-engine..............  81  Sankey Viaduct............ 292
High-Level Bridge, Newcastle........ 96  Baiting-place at Sankey............... 296
Map of Newcastle District............. 98  Chat Moss-Works in progress...... 299
Wylam..................................... 103  Robert Stephenson's Cottage at SanHigh-Street House, Wylam............ 104    ta Anna................................. 306
Colliery Wagons.............             110  The "Rocket"...................        321
Newburn.................................  111  Locomotive Competition at Rainhill. 324
Colliery Gin............................... 120  Railway versus Road................... 328
Stephenson's Cottage at Willington           Map of Leicester and Swannington
Quay...................................   121    Railway................................. 343
Stephenson's Signature................. 123  Alton Grange............................. 346
West Moor Colliery..................... 127  Portrait of Robert Stephenson...... 348
Killingworth High Pit.................. 136  Map  of London  and Birmingham
Glebe Farm-house, Benton............ 137    Railway.................................   354
Rutter's School-house at Long Ben-           Blisworth Cutting....355................. 355
ton.......................          140  Shafts, Kilsby Tunnel................... 357
Bruce's School, Newcastle.............  142  Kilsby Tunnel (North end)............ 363
Stephenson's Cottage, West Moor.... 146  Dutton Viaduct.......................... 366
Sun-dial, Killingworth.................. 149  Littleborough  Tunnel  (West  enColliers' Cottages, Long Benton.......151    trance)................................. 368
Blenkinsop's Leeds Engine............ 155  Littleborough Tunnel (Walsden end) 369
The Wylam Engine....................... 160  Map of Midland Railway............. 370
Spur-gear.................................. 164  Land-slip, Ambergate..          372
Killingworth Locomotive (Section).. 168  Bull Bridge.................... 373
Colliery Whimsey........................ 174  Coalville and Snibston Colliery........ 391
Pit-head, West Moor.................... 177 Tapton House............................ 392
Davy's  and  Stephenson's  Safety-           Lime-works, Ambergate................ 394
lamps.................................... 187  Forth-Street Works, Newcastle....... 396
Literary and Philosophical Institute,        Claycross Works......................... 420
Newcastle............................... 189  Newcastle from  High-Level Bridge.. 421
The Stephenson Tankard.............. 197  Royal Border Bridge, Berwick........ 430
Half-lap Joint............................  200  Elevation and Plan  of Arch, HighOld Killingworth Locomotive.......... 201    Level Bridge........................... 436
West Moor Pit, Killingworth.......... 214 Railwav at Penmaen Mawr............ 440
Portrait of Edward Pease............ 223 Map of Menai Strait..................... 442
Map  of Stockton  and Darlington             Construction of Britannia Tube on
Railway................................. 224    Staging................................. 450




xliv                   LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE                                     PAGE
Conway Bridge..................... 451 Victoria Bridge, Montreal............. 474
Menai Bridge............................. 457  Elevation of Pier, Victoria Bridge... 478
Floating First Tube, Conway Bridge 459  Works in Progress, Victoria Bridge 480
View in Tapton Gardens............... 460  Erection of the Main Central Tube,
Footpath to Tapton House............. 465    Victoria Bridge..................... 483
Trinity Church, Chesterfield........... 471  Stephenson Memorial Schools, WilTablet in Trinity Church............... 473   lington..................................  496




EARLY INVENTORS IN LOCOMOTION.




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EARLY INVENTORS IN LOCOMOTION.
CHAPTER I.
SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.
IT is easy to understand how rapid transit from place to place
should, from the earliest times, have been an object of desire.
The marvelous gift of speed conferred by Fortunatus's Wishing
Cap was what all must have envied: it conferred power. It also
conferred pleasure. "Life has not many things better than this,"
said Samuel Johnson as he rolled along in the post-chaise. But
it also conferred comfort and well-being; and hence the easy and
rapid transit of persons and commodities became in all countries
an object of desire in proportion to their growth in civilization.
We have elsewhere* endeavored to describe the obstructions
to the- progress of society occasioned by the defective internal
communications of Britain in early times, which were to a considerable extent removed by the adoption of the canal system,
and the improvement of our roads and highways, toward the end
of last century. But the progress of industry was so rapid —the
invention of new tools, machines, and engines so greatly increased
the productive wealth of the nation-that some forty years since
it was found that these roads and canals, numerous and excellent
though they might be, were altogether inadequate for the accommodation of the traffic of the country, which was increasing in
almost a direct ratio with the increased application of steampower to the purposes of productive industry.
The inventive minds of the nation, always on the alert-the
" schemers" and the " projectors," to whom society has in all times
been so greatly indebted-proceeded to apply themselves to the
solution of the problem of how the communications of the country were best to be improved; and the result was, that the power
* " Lives of the Engineers," vols. i. and ii.




48            SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.            [PART I.
of steam itself was applied to remedy the inconveniences which
it had caused.
Like most inventions, that of the Steam Locomotive was very
gradually made. The idea of it, born in one age, was revived in
the ages that followed. It was embodied first in one model,
then in another-the labors of one inventor being taken up by
his successors- until at length, after many, disappointments
and many failures, the practicable working locomotive was
achieved.
The locomotive engine was not, however, sufficient for the
purposes of cheap and rapid transit. Another expedient was absolutely essential to its success-that of the Railway: the smooth
rail to bear the load, as well as the steam-engine'to draw it.
Expedients were early adopted for the purpose of diminishing
friction between the.wheels of vehicles and the roads along which
they were dragged by horse-power. The Romans employed stone
blocks with that object; and the streets of the long-buried city
of Pompeii still bear the marks of the ancient Roman chariotwheels, as the stone track for heavy vehicles~on our modern London Bridge shows the wheel-marks of the wagons which' cross it.
These stone blocks were merely a simple expedient to diminish
friction, and were the first steps toward a railroad.
The railway proper doubtless originated in the coal districts
of the North of England and Wales, where it was found useful
in facilitating the transport of coals from the pits to the shippingplaces. At an early period the coal was carried to the boats in
panniers, or in sacks upon horses' backs. Next carts were used,
and tram-ways of flag-stone were laid down, along which they
were easily hauled. The carts were then converted into wagons,
and mounted on four wheels instead of two.
Still farther to facilitate the haulage of the wagons, pieces of
planking were laid parallel upon wooden sleepers, or imbedded
in the ordinary track. It is said that these wooden rails were
first employed by a Mr. Beaumont, a gentleman from the South,
who, about the year 1630, adventured in the northern mines with
about thirty thousand pounds, and after introducing many improvements in the working of the coal, as well as in the methods
of transporting it to the staithes on the river, was ruined by his
enterprise, and "within a few Years," to use the words of the




CHAP. I.]           COAL WVAGON-WAYS.                   49
ancient chronicler, "he consumed all his Money, and rode IIome
upon his light IHorse.""::_
COAL-S'RAI'TH ON TIE TYNE. [By R. P. Leitch.]
The uese of wooden rails gradually extended, and they were
laid down between most of the collieries on the Tyne and the
places at which the coal was shipped. Roger North, in 1676,
found the practice had become extensively adopted, and he
speaks of the large sums then paid for way-leave-that is, the
permission granted by the owners of lands lying between the
coal-pits and the river-side to lay down a tram-way for the purpose of connecting the one with the other.
A century later, Arthur Young observed that not onlyj had
these roads become greatly multiplied, but formidable works had
been constructed to carry them along upon the same level. "The
coal wagon-roads from the pits to the water," he says, "are great
works, carried over all sorts of inequalities of ground, so far as
the distance of nine or ten miles. The traclks of the wheels are
marked with pieces of wood let into the road for the wheels of
the wagons to run on, by which one horse is enabled to draw, and
that with ease, fifty or sixty bushels of coals."t
Saint Fond, the French traveler, who visited Newcastle in 1791,
described the colliery wagon-ways in that neighborhood as superior to any thing of the kind he had seen. The wooden rails
* Harleian MSS., vol. iii., 269.
t "Six Mlonths' Tour," vol. iii., 9.
D




50             SCHEMERS AN-D PROJECTORS.           [PART I.
were formed with a rounded upper surface, like a projecting
moulding, and the wagon-wheels being " made of cast iron, and
hollowed in the manner of a metal pulley," readily fitted the
rounded surface of the rails. The economy with which the coal
was thus hauled to the shipping-places was urged by Saint Fond
as an inducement to his own countrymen to adopt a like method
of transit.*
Similar wagon-roads were early laid down in the coal districts
of Wales, Cumberland, and Scotland. At the time of the Scotch
rebellion in 1745, a tram-road existed between the Tranent coalpits and the small harbor of Cockenzie, in East Lothian; and a
portion of the line was selected by General Cope as a position
for his cannon at the battle of Prestonpans.
In these rude wooden tracks we find the germ of the modern
railroad. Improvements were gradually made in them. Thus,
at some collieries, thin plates of iron were nailed upon their upper surface, for the purpose of protecting the parts most exposed
to friction. Cast-iron rails were also tried, the wooden rails having been found liable to rot. The first iron rails are supposed to
have been laid down at Whitehaven as early as 1738. This castiron road was denominated a "plate-way," from the plate-like
form in which the rails were cast. In 1767, as appears from the
books of the Coalbrookdale Iron Works, in Shropshire, five or six
tons of rails were cast, as an experiment, on the suggestion of Mr.
Reynolds, one of the partners; and they were shortly after laid
down to form a road.
In 1776,  a cast-iron tram-way, nailed to
wooden sleepers, was laid down at the
Duke of Norfolk's colliery near Sheffield.
The person who designed and constructed
this coal line was Mr. John Curr, whose
son has erroneously claimed for him the
invention of the cast-iron railway. He
certainly adopted it early, and thereby met
the fate of men before their age; for his
plan was opposed by the laboring people
of the colliery, who got up a riot, in which
they tore up the road and burned the coal-staith, while Mr. Curr
* " Travels in England, Scotland, and the Hebrides," vol. i., 142.




CHAP. I.]       ORIGINY OF THE RAILWAA Y              51
fled into a neighboring wood for concealment, and lay there
perdu for three days and nights, to escape the fury of the populace.* The plates of these early tram-ways had a ledge cast on
their outer edge to guide the wheel along the road, after the manner shown in the preceding cut.
In 1789, Mr. William Jessop constructed a railway at Loughborough, in Leicestershire, and there introduced the cast-iron
edge-rail, with flanches cast upon the tire of the wagon-wheels to
keep them on the track, instead of having the margin or flanch
cast upon the rail itself; and this plan was shortly after adopted
in other places. In 1800, Mr. Benjamin Outram, of Little Eaton,
Derbyshire (father of the distinguished General Outram), used
stone props instead of timber for supporting the ends or joinings
of the rails. Thus the use of railroads, in various forms, gradually extended, until they became generally adopted in the mining
districts.
Such was the growth of the railroad, which, it will be observed,
originated in necessity, and was modified according to experience;
progress in this, as in all departments of mechanics, having been
effected by the exertions of many men; one generation entering
upon the labors of that which preceded it, and carrying them onward to farther stages of improvement. The invention of the
locomotive was in like manner made by successive steps. It was
not the invention of one man, but of a succession of men, each
working at the proper hour, and according to the needs of that
hour; one inventor interpreting only the first word of the problem which his successors were to solve after long and laborious
efforts and experiments.  " The locomotive is not the invention
of one man," said Robert Stephenson at Newcastle, "but of a nation of mechanical engineers."
Down to the end of last century, and indeed down almost to
our own time, the only power used in haulage was that of the
horse. Along the common roads of the country the poor horses
were " tearing their hearts out" in dragging cumbersome vehicles
behind them, and the transport of merchandise continued to be
slow, dear, and in all respects unsatisfactory.. Many expedients
were suggested with the view of getting rid of the horse. The
* "Railway Locomotion and Steam Navigation, their Principles and Practice."
By John Curr. London, 1847.




52             SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.               [PART I.
power of wind was one of the first expedients proposed. It was
cheap, though by no means regular. It impelled ships by sea;
why should it not be used to impel carriages by land?
The first sailing-coach was invented by one Simon Stevinius,
or Stevins, a Fleming, toward the end of the sixteenth century.
Pierre Gassendi gives an account of its performances as follows:
"Purposing to visit Grotius, Peireskius went to Scheveling that
he might satisfy himself of the carriage and swiftness of a coach a
few years before invented, and made with that artifice that with
expanded sails it would fly upon the shore as a ship upon the sea.
He had formerly heard that Count Maurice, a little after his victory
at Nieuport [1600], had put himself thereinto, together with Francis
Mendoza, his prisoner, on purpose to make trial thereof, and that,
within two hours, they arrived at Putten, which is distant from
Scheveling fourteen leagues, or two-and-forty miles. He had, therefbre, a mind to make the experiment himself, and he would often
tell us with what admiration he was seized when he was carried
with a quick wind and yet perceived it not, the coach's motion being equally quick."*
The sailing-coach, however, was only a curiosity. As a practicable, machine, it proved worthless, for the wind could not be
depended upon for land locomotion. The coach could not tack
as the ship did. Sometimes the wind did not blow at all, while
at other times it blew a hurricane. After being used for some
time as a toy, the sailing-coach was given up as impracticable,
and the project speedily dropped out of sight."
But, strange to say, the expedient of driving coal-wagons by
the wind. was revived in Wales about a century later. On this,occasion, Sir Humphry M[ackworth, an ingenious coal-miner at
Neath, was the projector.  Wa r, in his      on Mines," published in 1698, takes the opportunity of eulogizing Sir - umphry's
"new sailing-wagons, for the cheap carriage of his coal to the
water-side, whereby one horse does the work of ten at all times;
but when any wind is stirring (which is seldom wanting near the
sea), one man and a small sail do the work of twenty."t It does
* A curious account of this early project is to be found in the library of the British
Museum, under the name' Stevin, 1652."
t The writer adds —'" I believe he (Sir Humphry Mackworth) is the first gentleman




CHAP. I.]    FRANKLIN, BOULTON, AND DARWIN.              53
not, however, appear that any other coal-owner had the courage
to follow Sir Humphry's example, and the sailing-wagon was forgotten until, after the lapse of another century, it was revived by
Mr. Edgeworth.
The employment of steam-power as a means of land locomotion was the subject of much curious speculation long before any
practical attempt was made to carry it into effect. The merit
of promulgating the first idea with reference to it probably belongs to no other than the great Sir Isaac Newton. In his " Explanation of the Newtonian Philosophy," written in 1680, he figured a spherical generator, supported on wheels, and provided
with a seat for a passenger in front, and a long jet-pipe behind,
and stated that " the whole is to be mounted on little wheels, so as
to move easily on a horizontal plane, and if the hole, or jet-pipe,
be opened, the vapor will rush out violently one way, and the
wheels and the ball at the same time will be carried the contrary
way."  This, it will be observed, was but a modification of the
earliest known steam-engine, or CEolopile, of Hero of Alexandria.
It is not believed that Sir Isaac Newton ever made any experiment of his proposed method of locomotion, or did more than
merely throw out the idea for other minds to work upon.
The idea of employing steam in locomotion was revived from
time to time, and formed the subject of much curious speculation. About the middle of last century we find Benjamin Franklin, then agent in London for the United Provinces of America,
Matthew Boulton, of Birmingham, and Erasmus Darwin, of Lichfield, engaged in a- correspondence relative to steam as a motive
power. Boulton had made a model of a fire-engine, which he
sent to London for Franklin's inspection; and though the original purpose for which the engine had been contrived was the
pumping of water, it was believed to be practicable to employ it
also as a means of locomotion. Franklin was too much, occupied
at the time by grave political questions to pursue the subject;
but the sanguine and speculative mind of Erasmus Darwin- was
inflamed by the idea of a " fiery chariot," and he pressed his
in this part of the world that hath set up sailing engines on land, driven by the wind;
not for any curiosity or vain applause, but for real profit; whereby he could not fail of
Bishop Malkin's blessing on his undertakings, in case he were in a capacity to bestow it."




54             SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.            [PART I.
friend Boulton to prosecute the contrivance of the necessary
steam machine.*
Erasmus Darwin was in many respects a remarkable man. In
his own neighborhood he was highly esteemed as a physician, and
by many intelligent readers of his day he was greatly prized as a
poet. Horace Walpole said of his " Botanic Garden" that it was
"the most delicious poem upon earth," and he declared that he
"could read it over and over again forever."  The doctor was
accustomed to write his poems with a pencil on little scraps of
paper while riding about among his patients in his " sulky." The
vehicle, which was worn and bespattered outside, had room within it for the doctor and his appurtenances only. On one side of
him was a pile of books reaching from the floor to nearly the
front window of the carriage, while on the other was a hamper
contaihing fruit and sweetmeats, with a store of cream and sugar, with which the occupant regaled himself during his journey.
Lashed on to the place usually appropriated to the " boot" was a
large pail for watering the horses, together with a bag of oats
and a bundle of hay. Such was the equipage of a fashionable
country physician of the last century.
Dr. Darwin was a man of large and massive person, bearing a
rather striking resemblance to his distinguished townsman, Dr.
Johnson, in manner, deportment, and force of character. He was
full of anecdote, and his conversation was most original and entertaining. He was a very outspoken man, vehemently enunciating theories which some thought original and others dangerous. As he drove through the country in his " sulky," his mind
teemed with speculation on all subjects, from zoonomy, botany,
and physiology, to physics, aesthetics, and mental philosophy.
Though his speculations were not always sound, they were clever
and ingenious, and, at all events, they had the effect of setting
other minds a-thinking and speculating on science and the methods for its advancement. From his " Loves of the Plants"-afterward so cleverly parodied by George Canning in his "Loves
of the Triangles"- it would appear that the doctor even enter
tained a theory of managing the winds by a little philosophic
artifice. His scheme of a steam locomotive was of a more prac* See farther, II Lives of the Engineers," vol. iv., Boulton and Watt, p. 182-4.




CHAP. I.]    DR. DARWIN'S "FIERY CHARIOT."              55
tical character. This idea, like so many others, first occurred to
him in his "sulky."
"As I was riding home yesterday," he wrote to his friend Boulton in the year 1765, "I considered the scheme of the fiery chariot,
and the longer I contemplated this favorite idea, the more practicable it appeared to me. I shall lay my thoughts before you, crude
and undigested though they may appear to be, telling you as well
what I thought would not do as what would do, as by those hints
you may be led into various trains of thinking upon this subject,
and by that means (if any hints can assist your genius, which, without hints, is above all others I am acquainted with) be more likely
to improve or disapprove. And as I am quite mad of this scheme,
I beg you will not mention it, or show this paper to Wyat or any
body.
" These things are required: 1st, a rotary motion; 2d, easily altering its direction to any other direction; 3d, to be accelerated,
retarded, destroyed, revived instantly and easily; 4th, the bulk, the
weight, and expense of the machine to be as small as possible in
proportion to its use."*
He then goes on to throw out various suggestions as to the
form and arrangement of the machine, the number of wheels on
which it was to run, and the mode of applying the power. The
text of this letter is illustrated by rough diagrams, showing a
vehicle mounted on three wheels, the foremost or guiding wheel
being under the control of the driver; but in a subsequent passage he says, " I think four wheels will be better."
" Let there be two cylinders," he proceeds. "Suppose one piston
up, and the vacuum made under it by the jet deaufroid. That piston can not yet descend because the cock is not yet opened which
admits the steam into its antagonist cylinder. Hence the two pistons are in equilibrio, being either of them pressed by the atmosphere. Then I say, if the cock which admits the steam into the
antagonist cylinder be opened gradually and not with a jerk, that
the first-mentioned [piston in the] cylinder will descend gradually
and not less forcibly. Hence, by the management of the steam
cocks, the motion may be accelerated, retarded, destroyed, revived
instantly and easily. And if this answers in practice as it does in
theory, the machine can not fail of success'Eureka!
* Soho MSS.




56             SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.            [PART I,
"The cocks of the cold water may be moved by the great work,
but the steam cocks must be managed by the hand of the charioteer, who also directs the rudder-wheel. [Then follow his rough
diagrams.] The central wheel ought to have been under the rollers, so as it may be out of the way of the boiler."*
After farther explaining himself, he goes on to say:
" If you could learn the expense of coals to a common fire-engine
and the weight of water it draws, some certain estimate may be
made if such a scheme as this would answer. Pray don't show
Wyat this scheme, for if you think it feasible and will send me a
critique upon it, I will certainly, if I can get somebody to bear half
the expense with me, endeavor to build a fiery chariot, and, if it
answers, get a patent. If you choose to be partner with me in the
profit, and expense, and trouble, let me know, as I am determined
to: execute it if you approve of it.
"Please to remember the pulses of the common fire-engines, and
say in what manner the piston is so made as to keep out the air in
its motion. By what way is the jet d'eau froid let out of the cylinder? How full of water is the boiler? How is it supplied, and
what is the quantity of its waste of water?"t
It will be observed from these remarks that the doctor's notions were of the crudest sort, and, as he obviously contemplated
but a modification of the Newcomen engine, then chiefly employed in pumping water from mines, the action of which was
slow, clumsy, and expensive, the steam being condensed by injection of cold water, it is clear that, even though Boulton had taken
up and prosecuted Darwin's idea, it could not have issued in a
practicable or economical working locomotive.
But, although Darwin himself-his time engrossed by his increasing medical practice-proceeded no farther with his scheme
of a "fiery chariot," he succeeded in inflaming the mind of his
young friend, Richard Lovell Edgeworth, who had settled for a
time in his neighborhood, and induced him to direct his attention
to the introduction of improved means of locomotion by steam.
In a letter written by Dr. Small to Watt in 1768, we find him
describing Edgeworth as " a gentleman of fortune, young, mechanical, and indefatigable, who has taken a resolution to move
land and water carriages by steam, and has made considerable
* Soho MSS.                                t Ibid.




CHAP. I.]     MR. EDGEWORTH'S SCHEMES.                57
progress in the short space of time that he has devoted to the
study."
One of the first-fruits of Edgeworth's investigations was his
paper " On Railroads," which he read before the Society of Arts
in 1768, and for which he was awarded the society's gold medal.
He there proposed that four iron railroads be laid down on one
of the great roads out of London; two for carts and wagons, and
two for light carriages and stage-coaches. The post-chaises and
gentlemen's carriages might, he thought, be made to go at eight
miles an hour, and the stage-coaches at six miles an hour, drawn
by a single horse.  He urged that such a method of transport
would be attended with great economy of power and consequent
cheapness. Many years later, in 1802, he published his views on
the same subject in a more matured form. By that time Watt's
steam-engine had come into general use, and he suggested that
small stationary engines should be fixed along his proposed railroad, and made, by means of circulating chains, to draw the carriages along with a great diminution of horse labor and expense.
It is creditable to Mr. Edgeworth's forethought that both the
models proposed by him have since been adopted. Horse-traction of carriages on railways is now in general use in the towns
of the United States; and omnibuses on the same principle regularly ply between the Place de la Concorde at Paris and St.
Cloud, both being found highly convenient for the public, and
profitable to the proprietors. The system of working railways
by fixed engines was also regularly employed on some lines in
the infancy of the railway system, though it has since fallen into
disuse, in consequence of the increased power given to the modem locomotive, which enables it to surmount gradients formerly
considered impracticable.
Besides his speculations on railways worked by horse and
steam power, Mr. Edgeworth-unconscious of the early experiments of Stevins and Mackworth-made many attempts to apply
the power of the wind with the same object. It is stated in his
" Memoirs" that he devoted himself to locomotive traction by various methods for a period of about forty years, during which he
made above a hundred working models, in a great variety of
forms; and though none of his schemes were attended with practical success, he adds that he gained far more in amusement than




58            SCHEMERS AND PROJECTORS.          [PART I.
he lost by his unsuccessful labors. "The only mortification that
affected me," he says, " was my discovery, many years after I had
taken out my patent [for the sailing-carriage], that the rudiments
of my whole scheme were mentioned in an obscure memoir of
the French Academy."
The sailing-wagon scheme, as revived by Mr. Edgeworth, was
doubtless of a highly ingenious character, though it was not practicable. One of his expedients was a portable railway, of a kind
somewhat similar to that since revived by Mr. Boydell. Many
experiments were tried with the new wagons on Hare Hatch
Common, but they were attended with so much danger when the
wind blew strong-the vehicles seeming to fly rather than roll
along the ground-that farther experiments were abandoned, and
Mr. Edgeworth himself at length came to the conclusion that a
power so uncertain as that of the wind could never be relied
upon for the safe conduct of ordinary traffic. His thoughts
finally settled on steam as the only practicable power for this
purpose; but, though his enthusiasm in the cause of improved
transit of persons and of goods remained unabated, he was now
too far advanced in life to prosecute his investigations in that direction. When an old man of seventy he wrote to James Watt
(7th August, 1813): "I have always thought that steam would
become the universal lord, and that we should in time scorn posthorses. An iron railroad would be a cheaper thing than a road
on the common construction. Four years later he died, and left
the problem, which he had nearly all his life been trying ineffectually to solve, to be worked out by younger men.
Dr. Darwin had long before preceded him into the silent land.
Down to his death in 1802, Edgeworth had kept up a continuous
correspondence with him on his favorite topic; but it does not
appear that Darwin ever revived his project of the "fiery chariot." He was satisfied to prophesy its eventual success in the
lines which are perhaps more generally known than any he has
written-for, though Horace Walpole declared that he could
"read the Botanic Garden over and over again forever," the
poetry of Darwin is now all but forgotten. The following was
his prophecy, published in 1791, before any practical locomotive
or steam-boat had been invented:




CHAP. I.]            DR. DARWIN'S PROPHECY.                            59
"Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam, afar
Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car;
Or on wide-waving wings expanded bear
The flying chariot through the fields of air.
Fair crews triumphant, leaning from above,
Shall wave their flutt'ring kerchiefs as they move;
Or warrior bands alarm the gaping crowd,
And armies shrink beneath the shadowy cloud."
The prophecy embodied in the first two lines of the passage
has certainly been fulfilled, but the triumph of the steam balloon
has yet to come.




60            EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.            [PART I.
CHAPTER II.
EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.
THE application of steam-power to the driving of wheel-carriages on common roads was in 1759 brought under the notice
of James Watt by his young friend John Robison, then a student
at the University of Glasgow. Robison prepared a rough sketch
of his suggested steam-carriage, in which he proposed to place
the cylinder with its open end downward, to avoid the necessity
for using a working beam. Watt was then only twenty-three
years old, and was very much occupied in conducting his business of a mathematical instrument maker, which he had only recently established. Nevertheless, he proceeded to construct a
model locomotive provided with two cylinders of tin-plate, intending that the pistons and their connecting-rods should act alternately on two pinions attached to the axles of the carriagewheels. But the model, when made, did not answer Watt's expectations; and when, shortly after, Robison left college to go to
sea, he laid the project aside, and did not resume it for many
years.
In the mean time, an ingenious French mechanic had taken up
the subject, and proceeded to make a self-moving road engine
worked by steam-power. It has been incidentally stated that a
M. Pouillet was the first to make a locomotive machine,* but no
particulars are given of the invention, which is more usually attributed to Nicholas Joseph Cugnot, a native of Void, in Lorraine,
where he was born in 1729. Not much is known of Cugnot's
early history beyond that he was an officer in the army, that he
published several works on military science, and that on leaving
the army he devoted himself to the invention of a steam-carriage
to be run on common roads.
It appears from documents collected by M. Morin that Cugnot
* "Portfeuille du Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers," Livraison 1, p. 3.




CHAP. II.]          CUGLVOT'S ENGINE.                    61
constructed his first carriage at the Arsenal in 1769, at the cost
of the Comte de Saxe, by whom he was patronized and liberally
helped. It ran on three wheels, and was put in motion by an engine composed of two single-acting cylinders, the pistons of which
acted alternately on the single front wheel. While this machine
was in course of construction, a Swiss officer, named Planta,
brought forward a similar project; but, on perceiving that Cugnot's carriage was superior to his own, he proceeded no farther
w, ith it.
CWhen Cugnot's carriage was ready, it was tried in the presence
of the Due de Choiseul, the Comte de Saxe, and other military
officers. On being first set in motion, it ran against a stone wall
which stood in its way, and threw it down. There was thus no
doubt about its power, though there were many doubts about its
manageableness. At length it was got out of the Arsenal and
put upon the road, when it was found that, though only loaded
with four persons, it could not travel faster than about two and a
quarter miles an hour; and that, the size of the boiler not being
sufficient, it would not continue at work for more than twelve or
fifteen minutes, when it was necessary to wait until sufficient
steam had been raised to enable it to proceed farther.
The experiment was looked upon with great interest, and admitted to be of a very remarkable character; and, considering
that it was a first attempt, it was not by any means regarded as
unsuccessful.  As it was believed that such a machine, if properly proportioned, might be employed to drag cannon into the
field independent of horse-power, the [M5inister of War authorized Cugnot to proceed with the construction of a new and improved machine, which was finished and ready for trial in the
course of the following year. The new locomotive was composed of two parts, one being a carriage supported on two wheels,
somewhat resembling a small brewer's cart, furnished with a seat
for the driver, while the other contained the machinery, which
was supported on a single driving-wheel 4 ft. 2 in. in diameter.
The engine consisted of a round copper boiler with a furnace inside provided with two small chimneys, two single-acting 13-in.
brass cylinders communicating with the boiler by a steam-pipe,
and the arrangements for communicating the motion of the pistons to the driving-wheel, together with the steering-gear.
""'" "'^"'""""  """"' "n                Zn' 




62            EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.            [PART 1.
OUGNOT'S ENGINE.
The two parts of the machine were united by a movable pill
and a toothed sector fixed on the framing of the front or machine
part of the carriage. When one of the pistons descended, the
piston-rod drew with it a crank, the catch of which caused the
driving-wheel to make a quarter of a revolution by means of the
ratchet-wheel fixed on the axle of the driving-wheel. At the
same time, a chain fixed to the crank on the same side also descended and moved a lever, the opposite end of which was thereby raised, restoring the second piston to its original position at
the top of the cylinder by the interposition of a second chain and
crank. The piston-rod of the descending piston, by means of a
catch, set other levers in motion, the chain fixed to them turning
a half-way cock so as to open the second cylinder to the steam
and the first to the atmosphere. The second piston, then descending in turn, caused the driving-wheel to make another
quarter revolution, restoring the first piston to its original position; and the process being repeated, the machine was thereby
kept in motion. To enable it to run backward, the catch of the
crank was arranged in such a manner that it could be made to
act either above or below, and thereby reverse the action of the
machinery on the driving-wheel. It will thus be observed that
Cugnot's locomotive presented a simple and ingenious form of a
high-pressure engine; and, though of rude construction, it was a
highly-creditable -piece of work, considering the time of its appearance and the circumstances under which it was constructed.
Several successful trials were made with the new locomotive
in the streets of Paris, which excited no small degree of interest.
Unhappily, however, an accident which occurred to it in one of
the trials had the effect of putting a stop to farther experiments.
Turning the corner of a street near the Madeleine one day, when




CHAP. II.]          CUGNOT'S ENGINE.                   63
the machine was running at a speed of about three miles an hour,
it became overbalanced, and fell over with a crash; after which,
the running of the vehicle being considered dangerous, it was
thenceforth locked up securely in the Arsenal to prevent its doing farther mischief.
The merit of Cugnot was, however, duly recognized. He was
granted a pension of 300 livres, which continued to be paid to
him until the outbreak of the Revolution. The Girondist Roland was appointed to examine the engine and report upon it to
the Convention; but his report, which was favorable, was not
adopted; on which the inventor's pension was stopped, and he
was left for a time without the means of living. Some years
later, Bonaparte, on his return from Italy after the peace of
Campo Formio, interested himself in Cugnot's invention, and expressed a favorable opinion of his locomotive before the Academy; but his attention was shortly after diverted from the subject by the Expedition to Egypt. Napoleon, however, succeeded in restoring Cugnot's pension, and thus soothed his declining
years. He died in Paris in 1804, at the age of seventy-five.
Cugnot's locomotive is still to be seen in the Museum of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers at Paris; and it is, without exception, the most venerable and interesting of all the machines extant connected with the early history of locomotion.
While Cugnot was constructing his first machine at Paris, one
Francis Moore, a linen-draper, was taking out a patent in London for moving wheel-carriages by steam.  On the 14th of
March, 1769, he gave notice of a patent for " a machine made of
wood or metal, and worked by fire, water, or air, for the purpose
of moving bodies on land or water," and on the 13th of July following he gave notice of another "for machines made of wood
and metal, moved by power, for the carriage of persons and
goods, and for accelerating boats, barges, and other vessels."
But it does not appear that Moore did any thing beyond lodging
the titles of his inventions, so that we are left in the dark as to
what was their precise character.
James Watt's friend and correspondent, Dr. Small, of Birmingham, when he heard of Moore's intended project, wrote to the
Glasgow inventor with the object of stimulating him to perfect
his steam-engine, then in hand, and urging him to apply it, among




64            EARL Y LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.           [PART I.
other things, to purposes of locomotion. "I hope soon," said
Small, " to travel in a fiery chariot of your invention."  Watt replied to the effect that " if Linen-draper Moore does not use my
engines to drive his carriages, he can't drive them by steam. If
he does, I will stop them." But Watt was still a long way from
perfecting his invention. The steam-engine capable of driving
carriages was a problem that remained to be solved, and it was a
problem to the solution of which Watt never fairly applied himself. It was enough for him to accomplish the great work of
perfecting his condensed engine, and with that he rested content.
But Watt continued to be so strongly urged by those about him
to apply steam-power to purposes of locomotion that, in his comprehensive patent of the 24th of August, 1784, he included an
arrangement with that object. From his specification we learn
that he proposed a cylindrical or globular boiler, protected outside by wood strongly hooped together, with a furnace inside entirely surrounded by the water.to be heated except at the ends.
Two cylinders working alternately were to be employed, and the
pistons working within them were to be moved by the elastic
force of the steam; "and after it has performed its office," he
says, "I discharge it into the atmosphere by a proper regulating
valve, or I discharge it into a condensing vessel made air-tight,
and formed of thin plates and pipes of metal, having their outsides exposed to the wind;" the object of this latter arrangement being to economize the water, which would otherwise be
lost. The power was to be communicated by a rotative motion
(of the nature of the " sun and planet" arrangement) to the axle
of one or more of the wheels of the carriage, or to another axis
connected with the axle by means of toothed wheels; and in other cases he proposed, instead of the rotative machinery, to employ
"toothed racks, or sectors of circles, worked with reciprocating
motion by the engines, and acting upon ratched wheels fixed on
the axles of the carriage." To drive a carriage containing two
persons would, he, estimated, require an engine with a cylinder 7
in. in diameter, making sixty strokes per minute of 1 ft. each, and
so constructed as to act both on the ascent and descent of the piston; and, finally, the elastic force of the steam in the boiler must
be such as to be occasionally equal to supporting a pillar of mercury 30 in. high.




CIAP. II.]   WATT'S PROPOSED LOCOMOTIVE.               65
Though Watt repeatedly expressed his intention of constructing a model locomotive after his specification, it does not appear
that he ever carried it out. He was too much engrossed with
other work; and, besides, he never entertained very sanguine
views as to the practicability of road locomotion by steam. He
continued, however, to discuss the subject with his partner Boulton, and from his letters we gather that his. mind continued undetermined as to the best plan to be pursued. Only four days
after the date of the above specification (i. e., on the 28th of August, 1784) we find him communicating his views on the subject
to Boulton at great length, and explaining his ideas as to how
the proposed object might best be accomplished. He first addressed himself to the point of whether 80 lbs. was a sufficient
power to move a post-chaise on a tolerably good and level road
at four miles an hour; secondly, whether 8?ft. of boiler surface
exposed to the fire would be sufficient to evaporate a cube foot
of water per hour without much waste of fuel; thirdly, whether
it would require steam of more than eleven and a half times atmospheric density to cause the engine to exert a power equal to
6 lbs. on the inch. "I think," he observed, "the cylinder. must
either be made larger or make more than sixty strokes per minute. As to working gear, stopping and backing, with steering
the carriage, I think these things perfectly manageable."
" My originaI ideas on the subject," he continued, "were prior to
my invention of these improved engines, or before the crank, or
any other of the rotative motions were thought of. My plan then
was to have twa inverted cylinders, with toothed racks instead of
piston-rods, which were to be applied to two ratchet-wheels on the
axle-tree, and to act alternately; and I am partly of opinion that this
method might be applied with advantage yet,because it needs no fly
and has some other conveniences. - From what I have said, and from
much more which a little reflection will suggest to you, you will see
that without several circumstances turn. out more favorable than
has been stated, the machine will be clumsy and defective, and that
it will cost much time to bring it to any tolerable degree of perfection, and that for me to interrupt the career of our business would
be imprudent; I even grudge the time I have taken to make these
comments on it. There is, however, another way in which much
mechanism might be saved if it be in itself practicable, which is to
apply to it one of the self-moving rotatives, which has no regulaE




66            EARL Y LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.          [PART I.
tors, but turns like a mill-wheel by the constant influx and efflux
of steam; but this would not abridge the size of the boiler, and I
am not sure that such engines are practicable."
It will be observed from these explanations that Watt's views
as to road locomotion were still crude and undefined; and, indeed, he never carried them farther. -While he was thus discussing the subject with Boulton, William Murdock, one of the
most skilled and ingenious workmen of the Soho firm-then living at Redruth, in Cornwall,-was occupying himself during his
leisure hours, which were but few, in constructing a model locomotive after a design of his own. He had doubtless heard of the
proposal to apply steam to locomotion and, being a clever inventor, he forthwith set himself to work out the problem. The plan
he pursued was very simple and'yet efficient. His model was of
small dimensions, standing little more than a foot high, but it was
sufficiently large to demonstrate the soundness of the principle on
which it was constructed. It was supported on three wheels, and
carried a small copper boiler, heated by a spirit-lamp, with a flue passing obliquely through it. The cylinder, of i in. diameter and 2 in.
stroke, was fixed in the top of the
boiler, the piston-rod being connected with the vibrating beam at<-     tached to the connecting-rod which
worked the crank of the drivingSECTION OF MURDOK' s MODEL.
wheel. This.little engine worked
by the expansive force of the steam only, which was discharged
into the atmosphere after it had done its work of alternately raising and depressing the piston in the cylinder.
Mr. Murdock's son informed the author that this model was invented and constructed in 1781, but, from the correspondence of
Boulton and Watt, we infer that it was not ready for trial until
1784. The first experiment with it was made in Murdock's own
house at Redruth, when it successfully hauled a model wagon
round the room-the single wheel placed in front of the engine,
and working in a swivel frame, enabling it to run round in a
circle.
Another experiment was made out of doors, on which occasion,




CHAP. II.]    MURD O CI'S MODEL ENGINE.               67
small though the engine was, it fairly outran the speed of its inventor. It seems that one night, after returning from his duties
at the Redruth mine, Murdock determined to try the working of
his model locomotive. For this purpose he had recourse to the
walk leading to the church, about a mile from the town. It was
rather narrow, and was bounded on each side by high hedges.
The night was dark, and Murdock set out alone to try his experiment. Having lit his lamp, the water soon boiled, when off started the engine, with the inventor after it. Shortly after he heard
distant shouts of terror. It was too dark to perceive objects; b'ut
he found, on following up the machine, that the cries proceeded
from the worthy pastor of the parish, who, going toward the town,
was met on this lonely road by the hissing and fiery little monster, which he subsequently declared he had taken to be the Evil
One in proprica personrc!
Watt was by no means pleased when he learned that Murdock
was giving his mind to these experiments. He feared that it
might have the effect of withdrawing him from the employment
of the firm, to which his services had become almost indispensable; for there was no more active, skillful, or ingenious workman
in all their concern. Watt accordingly wrote to Boulton, recommending him to advise Murdock to give up his locomotive-engine
scheme; but, if he could not succeed in that, then, rather than
lose Murdock's services, Watt proposed that he should be allowed
an advance of ~100 to enable him to prosecute his experiments,
and if he succeeded within a year in making an engine capable
of drawing a post-chaise carrying two passengers and the driver
at four miles an hour, it was suggested that he should be taken
as partner into the locomotive business, for which lBoulton and
Watt were to provide the necessary capital.
Two years later (in September, 1786) we find Watt again expressing his regret to Boulton that Murdock was " busying himself with the steam-carriage." " I have still," said he, "6 the same
opinion concerning it that I had, but to prevent as much as possible more fruitless argument about it, I have one of some size
under hand, and am resolved to try if God will work a miracle
in favor of these carriages. I shall in some future letter send
you the words of my specification on that subject. In the mean
time I wish William could be brought to do as we do, to mind




68           EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.           [PART I.
the business in hand, and let such as Symington and Sadler throw
away their time and money in hunting shadows." 1w a subsequent letter Watt expressed his gratification at finding" that William applies to his business." From that time Murdock as well
as Watt dropped all farther speculation on the subject, and left
it to others to work out the problem of the locomotive engine.
Murdock's model remained but a curious toy, which he himself
took pleasure in exhibiting to his intimate friends; and though
he long continued to speculate about road locomotion, and was
persuaded of.its practicability, he refrained from embodying his
ideas of it in any more complete working form.
Symington and Sadler, the "hunters. of shadows" referred to
by Watt, did little to advance the question. Of Sadler we know
nothing beyond that in 1786 he was making experiments as to
the application of steam-power to the driving of wheel-carriages.
This came to the knowledge of Boulton and Watt, who gave him
notice, on the 4th of July of the same year, that " the sole privilege of making steam-engines by the elastic force of steam acting on a piston, with or without condensation, had been granted
to Mr. Watt by Act of Parliament, and also that amonig other
improvements and applications of his principle he hath particularly. specified the application of steam-engines for driving wheel
carriages in a patent which he took out in the year 1784." They
accordingly cautioned him against proceeding farther in the
matter; and as we hear no more of Sadler's steam-carriage, it is
probable that the notice had its effect.
The name of William Symington is better known in connection with the history of steam locomotion by sea. He was born
at Leadhills, in Scotland, in 1763. His father was a practical
mechanic, who superintended the'engines and machinery of the
Mining Company at Waulockhead, where one of Boulton and
Watt's pumping-engines was at work. Young Symington was
of an ingenious' turn of mind from his boyhood, and at an early
period he seems' to have conceived the idea of employing the
steam-engine to drive wheel-carriages. His father and he worked
together, and by the year 1786, when lthe son was only twentythree years of age, they succeeded in completing a working model of a road locomotive. Mr. Meason, the manager of the mine,
was so much pleased with the model, the merit of which princi



CHAP. II.]    SYMINGTON'S STEAM'-CARRIAGE.          69
pally belonged to young Symington, that he sent him to Edinburg for the purpose of exhibiting it before the scientific gentlemen of that city, in the hope that it might lead, in some way,
to his future advancement in life. Mr. Meason also allowed the
model to be exhibited at his own house there, and he invited
many gentlemen of distinction to inspect it.
BSYINGTON'S MODEL STEA-OaOIC AGE, 1786.
The machine consisted of a carriage and locomotive behind,
supported on four wheels. The boiler was cylindrical, communicating by a steam-pipe with the two horizontal cylinders, one on
each side of the engine. When the piston was raised by the action of the steam, a vacuum was produced by the condensation
of the steam in'a cold-water tank placed underneath the engine,
on which the piston was again forced back by the pressure of the
atmosphere. The motion was communicated to the wheels by
rack-rods connected with the piston-rod, which worked on each
side -of a drum fixed on the hind axle, the alternate action of
which rods upon the tooth and ratchet wheels with which the
drum was provided producing the rotary motion. It will thus
be observed that Symington's engine was partly atmospheric and
partly condensing, the condensation being effected by a separate
vessel and air-pump, as patented by Watt; and though the arrangement was ingenious, it is clear that, had it ever been brought
into use, the traction by means of such an engine would have
been of the very slowest kind.
But Symington's engine was not destined to be applied to road
Iocomotion. He was completely diverted from employing it for




70           EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.           [PART I.
that purpose by his connection with Mr. Miller, of Dalswinton,
then engaged in experimenting on the application of mechanical
power to the driving of his double paddle-boat. The power of
men was first tried, but the labor was found too severe; and when
Mr.B ller went to see Symington's model, and informed the inventor of his difficulty in obtaining a regular and effective power
for driving his boat, Symington-his mind naturally full of his
own invention-at once, suggested his steam-engine for the purpose. The suggestion was adopted, and Mr. Miller authorized
him to proceed with the construction of a steam-engine to be
fitted into his double pleasure boat on Dalswinton Lock, where
it was tried in October, 1788. This was followed by farther experiments, which eventually led to the construction of the Charlotte Dundas in 1801, which may be regarded as the first practical steam-boat ever built.
Symington took out letters patent in the same year, securing
the invention, or rather the novel combination of inventions, embodied in his steam-boat, but he never succeeded in getting it introduced into practical use. From the date of completing his invention, fortune seemed to run steadily against him. The Duke
of Bridgewater, who had ordered a number of Symington's steamboats -for his canal, died, and his executors countermanded the
order. Symington failed in inducing any other canal company
to make trial of his invention. Lord Dundas also took the Charlotte Dundas off the Forth and Clyde Canal, where she had been
at work, and from that time the vessel was never more tried.
Symington had no capital of his own to work upon, and he seems
to have been unable to make friends among capitalists. The
rest of his life was for the most part thrown away. Toward the
close of it- his principal haunt was London, amid whose vast population he was. one of the many waifs and strays. He succeeded
in obtaining a grant of ~100 from the Privy Purse in 1824, and
afterward an annuity'of ~50, but he did not live long to enjoy it,
for he died in March, 1831, and was buried in the church-yard
of St. Botolph, Aldgate, where there is not even a stone to mark
the grave of the inventor of the first practicable steam-boat.
While the inventive minds of England were thus occupied,
those of America-were not idle. The idea of applying steampower to the propulsion of carriages on land is said to have oc



CHAP. II.]        EVANS'S STEAM-CARIA GE.                         71
curred to John Fitch in 1785; but he did not pursue the idea
" for more than a week," being diverted from it by his scheme of
applying the same power to the propulsion of vessels on the water.* About the same time, Oliver Evans, a native of Newport,
Delaware, was occupied with a project for driving steam-carriages on common roads; and in 1786 the Legislature of MaryOLIVER EVANS'8 MODEL LOOOMOTIVE'
land granted him  the exclusive right for that state.  Several
years, however, passed before he could raise the means for erecting a model carriage, most of his friends regarding the project as
altogether chimerical and impracticable.  In 1800 or 1801fEvans began a steam-carriage at his own expense; but he had not
proceeded far with it when he altered his intention, and applied
the engine intended for the driving of a carriage to the driving
of a small grinding-mill, in which it was found efficient. In
1804 he constructed at Philadelphia a second engine of fivehorse power, working on the high-pressure principle, which was
placed on a large flat or scow, mounted upon wheels.  "This,"
says his biographer, "was considered a fine opportunity to show
* This statement is made in " The Life of John Fitch," by Thompson Westcott,
Philadelphia, 1857. Mr. Thompson there states that the idea of employing a steamengine to propel carriages on land occurred to John Fitch at a time when, he avers,
"he was altogether ignorant that a steam-engine had ever been invented!" (p. 120).
Such a statement is calculated to damage the credibility of the entire book, in which
the invention of the steam-boat, as well as of the screw propeller, is unhesitatingly
claimed for John Fitch.




72            EARLY LOCOMOTIVE MODELS.            [PART I.
the public that his engine could propel both land and water conveyances. When the machine was finished, Evans fixed under
it, in a rough and temporary manner, wheels with wooden axletrees. Although the whole weight was equal to two hundred
barrels of flour, yet his small engine propelled it up Market
Street, and round the circle to the water-works, where it was
launched into the Schuylkill. A paddle-wheel was then applied
to its stern, and it thus sailed down that river to the Delaware, a
distance of sixteen miles, in-the presence of thousands of spectators."* It does not, however, appear that any farther trial was
made of this engine as a locomotive; and, having been dismounted and applied to the driving of a small grinding-mill, its employment as a traveling engine was shortly forgotten.
* Horne's "Memoirs of the Most Eminent American Mechanics," New York,
1858, p. 76.




CHAP. III.]       EARLY RAIL WAYS.                  73
CHAPTER II.
TE CORNISH LOCOMOTIVE —-MMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.
WHILE the discussion of steam-power as a means of locomotion
was proceeding in England, other projectors were advocating the
extension of wagon-ways and railroads. Mr. Thomas, of Denton,
near Newcastle-on-Tyne, read a paper before the Philosophical
Society of that town in 1800, in which he urged the laying down
of railways throughout the country, on the principle of the coal
wagon-ways, for the general carriage of goods and merchandise;
and Dr. James Anderson, of Edinburg, about the same time published his " Recreations of Agriculture," wherein he recommended that railways should be laid along the principal turnpike-roads,
and worked by horse-power, which, he alleged, would have the
effect of greatly reducing the cost of transport, and thereby stimulating all branches of industry.
Railways were indeed already becoming adopted in places
where the haulage of heavy loads was for short distances; and
in some cases lines were laid down of considerable length. One
of the first of such lines constructed under the powers of an Act
of Parliament was the Cardiff and Merthyr railway or tram-road,
about twenty-seven miles in length, for the accommodation of the
iron-works of Plymouth, Pen-y-darran, and Dowlais, all in South
Wales, tlie necessary Act for which was obtained in 1794. Another, the Sirhoway railroad, about twenty-eight miles in length,
was constructed under the powers of an act obtained in 1801; it
accommodated the Tredegar and Sirhoway Iron-works and the
Trevill Lime-works, as well as the collieries along its route.
In the immediate neighborhood of London there was another
very early railroad, the Wandsworth and Croydon tram-way, about
ten miles long, which was afterward extended southward to Merstham, in Surreyj for about eight miles more, making a total length




74         MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.         [PART I.
of nearly eighteen miles. The first act for the purpose of authorizing the construction of this road was obtained in 1800.
All these lines were, however, worked by horses, and in the case
of the Croydon and Merstham line, donkeys shared in the work,
which consisted chiefly in the haulage of stone, coal, and lime.
No proposal had yet been made to apply the power of steam as
a substitute for horses on railways, nor were the rails then laid
down of a strength sufficient to bear more than a loaded wagon
of the weight of three tons, or, at the very outside, of three and a
quarter tons.
It was, however; observed from the first that there was an immense saving in the cost of haulage; and on the day of opening
the southern portion of the IMerstham Railroad in 1805, a train
of twelve wagons laden with stone, weighing in all thirty-eight
tons, was drawn six miles in an hour by one horse, with apparent
ease, down an incline of 1 in 120; and this was bruited about as
an extraordinary feat, highly illustrative of the important uses of
the new iron-ways.
About the same time, the subject of road locomotion was again
brought into prominent notice by an important practical experiment conducted in a remote corner of the kingdom. The experimenter was a young man, then obscure, but afterward famous,
who may be fairly regarded as the inventor of the railway locomotive, if any single individual be entitled to that appellation.
This was Richard Trevithick, a person of extraordinary mechanical skill but of marvelous ill fortune, who, though the inventor
of many ingenious contrivances, and the founder of the fortunes
of many, himself died in cold obstruction and in extreme poverty,
leaving behind him nothing but his great inventions and the recollection of his genius.
Richard Trevithick was born on the 13th of April, 1771, in the
parish of Illogan, a few miles west of Redruth, in Cornwall. In
the immediate neighborhood rises Castle-Carn-brea, a rocky eminence, supposed by Borlase to have been the principal seat of
Druidic worship in the West of England. The hill commands
an extraordinary view over one of the richest mining fields of
Cornwall, from Chacewater and Redruth to Camborne.
Trevithick's' father acted as purser at several of the mines.
Though a man in good position and circumstances, he does not




CHAP. III.]     TRE VITHICK'S BOYHOOD.              75
seem to have taken much pains with his son's education. Being
an only child, he was very much indulged-among other things,
in his dislike for the restraints and discipline of school; and he
was left to wander about among the mines, spending his time in
the engine-rooms, picking up information about pumping-engines
and mining machinery.
His father, observing the boy's strong bent toward mechanics,
placed him for a time as pupil with William Murdock, while the
latter lived at Redruth superintending the working and repairs
of Boulton and Watt's pumping-engines in that' neighborhood.
During his pupilage, young Trevithick doubtless learned much
from that able mechanic. It is probable that he got his first idea
of the high-pressure road locomotive which he afterward constructed from Murdock's ingenious little model above described,
the construction and action of which must have been quite familiar to him, for no secret was ever made of it, and its performances were often exhibited.
Many new pumping-engines being in course of erection in the
neighborhood about that time, there was an unusual demand for
engineers, wvhich it was found difficult to supply; and young
Trevithick, whose skill was acknowledged, had no difficulty in
getting an appointment. The father was astonished at his boy's
presumption (as he supposed it to be) in undertaking such a responsibility, and he begged the mine agents to reconsider their
decision. But the result showed that they were justified in making the appointment; for young Trevithick, though he had not
yet attained his majority, proved fully competent to perform the
duties devolving upon him as engineer.
So long as Boulton and Watt's patent continued to run, constant attempts were made in Cornwall and elsewhere to upset it.
Their engines had cleared the mines of water, and thereby rescued
the mine lords from ruin, but it was felt to be a great hardship
that they should have to pay for the right to use them. They
accordingly stimulated the ingenuity of the local engineers to
contrive an engine that should answer the. same purpose, and enable them to evade making any farther payments to Boulton and
Watt. The first to produce an engine that seemed likely to answer the purpose was Jonathan Hornblower, who had been employed in erecting Watt's engines in Cornwall. After him one




76          MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.         [PART I.
Edward Bull, who had been first a stoker and then an assistanttender of Watt's engines, turned out another pumping-engine,
which promised to prove an equally safe evasion of the existing
patent. But Boulton and Watt having taken the necessary steps
to defend their right, several actions were tried, in which they
proved successful, and then the mine lords were compelled to disgorge. When they found that Hornblower could be of no farther use to them, they abandoned him-threw him away like a
sucked orange; and shortly after we find him a prisoner for debt
in the King's Bench, almost in a state of starvation. Nor do we
hear any thing more of Edward Bull after the issue of the Boulton and Watt trial.
Like the other Cornish engineers, young Trevithick took an
active part from the first in opposing the Birmingham patent, and
he is said to have constructed several engines, with the assistance
of William Bull (formerly an erector of Watt's machines), with
the object of evading it. These engines are said to have been
highly creditable to their makers, working to the entire satisfaction of the mine-owners. The issue of the Watt trial, however,
which declared all such engines to be piracies, brought to an end
for a time a business which would otherwise have proved a very
profitable one, and Trevithick's partnership with Bull then came
to an end.
While carrying on his business, Trevithick had frequent occasion to visit Mr. HIarvey's iron foundery at Hayle, then a small
work, but now one of the largest in the West of England, the
Cornish pumping-engines turned out by Harvey and Co. being
the very best of their kind. During these visits Trevithick became acquainted with the various members of Mr. Harvey's family, and in course of time he contracted an engagement with one
of his daughters, Miss Jane Harvey, to whom he was married in
November, 1797.
A few years later we find Trevithick engaged in partnership
with his cousin, Andrew Vivian, also an engineer. They carried
on their business of engine-making at Camborne, a mining town
situated in the midst of the mining district, a few miles south of
Redruth. Watt's patent-right expired in 1800, and from that
time the Cornish engineers were free to make engines after their
own methods. Trevithick was not content to follow in the beat



CHAP. III.]      HIS STEAM-CARRIAGE.                  77
en paths, but, being of a highly speculative turn, he occupied himself in contriving various new methods of employing steam with
the object of economizing fuel and increasing the effective power
of the engine.
From an early period he entertained the idea of making the
expansive force of steam act directly on both sides of the piston
on the high-pressure principle, and thus getting rid of the process
of condensation as in Watt's engines. Although Cugnot had employed high-pressure steam in his road locomotive, and Murdock
in his model, and although Watt had distinctly specified the action of steam at high-pressure as well as low in his patents of
1769, 1782, and 1784, the idea was not embodied in any practicable working engine until the subject was taken in hand by Trevithick.  The results of his long and careful study were embodied
in the patent which he took out in 1802, in his own and Vivian's
name, for an improved steam-engine, and " the application thereof for driving carriages and for other purposes."
The arrangement of Trevithick's engine was exceedingly ingenious. It exhibited a beautiful simplicity of parts; the machinery was arranged in a highly effective form, uniting strength
with solidity and portability, and enabling the power of steam to
be employed with very great rapidity, economy, and force. Watt's
principal objection to using high-pressure steam consisted in the
danger to which the boiler was exposed of being burst by internal pressure. In Trevithick's engine, this was avoided by using
a cylindrical wrought-iron boiler, being the form capable. of presenting the greatest resistance to the expansive force of steam.
Boilers of this kind were not, however, new. Oliver Evans, of
Delaware, had made use of them in his high-pressure engines
prior to the date of Trevithick's patent; and, as Evans did not
claim the cylindrical boiler, it is probable that the invention was
in use before his time. Nevertheless, Trevithick had the, merit
of introducing the. round boilers into Cornwall, where'they are
still known as " Trevithick boilers." The saving in fuel effected
by their use was such that in 1812 the Messrs. Williams, of Scorrier, made Trevithick a present of ~300, in acknowledgment of
the benefits arising to their mines from that source alone.
Trevithick's steam-carriage was the most compact and handsome. vehicle of the kind that had yet been invented, and, indeed,




78         MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREPITHICK.          [PART I.
as regards arrangement, it has scarcely to this day been surpassed. It consisted of a carriage, capable of accommodating some
half-dozen passengers, underneath which was the engine and machinery inclosed, about the size of an orchestra drum, the whole
being supported on four wheels-two in front, by which it was
guided., and two, behind, by which it was driven. The engine
had but one cylinder. The piston-rod outside the cylinder was
double, and drove a cross-piece, working in guides, on the opposite side of the cranked axle to the cylinder, the crank of the
axle revolving between the double parts of the piston-rod.
Toothed wheels were attached to this axle, which worked into
other toothed wheels fixed on the axle' of the driving-wheels.
The steam-cocks were.opened and shut by a connection with the
crank-axle; and the force-pump, with which the boiler was supplied with water, was also worked from it, as were the bellows to
blow the fire and thereby keep up the combustion in the furnace.
The specification clearly alludes to the use of the engine on
railroads as follows: "'It is also to be noticed that we do occasionally, or in certain cases, make the external periphery of the
wheels uneven by projecting heads of -nails or bolts, or cross
grooves or fittings to railroads where required, and that in cases
of hard pull we cause a lever, belt, or claw to project through the
rim of one or both of the said wheels, so as to take hold of the
ground, but that, in general, the ordinary structure or figure of
the external surface of those wheels will be found to answer the
intended purpose."
The specification also shows the application of the high-pressure engine on the same principle to the driving of a sugar-mill,
or for other purposes where a fixed power is required, dispensing
with condenser, cistern, air-pump, and cold-water pump. In the
year 1803, a small engine of this kind was erected after Trevithick's plan at Marazion, which worked by steam of at least 30
lbs. on the inch above atmospheric pressure, and gave much satisfaction.
The first experimental steam-carriage was constructed by Trevithick and Vivian in their workshops at Camborne in 1803, and
was tried by them on the public road adjoining the town, as well
as in the street of the town itself. John Petherick, a native of
Camborne, who was alive in 1858, stated in a letter to Mr. Ed



CHAP. III.]      HIS STEAMI-CARRIAGE.                 79
ward-Williams that he well remembered seeing the engine, worked by Mr. Trevithick himself, come through the place, to the
great wonder of the inhabitants. He says, " The experiment was
satisfactory only as long as the steam pressure could be kept up.
During that continuance Trevithick called upon the people to'jump up,' so as to create a load on the engine; and it soon became covered with men, which did not seem to make any difference to the power or speed so long as the steam was kept up.
This was sought to be done by the application of a cylindrical
horizontal bellows workedcby the engine itself; but the attempt
to keep up the power of the steam for any considerable time
proved a failure."
Trevithick, however, made several alterations in the engine
which had the effect of improving it, and its success was such
that he determined to take it to London and exhibit it there as
the most recent novelty in steam mechanism. It was successfully
run by road from.Camborne to Plymouth, a distance of about
ninety miles. At Plymouth it was shipped for London, where
it shortly after arrived in safety, and excited considerable curiosity. It was run on the waste ground in the vicinity of the
present Bethlehem Hospital, as well as on Lord's cricket-ground.
There Sir Humphry Davy, Mr. Davies Gilbert, and other scientific gentlemen inspected the machine and rode upon it. Several of them took the steering of the carriage by turns, and they
expressed their satisfaction: with the mechanism by which it was
directed. Sir Humphry, writing to a friend in Cornwall, said,
"I shall soon hope to hear that the roads of England are the
haunts of Captain Trevithick's dragons-a characteristic name."
After the experiment at Lord's, the carriage was run along the
New-road, and down. Gray's-Inn Lane, to the premises of a carriage-builder in Long Acre. To show the adaptability of the engine for fixed uses, Trevithick had it taken from the carriage on
the day after this trial and removed to the shop of a cutler,
where he applied it with success to the driving of the machinery.
The steam-carriage shortly became the talk of the town, and
the public curiosity being on the increase, Trevithick resolved on
inclosing a piece of ground on the site of the present Euston station of the London and Northwestern Railway, and admitting
persons to see the exhibition of his engine at so much a head.




80         MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.         [PART I.
He had a tram-road laid down in an elliptical form within the
inclosure, and the carriage was run round it on the rails in the
sight of a great number of spectators. On the second day another crowd collected to see the exhibition, but, for what reason is
not known, although it is said to have been through one of Trevithick's freaks of temper, the place was closed and the engine removed. It is, however, not improbable that the inventor had
come to the conclusion that the state of the roads at that time
was such as to preclude its coming into general use for purposes
of ordinary traffic.
While the steam-carriage was being exhibited, a gentleman was
laying heavy wagers as to the weight which could be hauled by
a single horse on the Wandsworth and Croydon iron tram-way;
and.the number and weight of wagons drawn by the horse were
something surprising. Trevithick very probably put the two
things together-the steam-horse and the iron-way-and kept the
performance in mind when he proceeded to construct his second
or railway locomotive. In the mean time, having dismantled his
steam-carriage, sent back the phaeton to the- coach-builder to
whom it belonged, and sold the little engine which had' worked
the machine, he returned to Camborne to carry on his business.
In the course of the year 1803 he.went to Pen-y-darran, in South
Wales, to erect a forge engine for the iron-works there; and,
when it was finished, he began the erection of a railway locomotive-the first ever constructed. There were already, as above
stated, several lines of rail laid down in the district for the accommodation of the coal and iron works. That between Merthyr Tydvil and Cardiff was the longest and most important, and
it had been at work for some years. It had probably occurred
to Trevithick that here was a fine opportunity for putting to practical test the powers of the locomotive, and he proceeded to construct one accordingly in the workshops at Pen-y-darran.
This first railway locomotive was finished and tried upon the
Merthyr tram-road on the 21st of February, 1804. It had a cylindrical wrought-iron boiler with flat ends. The furnace and
flue were inside the boiler, the flue returning, having its exit at
the same end at which it entered, so as to increase the heating
surface.' The cylinder, 4- in. in diameter, was placed horizontally in the end of the boiler, and the waste steam was thrown into




CHAP. III.]    TREVITHICK'S TRAM-ENGINE.              81
the stack. The wheels were worked in the same manner as in
the carriage engine already described; and a fly-wheel was added on one side, to secure a continuous rotary motion at the end
of each stroke of the piston. The pressure of the steam was
about 40 lbs. on the inch. The engine ran upon four wheels,
coupled by cog-wheels, and those who remember the engine say
that the four wheels were smooth.
TIEVITIeIO'S HIGH-PRESSURE TRAM-ENGINE.
On the first trial, this engine drew for a distance of nine miles
ten tons of bar iron, together with the necessary carriages, water,
and fuel, at the rate of five and a half miles an hour. Rees Jones,
an old engine-fitter, who helped to erect the engine, and was alive
in 1858, gave Mr. Menelaus the following account of its performances: "When the engine was finished, she was used for bringing down metal from the old forge. She worked very well; but
frequently, from her weight, broke the tram-plates, and also the
hooks between the trams. After working for some time in this
way, she took a journey of iron from Pen-y-darran down the
Basin Road, upon which road she was intended to work. On the
journey she broke a great many of the tram-plates; and, before
reaching the Basin, she ran off the road, and was brought back to
Pen-y-darran by horses. The engine was never used as a locomotive after this; but she was used as a stationary engine, and
worked in this way for several years."'
F




82         MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.          [PART 1.
So far as the locomotive was concerned it was a remarkable
success. The defect lay not in the engine so much as in the road.
This was formed of plate-rails of cast iron, with a guiding flange
upon the rail instead of on the engine wheels, as in the modern
locomotive. The rails were also of a very weak form, considering the quantity of iron in them; and, though they were sufficient to bear the loaded wagons mounted upon small wheels, as
ordinarily drawn along them by horses, they were found quite
insufficient to bear the weight of Trevithick's engine. To relay
the road of sufficient strength would have involved a heavy outlay, which the owners were unwilling to incur, not yet perceiving
the advantage, in an economical point of view, of employing engine in lieu of horse power. The locomotive was accordingly
taken off the road, and the experiment, successful though it had
been, was brought to an end.
Trevithick had, however, by means of his Pen-y-darran engine,
in a great measure solved the problem of steam locomotion on
railways. He had produced a compact engine, working on the
high-pressure principle, capable of carrying fuel and water sufficient for a journey of considerable length, and of drawing loaded
wagons at five and a half miles an hour. He had shown by his
smooth-wheeled locomotive that the weight of the engine had
given sufficient adhesion for the haulage of the load. He had
discharged the steam into the chimney, though not for the purpose of increasing the draught, as he employed bellows for that
purpose. It appears, however, that Trevithick's friend, Mr. Davies Gilbert, afterward President of the Royal Society, especially
noticed the effect of discharging the waste steam into the chimney of the Pen-y-darran engine. He observed that when the engine moved, at each puff the fire brightened, while scarcely any
visible steam or smoke came from the chimney.
Mr. Gilbert published the result of his observations in "Nicholson's Journal" for September, 1805, and the attention of Mr.
Nicholson, the editor, having thereby been called to the subject,
he proceeded to make a series of experiments, the result of which
was that in 1806 he took out a patent for a steam-blasting apparatus, by which he proposed to apply high-pressure steam to force
along currents of air for various useful purposes, including the
urging of furnace and other fires. It is thus obvious that the




CHAP. III.]    TAKES A BALLASTING CONTRACT.           83
principle of the blast-pipe was known to both Gilbert and Nicholson at this early period; but it is somewhat remarkable that
Trevithick himself should have remained skeptical as to its use,
for as late as 1815 we find him taking out a patent, in which,
among other improvements, he included a method of urging his
fire by fanners, similar to a winnowing machine.
In the mean time Trevithick occupied himself in carrying on
the various business of a general engineer, and was ready to embark in any enterprise likely to give scope for his inventive skill.
In whatever work he was employed, he was sure to introduce new
methods and arrangements, if not new inventions. He was full
of speculative enthusiasm, a great theorist, and yet an indefatigable experimenter. At the beginning of 1806-the year after the
locomotive had been taken off the Merthyr Tydvil tram-road-he
made arrangements for entering into a contract for ballasting all
the shipping in the Thames. At the end of a letter written by
him on the 18th of February in that year to Davies Gilbert, respecting a pufer engine, he said, " I am about to enter into a contract with the Trinity Board for lifting up ballast out of the bottom of the Thames for all the shipping. The first quantity stated
was 300,000 tons a year, but now they state 500,000 tons. I am
to do nothing but wind up the chain for 6d. per ton, which is now
done by men. They never lift it above twenty-five feet high-a
man will now get up ten tons for 78. My engine at Dalcoath
has lifted about 100 tons that height with one bushel of coals. I
have two engines already finished for the purpose, and shall be
in town in about fifteen days for to set them to work. They pro.
pose to engage with me for twenty-one years."* The contract was
not, however, entered into. Trevithick quarreled with the capitalists who had found the money for the trials, and the "Blazer" and
"Plymouth," the vessels in which his engines and machinery had
been fitted, fell into other hands.
Trevithick, nevertheless, seems to have been on the highway to
fortune, for, at the beginning of 1806, he had received orders for
nine engines in one month, all for Cornwall; and he expected
orders for four others. He had also in view the construction of
a railway; but nothing came of this project. More hopeful still.
as regarded immediate returns, was the Cornish engine business,
* Weale's I" Papers on Engineering," vol. i.," On the Dredging Machine," p. 7.




84         MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.          [PART I.
which presented a very wide field. Now that the trade had been
thrown open by the expiry of Boulton and Watt's patent, competition had sprung up, and many new makers and inventors of engines were ready to supply the demand.
Among the most prominent of these were Trevithick and Woolf.
Trevithick was the most original and speculative, Woolf the most
plodding and practical, and the most successful. Trevithick's ingenuity exhibited itself in his schemes for working Boulton and
Watt's pumping-engine by high-pressure steam, by means of his
cylindrical wrought-iron boiler. He proposed to expand the
steam down to low pressure previous to condensation, thereby anticipating by many years the Cornish engine now in use. The
suggestion was not, however, then acted on, and he fell back on
his original design of a simple non-condensing high-pressure engine. One of these was erected at Dalcoath mine to draw the
ores there. It was called " the puffer" by the mining people, from
its puffing the steam direct into the air; but its performances did
not compare favorably with those of the ordinary condensing
engines of Boulton and Watt, and the engine did not come into
general use.
Trevithick was not satisfied to carry on a prosperous engine
business in Cornwall. Camborne was too small for him, and the
Cornish mining districts presented too limited a field for his ambitious spirit. So he came to London, the Patent-office drawing
him as the loadstone does the needle. In 18Q8 he took out two
patents, one for " certain machinery for towing, driving, or forcing
and discharging ships and other vessels of their cargoes," and the
other for " a new method of stowing cargoes of ships." In 1809
he took out another patent for constructing docks, ships, etc., and
propelling vessels.
In these patents, Trevithick was associated with one Robert
Dickinson, of Great Queen Street, but his name stands first in
the specification, wherein he describes himself as "of Rotherhithe, in the county of Surrey, engineer." By the first of these
patents he proposed to tow vessels by means of a rowing wheel
shaped like an undershot water-wheel furnished with floats placed
vertically in a box, and worked by a steam-engine, which he also
proposed to employ in the loading and unloading of the vessel,
but it is not known that the plan was ever introduced into prac



CHAP. III.]      THE THAMES TUNSEL.                  85
tical use. The patent of 1809 included a floating dock or caisson
made of wrought-iron plates, in which a ship might be docked
while afloat, and, after the water had been pumped out of the
caisson, repaired without moving her stores, masts, or furniture.
This invention has since been carried out in practice by the
Messrs. Rennie in the floating iron dock wlich they have recently constructed for the Spanish government. Another invention
included in the specification was the construction of merchant
and war ships of wrought-iron plates strongly riveted together,
with their decks supported by wrdught-iron beams, and the masts,
bowsprits, a'nd booms also of' tubular wrought iron, thereby anticipating by many years the form and structure of vessels now
in common use.
While Trevithick lived at Rotherhithe, he entered upon a remarkable enterprise-no less than the construction of a tunnel
under the Thames-a work which was carried out with so much
difficulty by Sir Isambard Brunel some twenty years later. Several schemes had been proposed at different times for connecting the two banks of the river by an underground communication. As early as 1798, Ralph Dodd suggested a tunnel under
the Thames between Gravesend and Tilbury, and in 1802 Mr.
Vazie projected a tunnel from Rotherhithe to Limehouse. A
company was formed to carry out the latter scheme, and a shaft
was sunk, at considerable expense, to a depth of 76 feet below
high water. The works were from time to time suspended, and
it was not until the year 1807, when Trevithick was appointed
engineer of the work, that arrangements were made for proceeding with the driftway under the bed of the Thames. After about
five months' working, the drift was driven for a length of 953
feet, when the roof gave way and the water burst in. The opening was, however, plugged by clay in bags thrown into the river,
and the work proceeded until 1028 feet had been accomplished.
Then the water burst in again, and the process of plugging and
pumping the water out of the drift was repeated. After seventy
more feet had been added to the excavation, there was another
irruption, which completely flooded the driftway, and the water
rose nearly to the top of the shaft. This difficulty was, however,
again overcome, and with great danger twenty more feet were
accomplished; but the bursts of water became so frequent and




86          MEMlIOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHIICK.       [PART I.
unmanageable that at length the face of the drift was timbered
up and the work abandoned. Trevithick, who had been promised a reward of ~1000 if the tunnel succeeded, thus lost both
his labor and his reward. The only remuneration he received
from the Company was a hundred guineas, which were paid to
him according to agreement, provided he carried the excavation
to the extent of 1000 yards, which he did.
Trevithick returned to Camborne in 1809, where we find him
busily occupied with new projects, and introducing his new engine worked by water-power, the first of which was put up at the
Druid mine, as well as in perfecting his high-pressure engine and
its working by expansion. One of the first of such engines was
erected at the Inuel Prosper mine, of which he was engineer;
and this, as well as others subsequently constructed on the same
principle, proved quite successful.
In 1815 Trevithick took out a farther patent, embodying several important applications of steam-power. One of these consisted in " causing steam of a high pressure to spout out against
the atmosphere, and by its recoiling force to produce motion in a
direction contrary to. the issuing steam, similar to the motion produced in a rocket, or to the recoil of a gun." This was, however,
but a revival of the ancient (Eolipile described by Hero, and
known as "hItero's engine."
In another part of his specification Trevithick described the
screw-propeller as "a screw or a number of leaves placed obliquely round an axis similar to the vanes of a smoke-jack, which
shall be made to revolve with great speed in a line with the required motion of the ship, or parallel to the same line of motion."
In a second part of the specification, he described a plunger or
pole-engine in which the steam worked at high-pressure. The
first engine of this kind was erected by Trevithick at Herland in
1815, but the result was not equal to his expectations, though the
principle was afterward successfully applied by Mr. William Sims,
who purchased the patent-right.
In this specification Trevithick also described a tubular boiler
of a new construction for the purpose of more rapidly producing
high-pressure steam, the heating surface being extended by constructing the boiler of a number of small perpendicular tubes,
closed at the bottom, but all opening at the top into a common




CHAP. III.]  MR. UVILLE ALND TREVITHICK.             87
reservoir, from whence they received their water, and into which
the steam of all the tubes was united.
While Trevithick was engaged in these ingenious projects, an
event occurred which, though it promised to issue in'the most
splendid results, proved the greatest misfortune of his life. We
refer to his adventures in connection with the gold mines of Peru.
Many of the richest of them had been drowned out, the pumping
machinery of the country being incapable of clearing them of
water. Tie districts in which they were situated were almost inaccessible to' ordinary traffic, all transport being-conducted on the
backs of men or of mules. The parts'of an ordinary condensing
engine were too ponderous to be carried up these mountain
heights, and it was 6vident that, unless some lighter sort of engine could be employed, the mines in question must be abandoned.
Mr. Uvill, a Swiss gentleman interested in South American
mining, came over from Peru to England in 1811 for the purpose
of making inquiries about such an engine, but he received no encouragement. He was about to return to Lima, in despair of accomplishing his object, when, one day, accidentally passing a shopwindow in Fitzroy Square, he caught sight of an engine exposed
for sale which immediately attracted his attention. It was the
engine constructed by Trevithick for his first locomotive, which
he had sold some years before, on the sudden abandonment of
the exhibition of its performances in London. Mr. Uvill6 was
so much pleased with its construction and mode of action that
he at once purchased it and took it out with him to South America. Arrived there, he had the engine transported across the
mountains to the rich mining district of Pasco, about a hundred
miles north of Lima, to try its effects on the highest mountain
ridges.
The experiment was so satisfactory that an association of influential gentlemen was immediately formed to introduce the engine on a large scale, and enter into contracts with the mine-owners for clearing their shafts of the water which drowned them.
The Viceroy of Peru approved the plan, and' the association dispatched Mr. Uvill6 to England to purchase the requisite engines.
He took ship for Falmouth about the end of 1812 for the purpose
of finding out Trevithick. He only knew of Trevithick by name,




88          MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.         [PART I.
and that he lived in Cornwall, but nothing farther. Being full
of his subject, however, he could not refrain from conversing on
the subject with the passengers on board the ship by which he
sailed, and it so happened that one of them-a Mr. Teague —was
a relative of Trevithick, who promised, shortly after their landing, to introduce him to the inventor.
Mr. Teague was as good as his word, and in the course of a few
days Uvill6 was enabled to discuss the scheme with Trevithick at
his own house at Camborne, where he still resided. -The result
was an order for a number of high-pressure pumping-engines,
which were put in hand at once; and on the 1st of September,
1814, nine of them were shipped at Portsmouth for Lima, accompanied by Uvill6, and three Cornish engineers, one of whom was
William Bull, of Chasewater, Trevithick's first partner.
The engines reached Lima in safety, and were welcomed by a
royal salute and with public rejoicings. Such, however, was the
difficulty of transporting the materials across the mountains, that
it was not until the middle of the year 1816 that the first engine
was erected and set to work to pump out the Santa Rosa mine,
in the royal mineral territory of Yauiricocha. The association of
gentlemen to whom the engines belonged had entered into a contract to drain this among other mines, on condition of sharing in
the gross produce of the ores to the extent of about 25 per cent.
of the whole amount raise.  The xesult of the first working of
the engine was so satisfactory that the projectors were filled with
no less astonishment than delight, and they characterized the undertaking as one from which they " anticipated a torrent of silver
that would fill surrounding nations with astonishment."
In the mean time Trevithick was proceeding at home with the
manufacture of the remaining engines, as well as new coining apparatus for the Peruvian mint, and furnaces for purifying silver
ore by fusion; and with these engines and apparatus he set sail
for America in October, 1816, reaching Lima in safety in the following February. He was received with almost royal honors.
The government s" Gazette" officially announced "the arrival of
Don Ricardo Trevithick, an eminent professor of mechanics, machinery, and mineralbgy, inventor and constructor of the engines
of the last patent, and who directed in England the execution of
the machinery now at work in Pasco."  The lord warden was or



CmIAP. III.]    THIE REVOL UTION IN PER U.               89
dered by the viceroy to escort Trevithick to the mines accompanied by a guard of honor. The news of his expected arrival there
occasioned great rejoicings, and the chief men of the district came
down the mountains to meet and welcome him. Uville wrote to
his associates that Trevithick had been sent out " by heaven for
the prosperity of the mines, and that the lord warden proposed to
erect his statne in solid silver."  Trevithick himself wrote home
to his friends in Cornwall that he had before him the prospect of
almost boundless wealth, having, in addition to his emoluments as
patentee, obtained a fifth share in the Lima Company, which, he
expected, on a moderate computation, would yield him  about
~100,000 a year!
But these brilliant prospects were suddenly blasted by the Peruvian revolution which broke out in the following year. While
Mr. Boaze was reading his paper* before the Royal Geological
Society of Cornwall, in which these anticipations of Trevithick's
fame and fortune were so glowingly described, Lord Cochrane
was on his way to South America to take the command of the
Chilian fleet in its attack of the ports of Peru, still in the possession of the Spaniards.
Toward the end of 1818, Lord Cochrane hoisted his flag, and
shortly after proceeded to assail the Spanish fleet in Callao Harbor. This proved the signal for a general insurrection, during
the continuance of which the commercial and industrial affairs
of the province were completely paralyzed. The pumping-engines of Trevithick were now of comparatively little use in
pumping water out of mines in which the miners would no longer work. Although Lima was abandoned by the Spaniards toward the end of 1821, the civil war continued to rage for several years longer, until at length the independence of Peru was
achieved; but it was long before the population were content to
settle down as before, and follow the ordinary pursuits of industry and commerce.
The result to Trevithick was, that he and his partners in the
Mining Company were consigned to ruin. It has been said that
the engineer joined the patriotic party, and invented for Lord
* Paper read by Henry Boaze, Esq., " On Captain Trevithick's Adventures," at
the Anniversary Meeting of September, 1817.-" Transactions of Royal Geological
Society of Cornwall,' vol. i., p. 212.




90         MEMOIR OF RICHARD TEVITIIICK.         [PART I.
Cochrane an ingenious gun-carriage centred and equally balanced
on pivots, and easily worked by machinery; but of this no mention is made by Lord Cochrane in his " Memoirs." The Patriots
kept Trevithick on the mountains as a sort of patron and protector of their interests; but for this very reason he became proportionately obnoxious to the Royalists, who, looking upon him as
the agent through whom the patriotic party obtained the sinews
of war, destroyed his engines, and broke up his machinery wherever they could. At length he determined to escape from Peru,
and fled northward across the mountains, accompanied by a single friend, making for the Isthmus of Panama. In the course of
this long, toilsome, and dangerous journey, he encountered great
privations; he slept in the forest at night, traveled'on foot by day,
and crossed the streams by swimming. At length, his clothes torn,
worn, and hanging almost in shreds, and his baggage all lost, he
succeeded in reaching the port of Cartagena, on the Gulf of Darien, almost destitute.
Here he encountered Robert Stephenson, who was waiting at
the one inn of the place until a ship was ready to set sail for England. Stephenson had finished his engagement with the Colombian Mining Company for which he had been working, and was
eager to return home. When Trevithick entered the room in
which he was sitting, Stephenson at once saw that he was an Englishman. He stood some six feet in height, and, though well
proportioned when in ordinary health, he was now gaunt and hollow, the picture of privation and misery.
Stephenson made up to the stranger, and was not a little surprised to find that he was no other than the famous engineer,
Trevithick, the builder of the first patent locomotive, and who,
when he'last heard of him, was accumulating so gigantic a fortune in Peru! Though now penniless, Trevithick was as full of
speculation as ever, and related to Stephenson that he was on his
way home for the purpose of organizing another gold-mining
company, which should make the fortunes of all who took part
in it. He was, however, in the mean time, unable to pay for his
passage, and Stephenson lent him the requisite money for the
purpose of reaching his home in Cornwall..
As there was no vessel likely to sail for England for some time,
Stephenson and Trevithick took the first ship bound, for New




CHAP. III.]    HOME A GAIN. —MORE PATENTS.                   91
York. After a stormy passage, full of adventure and peril, the
vessel was driven on a lee-shore, and the passengers and crew
barely escaped with their lives. On reaching New York, Trevithick immediately set sail for England, and he landed safe at Falmouth in October, 1827, bringing back with him a pair of silver
spurs, the only remnant which he had preserved of those "torrents of silver" which his engines were to raise from the miines
of Peru.
Immediately on his return home, Trevithick memorialized the
government for some remuneration adequate to the great benefit
which the country had derived from his invention of the highpressure steam-engine, and his introduction of the cylindrical
boiler. The petition was prepared in December, 1827, and was
cheerfully signed by the leading mine-owners and engineers in
Cornwall; but there their efforts on his behalf ended.
He took out two more patents —one in 1831, for a new method
of heating apartments, and another in 1832, for improvements in
the steam-engine, and the application of steam-power to navigation and locomotion; but neither of them seems to have proved
of any service to him. His new improvement in the steam-engine
was neither more nor less than the invention of an apparatus similar to that which has quite recently come into use for employing
superheated steam as a means of working the engine more effectively and economically. The patent also included a method of
propelling ships by ejecting water through a tube with great force
and speed in a direction opposite to the course of the vessel, a
method since reinvented in many forms, though not yet successfully introduced in practice.
Strange to say, though Trevithick had been so intimately connected with the practical introduction of the Locomotive, he
seems to have taken but little interest in its introduction upon
railways, but confined himself to advocating its employment on
common roads as its most useful application.* Though in many
things he was before his age, here he was unquestionably behind
* On the 12th of August, 1831, by which time the Liverpool and Manchester line
was in full work, Trevithick appeared as a witness before the select committee of the
House of Commons on the employment of steam-carriages on common roads. ~ He
said "he had been abroad a good many years, and had had nothing to do with steamcarriages until very lately. He had it now, however, in contemplation to do a great
deal on common roads, and, with that view, had taken out a patent for an entirely




92          MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.          [PART I.
it. But Trevithick was now an old man; his constitution was
broken, and his energy worked out. Younger men were in the
field, less ingenious and speculative;but more practical and energetic; and in the blaze of their fame the Cornish engineer was
forgotten.
During the last year of his life Trevithick resided at Dartford,
in Kent. He had induced the M[essrs. Hall, the engineers of that
place, to give him an opportunity of testing the value of his last invention-that of a vessel driven by the ejection of water through
a tube-and he went there to superintend the construction of the
necessary engine and apparatus. The vessel was duly fitted up,
and several experiments were made with it in the adjoining creek,
but it did not realize a speed of more than four miles an hour.
Trevithick, being of opinion that the engine-power was insufficient, proceeded to have a new engine constructed, to the boiler
of which, within the furnace, numerous tubes were attached,
round which the fire played. So much steam was raised by this
arrangement that the piston "blew;" but still the result of the
experiments was unsatisfactory. While labcing at these inventions, and planning new arrangements never to be carried out, the
engineer was seized by the illness of which he died, on the 22d of
April, 1833, in the 62d year of his age.
As Trevithick was entirely without means at his death, besides
being some sixty pounds in debt to the landlord of the Bull Inn,
where he had been lodging for nearly a year, he would probably
have been buried at the expense of the parish but for the Messrs.
Hall and their workmen, who raised a sum sufficient to give the
" great inventor" a decent burial; and they followed his remains
to the grave in Deptford Church-yard, where he lies without a
stone to mark his resting-place.
There can be no doubt as to the great mechanical ability of
Trevithick. He was a man of original and intuitive genius in
invention, Every mechanical arrangement which he undeltook
to study issued from his hands transformed and improved. But
there he rested. He struck out many inventions, and left them
to take care of themselves. His great failing was the want of
new engine, the arrangements in which were calculated to obviate all the difficulties
which had hitherto stood in the way of traveling on common roads."




CHAP. IM.]  TREVITHICK'S SPLENDID BEGINNINGS.         93
perseverance. His mind was always full of projects; but his very
genius led him astray in search of new things, while his imagination often outran his judgment. Hence his life was but a series
of beginnings.
Look at the extraordinary things that Trevithick began. He
made the first railway locomotive, and cast the invention aside,
leaving it to others to take it up and prosecute it to a successful
issue. He introduced, if he did not invent, the cylindrical boiler
and the high-pressure engine, which increased so enormously the
steam-power of the world; but he reaped the profits of neither.
He invented an oscillating engine and a screw propeller; he took
out a patent for using superheated steam, as well as for wroughtiron ships and wrought-iron floating docks; but he left it to others to introduce these several inventions.
Never was there such a series of splendid mechanical beginnings. He began a Thames Tunnel and abandoned it. He went
to South America with the prospect of making a gigantic fortune, but he had scarcely begun to gather in his gold than he was
forced to fly, and returned home destitute. This last event, however, was a misfortune which no efforts on his part could have
prevented. But even when he had the best chances, Trevithick
threw them away. When he had brought his road locomotive to
London to exhibit, and was beginning to excite the curiosity of
the public respecting it, he suddenly closed the exhibition in a fit
of caprice, removed the engine, and returned to. Cornwall in a
tiff. The failure, also, of the railroad on which his locomotive
traveled so provoked him that he at once abandoned the enterprise in disgust
There may have been some moral twist in the engineer's character, into which we do not seek to pry; but it seems clear that
he was wanting in that resolute perseverance, that power of fighting an up-hill battle, without which no great enterprise can be
conducted to a successful issue. In this respect the character of
Richard Trevithick presents a remarkable contrast to that of
George Stephenson, who took up only one of the many projects
which the other had cast aside, and by dint of application, industry, and perseverance, carried into effect one of the most remarkable but peaceful revolutions which his ever been accomplished
in any age or country.




94         MEMOIR OF RICHARD TREVITHICK.        [PART I.
We now proceed to describe the history of this revolution in
connection with the Life of George Stephenson, and to trace the
locomotive through its several stages of development until we
find it recognized as one of the most vigorous and untiring workers in the entire world of industry.




LIVE S
OF
GEORGE AND ROBERT STEPHENSON.




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iEy R. P. Leitch, after his Original DrawinSj




LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON, ETc.
CHAPTER I.
THE NEWCASTLE COAL-FIELD —-GEORGE  TEPENSON' EARLY YEARS.
IN no quarter of England have greater changes been wrought
by the successive advances made in the practical science of engineering than in the extensive colliery districts of the North, of
which Newcastle-upon-Tyne is the centre and the capital.
In ancient times the Romans planted a colony at Newcastle,
throwing a bridge across the Tyne near the site of the low-level
bridge shown in the prefixed engraving, and erecting a strong
fortification above it on the high ground now occupied by the
Central Railway Station. North and northwest lay a wild country, abounding in moors, mountains, and morasses, but occupied
to a certain extent by fierce and barbarous tribes. To defend
the young colony against their ravages, a strong wall was built
by the Romans, extending from Wallsend on the north bank of
the Tyne, a few miles below Newcastle, across the country to
Burgh-upon-Sands on the Solway Frith. The remains of the
wall are still to be traced in the less populous hill-districts of
Northumberland. In the neighborhood of Newcastle they have
been gradually effaced by the works of succeeding generations,
though the "Wallsend" coal consumed- in our household fires still
serves to' remind us of the great Roman work.
After the withdrawal of the Romans, Northumbria became
planted by immigrant Saxons from North Germany and Norsemen from Scandinavia, whose eorls or earls made Newcastle thedir
principal seat. Then came the Normans, from whose New Castle, built some eight hundred years since, the town derives its
present name. The keep of this venerable structure, black with
age and smoke, still stands entire at the northern end of the noG




98            THE NEWCASTLE COAL-FIELD.           [PART II.
ble high-level bridge-the utilitarian work of modern times thus
confronting the warlike relic of the older civilization.
MAP OF NEWOASTLE DISTRICT.
The nearness of Newcastle to the Scotch Border was a great
hinderance to its security and progress in the middle ages of English history. Indeed, the district between it and Berwick continued to be ravaged by moss-troopers long after the union of the
crowns. The gentry lived in their strong Peel castles.; even the
larger farm-houses were fortified; and blood-hounds were trained
for the purpose of tracking the cattle-reavers to their retreats in
the hills. The judges of Assize rode from Carlisle to Newcastle
guarded by an escort armed to the teeth. A tribute called "dagger and protection money" was annually paid by the sheriff of
Newcastle for the purpose of providing daggers and other weapons for the escort; and, though the need of such protection has
long since ceased, the tribute continues to be paid in broad gold
pieces of the time of Charles the First.
Until about the middle of last century the roads across Northumbefland were little better than horse-tracks, and not many
years since the primitive agricultural cart with solid wooden
wheels was almost as common in the western parts of the county
as it is in Spain now. The track of the old Roman road long
continued to be the most practicable route between Newcastle
and Carlisle, the traffic between the two towns having been carried on pack-horses until within a comparatively recent period.
Since that time great changes have taken place on the Tyne.
When wood for firing became scarce and dear, and the forests of




CHAP. I.]         MODERN NEWCASTLE.                     99
the South of England were found inadequate to supply the increasing demand for fuel, attention was turned to the rich stores
of coal lying underground in the neighborhood of Newcastle and
Durham. It then became an article of increasing export, and
"sea-coal" fires gradually superseded those of wood. Hence an
old writer describes Newcastle as " the Eye of the North, and the
Hearth that warmeth the South parts of this kingdom with Fire."
Fuel became the staple product of the district, the quantity exported increasing from year to year, until the coal raised from
these northern mines amounts to upward of sixteen millions of
tons a year, of which not less than nine millions are annually conveyed away by sea.
[Newcastle has in the mean time spread in all directions far beyond its ancient boundaries. From a walled mediseval town of
monks and merchants, it has been converted into a busy centre
of commerce and manufactures inhabited by nearly 100,000 people. It is no longer a Border fortress-a "shield and defense
against the invasions and frequent insults of the Scots," as described in ancient charters —but a busy centre of peaceful industry, and the outlet for a vast amount of steam-power, which is exported in the form of coal to all parts of the world. Newcastle
is in many respects a town of singular and curious interest, especially in its older parts, which are full of crooked lanes and narrow streets, wynds, and chares, formed by tall, antique houses,
rising tier above tier along the steep northern bank of the Tyne,
as the similarly precipitous streets of Gateshead crowd the opposite shore.
All over the coal region, which extends from the Coquet to the
Tees, about fifty miles from north to south, the surface of the soil
exhibits the signs of extensive underground workings. As you
pass through the country at night, the earth looks as if it were
bursting with fire at many points, the blaze of coke-ovens, ironfurnaces, and coal-heaps reddening the sky to such a distance that
the horizon seems like a glowing belt of fire.
Among the upper-ground workmen employed at the coal-pits,
the principal are the firemen, engine-men, and brakesmen, who
fire and work the engines, and superintend the machinery by
means of which the collieries are worked. Previous to the introduction of the steam-engine, the usual machine employed for the




100          THE NEWCASTLE COAL-FIELD.          [PART II.
purpose was what is called a " gin."  The gin consists of a large
drum placed horizontally, round which ropes attached to buckets
and corves are wound, which are thus drawn up or sent down the
shafts by a horse traveling in a circular track or "gin race."
This method was employed for drawing up both coals and water,
and it is still used for the same purpose in small collieries; but
where the quantity of water to be raised is great, pumps worked
by steam-power are called into requisition.
Nbwcomen's atmospheric engine was first made use of to work
the pumps, and it continued to be so employed long after the
more powerful and economical condensing engine. of Watt had
been invented. In the Newcomen or "fire-engine," as it was
called, the power is produced by the pressure of the atmosphere
forcing down the piston in the cylinder, on a vacuum being produced within it by condensation of the contained steam by means
of cold-water injection. The piston-rod is attached to one end
of a lever, while the pump-rod works in connection with the other, the hydraulic action employed to raise the water being exactly
similar to that of a common sucking-pump.
The working of a Newcomen engine was a clumsy and apparently a very painful process, accompanied by an extraordinary
amount of wheezing, sighing, creaking, and bumping. When the
pump descended, there was heard a plunge, a heavy sigh, and a
loud bump; then, as it rose, and the sucker began to act, there
was heard a creak, a wheeze, another bump, and then a rush of
water as it was lifted and poured out. Where engines of a more
powerful and improved description were used, as is now the case,
the quantity of water raised is enormous-as much as a million
and a half gallons in the twenty-four hours.
The pitmen, or "the lads belaw," who work out the coal below
ground, are a peculiar class, quite distinct from the workmen on
the surface. They are a people with peculiar habits, manners,
and character, as much so as fishermen and sailors, to whom, indeed, they bear,- in some respects, a considerable resemblance.
Some fifty years since, they were a much rougher and worse educated class than they are now; hard workers, but very wild and
uncouth; much given to "steeks," or strikes; and distinguished,
in their hours of leisure and on pay-nights, for their love of cockfighting, dog-fighting, hard drinking, and cuddy races. The pay



CHAP. I.]   THE PITMEN.-STAITHS.-"RKEELS."          101
night was a fortnightly saturnalia, in which the pitman's character was fully brought out, especially when the "yel" was good.
Though earning much higher wages than the ordinary laboring
population of the upper soil, the latter did not mix nor intermarry with them, so that they were left to form their own communities, and hence their marked peculiarities as a class. Indeed, a
sort of traditional disrepute seems long to have clung to the pitmen, arising perhaps from the nature of their employment, and
from the circumstance that the colliers were among the last Classes enfranchised in England, as they were certainly the last in
Scotland, where they continued bondmen down to the end of last
century. The last thirty years, however, have worked a great
improvement in the moral condition of -the Northumbrian pitmen; the abolition of the twelve months' bond to the mine, and
the substitution of a month's notice previous to leaving, having
given them greater freedom and opportunity for obtaining employment; and day-schools and Sunday-schools, together with the
important influences of railways, have brought them fully up to
a level with the other classes of the laboring,population.
The coals, when raised from the pits, are emptied into the wagons placed alongside, from whence they are sent along the rails
to the staiths erected by the river-side, the wagons sometimes descendingby their own gravity along inclined planes, the wagoner
standing behind to check the speed by means of a convoy, or
wooden brake bearing upon the rims of the wheels. Arrived at
the staiths, the wagons are emptied at once into the ships waiting
alongside for cargo. Any one who has sailed down the Tyne
from Newcastle Bridge can not but have been struck with the
appearance of the immense staiths, constructed of timber, which
are erected at short distances from each other on both sides of
the river.
But a great deal of the coal shipped from the Tyne comes from
above-bridge, where sea-going craft can not reach, and is floated
down the river in " keels," in which the coals are sometimes piled
up according to convenience when large, or, when the coal is
small or tender, it is conveyed in tubs to prevent breakage. These
keels are of a very ancient model-perhaps the oldest extant in
England: they are even said to be of-the same build as those in
which the Norsemen navigated the Tyne centuries ago. The




102         THE NEWCASTLE COAL TRAFFIC.          [PART II.
keel is a tubby, grimy-looking craft, rounded fore and aft, with a
single large square sail, which the keel-bullies, as the Tyne watermen are called, manage with great dexterity; the vessel being
guided by the aid of the " swape," or great oar, which is used as
a kind of rudder at the stern of the vessel. These keelmen are an
exceedingly hardy class of workmen, not by any means so quarrelsome as their designation of "bully" would imply-the word
being merely derived from the obsolete term " boolie," or beloved,
an appellation still in familiar use among brother workers in the
coal districts. One of the most curious sights on the Tyne is the
fleet of hundreds of these black-sailed, black-hulled keels, bringing down at each tide their black cargoes for the ships at anchor
in the deep water at Shields and other parts of the river below
Newcastle.
These preliminary observations will perhaps be sufficient to explain the meaning of' many of the occupations alluded to, and
the phrases employed, in the course of the following narrative,
some of which might otherwise have been comparatively unintelligible to the reader.
The colliery village of Wylam is situated on the north bank of
the Tyne, about eight miles west of Newcastle. The Newcastle
and Carlisle Railway runs along the opposite bank; and the traveler by that line sees the usual signs of a colliery in the unsightly
pumping-engines surrounded by heaps of ashes, coal-dust, and
slag, while a neighboring iron-furnace in full blast throws out
dense smoke and loud jets of steam by day and lurid flames at
night. These works form the nucleus of the village, which is almost entirely occupied by coal-miners and iron-furnace-men.
The place is remarkable for its large population, but not for its
cleanness or neatness as a village; the houses, as in most colliery
villages, being the property of the owners or lessees, who employ
them in temporarily accommodating the work-people, against
whose earnings there is a weekly set-off for house and coals.
About the end of last century, the estate of which Wylam forms
part belonged to Mr. Blackett, a gentleman of considerable celebrity in coal-mining, then more generally'known as the proprietor
of the "Globe" newspaper.
There is nothing to interest one in the village itself. But a




CHAP. I.]    GEORGE STEPHEIVSON'S BIRTtPLACE.         103
few Imhundred yards from its eastern extremity stands a humble
detached dwelling, which will be interesting to many as the birthii 
WYLAM COLLIERY AND VILLAGE. [By R. P. Leitch.J
place of one of the most remarkable men of our times-George
Stephenson, the Railway Engineer. It is a common, two-storied,
red-tiled, rubble house, portioned off into four laborers' apartients. It is known by the name of High-street IIouse, and was
originally so called because it stands by the side of what used to
be the old riding post-road or street between Newcastle and IHexham, along which the post was carried on horseback within the
memory of persons living.
The lower room in the west end of this house was the home of
the Stephenson family, and there George Stephenson was born,
the second of a family of six children, on the 9th of June, 1781.
The apartment is now, what it was then, an ordinary laborer's
dwelling; its walls are unplastered, its floor is of clay, and the
bare rafters are exposed overhead.
Robert Stephenson, or "Old Bob," as the neighbors familiarly
called him, and his wife Mabel, were a respectable couple, careful
and hard-working. Robert Stephenson's father was a Scotch



104                   MABEL STEPHENSON.                    [PART II.
man, who came into England in the capacity of a gentleman's
servant.-   Mabel, his wife, was the second daughter of Robert
Carr, a dyer at Ovingham. The Carrs were for several generaHIGH-STlEET HOUSE, WYLAM. [By R. P. Leitch.]
tions the owners of a house in that village adjoining the churchyard; and the family tomb-stone may still be seen standing
against the east end of the chancel of the parish cllurch, underneath the centre lancet window, as the tonmb-stone of Thomas
Bewick, the wood-engraver, occnpies the western gable.  Ml[abel
Stephenson was a woman of somewhat delicate constitution, and
troubled occasionally, as her neighbors said, with "the vapors."
But those who remembered her concurred in describing her as
"a real canny body;" and a woman of whom this is said by
general consent in the Newcastle district may be pronounced a
worthy person indeed, for it is about the highest praise of a woman which Northumbrians can express.
* A tradition exists in the family that Robert Stephenson's father came across the
Border on the loss of considerable property. Miss Stephenson, the daughter of Robert's third son, John, has stated that a suit was commenced for recovery of the property, but was dropped for want of the requisite means to prosecute it.




CHAP. I.]          THE STEPHENSON FAMILY.                        105
For some time after their marriage, Robert resided with his
wife at Walbottle, a village situated between Wylam  and Newcastle, where he was employed as a laborer at the colliery; after
which the family removed to Wylam, where he found employment as fireman of the old pumping-engine at that colliery.
George Stephenson was the second of a family of six children.*
It does not appear that the birth of any of the children was
registered in the parish books, the author having made an unsuccessful search in the registers of Ovingham and Heddon-on-theWall to ascertain the fact.
An old Wylam  collier, who remembered George Stephenson's
father, thus described him: " Geordie's fayther war like a peer o'
deals nailed thegither, an' a bit o' flesh i' th' inside; he war as
queer as' Dick's hatband-went thrice aboot, an' wudn't tie. HHis
wife Mabel war a delicat' boddie, an' varry flighty.  They war
an honest family, but sair hadden doon i' th' world."  Indeed,
the earnings of old Robert did not amount to more than twelve
shillings a week; and, as there were six children to maintain,
the family, during their stay at Wylam,:were necessarily in'very
straitened circumstances.  The father's wages beingwbarely sufficient, even with the most rigid economy, for the sustenance of
the household, there was little to spare for clothing, and nothing
for education, so that none of the children were sent to school.
Old Robert was a general favorite in the village, especially
among the children, whom he was accustomed to draw about him
while tending the engine-fire, and feast their young imaginations
with tales of Sinbad the Sailor and Robinson Crusoe, besides oth* The family Bible of Robert and Mabel Stephenson, which seems to have come
into their possession in November, 1790, contains the following record of the births
of these children, evidently written by one hand and at one time:
" A Rechester of the children belonging Robert and Mabel Stepheson" James Stepheson Was Born March the 4 day 1779
" George Stepheson Was Born June 9 day 1781
"Elender Stepheson Was Born April the 16 day1784
" Robert Stepheson Was Born March the 10 day 1788
"John Stepheson Was Born November the 4 day 1789' Ann Stepheson Was Born July the 1.9 day 1792."
Of the two daughters, Eleanor married Stephen Liddell, afterward employed in the
Locomotive Factory in Newcastle. Ann married John Nixon, with whom she emigrated to the United States; she died at Pittsburg in 1860. John Stephenson was
accidentally killed at the Locomotive Factory in January, 1831.




106       GEORGE STEPHENSON'S EARLY YEARS.  [PART II.
ers of his own invention; so that " Bob's engine-fire" came to be
the most popular resort in the village. Another feature in his
character, by which he was long remembered, was his affection
for birds and animals; and he had many tame favorites of both
sorts, which were as fond of resorting to his engine-fire as the
boys and girls themselves. In the winter time he had usually a
flock of tame robins about him; and they would come hopping
familiarly to his feet to pick up the crumbs which he had saved
for them out of his humble dinner. At his cottage he was rarely
without one or more tame blackbirds, which flew about the house,
or in and out at the door. In summer time he would go birdnesting with his children; and one day he took his little boy
George to see a blackbird's nest for the first time. Holding him
up in his arms, he let the wondering boy peep down, through the
branches held aside for the purpose, into a nest full of young
birds-a sight which the boy never forgot, but used to speak of
with delight to his intimate friends when he himself had grown
an old man.
The boy George led the ordinary life of working people's children. He played about the doors; went bird-nesting.when he
could; and ran errands to, the village. He was also an eager listener, with the other children, to his father's curious tales, and he
early.imbibed from him his affection for birds and animals. In
course of time he was promoted to the office of carrying his father's dinner to him while at work, and at home he helped to
nurse his younger brothers and sisters. One of his earliest duties was to see that the other children were kept out of the way
of the chaldron wagons, which were then dragged by horses
along the wooden tram-road immediately in front of the cottage
door.
T:his wagon-way was the first in the northern district on which
the experiment of a locomotive engine was tried. But, at the
time of which we speak, the locomotive had scarcely been dreamt
of in England as a practicable working power; horses only were
used to haul the coal; and one of the first sights with which the
boy was familiar was the coal-wagons dragged by them along the
wooden railway at Wylam.
Thus eight years passed; after which, the coal having been
worked out on the north side, the old engine, which had grown




CHAP. I.]       SISTER NELL'S BONNET.               107
"dismal to look at," as an old workman described it, was pulled
down; and then old Robert, having obtained employment as a
fireman at the Dewley Burn Colliery, removed with his family to
that place.
Dewley Burn, at this day, consists of a few old-fashioned, lowroofed cottages standing on either side of a babbling little stream.
They are connected by a rustic wooden bridge, which spans the
rift in front of the doors. In the central one-roomed cottage of
this group, on the right bank, Robert Stephenson lived for a time
with his family, the pit at which he worked standing in the rear
of the cottages.
Young though he was, George was now of an age to be able to
contribute something toward the family maintenance; for, in a
poor man's house, every child is a burden until his little hands
can be turned to profitable account. That the boy was shrewd
and active, and possessed of a ready mother-wit, will be evident
enough from the following incident. One day his sister Nell
went into Newcastle to buy a bonnet, and Geordie.went with her
"for company." At a draper's shop in the. Bigg Market Nell
found a s' chip" quite to her mind, but on pricing it, alas! it was
found to be fifteen pence beyond her means. Girl-like, she had
set her mind upon that bonnet, and no other would please her.
She accordingly left the shop very much dejected. But Geordie
said, "Never heed, Nell; come wi' me, and I'll see if I canna win
siller enough to buy the bonnet; stand ye there till I come back."
Away ran the boy, and disappeared amid the throng of the market, leaving the girl to wait his return. Long and long she waited, until it grew dusk, and the market-people had nearly all left.
She had begun to despair, and fears crossed her mind that Geordie must have been run over and killed, when at last up he came
running, almost breathless. "I've gotten the siller for the bonnet, Nell!" cried he. "Eh, Geordie!" she said, " but hoo hae ye
gotten it'" " Hauddin the gentlemen's horses!" was the exultant reply. The bonnet was forthwith bought, and the two returned to Dewley in triumph.
George's first regular employment was of a very humble sort.
A widow, named Grace Ainslie, then occupied the neighboring
farm-house of Dewley. She kept a number of cows, and had the
privilege of grazing them along the wagon-ways. She needed a




108       GEORGE STEPHENSON'S EARLY YEARS.  [PART II.
boy to herd the cows, to keep them out of the way of the wagons,
and prevent their straying or trespassing on the neighbors' "liberties;-" the boy's duty was also to bar the gates at night after all
the wagons had passed. George petitioned for this post, and, to
his great joy, he was appointed, at the wage of twopence a day.
It was light employment, and he had plenty of spare time on
his hands, which he spent in bird-nesting, making whistles out of
reeds and scrannel straws, and erecting Liliputian mills in the little water-streams that ran into the Dewley bog. But his favorite amusement at this early age was erecting clay engines in conjunction with his playmate, Bill Thirlwall. The place is still
pointed out where the future engineers made their first essays in
modeling. The boys found the clay for their engines in the adjoining bog, and the hemlocks which grew about supplied them
with imaginary steam-pipes. They even proceeded to make a
miniature winding-machine in connection with their engine, and
the apparatus was erected upon a bench in front of the Thirlwalls' cottage. Their corves were made out of hollowed corks;
their ropes were supplied by twine; and a few bits of wood
gleaned from the refuse of the carpenters' shop completed their
materials. With this apparatus the boys made a show of sending the corves down the pit and drawing them up again, much to
-the marvel of the pitmen. But some mischievous person about
the place seized the opportunity early one morning of smashing
the fragile machinery, greatly to the grief of the young engineers. We may mention, in passing, that George's companion
afterward became a workman of repute, and creditably held the
office of engineer at Shilbottle, near Alnwick, for a period of
nearly thirty years.
As Stephenson grew older and abler to work, he was set to
lead the horses when plowing, though scarce big enough to stride
across the furrows; and he used afterward to say that he rode to
his work in the mornings at an hour when most other children of
his age were asleep in their beds. He was also employed to hoe
turnips, and do similar farm-work, for which he was paid the advanced wage of fourpence a day. But his highest ambition was
to be taken on at the colliery where his father worked; and he
shortly joined his elder brother James there as a " corf-bitter," or
" picker," to clear the coal of stones, bats, and dross. His wages




CHAP. I.]       APPOINTED GIN-DRIVER.               109
were then advanced to sixpence a day, and afterward to eightpence when he was sent to drive the gin-horse.
Shortly after, George went to Black Callerton Colliery to drive
the gin there; and, as that colliery lies about two miles across the
fields from Dewley Burn, the boy walked that distance early in
the morning to his work, returning home late in the evening. One
of the old residents at Black Callerton, who remembered him at
that time, described him to the author as " a grit growing lad,
with bare legs an' feet;" adding that he was "very quick-witted,
and full of fun and tricks: indeed, there was nothing under the
sun but he tried to imitate."  He was usually foremost also in
the sports and pastimes of youth.
Among his first strongly developed tastes was the love of birds
and animals, which he inherited from his father. Blackbirds
were his special favorites. The hedges between Dewley and
Black Callerton were capital bird-nesting places, and there was
not a nest there that he did not know of. When the young birds
were old enough, he would bring them home with him, feed
them, and teach them to fly about the cottage unconfined by
cages. One of his blackbirds became so tame that, after flying
about the doors all day, and in and out of the cottage, it would
take up its roost upon the bed-head at night. And, most singular of all, the bird would disappear in the spring and summer
months, when it was supposed to go into the woods to pair and
rear its young, after which it would reappear at the cottage, and
resume its social habits during the winter. This went on for
several years. George had also a stock of tame rabbits, for
which he built a little house behind the cottage, and for many
years he continued to pride himself upon the superiority of his
breed.
After he had driven the gin for some time at Dewley and
Black Callerton, he was taken on as assistant to his father in firing the engine at Dewley. This was a step of promotion which
he had anxiously desired, his only fear being lest he should be
found too young for the work. Indeed, he afterward used to relate how he was wont to hide himself when the owner of the colliery went round, in case he should be thought too little a boy to
earn the wages paid him. Since he had modeled his clay engines in the bog, his young ambition was to be an engine-man;




110         APPOINTED ASSISTANT FIREMAN.          [PART II.
and to be an assistant fireman was the first step toward this position. Great, therefore, was his joy when, at about fourteen years
of age, he was appointed assistant fireman, at the wage of a shilling a day.
But the coal at Dewley Burn being at length worked out, the
pit was ordered to be "laid in," and old Robert and his family
were again under the necessity of shifting their home; for, to use
the common phrase, they must "follow the wark."




NEWBURN ON THE TYNE. [By R. P. Leitch.]
CHAPTER II.
NEWBURN AIND CALLERTON-GEORGE STEPHENSON LEARNS TO BE
AN ENGINE-MAN.
ON quitting their humble home at Dewley Burn, the Stephenson family removed to a place called Jolly's Close, a few miles to
the south, close behind the village of Newburn, where another
coal-mine belonging to the Duke of Northumberland, called "the
Duke's Winnin," had recently been opened out.
One of the old persons in the neighborhood, who knew the
family well, describes the dwelling in which they lived as a poor
cottage of only one room, in which the father, mother, four sons,
and two daughters lived and slept. It was crowded with three
low-poled beds. The one apartment served for parlor, kitchen,
sleeping-room, and all.
The children of the Stephenson family were now growing
apace, and several of them were old enough to be able to earn
money at various kinds of colliery work. James and George,




112              APPOINTED FIREMAN.             [PART II.
the two eldest sons, worked as assistant firemen; and the younger
boys worked as wheelers or pickers on the bank-tops; while the
two girls helped their mother with the household work.
Other workings of the coal were opened out in the neighborhood, and to one of these George was removed as fireman on his
own account. This was called the "Mid Mill Winnin," where
he had for his mate a young man named Coe. They worked together there for about two years, by twelve-hour shifts, George
firing the engine at the wage of a shilling a day. He was now
fifteen years old. His ambition was as yet limited to attaining
the standing of a full workman, at a man's wages, and with that
view he endeavored to attain such a knowledge of his engine as
would eventually lead to his employment as engine-man, with its
accompanying advantage of higher pay. He was a steady, sober,
hard-working young man, but nothing more in the estimation of
his fellow-workmen.
One of his favorite pastimes in by-hours was trying feats of
strength with his companions. Although in frame he was not
particularly robust, yet he was big and bony, and considered very
strong for his age. At throwing the hammer George had no
compeer. At lifting heavy weights off the ground from between
his feet, by means of a bar of iron passed through them-placing
the bar against his knees as a fulcrum, and then straightening his
spine and lifting them sheer up —he was also very successful.
On one occasion he lifted as much as sixty stones' weight-a
striking indication of his strength of bone and muscle.
When the pit at Mid Mill was closed, George and his companion Coe were sent to work another pumping-engine erected near
Throckley Bridge, where they continued for some months. It
was while working at this place that his wages were raised to 12s.
a week-an event to him of great importance. On coming out
of the foreman's office that Saturday evening on which he received the advance, he announced the fact to his fellow-workmen, adding triumphantly, "I am now a made man for life!"
The pit opened at Newburn, at which old Robert Stephenson
worked, proving a failure, it was closed, and a new pit was sunk
at Water-row, on a strip of land lying between the Wylam wagon-way and the River Tyne, about half a mile west of Newburn
Church. A pumping-engine was erected there by Robert Haw



CHAP. II.]  FASCINATION OF THE STEAMI-ENGINE.       113
thorn, the duke's engineer, and old Stephenson went to work it
as fireman, his son George acting as the engine-man or plugman.
At that time he was about seventeen years old-a very youthful
age at which to fill so responsible a post. He had thus already
got ahead of his father in his station as a workman; for the plugman holds a higher grade than the fireman, requiring more practical knowledge and skill, and usually receiving higher wages.
George's duties as plugman were to watch the engine, to see
that it kept well in work, and that the pumps were efficient in
drawing the water. When the water-level in the pit was lowered, and the suction became incomplete through the exposure of
the suction-holes, it was then his duty to proceed to the bottom
of the shaft and plug the tube so that the pump should draw:
hence the designation of "plugman."  If a stoppage in the engine took place through any defect which he was incapable of
remedying, it was his duty to call in the aid of the chief engineer
to set it to lights.
But from the time that George Stephenson was appointed fireman, and more particularly afterward as engine-man, he applied
himself so assiduously and successfully to the study of the engine
and its gearing-taking the machine to pieces in his leisure hours
for the purpose of cleaning it and understanding its various parts
-that he soon acquired a thorough practical knowledge of its
construction and mode of working, and very rarely needed to call
the engineer of the colliery to his aid. His engine became a sort
of pet with him, and he was never wearied of watching and inspecting it with admiration.
There is, indeed, a peculiar fascination about an engine to the
person whose duty it is to watch and work it. It is almost sublime in its untiring industry and quiet power; capable of performing the most gigantic work, yet so docile that a child's hand
may guide it. No wonder, therefore, that the workman who is
the daily companion of this life-like machine, and is constantly
watching it with anxious care, at length comes to regard it with
a degree of personal interest and regard. This daily contemplation of the steam-engine, and the sight of its steady action, is an
education of itself to an ingenious and thoughtful man. And it
is a remarkable fact, that nearly all that has been done for the
improvement of this machine has been accomplished, not by phiH




114       STEPHENSON'S EARLY EXPERIMENTS.  [PART II.
losophers and scientific men, but by laborers, mechanics, and engine-men. Indeed, it would appear as if this were one of the departments of practical science in which the higher powers of the
human mind must bend to mechanical instinct.
Stephenson was now in his eighteenth year, but, like many of
his fellow-workmen, he had not yet learned to read. All that he
could do was to get some one to read for him by his engine-fire,
out of any book or stray newspaper which found its way into the
neighborhood. Bonaparte was then overrunning Italy, and astounding Europe by his brilliant succession of victories; and there
was no more eager auditor of his exploits, as read from the newspaper accounts, than the young engine-man at the Water-row Pit.
There were also numerous stray bits of information and intelligence contained in these papers which excited Stephenson's interest. One of them related to the Egyptian method of hatching
birds' eggs by means of artificial heat. Curious about every thing
relating to birds, he determined to test it by experiment. It was
spring time, and he forthwith went bird-nesting in the adjoining
woods and hedges. He gathered a collection of eggs of various
sorts, set them in flour in a warm place in the engine-house, covered the whole with wool, and waited the issue. The heat was
kept as steady as possible, and the eggs were carefully turned every twelve hours; but, though they chipped, and some of them
exhibited well-grown chicks, they never hatched. The experiment failed, but the incident shows that the inquiring mind of
the youth was fairly at work.
Modeling of engines in clay continued to be another of his favorite occupations. He made models of engines which he had
seen, and of others which were described to him. These attempts
were an improvement upon his first trials at Dewley Burn bog,
when occupied there as a herd-boy. He was, however, anxious to
know something of the wonderful engines of Boulton and Watt,
and was told that they were to be found fully described in books,
which he must search for information as to their construction, action, and uses. But, alas! Stephenson could not read; he had not
yet learned even his letters.
Thus he shortly found, when gazing wistfully in the direction
of knowledge, that to advance farther as.a skilled workman, he
must master this wonderful art of reading-the key to so many




CHAP. II.]   STEPHENSON GOES TO SCHOOL.              115
other arts. Only thus could he gain anm access to books, the depositories of the wisdom and experience of the past. Although
a grown man, and doing' the work of a man, he was not ashamed
to confess his ignorance, and go to school, big as he was, to learn
his letters. Perhaps, too, he foresaw that, in laying out a little of
his spare earnings for this purpose, he was investing money judiciously, and that, in every hour he spent at school, he was really
working for better wages.
His first schoolmaster was Robin Cowens, a poor teacher in the
village of Walbottle. He kept a night-school, which was attended by a few of the colliers' and laborers' sons in the neighborhood. George took lessons in spelling and reading three nights
in the week. Robin Cowen's teaching cost threepence a week;
and though it was not very good, yet George, being hungry for
knowledge and eager to acquire it, soon learned to read. He also
practiced "pot-hooks,' and at the age of nineteen he was proud
to be able to write his own name."
A Scotch dominie, named Andrew Robertson, set -up a nightschool in the village of Newburn in the winter of 1799. It was
more convenient for George to attend this school, as it was nearer his work, being only a few minutes' walk from Jolly's Close.
Besides, Andrew had the reputation of being a good arithmetician, and this was a branch of knowledge that Stephenson was
very desirous of acquiring. He accordingly began taking lessons
from him, paying fourpence a week. Robert Gray, junior fireman at the Water-row Pit, began arithmetic at the sam'e time;
and Gray afterward told the author that George learned "figuring" so much faster than he did, that he could not make out how
it was —" he took to figures so wonderful."  Although the two
started together from the same point, at the end of the winter
George had mastered "reduction," while Robert Gray was still
struggling with the difficulties of simple division. But George's
secret was his perseverance. He worked out the sums in his byhours, improving every minute of his spare time by the enginefire, there studying the arithmetical problems set for him upon
his slate by the master. In the evenings he took to Robertson
the sums which he had "worked," and new ones were "set" for
him to study out the following day. Thus his progress was rapid, and, with a willing heart and mind, he soon became well ad



116            LEARNS ENGINE-BRAKEING.            [PART II.
vanced in arithmetic. Indeed, Andrew Robertson became very
proud of his scholar; and shortly after, when the Water-row Pit
was closed, and George removed to Black Callerton to work there,
the poor schoolmaster, not having a very extensive connection in
Newburn, went with his pupils, and set up his night-school at
Black Callerton, where he continued his lessons.
George still found time to attend to his favorite animals while
working at the Water-row Pit. Like his father, he used to tempt
the robin-redbreasts to hop and fly about him at the engine-fire
by the bait of bread-crumbs saved from his dinner. But his chief
favorite was his dog-so sagacious that he almost daily carried
George's dinner to him at the pit. The tin containing the meal
was suspended from the dog's neck, and, thus laden, he proceeded faithfully from Jolly's Close to Water-row Pit, quite through
the village of Newburn. He turned neither to left nor right, nor
heeded the barking of curs at his heels. But his course was not
unattended with perils. One day the big, strange dog of a passing butcher, espying the engine-man's messenger with the tin can
about his neck, ran after and fell upon him. There was a terrible tussle and worrying, which lasted for a brief while, and, shortly after, the dog's master, anxious for his dinner, saw his faithful
servant approaching,,bleeding but triumphant. The tin can was
still round his neck, but the dinner had been spilled in the struggle. Though George went without his dinner that day, he was
prouder of his dog than ever when the circumstances of the combat were related to him by the villagers who had seen it.
It was while working at the Water-row Pit that Stephenson
learned the art of brakeing an engine. This being one of the
higher departments of colliery labor, and among the best paid,
George was very anxious to learn it. A small' winding-engine
having been put up for the purpose of drawing the coals from
the pit, Bill Coe, his friend -and fellow-workman, was appointed
the brakesman. He frequently allowed George to try his hand
at the machine, and instructed him how to proceed. Coe was,
however, opposed in this by several of the other workmen, one of
whom, a banksman named William Locke,* went so far as to
stop the working of the pit because Stephenson had been called
* Father of Mr. Locke, M.P., the engineer. IIe afterward removed to Barnsley,
in Yorkshire.




CHAP. II.]  APPOINTED BRAKESMAN —HIS DUTIES.       117
in to the brake. But one day, as Mr. Charles Nixon, the manager of the pit, was observed approaching, Coe adopted an expedient which put a stop to the opposition. He called upon Stephenson to " come into the brake-house and take hold of the machiine."
Locke, as usual, sat down, and the working of the pit was stopped.
When requested by the manager to give an explanation, he said
that "young Stephenson couldn't brake, and, what was more, never would learn, he was so clumsy." Mr. Nixon, however, ordered
Locke to go on with the work, which he did; and Stephenson,
after some farther practice, acquired the art of brakeing.
After working at the Water-row Pit and at otheri engines near
Newburn for about three years, George and Coe went to Black
Callerton early in 1810. Though only twenty years of age, his
employers thought so well of him that they appointed him to the
responsible office of brakesman at the Dolly Pit. For convenience' sake, he took lodgings at a small farmer's in the village,
finding his own victuals, and paying so much a week for lodging
and attendance. In the locality this was called "picklin in his
awn poke neuk." It not unfrequently happens that the young
workman about the collieries, when selecting a lodging, contrives
to pitch his tent where the daughter of the house ultimately becomes his wife. This is often the real attraction that draws
the youth from home, though a very different one may be pretended.
George Stephenson's duties as brakesman may be briefly described. The work was somewhat monotonous, and consisted in
superintending the working of the engine and machinery by
means of which the coals were drawn out of the pit. Brakesmen are almost invariably selected from those who have had considerable experience as engine-firemen, and borne a good character for steadiness, punctuality, watchfulness, and "mother wit."
In George Stephenson's day the coals were drawn out of the
pit in corves, or large baskets made of hazel rods. The corves
were placed together in a cage, between which and the pit-ropes
there was usually from fifteen to twenty feet of chain. The approach of the corves toward the pit mouth was signaled by a
bell, brought into action by a piece of mechanism worked from
the shaft of the engine. When the bell sounded, the brakesman
checked the speed by taking hold of the hand-gear connected




118               NIGHT OCCUPATIONS.            [PART II.
with the steam-valves, which were so arranged that by their
means he could regulate the speed of the engine, and stop or set
it in motion when required. Connected with the fly-wheel was
a powerful wooden brake, acting by pressure against its rim,
something like the brake of a railway carriage against its wheels.
On catching sight of the chain attached to the ascending corvecage, the brakesman, by pressing his foot upon a foot-step near
him, was enabled, with great precision, to stop the revolutions of
the wheel, and arrest the ascent of the corves at the pit mouth,
when they were forthwith landed on the " settle-board."  On the
full corves being replaced by empty ones, it was then the duty of
the brakesman to reverse the engine, and send the corves down
the pit to be filled again.
The monotony of George Stephenson's occupation as a brakesman was somewhat varied by the change which he made, in his
turn, from the day to the night shift. His duty, on the latter occasions, consisted chiefly in sending.men and materials into the
mine, and in drawing other men and materials out. Most of the
workmen enter the pit during the night shift, and leave it in the
latter part of the day, while coal-drawing is proceeding. The requirements of the work at night are such that the brakesman has
a good deal of spare time on his hands, which he is at liberty to.employ in his own way. From an early period, George was accustomed to employ those vacant night hours in working the sums
set for him by Andrew Robertson upon his slate, practicing writing in his copy-book, and mending the shoes of his fellow-workmen. His wages while working at the Dolly Pit amounted to
from ~1 158. to:~2 in..the fortnight; but he gradually added to
them as he became more expert at shoe-mending, and afterward
at shoe-making.
Probably he was stimulated to take in hand this extra work by
the attachment he had by this time formed for a young woman
named Fanny Henderson, who officiated as servant in the small
farmer's house in which he lodged. We have been informed that
the personal attractions of Fanny, though these were considerable, were.the least of her charms. Mr. William Fairbairn, who
afterward saw her in her home at Willington Quay, describes her
as a very comely woman. But her temper was one of the sweetest; ahd those who knew her were accustomed to speak of the




CAPr. II.]          NED NELSON.                    119
charming modesty of her demeanor, her kindness of disposition,
and, withal, her sound good sense.
Among his various mendings of old shoes at Callerton, George
was on one occasion favored with the shoes of his sweetheart to
sole. One can imagine the pleasure with which he would linger
over such a piece of work, and the pride with which he would
execute it. A friend of his, still living, relates that, after he had
finished the shoes, he carried them about with him in his pocket
on the Sunday afternoon, and that from time to time he would
pull them out and hold them up, exclaiming "what a capital job
he had made of them!?'
Not long after he began to work at Black Callerton as brakesman he had a quarrel with a pitman named Ned Nelson, a roystering bully, who was the terror of the village. Nelson was a
great fighter, and it was therefore considered dangerous to quarrel with him. - Stephenson was so unfortunate as not to be able
to please this pitman by the way in which he drew him out of
the pit, and Nelson swore at him grossly because of the alleged
clumsiness of his brakeing. George defended himself, and appealed to the testimony of the other workmen. Nelson had not
been accustomed to George's style of self-assertion, and, after a
great deal of abuse, he threatened to kick the brakesman, who
defied him to do so. Nelson ended by challenging Stephenson
to a pitched battle, and the latter accepted the challenge, when a
day was fixed on which the fight was to come off.
Great was the excitement at Black Callerton when it was
known that George Stephenson had accepted Nelson's challenge.
Every body said he would be killed. The villagers, the young
men, and especially the boys of the place, with whom George was
a great favorite, all wished that he might beat Nelson, but they
scarcely dared to say so. They came about him while he was at
work in the engine-house to inquire if it was really true that he
was "goin' to fight Nelson." " Ay; never fear for me; I'll fight
him." And fight him he did. For some days previous to the
appointed day of battle, Nelson went entirely off work for the
purpose of keeping himself fresh and strong, whereas Stephenson
went on doing his daily work as usual, and appeared not in the
least disconcerted by the prospect of the affair. So, on the evening appointed, after George had done his day's labor, he went




120            FIGHT WITH THE PITMAN.            [PART II.
into the Dolly Pit Field, where his already exulting rival was
ready to meet him. George stripped, and "went in" like a practiced pugilist,'though it was his first and last fight. After a few
rounds, George's wiry muscles and.practiced strength enabled him
severely to punish his adversary and to secure an easy victory.
This circumstance is related in illustration of Stephenson's personal pluck and' coura'ge, and it was thoroughly characteristic of
the man. He was no pugilist, and the reverse of quarrelsome.
But he would not be put down by the bully; of the colliery,. and
he fought him.:There his pugilism ended; they afterward shook
hands, and continued good friends. In after life Stephenson's
mettle was often as hardly tried, though in a different way, and
he did not fail to exhibit the same courage in contending with
the bullies of the railway world as he showed in his encounter
with Ned Nelson, the fighting pitman of Callerton.'~ - mI                           -




STEPHIENSON'S 00TTAGE AT WILLINGTON QUAY. [By R. P. Leitch.]
CHAPTER III.
ENGINE-MAN AT WILLINGTON QUAY AND KILLINGWORTH.
GEORGE STEPHENSON had now acquired the character of an expert workman. He was diligent and observant while at work,
and sober and studious when the day's work was done. His
friend Coe described him to the author as " a standing example
of manly character." On pay-Saturday afternoons, when the pitmen held their fortnightly holiday, occupying themselves chiefly
in cock-fighting and dog-fighting in the adjoining fields, followed
by adjournments to the "yel-house," George was accustomed to
take his engine to pieces, for the purpose of obtaining " insight,"
and he cleaned all the parts and put the machine in thorough
working order before leaving her. His amusements continued
to be principally of the athletic kind, and he found few that
could beat him at lifting heavy weights, leaping, and throwing
the hammer.
In the evenings he improved himself in the arts of reading and
writing, and occasionally he took a turn at modeling. It was at
Callerton, his son Robert informed us, that he began to try his




122         ENGINE-MAN AT WILLINGTON QUAY.    [PART II.
hand at original invention, and for some time he applied his attention to a machine of the nature of an engine-brake, which reversed itself by its own action. But nothing came of the contrivance, and it was eventually thrown aside as useless. Yet not
altogether so; for even the highest skill must undergo the inevitable discipline of experiment, and submit to the wholesome correction of occasional failure.
After working at Callerton for about two years, Stephenson received an offer to take charge of the engine on Willington Ballast Hill at an advanced wage. He determined to accept it, and
at the same time to marry Fanny Henderson, and begin housekeeping on his own account. Though he was only twenty-one
years old, he had contrived, by thrift, steadiness, and industry, to
save as much money as enabled him, with the help of Fanny's
small hoard, to take a cottage dwelling at Willington Quay, and
furnish it in a humble but comfortable style for the reception of
his bride.
Willington Quay lies on the north bank of the Tyne, about six
miles below Newcastle. It consists of a line of houses straggling
along the river side, and high behind it towers up the huge mound
of ballast emptied out of the ships which resort to the quay for
their cargoes of coal for the London *market. The ballast is
thrown out of the ships' holds into wagons laid alongside. When
filled, a train of these is dragged to the summit of the Ballast
Hill, where they are run out, and their contents emptied on to
the monstrous accumulation of earth, chalk, and Thames mud already laid there, probably to form a puzzle for future antiquaries
and geologists when the origin of these immense hills along
the Tyne has been forgotten. At the foot of this great mound
of shot rubbish was a fixed engine, which drew the trains of
laden wagons up the incline by means of ropes working over
pulleys, and of this engine George Stephenson acted as brakesman.
The cottage in which he took up his abode was a small twostoried dwelling, standing a little back from the quay, with a bit
of garden ground in front;* but he only occupied the upper
* The Stephenson Memorial Schools have since been erected on the site of the old
cottage at Willington Quay represented in the engraving at the head of this chapter.
A vignette of the Memorial Schools will be found at the end of the volume.




CHAP. III.]     STEPHENSON'S MARRIAGE.             123
room in the west end of the cottage. Close behind rose the Ballast Hill.
When the cottage dwelling had been made snug and was ready
for his wife's reception, the marriage took place. It was celebrated in Newburn Church on the 28th of November, 1802.
George Stephenson's signature, as it stands in the register, is that
of a person who seems to have just learned to write. With all
the writer's care, however, he had not been able to avoid a blotch.
The name of Frances Henderson has the appearance of being
written by the same hand.
After the ceremony, George and his newly-wedded partner
proceeded to the house of old Robert Stephenson and his wife
Mabel at Jolly Close. The old man was now becoming infirm,
though he still worked as an engine-fireman, and contrived with
difficulty " to keep his head above water." When the visit had
been paid, the bridal party prepared to set out for their new
home at Willington Quay. They went in a style which was quite
common before traveling by railway had been invented. Two
farm-horses, borrowed from a neighboring farmer, were each provided with a saddle and a pillion, and George having mounted
one, his wife seated herself behind him, holding on by her arms
round his waist. The brideman and bridemaid in like manner
mounted the other horse, and in this wise the wedding party rode
across the country, passing through the old streets of Newcastle,
and then by Wallsend to Willington Quay-a long ride of about
fifteen miles.
George Stephenson's daily life at Willington was that of a
steady workman. By the manner, however, in which he continued to improve his spare hours in the evening, he was silently
and surely paving the way for being something more than a manual laborer. He diligently set himself to study the principles of




124     PERPETUAL MOTION.-BALLAST-HEA VING. [PART II.
mechanics, and to master the laws by which his engine worked.
For a workman, he was even at that time more than ordinarily
speculative, often taking up strange theories, and trying to sift
out the truth that was in them. While sitting by the side of his
young wife in his cottage dwelling in the winter evenings, he was
usually occupied in studying mechanical subjects or in modeling
experimental machines.
Among his various speculations while at Willington, he tried
to discover a means of Perpetual Motion. Although he failed,
as so many others had done before him, the very efforts he made
tended to whet his inventive faculties and to call forth his dormant powers. HIe actually went so far as to construct the model
of a machine for the purpose. It consisted of a wooden wheel,
the periphery of which was furnished with glass tubes filled with
quicksilver; as the wheel rotated, the quicksilver poured itself
down into the lower tubes, and thus a sort of self-acting motion
was kept ip in the apparatus, which, however, did not prove to be
perpetual. Where he had first obtained the idea of this machine
-whether from conversation, or reading, or his own thoughts, is
not known; but his son Robert was of opinion that he had heard
of an apparatus of this kind as described in the " History of Inventions." As he had then no access to books, and, indeed, could
scarcely yet read, it i~ probable that he had been told of the invention, and set about testing its value according to his own methods.
Much of his spare time continued to be occupied by labor more
immediately profitable, regarded in a pecuniary point of view.
In the evenings, after his day's labor at his engine, he would occasionally employ himself for a few hours in casting ballast out
of the collier ships, by which means he was enabled to earn a few
shillings weekly. Mr. William Fairbairn, of Manchester, has informed the author that, while Stephenson was employed at the
Willington Ballast Hill, he himself was working in the neighborhood as an engine apprentice at the Percy Main Colliery. He
was very fond of George, who was a fine, hearty fellow, besides
being a capital workman. In the summer evenings young Fairbairn was accustomed to go down to Willington to see his friend,
and on such occasions he would frequently take charge of
George's engine for a few hours, to enable him to take a two or
three hours' turn at heaving ballast out of the ships' holds. It is




CHAP. III.]    AN A CCIDENT. - C LOCK-CLEANING.     125
pleasant to think of the future President of the British Association thus helping the future Railway Engineer to earn a few extra shillings by overwork in the evenings, at a time when both
occupied the rank but of humble working men in an obscure
northern village.
Mr. Fairbairn was also a frequent visitor at George's cottage
on the Quay, where, though there was no luxury, there.was comfort, cleanness, and a pervading spirit of industry. Even at home
George was never for a moment idle. When there was no ballast to heave, he took in shoes to mend; and from mending he
proceeded to making them, as well as shoe-lasts, in which he was
admitted to be very expert. William Coe, who continued to live
at Willington in 1851, informed the author that he bought a pair
of shoes from George Stephenson for 7s. 6d., and he remembered
that they were a capital fit, and wore very well.
But. an accident occurred in Stephenson's household about this
time which had the effect of directing his industry into a new
and still more profitable channel. The cottage chimney took fire
one day in his absence, when the alarmed neighbors, rushing in,
threw quantities of water upon the flames; and some, in theirzeal, even mounted the ridge, of the house, and poured buckets of
water down the chimney. - The fire was soon put ouit, but the
house was thoroughly soaked. When George came home, he
found the water running out of the door, every thing in disorder,
and his new furniture covered with soot. The eight-day clock,
which hung against the wall-one of the most highly-prized articles in the house-was seriously damaged by the steam with
which the room had been filled. Its wheels were so clogged by
the dust and soot that it was brought to a complete stand-still.
George was advised to send the article to the clock-maker, but
that would cost money; and he declared that he would repair it
himself-at least he would try. The clock was accordingly taken
to pieces and cleaned; the tools which he had been accumulating for the purpose of constructing his PerpetualMotion machine
readily enabled him to do this, and he succeeded so well that,
shortly after, the neighbors sent him their clocks to clean, and he
soon became one of the most expert clock-cleaners in the neighborhood.
It was while living at Willington Quay that George Stephen



126                         A "CREEP."                      [PART II.
son's only son was born on the 16th of October, 1803.*  The
child.was from the first, as may well be imagined, a great favorite with his father, and added much to the happiness,of his evening hours. George Stephenson's strong " philoprogenitiveness,"
as phrenologists call it, had in his boyhood expended itself on
birds, and dogs, and rabbits, and even on the poor old gin-horses
which he had driven at the Callerton Pit, and now he found in
his child a more genial object for the exercise of his affection.
The christening of the boy~ took place in the school-house at
Wallsend, the old parish church being at the time in so dilapidated a condition from the " creeping" or subsidence of the ground,
consequent upon the excavation of the coal, that it was considered dangerous to enter it.t On this occasion, Robert Gray and
Anne Henderson, who had officiated as brideman and bridemaid
at the wedding, came over again to Willington, and stood godfather and godmbther to little Robert, as the child was named, after his grandfather.
After working for about three years as a brakesman at the
Willington machine, George Stephenson was induced to leave his
situation there for a similar one at the West Moor Colliery, Kfillingworth.  It was not without considerable persuasion that he
was induced to leave the Quay, as he knew that he should thereby give up the chance of earning extra money by casting ballast
from the keels. At last, however, he consented, in the hope of
making up the loss in some other way.
The village of Killingworth lies about seven miles north of
Newcastle, and is one of the best-known collieries in that neigh* No register was made of Robert Stephenson's birth, and he himself was in doubt
whether he was born in October, November, or December. For instance, a dinner
was given to him by the contractors of the London and Birmingham Railway on the
16th of November, 1839, that day being then supposed by his father to have been his
birthday. When preparing the " Life of George Stephenson," Robert stated to the
author that the 16th of December was the correct day. But, after the book had
passed through four editions, he desired the date to be corrected to the 16th of October, which, on the whole, he thought the right date, and it was so altered accordingly.
t The congregation in a church near Newcastle were one Sunday morning plentifully powdered with chips from the white ceiling of the church, which had been crept
under, being above an old mine. "It is only the pit a-creeping," said the parish
clerk, by way of encouragement to the people to remain. But it would not do; for
there was a sudden creep out of the congregation. The clerk went at last, with a powdered head, crying out, " It's only a creep." —" Our Coal-Fields and our Coal-Pits."




CHAP. III.]       DEATH OF HIS WIFE.                 127
wEsT mooR ooia oLau. [By R. P. Leitch.]
borhood. The workings of the coal are of vast extent, and give
employment to a large number of work-people. To this place
Stephenson first came as a brakesman about the end of 1804. He
had not been long in his new home ere his wife died of consumption, leaving him with his only child Robert. George deeply
feltthe loss, for his wife and he had been very happy together.
Their lot had been sweetened by daily successful toil. George
had been hard-working, and his wife had made his hearth so
bright and his home so snug, that no attraction could draw him
from her side in the evening hours. But this domestic happiness
was' all to pass away, and the bereaved husband felt for a time as
one that had thenceforth to tread the journey of life alone.
Shortly after this event, while his grief was still fresh, he received an invitation from some gentlemen concerned in large
spinning-works near Montrose, in Scotland, to proceed thither
and superintend the working of one of Boulton and Watt's engines. He accepted the offer, and made arrangements to leave
Killingworth for a time.
Havingleft his boy in charge of a respectable woman who
acted as his housekeeper, he set out on the journey to Scotland




128              RETURN TO KILLING WORTH.                  [PART II.
on foot, with his kit upon his back.  While working at Montrose,
he gave a striking proof of that practical ability in contrivance
for which he was afterward so distinguished.  It appears that
the water required for the purposes of his engine, as well as for
the use of the works, was pumped from a considerable depth, being supplied from the adjacent extensive sand strata. The
pumps frequently got choked by the sand drawn in at the bottom of the well through the snore-holes, or apertures through
which the water to be raised is admitted. The barrels soon became worn, and the bucket and clack leathers destroyed, so that
it became necessary to devise a remedy; and with this object,
the engine-man proceeded to adopt the following simple but
original expedient. He had a wooden box or boot made, twelve
feet high, which he placed in the sump or well, and into this he
inserted the lower end of the pump.  The result was, that the
water flowed clear from the outer part of the well over into the
boot, and was drawn up without any admixture of sand, and the
difficulty was thus conquered.*
During his stay in Scotland, Stephenson, being paid good
wages, contrived to save a sum of ~28, which he took back with
him to Killingworth, after an absence of about a year. Longing
to get back to his kindred, and his heart yearning for the boy
whom he had left behind, our engine-man bade adieu to his Montrose employers, and trudged back to Killingworth on foot as he
had gone.  He related to his friend Coe, on his return, that Zwhen
on the borders of Northumberland, late one evening, footsore
and wearied with his long day's journey, he knocked at a small
farmer's cottage door, and requested shelter for the night. It
was refused; and then he entreated that, being sore tired and
unable to proceed any farther, they would permit him to lie
* This incident was related by Robert Stephenson during a voyage to the north of
Scotland in 1857, when off Montrose, on board his yacht Titania; and the reminiscence was immediately communicated to the author by the late Mr.William Kell, of
Gateshead, who was present, at Mr. Stephenson's request, as being worthy of insertion in his father's biography. Mr. George Elliott, one of the most skilled coal-viewers in the North, was of the party, and expressed his admiration at the ready skill
with which the difficulty had been overcome, the expedient of the boot being then unknown in the Northumberland and Durham mines. He acknowledged it to be "a
wrinkle," adding that its application would, in several instances within his own knowledge, have been of great practical value.




CHAP. III.]    AN INCIDENT AND AN A CCIDENT.         129
down in the out-house, for that a little clean straw would serve
him. The farmer's wife appeared at the door, looked at the
traveler, then retiring with her husband, the two confabulated a
little apart, and finally they invited Stephenson into the cottage.
Always full of conversation and anecdote, he soon made himself
at home in the farmer's family, and spent with them some pleasant hours. He was hospitably entertained for the night, and
when he left the cottage in the morning, he pressed them to
make some charge for his lodging, but they refused to accept
any recompense. They only asked him to remember them kindly, and if he ever came that way, to be sure and call again.
MIany years after, when Stephenson had become a thriving man,
he did not forget the humble pair who had thus:succored and
entertained him on his way; he sought:their cottage again when
age had silvered their hair; and when he left the aged couple on
that occasion, they may have been reminded of the old saying
that we may sometimes ".entertain angels unawares."
Reaching home, Stephenson found that his father had met
with a serious accident at the Blucher Pit, which had reduced
him to great distress and poverty. While engaged in the inside
of an engine, making some repairs, a fellow-workman inadvertently let in the steam upon him. The blast struck him full in
the face; he was terribly scorched, and his eyesight was irretrievably lost. The helpless and infirm man had struggled for a time
with poverty; his sons:who were at home, poor as himself, were
little able to help him, while' George.was at a distance in; Scotland. On his return, however, with his savings in his pocket, his
first step was to pay off his father's debts, amounting to about
~15; and, shortly after, he removed the aged pair from Jolly's
Close to a comfortable cottage adjoining the tram-road near the
West Moor at Killingworth, where the old man lived for many
years, supported by his son.
Stephenson was again taken on as a brakesman at the West
Moor Pit. He does not seem to have been very hopeful as to
his prospects in life at the time. Indeed, the condition of the
working classes was then very discouraging. England was engaged in a great war, which pressed upon the industry, and severely tried the resources of the country. Heavy taxes were imposed upon all the articles of consumption that would bear them.
I




130            MEDITATES EMIGRATION.            [PART IT.
There was a constant demand for men to fill the army, navy, and
militia. Never before had England witnessed such drumming
and fifing for recruits. In 1805, the gross forces of the United
Kingdom amounted to nearly 700,000 men, and early in 1808
Lord Castlereagh carried a measure for the establishment of a
local militia of 200,000 men. These measures were accompanied
by general distress among the laboring classes. There were riots
in Manchester, Newcastle, and elsewhere, through scarcity of
work and lowness of wages. The working people were also liable to be pressed for the navy, or drawn for the militia; and
though people could not fail to be discontented under such circumstances, they scarcely dared even to mutter their discontent
to their neighbors.
George Stephenson was one of those drawn for the militia.
He must therefore either quit his work and go a-soldiering, or
find a substitute. He adopted the latter course, and borrowed
~6, which, with the remainder of his savings, enabled him to
provide a militia-man to serve in his stead. Thus the whole of
his hard-won earnings were swept away at a stroke. He was almost in despair, and contemplated the idea of leaving the country, and emigrating to the United States. Although a voyage
thither was then a much more formidable thing for a working
man to accomplish than a voyage to Australia is now, he seriously entertained the project, and had all but made up his mind to
go. His sister Ann, with her husband, emigrated about that
time, but George could not raise the requisite money, and they
departed without him. After all, it went sore against his heart
to leave his home and his kindred, the scenes of his youth and
the friends of his boyhood, and he struggled long with the idea,
brooding over it in sorrow. Speaking afterward to a friend of
his thoughts at the time, he said: " You know the road from my
house at the West Moor to Killingworth. I remember once
when I went along that road I wept bitterly, for I knew not
where my lot in life would be cast." But his poverty prevented
him from prosecuting the idea of emigration, and rooted him to
the place where he afterward worked out his career so manfully
and victoriously.
In 1808, Stephenson, with two other brakesmen, took a small
contract under the colliery lessees, brakeing the engines at the




CHAP. III.]    ECONOMIZES COLLIERY WORKING.         131
West Moor Pit. The brakesmen found the oil and tallow; they
divided the work among them, and were paid so much per score
for their labor. There being two engines working night and day,
two of the three men were always on duty, the average earnings
of each amounting to from 18s. to 20s. a week. It was the interest of the brakesmen to economize the working as much as possible, and George no sooner entered upon the contract than he proceeded to devise ways and means of making the contract "pay."
He observed that the ropes with which the coal was drawn out
of the pit by the winding-engine were badly arranged; they
"glued" and wore each other to tatters by the perpetual friction.
There was thus great wear and tear, and a serious increase in the
expenses of the pit. George found that the ropes whi*a, at other
pits in the neighborhood, lasted about three months, at the West
Moor Pit became worn out in about a month. He accordingly
set himself to ascertain the cause of the defect; and, finding that
it was occasioned by excessive friction, he proceeded, with the
sanction of the head engine-wright and of the colliery owners, to
shift the pulley-wheels so that they worked immediately over the
centre of the pit. By this expedient, accompanied by an entire
rearrangement of the gearing of the machine, he shortly succeeded in greatly lessening the wear and tear of the ropes, to the advantage of the owners as well as of the workmen, who were thus
enabled to labor more continuously and profitably.
About the same time he attempted an improvement in the
winding-engine which he worked, by placing a valve between
the air-pump and condenser. This expedient, although it led to
no practical result, showed that his mind was actively engaged in
studying new mechanical adaptations. It continued to be his
regular habit, on Saturdays, to take his engine to pieces, for the
purpose at the same time of familiarizing himself with its action,
and of placing it in a state of'thorough working order; and by
mastering the details of the engine, he was enabled, as opportunity occurred, to turn to practical account the knowledge thus diligently and patiently acquired.
Such an opportunity was not long in presenting itself. In the
year 1810, a pit -vas sunk by the " Grand Allies" (the lessees, of
the mines) at the village of IKillingworth, now known as the
Killingworth High Pit.* An atmospheric or Newcomen engine,




132              THE HIGH PIT ENGINE.           [PART II.
originally made by Smeaton, was fixed there for the purpose of
pumping out the water from the shaft; but, somehow or other,
the engine failed to clear the pit. As one of the workmen has
since described the circumstance —" She couldn't keep her jackhead in water: all the engine-men in the neighborhood were
tried, as well as Crowther of the Ouseburn, but they were clean
bet." The engine had been fruitlessly pumping for nearly twelve
months, and came to be regarded as a total failure. Stephenson
had gone to look at it when- in course of erection, and then observed to the over-man that he thought it was defective; he also
gave it as his opinion that if there were much water in the mine,
the engine could never keep it under. Of course, as he was only
a brakesitan, his opinion was considered to be worth very little
on suchl a point. He continued) however, to make frequent visits
to the engine to see " how she was getting on." From the bankhead where he worked his brake he could see the chimney smoking at the High Pit; and as the workmen were passing to and
from their work, he would call out and inquire "if they had gotten to the bottom yet." And the reply was always to the same
effect-the pumping made no progress, and the workmen were
still " drowned out."
One Saturday afternoon he went over to the High Pit to examine the engine more carefully than he had yet done. He had
been turning the subject over in his mind, and, after a long examination, he seemed to have satisfied himself as to the cause of the
failure. Kit Heppel, one of the sinkers, asked him,".Weel, George,
what do you mak' o' her? Do you think you could do any thing
to improve her?" "Man," said George, in reply," I could alter
her and make her draw: in a week's time from this I could send
you to the bottom."
Heppel at once reported this conversation to Ralph Dodds, the
head viewer, who, being now quite in despair, and hopeless of
succeeding with the engine, determined to give George's skill a
trial. George had already acquired the character of a very clever and ingenious workman, and, at the worst, he could only fail,
as the rest had done. In the evening Dodds went in search of
Stephenson, and met him on the road, dressed in his Sunday's
suit, on his way to "the preaching" in the Methodist Chapel,
which he at that time attended. "Well, George," said Dodds,




CHAP. III.]  THE P UIPMING-ENGINE CURED.            133
" they tell me that you think you can put the engine at the High
Pit to rights."  "Yes, sir," said George," I think I could." "If
that's the case, I'll give you a fair trial, and you must set to work
immediately. We are clean drowned out, and can not get a step
farther. The engineers hereabouts are all bet; and if you really
succeed in accomplishing what they can not do, you may depend
upon it I will make you a man for life."
Stephenson began his operations early next morning. The
only condition that he made, before setting to work, was that he
should select his own workmen. There was, as he knew, a good
deal of jealousy among the " regular" men that a colliery brakesman should pretend to know more about their engine than they
themselves did, and attempt to remedy defects which the most
skilled men of their craft, including the engineer of the colliery,
had failed to do. But. George made the condition a sine qud non.
"The workmen," said he, "must either be all Whigs or all Tories." There was no help for it, so Dodds ordered the old hands
to stand aside. The men grumbled, but gave way; and then
George and his party went in.
The engine was taken entirely to pieces. The cistern containing the injection water was raised ten feet; the injection cock,
being too small, was enlarged to nearly double its former size,
and it was so arranged that it should be shut off quickly at the
beginning of the stroke. These and other alterations were necessarily performed in a rough way, but; as the result proved, on
true principles. Stephenson also, finding that the boiler would
bear a greater pressure than five pounds to the inchjdetermined
to work it at a pressure of ten pounds, though this was contrary
to the directions of both Newcomen and Smeaton.
The necessary alterations were made in about three days, and
many persons came to see the engine start, including the men
who had put her up. The pit being nearly full of water, she had
little to do on starting, and, to use George's words, " came bounce
into the house." Dodds exclaimed, "Why, she was better as she
was; now, she will knock the house down." After a short time,
however, the engine got fairly to work, and by ten o'clock that
night the water was lower in the pit than it had ever been before.
The engine was kept pumping all Thursday, and by the Friday
afternoon the pit was cleared of water, and the workmen were




134             SKILL AS A PUMP-.WOCTOR.           [PART II.
" sent to the bottom," as Stephenson had promised. Thus the alterations effected in the pumping apparatus proved completely
successful.*
Mr. Dodds was particularly gratified with the manner in which
the job had been done, and he made Stephenson a present of ten
pounds, which, though very inadequate when compared with the
value of the work performed, was accepted with gratitude. George
was proud of the gift as the first marked recognition of his skill
as a workman; and he used afterward to say that it was the biggest sum of money he had up to that time earned in one lump.
Ralph Dodds, however, did more than this; he released the brakes.
man from the handles of his engine at West Moor, and appointed
him engine-man at the High Pit, at good wages, during the time
the pit was sinking-the job lasting for about a year; and he also
kept him in mind for farther advancement.
Stephenson's skill as an engine-doctor soon became noised
abroad, and he was called upon to prescribe remedies for all the
old, wheezy, and ineffective pumping-machines in the neighborhood. In this capacity he soon left the "regular" men far behind, though they, in their turn, were very much disposed to treat
the Killingworth brakesman as no better than a quack. Nevertheless, his practice was really founded upon a close study of the
principles of mechanics, and on an intimate practical acquaintance with the details of the pumping-engine.
Another of his smaller achievements in the same line is still
told by the people of the district. At the corner of the road leading to Long*Benton there was a quarry from which a peculiar
and scarce kind of ochre was taken. In the course of working
it out, the water had collected in considerable quantities; and
there being no means of draining it off, it accumulated to such an
extent that the farther working of the ochre was almost entirely
stopped. Ordinary pumps were tried, and failed; and then a
windmill was tried, and failed too. On this, George was asked
what ought to be done to clear the quarry of the water. He said
"he would set up for them an engine, little bigger than a kail* As different versions have been given of this affair, it may be mentioned that the
above statement is made on the authority of the late Robert Stephenson, and of
George Stephenson himself, as communicated by the latter to his friend Thomas L.
Gooch, C.E., who has kindly supplied the author with his memoranda on the subject.




CHAP. III.]        FEATS OF AGILITY.                 135
pot, that would clear them out in a week." And he did so. A
little engine was speedily erected, by means of which the quarry
was pumped dry in the course of a few days. Thus his skill as
a pump-doctor soon became the marvel of the district.
In elastic muscular vigor Stephenson was now in his prime,
and he still continued zealous in measuring his strength and agility with his fellow-workmen. The competitive element in his
nature was always strong, and his success in these feats of rivalry
was certainly remarkable. Few, if any, could lift such weights,
throw the hammer and put the stone so far, or cover so great a
space at a standing or running leap. One day, between the engine hour and the rope-rolling hour, Kit Heppel challenged him
to leap from one high wall to another, with a deep gap between.
To Heppel's surprise and dismay, George took the standing leap,
and cleared the eleven feet at a bound. Had his eye been less
accurate, or his limbs less agile and sure, the feat must have cost
him his life.
But so full of redundant muscular vigor was he, that leaping,
putting, or throwing the hammer,'were not enough for him. He
was also ambitious of riding on horseback; and, as he had not
yet been promoted to an office enabling him to keep a horse of
his own, he sometimes borrowed one of the gin-horses for a ride.
On one of these occasions he brought the animal back reeking,
when Tommy Mitcheson, the bank horse-keeper, a rough-spoken
fellow, exclaimed to him, " Set such fellows as you on horseback,
and you'll soon ride to the De'il." But Tommy Mitcheson lived
to tell the story, and to confess that, after all, there had been a
better issue of George's horsemanship than what he had predicted.
Old Cree, the engine-wright at Killingworth High Pit, having
been killed by an accident, George Stephenson was, in 1812, appointed engine-wright of the colliery at the salary of ~100 a year.
He was also allowed the use of a galloway to ride upon in his visits of inspection to the collieries leased by the " Grand Allies" in
that neighborhood.
The " Grand Allies" were a company of gentlemen, consisting
of Sir Thomas Liddell (afterward Lord Ravensworth), the Earl of
Strathmore, and, and Mr. Stuart Wortley (afterward Lord WT.harncliffe), the lessees of the Killingworth collieries. Having been informed of the merits of Stephenson, of his indefatigable industry,




136      APPOINTED COLLIERY.ENGINE- WRIGHT.  [PART II.
and the skill w hich he had displayed in the repairs of the pumping-engines, they readily acceded to Mr. Dodds's recommendation
that he'should be appointed the colliery engine-wright; and, as
we shall afterward find, they continued to honor him by distinguished marks.of their. approval.
KILLINGWORTH HIG1 PIT.




GLEBE FARM-HOUSE, BENTON. [By R. P. Leitch.]
CHAPTER IV.
THE STEPHENSONS AT  ILLINGWORTH-EDUCATION AND SELFEDUCATION OF FATHER AND SON.
GEORGE STEPHENSON: had now been diligently employed for
several years in the work of self-improvement, and he experienced the usual results in increasing mental strength, capability,
and skill. Perhaps the secret of every man's best success in life
is to be found in- the alacrity and industry with which he takes
advantage of:the, opportunities which present themselves for welldoing. Our engine-man was an eminent illustration of the importance of cultivating this habit of life. Every spare moment
was laid under contribution by him, either for the purpose of
adding to his earnings or to his knowledge. He missed no opportunity of extending his observations, especially in his own department of work, aiming at improvement, and trying to turn all
that he did know to useful practical account.
He continued his attempts to solve the mystery of Perpetual
Motion, and contrived several model machines with the object of
embodying his ideas in a practical working shape. He afterward
used to lament the time he had lost in these futile efforts, and said
that if he had enjoyed the opportunities which most young men
now have, of learning from books what previous experimenters
had accomplished, he would have been spared much labor and
mortification. Not being acquainted with what other mechanics




138                 JOHN WIGHAM.                [PART II.
had done, he groped his way in pursuit of some idea originated
by his own independent thinking and observation, and, when he
had brought it into some definite form, lo! he found that his supposed invention had long been known and recorded in scientific
books. Often he thought he had hit upon discoveries which he
subsequently found were but old and exploded fallacies. Yet
his very struggle to overcome the difficulties which lay in his
way was of itself an education of the best sort. By wrestling
with them, he strengthened his judgment and sharpened his skill,
stimulating and cultivating his inventiveness and mechanical ingenuity. Being very much in earnest, he was compelled to consider'the subject of his special'inquiry in all its relations, and thus
he gradually acquired practical ability through his very efforts
after the impracticable.
Many of his evenings were spent in the society of John Wigham, whose father occupied the Glebe farm.at Benton close at
hand. John was a fair penman and good arithmetician, and Stephenson frequented his society chiefly for the purpose of improving himself in writing and " figuring." Under Andrew Robertson he had never quite mastered the Rule of Three, and it was
only when Wigham took him in hand that he made progress in
the higher branches of arithmetic. He generally took his slate
with him to the Wighams' cottage, when he had his sums set, that
he might work them out while tending his engine on the following day. When too busy with other work to be able to call upon
Wigham in person, he sent the slate by a fellow-workman to have
the former sums corrected and new ones set. Sometimes also, at
leisure moments, he was enabled to do a little " figuring" with
chalk upon the sides of the coal-wagons. So much patient perseverance could not but eventually succeed; and by dint of practice and study, Stephenson was enabled to master the successive
rules of arithmetic.
John Wigham was of great use to his pupil in many ways. He
was a good talker, fond of argument, an extensive reader as country reading went in those days, and a very suggestive -thinker.
Though his store of information might be comparatively small
when measured with that of more highly cultivated minds, much
of it was entirely new to Stephenson, who regarded him as a very
clever and extraordinary person. Wigham also taught him to draw




CHAP. IV.]    EDUCA TION AND SELF-CULTURE.         139
plans and sections, though in this branch, Stephenson proved so
apt that he soon surpassed his master. A volume of "Ferguson's
Lectures on Mechanics" which fell into their hands was a great
treasure to both the students. One who remembers'their evening occupations says he "used to wonder what they meant by
weighing the air and water in so odd a way." They were trying
the specific gravities of objects; and the devices which they employed, the mechanical shifts to which they were put, were often
of the rudest kind. In these evening entertainments the mechanical contrivances were supplied by Stephenson, while Wigham
found the scientific rationale. The opportunity thus afforded to
the former of cultivating his mind by contact with one wiser
than himself proved of great value, and in after life Stephenson
gratefully remembered the'assistance which, when a humble
workman, he had received from John Wigham, the farmer's son.
His leisure moments thus carefully improved, it will be inferred that Stephenson continued a sober man. Though his notions
were never extreme on this point, he was systematically temperate. It appears that on the invitation of his master, Ralph Dodds
-and an invitation from a master to a workman is not easy to
resist-he had, on one or two occasions, been induced to join him
in a forenoon glass of ale in the public house of the village. But
one day, about noon, when Mr. Dodds had got him as far as the
public-house door, on his invitation to " come in and take a glass
o' yel," Stephenson made a dead stop, and said, firmly, "No, sir,
you must excuse me  I have made a resolution to drink no more
at this time of day." And he went back. He desired to retain
the character of a steady workman; and the instances of men
about him who had made shipwreck of their character through
intemperance were then, as now, unhappily too frequent.
But another consideration besides his own self-improvement
had already begun to exercise an important influence upon his
life. This was the training and education of his son Robert, now
growing up an active, intelligent boy, as full of fun and tricks as
his father had been. When a little fellow, scarce big enough to
reach so high as to put a clock-head on when placed upon the
table, his father would make him mount a chair for the purpose;
and to " help father" was the proudest work which the boy then,
and ever after, could take part in. When the little engine was




140                 HIS SON ROBERT.              [PART II.
set up at the Ochre Quarry to pump it dry, Robert was scarcely
absent for an hour. He watched the machine very eagerly when
it was set to work, and he was very much annoyed at the fire
burning away the grates. The man who fired the engine was a
sort of wag, and thinking to get a laugh at the boy, he said,
" Those bars are getting varra bad, Robert; I think we maun cut
up some of that hard wood, and put it in instead."  "What would
be the use of that, you fool?" said the boy, quickly. "You would
no sooner have put them in than they would be burnt out again!"
So soon as Robert was of a proper age, his father sent him
over to the road-side lchool at Long Benton, kept by Rutter, the
aUTTE'S SCHOOL-HOUSE, LONG BENTON. [By P P. Leitch.]
parish clerk. But the education which he gave was of a very
limnited kind, scarcely extending beyond the primer and pothooks.
While working as a brakesman on the pit-head at Killingworth,
the father had often bethought him of the obstructions he had
himself encountered in life through his want of schooling, and
he formed the determination that no labor, nor pains, nor selfdenial on his part should be spared to furnish his son with the
best education that it was in his power to bestow.
It is true, his ernings were comparatively small at that time.




CHAP. IV.] STEPHENSON ON HIS SON'S EDUCATION.         141
He was still maintaining his infirm parents, and the cost of living
continued excessive. But he fell back, as before, upon his old
expedient of working up his spare time in the evenings at home,
or during the night shifts when it was his turn to tend the engine, in mending and making shoes, cleaning clocks and watches,
making shoe-lasts for the shoemakers of the neighborhood, and
cutting out the pitmen's clothes for their wives; and we have
been told that to this day there are clothes worn at Killingworth
made after "Geordy Steevie's cut."  To give his own words:
"In the earlier period of my career," said he, " when Robert was
a little boy, I saw how deficient I was in tducation, and I made
up my mind that he should not labor under the same defect, but.
that I would put him to a good school, and give him a liberal
training. I was, however, a poor man; and how do you think
I managed? - I betook myself to mending my neighbors' clocks
and watches at nights, after my daily labor was done, and thus I
pr6cured the.means of educating my son."*
By dint of such extra labor in his by-hours, with this object,
Stephenson contrived to save a sum of ~100, which he accumulated in guineas, each of which he afterward sold to Jews, who
went about buying up gold coins (then dearer than silver), at
twenty-six shillings apiece; and he lent out the proceeds at interest.  IIe was now, therefore, a comparatively thriving man.
When he was appointed engine-*'vright of the colliery, he was,
of course, still easier in his circumstances; and, carrying out the
resolution which he had formed as to his boy's education, Robert
was sent to Mr. Bruce's school in Percy Street, Newcastle, at midsummer, 1815, when he was about twelve years old. His father
bought for him a donkey, on which he rode into Newcastle and
back daily; and there are many still living who remember the
little boy, dressed in his suit of homely gray stuff cut out by his
father, cantering along to school upon the " cuddy," with his wallet of provisions for the day and his bag of books slung over his
shoulder.
When Robert went to Mr. Bruce's school he was a shy, unpolished country lad, speaking the broad dialect of the pitmen; and
the other boys would occasionally tease him, for the purpose of
* Speech at Newcastle, on the 18th of June, 1844, at the meeting held in celebration of the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway.




142          BRUCE'S SCHOOL, NEWCASTLE.          [PART Ir.
provoking an outburst of his Killingworth Doric. As the shyness got rubbed off by familiarity, his love of fun began to show
itself, and he was found able enough to hold his own among the
other boys. As a scholar he was steady and diligent, and his
master was accustomed to hold him up to the laggards of the
-RuvE's SOHOOL, N=WOALI. (By R. P. Leitch.]
school as an example of good conduct and industry. But his
progress, though satisfactory, was by no means extraordinary.
He used in after life to pride himself on his achievements in
mensuration, though another boy, John Taylor, beat him at arithmetic. He also made considerable progress in mathematics; and
in a letter written to the son of his teacher, many years after, he
said, "It was to Mr. Bruce's tuition and methods of modeling the
mind that I attribute much of my success as an engineer, for it
was from him that I derived my taste for mathematical pursuits,
and the facility I possess of applying this kind of knowledge to
practical purposes, and modifying it according to circumstances."
During the time Robert attended school at Newcastle, his father made the boy's education instrumental to his own. Robert
was accustomed to spend some of his spare time at the rooms of
the Literary and Philosophical Institute, and when he went home




CHAP. IV.]   ED UCA TION AND SELF-ED UCA TION.       143
in the evening he would recount to his father the results of his
reading. Sometimes he was allowed to take with him to Killingworth a volume of the " Repertory of Arts and Sciences," which
father and son studied together. But many of the most valuable
works belonging to the Newcastle Library were not permitted to
be removed from the rooms; these Robert was instructed to read
and study, and bring away with him descriptions and sketches
for his father's information. His father also practiced him in
the reading of plans and drawings without at all referring to the
written descriptions. He used to observe to his son, "A good
drawing or plan should always explain itself;" and, placing a
drawing of an engine or machine before the youth, he would say,.
"There, now, describe that to me-'the arrangement and the action."  Thus he taught him to read a drawing as easily as he
would read a page of a book. Both father and son profited by
this excellent practice, which shortly enabled them to apprehend
with-the greatest'facility the details of even the most difficult
and complicated mechanical drawing.
While Robert went on with his lessons inrthe evenii:gs,his father was usually occupied with his watch and clock Cleaning, or
contriving models of pumping-engines, or endeavoring to embody
in a tangible shape the mechanical inventions which he found described in the odd volumes on Mechanics which fell in his way.
This daily and unceasing example of industry and application,
working on before the boy's eyes in the person of a loving and
beloved father, imprinted itself deeply upon his mind in characters never to be effaced. A spirit of self-improvement was thus
early and carefully planted and fostered in him, which continued
~to influence his character through life; and toward the close of
his career he was proud to confess that if his professional success
had been great, it was mainly to the example and training of his
father that he owed it.
Robert was not, however, exclusively devoted to study, but, like
most boys full of animal spirits, he was very fond of fun and
play, and sometimes of mischief. Dr. Bruce relates that an old
Killingworth laborer, when asked by Robert, on one of his last
visits to Newcastle, if he' remembered him replied with emotion,
"Ay, indeed I Haven't I paid your head many a time when you
came with your father's bait, for you were always a sad hempy?"




144              ROBERT'S BOYISH TRICKS.             rPART II.
The author had the pleasure, in the year 1854, of accompanying Robert Stephenson on a visit to his old home and haunts at
Killingworth:  He had so often traveled the road upon his donkey to and from school that every foot of it was familiar to him,
and' each turn in it served to recall to mind some incident of his
boJish days.*  His eyes glistened when he came in sight of Killingworth pit head.'Pointing to a humble red-tiled house by the
roadside at Benton, he said," You see that house-that was'Rutter's, where I learned my'A B C; and made a beginning of my
school learninmg; arid' there,'?pointing to a colliery chimney on
the left; "here is Long.Benton, where my father put up his first
pumping-engine'; and a great success it was. And thisS hmble
clay-floored cottage you see here is where my grandfather lived
till the: close of his life.'any a.time have I ridden straight
into the house, mounted,my cudyand called upon grandfafther to. adirli: s  mts  I remember the old man feeling the
animal all. over-4he was then quite blind-after which he would
dilate upon the shape of his ears, fetlocks, and quarters, and usually end by pronouncing him to be a'real blood.' I was a great
favorite with the old man, who continued very fond of animals,
and'cheerful to the' last; and I believe noth'i     gave him greater
pleasure: than a viEsitfrom metandmy Cuddy."?
On'the way fm Benton to:: ilg  Kilingworth  $,'Stephen-.sonl pointed o'a corner of-the road Where he had once played
a boyish trick upon a Killingworth  collier. "Straker," said he,
"' was a great bully, a coarse, swearing fellow, and a perfect tyrant among the women and children. He would go tearing into,old'Nanny the huxter's shop in the village, and demand in a savage ro:ice,"' What's ye'r best ham the pund?'' What's floor the
hunder4''"What d'ye ax for prime bacon?'-his categories usually ending:with the miserable order, accompani'ed.with a tremendous oath, of'Gie's a penny rrow (roll) an':a banbee herrin'!'
The poor'woman was' usualy set' all of a' shake' by a visit from
this fellow. He was also a great boasteir, and used to crow over
the robbers whom he had put to flight; mere men in buckram,
* At one part of the: road he was once pulled. off'his donkey.by some mischievous
boys, and released.by a young man named James Burnet. Many years after, Burnet
was taken oa as a workman at the Newcastle factory, probably owing his.selection in
some measure to the above circumstance.




CHAP. IV.]      ROBERT'S SCIENTIFIC TRICK.                   145
as every body knew. We boys," he continued, " believed him to
be a great coward, and determined to play him a trick. Two
other boys joined me in waylaying Straker one night at that corner," pointing to it.  "We sprang out and called upon him, in
as gruff voices as we could assume, to'stand and deliver!' He
dropped down upon his knees in the dirt, declaring he was a poor
man, with a sma' family, asking for' mercy,' and imploring us, as' gentlemen, for God's sake, t' let him a-be!' We couldn't stand
this any longer, and set up a shout of laughter.  Recognizing
our boys' voices, he sprang to his feet again, and rattled out a
volley of oaths, on which we cut through the hedge, and heard
him shortly after swearing his way along the road to the yelhouse."
On another occasion Robert played a series of tricks of a somewhat different character. Like his father, he was very fond of
reducing his scientific reading to practice; and after studying
Franklin's description of the lightning experiment, he proceeded
to expend his store of Saturday pennies in purchasing about half
a mile of copper wire at a brazier's shop in Newcastle.  Having
prepared his kite, he set it up in the field opposite his father's
door, and bringing the wire, insulated by means of a few feet of
silk cord, over the backs of some of Farmer Wigham's cows, he
soon had them skipping about the field in all directions with their
tails up.  One day he had his kite flying at the cottage-door as
his father's galloway was hanging by the bridle to the paling,
waiting for the master to mount. Bringing the end of the wire
just over the pony's crupper, so smart an electric shock was given
it that the brute was almost knocked down. At this juncture
his father issued from the house, riding-whip in hand, and was
witness to the scientific trick just played off upon his galloway.
"Ah! you mischievous scoondrel!" cried he to the boy, who ran
off, himself inwardly chuckling with pride, nevertheless, at Robert's successful experiment.*
At this time, and for many years after, Stephenson dwelt'in a
* Robert Stephenson was, perhaps, prouder of this little boyish experiment than
he was of many of his subsequent achievements. Not having been quite accurately
stated in the first edition of this book, Mr. Stephenson noted the correction for the
second, and wrote to the author (Sept. 18th, 1857) as follows: "In the kite experiment, will you say that the copper wire was insulated by a few feet of'silk cord;
without this, the experiment can not be made."
Ki




146            THE COTTAGE, WEST iMOOR.        [PART IL
cottage standing by the side of the road leading from the West
Moor Pit to Killingworth. The railway from West Moor crosses
this road close by the easternmost end of the cottage. The dwelling originally consisted of but one apartment on the ground floor,
with a garret overhead, to which access was obtained by means
STEPHRENSON'S OOTAGES WEST MOO. EBy R. P. Leitch.]
of a step-ladder. With his own hands Stephenson built an oven,
and in the course of time he added rooms to the cottage, until
it became expanded into a comfortable four-roomed dwelling, in
which he remained as long as he lived at Killingworth.
He continued as fond of birds and animals as ever, and seemed
to have the power of attaching them to him in a remarkable degree. He had a blackbird at Killingworth so fond of him that
it would fly about the cottage, and on holding out his finger the
bird would come and perch upon it directly. A cage was built
for " blackie" in the partition between the passage and the room,
a square of glass forming its outer wall; and Robert used afterward to take pleasure in describing the oddity of the bird, imitating the manner in which it would cock its head on his father's
entering the house, and follow him with its eye into the inner
apartment.




CHAP. IV.]     ECCENTRIC CONTRIVANCES.              147
Neighbors were accustomed to call at the cottage and have
their clocks and watches set to rights when they went wrong.
One day, after looking at the works of a watch left by a pitman's
wife, George handed it to his son: "Put her in the oven, Robert,"
said hle, "for a quarter of an hour or so." It seemed an odd way
of repairing a watch; nevertheless, the watch was put into the
oven, and at the end of the appointed time it was taken out,
going all right. The wheels had merely got clogged by the oil
congealed by the cold, which at once explains the rationale of the
remedy adopted.
There was a little garden attached to the cottage, in which,
while a workman, Stephenson took a pride in growing gigantic
leeks and astonishing cabbages. There was great competition in
the growing of vegetables among the villagers, all of whom he
excelled excepting one, whose cabbages sometimes outshone his.
To protect his garden-crops from the ravages of the birds, he invented a strange sort of " fley-craw," which moved its arms with
the wind; and he fastened his garden-door by means of a piece
of ingenious mechanism, so that no one but himself could enter
it. His cottage was quite a curiosity-shop of models of engines,
self-acting planes, and perpetual-motion machines. The last
named contrivances, however, were only unsuccessful attempts to
solve a problem which had already baffled hundreds of preceding
inventors.
I-Is odd and eccentric contrivances often excited great wonder
among the Killingworth villagers. He won the women's admiration by connecting their cradles with the smoke-jack, and making them self-acting. Then he astonished the pitmen by attaching an alarm to the clock of the watchman whose duty it was to
call them betimes in the morning. He also contrived a wonderful lamp which burned under water, with which he was afterward wont to amuse the Brandling family at Gosforth-going
into the fish-pond at night, lamp in hand, attracting and catching
the fish, which rushed wildly toward the flame.
Dr. Bruce tells of a competition which Stephenson had with
the joiner at Killingworth as to which of them could make the
best shoe-last; and when the former had done his work, either
for the humor of the thing or to secure fair play from the appointed judge, he took it to the Morrisons in Newcastle, and got




148            SUN-DIAL A T WEST MOOR.           [PART II.
them to put their stamp upon it; so that it is possible the Killingworth brakesman, afterward the inventor of a safety-lamp and
originator of the locomotive railway system, and John Morrison,
the last-maker, afterward the translator of the Scriptures into the
Chinese language, may have confronted each other in solemn
contemplation of the successful last, which won the verdict coveted by its maker.
Sometimes George would endeavor to impart to his fellowworkmen the results of his scientific reading. Every thing that
he learned from books was so new and so wonderful to him, that
he regarded the facts he drew from them in the light of discoveries, as if they had been made but yesterday. Once he tried to
explain to some of the pitmen how the earth was round, and kept
turning round. But his auditors flatly declared the thing to be
impossible, -as it was clear that " at the bottom side they must fall
off!" "Ah!" said~ George, "you don't quite understand it yet."
His son Robert also' early endeavored to communicate to others
the information which he had gathered at school; and Dr. Bruce
relates that, when visiting Killingworth on one occasion, he found
him engaged in teaching algebra to such of the pitmen's boys as
would become his pupils.
While Robert was still at school, his father -proposed to him
during the holidays that he should construct a sun-dial, to be
placed over their cottage-door at West Moor. "I expostulated
with him at first," said Robert, "that I had not learned sufficient
astronomy and mathematics to enable me to make the necessary
calculations. But he would have no denial.'The thing is to be
done,' said he,'so just set about it at once.' Well, we got a' Ferguson's Astronomy,' and studied the subject together. Many- a
sore head I had while making the necessary calculations to adapt
the dial to the latitude of Killingworth. But at length it was
fairly drawn out on paper, and then my father got a stone, and
we hewed, and carved, and polished it, until we made a very respectable dial of it; and there it is, you see," pointing to it over
the cottage door, " still quietly numbering the hours when the sun
shines. I assure you, not a little was thought of that piece of
work by the pitmen when it was put up, and began to tell its
tale of time." The date carved upon the dial is "August 11th,
XmCccxvI."  Both father and son were in after life very proud of




CHAP. IV.] REACHES THE HEIGHT OF HIS AAMBITION.    149
their joint production. Many
years after, George took a par-, ell    ty of savans, when attending
0-  r.  v Ilthe meeting of the British As"' ~,sociation at Newcastle, over to
Killingworth to see the pits,
i  ll)li   and, he did not fail to direct
their attention to the sun-dial;
and Robert, on the last visit
_________    ~: which he made to the place, a
short time before his death,'',.., took a friend into the cottage,
I i,1!1~tl,!  and pointed out to him the
very desk, still there, at which
he had sat when making his calculations of the latitude of Killingworth.
From the time of his appointment as engineer at the Killingworth Pit, George Stephenson was. in a measure relieved from
the daily routine of manual labor, having, as we have seen, advanced himself to the grade of a higher-class workman. He had
not ceased to be a worker, though he employed his industry in a
different way. It might, indeed, be inferred that he had now the
command of greater leisure,; but his spare hours were as much
as ever given to work, either necessary or self-imposed. So far
as regarded his social position, he had already reached the summit of his ambition; and when he had got his hundred a year,
and his dun galloway to ride on, he said he never wanted to be
any higher. When Robert Wetherly offered to give him an old
gig, his traveling having so much increased of late, he accepted
it with great reluctance, observing that he should be ashamed to
get into it, "people would think him so proud."
When the High Pit had been sunk and the coal was ready for
working, Stephenson erected his first winding-engine to draw the
coals out of the pit, and also a pumping-engine for Long Benton
colliery, both of which proved quite successful. Among other
works of this time, he projected and laid down a self-acting incline along the declivity which fell toward the coal-loading place
near Willington, where he had formerly officiated as brakesman;
and he so arranged it that the full- wagons, descending, drew the




150          STEPHENSON'S VARIOUS DUTIES.         [PART II.
empty wagons up the railroad. This was one of the first selfacting inclines laid down in the district.
The following is Stephenson's own account of his various duties and labors at this period of his life, as given before a Committee of the House of Commons in 1835:*
"After making some improvements in the steam-engines above
ground, I was requested by the manager of the colliery to go underground along with him, to see if any improvements could be made
in the mines by employing machinery as a &substitute for manual
labor and horse-power in bringing the coals out of the deeper workings of the mine.. On my first going down the Killingworth pit,
there was a steam-engine underground for the purpose of drawing
water from a pit that was sunk at some distance from the first shaft.
The Killingworth coal-field is considerably dislocated. After the
colliery was opened, at a very short distance from the shaft, one of
those dislocations was met with. The coal was thrown down about
forty yards. Considerable time was spent in sinking another pit to
this depth. And on my going down to examine the work, I proposed making the engine (which had been erected some time previously) to draw the coals up an inclined plane which descended
immediately from the place where it was fixed.. A considerable
change was accordingly made in the mode of working the colliery,
not only in applying the machinery, but in employing putters instead of horses in bringing the coals from the hewers; and by those
changes the number of horses in the pit was reduced from about
100 to 15 or 16. During the time I was engaged in making these
important alterations, I went round the workings in the pit with
the viewer almost every time that he went into the mine, not only
at Killingworth, but at Mountmoor, Derwentcrook, Southmoor, all
of which collieries belonged to Lord Ravensworth and his partners;
and the whole of the machinery in all these collieries was put under
my charge."
It will thus be observed that Stephenson had now much better
opportunities for improving himself in mechanics than he had
heretofore possessed. His practical knowledge of the steam-engine could not fail to prove of the greatest value to him. His
shrewd insight, together with his intimate acquaintance with its
mechanism, enabled him to apprehend, as if by intuition, its most
abstruse and difficult combinations. The study which he had
* Evidence given before the Select Committee on Accidents in Mines, 1835.




CHAP. IV.]      THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE.                151
given to it when a workman, and the patient manner in which
he had groped his way through all the details of the machine,
gave him the power of a master in dealing with it as applied to
colliery purposes.
Sir Thomas Liddell was frequently about the works, and took
pleasure in giving every encouragement to the engine-wright in
his efforts after improvement. The subject of the locomotive engine was already occupying Stephenson's careful attention, although it was still regarded in the light of a curious and costly
toy, of comparatively little real use. But he had at an early period recognized its practical value, and formed an adequate conception of the might which as yet slumbered within it, and he
now proceeded to bend the whole faculties of his mind to the development of its powers.
COLLIERS' COTTAGES AT LONG BENTON. [By R. P. Leitch.]




152             THE LOCOMOT'IVE ENGINE.            [PART II.
CHAPTER V.
THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE-GEORGE STEPHENSON BEGINS ITS
IMPROVEMENT.
THE rapid increase in the coal-trade of the Tyne about the beginning of the present century had the effect of stimulating the
ingenuity of mechanics, and encouraging them to devise improved methods of transporting the coal from the pits to the
shipping-places. From our introductory chapter, it will have
been observed that the improvements which had thus far been
effected were confined almost entirely to the road. The railway
wagons still continued to be drawn by horses. By improving
and flattening the tram-way, considerable economy in horse-power had been secured; but, unless some more effective method -of
mechanical traction could be devised, it was clear that railway
improvement had almost reached its limits.
Notwithstanding Trevithick's comparatively successful experiment with the first railway locomotive on the Merthyr Tydvil
tram-road in 1804, described in a former chapter, he seems to
have taken no farther steps to bring his invention into notice.
He was probably discouraged by the breakage of the cast-iron
plates, of which the road was formed, which were crushed under
the load of his engine, and could not induce the owners of the
line to relay it with better. materials so as-to give his locomotive
a fair trial.
An imaginary difficulty, also, seems to have tended, among
other obstacles, to prevent the adoption of the locomotive, viz.,
the idea that, if a heavy weight were placed behind the engine,
the "grip" or "bite" of its smooth wheels upon the equally
smooth iron rail must necessarily be so slight that they would
whirl round upon it, and, consequently, that the machine would
not make any progress.* Hence Trevithick, in his patent, pro* The same fallacy seems long to have held its ground in France; for M. Granier
tells us that some time after the first of George Stephenson's locomotives had been




CHAP. V.]         THE WYLAM WAGON- WAY.                  153
vided that the periphery of the driving-wheels should be made
rough by the projection of bolts or cross-grooves, so that the adhesion of the wheels to the road might thereby be better secured.
Trevithick himself does not seem to have erected another engine, but we gather from the evidence given by Mr. Rastrick in
the committee on the Liverpool and Manchester Bill in 1825,
that ten or twelve years before that time he had made an engine
for Trevithick after his patent, and that the engine was exhibited
in London. "A circular railroad was laid down," said Mr. Rastrick, and it was stated that this engine was to run against a
horse, and that which went a sufficient number of miles was to
win."  It is not known what afterward became of this engine.
There were, however, at a much earlier period, several wealthy
and enterprising men, both in Yorkshire and Northumberland,
who were willing to give the locomotive a fair trial; and had
Trevithick but possessed the requisite tenacity of purpose-had
he not been too soon discouraged by partially successful experiments-he might have risen to both fame and fortune, not only
as the inventor of the locomotive, but as the practical introducer
of railway locomotion.
One of Trevithick's early friends and admirers was Mr. Blackett, of Wylam. The Wylam wagon-way is one of the oldest in
the north of England. Down to the year 1807 it was formed of
wooden spars or rails, laid down between the colliery at Wylam
-where old Robert Stephenson worked-and the village of Lemington, some four miles, down the Tyne, where the coals were
loaded into keels or barges, and floated down past Newcastle, to
be shipped for London. Each chaldron-wagon had a man in
charge of it, and was originally drawn by one horse. The rate
at which the wagons were hauled was so slow that only two journeys were performed by each man and horse in one day, and
three on the day following. This primitive wagon-way passed,
as before stated, close in front of the cottage in which George
Stephenson was born, and one of the earliest sights which met
his infant eyes was this wooden tram-road worked by horses.
placed on the Liverpool and Manchester line, a model of one was exhibited before the
Academy. After it had been examined, a member of that learned body said, smiling, " Yes, this is all very ingenious, no doubt, but unfortunately the machine will
never move. The wheels will turn round and round in the same place."




154              MR. BLA CKETT.-JOHN STEELE.                   [PART II.
Mr. Blackett was the first colliery owner in the North who
took an active interest in the locomotive. He had witnessed the
first performances of Trevithick's steam-carriage in London, and
was so taken with the idea of its application to railway locomotion that he resolved to have an engine erected after the new
patent for use upon his tram-way at Wylam. He accordingly
obtained from Trevithick, in October, 1804, a plan of his engine,
provided with "friction-wheels," and employed Mr. John Whinfield, of Pipewellgate, Gateshead, to construct it at his foundery
there. The engine was made under the, superintendence of one
John Steele,* an ingenious mechanic, who had been in Wales,
and worked under Trevithick in fitting the engine at Pen-ydarran. When the Gateshead locomotive was finished, a temporary way was laid down in the works, on which it was run backward and forward many times. For some reason or other, however-it is said because the engine was too light for drawing the
coal-trains-it never left the works, but was dismounted from
the wheels, and set to blow the cupola of the foundery, in which
service it long continued to be employed.
Several years elapsed before Mr. Blackett took any farther
steps to carry out his idea. The final abandonment of Trevithick's locomotive at Pen-y-darran perhaps contributed to deter
him  from  proceeding farther; but he had the Wylam  wooden
tram-way taken up in 1808, and a plate-way of cast iron laid
* John Steele was one of the many " born mechanics" of the Northumberland district. When a boy at Colliery Dykes, his native place, he was noted for his "turn
for machinery." He used to take his playfellows home to see and admire his imitations of pit-engines. While a mere youth he lost his leg by an accident; and those
who remember him at Whinfield's speak of his hopping about the locomotive, of
which he was very proud, upon his wooden leg. It was a great disappointment to
him when Mr. Blackett refused to take the engine. One day he took a friend to
look at it when reduced to its degraded office of blowing the cupola bellows; and, referring to the cause of its rejection, he observed that he was certain it would succeed,
if made sufficiently heavy. " Our master," he continued," will not be at the expense of following it up; but depend upon it the day will come When such an engine
will be fairly tried, and then it will be found to answer." Steele was afterward extensively employed by the British government in raising sunken ships; and later in
life he established engine-works at Rouen, where he made marine-engines for the
French government. He was unfortunately killed by the explosion of an engineboiler (with the safety-valve of which something had gone wrong) when on an experimental trip with one of the steamers fitted up by himself, and on his way to England to visit his family near Newcastle.




CHAP. V.]    BLENKINSOP'S LEEDS ENGINE.             155
down instead-a single line furnished with sidings to enable the
laden wagons to pass the empty ones. The new iron road proved
so much smoother than the old wooden one, that a single horse,
instead of drawing one, was enabled to draw two, or even three
laden wagons.
Although the locomotive seemed about to be lost sight of, it
was not forgotten. In 1811, Mr. Blenkinsop, the manager of the
Middleton Collieries, near Leeds, revived the idea of employing
it in lieu of horses to haul the coals along his tram-way. MIr.
Blenkinsop, in the patent which he took out for his proposed engine, followed in many respects the design of Trevithick; but,
with the help of Matthew Murray, of Leeds, one of the most ingenious mechanics of his day, he introduced several important
and valuable modifications. Thus he employed two cylinders of
8 in. diameter instead of one, as in Trevithick's engine. These
cylinders were placed vertically, and immersed for more than
half their length in the steam space of the boiler. ~ The eduction
BLENKINSOP'S LIE8 _   NGIN,




156           BLENKINSOP'S LEEDS ENGINE.            [PART II.
pipes met in a single tube at the top, and threw the steam into
the air. The boiler was cylindrical in form, but of cast iron.
It had one flue, the fire being at one end and the chimney at the
other. The engine was supported on a carriage without springs,
resting directly upon two pairs of wheels and axles unconnected
with the working parts, and which merely served to carry the
engine upon the rails. The motion was effected in this way:
the piston-rods, by means of cross-heads, worked the connectingrods, which came down to two cranks on each side below the
boiler, placed at right angles in order to pass their centres with
certainty. These cranks worked two shafts fixed across the engine, on which were small-toothed wheels working into a larger
one between them; and on the axis of this large wheel, outside
the framing, were the driving-wheels, one of which was toothed,
and worked into a rack on one side of the railway.
It will be observed that the principal new features in this engine were the two cylinders and the toothed-wheel working into
a rack-rail. Mr. Blenkinsop contrived the latter expedient in order to insure sufficient adhesion between the wheel and the road,
supposing that smooth wheels and smooth rails would be insufficient for the purpose. Clumsy and slow though the engine was
compared with modern locomotives, it was nevertheless a success.
It was the first engine that plied regularly upon any railway,
doing useful work; and it continued so employed for more than
twenty years. What was more, it was a commercial success, for
its employment was found to be economical compared with horsepower.  In a letter to Sir John Sinclair, Mr. Blenkinsop stated
that Mis engine weighed five tons; consumed two thirds of a hundred weight of coals and fifty gallons of water per hour; drew
twenty-seven wagons, weighing ninety-four tons, on a dead level,
at three and a half miles an hour, or fifteen tons up an ascent
of 2 in. in the yard; that when " lightly loaded" it traveled at a
speed of ten miles an hour; that it did the. work of sixteen horses
in twelve hours; and that its cost was ~400.'Such was Mr. Blenkinsop's own account of the performances of his engine, which
was for a long time regarded as one of the wonders of the neighborhoo.d.*
* Thomas Gray, a native of Leeds, was an enthusiastic believer in the new tractive
power, and wherever he went he preached up railways and Blenkinsop's locomotive.




CHAP. V.]          A LOCOMOTIVE WITH LEGS.                         157
The Messrs. Chapman, of Newcastle, in 1812 endeavored to
overcome the same fictitious difficulty of the want of adhesion
between the wheel and the rail by patenting a locomotive to
work along the road by means of a chain stretched from one end
of it to the other. This chain was passed once round a grooved
barrel-wheel under the centre of the engine, so that when the
wheel turned, the locomotive, as it were, dragged itself along the
railway. An engine constructed after this plan was tried on the
Heaton Railway, near Newcastle; but it was so clumsy in action,
there was so great a loss of power by friction, and it was found
to be so expensive and difficult to keep in repair, that it was very
soon abandoned. Another remarkable expedient was adopted by
Mr. Brunton, of the Butterley Works, Derbyshire, who in 1813
patented his Mechanical Traveler, to go upon legs working alternately like those of a horse.* But this engine never got beyond the experimental state, for, ai its very first trial, the driver,
to make sure of a good start, overloaded the safety-valve, when
the boiler burst and killed a number of the by-standers, wounding
many more. These, ahd other contrivances with the same object,
projected about the same time, show that invention was busily at
work, and that many minds were anxiously laboring to solve the
problem of steam locomotion on railways.
Mr. Blackett, of Wylam, was encouraged by the success of Mr.
Blenkinsop's experiment, and again he resolved to make a trial
of the locomotive upon his wagon-way.  Accordingly, in 1812,
he ordered a second engine, which was so designed as to work
with a toothed driving-wheel upon a rack-rail as at Leeds. This
While he was living at Brussels in 1816, a canal to Charleroi was under consideration, on which he seized the opportunity of urging the superior merits of a railway.
When he returned to England in 1820, he wrote a book upon the subject, entitled,'" Ohbscrvationn an a General Iron Railway" in which he strongly advocated the advantages of railways generally, giving as a frontispiece to the book an engraving of
Blenkinsop's engine. And several years after the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway we find Thomas Gray, true to his first love, urging in the " Mechanics' Magazine" the superiority of Blenkinsop's cogged wheel and rail over the smooth
road and rail of the modern railway.
* Other machines with legs were patented in the following year by Lewis Gompertz
and by Thomas Tindall. In Tindall's specification it is provided that the power of
the engine is to be assisted by a horizontal windmill; and the four pushers, or legs,
are to be caused to come successively in contact with the ground, and impel the carriage.




158          MR. BLACKETT'S LOCOMOTIVE.         [PART II.
locomotive was constructed by Thomas Waters, of Gateshead,
under the superintendence of Jonathan Foster, Mr. Blackett's
principal engine-wright. It was a combination of Trevithick's
and Blenkinsop's engines; but it was of a more awkward construction than either. Like Trevithick's, it had a single cylinder
with a fly-wheel, which Blenkinsop had discarded. The boiler
was of cast iron. Jonathan Foster described it to the author in
1854 as "a strange machine, with lots of pumps, cog-wheels, and
plugs, requiring constant attention while at work." The weight
of the whole was about six tons.
When finished, it was conveyed to Wylam on a wagon, and
there mounted upon a wooden frame, supported by four pairs of
wheels, which had been constructed for its reception. A barrel
of water, placed on another frame upon wheels, was attached to
it as a tender. After a great deal of labor, the cumbrous machine was got upon the road. At first it would not move an
inch. Its maker, Tommy Waters, became impatient, and at length
enraged, and, taking hold of the lever of the safety-valve, declared
in his desperation that " either she or he should go." At length
the machinery was set in motion, on which, as Jonathan Foster
described to the author, "she flew all to pieces, and it was the
biggest wonder i' the world that we were not all blewn up." The
incompetent and useless engine was declared to be a failure; it
was shortly after dismounted and sold; and Mr. Blackett's praiseworthy efforts thus far proved in vain.
He was still, however, desirous of testing the practicability of
employing locomotive power in working the coal down to Lemington, and he determined on making yet another trial. He accordingly directed his engine-wright, Jonathan Foster, to proceed
with the building of a third engine in the Wylam workshops.
This new locomotive had a single 8-inch cylinder, was provided
with a fly-wheel like its predecessor, and the driving-wheel was
cogged on one side to enable it to travel in the rack-rail laid
along the road. The engine proved more successful than the
former one, and it was found capable of dragging eight or nine
loaded wagons, though at the rate of little more than a mile an
hour, from the colliery to the shipping-place. It sometimes took
six hours to-perform the journey of five miles. Its weight was
found too great for the road, and the cast-iron plates were con



CHAP. V.] BLACKETT'S SECOND ENGINE A FAILURE.        159
stantly breaking. It was also very apt to get off the rack-rail,
and then it stood still. The driver was one day asked how he
got on. " Get on?" said he, "we don't get on; we only get off!"
On such occasions, horses had to be sent out to drag the wagons
as before, and others to haul the engine back to the workshops.
It was constantly getting out of order; its plugs, pumps, or cranks
got wrong, and it was under repair as often as at work. At length
it became so cranky that the horses were usually sent after it to
drag it along when it gave up, and the workmen generally declared it to be a "perfect plague."  Mr. Blackett did not obtain
credit among his neighbors for these experiments. Many laughed at his machines, regarding them only in the light of crotchets
— frequently quoting the proverb of " a fool and his money are
soon parted." Others regarded them as absurd innovations on
the established method of hauling coal, and pronounced that they
would " never answer."
Notwithstanding, however, the comparative failure of the second locomotive, Mr. Blackett persevered with his experiments.
He was zealously assisted by Jonathan Foster, the engine-wright,
and William IIedley, the viewer of the colliery, a highly ingenious person, who proved of great use in carrying out the experiments to a successful issue. One of the chief causes of failure
being the rack-rail, the idea occurred to Mr. Hedley that it might
be possible to secure sufficient adhesion between the wheel and
the rail by the mere weight of the engine, and he proceeded to
make a series of experiments for the purpose of determining this
problem. He had a frame placed on four wheels, and fitted up
with windlasses attached by gearing to the several wheels. The
frame having been properly weighted, six men were set to work
the windlasses, when it was found that the adhesion of the smooth
wheels on the smooth rails was quite sufficient to enable them to
propel the machine without slipping. Having then found the
proportion which the power bore to the weight, he demonstrated
by successive experiments that the weight of the engine would
of itself produce sufficient adhesion to enable it to draw upon a
smooth railroad the requisite number of wagons in all kinds of
weather. And thus was the fallacy which had heretofore prevailed on this subject completely exploded, and it was satisfactorily proved that rack-rails, toothed wheels, endless chains, and




160                IMPROVED  WYLAlM ENGINE.                    [PART II.
legs, were alike unnecessary for the efficient traction of loaded
wagons upon a moderately level road.*
From this time forward, considerably less difficulty was experienced in working the coal-trains upon the Wylam tram-road.
At length the rack-rail was dispensed with. The road was laid
with heavier rails; the working of the old engine was improved;
and a new engine was shortly after built and placed upon the
road, still on eight wheels, driven by seven rack-wheels working
inside them-with a wrought-iron boiler through which the flue
was returned so as, largely to increase the heating surface, and
thus give increased power to the engine.t  Below is a representation of this improved Wylam engine.
WYLAM ENGINE,.
* Mr. Hedley took out a patent to secure his invention, dated the 13th of March,
1813. Specification No. 3666. If it be true, as alleged, that the wheels of Trevithick's first locomotive were smooth, it seems strange that the fallacy should ever
have existed.
t By the year 1825, the progress made on the Wylam Railroad was thus described
by Mr. Mackenzie in his "History of Northumberland:" "A stranger," said he, "is
struck with surprise and astonishment on seeing a locomotive engine moving majestically along the road at the rate of four or five miles an hour, drawing along from
ten to fourteen loaded wagons, weighing about 21J tons; and his surprise is increased
on witnessing the extraordinary facility with which the engine is managed. This invention is a noble triumph of science."




CHAP. V.]    COAL HA ULA GE A T KILLING WORTH.        161
As may readily be imagined,'the jets of steam from the piston,
blowing off into the air at high pressure while the engine was in
motion, caused considerable annoyance to horses passing along
the Wylam road, at that time a public highway. The nuisance
was felt to be almost intolerable, and a neighboring gentleman
threatened to have it put down. To diminish the noise as much
as possible, Mr. Blackett gave orders that so soon as any horse, or
vehicle drawn by horses, came in sight, the locomotive was to be
stopped, and the frightful blast of the engine thus suspended until
the passing animals had got out of sight. Much interruption was
thus caused to the worling of the railway, and it excited considerable dissatisfaction among the workmen. The following plan
was adopted to abate the nuisance: a reservoir was provided immediately behind the chimney (as shown in the opposite cut)
into which the waste steam was thrown after it had performed its
office in the cylinder, and from this reservoir the steam gradually
escaped into the atmosphere without noise. This arrangement
was devised with the express object of preventing a blast' in the
chimney, the value of which, as we shall subsequently find, was
not detected until George Stephenson, adopting it with a preconceived design and purpose, demonstrated its importance and value
-as being, in fact, the very life-breath of the locomotive engine.
While Mr. Blackett was thus experimenting and building locomotives at Wylam, George Stephenson was anxiously studying
the same subject at Killingworth. He was no sooner appointed
engine-wright of the collieries than his attention was directed to
the means of more economically hauling the coal from the pits to
the river side. We have seen that one of the first important improvements which he made, after being placed in charge of the
colliery machinery, was to apply the surplus power of a plumping
steam-engine fixed underground, for the purpose of drawing the
coals out of the deeper workings of the IKillingworth mines, by
which he succeeded in effecting a large reduction in the expenditure on manual and horse labor.
The coals, when brought above ground, had next to be laboriously dragged by means of horses to the shipping staiths on the
Tyne, several miles distant. The adoption of a tram-road, it is
true, had tended to facilitate their transit; nevertheless, the haulage was both tedious and expensive. With the view of econoL




162     STEPHENSON'S STUDY OF THE LOCOMOTIVE. [PART II.
mizing labor, Stephenson laid down inclined planes where the nature of the ground would admit of this expedient being adopted.
Thus a train of full wagons let down the incline by means of a
rope running over wheels laid along the tram-road, the other end
of which was attached to a train of empty wagons placed at the
bottom of the parallel road on the same incline, dragged them up
by the simple power of gravity. But this applied only to a comparatively small part of the road. An economical method of
working the coal-trains, instead of by means of horses-the keep
of which was at that time very costly, in consequence of the high
price of corn-was still a great desideratum, and the best practical minds in the collieries were actively engaged in trying to solve
the problem.
In the first place, Stephenson resolved to make himself thoroughly acquainted with what had already been done.  Mr. Blackett's engines were working, daily at Wylam, past the cottage where
he had been born, and thither he frequently went* to inspect the
improvements made by Mr. Blackett from  time to time both in
the locomotive and in the plate-way along which it worked. Jonathan Foster informed us that, after one of these visits, Stephenson declared to him his conviction that a much more effective engine might be made, that should work more steadily and draw
the load more effectively.
He had also the advantage, about the same time, of seeing one
of Blenkinsop's Leeds engines, which was placed on the tram-way
leading from the collieries of Kenton and Coxlodge, on'the 2d of
September, 1813. This locomotive drew sixteen chaldron wagons, containing an aggregate weight of seventy tons, at the rate
of about three miles an hour.  George Stephenson and several of
the Killingworth men were among the crowd of spectators that
* At the Stephenson Memorial meeting at Newcastle-on-Tyne, 26th of October,
1858, Mr. Hugh Taylor, chairman of the Northern Coal-owners, gave the following
account of one of such visits made by Stephenson to Wylam, in the company of Mr.
Nicholas Wood and himself: "It was, I think, in 1812, that Mr. Stephenson and
Mr. Wood came to my house, then at Newburn, and after we had dined, we went and
examined the locomotive then on Mr. Blackett's wagon-way. At that early date it
went by a4 sort of cog-wheel; there was also something of a chain to it. There was
no idea that the machine would be sufficiently adhesive to the rails by the action of
its own weight; but I remember a man going before —that was after the chain was
abrogated-and scattering ashes on the rails, in order to give it adhesiveness, and two
or three miles an hour was about the rate of progress."




CO&P. V.]  HE CONTEMPLA TES ITS IMPROVEMENT.        163
day; and after examining the engine and observing its performances, he remarked to his companions that " he thought he could
make a better engine than that, to go upon legs." Probably he
had heard of the invention of Brunton, whose patent had by this
time been published, and proved the subject of much curious
speculation in the colliery districts. Certain it is that, shortly
after the inspection of the Coxlodge engine, he contemplated the
construction of a new locomotive, which was to surpass all that
had preceded it. He observed that those engines which had been
constructed up to this time, however ingenious in their arrangements, were in a great measure practical failures. Mr. Blackett's
was as yet both clumsy and expensive. Chapman's had been removed from the Heaton tram-way in 1812, and was: regarded -as
a total failure. And the Blenkinsop engine at Coxlodge was
found very unsteady and costly in its working; besides, it pulled
the rails to pieces, the entite strain being upon the rack-rail on
one side of the road. The boiler, however, having shortly blown
up, there was an end of that engine, and the colliery owners did
not feel encouraged to try any farther experiment.
An efficient and economical working locomotive engine, therefore, still remained to be invented, and to accomplish this object
Stephenson now applied himself. Profiting by what his predecessors had done, warned by their failures and encouraged by
their partial successes, he commencea his labors. There was
still wanting the man who should accomplish for the locomotive
what James Watt had done for the steam-engine, and combine
in a complete form the best points in the separate plans of others, embodying with them such original inventions and adaptations of his own as to entitle him to the merit of inventing the
working locomotive, as James Watt is to be regarded as the inventor of the working condensing engine. This was the great
work upon which George Stephenson now entered, though probably without any adequate idea of the ultimate importance of
his labors to society and civilization.
He proceeded to bring the subject of constructing a "Traveling Engine," as he then denominated the locomotive, under the
notice of the lessees of the Killingworth Colliery, in the year
1813. Lord Ravensworth, the principal partner, had already
formed a very favorable opinion of the new colliery engine



164        STEPHENSON'S FIRST LOCOMOTIVE.    [PART II.
wright from the improvements which he had effected in the colliery engines, both above and below ground; and, after considering'the matter, and hearing Stephenson's explanations, he authorized him to proceed with the construction of a locomotive,
though his lordship was by some called a fool for advancing
money for such a purpose. " The first locomotive that I made,"
said Stephenson, many years after,* when speaking of his early
career at a public meeting in Newcastle, "was at Killingworth
Colliery, and with Lord Ravensworth's money. Yes, Lord Ravensworth and partners were the first to intrust me, thirty-two
years since, with money to make a locomotive engine. I said to
my friends, there was no limit to the speed of such an engine, if
the works could be made to stand."
Our engine-wright had, however, many obstacles to encounter
before he could get fairly to work with the erection of his locomotive. I is chief difficulty Was in finding workmen sufficiently
skilled in mechanics and in the use of tools to follow his instructions and embody his designs in a practical shape. The tools
then in use about the collieries were rude and clumsy, and there
were no such facilities as now exist for turning out machinery
of an entirely new character. Stephenson was under the necessity of working with such men and tools as were at his command,
and he had in a great measure to train and instruct the workmen
himself. The engine: was burht in the workshops at the West
Moor, the leading mechanic being John Thirlwall, the colliery
blacksmith, an excellent mechanic in his way, though quite new
to the work now intrusted to him.
In this first locomotive constructed at Killingworth, Stephenson to some extent followed the' plan of Blenkinsop's engine.
The wrought-iron boiler was cylindrical, eight feet in length and
thirty-four inches in diameter, with an internal flue-tube twenty
inches wide passing through it. The engine had two vertical
cylinders of eight inches diameter and two feet stroke let into
the boiler, which worked the propelling gear with cross-heads and
connecting-rods. The power of
the two cylinders was combined         THE BPU.GERA.
* Speech at the opening of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway, June 18,1844.




CHAP. V.]   STEPHENSON'S FIRST LOCOMOTIVE.         165
by means of spur-wheels, which communicated the motive power
to the wheels supporting the engine on the rail, instead of, as in
Blenkinsop's engine, to cog-wheels which acted on the cogged
rail independent of the four supporting wheels. The engine
thus worked upon what is termed the second motion. The chimney was of wrought iron, round which was a chamber extending
back to the feed-pumps, for the purpose of heating the water
previous to its injection into the boiler. The engine had no
springs, and was mounted on a wooden frame supported on four
wheels. In order to neutralize as much as possible the jolts and
shocks which such an engine would necessarily encounter from
the obstacles and inequalities of the then very imperfect plateway, the water-barrel which served for a tender was:fixed to the
end of a lever and weighted, the other end of the lever being
connected with the frame oaf the locomotive carriage. By this
means the weight of the two was more equally distributed,
though the contrivance did not by any means compensate for
the total absence'of sprinfgs.
The wheels of the locomotive were:all smooth, Stephenson
having satisfied himself by experiment that the adhesion between
the wheels of a loaded engine and the rail would be sufficient for
the purpose of traction. Robert Stephenson informed us'that
his father caused a number of workmen to mount upon the wheels
of a wagon moderately loaded, and throw their entire weight
upon the spokes on one side, when he found that the wagon
could thus be easily propelled forward without the wheels slipping. This, together with other experiments, satisfiedhim, as it
had already satisfied Mr. Hedley, of the expediency of adopting
smooth wheels on his engine, and it was so made accordingly.
The engine was; after much labor and anxiety, and frequent
alterations of parts, at length brought to completion, having been
about ten months in hand. It was placed upon the Killingworth
Railway on the 25th of July, 1814, and its powers were tried on
the same day. On an ascending gradient of 1 in 450, the engine
succeeded in:drawing after it eight loaded carriages of thirty
tons' weight at about four miles an hour; and for some time after it continued regularly at work.
Although -a considerable advance upon previous locomotives,
"Blucher" (as the engine was popularly called) was nevertheless




166        ROBERT. STEPHENSON'S NARRA TIVE.    [PART II.
a somewhat cumbrous and clumsy machine. The parts were
huddled together. The boiler constituted the principal feature;
and, being the foundation of the other parts, it was made to do
duty not only as a generator of steam, but also as a basis for the
fixings of the machinery and for the bearings of the wheels and
axles. The want of springs was seriously felt; and the progress
of the engine was a succession of jolts, causing considerable derangement to the machinery. The mode of communicating the
motive power to the wheels by means of the spur-gear also caused
frequent jerks, each cylinder alternately propelling or becoming
propelled by the other, as the pressure of the one upon the wheels
became greater or less than the pressure of the other;:and, when
the teeth of the cog-wheels became at all worn, a rattling noise
was produced during the traveling of the engine.
As the principal test of the success of the locomotive was its
economy as compared with horse-power, careful calculations were
made with the view of ascertaining this important point. The
result was, that it was found the working of the engine was at
first barely economical; and at the end of the year the steampower and the horse-power were ascertained to be as nearly as
possible upon a par in point of cost.
We give the remainder of the history of George Stephenson's
efforts to produce an economical working locomotive in the words
of his son Robert, as communicated to the author in 1856, for
the purposes of his father's " Life."
"A few months of experience and careful observation upon the
operation'of this (his first) engine convinced my father that the complication arising out of the action of the two cylinders being combined by spur-wheels would prevent their coming into practical application. He then directed his attention to an entire change in the
construction and mechanical arrangements, and in the following
year took out a patent, dateA February 28th, 1815, for an engine
which combined in a remarkable degree the essential requisites of
an economical locomotive-that is to say, few parts, simplicity in
their action, and great simplicity in the mode by which power was
communicated to the wheels supporting the engine.
" This second engine consisted as before of two vertical cylinders,
which communicated directly with each pair of the four wheels that
supported the engine by a cross-head and a pair of connecting-rods;




CHAP. V.] STEPHENSON'S SECOND PATENT ENGINE.            167
but, in attempting to establish a direct communication between the
cylinders and the wheels that rolled upon the rails, considerable difficulties presented themselves. The ordinary joints could not be
employed to unite the engine, which was a rigid niass,' with the
wheels rolling upon the irregular surface of the rails; for it was evident that the two rails of the line of railway could not always be
maintained at the same level with respect to each other-that one
wheel at the end of the axle might be depressed into a part of the
line which had subsided, while the other would be elevated. In
such a position of the axle and wheels it was clear that a, rigid
communication between the cross-head and the wheels was impracticable. Hence it became necessary to form a joint at the top of
the piston-rod where it united with the cross-head, so au'to permit
the cross-head always to preserve complete parallelism, with the
axle of the wheels with which it was in communication.
"In order to obtain the flexibility combined with direct action
which was essential for insuring power and avoiding needless friction and jars from irregularities in the rail, my father employed the'ball and socket' joint for effectg:  union between the ends of the
cross-heads where they united with! the:,conting-rods, and between the end of the connecting-rods where they were united with
the crank-pins attached to each driving-wheel. By this arrangement the parallelism between the cross-head and the axle was at all
times maintained, it being permitted to take place without producing jar or friction upon any part of the machine.
"The' next important point was to combine each pair of wheels
by some simple mechanism, instead of thew cog-wheels which had
formerly been used. My father began by inserting each axle into
two cranks at right angles to each other, with rods communicating
horizontally between them. An engine was made on this plan, and
answered extremely well. But at that period (1815) the mechanical skill of the country was not equal to the task of forging cranked
axles of the soundness and strength necessary to. stand the jars incident to locomotive work; so my father was compelled to fall back
upon a substitute which, though less simple and Less efficient, was
within the mechanical capabilities of the workmen of that day,
either for construction or repair. He adopted a chain which rolled
over indented wheels placed on the centre of each axle, and so ar —
ranged that the two pairs of wheels were effectually coupled and
made to keep pace with each other. But these chains after a- few
years' use became -stretched, and then the engines were liable to irregularity in their working, especially in changing from working




168        ROBERT STEPHENSON'S NARRATIVE.    [PART II,
back to forward again. Nevertheless, these engines continued in
profitable use upon the Killingworth Colliery Railway for some
years. Eventually the chain wasylaid aside, and the front and hind
wheels were united by rods on the outside, instead of by rods and
crank-ankles inside, as specified in the original patent; and this ex-.edient completely answered the purpose required, without involving any expensive or difficult workmanship.
SECTIO N OF ILLINGWORTH LOcOMO1TIVEs 1.
"Another important improvement was introduced in this engine.
The eduction steam had hitherto been allowed to escape direct into
the open atmosphere; but my father, having observed the great velocity with which the waste-steam escaped, compared with the velocity with which the smoke issued from the chimney of the same engine, thought that by conveying the eduction steam into the chimney, and there allowing it to escape in a vertical direction, its velocity
would be imparted to the smoke from the engine, or to the ascending current of air in the chimney. The experiment was no sooner
made than the power of the engine became more than doubled.;
combustion was stimulated, as it were, by a blast; consequently,'
the power of the boiler for generating steam was increased, and,




CHAP. V.]    INVENTION OF THE STEAM-BLAST.              169
in the same proportion, the useful duty of the engine was augmented.
"Thus, in 1815, my father had succeeded in manufacturing an engine which included the following important improvements on all
previous attempts in the same direction: simple and direct communication between the cylinder and the wheels rolling upon the rails;
joint adhesion of all the wheels, attained by the use of horizontal
connecting-rods; and, finally, a beautiful method of exciting the
combustion of fuel by employing the waste steam which had formerly been allowed uselessly to escape. It is, perhaps, not too much
to say that this engine, as a mechanical contrivance, contained the
germ of all that has since been effected. It may be regarded, in
fact, as a type of the present locomotive engine.
"In describing my father's application of the waste steam for the
purpose of increasing the intensity of combustion in the boiler, and
thus increasing the power of the engine without adding to its
weight, and while claiming for this engine the merit of being a type
of all those Which:havebeen successfully devised since the commencement. of the Lihverool" aid: dManchester Railway, it is necessary to observe that the next great iimprovementinc the same direction, the' multitubular boiler,' which took place some years later,
could never have been used without the help of that simple expedient, the steam-blast, by which power only the burning of coke was
rendered possible.
"I can not pass over this last-named invention of my father's
without remarking how slightly, as an original idea, it has been appreciated; and yet how small would be the comparative value of
the locomotive engine of the present day without the application
of that important invention!
"Engines constructed by my father in the year 1818 upon the
principles just described are in use on the Killingworth Colliery
Railway to this very day (1856), conveying, at the speed of perhaps five or six miles an hour, heavy coal-trains, probably as economically as any of the more perfect engines now in use.
"There was another remarkable piece of ingenuity in this machine, which was completed so many years before the possibility of
steam-locomotion became an object of general commercial interest
and Parliamentary inquiry. I have before observed that up to and
after the year 18.18 there was no such class of skilled mechanics,
nor were there such machinery and tools for working in metals, as
are now at the disposal of inventors and manufacturers. Among
other difficulties of a similar character, it was not possible at that




170          INVENTION OF STEEL SPRINGS.          [PART II.
time to construct springs of sufficient strength to support the improved engines. The rails then used being extremely light, the
roads became worn down by the traffic, and occasionally the whole
weight of the engine, instead of being uniformly distributed over
four wheels, was thrown almost diagonally upon two. In order to
avoid the danger arising from such irregularities in the road, my
father arranged the boiler so that it was supported upon the frame
of the engine by four cylinders which opened into the interior of
the boiler. These cylinders were occupied by pistons with rods,
which passed downward and pressed upon the upper side of the
axles. The cylinders, opening into the interior of the boiler, allowed the pressure of steam to be applied to the upper side of the piston, and that pressure being nearly equal to the support of one
fourth of the weight of the engine, each axle, whatever might be
its position, had the same amount of weight to bear, and consequently tbhe entire weight was at all times nearly equally distributed among -the wheels This expedient was more necessary in
this case, as the weight of the new locomotive engines far exceeded
that of the carriages which had hitherto been used upon colliery
railways, and therefore subjected the rails to much greater risk
from breakage. And this mode of supporting the engine remained
in use until the progress of spring-making had considerably advanced, when steel springs of sufficient strength superseded this
highly ingenious mode of distributingtthe weight of the engine uniformly among the wheels."
The invention of the Steam-blast by George Stephenson in
1815 was fraught with the most important consequences to railway locomotion, and it is not saying too much to aver that the
success of the locomotive has been in a great measure the result
of its adoption. Without the steam-blast, by means of which the
intensity of combustion is maintained at its highest point, producing a correspondingly rapid evolution of steam, high rates of
speed could not' have been kept up; the advantages of the multitubular boiler (afterward invented) could never have been fully
tested;' and locomotives might still have been dragging themselves unwieldily along at little more than five or six miles an
hour.
As this invention has been the subject of considerable controversy, it becomes necessary to add a few words respecting it in
this place. It'has been claimed as the invention of Trevithick




CHAP. V.]             THE STEAM-BLAST.                      171
in 1804, of Hedley in 1814, of Goldsworthy Gurney in 1820, and
of Timothy Hackworth in 1829. With respect to Trevithick, it
appears that he discharged the waste steam into the chimney
of his engine, but without any intention of thereby producing a
blast;* and that he attached no value to the expedient is sufficiently obvious from the fact that in 1815 he took out a patent
for urging the fire by means of fanners, similar to a winnowing
machine. The claim put forward on behalf of William Hedley,
that he invented the blast-pipe for the Wylam  engine, is sufficiently contradicted by the fact that the Wylam engine had no
blast-pipe.  "I remember the Wylam engine," Robert Stephenson wrote to the author in 1857, " and I am positive there was no
blast-pipe." On tlhe contrary, the Wylam engine embodied a contrivance for the express purpose of preventing a blast. This is
clearly shown by the drawing and description of it contained in
the first edition of Nicholas Wood's "Practical Treatise on Railroads," published in 1825.  This evidence is all the more valuable for our purpose as it was.published long before any controversy had arisen as to the authorship of the invention, aqd, indeed, before it was believed that any merit whatever belonged to
it. And it is the more remarkable, as Nicholas Wood himself,
who published the first practical work on railways, did not at
that time approve of the steam-blast, and referred to the Wylam
engine in illustration of how it might be prevented.
The following passage from Mr. Wood's book clearly describes
the express object and purpose for which George Stephenson invented and applied the steam-blast in the Killingworth engines.
Describing their action, Mr. Wood says:
" The steam is admitted to the top and bottom of the piston by
means of a sliding valve, which, being moved up and down alternately, opens a communication between the top and bottom of the
cylinder and the pipe that is open into the chimney and turns up
* It must, however, be mentioned that "r ]A7l:C(lahrn,   in his excellent work on
"Locomotive Eninee'                   Railways," points out that Mr.
Davies Gilbert noted the effect of the discharge of the waste steam up the chimney
of Trevithick's engine in increasing the draught, and wrote a letter to " Nicholson's
Journal" (Sept., 1805) on the subject; and Mr. Nicholsona hiiself proceeded to investigate the subject, and in 1806 he took out a patent for "steam-blasting apparatus,"
applicable to fixed engines, which, however, does not seem to have come into use.
(See ante, p. 82.)




172            NICHOLAS WOOD'S ACCOUNT.              [PART II.
within it. The steam, after performing its office within the cylinder, is thus thrown into the chimney, and the power with which it
issues will be proportionate to the degree of elasticity; and the exit
being directed upward, accelerates the velocity of the current of heated air accordingly."*
And again, at another part of the book, he says:
"There is another great objection urged against locomotives,
which is, the noise that the steam makes in escaping into the chimney; this objection is very singular, as it is not the result of any
inherent form in the organization of such engines, but an accidental
circumstance. When the engines were first made, the steam escaped
into the atmosphere, and made comparatively little noise; it was
found difficult then to produce steam in sufficient guantity to keep
the engine constantly working, or rather to obtain an adequate rapidity of current in the chimney to give sufficient intensity to the
fire.  To effect a greater rapidity, or to increase the draught of the
chimney, 21r. Stephenson thought that by causing the steam to escape
into the chimney through a pipe with its end t~urned ujpward, the velocity of the current would be accelerated, and such was the effeet;
but, in remedying one evil, another has been produced, which,
though objectionable in some places, was not considered as objectionable on a private railroad, The tube through the boiler having
been increased, there is now no longer any occasion for the action
of the steam to assist the motion of the heated air in the chimney.
The steam thrown in this manner into the chimney acts as a trumpet, and certainly makes a very disagreeable noise. Nothing, however, is more easy to remedy, and the very act of remedying this
defect will also be the means of economrizing the fuel."t
Mr. Wood then proceeds to show how the noise caused by the
blast-how, in fact, the blast itself, might be effectually prevented
by adopting the expedient employed in the Wylam engine; which
was, to send the exhaust steam, not into the chimney (where alone
the blast could act with effect by stimulating the draught), but
into a steam-reservoir provided for the purpose. His words are
these:
"Nothing more is wanted to destroy the noise than to cause the
* Nicholas Wood, "Practical Treatise on Railways," ed. 1825, p. 147.
t Ibid., p. 292-3.




CHAP. V.]             THE STEAM-BLAST.                         173
steam to expand itself into a reservoir, and then allow it to escape
gradually to the atmosphere through the chimney. Upon the Wylam
railroad the noise was made the subject of complaint by a neighboring gentleman, and they adopted this mode, which had the effect
above mentioned."*
It is curious to find that Mr. Nicholas Wood continued to object to the use of the steam-blast down even to the time when
the Liverpool and Manchester Railway Bill was before Parliament. In his evidence before the Committee on that Bill in
1825, he said: " Those engines [at Killingworth] puif very much,
and the object is to get an increased draught in the chimney.
Now (by enlarging the flue-tube and giving it a double turn
through the boiler) we have got a sufficiency of steam without it,
and I have no doubt, by allowing the steam to exhaust itself in
a reservoir, it would pass quietly into the chimney without that
noise." In fact, Mr. Wood was still in favor of the arrangement
adopted in the Wylam engine, by which the steam-blast had been
got rid of altogether.
If these statements, made in Mr. Wood's book, be correct —and
they have never been disputed —they render it perfectly clear that
George Stephenson invented and applied the steam-blast for the
express purpose of quickening combustion in the furnace by increasing the draught in the chimney. Although urged by Wood
to abandon the blast, Stephenson continued to hold by it as one
of the vital powers of the locomotive engine.  It is quite true that
in the early engines, with only a double flue passing through the
boiler, run as they were at low speeds, the blast was of comparatively less importance. It was only when the improved passenger
engine, fitted with the multitubular boiler, was required to be run
at high speeds that the full merits of the blast were brought out;
and in detecting its essential uses in this respect, and sharpening
* Nicholas Wood, "PracticalTreatise on Railways," ed. 1825, p. 294. These passages will be found in the first edition of Mr. Wood's work, published in 1825. The
subsequent editions do not contain them. A few years' experience wrought great
changes of opinion on many points connected with the practical working of railways,
and Mr. Wood altered his text accordingly. But it is most important for our present
purpose to note that, in the year 1825, long before the Liverpool and Manchester line
was opened, Mr. Wood should have so clearly described the steam-blast, which had
been in regular use for more than ten years in all Stephenson's locomotives employed
in the working of the Killingworth railway.




174              COLLIERY WHIMSEY.             [PART I.
it for the purpose of increasing its action, the sagacity of Timothy
Hackworth, of Darlington, is entitled to due recognition.




CHAP. VI.]        ACCIDENTS IN MINES.                 175
CHAPTER VI.
INVENTION OF THE " GEORDY" SAFETY-LAMP.
EXPLOSIONS of fire-damp were unusually frequent in the coalmines of Northumberland and Durham about the time when
George Stephenson was engaged in the construction of his first
locomotives. These explosions were often attended with fearful
loss of life and dreadful suffering to the work-people. Killingworth Colliery was not free from such deplorable calamities; and
during the time that Stephenson was employed as brakesman at
the West Moor, several " blasts" took place in the pit, by which
many workmen were scorched and killed, and the owners of the
colliery sustained heavy losses.  One of the most serious of these
accidents occurred in 1806, not long after he had been appointed
brakesman, by which ten persons were killed. Stephenson was
near the pit mouth at the time, and the circumstances connected
with the explosion made a deep impression on his mind, as appears from the graphic account which he gave of it to the Committee of the lEoiuse of Commons on accidents in mines, some
hirty years after the event.
"The pit," said he, "had just ceased drawing coals, and nearly
all the men had got out. It was some time in the afternoon, a little after midday. There were five men that went down the pit;
four- of them for the purpose of preparing a place for the furnace.
The fifth was a person who went down to set them to work. I sent
this man down myself, and he had just got to the bottom of the
shaft about two or three minutes when the explosion took place.
I had left the mouth of the pit, and had gone about fifty or sixty
yards away, when I heard a tremendous noise, looked round, and
saw the discharge come out of the pit like the discharge of a cannon. It continued to blow, I think, for a quarter of an hour, discharging every thing that had come into the current. Wood came
up, stones came up, and trusses of hay that went up into the air
like balloons. Those trusses had been sent down during the day,
and I think they had in some measure injured the ventilation of the




176       MIINE EXPLOSION A T KILLING WORTH.   [PART II.
mine. The ground all round the top of the pit was in a trembling
state. I went as near as I durst go; every thing appeared cracking and rending about me. Part of the brattice, which was very
strong, was blown away at the bottom of the pits. Very large
pumps were lifted from their places, so that the'engine could not
work. The pit was divided into four by partitions; it was a large
pit, fourteen feet in diameter, and partitions were put down at right'
angles, which made four compartments. The explosion took place
in one of those four quarters, but it broke through into all the others at the bottom, and the brattice or partitions were set on fire at
the first explosion.
" Nobody durst go near the shafts for some time, for fear of another explosion taking place.' At last we considered it necessary
to run the rope backward and forward, and give the miners, if there
were any at the bottom of the shaft, an opportunity of catching the
rope as it came to the bottom.'Several men were safely got up in
this way; one man, who had got hold of the rope, was being drawn
up, when a farther explosion took place while he was still in the
shaft, and the increased current which came about him projected
him as it were up the shaft; yet he was landed without injury: it
was a singular case.  The pit continued to blast every two or
three hours for about two days. It appears that the coal had taken
fire, and as soon as the carbureted hydrogen gas collected in sufficient quantity to reach the part where it was burning, it ignited
again; but none of the explosions were equal to the first, on account of many parts of the mine having become filled with azotic
gas, or the after-damp of the mine. All the ditches in the countryside were stopped to get water to pour into the pit. We had fireengines brought from Newcastle, and the water was poured in till
it came above the fire, and then it was extinguished. The loss to
the owners of the colliery by this accident must have been about
~20,000."*
Another explosion took place in the same pit in 1809, by which
twelve persons lost their lives. The blast did not reach the shaft
as in the former case, the unfortunate persons'in the pit having
been suffocated by the after-damp. More calamitous still were
the explosions which took place in: the neighboring collieries, one
of the worst being that of 1812, in the Felling Pit near Gateshead,
a mine belonging to Mr. Brandling, by which no fewer than nine* Evidence given by George Stephenson before the Select Committee on Accidents
in Mines, 26th June, 1835.




CHAP. VI.]    DANGERS OF THE COAL-MINES.              177
ty men and boys were suffocated or burnt to death; and a similar
accident occurred in the same pit in the year following, by which
twenty-two men and boys perished.
THE PIT aEAD, WEST MOOR. By R. P. Leitch.]
It was natural that Stephenson should devote his attention to
the causes of these deplorable accidents, and to the means by
which they might, if possible, be prevented. His daily occupation
led him to think much and deeply on the subject. As enginewright of a colliery so extensive as that of Killingworth, where
there were nearly 160 miles of gallery excavation, in which he
personally superintended the working of inclined planes, along
which the coals were sent to the pit entrance, he was necessarily
very often under ground, and brought face to face with the dangers of fire-damp. From fissures in the roofs of the galleries carbureted hydrogen gas was constantly flowing; and in some of the
more dangerous places it might be heard escaping from the crevices of the coal with a hissing noise. Ventilation, firing, and all
conceivable modes of drawing out the foul air had been tried,
while the more dangerous parts of the galleries were built up.
Still the danger could not be wholly prevented. The miners must
necessarily guide their steps through the extensive underground
ways with lighted lamps or candles, the naked flame of which,
coming in contact with the inflammable air, daily exposed them
and their fellow-workers in the pit to the risk of death in one of
its most dreadful forms.
M




178               THE MINE ON FIRE.            [PART II.
One day in the year 1814, a workman hurried into Stephenson's cottage with the startling information that the deepest main
of the colliery was on fire!. He immediately hastened to the pithead, about a hundred yards off, whither the women and children
of the colliery were running, with wildness and terror depicted
in every face. In a commanding voice, Stephenson ordered the
engine-man to lower him down the shaft in the corve. There
was danger, it might be death, before him, but he must go.
He was soon at the bottom, and in the midst of the men, who
were paralyzed at the danger which threatened the lives of all in
the pit. Leaping from the corve on its touching the ground, he
called out, "Are there six men among you who have the courage
to follow me? If so, come, and we will put the fire out." The
Killingworth pitmen had the most perfect confidence in their engine-wright, and they readily volunteered to follow him. Silence
succeeded the frantic tumult of the previous minute, and the men
set to work with a will. In every mine, bricks, mortar, and tools
enough are at hand, and by Stephenson's direction the materials
were forthwith carried to the required spot, where, in a very
short time, a wall was raised at the entrance to the main, he himself taking the most active part in the work. The atmospheric
air was by this means excluded, the fire was extinguished, most.
of the people in the pit were saved.from death, and the mine was
preserved.
This anecdote of George Stephenson was related to the writer,
near the pit-mouth, by one of the men, Kit Heppel, who had been
present, and helped to build up the brick wall by which the fire
was stayed, though several of the workmen were suffocated.
Heppel relates that, when down the pit some days after, seeking
out the dead bodies, the cause of the accident was the subject of
some conversation between himself and Stephenson, and Heppel
then asked him, " Can nothing be done to prevent such awful
occurrences?" Stephenson replied that he thought something
might be done. " Then," said Heppel, " the sooner you begin the
better, for the price of coal-mining now ispitmen's lives."
Fifty years since, many of the best pits were so full of the inflammable gas given forth by the coal that they could not be
worked without the greatest danger, and for this reason some
were altogether abandoned. The rudest possible means were




CHAP. VI.]   THE PROBLEM~ OF A SAFETY-LAMP.          179
adopted of producing light sufficient to enable the pitmen to
work by. I The phosphorescence of decayed fish-skins was tried;
but this, though safe, was very inefficient. The most common
method employed was what was called a steel mill, the notched
wheel of which, being made to revolve against a flint, struck a
succession of sparks, which scarcely served to do more than make
the darkness visible. A boy carried the apparatus, working the
wheel; and by the imperfect light thus given forth the miner
plied his dangerous trade. Candles were only used in those parts
of the pit where gas was not abundant. Under this rude system
not more than one third of the coal could be worked, while two
thirds were left.
What the workmen, not less than the coal-owners, eagerly desired was a lamp that should give forth sufficient light, without
communicating flame to the inflammable gas which accumulated
in certain parts of the pit. Something had already been done
toward the invention of such a lamp by Dr. Clanny, of Sunderland, who, in 1813, contrived an apparatus to. which he gave air
from the mine through water, by means of bellows. This lamp
went out of itself in inflammable gas. It was found, however, too
unwieldy to be used by the miners for the purposes of their work,
and did not come into general use. A committee of gentlemen
interested in coal-mining was formed to investigate the causes of
the explosions, and to devise, if possible, some means of preventing them. At the invitation of that committee, Sir Humphry
Davy, then in the full zenith of his reputation, was requested to
turn his attention to the subject. He accordingly visited the collieries near Newcastle on the 24th of August, 1815, and at the
close of that year, on the 9th of November, 1815, he read before
the Royal Society of London his celebrated paper " On the Firedamp of Coal Mines, and on Methods of Lighting the Mine so as
to prevent its Explosion."
But a humbler though not less diligent and original thinker
had been at work before him, and had already practically solved
the problem of the Safety-lamp. Stephenson was, of course, well
aware of the desire which prevailed in the colliery districts for
the invention of a lamp which should give light enough for the
miners to work by without exploding the fire-damp, and the painful incidents above described only served to quicken his eagerness to master the difficulty.




180 STEPHENSON'S FIRST IDEA OF A SAFETY-LAMP. [PART II.
For several years he had been engaged, in his own rude way,
in making experiments with the fire-damp in the Killingworth
mine. The pitmen used o expostulate with him on these occasions, believing the experiments to be fraught with danger. One
of the sinkers, called M'Crie, observing him holding up lighted
candles to the windward of the "blower" or fissure from which
*the inflammable gas escaped, entreated him to desist; but Stephenson's answer was, that "he was busy with a plan by which
he hoped to make his experiments useful for preserving men's
lives." On-these occasions the miners usually got out of the way
before he lit the gas.
In 1815, although he was very much occupied with the business of the collieries and the improvement of his locomotive engine, he was also busily engaged in making experiments upon
the inflammable gas in the Killingworth Pit. As he himself afterward related to the Committee of the House of Commons which
sat on the subject of Accidents in Mines in 1835, he imagined
that if he could construct a lamp with a chimney so arranged as
to cause a strong current, it would not fire at the top of the chimney, as the burnt air would ascend with such a velocity as to prevent the inflammable air of the pit from descending toward the
flame; and such a lamp, he thought, might be taken into a dangerous atmosphere without risk of exploding.
Such was Stephenson's. theory, when he proceeded to embody
his idea of a miner's safety-lamp in a practical form. In the
month of August, 1815, he requested his friend Nicholas Wood,
the head viewer, to prepare a drawing of a lamp according to the
description which he gave hinl. After several evenings' careful
deliberations, the drawing was prepared, and it was shown to
several of the head men about the works. "My first lamp," said
Stephenson, describing it to the committee above referred to,
" had a chimney at the top of the lamp, and a tube at the bottom
to admit the atmospheric air, or fire-damp and air, to feed the
burner or combustion of the lamp. I was not aware of the precise quantity required to feed the combustion; but to know what
quantity was necessary, I had a slide at the bottom of the tube
in my first lamp, to admit such a quantity of air as might eventually be found necessary to keep up the combustion."
Accompanied by his friend Wood, Stephenson went into New



CHAP. VI.]    THE FIRST SAFETY-LAMP MADE.          181
castle, and ordered a lamp to be made according to his plan by
the lMessrs. Hogg, tinmen, at the head of the Side-a well-known
street in Newcastle. At the same tiine, he ordered a glass to be
made for the lamp at the Northumberland Glass-house in the
same town. This lamp was received from the makers on the
21st of October, and was taken to Killingworth for the purpose
of immediate experiment.
"I remember that evening as distinctly as if it had been but
yesterday," said Robert Stephenson, describing the circumstances
to the author in 1857. "i Moodie came to our cottage about dusk,
and asked'if father had got back with the lamp.''No.''Then
I'll wait till he comes,' said Moodie;' he can't be long now.' In
about half an hour, in came my father, his face all radiant. He
had the lamp with him! It was at once uncovered and shown
to Moodie. Then it was filled with oil, trimmed, and lighted.
All was ready, only the head viewer hadn't arrived.' Run over
to Bea9n for Nichol, Robert,' said my father to me,'and ask
him to come directly; say we're going down the pit to try the
lamp.' By this time it was quite dark, and off I ran to bring
Nicholas Wood. His house was at Benton, about a mile off.
There was a short cut through Benton Church-yard, but just as
I was about to pass the wicket I saw what I thought was a white
figure moving about among the grave-stones. I took it for a
ghost!'My heart fluttered, and I was in a great fright, but to
Nichol's house I must get, so I made the circuit of the churchyard; and when I got round to the other side I looked, and, lo!
the figure was still there. But what do you think it was? Only
the grave-digger, plying his work at that late hour by the light
of his lantern set upon one of the grave-stones! I found Wood
at home, and in a few minutes he was mounted and off to my father's. When I got home I was told they had just left-it was
then about eleven-and gone down the shaft to try the lamp in
one of the most dangerous parts of the mine."
Arrived at the bottom of the shaft with the lamp, the party
directed their steps toward one of the foulest galleries in the pit,
where the explosive gas was issuing through a blower in the roof
of the mine with a loud hissing noise. By erecting some deal
boarding round that part of the gallery into which the gas was
escaping, the air was thus made more foul for the purpose of the




182       THE "GEORD Y" SAFETY-LAMP TRIED.   [PART II.
experiment. After waiting about an hour, Moodie, whose practical experience of fire-damp in pits was greater than that of
either Stephenson or Woqd, was requested to go into the place
which had thus been made foul; and, having done so, he returned, and told them that the smell of the air was such that if
a lighted candle were now introduced an explosion must inevitably take place. He cautioned Stephenson as to the danger both
to themselves and to the pit if the gas took fire; but Stephenson
declared his confidence in the safety of his lamp, and, having lit
the wick, he boldly proceeded with it toward the explosive air.
The others, more timid and doubtful, hung back when they came
within hearing of the blower; and, apprehensive of the danger,
they retired into a safe place, out of sight of the lamp, which
gradually disappeared with its bearer in the recesses of the mine.
It was a critical moment, and the danger was such as would have
tried the stoutest heart. Stephenson, advancing alone, with his
yet untried lamp, in the depths of those underground Tmrkings,
calmlyventuring his life in the determination to discover a mode
by which the lives of many might be saved, and death disarmed
in these fatal caverns, presented an example of intrepid nerve
and manly courage more noble even than that which, in the excitement of battle and the collective impetuosity of a charge, carries a man up to the cannon's mouth.
Advancing to the place of danger, and entering within the
fouled air, his lighted lamp in hand, Stephenson held it firmly
out, in the full current of the blower, and within a few inches of
its mouth. Thus exposed, the flame of the lamp at first increased,
then flickered, and then went out; but there was no explosion of
the gas. Returning to his companions, who were still at a distance, he told them what had occurred. Having now acquired
somewhat more confidence, they advanced with him to a point
from which they could observe the experiment repeated, but still
at a safe distance. They saw that when the lighted lamp was
held within the explosive mixture, there was a great flame;, the
lamp was almost full of fire; and then it seemed to be smothered
out. Again returning to his companions, he relighted the lamp,
and repeated the experiment. This was done several times, with
the same result. At length Wood and Moodie ventured to advance close to the fouled part of the pit; and, in making some




CHAP. VI.]             THE LAMP IMPROVED.                             183
of the later trials, Mr. Wood himself held up the lighted lamp to
the blower.* Such was the result of the first experiments with
the frst practical Miner's Safety-lamW, and such was the daring
resolution of its inventor in testing its qualities.
Before leaving the pit; Stephenson expressed his opinion that,
by an alteration of the lamp which he contemplated, he could
make it burn better. This was by a change in the slide through
which the air was admitted into the lower part of the lamp, under the flame. After making some experiments on the air collected at the blower, by means of bladders which were mounted
with tubes of various diameters, he satisfied himself that, when
the tube was reduced to a certain diameter, the explosion would
not pass through; and he fashioned his slide accordingly, reducing the diameter of the tube until he conceived it was quite safe.
In about a fortnight the experiments were repeated in the pit, in
a place purposely made foul as before.  On this occasion a larger
number of persons ventured to witness the experiments, which
again proved successful. The lamp was not yet, however, -so efficient as the inventor desired. It required, he observed, to be
* The accuracy of the above statement-having been called in question, it is proper
to state that the facts as set forth were verbally communicated to the author in the
first place by Robert Stephenson, to whom the chapter was afterward read in MS. in
the presence of Mr. Sopwith, F.R.S., and received his entire approval. But at the
time at which Mr. Stephenson communicated the verbal information, he also handed
a little bookwith his name written in it, still in the author's possession, saying, "Read
that; you will find it all there." This little book contains, among other things, a
pamphlet, entitled " Report on the Claims of Mr. George Stephenson relative to the
Invention of his Safety-lamp. By the Committee appointed at a Meeting holden in
Newcastle, on the 1st of November, 1817. With an Appendix containing the Evidence." Amongnthe witnesses examined were George Stephenson, Nicholas Wood,
and John'Moodie, and their evidence is given in the pamphlet. Stephenson said that
he tried the first lamp "in a part of the mine where the air was highly explosive.
Nicholas Wood and John Moodie were his companions when the trial was made.
They became frightened when they came within hearing of the blower, and would not
go any farther. Mr. Stephenson went alone with the lamp to the mouth of the blower, " etc. This evidence was confirmed by John Moodie, who said the air of the place
where the experiment was about to be tried was such, that, if a lighted candle had
been introduced, an explosion would have taken place that would have been "extremely dangerous."  " Told Stephenson it was foul, and hinted at the danger; nevertheless, Stephenson would try the lamp, confiding in its safety. Stephenson took
the lamp and went with it into the place in which Moodie had been, and Moodie and
Wood, apprehensive of the danger, retired to a greater distance, " etc. The accuracy
of the other statements made in the text relative to the invention of the safety-lamp
is confirmed by the same publication.




184       EXPERIMENTS WITH EXPLOSIVE GAS.   [PART I.
kept very steady when burning in the inflammable gas, otherwise
it was liable to go out, in consequence, as he imagined, of the
contact of the burnt air (as he then called it), or azotic gas, which
lodged round the exterior of the flame. If the lamp was moved
backward and forward, the azote came in contact with the flame
and extinguished it. " It struck me," said he," that if I put more
tubes in, I should discharge the poisonous matter that hung round
the flame by admitting the air to its exterior part."
Although hle had then no access to scientific works, nor intercourse with scientific men, nor any thing that could assist
him in his inquiries on the subject besides his own indefatigable spirit of inquiry, Stephenson contrived a rude apparatus,
by means of which he proceeded to test the explosive properties
of the gas and the velocity of current (for this was the direction
of his inquiries) required to permit the explosion to pass through
tubes of different diameters. In making these experiments in
his cottage at the West Moor, Nicholas Wood and George's son
Robert usually acted as his assistants, and sometimes the gentlemen of the neighborhdod-among others, William Brandling
and Matthew Bell, who were interested in coal-mining-attended
as spectators. One who was present on such an occasion remembers that, when an experiment was about to be performed, and
all was ready, George called to Mr. Wood, who worked the stopcocks of the gasometer, "Wise on [turn on] the hydrogen,
Nichol!"
These experiments were not performed without risk, for on
one occasion the experimenting party had nearly blown off the
roof of the cottage. One of these "blows up" was described by
Stephenson himself before the Committee on Accidents *in Coal
Mines in 1835:
"I made several experiments," said he, "as to the velocity required in tubes of different diameters, to prevent explosion from
fire-damp. We made the mixture in all proportions of light carbureted hydrogen with atmospheric air in the receiver, and we
found by the experiments that when a current of the most explosive mixture that we could make was forced up a tube four tenths
of an inch in diameter, the necessary current was nine inches in a
second to prevent its coming down that tube. These experiments
were repeated several times. We had two or three blows up in




CHAP. VI.]      A SAD MISHAP.-EXPERIMENTS.                       185
making the experiments, by the flame getting down into the receiver, though we had a piece of very fine wire-gauze put at the
bottom  of the pipe, between the receiver and the pipe through
which we were forcing the current. In one of these experiments
I was watching the flame in the tube, my son was taking the vibrations of the pendulum of the clock, and Mr. Wood was attending
to give me the column of water as I called for it, to keep the current up to a certain point. As I saw the flame descending in the
tube I called for more water, and Wood unfortunately turned the
cock the Wrong way; the current ceased, the flame went down the
tube, and all our implements were blown to pieces, which at the
time we were not very well able to replace."
The explosion of this glass receiver, which had been borrowed
from the stores of the Philosophical Society at Newcastle for the
purpose of making the experiments, caused the greatest possible
dismay among the party, and they dreaded to inform AMr. Turner,
the secretary,* of the calamity which had occurred. Fortunately, none of the experimenters were injured by the accident.
Stephenson followed up these experiments by others of a similar kind, with the view of ascertaining whether ordinary flame
would pass through tubes of a small diameter, and with this object he filed off the barrels of several small keys.  Placing these
together, he held them  perpendicularly over a strong flame, and
ascertained that it did not pass upward.  This was a farther
proof to him of the soundness of the principle on which he had
been proceeding.
In order to correct the defect of his first lamp, he accordingly
proceeded to alter it so as to admit the air to the flame by several
tubes of reduced diameter instead of by a single tube. He in* The early connection of Robert with the Philosophical and Literary Society of
Newcastle had brought him into communication with the Rev. William Turner, one
of the secretaries of the institution. That gentleman was always ready to assist the
inquirer after knowledge, and took an early interest in the studious youth from Killingworth, with whose father he also became acquainted. Mr. Turner cheerfully
helped them in their joint inquiries, and excited while he endeavored to satisfy their
thirst for scientific information. Toward the close of his life Mr. Stephenson often
spoke of the gratitude and esteem he felt toward his revered instructor.  "Mr.
Turner," he said, "was always ready to assist me with books, with instruments, and
with counsels gratuitously and cheerfully. He gave me the most valuable assistance
and instruction, and to my dying day I can never forget the obligations which I owe
to my venerable friend."




186           SECOND AND THIRD LAMPS.            [PART II.
ferred that a sufficient quantity of air would thus be introduced
into the lamp for the purposes of combustion, while the smallness of the apertures would still prevent the explosion passing
downward, at the same time that the " burnt air" (the cause, in
his opinion, of the lamp going out) would be more effectually
dislodged. The requisite alterations were made in the lamp by
Mr. Matthews, a tinman in Newcastle, and it was so altered that
the air was admitted by three small tubes inserted in the bottom, the openings of which were placed on the outside of the
burner, instead of having (as in the original lamp) the one tube
opening directly under the flame.
This second or altered lamp was tried in the Killingworth Pit
on the 4th of November, and was found to burn better than the
first lamp, and to be perfectly safe. But, as it did not yet come
up entirely to the inventor's expectations, he proceeded to contrive
a third lamp, in which he proposed to surround the oil vessel with
a number of capillary tubes. Then it struck him that' if he cut
off the middle of the tubes, or made holes in metal plates, placed
at a distance from each other equal to the length of the tubes,
the air would get in better, and the effect in preventing the communication of explosion would be the same.
He was encouraged to persevere in the completion of his safety-lamp by the occurrence of several fatal accidents about this
time in the Killingworth Pit. On the 9th of November a boy
was killed by a blast in the A pit, at the very place where Stephenson had made the experiments with his first lamp; and, when
told of the accident, he observed that if the boy had been provided
with his lamp, his life would have been saved. On the 20th of'November he went over to Newcastle to order his third lamp from
Mr. Watson, a plumber in that town. Mr. Watson referred him
to his clerk, Henry Smith, whom Stephenson invited to join him
at a neighboring public house, where they might quietly talk over
the matter, and finally settle the plan of the new lamp. They
adjourned to the "Newcastle Arms," near the present High-Level
Bridge, where they had some ale, and a design of the lamp was
drawn in pencil upon a half-sheet of foolscap, with a rough specification subjoined. The sketch, when shown to us by Robert
Stephenson some years since, still bore the marks of the ale. It
was a very rude design, but sufficient to work from. It was im



CHAP. VI.] INVENTION OF THE "GEORDY" SAFETY-LAMP. 187
mediately placed in the hands of the workmen, finished in the
course of a few days, and experimentally tested in the Killingworth Pit like the previous lamps on the 30th of November, by
DAVY'S BAFETY-LAMP.       STEPHENSON'S SAFETY-LAMP.
which date neither Stephenson nor Wood had heard of Sir Humphry Davy's experiments, nor of the lamp which that gentleman
proposed to construct.
An angry controversy afterward took place as to the respective
merits of George Stephenson and Sir Humphry Davy in respect
of the invention of the Safety-lamp. A committee was formed
on both sides, and the facts were stated in various ways. It is
perfectly clear, however, that Stephenson had ascertained the fact
that flame will not pass through tubes of a certain diameter-the
principle on which the safety-lamp is constructed-before Sir
Hlumphry Davy had formed any definite idea on the subject, or
invented the model lamp afterward exhibited by him before the
Royal Society. Stephenson had actually constructed a lamp on
such a principle, and proved its safety, before Sir Humphry had
communicated his views on the subject to any person; and by the
time that the first public intimation had been given of his discovery, Stephenson's second lamp had been constructed and tested in




188    THE STEPHENSON AND DAVY CONTRO VERSY. [PART II.
like manner in the Killingworth Pit. The frst was tried on the
21st of October, 1815; the second was tried on the 4th of November; but it was not until the 9th of November that Sir lHumphry
Davy presented his first lamp to the public. And by the 30th of
the same month, as we have seen, Stephenson had constructed and
tested his third safety-lamp.
Stephenson's theory of the "burnt air" and the "draught" was
no doubt wrong, but his lamp was right, and that was the great
fact which mainly concerned him. Torricelli did not know the
rationale of his tube, nor Otto von Guericke that of his air-pump;
yet no one thinks of denying them the merit of their inventions
on that account. The discoveries of Volta and Galvani were in
like manner independent of theory; the greatest discoveries consisting in bringing to light certain grand facts, on which theories
are afterward framed. Our inventor had been pursuing the Baconian method, though he did not think of that; his sole object
being to invent a safe lamp, which he knew could only be done
through the process of repeated experiment. Hence his numerous experiments on the fire-damp at the blowers in the mine, as
well as on carbureted hydrogen gas in his cottage by means of
the apparatus above described. By experiment he distinctly ascertained that the explosion of fire-damp could not pass through
small tubes; and he also did what had not before been done by
any inventor-he constructed a lamp on this principle, and repeatedly proved its safety at the risk of his life. At the same
time, there is no doubt that it was to Sir Ilumphry Davy that the
merit belonged of elucidating the true law on which the safetylamp is constructed.
The subject of this importantinvention excited so much interest in the northern mining districts, and Stephenson's numerous
friends considered his lamp so completely successful - having
stood the test of repeated experiments-that they urged him to
bring his invention before the Philosophical and Literary Society
of Newcastle, of whose apparatus he had availed himself in the
course of his experiments on fire-damp. After much persuasion
he consented to do so, and a meeting was appointed for the purpose of receiving his explanations on the evening of the 5th of
December, 1815. Stephenson was at that time so diffident in
manner and unpracticed in speech, that he took with him his friend




CHAP. VI.] THE "GEORDY" SAFETY-LAMP EXHIBITED.    189
Nicholas Wood to act as his interpreter and expositor on the occasion. From eighty to a hundred of the most intelligent memLITERABY AND PHILOSOPJHIOAL INSTITUTES NEWCASTLE.
bers of the society were present at the meeting, when Mr.Wood
stood forward to expound the principles on which the lamp had
been formed, and to describe the details of its construction. Several questions were put, to which Mr. Wood proceeded to give replies to the best of his knowledge. But Stephenson, who up to
that time had stood behind Wood, screened from notice, observing
that the explanations given were not quite correct, could no longer
control himself, and, standing forward, he proceeded in his strong
Northumbrian dialect to describe the lamp down to its minutest
details. He then produced several bladders full of carbureted
hydrogen, which he had collected from the blowers in the Killingworth mine, and proved the' safety of his lamp by numerous
experiments with the gas, repeated in various ways, his earnest
and impressive manner exciting in the minds of his auditors the
liveliest interest both in the inventor and his invention.
Shortly after, Sir H. Davy's model lamp was received and exhibited to the coal-miners at Newcastle, on which occasion the
observation was made by several gentlemen, "Why, it is the same
as Stephenson's!"




190          STEPHENSON'S MERITS DENIED.          [PART II.
Notwithstanding Stephenson's claim to be regarded as the first
inventor of the Tube Safety-lamp, his merits do not seem to have
been generally recognized. Sir Humphry Davy carried off the
larger share of the celat which attached to the discovery. What
chance had the unknown workman of Killingworth with so distinguished a competitor? The one was as yet but a colliery engine-wright, scarce raised above the manual-labor class, without
chemical knowledge or literary culture, pursuing his experiments
in obscurity, with a view only to usefulness; the other was the
scientific prodigy of his day, the pet of the Royal Society, the
favorite of princes, the most brilliant of lecturers, and the most
popular of philosophers.
No small indignation-was expressed by the friends of Sir Humphry Davy at Stephenson's "presumption" in laying claim to the
invention of the Safety-lamp. The scientific class united to ignore him entirely in the matter. In 1831, Dr. Paris, in his
" Life of Sir Humphry Davy," thus wrote: " It will hereafter be
scarcely believed that an invention so eminently scientific, and
which could never have been derived but from the sterling treasury of science, should have been claimed on behalf of an engine-wright of Killingworth, of the name of Stephenson-a person not even possessing a knowledge of the elements of chemistry."
But Stephenson was really far above claiming for himself an
invention not his own. He had already accomplished a far
greater thing even than the making of a safety-lamp: he had
constructed a successful locomotive, which was to be seen in daily
work on the Killingworth Railway. By the improvements he
had made in the engine, he might almost be said to have invented it; yet no one —not even the philosophers-detected as yet the
significance of that wonderful machine. It excited no scientific
interest, called forth no leading articles in the newspapers or the
reviews, and formed the subject of no eloquent lectures at the
Royal Society; for railways were as yet comparatively unknown,
and the might which slumbered in the locomotive was scarcely,
as yet, even dreamed of. What railways were to become rested
* in a great measure with that " engine-wright of Killingworth, of
the name of Stephenson," though he was scarcely known as yet
beyond the bounds of his own district.




CHAP. VI.]      THE DA VY TESTIMONIAL.                191
As to the value of the invention of the safety-lamp there could
be no doubt, and the colliery owners of Durham and Northumberland, to testify their sense of its importance, determined to
present a testimonial to its inventor. The friends of Sir H. Davy
met in August, 1816, to take steps to raise a subscription for the
purpose. The advertised object of the meeting was to present
him with a reward for the invention of his safety-lamp." To
this no objection could be taken; for, though the principle on
which the safety-lamps of Stephenson and Davy were constructed
was the same, and although Stephenson's lamp was unquestionably the first successful lamp that had been constructed on such
principle, and proved to be efficient, yet Sir H. Davy did invent
a safety-lamp, no doubt quite independently of all that Stephenson had done; and having directed his careful attention to the
subject, and elucidated the true theory of explosion of carbureted
hydrogen, he was entitled to all praise and reward for his labor.
But when the meeting of coal-owners proposed to raise a subscription for the purpose of presenting Sir H. Davy with a reward
for "his invention of the safety-lamp," the case was entirely
altered, and Stephenson's friends then proceeded to assert his
claims to be regarded as its first inventor.
Many meetings took place on the subject, and much discussion
ensued, the result of which was that a sum of ~2000 was presented to Sir Humphry Davy as "the inventor of the safetylamp;" but, at the same time, a purse of 100 guineas was voted
to George Stephenson, in consideration of what he had done in
the same direction. This result was, however, very unsatisfactory to Stephenson, as well as to his friends; and Mr. Brandling,
of Gosforth, suggested to him that, the subject being now fairly
before the public, he should publish a statement of the facts on
which his claim was founded.
But this was not at all in George Stephenson's line. He had
never appeared in print before, and it seemed to him a far more
formidable thing to write a letter for publication in "the papers"
than even to invent a safety-lamp or design a locomotive. Having called his son Robert to his assistance, he set him down before a sheet of foolscap, and when all was ready, he said, "Now,
put down there just what I tell you." The composition of this
letter, as we were informed by the writer of it, occupied more




192           THE STEPHENSON TESTIMONIAL.            [PART II.
evenings than one; and when it was at length finished after
many corrections, and fairly copied out, the father and son set
out- the latter dressed in his Sunday's round jacket — to lay
the joint production before Mr. Brandling, at Gosforth House.
Glancing over the letter, iMr. Brandling said, " George, this will
never do."  "It is all true, sir," was the reply. "That may be;
but it is badly written." Robert blushed, for he thought it was
the penmanship that was called in question, and he had written
his very best. Mr. Brandling then requested his visitors to sit
down while he put the letter in a more polished form, which he
did, and it was shortly after published in the local papers.
As the controversy continued for some time longer to be carried on in the Newcastle papers, Mr. Stephenson, in the year
1817, consented to publish the detailed plans, with descriptions,
of the several safety-lamps which he had contrived for use in the
iEillingworth Colliery. The whole forms a pamphlet of only
sixteen pages of letter-press.*
His friends, being fully satisfied of his claims to priority as
the inventor of the safety-lamp used in the Killingworth and
other collieries, proceeded to hold a public meeting for the purpose of presenting him with a reward "' for the valuable service
he had thus rendered to mankind." Charles J. Brandling, Esq.,
occupied the chair;'and several resolutions were passed, of which
the first and most important was as follows: "That it is the
opinion of this meeting that Mr. George Stephenson, having discovered the fact that explosion of hydrogen gas will not pass
through tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and having
been'the Jr8st to apply that principle in the construction of a
safety-lamp, is entitled to a public reward."
A subscription was immediately commenced with this object,
and a committee was formed, consisting of the Earl of Strathmore, C. J. Brandling, and others. The subscription list was
headed by Lord Ravensworth, one of the partners in the Killingworth Colliery, who showed his appreciation of the merits of
Stephenson by giving 100 guineas. C. J. Brandling and partners gave a like sum, and Matthew Bell and partners,' and John
Brandling and partners, gave 50 guineas each.
* "A Description of the Safety-lamp, invented by George Stephenson, and now in
use in the Killingworth Colliery." London, 1817.




CHAP. VI.] THE STEPHENSON AND DAVY CONTROVERSY.   193
When the resolutions appeared in the newspapers, the scientific friends of Sir Humphry Davy in London met, and passed a
series of counter-resolutions, which they published, declaring
their opinion that Mr. Stephenson was not the author of the discovery of the fact that explosion of hydrogen will not pass
through tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and that he
was not the first to apply that principle to the construction of a
safety-lamp. To these counter-resolutions were attached the
well-known names of Sir Joseph Banks, P.R.S., William Thomas
Brande, Charles Hatchett, W. H. Wollaston, and Thomas Young.
Mr. Stephenson's friends then, to make assurance doubly sure,
and with a view to set the question at rest, determined to take
evidence in detail as to the date of discovery by George Stephenson of the fact in question, and its practical application by him
in the formation and actual trial of his safety-lamp. The witnesses examined were George Stephenson himself, Mr. Nicholas
Wood, and John Moodie, who had been present at the first trial
of the lamp; the several finmen who made the lamps; the secretary and other meinb6rs of the Literary and Philosophical Society
of Newcastle, who were present at the exhibition of the' third
lamp; and some of the workmen who were present at the Killingworth Colliery, who had been witnesses of Stephenson's experiments on fire-damp made with the lamps at different times
before Sir Humphry Davy's investigations had been heard of.
This evidence was'quite conclusive to the minds of the gentlemen who investigated the subject, and they published it in, 1817,
together with their Report, in which they declared that, "after a
careful inquiry into the merits of the case, conducted, as they
trust, in a spirit of fairness and moderation, they can perceive no
satisfactory reason for changing their opinion."*
* The committee, in their report, after setting forth in a tabular form the dates at
which Stephenson and Davy verified their theories by experiments, and brought out
their respective safety-lamps, proceeded to say: "The friends of Mr. Stephenson,
with this table before them, conceive their resolution to be fully borne out by the testimony of dates and facts, so far as they are known; and without the slightest idea
or wish of detracting from the scientific fame, honor, or veracity of Sir Humphry
Davy, they would repeat, and confine themselves to the simple assertion of their belief, that Mr. Stephenson was the first to construct a lamp upon the principle in question. And when the friends of Mr. Stephenson remember the humble and laborious
station of life which he has occupied; when they consider the scanty means and opportunities which he has had for pursuing researches in practical science, and look to
N




194          THE STEPHENSON AND DAVY LAMPS.    [PART II.
The Stephenson subscription, when collected, amounted to
~1000. Part of the money was devoted to the purchase of a
silver tankard, which was presented to the inventor, together
with the balance of the subscription, at a public dinner given in
the Assembly Rooms at Newcastle.*  But what gave Stephenson even greater pleasure than the silver tankard and purse of
sovereigns was the gift of a silver watch, purchased by small subscriptions collected among the colliers themselves, and presented
to him by them as a token of their esteem and regard for him as
a man, as well as of their gratitude for the perseverance and
skill with which he had prosecuted his valuable and life-saving
invention to a successful issue.  To the last day of his life he
spoke with pride of this watch as the most highly-prized gift he
had ever received.
However great may,be: the merits of Stephenson in connection
with the invention of the tube safety-lamp, they can not be regarded as detracting in any degree from the reputation of Sir
Humphry Davy.  His inquiries into the explosive properties of
carbureted hydrogen gas were quite original, and his discovery
of the fact that explosion will not pass through tubes of a certain
diameter was made independently of all that Stephenson had
done:in, verification -of the same fact.I It would even appear
that M]r. Smithson Teanant and Dr.:Wollaston had observed the
same fact several years before, though neither Stephenson nor
Davy knew of it while they were prosecuting their experiments.
Sir Humphry Davy's subsequent modification of the tube-lamp,
by which, while diminishing the diameter, he in the same ratio
shortened the tubes without danger, and in the form of wirethe improvements anda cscoveries which, notwithstanding so many disadvantages, he
has been enabled to make by the judicious and unremitting exercise of the energy
and acuteness of his natural understanding, they can not persuade themselves that
they have said any thing more than any liberal and feeling mind would most readily
admit."
* The tankard bore the following inscription: " This piece of plate, purchased with
a part of the sum of ~1000, a subscription raised for the remuneration of Mr. GEORGE
STEPHENSON for having discovered the fact that inflamed fire-damp will not pass
through tubes and apertures of small dimensions, and having been the first to apply
that principle in the construction of a safety-lamp calculated for the preservation of
human life in situations formerly of the greatest danger, was presented to him at a
meeting of the subscribers, Charles John Brandling, Esq., in the chair, January 12th,
1818."




CHAP. VI.] MERITS OF THE "GEORDY" SAFETY-LAMP.    195
gauze enveloped the safety-lamp by a multiplicity of tubes, was
a beautiful application of the true theory which he had formed
upon the subject.
The increased number of accidents which have occurred from
explosions in coal-mines since the general introduction of the
Davy lamp led to considerable doubts being entertained as to its
safety, and inquiries were consequently made as to the means by
which it might be farther improved; for experience has shown
that, under certain circumstances, the Davy lamp is not safe.
Stephenson was himself of opinion that the modification of his
own and Sir Humphry Davy's lamp, by combining the glass cylinder with the wire-gauze, would give the best lamp. At the
same time, it must be admitted that the Davy and the Geordy
lamps alike failed to stand the severe tests to which they were
submitted by Dr. Pereira, before the Committee on Accidents in
Mines. Indeed, Dr. Pereira did not hesitate to say that, when
exposed to a current of explosive gas, the Davy lamp is "decidedly unsafe," and that the experiments by which its safety had
been." demonstrated" in the lecture-room had proved entirely
" fallacious."
It is worthy of remark that, under circumstances in which the
wire-gauze of the Davy lamp becomes red-hot from the high explosiveness of the gas, the Geordy lamp is extinguished; and we
can not but think that this fact testifies to the decidedly superior
safety of the Geordy. An accident occurred in the Oaks Colliery Pit at Barnsley on the' 20th of August, 1857, which strikingly exemplified the respective qualities of the lamps. A sudden outburst of gas took place from the floor of the mine along
a distance of fifty yards. Fortunately, the men working in the
pit at the time were all supplied with safety-lamps-the hewers
with Stephenson's, and the hurriers with Davy's. On this occasion, the whole of the Stephenson lamps, over a space of five
hundred yards, were extinguished almost instantaneously; whereas the Davy lamps were filled with fire and became red-hot, so
that several of the men using them had their hands burnt by the
gauze. Had a strong current of air been blowing through the
gallery at the time, an explosion would most probably have taken
place —an accident..which, it will be observed, could not, under such circumstances, occur from the use of the Geordy,




196       MERITS OF THE " GEORDY" SAFETY-LAMP.  [PART II.
which is immediately extinguished as soon as the air becomes
explosive.*
Nicholas Wood, a good judge, has said of the two inventions,
"Priority has been claimed for each of them-I believe the inventions to be parallel.  By different roads they both arrived at
the same result. Stephenson's is the superior lamp. Davy's is
safe-Stephenson's is safer."
When the question of priority was under discussion at Mr.
Lough's studio in 1857, Sir Matthew White Ridley asked Robert
Stephenson, who was present, for his opinion on the subject. His
answer was, "I am  not exactly the person to give an unbiased
* The accident above referred to was described in the " Barnsley Times," a copy
of which, containing the account, Robert Stephenson forwarded to the author, with
the observation that "it is evidently written by a practical miner, and is, I think,
worthy of record in my father's Life." Mr; John Browne, C.E., Barnsley, in a commanication which appeared in the " Times" of December 24th, 1860, observed:
" At the period of this occurrence we had two kinds of safety-lamps in use in this
pit, viz.,'Davy' and''Stephenson,' and the gas, in going off to the upcast shaft, had
to pass great numbers of men, who were at work with both kinds of lamps. The
whole of the' Davy's' became red-hot almost instantaneously from the rapid ignition
of the gas within the gauze; the' Stephenson's' were as instantly self-extinguished
from the same cause, it being the, prominent qualification of these lamps that, in addition to affording a somewhat better light than the' Davy' lamp, they are suddenly
extinguished when placed within a highly explosive atmosphere, so that no person
can remain working and run the risk of his lamp becoming red-hot, which, under such
circumstances, would be the result with the' Davy' lamp.
"The red-hot lamps were, most fortunately, all safely put out, although the men in
many cases had their hands' severely burnt by the gauze; but from that time I fully
resolved to adopt the exclusive use of the' Stephenson' lamps, and not expose men to
the fearful risk they must run from working with'Davy' lamps during the probable
recurrence of a similar event.
"I may remark that the'Stephenson' lamp, originally invented by the great George
Stephenson, in its present shape combines the merits of his discovery with that of Sir
Humphry Davy, constituting, to my mind, the safest lamp at present known, and I
speak from the long use of many hundreds daily in various collieries."
In an account given in the " Times" of the 10th of August, 1867, of a number of
experiments made upon different safety-lamps at the Barnsley Gas-works, occasioned
by the terrible explosion at the Lund Hill Colliery, it is stated that the different
lamps were tested with the following results: " The' Davy' lamp with no shield on
the outside exploded the gas in six seconds, and with the shield inside the gauze in
nine seconds. The'Belgian' lamp exploded in ten seconds; the'Mozard' in ten
seconds; the small' Clanny' in seven seconds, the large one in ten seconds; and the'Stephenson' in seventy-five seconds. Although the' Stephenson' is undoubtedly the
best, it will be seen that none of the so-called safety-lamps can be depended upon
when coming in contact with a strong explosive current of fire-damp and air."




CIIP. VI.]   THE "GEORDY" SAFETY-LAMP.              197
opinion; but, as you ask me frankly, I will as frankly say, that
if George Stephenson had never lived, Sir Humphry Davy could
and most probably would have invented the safety-lamp; but
again, if Sir Humphry Davy had never lived, George Stephenson certainly would have invented the safety-lamp, as I believe
he did, independently of all that Sir Humphry Davy had done in
the matter."
To this day the Geordy lamp continues in regular use in the
Killingworth Collieries, and the Killingworth pitmen have expressed to the writer their decided preference for it compared
with the Davy. It is certainly a strong testimony in its favor
that no accident is known to have arisen from its use since it was
generally introduced into the Killingworth pits.
THE STEPHENSON TANKARD.




198           KILLING WOR Th COAL-MININC.        [PART'lT.
CHAPTER VII.
GEORGE STEPHENSONs' FARTHER IMPROVERENTS IN THE LOCOMOTIVE
-THE HETTON RAILWAY-ROBERT STEPHENSON AS VIEWER'S APPRENTICE AN)D STUDENT.
STEPHENsON'S experiments on fire-damp, and his labors in connection with the invention of the safety-lamp, occupied but a
small portion of his time, which was necessarily devoted, for the
most part, to the ordinary business of the colliery. From the
day of his appointment as engine-wright, one of the subjects
which particularly occupied his attention was the best practical
method of winning and raising the coal. Nicholas Wood has
said of him that he was one of the first to introduce steam machinery underground with that object. Indeed, the Killingworth
mines came to be regarded as the models of the district; and
when Mr. Robert Bald, the celebrated Secoteh mining engineer,
was requested by Dr. (afterward SiiK:David) Brewster to prepare
the article "Mine" for the "Edfiburg Encyclopoadia," he proceeded to Killingworth principally for the purpose of examining
Stephenson's underground machinery. Mr. Bald has favored us
with an account of his visit made with that object in 1818, and
he states that he was much struck with the novelty, as well as
the remarkable efficiency of Stephenson's arrangements, especially in regard to what is called the urtderdip working.
"I found," he says, "that a mine had been commenced near the
main pit-bottom, and carried forward down the dip 6r slope of the
coal, the rate of dip being about one in twelve; and the coals were
drawn from the di to the pit-bottom by the steam machinery in a
very rapid manner. The water which.oozed from the upper winning was disposed of at the pit-bottom in a barrel or trunk, and
was drawn up by the power of the engine which worked the other
machinery. The dip at the time of my visit was nearly a mile in
length, but has since been greatly extended. As I was considerably tired by my wanderings in the galleries, when I arrived at the




CHAP. VII.]   THE LOCOMOTIVE AND THE ROAD.           199
forehead of the dip, Mr. Stephenson said to me,.'You may very
speedily be carried up to the rise by laying yourself flat upon the
coal-baskets,' which were laden and ready to be taken up the incline. This I at once did, and was straightway wafted on the wings
of fire to the bottom of the pit, from whence I was borne swiftly up
to the light by the steam machinery on the pit-head."
The whole of the working arrangements seemed to Mr. Bald
to be conducted in the most skillful and efficient manner, reflecting the highest credit on the colliery engineer.
Besides attending to the underground arrangements, the improved transit of the coals above ground from the pit-head to the
shipping-place demanded an increasing share of Stephenson's kttention. Every day's experience convinced him that the locomotive constructed by him after his patent of the year 1815 was far
from perfect, though he continued to entertain confident hopes
of its complete eventual success. He even went so far as to say
that the locomotive would yet supersede every other tractionpower for drawing heavy loads.  It is true, many persons continued to regard his traveling, engine as little better than a danger(us curiosity; and some, shaking their heads, predicted for. it " a
terrible blow-up some day."  Nevertheless, it was daily performing its work with regularity, dragging the coal-wagons between
the colliery and the staiths, and saving the labor of many men
and horses.
There was not, however, so marked a saving in the expense of
haulage as to induce the colliery masters to adopt locomotive
power generally as a substitute for horses. How it could be improved, and rendered more efficient as well as economical, was
constantly present to Stephenson's mind.' He was fully conscious of the imperfections both in the road and the engine, and
gave himself no rest until he had brought the efficiency of both
up to ahigher point. Thus he worked his way inch by inch,
slowly but surely, and every step gained was made good as a basis for farther improvements.
At an early period of his labors, or about the time when he
had completed his second locomotive,he began to direct his particular attention to the state of the Road, perceiving that the extended use of the locomotive must necessarily depend in a great
measure upon the perfection, solidity, continuity, and smoothness




200             HALF-LAP JOINTED RAILS..           [PART II.
of the way along which the engine traveled. Even at that early
period he was in the habit of regarding the road and the locomotive as one machine, speaking of the Rail and the Wheel as
"Man: and Wife."
All railways were at that time laid in a careless and loose manner, and great inequalities of level were allowed to occur without
much attention being paid to repairs. The consequence was a
great loss of power, as well as much wear and tear of the machinery, by the frequent jolts and blows of the wheels against the
rails. - Stephenson's first object, therefore, was to remove the inequalities produced by the imperfect junction between rail and
rail.
At that time (1816) the rails were made of cast iron, each rail
being about three feet long; and sufficient care was not taken to
maintain the points of junction on the same level. The chairs,
or cast-iron pedestals into which the rails were inserted, were fiat
at the bottom, so that whenever any disturbance took place in the
stone blocks or sleepers supporting them, the flat base of the chair
upon which-the rails rested being tilted by unequal subsidence,
the end of one rail became depressed, while that of the other was
elevated. Hence constant jolts and shocks, the reaction of which
very often caused the fracture of the rails, and occasionally threw
the engine off the road.
To remedy this imperfection, Mr. Stephenson devised a new
chair, with an entirely new mode of fixing the rails therein. Instead of adopting the butt-joint which had hitherto been used in
all cast-iron rails, he adopted the half-lap joint, by which means
~_______-   ~........ the rails extended a certain distance over. each
other at the ends like a
scarf-joint. These ends,
instead of resting onthe
~ I 1-7                fiat chair, were made to
XaLF-LAP JOINT.
rest upon the apex of a
curve forming the bottom of the chair. The supports were also
extended from three feet to three feet nine inches or four feet,
apart. These rails were accordingly substituted for the old cast-i
iron plates on the Killingworth Colliery Railway, and they were
found to be a very great improvement on the previous system,




CHAP. VII.] STEPHENSON'S IMPROVED LOCOMOTIVE.        201
adding both to the efficiency of the horse-power (still used on the
railway) and to the smooth action of the locomotive engine; but
more particularly increasing the efficiency of the latter.
This improved form of the rail and chair was embodied in a
patent taken out in the joint names of Mr. Losh, of Newcastle,
iron founder, and of Mr. Stephenson, bearing date the 30th of
September, 1816. Mr. Losh being a wealthy, enterprising ironmanufacturer, and having confidence in George Stephenson and
his improvements, found the money for the purpose of taking
out the patent, which in those days was a very costly as well as
troublesome affair. At the same time, Mr. Losh guaranteed Stephenson a salary of ~100 per annum, with a share in the profits
arising from his inventions, conditional on his attending at the
Walker Iron-works two days a week-an arrangement to which
the owners of the Killingworth Colliery cheerfully gave their
sanction.
The specification of 1816 included various important improvements in the locomotive itself. The wheels of the engine were
improved, being altered from cast to'malleable iron, in whole or
in part, by which they were made lighter as well as more durable
and safe. The patent also included the ingenious and original
OLD KILLINGWORTH LOOOMOTIVE STILL IN USE.




202           EXPERIMENTS ON FRICTION.           [PART II.
contrivance by which the steam generated in the boiler was made
to serve as a substitute for springs-an expedient already explained in a preceding chapter.
The result of the actual working of the.new locomotive on the
improved road amply justified the promises held forth in the
specification. The traffic was conducted with greater regularity
and economy, and the superiority of the engine, as compared with
horse traction, became still more marked. And it is a fact worthy
of notice, that the identical engines constructed by Stephenson in
1816 are to this day in regular useful work upon the Killingworth
Railway, conveying heavy coal-trains at the speed of between five
and six miles an hour, probably as economically as any of the
more perfect locomotives now in use.,
George Stephenson's endeavors having been attended with such
marked success in the adaptation of locomotive power t5 railways,
his attention was called by many of his friends, about the year
1818, to the application of steam to traveling on common roads.
It was from this point, indeed, that the locomotive had started,
Trevithick's first engine having been constructed with this special
object. Stephenson's friends having observed how far behind he
had left the original projector of the locomotive in its application
to railroads, perhaps naturally inferred that he would be equally
successful in applying it to the purpose for which Trevithick and
Vivian had intended their first engine. But the accuracy with
which he estimated the resistance to which loads were exposed
on railways, arising from friction and gravity, led him at a very
early stage to reject the idea of ever applying steam-power economically to common road traveling. In October, 1818, he made
a series of careful experiments, in conjunction with Mr. Nicholas
Wood, on the resistance to which carriages were exposed on railways, testing the results by means of a dynamometer of his own
contrivance. The series of practical'observations; made by means
of this instrument were interesting, as-the first systematic attempt
to determine the precise amount of resistance to carriages moving along railways. It was then for the first time ascertained by
experiment that the friction was a constant quantity at all velocities. Although this theory: had long before been developed
by Vince and Coulomb, and was well known to scientific men as
an established truth, yet, at the time when Stephenson made his




CHAP. VII.]  ROBERT STEPHENSON'S NARRATIVE.            203
experiments, the deductions of philosophers on the subject were
neither-believed in nor acted upon by practical engineers. To
quote again from the MS. account supplied to the author by
Robert Stephenson for the purposes of his father's "Life:"
"It was maintained by many that the results of the experiments
led to the greatest possible mechanical absurdities. For instance,
it was maintained that,. if friction were constant at all velocities
upon a level railway, when once a power was applied to a carriage
which exceeded the friction of that carriage by the smallest possible amount, that same small excess of power would be able to convey the carriage along a level railway at all conceivable velocities.
When this position was put by those who opposed then conclusions
at which my father had arrived, he felt great hesitation in maintaining his own views; for it appeared to him at first sight really
to be-as it was put by his opponents-an absurdity. Frequent
repetition, however, of the experiments to which I have alluded,
left no doubt upon his imind that his conclusion that friction was
uniform at all velocities was a fact which must be received as positively established; and he soon afterward boldly maintained that
that which was an apparent absurdity was, instead, a necessary
consequence. I well remember the ridicule that was thrown upon
this view by many of those persons with whom he was associated
at the time. Nevertheless, it is undoubted, that, could you practically be always applying a power in excess of the resistance, a
constant increase of velocity would of necessity follow without any
limit. This is so obvious to most professional men of the present
day, and is now so axiomatic, that I only allude to. the discussion
which took place when these experiments of my father were announced for the purpose of showing how small was the amount of
science at that time blended with engineering practice. A few
years afterward, an excellent pamphlet was published by Mr. Silvester on this question; he took up the whole subject, and demonstrated in a very simple and beautiful manner the correctness of all
the views at which my father had arrived by his course, of experiments.
"The other resistances to which carriages were exposed were
also investigated experimentally by my father. - He perceived that
these resistances were mainly three-the first being upon the axles
of the carriage; the second, which may be called the rolling resistance, being between the circumference of the wheel and the
surface of the rail; and the third being the resistance of gravity.




204              FRICTION AND GRA VITY.            [PART II.
"The amount of friction and gravity he accurately ascertained;
but the rolling resistance was a matter of greater difficulty, for it
was subject to great variation. He, however, satisfied himself that
it was so great, when the surface presented to the wheel was of a
rough character, that the idea of working steam-carriages economically on common roads was out of the question. Even so early as
the period alluded to he brought his theoretical calculations to a
practical test; he scattered sand upon the rails when an engine
was running, and found that a small quantity was quite sufficient
to retard and even stop the most powerful locomotive engine that
he had at that time made. And he never failed to urge this conclusive experiment upon the attention of those who were wasting
their money and time upon the vain attempt to apply steam to
common roads.
"The following were the principal arguments which influenced
his mind to work out the use of the locomotive in a directly opposite course to that pursued by a number of ingenious inventors,
who, between 1820 and 1836, were engaged in attempting to apply
steam-power to turnpike roads. Having, ascertained that resistance
might be taken as represented by 10 lbs. to a ton weight on a level
railway, it became obvious to him that so small a rise as 1 in 100
would diminish the useful effort of a locomotive by upward of fifty
per cent. This fact called my father's attention to the question of
gradients in future locomotive lines. He then became convinced
of the vital importance, in an economical point of view, of reducing
the country through which a railway was intended to pass to as
near a level as possible. This originated in his mind the distinctive character of railway works as contradistinguished from all other
roads; for in railroads he early.contended that large sums would
be wisely expended in perforating barriers of hills with long tunnels, and, in raising low ground with the excess cut down from the
adjacent high ground. In proportion as these views fixed themselves upon his mind, and were corroborated by his daily experience, he became more and more convinced of the hopelessness of
applying steam locomotion to common roads; for every argument
in favor of a level railway was an argument against the rough and
hilly course of a common road. He never ceased to urge upon the
patrons of road steam-carriages that if, by any amount of ingenuity,
an engine could be made which could by possibility traverse a
turnpike road at a speed at least equal to that obtainable by horsepower, and at a less cost, such an engine, if applied to the more
perfect surface of a railway, would have its efficiency enormously




CHAP. VII.]         ROAD LOCOMOTION.                  205
enhanced. For instance, he calculated that if an engine had been
constructed, and had been found to travel uniformly between London and Birmingham at an average speed of 10 miles an hourconveying, say, 20 or 30 passengers at a cost of is. per mile, it was
clear that the same engine, if applied to a railway, instead of conveying 20 or 30 people, would have conveyed 200 or 300 people,
and instead of a speed of 10 or 12 miles an hour, a speed of at least
30 to 40 miles an hour would have been obtained."
At this day it is difficult to understand how the sagacious and
strong common-sense views of Stephenson on this subject failed
to force themselves sooner upon the minds of those who were
persisting in their vain though ingenious attempts to apply locomotive power to ordinary roads. For a long time they continued
to hold with obstinate perseverance to the belief that for such
purposes a soft road was better than a hard one-a road easily
crushed better than one incapable of being crushed; and they
held to this after it had been demonstrated in all parts of  the
mining districts that iron tram-ways were better than.paved
roads. But the fallacy that iron was incapable of adhesion upon
iron continued to prevail, and the projectors of steam-traveling
on common roads only shared in the common belief. They still
considered that roughness of surface was essential to produce
"bite," especially in surmounting acclivities; the truth being
that they confounded roughness of surface with tenacity of sur
face and contact of parts, not perceiving that a yielding surface
which would adapt itself to the tread of the wheel could never
become an unyielding surface to form a fulcrum for its progression.
Although Stephenson's locomotive engines were in daily use
for many years on the Killingworth Railway, they excited comparatively little interest. They were no longer experimental, but
had become an established tractive power. The experience of
years had proved that they worked more steadily, drew heavier
loads, and were, on the whole, considerably more economical than
horses. Nevertheless, eight years passed before another locomotive railway was constructed and opened for the purposes of coal
or other traffic.
It is difficult to account for this early indifferenfce on the part
of the public to the merits of the greatest' mechanical invention




206      EARLY NEGLECT OF THE LOCOMOTIVE.  [PART II.
of the age. Steam-carriages were exciting much interest, and
numerous and repeated experiments were made with them. The
improvements effected by M'Adam inthe mode of constructing
turnpike roads were the subject of frequent discussions in the
Legislature, on the grants of public money being proposed, which
were from time to time made to him. Yet here at Killingworth,
without the aid of a farthing of government money, a system
of road locomotion had been in existence since 1814, which was
destined, before many years, to revolutionize the internal communications of England and of the world, but of which the English public and the English government as yet knew nothing.
But Stephenson had no means of bringing his important invention prominently under the notice of the public.  He himself
knew well its importance, and he already anticipated its eventual
general adoption; but, being an unlettered man, he could not
give utterance to-:the thoughts which brooded within him on the
subject. Killingworth Colliery lay far from London, the centre
of scientific life in England. It was visited by no savans nor
literary men, who might have succeeded in introducing to notice
the wonderful machine of Stephenson. Even the local chroniclers seem to have taken no notice of the Killingworth Railway.
The "Puffing Billy" was-doing its daily quota of hard: work, and
had long ceased; to be a- curiosity in the neighborhood. Blenkinsop's clumsier and less successful engine-which has long since
been disused, while Stephenson's Killingworth engines continue
working to this day-excited far more interest, partly, perhaps,
because it was close to the large town of Leeds, and used to be
visited by strangers as one of the few objects of interest in that
place. Blenkinsop was also an educated man, and was in communication with some of the most distinguished personages of his
day on the subject of his locomotive, which thus obtained considerable celebrity.
The first engine constructed by Stephenson to order, after the
Kllingworth model, was made for the Duke of Portland in 1817,
for use upon his tram-road, about ten miles long, extending from
Kilmarnock to Troon, in Ayrshire. It was employed to haul the
coals from the duke's collieries along the line to Troon harbor.
Its use was, however, discontinued in consequence of the frequent
breakages of the cast-iron rails, by which the working of the line




CHAP. VII.] THE LOCOMOTIVE ADOPTED AT BETTON.            207
was interrupted, and accordingly horses were again employed as
before.*
There seemed, indeed, to be so small a prospect of introducing
the locomotive into general use, that Stephenson-perhaps conscious of the capabilities within him —again recurred: to his old
idea of emigrating to the United States., Before entering as
sleeping partner in a small foundery at Forth Banks, Newcastle,
managed by Mr. John Burrell, he had thrown out the suggestion
to the latter that it would be a good speculation for them to emigrate to North America, and introduce steam-boats on the great
inland lakes there. The first steamera were then plying upon the
Tyne before his eyes, and he saw in them the: germ of a.great
revolution in navigation. It occurred to him that the great lakes
of North America presented the finest field for trying their wonderful powers. He was an engineer, and Mr. Burrell was an
iron-founder; and between them, he thought they might strike
out a path to fortune in the mighty West. Fortunately, this idea
remained a mere. speculation so far as Stephenson was:concerned,
and it was left to others to do what he had dreamed of achieving.
After all his patient waiting, his skill, industry, and perseverance
were at length about to bear fruit.
In 1819, the owners of the Hetton Colliery, in the county of
Durham, determined to have their wagon-way altered to a locomotive railroad.  The result of the working of the Killingworth
Railway had been so, satisfactory that they resolved to adopt the
same system. One reason whyan experimentiso long. continued
and so successful as that at lKillingworth should have been so
slow in producing results perhaps was, that to lay down a railway and furnish it with locomotives, or fixed engines where necessary, required a very large capital, beyond the means of ordinary -coal-owners; while the small amount of interest felt in railways by the general public, and the supposed impracticability of
working them to a profit, as yet prevented the ordinary capitalists
from venturing their money in the promotion of such undertakings. The Hetton Coal Company were, however, possessed of
* The iron wheels of this engine were afterward removed, and replaced with wooden wheels, when it was again put upon the road, and continued working until quite
recently. Its original cost was ~750. It was sold in 1848 for ~13, and brokenup as
old materials.




208     DIFFICULTIES OF THE HETTON RAILWAY. [PART II.
adequate means, and the local reputation of the Killingworth
engine-wright'pointed him out as the man best calculated to lay
out their line and superintend their works. They accordingly
invited him to act as the engineer of the proposed railway. Being in the service of the Killingworth Company, Stephenson felt
it necessary to obtain their permission to enter upon this new
work.. This was at once granted. The best feeling existed between him and his employers, and they regarded it as a compliment that their colliery engineer should be selected for a work so
important as the laying down of the Hetton Railway, which was
to be the longest locomotive line that had, up to that time, been
constructed in the neighborhood. Stephenson accepted the appointment, his brother Robert acting as resident engineer and
personally superintending the execution of the works.
The Hetton Railway extended from the Hetton Colliery, situated about two miles south of Houghton-le-Spring, to the shipplaces on the banks of the Wear, near Sunderland. Its length
was about eight miles; and in its course it crossed Warden Law,
one of the highest hills in the district. The character of the
country forbade the construction of a flat line, or one of compararatively easy gradients, except by the expenditure of a much
larger capital than was placed at Stephenson's command. Heavy
works could not be executed; it was therefore necessary to form
the'line with but little deviation from the natural conformation
of the district which it traversed, and'also to adapt the mechanical methods employed for its working to the character of the gradients, which in some places were necessarily heavy.
Although George Stephenson had, with every step made toward its increased utility, become more and more identified with
the success of the'locomotive engine, he did not allow his enthusiasm to carry him away into costly mistakes. He carefully drew
the line between the cases in which the locomotive could be usefully employed and those in which stationary engines were calculated to be more economical. This led him, as in the instance
of the Hetton Railway, to execute lines through and over rough
countries, where gradients within the powers of the locomotive
engine of that day could not be secured, employing in their stead
stationary engines where locomotives were not practicable. In
the present case, this course was adopted by him most success



CHAP. VII.]  OPENING OF THE HETTON RAILWAY.          209
fully. On the original Hetton line there were five self-acting
inclines-the full wagons drawing the empty ones up-and two
inclines worked by fixed reciprocating engines of sixty-horse power each. The locomotive traveling engine, or "the iron horse,"
as the people of the neighborhood then styled it, worked the rest
of the line. On the day of the opening of the Hetton Railway,
the 18th of November, 1822, crowds of spectators assembled from
all parts to witness the first operations of this ingenious and powerful machinery, which was entirely successful. On that day five
of Stephenson's locomotives were at work upon the railway, under the direction of his brother Robert; and the first shipment of
coal was then made by the Hetton Company at their new staiths
on the Wear. The speed at which the locomotives traveled was
about four miles an hour, and each engine dragged after it a
train of seventeen wagons weighing about sixty-four tons.
While thus advancing step by step-attending to the business
of the  Killingworth Colliery, and laying out railways in the
neighborhood-he was carefully watching over the education of
his son. We have already seen that Robert was sent to school at
Newcastle, where he remained about four years. While Robert
was at school, his father, as usual, made his son's education instrumental to his own. He entered him a member of the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Institute, the subscription to
which was three guineas a year. Robert spent much of his leisure hours there, reading and studying; and when he went home
in the afternoons, he was accustomed to carry home with him a
volume of the "Repertory of Arts and Sciences," or of some
work on practical science, which furnished the subject of interesting reading and discussion in the evening hours. Both father
and son were always ready to ackndwledge the great advantages
they had derived from the use of so excellent a library' of books;
and, toward the close of his life, the latter, in recognition of his
debt of gratitude to the institution, contributed a large sum for
the purpose of clearing off the debt, but conditional on the annual subscription being reduced to a guinea, in order that the
usefulness of the Institute might be extended.
Robert left school in the summer of 1819, and was put apprentice to Mr. Nicholas Wood, the head viewer at Killingworth, to
learn the business of the colliery. He served in that capacity for
0




210   ROBERT STEPHENSON VIEWER'S APPRENTICE. [PART II.
about three years, during which time he became familiar with
most departments of underground work. His occupation was
not unattended with peril, as the following incident will show.
Though the use of the Geordy lamp had become general in the
Killingworth pits, and the workmen were bound, under a penalty
of half a crown, not to use a naked candle, it was difficult to enforce the rule, and even the masters themselves occasionally broke
it. One day Nicholas Wood, the head viewer, Moodie, the under
viewer, and Robert Stephenson, were proceeding along one of the
galleries, Wood with a naked candle ill his hand, and Robert following him with a lamp. They came to a place where a fall of
stones from the roof had taken place, on which Wood, who was
first, proceeded to clamber over the stones, holding high the naked
candle. He had nearly reached.the summit of the heap, when
the fire-damp, which had accumulated in the hollow of the roof,
explbded, and instantly the whole party were blown down, and the
lights'extinguished. They were a mile from the shaft, and quite
in the dark. There was a rush of the work-people from all quarters toward the shaft, for it was feared that the fire might extend
to more dangerous parts of the pit, where, if the gas had exploded,
every soul in the miniie must inevitably have perished. Robert
Stephenson: and Moodie, on the first impulse, ran back at full
speed along the dark gallery leading to the shaft, coming into collision, on their way, with the hind quarters of a horse stunned by
the explosion. When they had gone half way, Moodie halted,
and bethought him of Nicholas Wood. "Stop, laddie!" said he
to Robert, " stop; we maun gang back and seek the maister." So
they retraced their steps. Happily, no farther explosion took
place. They found the master lying on the heap of stones, stunned and bruised, with his haids severely burnt. They led him to
the bottom of the shaft; and he afterward took care not to ventPire into the dangerous parts of, the mine without the protection
of a Geordy lamp.
The time that Robert spent at Killingworth as viewer's apprentice was of advantage both to his father and himself. The evenings were generally devoted to reading and study, the two from
this time working together as friends and co-laborers. One who
used to drop in at the cottage of an evening well remembers the
animated and eager discussions which on some occasions took




CHAP. VII.] ROBERT'S. PURSUITS AT KILLING WORTH.     211
place, more especially with reference to the growing powers of
the locomotive engine. The son was even more enthusiastic than
his father on the subject. Robert would suggest numerous alterations and improvements in detail. His father, on the contrary,
would offer every possible objection, defending the existing arrangements-proud, nevertheless, of his son's suggestions, and often warmed and excited by his brilliant anticipations of the'ultimate triumph of the locomotive.
These discussions probably had considerable influence in inducing Stephenson to take the next important step in the education
of his son. Although Robert, who was only nineteen years of age,
was doing well, and was certain, at the expiration of his apprenticeship, to rise to a higher position, his father was not satisfied
with the amount of instruction which he had as yet given him.
Remembering the disadvantages under which he had himself labored through his ignorance of practical chemistry during his investigations connected with the safety-lamp, more especially with
reference to the properties of gas, as well as in the course of his
experiments with the object of improving the locomotive engine,
he determined to furnish his son with a better scientific culture
than he had yet attained. He also believed that a proper. training in technical science was indispensable to success in the higher
walks of the engineer's profession, and he determined to give
Rober1 the education, in a certain degree, which he so much desired for himself. He would thus, he knew, secure an able coworker in the elaboration of the great ideas now looming before
him, and with their united practical and scientific knowledge he
probably felt that they would be equal to any enterprise.
He accordingly took Robert from his labors as under viewer in
the West-Moor Pit, and in October, 1822, sent him for a short
course of instruction to the Edinburg University. Robert was
furnished with letters of introduction to several men of literary
eminence in Edinburg, his father's reputation in connection with
the safety-lamp being of service to him in this respect. He lodged
in Drummond Street, in the immediate vicinity of the college,
and attended the Chemical Lectures of Dr. Hope, the Natural
Philosophy Lectures of Sir John Leslie, and the Natural History
Class of Professor Jameson. He also devoted several evenings
in each week to the study of practical Chemistry under Dr. John




212       ROBERT STEPHENSON AT EDIVBURG.   [PART II.
Murray, himself one of the numerous designers of a safety-lamp.
He took careful notes of the lectures, which he copied out at
night before he went to bed, so that, when he returned to Killingworth, he might read them over to his father. He afterward had
the notes bound up and placed in his library.
Long years after, when conversing with Thomas Harrison, C.E.,
at his house in Gloucester Square, he rose from his seat and took
down a volure from the shelves. Mr. Harrison observed that the
book was in MS., neatly written out. "What have we here.?" he
asked. The answer was, "When I went to college, I knew the
difficulty my father had in collecting the funds to send me there.
Before going I studied short-hand; while at Edinburg I took down
verbatim every lecture; and in the evenings, before I went to bed,
I transcribed those lectures word for word. You see the result
in that range of books." From this it will be observed that the
maxim of "Like father, like son," was one that strictly applied to
the Stephensons.
Robert was not without the pleasure of social intercourse either
during his stay at Edinburg. Among the letters of introduction
which he took with him was one to Robert Bald, the mining engineer, which proved of much service to him. "I remember Mr.
Bald very well," he said on one occasion, when recounting his
reminiscences of his Edinburg college life. "He introduced me
to Dr. Hope, Dr. Murray, and several of the distinguishednen of
the North. Bald was the Buddle of Scotland. He knew my father from having visited the pits at Killingworth, with the object
of describing the system of working them in his article intended
for the' Edinburg Encyclopoedia.'. A strange adventure befell
that article before it appeared in print. Bald was living at Alloa when he wrote it, and when finished he sent it to Edinburg
by the hands of young Maxton, his nephew, whom he enjoined
to take special care of it, and deliver it safely into the hands of
the editor. The young man took passage for New Haven by one
of the little steamers which then plied on the Forth; but on the
voyage down the Frith she struck upon a rock nearly opposite
Queen's Ferry, and soon sank. When the accident happened,
Maxton's whole concern was about his uncle's article. He durst
not return to Alloa if he lost it, and he must not go on to Edinburg without it. So he desperately clung to the chimney chains




CHAP. IV.] REMINISCENCES.-GEOLOGICAL EXCURSIONS.  213
with the paper parcel under his arm, while most of the other passengers were washed away and drowned. And there he continued to cling until rescued by some boatmen, parcel and all, after
which he made his way to Edinburg, and the article duly appeared."
Returning to the subject of his life in Edinburg, Robert continued:l"'Besides taking me with him to the meetings of the
Royal and other societies, Mr. Bald introduced me to a very
agreeable family, relatives of his owl, at whose house I spent
many pleasant evenings. It was there I met Jeannie MX.
She was a bonnie lass, and I, being young and susceptible, fairly
fell in love with her. But, like most very early attachments,
mine proved evanescent. Years passed, and I had all but forgotten Jeannie, when one day I received a letter from her, from
which it appeared that she was in great distress through the ruin
of her relatives. I sent her a sum of money, and continued to do
so for several years; but the last remittance not being acknowledged, I directed my friend Sanderson to make inquiries. I afterward found that the money had reached her at Portobello just
as she was dying, and so, poor thing, she had been unable to acknowledge it."
One of the practical sciences in the study of which Robert
Stephenson took special interest while at Edinburg was that of
geology. The situation of the city, in the midst of a district of
highly interesting geological formation, easily accessible to pedestrians, is indeed most favorable to the pursuit of such a study;
and it was the practice of Professor Jameson frequentl to head
a band of his pupils, armed with hammers, chisels, and linometers, and take them with him on a long ramble into the country,
for the purpose of teaching them habits of observation, and reading to them from the open book of Nature itself. The professor
was habitually grave and taciturn, but on such occasions he would
relax and even become genial. For his own special science he
had an almost engrossing enthusiasm, which on such occasions he
did not fail to inspire into his pupils, who thus not only got their
knowledge in the pleasantest possible way, but also fresh air and
exercise in the midst of glorious scenery and in joyous company.
At the close of this session, the professor took with him a select body of his pupils on an excursion along the Great Glen of




214            EXCURSION. — WINS A PRIZE.        [PART II.
the Highlands, in the line of the Caledonian Canal, and Robert
formed one of the party. They passed under the shadow of Ben
Nevis, examined the famous old sea-margins known as the " parallel roads of Glen Roy," and extended their journey as far as
Inverness, the professor teaching the young men, as they traveled, how to observe in a mountain country. Not long before
his death, Robert Stephenson spoke in glowing terms of the great
pleasure and benefit which he had derived from that interesting
excursion. "I have traveled far, and enjoyed much," he said,
"but that delightful botanical' and geological tour I shall never
forget; and I am just about to start in the ITitanica for a trip
round the east coast of Scotland, returning south through the
Caledonian Canal, to refresh myself with the recollection of that
first and brightest tour of my life."
Toward the end of the summer the young student returned to
Killingworth to re-enter upon the active business of life. The
six months' study had cost his father ~80-a considerable sum to
him in those days; but he was amply repaid by the additional
scientific culture which his son had acquired, and the evidence of
ability and industry which he was enabled to exhibit in a prize
for mathematics which he had won at the University.
WYEST MOOR PIT, KILLINGWORTH.
We may here add that by this time George Stephenson, after
remaining a widower fourteen years, had married, in 1820, his
second wife, Elizabeth Hindmarsh, the daughter of a respectable
farmer at Black Callerton. She was a woman of excellent char



CHAP. VII.] GEORGE STEPHENSON'S SECOND MARRIAGE.  215
acter, sensible, and intelligent, and of a kindly and affectionate
nature. George's son Robert, whom she loved as if he had been
her own, to the last day of his life spoke of her in the highest
terms; and it is unquestionable that she contributed in no small
degree to the happiness of her husband's home.
The story was for some time current that, while living at Black
Callerton in the capacity of engine-man, twenty years before,
George had made love to Miss Hindmarsh, and, failing to obtain
her hand, in despair he had married Paterson's servant. But the
author has been assured by Mr. Thomas Hindmarsh, of Newcastle,
the lady's brother, that the story was mere idle gossip, and altogether without foundation.




216            FIRST PUBLIC RAIL WAY ACT.             [PART II.
CHAPTER VIII.
GEORGE STEPHENSON ENGINEER OF THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.
IT is not improbable that the slow progress made by railways
in public estimation was, in a considerable measure, due to the
comparative want of success which had attended the first projects. We do not refer to the tram-roads and railroads which
connected the collieries and iron-works with the shipping-places.
These were found convenient and economical, and their use became general in Durham and Northumberland, in South Wales,
in Scotland, and throughout the colliery districts. But none of
these were public railways. Though the Merthyr Tydvil Tramroad, the Sirhoway Railroad, and others in South Wales, were
constructed under the powers of special acts,* they were exclusively used for the private purposes of the coal-owners and ironmasters at whose expense they were made.
The first public Railway Act was that passed in 1801, authorizing the construction of a line from Wandsworth to Croydon,
under the name of "The Surrey Iron Railway." By a subsequent act, powers were obtained to extend the line to Reigate,
with a branch to Godstone. The object of this railway was to
furnish a more ready means for the transport of coal and merchandise from the Thames to the districts of south London, and
at the same time to enable the lime-burners and proprietors of
stone-quarries to send the lime and stone to London. With this
object, the railioad was connected with a dock or basin in Wandsworth Creek.capable of containing thirty barges, with an entrance
lock into the Thames.
The works had scarcely been commenced ere the company got
into difficulties, but eventually 26 miles of iron-way were con* The act for constructing the Merthyr Tydvil Tram-road was obtained from Parliament as early as 1794; that for the Sirhoway Railroad in 1801; the Carmarthenshire Railroad was sanctioned in the same year; and the Oystermouth Railway in
1803.




CHAP.VIII.] FAILURE OF THE CROYDON RAILWAY.          217
structed and opened for traffic. Any person was then at liberty
to put wagons on the line, and to carry goods within the prescribed rates, the wagons being worked by horses, mules, and
donkeys. Notwithstanding the very sanguine expectations which
were early formed as to the paying qualities of this railway, it
never realized any adequate profit to the owners. But it continued to be worked, principally by donkeys for the sake of cheapness, down to the passing of the act for constructing the London
and Brighton line in 1837, when the proprietors disposed of their
undertaking to the new company. The line was accordingly dismantled; the stone blocks and rails were taken up and sold; and
all that remains of the Wandsworth, Croydon, and Merstham Railway is the track still observable to the south of Croydon, along
Smitham Bottom, nearly parallel with the line of the present
Brighton Railway, and an occasional cutting and embankment,
which still mark the route of this first public railway.
The want of success of this undertaking doubtless had the effect of deterring projectors from embarking in any similar enterprise. If a line of the sort could not succeed near London, it
was thought improbable that it should succeed any where else.
The Croydon and Merstham line was a beacon to warn capitalists against embarking in railways, and many years passed before
another was ventured upon.
Sir Richard Phillips was one of the few who early recognized
the important uses of the locomotive and its employment on a
large scale for the haulage of goods and passengers by railway.
In his " Morning Walk to Kew" he crossed the line of the Wandsworth and Croydon Railway, when the idea seems to have occurred to him, as it afterwards did to Thomas Gray, that in the
locomotive and the railway were to be found the germs of a
great and peaceful social revolution:
"I found delight," said Sir Richard, in his book published in 1813,
"in witnessing at Wandsworth the economy of horse labor on the
iron railway. Yet a heavy sigh escaped me as I thought of the inconceivable millions of money which have been spent about Malta,
four or five of which might have been the means of extending
double lines of iron railway from London to Edinburg, Glasgow,
Holyhead, Milford, Falmouth, Yarmouth, Dover, and Portsmouth.
A reward of a single thousand would have supplied coaches and




218            ILL SUCCESS OF RAIL WA YS.         [PART II.
other vehicles, of various degrees of speed, with the best tackle for
readily turning out; and we might, ere this, have witnessed our
mail-coaches running at the rate of ten miles an hour drawn by a
single horse, or impelled fifteen miles an hour by Blenkinsop's
steam-engine. Such would have been a legitimate motive for overstepping the income of a nation, and the completion of so great and
useful a work would have afforded rational ground fpr public triumph in general jubilee."
There was, however, as yet, no general recognition of the advantages either of railways or locomotives. The government of
this country never leads in any work of public enterprise, and is
usually'rather a drag upon industrial operations than otherwise.
As for the general public, it was enough for them that the.Wandsworth and Croydon Railway did not pay.
Mr. Tredgold, in his "Practical Treatise on Railroads and Carriages," published in 1825, observes:
"Up to this period railways have been employed with success
only in the conveyance of heavy mineral products, and for short
distances where immense quantities were to be conveyed. In the
few instances where they have been intended for the general purposes of trade, they have never answered the expectations of their
projectors. But this seems to have arisen altogether from following too closely the models adopted for the conveyance of minerals,
such modes of forming and using railways not being at all adapted
for the general purposes of trade."
The ill success of railways was generally recognized. Jointstock companies for all sorts of purposes were formed during the
joint-stock mania of 1821, but few projectors were found daring
enough to propose schemes so unpromising as railways. Hence
nearly twenty years passed between the construction of the first
and the second public railway in England; and this brings
us to the projection of the Stockton and Darlington, which
may be regarded as the parent public locomotive railway in the
kingdom.
The district lying to the west of Darlington, in the county of
Durham, is one of the richest mineral fields of the North. Vast
stores of coal underlie the Bishop Auckland Valley, and from an
early period it was felt to be an exceedingly desirable object to
open up new communications to enable the article to be sent to




CHAP. VIII.]    TEES NA VIGA TION IMPROVED.         219
market. But the district lay a long way from the sea, and, the
Tees being unnavigable, there was next to no vend for the Bishop
Auckland coal.
It is easy to understand, therefore, how the desire to obtain an
outlet.for this coal for land sale, as well as for its transport to
London by sea, should have early occupied the attention of the
coal-owners in the Bishop Auckland district. The first idea that
found favor was the construction of a canal. About a century
ago, in 1766, shortly after the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal had
been opened between Worsley and Manchester, a movement was
set on foot at Darlington with the view of having the country
surveyed between that place and Stockton-on-Tees.
Brindley was requested to lay out the proposed line of canal;
but he was engrossed at the time by the prosecution of the works
on the Duke's Canal to Liverpool, and Whitworth, his pupil and
assistant, was employed in his stead; George Dixon, grandfather
of John Dixon, engineer of the future Stockton and Darlington
Railway, taking an active part in the survey. In October, 1768,
Whitworth presented his plan of the proposed canal from Stockton by Darlington to Winston, and in the following year, to give
weight to the scheme, Brindley concurred with him in a joint
report as to the plan and estimate.
Nothing was, however, done in the matter. Enterprise was
slow to move. Stockton waited for Darlington, and Darlington
waited for Stockton, but neither stirred until twenty years later,
when Stockton began to consider the propriety of straightening
the Tees below that town, and thereby shortening and improving the navigation. When it became known that some engineering scheme was afoot at Stockton, that indefatigable writer of
prospectuses and drawer of plans, Ralph Dodd, the first projector
of a tunnel under the Thames, the first projector of the Waterloo Bridge, and the first to bring a steam-boat from Glasgow
into the Thames, addressed the Mayor and Corporation of Stockton in 1796 on the propriety of forming a line of internal navigation by Darlington and Staindrop to Winston. Still nothing
was done. Four years later, another engineers George Atkinson,
reported in favor of a water-way to connect the then projected
Great Trunk Canal, from about Boroughbridge to Piersebridge,
with the Tees above Yarm.




220              CANAL versus RAIL WAY.        [PART II.
At length, in 1808, the Tees Navigation Company, slow in
their movements, obtained an act enabling them to make the
short cut projected seventeen years before, and two years later
the cut was opened, and celebrated by the inevitable dinner.
The Stockton people, who adopted as the motto of their company
" Meliora speramus," held a public meeting after the dinner to
meditate upon and discuss the better things to come. They appointed a committee to inquire into the practicability and advantages of forming a railway or canal from Stockton by Darlington to Winston. Here, then, in 1810, we have the first glimpse
of the railway; but it was long before the idea germinated and
bore fruit. The collieries must be got at to make: the new cut a
success, but how for a long time remained the question.
Sixteen months passed, and the committee at Stockton went to
sleep. But it came up again, and this time at Darlington, with
Edward Pease as one of the members. The Darlington committee met and made their report, but they could not decide between
the respective merits of a railroad and a canal. It was felt that
either would be of great advantage. To settle the question, they
determined to call the celebrated engineer, John Rennie, to their
aid, and he was ready with his report in 1813. His report was
not published, but it is understood that he was in favor of a canal
on Brindley and Whitworth's line, though he afterward inclined
to a tram-road. Still nothing was done. War was on foot in
Europe, and enterprise was every where dormant. The scheme
must therefore wait the advent of peace. At length peace came,
and with it a revival of former projects.
At Newcastle, a plan was set on foot for connecting the Tyne
with the Solway Frith by a canal. A county meeting was held
on the subject in August, 1817, under the presidency of the high
sheriff. Previous to this time, Sir John Swinburne had stood up
for a railway in preference to a canal; but when the meeting
took place, the opinion of those present was in favor of a canal
-Mr. William Armstrong (father of the present Sir William) being one of the most zealous advocates of the water-road. Yet
there were even then railroads in the immediate neighborhood of
Newcastle, at Wylam and Killingworth, which had been successfully and economically worked by the locomotive for years past,
but which the Northumbrians seem completely to have ignored.




CHAP. VIII.] REVIVED MOVEMENT FOR A CANAL.         221
The, public head is usually very thick, and it is difficult to hammer a new idea into it. Canals were established methods of conveyance, and were every where recognized; whereas railways
were new things, and were struggling hard to gain a footing.
Besides, the only public railway in England, the Wandsworth,
Croydon, and Merstham, had proved a commercial failure, and
was held up as a warning to all speculators in tram-ways. But,
though the Newcastle meeting approved of a canal in preference
to a railway from the Tyne to the Solway, nothing was really
done to promote the formation of either.
The movement in favor of a canal was again revived at Stockton. A requisition, very numerously signed by persons of influence in South Durham, was presented to the Mayor of Stockton
in May, 1818, requesting him to convene a public meeting "to
consider the expediency of forming a canal for the conveyance,of coal, lime, etc., from Evenwood Bridge, near West Auckland,
to the River Tees, upon a plan recently made by Mr. George
Leatham, engineer." Among the names attached to the petition
we find those of Edward, Johnnd Thoms Pease and ohn
Dixon, Darlington. They were doubtless willing to pull with
any party that would open up a way, whether by rail or by water, between the Bishop Auckland coal-field and Stockton, whether the line passed through Darlington or not.
An enthusiastic meeting was held at Stockton, and a committee was appointed, by whom it was resolved to apply to Parliament for an act to make the intended canal " if funds are forthcoming." Never was there greater virtue in an if. Funds were
not forthcoming; the project fell through, and a great blunder
was prevented. When the Stockton men had discussed and resolved without any practical result, the leading men of Darlington took up the subject by themselves, determined, if possible, to
bring it to some practical issue. In September, 1816, they met
under the presidency of Thomas Meynell, Esq. Mr. Overton,
who had laid down several coal railways in Wales, was conslrted, and, after surveying the district between the Bishop Auckland coal-field and the Tees, sent in his report. Mr. Rennie also
was again consulted. Both engineers gave their opinion in favor
of a railway by Darlington in preference to a canal by Auckland,
" whether taken as a line for the exportation of coal or as one




222        ENERGETIC SUPPORT OF MR. PEASE.   [PART II.
for a local trade." The committee accordingly reported in favor
of the railway.
It is curious now to look back at the modest estimate of traffic
formed by the committee.. They considered that the export trade
in coal "might be taken, perhaps, at 10,000 tons a year, which is
about one cargo a week!" It was intended to haul the coal by
horse-power; a subsequent report stating " on undoubted authority" that one horse of moderate power could easily draw downward on the railway, between Darlington and Stockton, about ten
tons, and upward about four tons of loading,'exclusively of the
empty wagons. No allusion was made to passengers in any of
the reports; nor did the committee at first contemplate' the accommodation. of traffic of this description.
A survey:of the line was then'ordered, and steps were taken to
apply to Parliament for the necessary powers to construct the
railway.'But the controversy was not yet at an end. Stockton.
stood by its favorite project of a canal, and would not subscribe
a farthing toward the projected railway; but neither did it subscribe toward the canal. The landlords, the road trustees, the
carriers, the proprietors of donkeys (by whom  coals'were principally carried for inland sale), were strenuously opposed to the new
project; while the general public, stupid and' skeptical, for the
most part stood aloof, quoting old saws and keeping their money
in their pockets.
Several energetic men, however, were now at the head of the
Stockton and Darlington Railway project, and determined to
persevere with it. Among these, the Peases were the most zealous. Edward Pease might be regarded as the back-bone of the
concern. Opposition did not daunt him, nor failure discourage
him. When apparently overthrown and prostrate, he would rise
again like Antseus, stronger than. before, and renew his efforts
with increased vigor. He had in him the energy and perseverance of many men. One who knew him in 1818 said, " He was
a man who could see a hundred years ahead." When the author
last saw him in 1854, a few years before his death, Mr. Pease was
in his eighty-eighth year; yet he still possessed the hopefulness
and mental vigor of a man in his prime. Still sound in health, his
eye had not lost its brilliancy, nor his cheek its color, and there was
an elasticity in his step which younger men might have envied.




CHAP. VIII.]      A COMIPANY FORMED.                 223
In getting up a company for surveying and forming a railway,
Mr. Pease had great difficulties to encounter. The people of the
EDWARD PEASE
neighborhood spoke of it as a ridiculous undertaking, and predicted that it would be ruinous to all concerned in it. Even those
most interested in the opening up of new markets for the sale of
their coal were indifferent, if not hostile. Mr. Pease nevertheless
persevered in the formation of a company, and he induced many
of his friends and relations to follow his example. The Richardsons and Backhouses, members, like himself, of the Society of
Friends, influenced by his persuasion, united themselves with him;
and so many of the same denomination (having confidence in
these influential Darlington names) followed their example and
subscribed for shares, that the railway obtained the designation,
which it long retained, of " The Quakers' Line."
The Stockton and Darlington scheme had to run the gauntlet
of a fierce opposition in three successive sessions of Parliament.
The application of 1818 was defeated by the Duke of Cleveland,




224               THE A CT OBTAINED.              [PART II.
who afterward profited so largely by the railway. The ground
of his opposition was that the line would interfere with one of
his fox-covers, and it was mainly through his influence that the'bill was thrown out, but only by a majority of thirteen, upward
of one hundred members having voted for the bill. A nobleman
said, when he heard of the division, " Well, if the Quakers in these
times, when nobody knows any thing about railways, can raise
such a phalanx in their support, I should recommend the country
gentlemen to be very wary how they oppose them in future."
The next year, in 1819, an amended survey of the line was
made, and, the duke's fox-cover being avoided, his opposition was
thus averted; but, on Parliament becoming dissolved on the death
of George III., the bill was necessarily suspended until another
session.
In the ean tinme:th:ealopion to the measure revived,
and now it  was lied:by: the. road  trustees, who spread it abroad that
the mortgagees of the tolls arising from the turnpike-road leading
from Darlington to West Auckland would be seriously injured
by the formation of the proposed railway. On this, Edward Pease
issued a printed notice, requesting any alarmed mortgagee to apply to the company's solicitors at Darlington, who were authorized
to purchase their securities at the prices originally given for them.
This notice had the effect of allaying the alarm spread abroad;
and the bill, though still strongly opposed, passed both houses of
Parliament in 1821.
MAP OF STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.
The preamble of the act sets forth the public utility of the pro



CHAP. VIII.]    MR. PEASE ON RAILWAYS.                225
posed line for the conveyance of coal and other commodities from
the interior of the county of Durham to Stockton and the northern parts of Yorkshire. Nothing was said about passengers, for
passenger-traffic was not yet contemplated; and nothing was said
about locomotives, as it was at first intended to work the line entirely by horse-power. The road was to be free to all persons
who chose to place their wagons and horses upon it for the haulage of coal and merchandise, provided they paid the tolls fixed
by the act.
The company were empowered to charge fourpence a ton per
mile for all coal intended for land sale, but only a halfpenny a
ton per mile for coal intended for shipment at Stockton. This
latter proviso was inserted at the instance of Mr. Lambton, afterward Earl of Durham, for the express purpose of preventing the
line being used in competition against his coal loaded at Sunderland; for it was not believed possible that coal could be carried
at that low rate except at a heavy loss. As it was, however, the
rate thus fixed by the:act eventually proved the vital element of
success in the working of the undertaking.
While the Stockton and Darlington Railway scheme was still
before Parliament, we find Edward Pease writing letters to a
York paper, urging the propriety of extending it southward into
Yorkshire by a branch from Croft. It is curious now to look
back upon the arguments by which Mr. Pease sought to influence
public opinion in favor of railways, and to observe the very
modest anticipations which even its most zealous advocate entertained as to their supposed utility and capabilities:
"The late improvements in the construction of railways," Mr.
Pease wrote, " have rendered them much more perfect than when
constructed after the old plan. To such a degree of utility have
they now been brought that they may be regarded as very little inferior to canals.
"If we compare the railway with the best lines of common road,
it may be fairly stated that in the case of a level railway the work
will be increased in at least an eightfold degree. The best horse is
sufficiently loaded with three quarters of a ton on a common road,
from the undulating line of its draught, while on a railway it is
calculated that a horse will easily draw a load of ten tons. At
Lord Elgin's works, Mr. Stevenson, the celebrated engineer, states
P




226             MR. PEASE ON RAIL WAYS.            [PART II.
that he has actually seen a horse draw twenty-three tons thirteen
cwt. upon a railway which was in some parts level, and at other
parts presented a gentle declivity!
" The formation of a railway, if it creates no improvement in a
country, certainly bars none, as all the former modes of communication remain unimpaired; and the public obtain, at the risk of the
subscribers, another and better mode of carriage, which it will always be to the interest of the proprietors to make cheap and serviceable to the community.
"On undertakings of this kind, when compared with canals, the
advantages of which (where an ascending or descending line can
be obtained) are nearly equal, it may be remarked that public Qpinion is not easily changed on any subject. It requires the experience of many years, sometimes ages, to accomplish this, even in
cases which by some may be deemed obvious. Such is the effect
of habit, and such the aversion of mankind to any thing like innovation or change. Although this is often regretted, yet, if the
principle be investigated in all its ramifications, it will perhaps be
found to be one of the most fortunate dispositions of the human
mind.
" The system of cast-iron railways is as yet to be considered but
in its infancy. It will be found to be an immense improvement on
the common road, and also on the wooden railway. It neither presents the friction of the tram-way, nor partakes of the perishable
nature of the wooden railway, and, as regards utility, it may be
considered as the medium between the navigable canal and the
common road. We may therefore hope that as this system develops itself, our roads will be laid out as much as possible on one
level, and in connection with the great lines of communication
throughout the country."
Such were the modest anticipations of Edward Pease respecting railways in the year 1821. Ten years later, an age of progress, by comparison, had been effected.
Some time elapsed before any active steps were taken to proceed with the construction of the railway. Doubts were raised
whether the line was the best that could be adopted for the district, and the subscribers generally were not so sanguine about
the undertaking as to induce them to press it forward.
One day, about the end of the year 1821, two strangers knocked at the door of Mr. Pease's house in Darlington, and a message




CHAP. VIII.] INTERVIEW WITH GEORGE STEPHENSON.    227
was brought to him that some persons from Killingworth wanted
to speak with him. They were invited in, on which one of the
visitors introduced himself as Nicholas Wood, viewer at Killingworth, and then turning to his companion, he introduced him as
George Stephenson, engine-wright, of the same place.
Mr. Pease entered into conversation with his visitors, and was
soon told their object. Stephenson had heard of the passing of
the Stockton and Darlington Act, and desiring to increase his
railway experience, and also to employ in some larger field the
practical knowledge he had already acquired, he determined to
visit the known projector of the undertaking, with the view of
being employed to carry it out. He had brought with him his
friend Wood for the purpose at the same time of relieving his
diffidence and supporting his application.
Mr. Pease liked the appearance of his visitor: "there was," as
he afterward remarked when speaking of Stephenson, " such an
honest, sensible look about him, and he seemed so modest and
unpretending. He spoke in the strong Northumbrian dialect of
his district, and described himself as' only the engine-wright at
Killingworth; that's what he was."'
Mr. Pease soon saw that our engineer was the very man for
his purpose. The whole plans of the railway were still in an undetermined state, and Mr. Pease was therefore glad to have the
opportunity of profiting by Stephenson's experience. In the
course of their conversation, the latter strongly recommended a
railway in preference to a tram-road. They also discussed the
kind of tractive power to be employed, Mr. Pease stating that
the company had based their whole calculations on the employment of horse-power. "I was so satisfied," said he afterward,
" that a horse upon an iron road would draw ten tons for one ton
on a common road, that I felt sure that before long the railway
would become the king's highway."
But Mr. Pease was scarcely prepared for the bold assertion
made by his visitor, that the locomotive engine with which he
had been working the Killingworth Railway for many years past
was worth fifty horses, and that engines made after a similar
plan would yet entirely supersede all horse-power upon railroads.
Stephenson was daily becoming more positive as to the superiority of his locomotive, and hence he strongly urged Mr. Pease




228             THE LINE RESUR VEYED.           [PART II.
to adopt it. "Come over to Killingworth," said he, "and see
what my engines can do; seeing is believing, sir." Mr. Pease
accordingly promised that on some early day he would go over
to Killingworth, and take a look at the wonderful machine that
was to supersede horses.
The result of the interview was, that Mr. Pease promised to
bring Stephenson's application for the appointment of engineer
before the directors, and to support it with his influence; whereon the two visitors prepared to take their leave, informing Mr.
Pease'that they intended to return to Newcastle " by nip;" that
is, they expected to get a smuggled lift on the stage-coach by
tipping Jehu-for in those days the stage-coachmen regarded all
casual roadside passengers as their proper perquisites. They had,
however, been so much engrossed by their conversation that the
lapse of time was forgotten, and when Stephenson and his friend
made inquiries about the return coach, they found the last had
left, and they had to walk eighteen miles to Durham on their
way back to Newcastle.
Mr. Pease having made farther inquiries respecting Stephenson's character and qualifications, and having received a very
strong recommendation of him as the right man for the intended
work, he brought the subject of his application before the directors of the Stockton and Darlington Company. They resolved
to adopt his recommendation that a railway be formed instead of
a tram-road; and they farther requested Mr. Pease to write to
Stepnenson, desiring him to undertake a resurvey of the line at
the earliest practicable period.
A man was dispatched on a horse with the letter, and when
he reached Killingworth he made diligent inquiry after the person named on the address, "George Stephenson, Esquire, Engineer." No such person was known in the village. It is said that
the man.was on the point of giving up all farther search, when
the happy thought struck some of the colliers' wives who had
gathered about him that it must be " Geordie the engine-wright"
the man was in search of, and to Geordie's cottage he accordingly went, found him at home, and delivered the letter.
About the end of September Stephenson went carefully over
the line of the proposed railway for the purpose of suggesting
such improvements and deviations as he might consider desirable.




CHAP. VIII.]   MR. PEASE VISITS KILLING WORTH.       229
He was accompanied by an assistant and a chainman, his son
Robert entering the figures while his father took the sights. After being engaged in the work at intervals for about six weeks,
Stephenson reported the result of his survey to the Board of Directors, and showed that, by certain deviations, a line shorter by
about three miles might be constructed at a considerable saving
in expense, while at the same time more favorable gradients-an
important consideration-would be secured.
It was, however, determined in the first place to proceed with
the works at those parts of the line where no deviation was proposed, and the first rail of the Stockton and Darlington Railway
was laid with considerable ceremony, near Stockton, on the 23d
of May, 1822.
It is worthy of note that Stephenson, in making his first estimate of the cost of forming the railway according to the instructions of the directors, set down, as part of the cost, ~6200 for
stationary engines, not mentioning locomotives at all. It was
the intention of the directors, in the first place, to employ only
horses for the haulage of the coals, and fixed engines and ropes
where horse-power was not applicable. The whole question of
steam-locomotive power was, in the estimation of the public, as
well as of practical and scientific men, as yet in doubt. The
confident anticipations of George Stephenson as to the eventual
success of locomotive engines were regarded as mere speculations; and when he gave utterance to his views, as he frequently
took the opportunity of doing, it even had the effect of shaking
the confidence of some of his friends in the solidity of his judgment and his practical qualities as an engineer.
When Mr. Pease discussed the question with Stephenson, his
remark was, "Come over and see my engines at Killingworth,
and satisfy yourself as to the efficiency of the locomotive. I will
show you the colliery books, that you may ascertain for yourself
the actual cost of working. And I must tell you that the economy of the locomotive engine is no longer a matter of theory,
but a matter of fact."  So confident was the tone in which Stephenson spoke of the success of his engines, and so important
were the consequences involved in arriving at a correct conclusion on the subject, that Mr. Pease at length resolved on paying
a visit to Killingworth in the summer of 1822, in company with




230        STEPHENSON APPOINTED ENGINEER.    [PART II.
his friend Thomas Richardson, a considerable subscriber to the
Stockton and Darlington undertaking,* to inspect the wonderful
new power so much vaunted,by their engineer.
When Mr. Pease arrived at Killingworth village, he inquired
for George Stephenson, and was told that he must go over to the
West Moor, and seek for a cottage by the roadside with a dial
over the door —" that was where George Stephenson lived." They
soon found the house with the dial, and, on knocking, the door
was opened by Mrs. Stephenson. In answer to Mr. Pease's inquiry for her husband, she said he was not in the house at present, but that she would send for him to the colliery. And in a
short time Stephenson appeared before them in his working dress,
just as he had come out of the pit.
He very soon had his locomotive brought up to the crossing
close by the end of the cottage, made the gentlemen mount it,
and showed them its paces. Harnessing it to a train of loaded
wagons, he ran it along the railroad, and so thoroughly satisfied
his visitors of its power and capabilities, that from that day Edward Pease was a declared supporter of the locomotive engine.
In preparing the Amended Stockton and Darlington Act, at Stephenson's urgent request Mr. Pease had a clause inserted, taking
power to work the railway by means of locomotive engines, and
to employ them for the haulage. of passengers as well as of merchandise.t The act was obtained in 1823, on which Stephenson
was appointed the company's engineer, at a salary of ~300 per
annum; and it was determined that the line should be constructed and opened for traffic as soon as practicable.
He at once proceeded, accompanied by his assistants, with the
working survey of the line, laying out every foot of the ground
himself. Railway surveying was as yet in its infancy, and was
slow and difficult work. It afterward becarme a separate branch
of railway business, and was intrusted to a special staff. Indeed,
on no subsequent line did George Stephenson take'the sights
through the spirit-level with his own hands and eyes as he did
on this railway. He started very early —dressed in a blue tailed
* Mr. Richardson was founder of the afterward well-known discount-house of
Richardson, Overend, and Gurney, Lombard Street, London.
t The first clause in any railway act empowering the employment of locomotive
engines for the working of passenger traffic.




CHAP. VIII.]     A PLEASING COMPANION.                  231
coat, breeches, and top-boots-and surveyed until dusk. He was
not at any time particular as to his living; and, during the survey, he took his chance of getting a little milk and bread at
some cottager's house along the line, or occasionally joined in a
homely dinner at some neighboring farm-house. The country
people were accustomed to give him a hearty welcome when he
appeared at their door, for he was always full of cheery and
hbmely talk, and, when there were children about the house, he
had plenty of humorous chat for them as well as for their seniors.
After the day's work was over, George would drop in at Mr.
Pease's to talk over the progress of the survey, and discuss various matters connected with the railway. Mr. Pease's daughters
were usually present; and, on one occasion, finding the young
ladies learning the art of embroidery, he volunteered to instruct
them.*  "I know all about it," said he, "and you will wonder
how I learned it. I will tell you. When I was a brakesman at
Killingworth, I learned the art of embroidery while working the
pitmen's button-holes by the engine fire at nights." He was never ashamed, but, on the contrary, rather proud, of reminding his
friends of these humble pursuits of his early life. Mr. Pease's
family were greatly pleased with his conversation, whibh was
always amusing and instructive; full of all sorts of experience,
gathered in'the oddest and most out-of-the-way places. Even at
that early period, before he mixed in the society of educated persons, there was a dash of speculativeness in his remarks which
gave a high degree of originality to his conversation; and he
would sometimes, in a casual remark, throw a flash of light upon
a subject which called up a train of pregnant suggestions.
One of the most important subjects of discussion at these meetings with Mr. Pease was the establishment of a manufactory at
Newcastle for the building of locomotive engines. Up to this
time all the locomotives constructed after Stephenson's designs
had been made by ordinary mechanics working at the collieries
in the North of England. But he had long felt that the accuracy and style of their workmanship admitted of great improvement, and that upon this the more perfect action of the locomo* This incident, communicated to the author by the late Edward Pease, has since
been made the subject of a fine picture by Mr. A. Rankley, A.R.A., exhibited at the
Royal Academy Exhibition of 1861.




232       THE LOCOMOTIVE FACTORY STARTED.   [PART II.
tive engine, and its general adoption, in a great measure depended. One principal object that he had in view in establishing the
proposed factory was to concentrate a number of good workmen
for the purpose of carrying out the improvements in detail which
he was from time to time making in his engine; for he felt hamiered by the want of efficient help from skilled mechanics, who
could work out in a practical form the ideas of which his busy
mind was always so prolific. Doubtless, too, he believed that the
manufactory would prove a remunerative investment, and that,
on the general adoption of the railway system which he anticipated, he would derive solid advantages from the fact of his establishment being the only one of the kind for the special construction of locomotive engines.
Mr. Pease approved of his design, and strongly recommended
him to carry it into effect. But there was the question of means;
and Stephenson did not think he had capital enough for the purpose. He told Mr. Pease that he could advance ~1000 -the
amount of the testimonial presented by the coal-owners for his
safety-lamp invention, which he had still left untouched; but he
did not think this sufficient for the purpose, and he thought that
he shq*ld require at least another ~1000. Mr. Pease had been
very much struck with the successful performances of the Killingworth engine; and, being an accurate judge of character, he
believed that he could not go far wrong in linking a portion of
his fortune with the energy and industry of George Stephenson.
He consulted his friend Thomas Richardson in the matter, and
the two consented to advance ~500 each for the purpose of establishing the engine factory at Newcastle. A piece of land was
accordingly purchased in Forth Street, in August, 1823, on which
a small building was erected-the nucleus of the gigantic establishment which was afterward formed around it; and active operations were begun early in 1824.
While the Stockton and Darlington Railway works were in
progress, our engineer had many interesting discussions with
Mr. Pease on points connected with its construction and working, the determination of which in a great measure affected the
formation and working of future railways. The most important points were these: 1. The comparative merits of cast and
wrought iron rails. 2. The gauge of the railway. 3. The em



CHAP. VIII.]  MALLEABLE RAILS RECOMMENDED.                 233
plo1ent of horse or engine power in working it when ready
for traffic.
The kind of rails to be laid down to form the permanent road
was a matter of considerable importance. A wooden tram-road
had been contemplated when the first act was applied for; but
Stephenson having advised that an iron road should be laid down,
he was instructed to draw up a specification of the rails. He
went before the directors to discuss with them the kind of material to be specified. He was himself interested in the patent for
cast-iron rails, which he had taken out in conjunction with Mr.
Losh in 1816, and, of course, it was to his interest that his articles should be used. But when requested to give his opinion on
the subject, he frankly said to the directors, "Well, gentlemen, to
tell you the truth, although it would put ~500 in my pocket to
specify my own patent rails, I can not do so after the experience
I have had.  If you take my advice, you will not lay down a
single cast-iron rail."  "Why?" asked the directors.  "Because
they will not stand the weight, and you will be at no end of expense for repairs and relays." "What kind of road, then," he
was asked, " would you recommend?"  "Malleable rails, certainly," said he; " and I can recommend them with the more confidence from the fact that at Killingworth we have had some
Swedish bars laid down-nailed to wooden sleepers —for a period of fourteen years, the wagons passing over them daily, and
there they are, in use yet, whereas the cast rails are constantly
giving way."*
The price of malleable rails was, however, so high —being then
worth about ~12 per ton as compared with cast-iron rails at about
~5 10s.-and the saving of expense was so important a consideration with the subscribers, that Stephenson was directed to provide in the specification that only one half of the rails required
-or about 800 tons-should be of malleable iron, and the remainder of cast iron. The malleable rails were of the kind called " fish-bellied," and weighed 28 lbs. to the yard, being 2j inches
* Stephenson's recommendation of wrought-iron instead of cast-iron rails was the
cause of a rupture between Mr. Losh and himself. Stephenson thought his duty was
to give his employers the best advice; Losh thought his business was to push the
patent cast-iron rails wherever he could. Stephenson regarded this view as sordid;
and the two finally separated after a quarrel, in high dudgeon with each other.




234       THE QUESTION OF TRA CTIVE POWER.   [PART II.
broad at the top, with the upper flange i inch thick. Theyvere
only 2 inches in depth at the points at which they rested on the
chairs, and 3j inches in the middle or bellied part.
When forming the road, the proper gauge had also to be determined. What width was this to be? The gauge of the first
tram-road laid down had virtually settled the point. The gauge
of wheels of the common vehicles of the country-of the carts
and wagons employed on common roads, which were first used
on the tram-roads-was about 4 feet 8j inches. And so the first
tram-roads were laid down of this gauge. The tools and machinery for constructing coal-wagons and locomotives were formed
with this gauge in view. The Wylam wagon-way, afterward the
Wylam plate-way, the Killingworth railroad, and the Hetton railroad, were as nearly as possible on the same gauge. Some of
the earth-wagons used to form the Stockton and Darlington road
were brought from the Hetton Railway; and others which were
specially constructed were formed of the same dimensions, these
being intended to be afterward employed in the working of the
traffic.
As the period drew near for the opening of the line, the question of the tractive power to be employed was anxiously discussed. At the Brusselton incline, fixed engines must necessarily be made use of; but with respect to the mode of working the
railway generally, it was decided that horses were to be largely
employed, and arrangements were made for their purchase.
Although locomotives had been regularly employed in hauling
coal-wagons on the Middleton Colliery Railway, near Leeds, for
more than twelve years, and on the Wylam and Killingwortll
Railways near Newcastle for more than ten years, great skepticism still prevailed as to the economy of employing them for the
purpose in lieu of horses. In this case, it would appear that seeing was not believing. The popular skepticism was as great at
Newcastle, where the opportunities for accurate observation were
the greatest, as any where else. In 1824 the scheme of a canal
between that town and Carlisle again came up, and, though a few
timid voices were raised on behalf of a railway, the general opinion was still in favor of a canal. The example of the Hetton
Railway, which had been successfully worked by Stephenson's
locomotives for two years past, was pointed to in proof of the




CHAP. VIII.]   THREE LOCOMOTIVES ORDERED.            235
practicability of a locomotive line between the two places; but
the voice of the press as well as of the public was decidedly
against the "new-fangled roads."
"There has been some talk," wrote the "'Whitehaven Gazette,"
"from a puff criticism in the'Monthly Review,' of an improvement on the principle of railways; but we suspect that this improvement will turn out like the steam-carriages, of which we
have been told so much, that were to supersede the use of horses
entirely, and travel at a rate almost equal to the speed of the
fleetest horse /" The idea was too chimerical to be entertained,
and the suggested railway was accordingly rejected as impracticable.
The "Tyne Mercury" was equally decided against railways.
"What person," asked the editor (November 16th, 1824)," would
ever think of paying any thing to be conveyed from Hexham-to
Newcastle in something like a coal-wagon, upon a dreary wagonway, and to be dragged for the greater part of the distance by a
ROARING STEM-ErNGrIE!" The very notion of such a thing was
preposterous, ridiculous, and utterly absurd.
When such was the state of public opinion as to railway locomotion, some idea may be formed of the clearsightedness and
moral courage of the Stockton and Darlington directors in ordering three of Stephenson's locomotive engines, at a cost of several
thousand pounds, against the opening of the railway.
These were constructed after Stephenson's most matured designs, and embodied all the improvements which he had contrived up to that time. No. 1 engine, the "Locomotion," which
was first delivered, weighed about eight tons. It had one large
flue or tube through the boiler, by which the heated air passed
direct from the furnace at one end, lined with fire-bricks, to the
chimney at the other. The combustion in the furnace was quickened by the adoption of the steam-blast in the chimney. The
heat raised was sometimes so great, and it was so imperfectly abstracted by the surrounding water, that the chimney became almost red-hot. Such engines, when put to their speed, were found
capable of running at the rate of from twelve to sixteen miles an
hour; but they were better adapted for the heavy work of hauling coal-trains at low speeds-for which, indeed, they were specially constructed-than for running at the higher speeds after



236            STEPHENSON'S PROPHECY.           [PART II.
ward adopted. Nor was it contemplated by the directors as
possible, at the time when they were ordered, that locomotives
could be made available for the purposes of passenger traveling.
Besides, the Stockton and Darlington Railway did not run through
a district in which passengers were supposed to be likely to constitute any considerable portion of the traffic.
We may easily imagine the anxiety felt by George Stephenson
during the progress of the works toward completion, and his mingled hopes and doubts (though his doubts were but few) as to the
issue of this great experiment. When the formation of the line
near Stockton was well advanced, the engineer one day, accompanied by his son Robert and John Dixon, made a journey of
inspection of the works. The party reached Stockton, and proceeded to dine at one of the inns there. After dinner, Stephenson ventured on the very unusual measure of ordering in a bottle
of wine, to drink success to the railway. John Dixon relates with
pride the utterance of the master on the occasion. " Now, lads,"
said he to the two young men," I venture to tell you that I think
you will live to see the day when railways will supersede almost
all other methods of conveyance in this country- when mailcoaches will go by railway, and railroads will become the great
highways for the king and all his subjects. The time is coming
when it will be cheaper for a working man to travel on a railway
than to walk on foot. I know there are great and almost insurmountable difficulties to be encountered, but what I have said
will come to pass as sure as you now hear me. I only wish I
may live to see the day, though that I can scarcely hope for, as
I know how slow all human progress is, and with what difficulty
I have been able to get the locomotive introduced thus far, notwithstanding my more than ten years' successful experiment at
Killingworth."  The result, however, outstripped even George
Stephenson's most sanguine anticipations; and his son Robert,
shortly after his return from America in 1827, saw his father's
locomotive adopted as the tractive power on railways generally.
Tuesday, the 27th of September, 1825, was a great day for Darlington. The railway, after having been under Construction for
more than three years, was at length about to be opened. The
project had been the talk of the neighborhood for so long that
there were few people within a range of twenty miles who did




CHAP. VIII.] STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON ROAD OPENED. 237
not feel more or less interested about it. Was it to be a failure
or a success a Opinions were pretty equally divided as to the
railway, but as regarded the locomotive the general belief was
that it would "never answer." However, there the locomotive
was-" No. " —delivered on to the line, and ready to draw the
first train of wagons on the opening day.
A great concourse of people assembled on the occasion. Some
came from Newcastle and Durham, many from the Aucklands,
while Darlington held a general holiday, and turned out all its
population. To give eclat to the opening, the directors of the
company issued a programme of the proceedings, intimating the
times at which the procession of wagons would pass certain points
along the line. The proprietors assembled as early as six in the
morning at the Brusselton fixed engine, where the working of
the inclined planes was successfully rehearsed. A train of wagons laden with coals and merchandise was drawn up the western
incline by the fixed engine, a length of 1960 yards, in seven and
a half minutes, and then lowered down the incline on the eastern
side of the hill, 880 yards, in five minutes.
At the foot of the incline the procession of vehicles was form-' ed, consisting of the locomotive engine No. 1, driven by George
Stephenson himself; after it six wagons loaded with coals and
flour, then a covered coach containing directors and proprietors,
next twenty-one coal-wagons fitted up for passengers (with which
they were crammed), and lastly six more wagons loaded with
coals.
Strange to say, a man on a horse, carrying a flag, with the
motto of the company inscribed on it, Periculum privat/um utilitaspublica, headed the procession! A lithographic view of the
great event, published shortly after, duly exhibits the horseman
and his flag. It was not thought so dangerous a place after all.
The locomotive was only supposed to be able to go at the rate of
from four to six miles an hour, and an ordinary horse could easily keep ahead of that.
Off started the procession, with the horseman at its head. A
great concourse of people stood along the line. Many of them
tried to accompany it by running, and some gentlemen on horseback galloped across the fields to keep up with the train. The
railway descending with a gentle incline toward Darlington, the




238  THE OPENING,PROCESSION AND FESTIVITIES. [PART II......:_- —.
PRc0ESSION AT THE OPENING OF THE STOCKTON AND DARLINGTON RAILWAY.
EFac-simile of a local lithograph.)
rate of speed was consequently variable. At a favorable part of
the road Stephenson determined to try the speed of the engine,
and he called upon the horseman with the flag to get out of the
way! Most probably, deeming it unnecessary to carry his Periculum privatum farther, the horseman turned aside, and Stephenson " put on the steam."  The speed was at once raised to
twelve miles an hour, and, at a favorable part of the road, to fifteen. The runners on foot, the gentlemen on horseback, and the
horseman with the flag, were consequently soon left far behind.
When the train reached Darlington, it was found that four hundred and fifty passengers occupied the wagons, and that the load
of men, coals, and merchandise amounted to about ninety tons.
At Darlington the procession was rearranged. The six loaded
coal-wagons were left behind, and other wagons were taken on
with a hundred and fifty more passengers, together with a band
of music. The train then started for Stockton-a distance of
only twelve miles-which was reached in about three hours. The
day was kept throughout the district as a holiday;. and horses,
gigs, carts, and other vehicles, filled with people, stood along the
railway, as well as crowds of persons on foot,'waiting to see the
train pass. The whole population of Stockton turned out to receive the procession, and, after a walk through the streets, the




CHAP. VIII.]          THE COAL TRAFFIC.                        239
inevitable dinner in the Town Hall wound up the day's proceedings.
All this, however, was but gala work, The serious business
of the company began on the following day. Upon the result
of the experiment now fairly initiated by the Stockton and Darlington Company the future of railways in a great measure depended.  If it failed, like the Wandsworth, Croydon, and Merstham undertaking, then a great check would unquestionably be
given to speculation in railways. If it succeeded, the Stockton
and Darlington enterprise would mark the beginning' of a new
era, and issue in neither more nor less than a complete revolution of the means of communication in all civilized countries.
The circumstances were on the whole favorable, and boded
success rather than failure.  Prudent, careful, thoughtful men
were at the head of the concern, interested in seeing it managed
economically and efficiently; and they had the advantage of the
assistance of an engineer possessed of large resources of mother
wit, mechanical genius, and strong common sense. There was
an almost unlimited quantity of coal to be carried, the principal
difficulty being in accommodating it satisfactorily.  Yet it was
only after the line had been at work for some time that the extensive character of the coal traffic began to be appreciated. At
first it was supposed that the chief trade would be in coal for
land sale. But the clause inserted in the original act, at the instance of Mr. Lambton, by which the company were limited to
id. per ton per mile for coal led to Stockton for shipment, led to
the most unexpected consequences. It was estimated that only
about 10,000 tons a year would be shipped, and that principally
by way of ballast. Instead of which, in the course of a very few
years, the coal carried on the line for export constituted the main
bulk of the traffic, while that carried for land sale was merely
subsidiary.*
* The rapid progress of the coal and merchandise traffic of the Stockton and Darlington line, of which Middlesbro' is the principal sea-port, may be inferred from the
following brief statement of facts: The orginal estimate assumed that 165,488 tons
of coal would be carried annually, and produce an income of ~11,904. The revenue
from other sources was taken at ~4104. In 1827, the first year in which the coal
and merchandise traffic was fully worked, the revenue from coal was ~14,455; from
lime, merchandise, and sundries, ~3285; and from passengers (which had not been
taken into account), ~563. In 1860, when the original line of 25 miles had become ex



240                FIRST RAIL WA Y-COA CH.             [PART II.
The anticipations of the company as to passenger-traffic were
in like manner more than realized. At first passengers were
not thought of, and it was only while the works were in progress
that the starting of a passenger-coach was seriously contemplated.
Some eighty years since there was only one post-chaise in Darlington, which ran on three wheels. There are people still living
who remember when a coach ran from Stockton three days in
the week, passing through Darlington and Barnard Castle; but
it was starved off the road for want of support.  There was then
very little' intercourse between the towns, though they were so
near to each other, and comparatively so populous; and it was
not known whether people would trust themselves to the iron
road. Nevertheless, it was determined to make trial of a railway
coach, and George Stephenson was authorized to have one built
at Newcastle at the cost of the company. This was done accordingly, and the first railway passenger-carriage was built after our
engineer's design. It was, however, a very modest, and, indeed,
a somewhat uncouth machine, more resembling a showman's caravan than a passenger-coach of any extant form. A row of seats
ran along each side of the interior, and a long deal table was
fixed in the centre, the access being by means of a door at the
back end, in the manner of an omnibus. This coach arrived
from Newcastle on the day before the opening, and formed part
of the procession above described.. Stephenson was consulted as
to the name of the coach, and he at once suggested the "Experiment;" and by this name it was called. Such was the sole passenger-carrying stock of the Stockton and Darlington Company
in the year 1825. But " The Experiment" proved the forerunner
of a mighty traffic; and long time did not elapse before it was
displaced, not only by improved coaches (still drawn by horses),
but afterward by long trains of passenger-carriages drawn by locomotive engines.
The "Experiment" was fairly started as a passenger-coach on
the 10th of October, 1825, a fortnight after the opening of the
tended to 125 miles, and the original capital of ~150,000 had swelled to ~3,800,000,
the quantity of coal carried had increased to 3,045,596 tons in the year, besides
1,484,409 tons of ironstone and other minerals, producing a, revenue of ~280,375;
while 1,484,409 tons of merchandise had been carried in the same year, producing
~63,478, and 687,728 passengers, producing ~45,398.




CHAP. VIII.1      THE FIRST PASSENGER-TRAFFIC.                      241
line.  It was drawn by one horse, and performed'a journey daily
each way between the two towns, accomplishing the distance of
twelve miles in about two hours.  The fare charged was a shilling, without distinction of class; and each passenger was allowed
fourteen pounds of luggage free.  The "Experiment" was not,
however, worked by the company, but was let to contractors, who
worked it under an arrangement whereby toll was paid for the
use of the line, rent of booking-cabins, etc.*
THE FIRST AAILWAY-(4OAOh.
The speculation answered. so well that several private coaching
companies were shortly after got up by innkeepers at Darlington
and Stockton for the purpose of running other coaches upon the
railroad, and an active competition for passenger-traffic sprang
up.  The "Experiment," being found too heavy for one horse to
* The coaches were not allowed to be run upon the line without considerable opposition.' We'find Edward Pease writing to Joseph Sandars, of Liverpool, on the
18th of June, 1827: " Our' railway coach proprietors have individually received notices of.a process in the Exchequer for various fines, to the amount of ~150, in penalties of ~20 each, for neglecting to have the plates, with the numbers of their licenses,
on the coach doors, agreeably to the provision of the Act 95 George IV. In looking
into the nature of this proceeding and its consequences, it is clear, if the court shall
confirm it by conviction, that we are undone as to the conveyance of passengers."
Mr. Pease incidentally mentions the names of the several coach proprietors at the
time —" Pickersgill and Co., Richard Scott, and'Martha,Hewson." The proceeding
was eventually defeated, it being decided that the penalties only applied to coaches
traveling on common or turnpike roads.,
Q




242            CONTENTION ON THE ROAD.             [PART II.
draw, besides being found an uncomfortable machine, was banished to the coal district. Its place was then supplied by other
and better vehicles, though they were no other than old stagecoach bodies purchased by the company, each mounted on an
under-frame with flange wheels. These were let on hire to the
coaching companies, who horsed and managed them under an arrangement as to tolls, in like manner as the "Experiment" had
been worked. Now began the distinction of inside and outside
passengers, equivalent to first and second class, paying different
fares. The competition with each other upon the railway, and
with the ordinary stage-coaches upon the road, soon brought up
the speed, which was increased to ten miles an hour-the mailcoach rate of traveling in those days, and considered very fast.
Mr. Clephan, a native of the district, has communicated to the
author the following account of the competition between the
rival coach companies:
"There were two separate coach companies in Stockton, and
amusing collisions sometimes occurred between the drivers, who
found on the rail a novel element for contention. Coaches can not
pass each other on the rail as on the road, and, as the line was single, with four sidings in the mile, when two coaches met, or two
trains, or coach and train, the question arose which of the drivers
must go back. This was not always settled in silence. As to
trains, it came to be a sort of understanding that empty should give
way to loaded wagons; and as to trains and coaches, that passengers should have preference over coals; while coaches, when they
met, must quarrel it out. At length, midway between sidings, a
post was erected, and the rule was laid down that he who had
passed the pillar must go on, and the' coming man' go back,. At
the Goose Pool and Early Nook it was common for the coaches to
stop, and there, as Jonathan would say, passengers and coachmen'liquored.' One coach, introduced by an innkeeper, was a compound of two mourning-coaches-an approximation to the real railway-coach, which still adheres, with multiplying exceptions, -to the
stage-coach type. One Dixon, who drove the'Experiment' between Darlington and Shildon, is the inventor of carriage-lighting
on the rail. On a dark winter night, having compassion on his passengers, he would buy a penny candle, and place it lighted among
them on the table of the'Experiment'-the first railway-coach
(which, by the way, ended its days at Shildon as a railway cabin),




CHAUP. VIII.]  A RACE —HORSES AGAINT ST EAM.         243
being also the first coach on the rail (first, second, and third class
jammed all.into one) that indulged its customers with light in
darkness."
The traffic of all sorts increased so steadily and so rapidly that
considerable difficulty was experienced in working it satisfactorily. It had been provided by the first Stockton and Darlington
Act that the line should be free to all parties who chose to use it
at certain prescribed rates, and that any person might put horses
and wagons on the railway, and carry for himself. But this arrangement led to'increasing confusion and difficulty, and could
not continue in the face: of a large and rapidly-increasing traffic.
The goods trains got so long that'the carriers found it necessary
to call in the aid of the locomotive engine to help them on their
way. Then mixed trains of passengers and merchandise began
to run; and the result was that the Railway Company found it
necessary to take the entire charge and working of the traffic.
In course of time new coaches were specially built for the better
accommodation of the public, until at length regular passengertrains were run, drawn by the locomotive! engine, though this was
not until after the Liverpool and Manchester' Company had established this as a distinct branch of their traffic.
The three Stephenson locomotives were from the first regularly employed to work the coal-trains, and their proved efficiency
for this purpose led to the gradual increase of the locomotive
power. The speed of the engine-slow though it seems nowwas in those days regarded as something marvelous. A race actually came off between No. 1 engine, the " Locomotion," and one
of the stage-coaches traveling from Darlington to Stockton by
the ordinary road, and it was regarded as a great triumph of mechanical skill that the locomotive reached Stockton first, beating
the stage-coach by about a hundred yards! The same engine
continued in good working order in the year 1846, when it headed the railway procession on the opening of the' Middlesborough
and Redcar Railway, traveling at the rate of about fourteen miles
an hour. This engine, the first that traveled on the first public
locomotive railway, has recently been placed upon a pedestal in
front of the railway station at Darlington.
For some years, however, the principal haulage of the line was
performed by horses. The inclination of the gradients being to



244          SUCCESS OF THE UNDERTAKING.             [PART. II.......-!  _.
"- _-    -= =.~ _
THE NO. 1 ENGINE AT DARLINGTON.
ward the sea this was perhaps the cheapest mode of traction, so
long as the traffic was not very large. The horse drew the train
along the level road until, on reaching a descending gradient,
down which the train ran by its own gravity, the animal was unharnessed, when, wheeling round to the other end of the wagons,
to which a "dandy-cart" was attached, its bottom being only a
few inches from the rail, and bringing his step into unison with
the speed of the train, he leaped nimbly into his place in the hind
car, which was usually fitted with a well-filled hay-rack.
The details of the working were gradually perfected by experience, the projectors of the line being scarcely conscious at first
of the importance and significance of the work which they had
taken in hand, and little thinking that they were laying the foundations of a system which was yet to revolutionize the internal
communications of the world, and confer the greatest blessings
on mankind. It is important to note that the commercial results
of the enterprise were considered satisfactory from the opening
of the railway. Besides conferring a great public benefit upon
the inhabitants of the district, and throwing open entirely new
markets for the almost boundless stores of coal found in the
Bishop Auckland district, the profits derived from the traffic cre



CHAP. VIII.]  2'IE TOWN OF MIDDLESBOROUGH.           245
ated by the railway enabled increasing dividends to be paid to
those who had risked their capital in the undertaking, and thus
held forth an encouragement to the projectors of railways generally, which was not without an important effect in stimulating
the projection of similar enterprises in other districts. These results, as displayed in the annual dividends, must have been eminently encouraging to the astute commercial men of Liverpool
and Manchester, who were then engaged in the prosecution of
their railway. Indeed, the commercial success of the Stockton
and Darlington Company may be justly characterized as the turning-point of the railway system. With that practical illustration
daily in sight of the public, it was no longer possible for Parliament to have prevented its eventual extension.
Before leaving the subject of the Stockton and Darlington
Railway, we can not avoid alluding to one of its most remarkable and direct.results-the creation of the town of Middlesborough-on-Tees. When the railway was opened in 1825, the site
of this future metropolis of Cleveland was occupied by one solitary farm-house and its out-buildings. All round was pastureland or mud-banks; scarcely another house was within sight.
The corporation of the town of Stockton being unwilling or unable to provide accommodation for the rapidly increasing coal
traffic, Mr. Edward Pease, in 1829, joined by a few of his Quaker
friends, bought about 500 or 600 acres of land five miles lower
down the river-the site of the modern Middlesborough-for the
purpose of there forming a new sea-port for the shipment of coals
brought to the Tees by the railway. The line was accordingly
extended thither; docks were excavated; a town sprang up;
churches, chapels, and schools were built, with a custom-house,
mechanics' institute, banks, ship-building yards, and iron factories, and in a few years the port of Middlesborough became one
of the most thriving on the northeast coast of England. In ten
-years a busy population of some 6000 persons (since swelled to
about 25,000) occupied the site of the original farm-house. More
recently, the discovery of vast stores of ironstone in the Cleveland
Hills, close adjoining Middlesborough, has tended still more rapidly to augment the population and increase the commercial importance of the place.
It is pleasing to relate, in connection with this great work



246           "ES TEEM AND GRA TITUDE."         [PART II.
the Stockton and Darlington Railway, projected by Edward Pease
and executed by George Stephenson —that when Mr. Stephenson
became a prosperous and a celebrated man, he did not forget the
friend who had taken him by the hand, and helped him on in his
early days. He continued to remember Mr. Pease with gratitude
and affection, and that gentleman, to the closer of his life, was
proud to exhibit a handsome gold watch, received as a gift from
his celebrated prot~gg, bearing these words-" Esteem and gratitude: from George Stephenson to Edward Pease."
MIDDLEBBOROUGHI-ON-TEES.)




CHAP. IX.] LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER TRAFFIC.         247
CHAPTER IX.
THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY PROJEOTED.
WHILE the coal proprietors of the Bishop Auckland district
were taking steps to connect their collieries with the sea by means
of an iron railroad, the merchants of Liverpool and Manchester
were considering-whether some better means could not be devised
for bringing these important centres of commerce and manufacture into more direct connection.
There were canals as well as roads between the two places, but
all routes were alike tedious and costly, especially as regarded the
transit of heavy goods. The route by turnpike road was thirtysix miles, by the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal fifty miles, by the
Mersey and Irwell navigation the same, and by the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal fifty-six miles.
These were all overburdened with traffic. The roads were
bad, the tolls heavy, and the haulage expensive. The journey by
coach occupied from five to six hours, and by wagon nearly a
day. But very few heavy goods went by road. The canals nearly monopolized this traffic, and, having contrived to keep up the
rates, the canal companies charged what they liked. They conducted their business in a drowsy, sleepy, stupid manner. If the
merchant complained of delay, he was told to do better if he
could. If he objected to the rates, he was warned that if he did
not pay them promptly his goods might not be carried at all.
The canal companies were in a position to dictate their own
terms, and they did this in such a way as to disgust alike the senders and the receivers of goods, so that both Liverpool and Manchester were up in arms against them.. Worse even than the
heavy charges for goods was the occasional entire stoppage of the
canals. Sometimes they were frozen up; sometimes they were
blocked by the press of traffic, so that goods lay on the wharves
unmoved for weeks together; and at some seasons it occupied a
longer time to bring cotton from Liverpool to Manchester by ca



248       A TRAM-ROAD PROPOSED.-MR. JAMES.  [PART II.
nal-boat than it had done to bring it from New York to Liverpool
by sailing ship.
Was there no way of remedying these great and admitted evils?
Were the commercial public to continue to be bound hand and
foot, and left at the mercy of the canal proprietors a Immense
interests at Liverpool and Manchester were at stake. The Liverpool merchants wanted new facilities for sending raw material
inland, and the Manchester manufacturers for sending the manufactured products back to Liverpool for shipment. Vast populations had become settled in the towns of South Lancashire, to
whom it was of vital importance that the communication with
the sea should be regular, constant, and economical.
These considerations early led to the discussion of some improved mode of transit from Liverpool into the interior for heavy
goods, and one of the most favored plans was that of a tram-road.
It was first suggested by the corn-merchants of Liverpool, who
had experienced the great inconveniences resulting from the canal monopoly. One of the most zealous advocates of the tramroad.was Mr. Joseph Sandars, who took considerable pains to ascertain the results of the working of the coal lines in the North,
both by horse and engine power, and he satisfied himself that
either method would, if adopted between Liverpool and Manchester, afford the desired relief to the commercial and manufacturing
interests. The subject was ventilated by him in the local papers,
and in the course of the year 1821 MIr. Sandars succeeded in getting together a committee of Liverpool gentlemen for the purpose of farther considering the subject, and, if found practicable,
of starting a company with the object of forming a tram-road between the two towns.
While the project was still in embryo, the rumor of it reached
the ears of Mr. William James, then of West Bromwich, an enthusiastic advocate of tram-roads and railways. As a land-surveyor
and land-agent, as well as coal-owner, he had already laid down
many private railroads. He had also laid out and superintended
the execution and the working of canals, projected extensive
schemes of drainage and inclosure, and, on the whole, was one of
the most useful and active men of his time. But a series of unfortunate speculations in mines having seriously impaired his fortunes, he again reverted to his original profession of land-survey



CHAP. IX.]  MR. JAMES'S SUR VEY.-OBSTRUCTIONS.       249
or, and was so occupied in the neighborhood of Liverpool when
he heard of the scheme set on foot for the construction of the
proposed tram-road to Manchester.
He at once called upon Mr. Sandars and offered his services as
its surveyor. We believe he at first offered to survey the line at
his own expense, to which Mr. Sandars could not object; but his
means were too limited to enable him to do this successfully, and
Mr. Sandars and several of his friends agreed to pay him ~300
for the survey, or at the rate of about ~10 a mile. Mr. James's
first interview with Mr. Sandars was in the beginning of July,
1821, when it was arranged that he should go over the ground
and form a general opinion as to the practicability of a tramway.
A trial survey was then begun, but it was conducted with great
difficulty, the inhabitants of the district entertaining much prejudice against the scheme. In some places Mr. James and his
surveying party had even to encounter personal violence. At St.
Helen's one of the chain-men was laid hold of by a mob of colliers, and threatened to be hurled down a coal-pit. A number
of men, women, and children assembled, and ran after the surveyors wherever they made their appearance, bawling nicknames
and throwing stones at them. As one of the chain-men was
climbing over a gate one day, a laborer made at him with a pitchfork, and ran it through his clothes into his back; other watchers
running up, the chain-man, who was more stunned than hurt,
took to his heels and fled. But that mysterious-looking instrument-the theodolite-most excited the fury of the natives, who
concentrated on the man who carried it their fiercest execrations
and most offensive nicknames.
A powerful fellow, a noted bruiser, was hired by the surveyors
to carry the instrument, with a view to its protection against all
assailants; but one day an equally powerful fellow, a St. Helen's
collier, cock of the walk in his neighborhood, made up to the
theodolite bearer to wrest it from him by sheer force. A battle
took place, the collier was soundly pommeled, but the natives
poured in volleys of stones upon the surveyors and their instruments, and the theodolite was smashed in pieces.
Met by these and other obstructions, it turned out that the survey could not be completed in time for depositing the proper




250        MR. JAMES VISITS KILLING WORTH.       [PART II.
plans, and the intended application to Parliament in the next session could not be made. In the mean time, Mr. James proceeded
to Killingworth to see Stephenson's locomotives at work. Stephenson was not at home at the time, but James saw his engines,
and was very much struck by their power and efficiency. He
saw at a glance the magnificent uses to which the locomotive
might be applied. " Here," said he," is an engine that will, before long, effect a complete revolution in society." Returning to
Moreton-in-the-Marsh, he wrote to Mr. Losh (Stephenson's partner
in the patent) expressing his admiration of the Killingworth engine. "It is," said he, "the greatest wonder of the age, and the
MAP OF LIVERPOOL AND MANCHIESTER RAILWAY. [Western Part.]
forerunner, as I firmly believe, of the most important changes in
the internal communications of the kingdom." Shortly after,
Mr. James, accompanied by his two sons, made a second journey
to Killingworth, where he met both Losh and Stephenson. The
visitors were at once taken to where one of the locomotives was
working, and invited to "jump up."  The uncouth and extraordinary appearance of the machine, as it came snorting along, was
somewhat alarming to the youths, who expressed their fears lest
it should burst; and they were with some difficulty induced to
mount.
The engine went through its usual performances, dragging a
heavy load of coal-wagons at about six miles an hour with apparent ease, at which Mr. James expressed his extreme satisfac



CHAP. IX.]   AGREEMENT WITH MR. JAMES.             251
tion, and declared to Mr. Losh his opinion that Stephenson "was
the greatest practical genius of the age," and that, " if he developed the full powers of that engine (the locomotive), his fame in
the world would rank equal with that of Watt." Mr. James informed Stephenson and Losh of his survey of the proposed tramroad between Liverpool and Manchester, and did not hesitate to
state that he would thenceforward advocate the construction of a
locomotive railroad instead of the tram-road which had originally been proposed.
Stephenson and Losh were naturally desirous of enlisting
James's good services on behalf of their patent locomotive, for.AP OF LIVERPOOL AND MA.NOEIBTEB RAILWAY. [Eastern Part.]
as yet ithad proved comparatively unproductive. They believed
that he might be able so to advocate it in influential quarters as
to insure its more extensive adoption, and with that object they
proposed to give him an interest in the patent. Accordingly,
they entered into an agreement by which they assigned to him
one fonmh of any profits which might be derived from the use
of the patent locomotive on any railways constructed south of a
line drawn across England from Liverpool to Hull. The arrangement, however, led to no beneficial results. Mr. James endeavored to introduce the engine on the Moreton-on-Marsh Railway,
but it was opposed by the engineer of the line, and the attempt
failed. He next urged that a locomotive shouldbe sent for trial
upon the Merstham tram-road; but, anxious though Stephenson




252            A SECOND SURVEY MADE.            [PART II.
was as to its extended employment, he was too cautious to risk an
experiment which might bring discredit upon the engine; and
the Merstham Road being only laid with cast-iron plates which
would not bear its weight, the invitation was declined.
The first survey made of the Liverpool and Manchester line
having been found very imperfect, it was determined to have a
second and more complete one made in the following year. Robert Stephenson, though then a lad of only nineteen, had'already
obtained some practical knowledge of surveying, having been engaged on the preliminary survey of the Stockton and Darlington
Railway in the previous year, and he was sent over to Liverpool
by his father to give Mr. James such assistance as he could. Robert Stephenson was present with Mr. James on the occasion on
which he tried to lay out the line across Chat Moss-a proceeding which was not only difficult, but dangerous. The Moss was
very wet at the time, and only its edges could be ventured on.
Mr. James was a heavy, thick-set man; and one day, when endeavoring to obtain a stand for his theodolite, he felt himself suddenly sinking. He immediately threw himself down, and rolled
over and over until he reached firm ground again, in a sad mess.
Other attempts which he subsequently made to advance into the
Moss for the same purpose were abandoned for the same reason
-the want of a solid stand for the theodolite.
As Mr. James proceeded with his survey, he found a host of
opponents springing up in all directions, some of whom he conciliated by deviations, but others refused to be conciliated on any
terms. Among these last were Lords Derby and Wilton, Mr.
Bradshaw, and the Strafford family. The proposed line passed
through their lands, and, regarding it as a nuisance, without the
slightest compensating advantage to them, they determined to oppose it at every stage. Their agents drove the surveyors off their
land; the farmers set men at the gates armed with pitchforks to
resist their progress; and the survey proceeded with great difficulty. Mr. James endeavored to avoid Lord Derby's Knowsley
estate, but as he had received instructions from Messrs. Ewart
and Gladstone to lay out the line so as to enable it to be extended to the docks, he found it difficult to accomplish this object
and at the same time avert the hostility of the noble lord. The
only large land-owners who gave the scheme their support were




CHAP. IX.]      MR. JAMES'S ENTHUSIASM.               253
Mr. Legh and Mr. Wyrley Birch, who not only subscribed for
shares, but attended several public meetings, and spoke in favor
of the proposed railroad. Public opinion was, however, beginning to be roused, and the canal companies began at length to
feel alarmed.
" At Manchester," Mr. James wrote to Mr. Sandars, " the subject
engages. all men's thoughts, and it is curious as well as amusing to
hear their conjectures. The canal companies (southward) are alive
to their danger. I have been the object of their persecution and
hate; they would immolate me if they could; but if I can die the
death of Samson, by pulling away the pillars, I am content to die
with these Philistines. Be assured, my dear sir, that not a moment
shall be lost, nor shall my attention for a day be diverted from this
concern, which increases in importance every hour, as well as in the
certainty of ultimate success."
Mr. James was one of the most enthusiastic of men, especially
about railways and locomotives. He believed, with Thomas Gray,
who brought out his book about this time, that railways were yet
to become the great high roads of civilization. The speculative
character of the man may be inferred from the following passage
in one of his letters to Mr. Sandars, written from London:
"Every Parliamentary friend I have seen-and I have many of
both houses —eulogizes our plan, and they are particularly anxious
that engines should be introduced in the south. I am now negotiating about the Wandsworth Railroad. A fortune is to be made
by buying the shares, and introducing the engine system upon it.
I am confident capital will treble itself in two years., I do not
choose to publish my views here, and I wish to God some of our
Liverpool friends would take this advantage. I have bought some
shares, but my capital is locked up in unproductive lands and
mines."
As the survey of the Liverpool and Manchester line proceeded,
Mr. James's funds fell short, and. he was under the necessity of
applying to Mr. Sandars and his friends from time to time for
farther contributions. It was also necessary for him. to attend to
his business as a surveyor in other parts of the country, and he
was at such times under the necessity of leaving the work to be
done by his assistants. Thus the survey was necessarily imperfect, and when the time arrived for lodging the plans, it was




254       STEPHENSON APPOINTED ENGINEER.   [PART II.
found that they were practically worthless. Mr. James's pecuniary difficulties had also reached their climax. "The surveys
and plans," he wrote to Mr. Sandars, "can't be completed, I see,
till the end of the week. With illness, anguish of mind, and inexpressible distress, I perceive I must sink if I wait any longer;
and, in short, I have so neglected the suit in Chancery I named
to you, that if I do not put in an answer I shall be outlawed."
Mr. James's embarrassments increased, and he was unable to
shake himself free from them. He was confined for many months
in the Queeii's Bench Prison, during which time this indefatigable railway propagandist wrote an essay illustrative of the advantages of direct inland communication by a line of engine railroad between London, Brighton, and Portsmouth. Meanwhile
the Liverpool and Manchester scheme seemed to have fallen to
the ground. But it only slept. When its promoters found that
they could no longer rely on Mr. James's services, they determined to employ another engineer.
Mr. Sandars had by this time visited George Stephenson at
Killingworth, and, like all who came within reach of his personal
influence, was charmed with him at first sight. The energy which
he had displayed in carrying on the works of the Stockton and
Darlington Railway, now approaching completion; his readiness
to face difficulties, and his practical ability in overcoming them;
the enthusiasm which he displayed on the subject of railways
and railway locomotion, concurred in satisfying Mr. Sandars that
he was, of all men, the best calculated to help forward the undertaking at this juncture; and having, on his return to Liverpool, reported this opinion to the committee, they approved his
recommendation, and George Stephenson was unanimously appointed engineer of the projected railway. On the 25th of May,
1824, Mr. Sandars wrote to Mr. James as follows:
" I think it right to inform you that the committee have engaged
your friend George Stephenson. We expect him here in a few
days. The subscription-list for ~300,000 is filled, and the Manchester gentlemen have conceded to us the entire management. I very
much regret that, by delays and promises, you have forfeited the
confidence of the subscribers. I can not help it. I fear now that
you will only have the fame of being connected with the commencement of this undertaking."




CHAP. IX.]        A COMPANY FORMED.                  255
It will be observed that Mr. Sandars had held to his original
purpose with great determination and perseverance, and he gradually succeeded in enlisting on his side an increasing number
of influential merchants and manufacturers both at Liverpool
and Manchester.  Early in 1824 he published a pamphlet, in
which he strongly urged the great losses and interruptions to the
trade of the district by the delays in the forwarding of merchandise; and in the same year he had a Public Declaration drawn
up, and signed by upward of 150 of the principal merchants of
Liverpool, setting forth that they considered "the.present establishments for the transport of goods quite inadequate, and that a
new line of conveyance has become absolutely necessary to conduct the increasing trade of the country with speed, certainty,
and economy."
A public meeting was then held to consider the best plan to
be adopted, and resolutions were passed in favor of a railroad.
A committee was appointed to take the necessary measures; but,
as if reluctant to enter upon their arduous struggle with the
"vested interests,'" they first waited on Mr. Bradshaw, the Duke
of Bridgewater's canal agent, in the hope of persuading him to increase the means of conveyance, as well as to reduce the charges;
but they were met by an unqualified refusal. He would not improve the existing means of conveyance; he would have nothing
to do with the proposed railway; and, if persevered in, he would
oppose it with all his power. The canal proprietors, confident in
their imagined security, ridiculed the proposed railway as a chimera, It had been spoken about years before, and nothing had
come of it then; it would be the same now.
In order to form a better opinion as to the practicability of the
railroad, a deputation of gentlemen interested in the project proceeded to Killingworth to inspect the engines which had been so
long in use there. They first went to Darlington, where they
found the works of the Stockton line in progress, though still unfinished. Proceeding next to Killingworth with George Stephenson, they there witnessed the performances of his locomotive engines. - The result of their visit was, on the whole, so satisfactory,
that on their return to Liverpool it was determined to form a
company of the proprietors for the construction of a double line
of railway between Liverpool and Manchester.




256       HENRY BOOTH.-PROSPECTUS ISSUED.   [PART II.
The original promoters of the undertaking included men of
the highest standing and local influence in Liverpool and Manchester, with Charles Lawrence as chairman, Lister Ellis, Robert
Gladstone, John Moss, and Joseph Sandars as deputy chairmen;
while among the ordinary members of the committee were Robert Benson, James Cropper, John Ewart, Wellwood Maxwell, and
William Rathbone, of Liverpool, and the brothers Birley, Peter
Ewart, William Garnett, John Kennedy, and William Potter, of
Manchester.
The committee also included another important name —that of
Henry Booth, then a corn-merchant of Liverpool, and afterward
the secretary and manager of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Mr. Booth was a man of admirable business qualities, sagacious and far-seeing, shrewd and practical, of considerable literary ability, and he also possessed a knowledge of mechanics,
which afterward proved of the greatest value to the railway interest; for to him we owe the suggestion of the multitubular
boiler in the form in which it has since been employed upon all
railways, and the coupling-screw, as well as other important mechanical appliances which have come into general use.
The first prospectus, issued in October, 1824, set forth in clear
and vigorous language the objects of the company, the urgent
need of additional means of communication between Liverpool
and Manchester, and the advantages offered by the railway over
all other proposed expedients. It was shown that the water-carriers not only exacted the most arbitrary terms from the public,
but were positively unable to carry the traffic requiring accommodation. Against the indefinite continuance or recurrence of
those evils, said the prospectus, the public have but one security:
"It is competition that is wanted; and the proof of this assertion
may be adduced from the fact that shares in the Old Quay Navigation, of which the original cost was ~70, have been sold as high
as ~1250 each!" The advantages of the railway over the canals
for the carriage of coals was also urged, and it was stated that
the charge for transit would be very materially reduced.
"In the present state of trade and of commercial enterprise (the
prospectus proceeded), dispatch is no less essential than economy.
Merchandise is frequently brought across the Atlantic from New
York to Liverpool in twenty-one days, while, owing to the various




CHAP. IX.]   OBJECT OF THE UNDERTAKING.              257
causes of delay above enumerated, goods have in some instances
been longer on their passage from Liverpool to Manchester. But
this reproach must not be perpetual. The advancement in mechanical science renders it unnecessary-the good sense of the community makes it impossible. Let it not, however, be imagined that,
were England to be tardy, other countries would pause in the march
of improvement. Application has been nmade, on behalf of the Zwperor of Russia, for models of the locomotive engine; and other of
the Continental governments have been duly apprised of the important schemu for the facilitating of inland traffic, now under discussion by the British public. In the United States of America,
also, they are fully alive to the important results to be anticipated
from the- introduction of railroads; a gentleman from the United
States having recently arrived in Liverpool, with whom it is a principal object to collect the necessary information in order to the establishment of a railway to connect the great rivers Potomac and
Ohio."
It will be observed that the principal, indeed almost the sole,
object contemplated by the projectors of the undertaking was the
improved carriage of merchandise and coal, and that the conveyance of passengers was scarcely calculated on, the only paragraph
in the prospectus relating to the subject being the following:
"Moreover, as a cheap and expeditious means of conveyance for
travelers, the railway holds out the fair prospect of a public accommodation, the magnitude and importance of which can not
be immediately ascertained." The estimated expense of forming
the line was set down at ~400,000-a sum which was eventually
found quite inadequate. The subscription list, when opened, was
filled up without difficulty.
While the project was still under discussion, its promoters, desirous of removing the doubts which existed as to the employment of steam-power on the proposed railway, sent a second deputation to Killingworth for the purpose of again observing the
action of Stephenson's engines. The cautious projectors of the
railway were not yet quite satisfied, and a third journey was
made to Killingworth in January, 1825, by several gentlemen of
the committee, accompanied by practical engineers, for the purpose of being personal eye-witnesses of what steam-carriages were
able to perform upon a railway. There they saw a train, consistR




258          RESISTANCE TO THE SUR VEY.         [PART II.
ing of a locomotive. and loaded wagons, weighing in all 54 tons,
traveling at the average rate of about 7 miles an hour, the greatest speed leing about 9j miles an hour. But when the engine
was run with only one wagon attached containing twenty gentlemen, five of whom were engineers, the speed attained was from
10 to 12 miles an hour.In'the mean time the survey was proceeded with, in the face
of great opposition on the part of the proprietors of the lands
through which the railway was intended to pass. The prejudices
of the farminand laboring classes were strongly excited against
the persons employed upon the ground, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the levels could be taken. This opposition was
especially manifested when the attempt tras made to survey the
line through the properties of Lords Derby and Sefton, and also
where it crossed the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal. At Knowsley,
Stephenson and his surveyors were driven off the ground by the
keepers, and threatened with rough handling if found there again.
Lord Derby's farmers also turned out their men to watch the surveying party, and prevent them entering on any lands where they
had the power of driving them off. Afterward Stephenson suddenly and unexpectedly went upon the ground with; a body of
surveyors and their assistants who outnumbered Lord.:Derby's
keepers and farmers, hastily collected to resist them, and this time
they were only threatened with the legal: consequences of their
trespass.
The same sort of resistance was offered by Lord Sefton's keepers and farmers, with whom the following ruse was adopted. A
minute was concocted, purporting to be a resolution of the Old
Quay Canal Company to oppose the projected railroad by every
possible means, and calling upon land-owners and others to afford
every facility for making such a survey of the intended line as
should enable the opponents to detect errors in the scheme of the
promoters, and thereby insure its defeat. A copy of this minute,
without any signature, was exhibited by the surveyors who went
upon the ground, and the farmers, believing them to have the
sanction of the landlords, permitted them to proceed with the
hasty completion of their survey.
The principal opposition, however, was experienced from Mr.
Bradshaw, the manager of the Duke of Bridgewater's canal prop



CHAP. IX.]    OPPOSITION AT MANCHESTER.            259
erty, who offered a vigorous and protracted resistance to the survey in all its stages. The duke's farmers obstinately refused permission to enter upon their fields, although Stephenson offered to
pay for any damage that might be done. Mr. Bradshaw positively refused his sanction in any case; and being a strict preserver of game, with a large staff of keepers in his pay, he declared that he would order them to shoot or apprehend any pereons attempting a survey over his property. But one moonlight
night a survCpwas effected by the following ruse. Some men,
under the orders of the surveying party, were set to fire off guns
in a particular quarter, on which all the gamekeepers on the
watch made off in that direction, and they were drawn away to
such a distance in pursuit of the supposed poachers as to enable
a rapid survey to be made during their absence. Describing before Parliament the difficulties which he encountered in making
the survey, Stephenson said: "I was threatened to be ducked in
the pond if I proceeded, and, of course, we had a great deal of
the survey to take by stealth, at the time when the people were
at dinner. We could not get it done by night; indeed, we were
watched day and night, and guns were discharged over the
grounds belonging to Captain Bradshaw to prevent us. I can
state farther that I was myself twice turned off Mr. Bradshaw's
grounds by his men, and they said if I did not go instantly they
would take me up and carry me off to Worsley."
The same kind of opposition had to be encountered all along
the line of the intended railway. Mr. Clay, one of the company's
solicitors, wrote to Mr. Sandars from the Bridgewater Arms, Prescott, on the 31st of December, that the landlords, occupiers, trustees of turnpike roads, proprietors of bleach-works, carriers and
carters, and even the coal-owners, were dead against the railroad.
" In a word," said lbe, " the country is up in arms against us."
There were only three considerable land&owners who remained
doubtful; and " if these be against us," said Mr. Clay, " then the
whole of the great proprietors along the whole line are dissentient, excepting only Mr. Trafford."
The cottagers and small proprietors were equally hostile.
"The trouble we have with them," wrote Mr. Clay, " is beyond
belief; and those patches of gardens at the end of Manchester
bordering on the Irwell, and the tenants of Hulme Hall, who,




260      OPPOSITION OF TIHE CANAL COMPANIES.  [PART. II.
though insignificant, must be seen, give us infinite trouble, all of
which, as I have reason to believe, is by no means accidental."
There was also the opposition of the great Bradshaw, the duke's
agent. "I wrote you this morning," said Mr. Clay, in a wrathful
letter of the same date, "since which we have been into Bradshaw's warehouse, now called the Knot Mill, and, after traversing
two of the rooms, we got very civilly turned out, which, under all
the circumstances, I thought very lucky, and more than we deserved. However, we have seen more than half of his d-d cottagers."
There were also the canal companies, who made common cause,
formed a common purse, and determined to wage war to the knife
against all railways. The following circular, issued by the Liverpool Railroad Company, with the name of Mr. Lawrence, the
chairman, attached, will serve to show the resolute spirit in which
the canal proprietors were preparing to resist the bill:
"SI, —The Leeds and Liverpool, the Birmingham, the Grand
Trunk, and other canal companies having issued circulars, calling
upon' every canal and navigation company in the kingdom' to oppose in limine and by a united effort the establishment of railroads
wherever contemplated, I have most earnestly to solicit your active
exertions on behalf of the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad Company, to counteract the avowed purpose of the canal proprietors, by
exposing the misrepresentations of interested parties, by conciliating good will, and especially by making known, as far as you have
opportunity, not only the general superiority of railroads over other modes of conveyance, but, in our peculiar case, the absolute necessity of a new and. additional line of communication, in order to
effect with economy and dispatch the transport of merchandise between this port and Manchester.
"(Signed)           CHARLES LAWRENCE, Chairma1n."
Such was the state of affairs and such the threatenings of war
on both sides immediately previous to the Parliamentary session
of 1825.
When it became known that the promoters of the undertaking
were determined-imperfect though the plans were believed to
be, from the obstructions thrown in the way of the surveying parties-to proceed with the bill in the next session of Parliament,
the canal companies appealed to the public through the press.




CHAP. IX.]     THE PRESS AND THE RAIL WAY.                    261
Pamphlets were published and newspapers hired to revile the
railway. It was declared that its formation would prevent the
cows grazing and hens laying, while the horses passing along the
road would be driven distracted. The poisoned air from the
locomotives would kill the birds that flew over them, and. render the preservation of pheasants and foxes no longer possible.
Householders adjoining the projected line were told that their
houses would be burnt up by the fire thrown from the engine
chimneys, while the air around would be polluted by clouds of
smoke. Thelwould no longer be any use for horses; and if
railways extended, the species would become extinguished, and
oats and hay be rendered unsalable commodities. Traveling by
rail would be highly dangerous, and country inns would be ruined. Boilers would burst and blow passengers to atoms. But
there was always this consolation to wind up with —that the
weight of the locomotive would completely prevent its moving,
and that railways, even if made, could never be worked by steampower.
Although the press generally spoke of the Liverpool and Manchester project as a mere speculation-as only one of the many
bubble schemes of the period*-there were other writers who entertained different views, and boldly and ably announced them.
Among the most sagacious newspaper articles of the day, calling
attention to the application of the locomotive engine to the purposes of rapid steam-traveling on railroads, was a series which appeared in 1824, in the " Scotsman" newspaper, then edited by Mr.
Charles Maclaren. In those publications the wonderful powers of
the locomotive were logically demonstrated, and the writer, arguing from the experiments on friction made more than half a century before by Vince and Coulomb, which scientific men seemed
to have altogether lost sight of, clearly showed that, by the use of
steam-power on railroads, the cheaper as well as more rapid transit of persons and merchandise might be confidently anticipated.
* " Many years ago I met in a public library with a bulky volume, consisting of the
prospectuses of various projects bound up together, and labeled,'Some of the Bubbles
of 1825.' Among the projects thus described was one that has since been productive
of the greatest and most rapid advance in the social condition of mankind effected
since the first dawn of civilization: it was the plan of the company for constructing
a railway between Liverpool and Manchester."-W. B. Hodge, in "Journal of the
Institute of Actuaries," No. 40, July, 1860.




262            SIR JOHN BARROW'S IDEAS.          [PART II.
Not many years passed before the anticipations of the writer,
sanguine and speculative though they were at that time regarded,
were amply realized. Even Mr. Nicholas Wood, in 1825, speaking of the powers of the locomotive, and referring doubtless to
the speculations of the " Scotsman" as well as of his equally sanguine friend Stephenson, observed: " It is far from my wish to
promulgate to the world that the ridiculous expectations, or rather professions, of the enthusiastic speculist will be realized, and
that we shall see engines traveling at the rate of twelve, sixteen,
eighteen, or twenty miles an hour. Nothing couldto more harm
toward their general adoption and improvement than the promulgation of such nonsense."*
Among the papers left by Mr. Sandars we find a letter addressed to him by Sir John Barrow, of the Admiralty, as to the
proper method of conducting the case in Parliament, which pretty accurately represents the state of public opinion as to the practicability of locomotive traveling on railroads at the time at
which it -was written, the 10th of January, 1825. Sir John
strongly urged Mr. Sandars to keep the locomotive altogether in
the background; to rely upon the proved inability of the canals
and common roads to accommodate the existing traffic; and to
be satisfied with proving the absolute necessity of a new line of
conveyance; above all, he recommended him not even to hint at
the intention of carrying passengers.
"You will at once," said he, "raise a host of enemies in the proprietors of coaches, post-chaises, innkeepers, etc., whose interests
will be attacked, and who, I have no doubt, will be strongly supported, and for what? Some thousands of passengers, you saybut a few hundreds I should say-in the year."
He accordingly urged that passengers as well as speed should
be kept entirely out of the act; but, if the latter were insisted on,
then he recommended that it should be kept as low as possiblesay at five miles an hour 
Indeed, when George Stephenson, at the interviews with counsel held previous to the Liverpool and Manchester Bill going into
Committee of the House of Commons, confidently stated his expectation of being able to run his locomotive at the rate of twenty miles an hour, Mr. William Brougham, who was retained by
* " Wood on Railroads," ed. 1825, p. 290.




CHAP. IX.]  PUBLIC OPINION AGAINST RAIL WA YS.       263
the promoters to conduct their case, frankly told him that if he
did not moderate his views, and bring his engine within a reasonable speed, he would "inevitably damn the whole thing, and be
himself regarded as a maniac fit only for Bedlam."
The idea thrown out by Stephenson of traveling at a rate of
speed double that of the fastest mail-coach appeared at the time
so preposterous that he was unable to find any engineer who
would risk his reputation in supporting such "absurd views."
Speaking of his isolation at the time, he subsequently observed at
a public meeting of railway men in Manchester: "IHe remembered the time when he had very few supporters in bringing out
the railway system-when he sought England over for an engineer to support him in his evidence before Parliament, and could
find only one man, James Walker, but was afraid to call that gentleman, because he knew nothing about railways. He had then
no one to tell his tale to but Mr. Sandars, of Liverpool, who did
listen to him, and kept his spirits up; and his schemes had at
length been carried out only by dint of sheer perseverance."
George Stephenson's idea was at that time regarded as but the
dream of a chimerical projector. It stood before the public
friendless, struggling hard to gain a footing, scarcely daring to
lift itself into notice for fear of ridicule. The civil engineers
generally rejected the notion of a Locomotive Railway; and
when no leading man of the day could be found to stand forward in support of the Killingworth mechanic, its chances of
success must indeed have been pronounced but small.
When such was the hostility of the civil engineers, no wonder
the Reviewers were puzzled. The " Quarterly," in an able article
in support of the projected Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
while admitting its absolute necessity, and insisting that there was
no choice left but a railroad, on which the journey between Liverpool and Manchester, whether performed by horses or engines,
would always be accomplished " within the day," nevertheless
scouted the idea of traveling at a greater speed than eight or
nine miles an hour. Adverting to a project for forming a railway to Woolwich, by which passengers were to be drawn by loconmotive engines moving with twice the velocity of ordinary
coaches, the reviewer observed: "What can be more palpably
absurd and ridiculous than the prospect held out of locomotives




264 FA THER THAMES BA CKED A GAINST RAIL WA YS. [PART II.
traveling twice asfast as stage-coaches! We would as soon expect the people of Woolwich to suffer themselves to be fired off
upon one of Congreve's ricochet rockets, as trust themselves to the
mercy of such a machine going at such a rate. We will back old
Father Thames against the Woolwich Railway for any sum. We
trust that Parliament will, in all railways it may sanction, limit
the speed to eight or nine miles an hour, which we entirely agree
with Mr. Sylvester is as great as can be ventured on with safety."
SURVEYING ON CHAT MOSS...
SURY;EYXNG ON ~A.T MOSS,




CHAP. X.]    THE PARLIAMENTARY CONTEST.             265
CHAPTER X.
PARLIAMENTARY CONTEST ON THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER
BILL.
THE Liverpool and Manchester Bill went into Committee of
the House of Commons on the 21st of March, 1825. There was
an extraordinary array of legal talent on the occasion, but especially on the side of the opponents to the measure. Their
wealth and influence enabled them to retain the ablest counsel
at the bar; Mr. (afterward Baron) Alderson, Mr. Stephenson, Mr.
(afterward Baron) Parke, Mr. Rose, Mr. Macdonnell, Mr. Harrison,
Mr. Erle, and Mr. Cullen, appeared for various clients, who made
common cause with each other in opposing the bill, the case for
which was conducted by Mr. Adam, Mr. Sergeant Spankie, Mr.
William Brougham, and Mr. Joy.
Evidence was taken at great length as to the difficulties and
delays in forwarding raw goods of all kinds from Liverpool to
Manchester, as also in the conveyance of manufactured articles
from Manchester to Liverpool. The evidence adduced in support of the bill on these grounds was overwhelming. The utter
inadequacy of the existing modes of conveyance to carry on satisfactorily the large and rapidly-growing trade between the two
towns was fully proved. But then came the main difficulty of
the promoters' case-that of proving the practicability of constructing a railroad to be worked by locomotive power. Mr.
Adam, in his opening speech, referred to the cases of the Hetton
and the Killingworth railroads, where heavy goods were safely
and economically transported by means of locomotive engines.
" None of the tremendous consequences," he observed, " have
ensued from the use of steam in land carriage that have been
stated. The horses have not started, nor the cows ceased to give
their milk, nor have ladies miscarried at the sight of these things
going forward at the rate of four miles and a half an hour."
Notwithstanding the petition of two ladies alleging the great




266         GEORGE STEPHENSON AS WITNESS.    [PART II.
danger to be apprehended from the bursting of the locomotive
boilers, he urged the safety of the high-pressure engine when the
boilers were constructed of wrought iron; and as to the rate at
which they could travel, he expressed his full conviction that
such engines "could supply force to drive a carriage at the rate
of five or six miles an hour."
The taking of the evidence as to the impediments thrown in
the way of trade and commerce by the existing system extended
over a month, and it was the 21st of April before the committee
went into the engineering evidence, which was the vital part of
the question.
On the 25th George Stephenson was called into the witnessbox. It was his first appearance before a committee of the House
of Commons, and he well knew what he had to expect. He was
aware that the whole force of the opposition was to be directed
against him; and if they could break down his evidence, the canal monopoly might yet be upheld for a time. Many years afterward, when looking back at his position on this trying occasion,
he said: " When I went to Liverpool to plan a line from thence
to Manchester, I pledged myself to the directors to attain a speed
of ten miles an hour. - I said I had no doubt the locomotive
might be made to go much faster, but that we had better be
moderate at the beginning. The directors said I was quite right;
for that if, when they went to Parliament, I talked of going at a
greater rate than ten miles an hour, I should put a cross upon
the concern. It was not an easy task for me to keep the engine
down to ten miles an hour, but it must be done, and I did my
best. I had to place myself in that most unpleasant of all positions-the witness-box of a Parliamentary committee. I was not
long in it before I began to wish for a hole to creep out at! I
could not find words to satisfy either the comnmittee or myself.
I was subjected to the cross-examination of eight or ten barristers, purposely, as far as possible, to bewilder me. Some member of the committee asked if I was a foreigner,* and another
* George's Northumberland " burr" was so strong that it rendered him almost unintelligible to persons who were unfamiliar with it; and he had even thoughts of
going to school again, for the purpose, if possible, of getting rid of it. In the year
1823, when Stephenson was forty-two years of age, we find his friend Thomas
Richardson, of Lombard Street, writing to Samuel Thoroughgood, a schoolmaster
at Peckham, as follows: " DEAR FRIEND,-My friend George Stephenson, a man




CHAP. X.]        THE CASE TO BE PROVED.                   267
hinted that I was mad. But I put up with every rebuff, and
went on with my plans, determined not to be put down."
George Stephenson stood before the committee to prove what
the public opinion of that day held to be impossible. The selftaught mechanic had to demonstrate the practicability of accomplishing that which the most distinguished engineers of the time
regarded as impracticable. Clear though the subject was to himself, and familiar as he was with the powers of the locomotive, it
was no easy task for him to bring home his convictions, or even
to convey his meaning, to the less informed minds of his hearers.
In his strong Northumbrian dialect, he struggled for utterance,
in the face of the sneers, interruptions, and ridicule of the opponents of the measure, and even of the committee, some of whom
shook their heads and whispered doubts as to his sanity when he
energetically avowed that he c6uld make the locomotive go at
the rate of twelve miles an hour! It was so grossly in the teeth
of all the experience of honorable members, that the man " must
certainly be laboring under a delusion!"
~ And yet his large experience of railways and locomotives, as
described by himself to the committee, entitled this "untaught,
inarticulate genius," as he has been described, to speak with confidence on the subject. Beginning with his experience as a
brakesman at Killingworth in 1803, he went on to state that he
was appointed to take the entire charge of the steam-engines in
1813, and had superintended the railroads connected with the
numerous collieries of the Grand'Allies from that time downward. He had laid down or superintended the railways at Burradon, Mount Moor, Springwell, Bedlington, Hetton, and Darlington, besides improving those at Killingworth, South Moor,
and Derwent Crook. He had constructed fifty-five steam-engines, of which sixteen were locomotives. Some of these had
been sent to France. The engines constructed by him for the
working of the Killingworth Railroad, eleven years before, had
continued steadily at work ever since, and fulfilled his most sanof first-rate abilities as an engineer, but of little or no education, wants to consult
thee or some other person to see if he can not improve himself-he has so much
Northumberland dialect, etc. He will be at my house on sixth day next, about five
o'clock, if thou could make it convenient to see him. Thy assured friend, THOS.
RICHARDSON."




268      MR. ALDERSON'S CROSS-EXAMINA TION.  [PART II.
guine expectations. He was prepared to prove the safety of
working high-pressure locomotives on a railroad, and the superiority of this mode of transporting goods over all others. As to
speed, he said he had recommended eight miles an hour with
twenty tons, and four miles an hour with forty tons; but he was
quite confident that much more might be done. Indeed, he had
no doubt they might go at the rate of twelve miles. As to the
charge that locomotives on a railroad would so terrify the horses
in the neighborhood that to travel on horseback or to plow the
adjoining fields would be rendered highly dangerous, the witness
said that horses learned to take no notice of them, though there
were horses that would shy at a wheelbarrow. A mail-coach
was likely to be more shied at by horses than a locomotive. In
the neighborhood of Killingworth, the cattle in the fields went
on grazing while the engines passed them, and the farmers made
no complaints.
Mr. Alderson, who had carefully studied the subject, and was
well skilled in practical science, subjected the witness to a protracted and severe cross-examination as to the speed and power
of the locomotive, the stroke of the piston, the slipping of the
wheels upon the rails, and various other points of detail. Stephenson insisted that no slipping took place, as attempted to be
extorted from him by the counsel. He said," It is impossible for
slipping to take place so long as the adhesive weight of the wheel
upon the rail is greater than the weight to be dragged after it."
There was a good deal of interruption to the witness's answers
by Mr. Alderson, to which Mr. Joy more than once objected. As
to accidents, Stephenson knew of none that had occurred with
his engines. There had been one, he was told, at the Middleton
Colliery, near Leeds, with a Blenkinsop enigine. The driver had
been in liquor, and put a considerable load on the safety-valve,
so that upon going forward the engine blew up and the man was
killed. But he added, if proper precautions had been used with
that boiler, the accident could not have happened. The following cross-examination occurred in reference to the question of
speed:
"Of course," he was asked, "when a body is moving upon a
road, the greater the velocity the greater the momentum that is
generated?." "Certainly."  "What would be the momentum of




CHAP. X.]       THE QUESTION OF SPEED.               269
forty tons moving at the rate of twelve miles an hour?  "It
would be very great."  " Have you seen a railroad that would
stand that "  "Yes."  "Where."  "Any railroad that would
bear going four miles an hour: I mean to say, that if it would
bear the weight at four miles an hour, it would bear it at twelve."
" Taking it at four miles an hour, do you mean to say that it
would not require a stronger railway to carry the same weight
twelve miles an hour?" "I will give an answer to that. I dare
say every person has been over ice when skating, or seen persons
go over, and they know that it would bear them better at a greater velocity than it would if they went slower; when they go
quick, the weight in a measure ceases."  "Is not than upon the
hypothesis that the railroad is perfect 2" "It is; and I mean to
make it perfect."
It is not necessary to state that to have passed through his
severe ordeal scatheless needed no small amount of courage, intelligence, and ready shrewdness on the part of the witness.
Nicholas Wood, who was present on the occasion, has since stated
that the point on which Stephenson was hardest pressed was that
of speed. " I believe," he says, " that it would have lost the company their bill if he had gone beyond eight or nine miles an
hour. If he had stated his intention of going twelve or fifteen
miles an 4our, not a single person would have believed it to be
practicable." Mr. Alderson had, indeed, so pressed the point of
"twelve miles an hour," and the promoters were so alarmed lest
it should appear in evidence that they contemplated any such extravagant rate of speed, that immediately on MIr. Alderson sitting
down, Mr. Joy proceeded to re-examine Stephenson, with the
view of removing from the minds of the committee an impression so unfavorable, and, as they supposed, so damaging to their
case. "With regard," asked Mr. Joy, "to all those hypothetical
questions of my learned friend, they have been all put on the
supposition of going twelve miles an hour: now that is not the
rate at which, I believe, any of the engines of which you have
spoken have traveled?" "No," replied Stephenson, "except as
an experiment for a short distance."  " But what they have gone
has been three, five, or six miles an hour?" " Yes."  " So that
those hypothetical cases of twelve miles an hour do not fall within your general experience?" "They do not."




270           "A WKWARD-FOR THE COO!"           [PART II.
The committee also seem to have entertained some alarm as to
the high rate of speed which had been spoken of, and proceeded
to examine the witness farther on the subject. They supposed
the case of the engine being upset when going at nine miles an
hour, and asked what, in such a case, would become of the cargo
astern. To which the witness replied that it would not be upset.
One of the members of the committee pressed the witness a little
farther. IHe put the following case: " Suppose, now, one of these
engines to be going along a railroad at the rate of nine or ten
miles an hour, and that a cow were to stray upon the line and get
in the way of the engine; would not that, think you, be a very
awkward circumstance "   "Yes," replied the witness, with a
twinkle in his ey'e, " very awkward-for the coo i"  The honorable member did not proceed farther with his cross-examination;
to use a railway phrase, he was "shunted."  Another asked if
animals would not be very much frightened by the engine passing at night, especially by the glare of the red-hot chimney?
"But how would they know that it wasn't painted?" said the
witness.
On the following day (the 26th of April) the engineer was
subjected to a most severe examination. On that part of the
scheme with which he was most practically conversant, his evidence was clear and conclusive. Now, he had to give evidence
on the plans made by his surveyors, and the estimates which had
been founded on those plans. So long as he was confined to
locomotive engines and iron railroads, with the minutest details
of which he was more familiar than any man living, he felt at
home and in his element. But when the designs of bridges and
the cost of constructing them had to be gone into, the subject being comparatively new to him, his evidence was much less satisfactory.
He was cross-examined as to the practicability of forming a
road on so unstable a foundation as Chat Moss.
"'Now, with respect to your evidence upon Chat Moss,' asked
Mr. Alderson,'did you ever walk on Chat Moss on the proposed
line of the railway?''The greater part of it, I have.'
"'Was it not extremely boggy?''In parts it was.'
"'How deep did you sink in?''I could have gone with shoes;
I do not know whether I had boots on.'




CHAP. X.]        THE PLANS DEFECTIVE.                 271
"'If the depth of the MQss should prove to be 40 feet instead of
20, would not this plan of the railway over this Moss be impracticable?'' No, it would not. If the gentleman will allow me, I will
refer to a railroad belonging to the Duke of Portland, made over a
moss; there are no levels to drain it properly, such as we have at
Chat Moss, and it is made by an embankment over the moss, which
is worse than making a cutting, for there is the weight of the embankment to press upon the mbss.'
"' Still, you must go to the bottom of the moss?''It is not necessary; the deeper you get, the more consolidated it is.'
"'Would you put some hard materials on it before you comomenced?''Yes, perhaps I should.'
"'What?'' Brushwood, perhaps.'
"'And you, then, are of opinion that it would be a solid embank.
ment?'' It would have a tremulous motion for a time, but would
not give way, like clay.'"
Mr. Alderson also cross-examined him at great length on the
plans of the bridges, the tunnels, the crossings of the roads and
streets, and the details of the survey, which, it soon appeared, were
in some respects seriously at fault. It seems that, after the plans
had been deposited, Stephenson found that a much more favorable line might be laid out, and he made his estimates accordingly,
supposing that Parliament would not confine the company to the
precise plan which had been deposited. This was felt to be a serious blot in the Parliamentary case, and one very difficult to get
over.
For three entire days was our engineer subjected to cross-examination by Mr. Alderson, Mr. Cullen, and the other leading
counsel for the opposition. He held his ground bravely, and defended the plans and estimates with remarkable ability and skill,
but it was clear they were imperfect, and the result was, on the
whole, damaging to the bill. Mr. (afterward Sir William) Cubitt
was called by the promoters, Mr. Adam stating that he proposed
by this witness to correct some of the levels as given by Stephenson. It seems a singular course to have been taken by the promoters of the measure, for Mr. Cubitt's evidence went to upset the
statements made by Stephenson as to the survey. This adverse
evidence was, of course, made the most of by the opponents of the
scheme.
Mr. Sergeant Spankie then summed up for the bill on the 2d




272            VITUPERA TION OF COUNSEL.           [PART II.
of May, in a speech of. great length, and the case of the opponents
was next gone into, Mr. Harrison opening with a long and eloquent speech on behalf of his clients, Mrs. Atherton and others.
He indulged in strong vituperation against the witnesses for the
bill, and especially dwelt upon the manner in which Mr. Cubitt,
for the promoters, had proved that Stephenson's levels were wrong.
" They got a person," said he, " whose character and skill I do
not dispute, though I do not exactly know that I should have gone
to the inventor of the treadmill as the fittest man to take the levels
of Knowsley Moss and Chat Moss, which shook almost as much as
a treadmill, as you recollect, for he (Mr. Cubitt) said Chat Moss
trembled so much under his feet that he could not take his observations accurately..... In fact, Mr. Cubitt did not go on to Chat
Moss, because he knew that it was an immense mass of pulp, and
nothing else. It actually rises in height, from the rain swelling it
like a sponge, and sinks again in dry weather; and if a boring instrument is put into it, it sinks immediately by its own weight.
The making of an embankment out of this pulpy, wet moss is no
very easy task. Who but Mr. Stephenson would have thought of
entering into Chat Moss, carrying it out almost like wet dung? It
is ignorance almost inconceivable. It is perfect madness, in a person called upon to speak on a scientific subject, to propose such a
plan...... Every part of the scheme shows that this man has applied himself to a subject of which he has no knowledge, and to
which he has no science to apply."
Then, adverting to the proposal to work the intended line by
means of locomotives, the learned gentleman proceeded:
" When we set out with the original prospectus, we were to gallop I know not at what rate-I believe it was at the rate of twelve
miles an hour. My learned friend, Mr. Adam, contemplated —possibly alluding to Ireland-that some of the Irish members would
arrive in the wagons to a division. My learned friend says that
they would go at the rate of twelve miles an hour with the aid of
the devil in the form of a locomotive sitting as postillion on the fore
horse, and an honorable member sitting behind him to stir up the
fire, and keep it at full speed. But the speed at which these locomotive engines are to go has slackened: Mr. Adam does not go faster now than five miles an hour. The learned sergeant (Spankie)
says he should like to have seven, but he would be content to go
six. I will show he can not go six; and probably, for any practical




CkAP. X.]        CHAT MOSS. —MR. GILES.               273
purposes, I may be able to show that I can keep up with him by
the canal..... Locomotive engines are liable to be operated upon
by the weather. You are toldthey are affected by rain, and an attempt has been made to cover them; but the wind will affect them;
and any gale of wind which would affect the traffic on the Mersey
would render it impossible to set off a locomotive engine, either by
poking of the fire, or keeping up the pressure of the steam till the
boiler was ready to burst."
How amusing it now is to read these extraordinary vie'ws as to
the formation of a railway over Chat Moss, and the impossibility
of starting a locomotive engine in the face of a gale of wind?
Evidence was called to show that the house property passed by
the proposed railway would be greatly deteriorated- in some
places almost destroyed; that tde locomotive engines would be
terrible nuisances, in consequence of the fire and smoke vomited
forth by them; and that the value of land in the neighborhood
of Manchester alone would be deteriorated by no less than ~20,000!
Evidence was also given at great length showing the utter impossibility of forming a road of any kind upon Chat Moss. A Manchester builder, who was examined, could not imagine the feat
possible, unless by arching it across in the manner of a viaduct
from one side to the other. It was the old story of " nothing like
leather." But the opposition mainly relied upon the evidence of
the leading engineers-not, like Stephenson, self-taught men, but
regular professionals. Mr. Francis Giles, C.E., was their -great
card. He hiad been twenty-two years an engineer, and could speak
with some authority. His testimony was mainly directed to the
utter impossibility of forming a railway over Chat Moss. "~No
engineer in his senses," said he, "would go through Chat Moss if
he wanted to make a railroad from Liverpool to Manchester. In
my judgment, a railroad certainly can not be safely made over
Chat Moss without going to the bottom of the loss."  The following may be taken as a specimen of Mr. Giles's evidence:
"'Tell us whether, in your judgment, a railroad can be safely
made over Chat Moss without going to the bottom of the bog?''I say, certainly not.'
"' Will it be necessary, therefore, in making a permanent railroad,
to take out the whole of the moss to the bottom, along the whole
line of road?'' Undoubtedly.'
S




274       THE MOST ABSURD POSSIBLE SCHEME.:[PART 1t.
"'Will that make it necessary to cut down the thirty-three or
thirty-four feet of which you have been speaking?''Yes.'
"' And afterward to fill it up with other soil?'' To such height
as the railway is to be carried; other soil mixed with a portion of
the moss.'
"'But suppose they were to work upon this stuff, could they get
their carriages to this place?''No carriage can stand on the moss
short of the bottom.'
"' What could they do to make it stand-laying planks, or something of that sort?'' Nothing would support it.'
"'So that, if you would carry a railroad over this fluid stuff-if
you could do it, it would still take a great number of men and a
great sum of money. Could it be done, in your opinion, for ~6000?''I should say ~200,000 would not get through it.'
"'My learned friend wishes to know what it-would cost to lay it
with diamonds?"'
Mr. H. R. Palmer, C.E., gave evidence to prove that resistance
to a moving body going under four and a quarter miles an hour
was less upon a canal than upon a railroad; and that, when going against a stronfg wind, the progress of a locomotive was retarded- " very much." Mr. George Leather, C.E., the engineer of
the Croydon and Wandsworth Railway, on which he said the
wagons went at from two and a half to three miles an hour, also
testified against the practicability of Stephenson's plan. He considered his estimate a "very wild" one. He had no confidence
in locomotive power. Thie Weardale Railway, of which he was
engineer, had given up the use of locomotive engines. He supposed that, when used, they traveled at three and a half to four
miles an hour, because they were considered to be then more effective than at a higher speed.
When these distinguished engineers had given their evidence,
Mr. Alderson summed up in a speech which extended over two
days. He declared Stephenson's plan to be "the most absurd
scheme that ever entered into the head of man to conceive:"
" My learned friends," said he, " almost endeavored to stop my
examination; they wished me to put in the plan, but I had rather
have the exhibition of Mr. Stephenson in that box. I say he never
had one-I believe he never had one-I do not believe he is capable
of making one. His is a mind perpetually fluctuating between opposite difficulties: he neither knows whether he is to make bridges




CHAP. X.]    MR. ALDERSON ON "ICHAT MOSS."             275
over roads or rivers of one size or of another, or to make embankments, or cuttings, or inclined planes, or. in what way the thing is
to be carried into effect. Whenever a difficulty is pressed, as in
the case of a tunnel, he gets out of it at one end, and when you try
to catch him at that, he gets out at the other."
Mr. Alderson proceeded to declaim against the gross ignorance
of this so-called engineer, who proposed to make "impossible
ditches by the side of an impossible railway" over Chat Moss;
and he contrasted with his evidence that given " by that most respectable gentleman we have called before you, I mean Mr.
Giles, who has executed a vast number of works," etc. Then Mr.
Giles's evidence as to the impossibility of making any railway
over the Moss that would stand: short of the bottom was emphatically dwelt upon;' and Mr. Alderson proceeded:
"Having now, sir, gone through Chat Moss, and having shown
that Mr. Giles is right in his principle when he adopts a solid railway-and I care not whether Mr. Giles is right or wrong in his estimate, for whether it be effected by means of piers raised up all the
way for four miles through G Chat Moss, whether: they are to support it on beams of wood or by erecting masonry, or whether Mr.
Giles shall put a solid bank of earth through it-in all these schemes
there is not one found like that of Mr. Stephenson's, namely, to out
impossible drains on the side of this road; and it is sufficient for
me to suggest, and to show, that this scheme of Mr. Stephenson's is
impossible or i'mpracticable, and that no other scheme, if they proceed upon this line, can be suggested which will not produce enormous expense. I think that has been irrefragably made out. Every one knows Chat Moss-every one knows that Mr. Giles speaks
correctly when he says the iron sinks immediately on its being put
upon the surface. I have heard of culverts which have been put
upon the Moss, which, after having been surveyed the day before,
have the next morning disappeared; and that a house (a poet's
house, who may be supposed'in the' habit of building castles even
in the air), story after story, as fast as one is added, the lower one
sinks I! There is nothing, it appears, except long sedgy grass, and
a little soil, to prevent its sinking into the shades -of eternal night.
I have now done, sir, with Chat Moss, and there I leave this railroad."
Mr. Alderson, of course, called upon the committee to reject
the bill; and he protested "against the despotism of the Ex



276             FARTHER VITUPERATION.             [PART II.
change at Liverpool striding across the land of this country. I
do protest,". he concluded, " against a measure like this, supported
as it is by such evidence, and founded upon such calculations."
The case of the other numerous petitioners against the bill still
remained to be gone into. Witnesses were called to prove the
residential injury which would be caused by the "intolerable
nuisance" of the smoke and fire from the locomotives, and others
to prove that the price of coals and iron would "infallibly" be
greatly raised throughout the country. This was part of the case
of the Duke of Bridgewater's trustees, whose witnesses "proved"
many very extraordinary things. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal
Company were so fortunate as to pick up a witness from HIetton
who was ready to furnish some damaging evidence as to the use
of Stephenson's locomotives on,that railway. This was Mr.
Thomas Wood, one of the Hetton Company's clerks, whose evidence was to the effect that the locomotives, having been found
ineffective, were about to be discontinued in favor of fixed engines. The evidence of this witness, incompetent though he was
to give an opinion on the subject, and exaggerated as his statements were afterward proved to be, was made the most of by
Mr. Harrison when summing up the case of the canal companies.
"At length," he said, "we have come to this-having first set
out at twelve' miles an hour, the speed of these locomotives is reduced to six, and now comes down to two or two and a half. They
must be content to be pulled along by horses and donkeys; and all
those fine promises of galloping along at the rate of twelve miles an
hour are melted down to a total failure; the foundation on which
their case stood is cut from under them completely; for the Act of
Parliament, the committee will recollect, prohibits any person using
any animal' power,' of any sort, kind, or description, except the projectors of the railway.themselves; therefore I say that the whole
foundation on which this project exists is gone."
After farther personal abuse of Mr. Stephenson, whose evidence he spoke of as "trash and confusion," Mr. Harrison closed
the case of the canal companies on the 30th of May. Mr. Adam
replied for the' promoters, recapitulating the principal points of
their case, and vindicating Mr. Stephenson and the evidence
which he had given before the committee...The committee then divided on the preamble, which was car



CHAP. X.]          THE BILL DEFEATED.                  277
ried by a majority of only one-thirty-seven voting for it, and
thirty-six against it. The clauses were next considered, and on a
division, the first clause, empowering the company to make the
railway, was lost by a majority of nineteen to thirteen. In like
manner, the next clause, empowering the company to take land,
was lost; on which Mr. Adam, on the part of the promoters,
withdrew the bill.
Thus ended this memorable contest, which had extended over
two months-carried on throughout with great pertinacity and
skill, especially on the part of the opposition, who left no stone
unturned to defeat the measure. The want of a new line of commnuication between Liverpool and Manchester had been clearly
proved; but the engineering evidence in support of the proposed
railway having been thrown almost entirely upon George Stephenson, who fought this, the most important part of the battle,
single-handed, was not brought out so clearly as it would have
been had he secured more efficient engineering assistance, which
he was not able- to do, as all the engineers of eminence of that
day were against the locomotive railway. The obstacles thrown
in the way of the survey by the land-owners and canal companies,
by which the plans were rendered exceedingly imperfect, also
tended in a great measure to defeat the bill.
Mr. Gooch says the rejection of the scheme was probably the
most severe trial George Stephenson underwent in the whole
course of his life. - The, circumstances connected with the defeat
of the bill, the'errors in the levels, his severe cross-examination,
followed by the fact of his being superseded by another engineer,
all told fearfully upon him, and for some time he was as terribly
weighed down as if a personal calamity of the most serious kind
had befallen him. It is also right to add that he was badly
served by his surveyors, who were unpracticed and incompetent.
On the 27th of September, 1824, we find him writing to Mr. Sandars: ".I am quite shocked with Auty's conduct; we must throw
him aside as soon as possible. Indeed, I have begun to fear that
he has been fee'd by some of the canal proprietors to make a botch
of the job. I have a letter from Steele,* whose views of Auty's
conduct quite agree with yours."
* Hugh Steele and Elijah Galloway afterward proceeded with the survey at one
part of the line, and Messrs. Oliver and Blackett at another. The formner couple




278  THE PROJECT REVIVED.                               [PART IL
The result of this first application to Parliament was so far
discouraging.'Stephenson had been so terribly abused by the
leading counsel for the opposition in the course of the proceedings before the committee-stigmatized by them as an ignoramus,
a fool, and a maniac-that even his friends seem for a time to
have lost faith in him and in the locomotive system, whose efficiency he continued to uphold. Things never looked blacker for
the success of the railway system than at the close of this great
Parliamentary struggle. And yet it was on the very eve of its
triumph.
The, Committee of Directors appointed to watch the measure
in Parliament were so determined to press on the project of a
railway, even though it should have to be worked merely by
horse-power, that the bill had scarcely been defeated ere they
met in London to consider their next step.-  They called their
Parliamentary friends. together to consult as to their future proceedings. Among those who attended the meeting of gentlemen
with this object in the Royal Hotel, St. James's Street, on the 4th
of June, were Mr. Htuskisson, Mr. Spring Rice, and General Gascoyne. Mr. Huskisson urged the promoters to renew their application to Parliament, They had secured the first step by the
passing of their preamble; the measure was of great public importaice;  and, whatever temporary opposition it might meet
with, he conceived that Parliament must ultimately give its sanction to the undertaking. Similar views were expressed by other
speakers; and the deputation went back to Liverpool determined
to renew their application to Parliament in the ensuing season.
It was not considered desirable to employ George Stephenson
in making the new survey. He had not as yet established his
reputation beyond the; boundaries of his own district, and the
promoters of the bill had doubtless felt the disadvantages of this
in the course of their Parliamentary struggle. They therefore
resolved now to employ engineers of the highest established reputation, as well as the best surveyors that could be obtained. In
seem to have made some grievous blunder in the levels on Chat Moss, and the circumstance weighed so heavily on Steele's mind that, shortly after hearing of the rejection of the bill, he committed suicide in Stephenson's office at Newcastle. Mr.
Gooch informs us that this unhappy affair served to impress upon the minds of Stephenson's other pupils the necessity of insuring greater accuracy and attention in future, and that the lesson, though sad, was not lost upon them.




CHAP. X.]        OPPOSITION A VERTED.                279
accordance with these views, they engaged Messrs. George and
John Rennie to be the engineers of the railway; and Mr. Charles
Vignolles, on their behalf, was appointed to prepare the plans
and sections. The line which was eventually adopted differed
somewhat from that surveyed by Stephenson, entirely avoiding
Lord Sefton's property, and passing through only. a few detached
fields of Lord Derby's at a considerable distance from the Knowsley domain. The principal parks and game preserves of the district were also carefully avoided. The promoters thus hoped to
get rid of the opposition of the most influential of the resident
land-owners. The crossing of certain of the streets of Liverpool
was also avoided, and the entrance contrived by means of a tunnel and an inclined plane. - The new line stopped short of the
River Irwell at the Manchester end, and thus,.in some measure,
removed the objections grounded on an anticipated interruption
to the canal or river traffic. And, with reference to the use of
the locomotive engine, the promoters, remembering with what
effect the objections to it had been urged by the opponents of the
measure, intimated, in their second prospectus, that,' as a guarantee of their good faith toward the public, they' will not require
any clause empowering them to use it; or they will submit to
such restrictions in the employment of it as Parliament may impose, for the satisfaction and ample protection both of proprietors,on the line of road and of the public at large."
It was found that the capital required to form the line of railway, as laid out by the Messrs. Rennie, was considerably beyond
the amount of Stephenson's estimate, and it became a question
with the committee in what way the new capital should be raised.
A proposal was made to the Marquis of Stafford, who was principally interested in the Duke of Bridgewater's Canal, to become
a shareholder in the undertaking. A similar proposal had at an
earlier period been made to Mr. Bradshaw, the trustee for the
property; but his answer was "all or none," and the negotiation
was broken off. The Marquis of Stafford, however, now met the
projectors of the railway in a more conciliatory spirit, and it was
ultimately agreed that he should become a subscriber to the extent of a thousand shares.
The survey of the new line having been completed, the plans
were deposited, the standing orders duly complied with, and the




280                THE BILL PASSED.              [PART II.
bill went before Parliament. The same counsel appeared for the
promoters, but the examination of witnesses was not nearly so
protracted as on the former occasion. Mr. Erle and Mr. Harrison
led the case of the opposition. The bill went into committee on
the 6th of March, and on the 16th the preamble was declared
proved by a majority of forty-three to eighteen. On the third
reading in the HIouse of Commons, an animated, and what now
appears a very amusing discussion, took place. The Hon. Edward
Stanley (since Earl of Derby, and prime minister) moved that the
bill be read that day six months. In the course of his speech he
undertook to prove that the railway trains would take ten hours
on the journey, and that they could only be worked by horses;
and he called upon the House to stop the bill, " and prevent this
mad and extravagant speculation from being carried into effect."
Sir Isaac Coffin seconded the motion, and in doing so denounced
the project as a most flagrant imposition. He would not consent
to see widows' premises and their strawberry-beds invaded; and
"what, he would like to know, was to be done with all those who
had advanced money in making and repairing turnpike roads?
What with those who may still wish to travel in their own or
hired carriages, after the fashion of their forefathers   What
was to become of coach-makers and harness-makers,.coach-inasters and coachmen, innkeepers, horse-breeders, and horse-dealers?
Was the House aware of the smoke and. the noise, the hiss and
the whirl, which locomotive engines, passing at the rate of ten or
twelve miles an hour, would occasion? Neither the cattle plowing in the fields or grazing in the meadows could behold them
without dismay. Iron would be raised in price 100 per cent., or
more probably exhausted altogether I It would be the greatest
nuisance, the most complete disturbance of quiet and comfort in
all parts of the kingdom that the ingenuity of man could invent!"
Mr. Huskisson and other speakers, though unable to reply to
such arguments as these, strongly supported the bill, and it was
carried on the third reading by a majority of eighty-eight to fortyone. The bill passed the House of Lords almost unanimously, its
only opponents being the Earl of Derby and his relative the Earl
of Wilton. The cost of obtaining the act amounted to the enormous sum of ~27,000.




CHAP. XI.] STEPHENSON AGAIN APPOINTED ENGINEER.  281
CHAPTER XI.
CHAT MOSS-CONSTRUCTION OF THE RAMLWAY.
THE appointment of principal engineer of the railway was
taken into consideration at the first meeting of the directors held
at Liverpool subsequent to the passing of the act of incorporation. The magnitude of the proposed: works, and the vast consequences involved in the experiment, were deeply impressed on
their minds, and they resolved to secure the services of a resident
engineer of proved experience and ability. Their attention was
naturally directed to George Stephenson; at the same time, they
desired to have the benefit of the Messrs. Rennie's professional
assistance in superintending the works. Mr. George Rennie had
an interview with the board on the subject, at which he proposed
to undertake the chief superintendence, making six visits in each
year, and stipulating that he should have the appointment of the
resident engineer. But the responsibility attaching to the direction in the matter of the efficient carrying on of the works would
not admit of their being influenced by ordinary punctilios on the
occasion,- and they accordingly declined Mr. Rennie's proposal,
and proceeded to appoint George Stephenson principal engineer
at a salary of ~1000 per annum.
He at once removed his residence to Liverpool, and made arrangements to commence the works. He began with the " impossible thing"-to do that which some of the principal engineers of the day had declared that "no man in his senses would
undertake to do"-namely, to make the road over Chat Moss!
It was, indeed, a most formidable undertaking, and the project
of carrying a railway along, under, or over such a material as
that of which it consisted would certainly never have occurred
to an ordinary mind. Michael Drayton supposed the Moss to
have had its origin at the Deluge. Nothing more impassable
could have been imagined than that dreary waste; and Mr. Giles
only spoke the popular feeling of the day when he declared that




282                    CHAT MOSS.                  [PART 11.
no carriage could stand on it "short of the bottom." In this bog,
singular to say, Mr. Roscoe, the accomplished historian of the
Medicis, buried his fortune in the hopeless attempt to cultivate
a portion of it which he had bought.
Chat Moss is an immense peat-bog of about twelve square
miles in extent. Unlike the bogs or swamps of Cambridge and
Lincolnshire, which consist principally of soft mud or silt, this
bog is a vast mass of spongy vegetable pulp, the result of the
growth snd decay of ages. ~ Spagni, or bog-mosses, cover the
entire area; one year's growth rising over another, the older
growths not entirely decaying, but remaining partially preserved
by the antiseptic properties peculiar to peat. Hence the remarkable fact that, though a semifluid mass, the surface of Chat Moss
rises above the level of the surrounding country. Like a turtle's
back, it declines from  the summit min.. every direction, having
from thirty -to forty feet gradual slope to the solid land on all
sides. From the remains of trees, chiefly alder and birch, which
have been dug out of it, and which must have, previously flourished on the surface of the soil now deeply submerged, it is probable that the sand and clay base on which -the bog rests is saucer-shaped, and so retains the entire mass in position. In rainy
weather, such is its capacity for water that it sensibly swells, and
rises in those parts where the moss is the deepest. This occurs
through the capillary attraction of the fibres of the submerged
moss, which is from twenty to thirty feet in depth, while the
growing plants effectually check evaporation from the surface.
This peculiar character of the Moss has presented an insuperable
difficulty in the way of draining on any extensive system-such
as by sinking shafts in its substance, and pumping up the water
by steam-pover, as has been proposed by some engineers. For,
supposing a shaft of thirty feet deep to be sBnk, it has been calculated that this would only be effectual for draining a circle of
about one hundred yards, the water running down an incline of
about 5 to 1; indeed, it was found, in the course of draining the
bog, that a ditch three feet deep only served to drain a space of
less thanifive yards on either side, and two ditches of this depth,
ten feet apart, left a portion of the Moss between them scarcely
affected by the drains.
The three resident engineers selected by Mr. Stephenson to su.




COP. XI.] THE RESIDENT ENGINEERS. —A MUD BATH.   283
perintend the construction of the line were Mr. Joseph Locke,
Mr. Allcard, and Mr. John Dixon. The last was appointed to
that portion which included the proposed road across the Moss,
the other two being any thing but desirous of exchanging posts
with him. On Mr. Dixon's arrival, about the month of July,
1826, Mr. Locke proceeded to show him over the length he was
to take charge of, and to instal him in office. When they reached
ChatMoss, Mr. Dixon found that the line had already been staked
out and the levels taken in detail by the aid of planks laid upon
the bog.'The cutting of the drains along each side of the proposed road had also been commenced, but the soft pulpy stuff
had up to this time flowed into the drains and filled them up as
fast as they were cut. Proceeding across the Moss on his first
day's inspection, the new resident, when about half way over,
slipped off the plank on which he walked, and sank to his knees
in the bog. Struggling only sent him the deeper, and he might
have' disappeared. altogether but for the workmen, who hastened
to his assistance upon planks, and rescued him from his perilous
position. Much disheartened, he desired to return, and even for
the moment thought of giving up the jobb; but Mr.Locke assured
him that the worst part was now past; so the new resident plucked up heart again, and both floundered on until they reached
the farther edge of the Moss, wet and plastered over with bog
sludge.. Mr.Dixon's assistants endeavored to comfort him by the
assurance-that he might in future avoid similar perils by walking
upon "pattens," or boards fastened to the soles of his feet, as they
had done when taking the levels, and as the workmen did when
engaged in making drains in the softest parts of the Moss. Still
the resident engineer could not help being puzzled by the problem of how to construct a road for a heavy locomotive, with a
train of passengers or goods, upon a bog which he had found to
be incapable of supporting his own individual weight!
Stephenson's idea was that such a road might be made tojo at
upon the bog simply by means of a sufficient extension of the
bearing surface. As a ship, or a raft-capable of sustaining heavy
loads, floated in water, so, in his opinion, might a light road be
floated upon a bog which was of considerably greater consistency
than water. Long before the railway was thought of, Mr. Roscoe
had adopted the remarkable expedient of fitting his plow-horses




284                A FLOATING ROAD.              [PART II.
with flat wooden soles or pattens, to enable them to walk upon
the Moss land which he had brought into cultivation.  These
pattens were fitted on by means of a screw apparatus, which met
in front of the foot and was easily fastened. The mode by which
these pattens served to sustain the horse is capable of easy explanation, and it will be observed that the rationale alike explains the floating of a railway. The foot of an ordinary farmhorse presents a base of about five inches diameter, but if this
base be enlarged to seven inches-the circles being to each other
as the squares of the diameters-it will be found that, by this
slight enlargement of the base, a circle of nearly double the area
has been secured, and consequently the pressure of the foot
upon every unit of ground on which the horse stands has been
reduced one half. In fact, this contrivance has an effect tantamount to setting the horse upon eight feet instead of four.
Apply the same reasoning to the ponderous locomotive, and it
will be found that even such a machine may be made to stand
upon a bog by means of a similar extension of the bearing qurface. Suppose the engine to be twenty feet long and five feet
wide, thus covering a surface of a hundred square feet, and, provided the bearing has been extended by means of cross sleepers
supported upon a matting of- heath and branches of trees covered
with a few inches of gravel, the pressure of an engine of twenty
tons will be only equal to about three pounds per inch over the
whole surface on which it stands. Such was George Stephenson's
idea in contriving his floating road —something like an elongated
raft-across the Moss; and we shall see that he steadily kept it
in view in carrying the work into execution.
The first thing done was to form a footpath of ling or heather
along the proposed road, on which a man might walk without risk
of sinking. A single line of temporary railway was then laid
down, formed of ordinary cross-bars about three feet long and an
inch square, with holes punched through them at the end and
nailed down to temporary sleepers. Along this way ran the wagons in which were conveyed the materials requisite to form the
permanent road. These wagons carried about a ton each, and
they were propelled by boys running behind them along the narrow bar of iron. The boys became so expert that they would run
the four miles across at the rate of seven or eight miles an hour




CHAP. XI.]        FORMATION OF THE ROAD.                       285
without missing a step; if they had done so, they would have sunk
in many places up to their middle.* The slight extension of the
bearing surface was sufficient to enable the bog to bear this temporary line, and the circumstance was a source of increased confidence and hope to our engineer in proceeding with the formation of the permanent road alongside.
The digging of drains had been proceeding for some time along
each side of the intended railway, but they filled up almost as
soon as dug, the sides flowing in and the bottom rising up, and it
was only in some of the drier parts of the bog that a depth of
three or four feet could be reached.  The surface-ground between
the drains, containing the intertwined roots'of heather and long
grass, was left untouched, and upon this were spread branches of
trees and hedge-cuttings; in the softest places rude'gates or hurdles, some eight or nine feet long by four feet wide, interwoven
with heather, were laid in double thicknesses, their ends overlapping each other; and upon this floating bed was spread a thin
layer of gravel, on which the sleepers, chairs, and rails were laid
in the usual manner.  Such was the mode in which the road was
formed upon the Moss.
It was found, however, after the permanent road had been thus
laid, that there was a tendency to sinking at those parts where the
bog was the softest.  In ordinary cases, where a bank subsides,
the sleepers are packed up with ballast or gravel, but in this case
the ballast was dug away and removed in order to lighten the
road, and the sleepers were packed instead with cakes of dry turf
or bundles of heath.  By these expedients the subsided parts were
again floated up to the level, and an approach was made toward
a satisfactory road.  But the most formidable difficulties were
encountered at the centre and toward the edges of the Moss, and
it required no small degree of ingenuity and perseverance on the
part of the engineer successfully to overcome them.
The Moss, as has been already observed, was highest in the
* When the Liverpool directors went to inspect the works in progress on the Moss,
they were run along the temporary rails in the little three-feet gauge wagons used for
forming the road. They were being thus impelled one day at considerable speed
when the wagon suddenly ran off the road, and Mr. Moss, one of the directors, was
thrown out in a soft place, from which, however, he was speedily extricated, not
without,leaving a deep mark. George used afterward laughingly to refer to the circumstance as "the meeting of the Mosses."




286             THE TAR-BARREL DRAINS.           [PART II.
centre, and it there presented a sort of hunchback with a rising
and falling gradient. At that point it was found necessary to
cut deeper drains in order to' consolidate the ground between
them on which the road was to be formed. But, as at other
parts of the Moss, the deeper the cutting the more rapid was the
flow of fluid bog into the drain, the bottom rising up almost as
fast as it was removed. To meet this emergency, a quantity of
empty tar-barrels was brought from Liverpool, and, as soon as, a
few yards of drain were dug, the barrels were laid down end to
end, firmly fixed to each other by strong slabs la.id over the joints,
and nailed; they were then' covered over with clay, and thus
formed an underground sewer of wood instead of bricks.. This
expedient was found to,.answer the purpose intended, and the
road across tile centre of the Moss having thus been prepared, it
was then laid with the permanent materials.
The greatest difficulty was, however, experienced in forming
an embankment on the edge of the bog at the Manchester end.
Moss, as dry as it could be cut, was brought up in small wagons
by men and boys, and emptied so as to form an embankment;
but the bank had scarcely been raised three or four feet in height
when the stuff broke through the heathery surface of the bog
and sunk overhead. More moss was brought up and emptied in
with- no better result, and for many weeks the filling was continued without any visible embankment having been made. It
was the duty of the resident engineer to proceed to Liverpool every fortnight to obtain the wages for the workmen employed under him, and on these occasions he was required to color up, on
a section drawn to a working scale suspended against the wall of
the directors' room, the amount of excavation, embankment, etc.,
executed from time to time. But on many of these occasions
Mr. Dixon had no progress whatever to, show for the money expended on the Chat Moss embankment. Sometimes, indeed,.the
visible work done was less than it had appeared a fortnight or a
month before!
The directors now became seriously alarmed, and feared that
the evil prognostications of the eminent engineers were about to
be fulfilled. The resident himself was greatly disheartened, and
he was even called upon to supply the directors with an estimate
of the cost of filling up the Moss with solid stuff from the bot



CHAP. XI.]     ALARM OF THE DIRECTORS.               287
tom, as also the cost of piling the roadway, and, in effect, constructing a four-mile viaduct of timber across the Moss, from
twenty to'thirty feet high. But the expense appalled the directors, and the question then arose whether the work was to be proceeded with or abandoned!
Stephenson himself afterward described the alarming position
of affairs at a public dinner given at Birmingham on the 23d of
December, 1837, on the occasion of a piece of plate being presented to his son after the completion of the London and Birmingham Railway. He related the anecdote, he said, for the
purpose of impressing upon the minds of those who heard him
the necessity of perseverance.
" After working for weeks and weeks," said he, "in filling in materials to form the road, there did not yet appear to be the least
sign of our being able to raise the solid embankment one single
inch; in short, we went on filling in without the slightest apparent
effect. Even my assistants began to feel uneasy, and to doubt of
the success of the scheme. ~ The directors, too, spoke of it as a hopeless task; and at length they became seriously alarmed, so much
so, indeed, that a board meeting was held on Chat Moss to decide
whether I should proceed any farther. They had previously taken
the opinion of other engineers, who reported unfavorably. There
was no help for it, however% but to go on. An immense outlay had
been incurred, and great loss would have been occasioned had the
scheme been then abandoned, and the line. taken by another route.
So the directors.were compelled to allow me to go on with my plans,
of the ultimate success of which I myself never for one moment
doubted."
During the progress of this part of the works, the Worsley and
Trafford men, who lived near the Moss, and plumed themselves
upon their practical knowledge of bog-work, declared the completion of the road to be utterly impracticable. "If you knew as
much about Chat Moss as we do," they said, "you would never
have entered on so rash an undertaking; and depend upon it, all
you have done and are doing will prove abortive. You must
give up altogether the idea of a floating railway, and either fill
the Moss up with hard material from the bottom, or else deviate
the line so as to avoid it altogether." Such were the conclusions
6f science and experience.




288         THE ROAD MADE ON CHAT MOSS.          [PART II.
In the midst of all these alarms and prophecies of failure, Stephenson never lost heart, but held to his purpose. His motto was
"Persevere!" "You must go on filling in," he said'" there is
no other help for it. The stuff emptied in is doing its work out
of sight, and if you will but have patience, it will soon begin to
show." And so the filling in went on; several hundreds of men
and boys were employed to skin the Moss all round for many
thousand yards, by means of sharp spades, called by the turf-cutters "tommy-spades;" and the dried cakes of turf were afterward used to form the embankment, until at length, as the stuff
sank and rested upon the bottom, the bank gradually rose above
the surface, and slowly advanced onward, declining in height and
consequently in weight, until it became joined to the floating
road already laid upon the- Moss. In the course of forming the
embankment, the pressure of the bog turf tipped out of the wagons caused a copious stream of bog-water to flow from the end.of
it, in color resembling Barclay's double stout; and when completed, the bank looked like a long ridge of tightly-pressed tobacco-leaf. The compression of the turf may be understood
from the fact that 670,000 cubic yards of raw moss formed only
277,000 cubic yards of embankment at the completion of the
work.
At the western, or Liverpool end of the Chat Moss, there was
a like embankment; but, as the ground there was solid, little
difficulty was experienced in forming it, beyond the loss of substance caused by the oozing out of the water held by the mossearth.
At another part of the Liverpool and Manchester line, Parr
Moss was crossed by an embankment about a mile and a half in
extent. In the immediate neighborhood was found a large excess of cutting, which it would have been necessary to "put out
in spoil-banks" (according to the technical phrase) but for the
convenience of Parr Moss, into which the surplus clay, stone, and
shale were tipped, wagon after wagon, until a solid but congealed embankment, from fifteen to twenty feet high, was formed, although to the eye it appears to be laid upon the level of the adjoining surface, as at Chat Moss.
The road across Chat Moss was finished by the 1st of January,
1830, when the first experimental train of passengers passed ovei




CHAP. XI.]      ORGANIZATION OF LABOR.               289
it, drawn by the " Rocket,;" and it turned out that, instead of being the most expensive part of the line, it was about the cheapest.
The total cost of forming the line over the Moss was ~28,000,
whereas Mr. Giles's estimate was ~270,000! It also proved to be
one of the best portions of the railway. Being a floating road, it
was as smooth and easy to run upon as Dr. Arnott's water-bed is
soft and easy to lie upon-the pressure being equal at all points.
There was, and still is, a sort of springiness in the road over the
Moss, such as is felt when passing along a suspended bridge; and
those who looked along the Moss as a train passed over it said
they could observe a waviness, such as precedes and follows a
skater upon ice.
During the progress of the works the most ridiculous rumors
were set afloat. The drivers of the stage-coaches, who feared for
their calling, brought the alarming intelligence into Manchester
from time to time that " Chat Moss was blown up!" " Hundreds
of men and horses had sunk in the bog; and the works were
completely abandoned!" The engineer himself was declared to
have been swallowed up in the Serbonian bog; and "railways
were at an end forever!"
In the construction of the railway, George Stephenson's capacity for organizing and directing the labors of a large number of
workmen of all.kinds eminently displayed itself. A vast quantity of ballast-wagons had to be constructed for the purposes of
the work, and implements and materials had to be collected, before the mass of labor to be employed could be efficiently set in
motion at the various points of the line. There were not at that
time, as there are now, large contractors, possessed of railway
plant, capable of executing earthworks on a large scale. Our engineer had, therefore, not only to contrive the plant, but to organize the labor, and direct it in person. The very laborers themselves had to be trained to their work by him; and it was on the
Liverpool and Manchester line that Mr. Stephenson organized
the staff of that formidable band of railway navvies, whose handiworks will be the wonder and admiration of succeeding generations. Looking at their gigantic traces, the men of some future
age may be found to declare, of the engineer and of his workmen, that "there were giants in those days."
Although the works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway;
T




290              TUNNEL AT LIVERPOOL.            [PART U.
are of a much less formidable character than those of many lines
that have since been constructed, they were then regarded as of
a stupendous kind. Indeed, few works of such magnitude had
before been executed in England. It had been the engineer's
original intention to carry the railway from the north end of
Liverpool round the red sandstone ridge on which the upper part
of the town is built, and also round the higher rise of the coal
formation at Rainhill, by following the natural levels to the north
of Knowsley. But the opposition of the land-owners having
forced the line more to the south, it was rendered necessary to
cut through the hills, and go over the high grounds instead.of
round them. The first consequence of this alteration in the plans
was the necessity for constructing a tunnel under the town of
Liverpool a mile and a half in length, from the docks at Wapping to the top of.Edgehill; the second was the necessity for
forming a long and deep cutting through the red sandstone rock
at Olive Mount; and the third and worst of all was the necessity
for ascending and descending the Whiston and Sutton hills by
means of inclined planes of 1 in 96. The line was also, by the
same forced deviation, prevented passing through the Lancashire
coal-field, and' the: engineer was compelled to earry the works
across the Sankey valley at- a point where the waters of the brook
had dug out an: excessively deep channel through the marl-beds
of the district.
The principal difficulty was experienced in pushing on the
works connected with the formation -of the tunnel:under Liverpool, 2200 yards in length.  The blasting and —hewi'ng of the
rock were vigorously carried on night- and day; and the. engineer's practical experience in the collieries here proved of great
use to him. -Many obstacles had to be encountered and overcome
in the formation of the tunnel, the rock varying in hardness and
texture at different parts. In some places the miners were deluged
by water, which surged from the soft blue shale found at the lowest level of the tunnel. In other places beds of wet sand were
cut through, and there careful propping and pinning were necessary to prevent the roof from tumbling in until the masonry to
support it could be erected. On one occasion, while Stephenson
was absent from Liverpool, a mass of loose moss-earth and sand
fell from the roof, which had been insufficiently propped. The




CHAP. XI.]       OLIVE MOUNT CUTTING.                 291
miners withdrew from the work; and on the engineer's return
he found them in a refractory state, refusing to re-enter the tunnel.  He induced them, however, by his example, to return to
their labors; and when the roof had been secured, the work went
on again as before. When there was danger, he was always
ready to share it with the men; and, gathering confidence from
his fearlessness, they proceeded vigorously with the undertaking,
boring and mining their way toward the light.
The Olive Mount cutting was the first extensive stone cutting
I
OLIVE MOUNT CUTTING. [By Percival Skelton.]
executed on any railway, and to this day it is one of the most formidable. It is about two miles long, and in some parts more than
a hundred feet deep. It is a narrow ravine or defile cut out of
the solid rock, and not less than four hundred and eighty thousand
cubic yards of stone were removed from it. Mr. Vignolles, after



292           SANKEY VIADUCT. —BRIDGES.            [PART II.
ward describing it, said it looked as if it had been dug out by
giants.
The crossing of so many roads and streams involved the necessity for constructing an unusual number of bridges. There were
not fewer than sixty-three, under or over the railway, on the thirty miles between Liverpool and Manchester. Up to this time
bridges had been applied generally to high roads, where inclined
approaches were of comparatively small importance, and in de-,,,~~~~~~~1.
asA.rMAY VIADUCT. [By Percival Skelton.]
termining the rise' of his arch the engineer selected any headway
he thought proper. Every consideration was indeed made subsidiary to constructing the bridge itself, and the completion of
one large structure of this sort was regarded as an epoch in engineering history. Yet here, in the course of a few years, no fewer
than sixty-three bridges were constructed on one line of railway!
Mr. Stephenson early found that the ordinary arch was inapplicable in certain cases, where the headway was limited, and yet the




CHAP. XM.]    SANKEY VIrADUCT.-FUNDS LOW.          293
level of the railway must be preserved. In such cases he employed simple cast-iron beamsyby which he safely bridged gaps
of moderate width, economizing headway, and introducing the
use of a new material of the greatest possible value to the engineer. The bridges of masonry upon the line were of many kinds;
several of them were skew bridges, while others, such as those at
Newton and over the Irwell at Manchester, were straight and of
considerable dimensions. But the principal piece of masonry on
the line was the Sankey viaduct.
This fine work is principally of brick, with stone facings. It
consists of nine arches of fifty feet span each. The massive piers
are supported on two hundred piles driven deep into the soil;
and they rise to a great height-the coping of the parapet being
seventy feet above the level of the valley, in which flow the Sankey brook and Canal. Its total cost was about ~45,000.
By the end of 1828 the directors found: they had expended
~460,000 on the works, and that they were still far from completion. They looked at the loss of interest on this large investment, and began to grumble at the delay. They desired to see
their capital becoming productive; and in the spring of 1829
they urged the engineer to push on the works with increased
vigor.:.Mr. Cropper, one of the directors, who took an active interest in their progress, said to Stephenson one day," Now, George,
-tho'u- must get on with the railway, and have: it finished without
Ifarther delay: thou must really have it ready for opening by the
first day of January next."  "' Consider the heavy' character of
the works, sir, and how much we have been delayed by the want
of money, not to speak of the wetness of the weather: it is impossible." "Impossible!" rejoined Cropper;' "I wish I could get
Napoleon to thee-he would tell thee there is no such word as'impossible' in the vocabulary." " Tush!" exclaimed Stephenson,
with warmth, "don't speak to me about Napoleon! Give me
men, money, and materials, and I will do what Napoleon couldn't
do —drive a railroad from Liverpool to Manchester over Chat
Moss!" And truly the formation of a high road over that bottomless bog was apparently a more difficult task than the making
even of Napoleon's far-famed road across the Simplon.
The directors had more than once been embarrassed by want
of funds to meet the heavy expenditure. The country had scarce



294          STEPHENSON'S GREAT LABORS.          [PART II.
ly yet recovered from the general panic and crash of 1825, and it
was with difficulty that the calls gould be raised from the shareholders. A loan of ~100,000 was obtained from the Exchequer
Loan Commissioners in 1826; and in 1829 an act was passed
enabling the company to raise farther capital, to provide working
plant for the railway. Two acts were also obtained during the
progress of the undertaking, enabling deviations and alterations
to be made; one to improve the curves and shorten the line near
Rainhill, and the other to carry the line across the Irwell into
the town of Manchester. Thanks to the energy of the engineer,
the industry of his laborers, and the improved supply of money by
the directors, the railway made rapid progress in the course, of the
year 1829. Double sets of laborers were employed on Chat Moss
and at other places in carrying on the works by night and day,
the night shifts working by torch and fire light; and at length,
the work advancing at all points, the directors saw their way to
the satisfactory completion of the undertaking.
It may well be supposed that Stephenson's time was fully occupied' in superintending the extensive and for the most part
novel works connected with the railway, and that even his extraordinary powers of labor and endurance were taxed to the utmost during the four years that they were in progress. Almost
every detail in the plans was directed and arranged by himself.
Every bridge, from the simplest to the most complicated, including the then novel structure of the "skew bridge," iron girders,
siphons, fixed engines, and the machinery for working the tunnel
at the -Liverpool end, had all to be thought out by his own head,
and reduced to definite plans under his own eyes. Besides all
this, he had to design the working plant in anticipation of the
opening of the railway. He must be prepared with wagons,
trucks, and carriages, himself superintending their manufacture.
The permanent road, turn-tables, switches, and crossings - in
short, the entire structure and machinery of the line, from the
turning of the first sod to the running of the first train of carriages on the railway, went on under his immediate supervision.
And it was in the midst of this vast accumulation of work and
responsibility that the battle of the locomotive engine had to be.
fought -a battle not merely against material difficulties, but
against the still more trying obstructions of deeply-rooted mis



CHAP. XI.]           HIS.ROUTINE OF LIFE.                        295
trust and-prejudice on the part of a considerable minority of the
directors.
He had no staff of experienced assistants-not even a staff of
draughtsmen in his office-but only a few pupils learning their
business, and he was frequently without even their help. The
time of his engineering inspectors was fully occupied in the actual superintendence of the works at different parts of the line,
and he took care to direct all their important operations in person. The principal draughtsman was Mr. Thomas Gooch, a pupil
he had brought with him from Newcastle.  "I may say," writes
Mr. Gooch, "that nearly the whole of the working and other
drawings, as well as the various land-plans for the railway, were
drawn by my own hand. They were done at the company's
office in Clayton Square during the day, from instructions supplied in the evenings by Mr. Stephenson, either by word of
mouth, or by little rough hand sketches on letter-paper. The
evenings were also generally devoted to my duties as secretary,
in writing (mostly from his own dictation) his letters and reports, or in making calculations and estimates.  The mornings
before breakfast were not unfrequently spent by me in visiting
and lending a helping hand in the tunnel and other works near
Liverpool —the untiring zeal and perseverance of George Stephenson never for an instant flagging, and inspiring with a like
enthusiasm all who were engaged under him in carrying forward
/the works."*
The usual routine of his life at this time-if routine it could
be called-was to rise early, by sunrise in summer and before it
in winter, and "break the back of the day's work" by midday.
While the tunnel under Liverpool was in progress, one of his first
duties in the morning before breakfast was to go over the various
shafts, clothed in a suitable dress, and inspect the progress of the
* Mr. Gooch's letter to the author, December 13th, 1861. Referring to the preparation of the plans and drawings, Mr. Gooch adds, "When we consider the extensive sets of drawings which most engineers have since found it right to adopt in
carrying out similar works, it is not 4he least surprising feature in George Stephenson's early professional career that he should have been able to confine himself to so
limited a number as that which could be supplied by the hands of one person in carrying out the construction of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway; and this may
still be said, after full allowance is made for the alteration of system involved by the
adoption of the large contract system."




296       STEPHENSON'S DAILY OCCUPATIONS.   [PART IT.
work at different points; on other days he would visit the extensive workshops at Edgehill, where most of the "plant" for the
line was manufactured. Then, returning to his house'in Upper
Parliament Street, Windsor, after a hurried breakfast, he would
ride along the works to inspect their progress, and push them on
with greater energy where needful. On other days -he would
prepare for the much less congenial engagement of meeting the
board, which was often a cause of great anxiety and pain to him;
for it was difficult to satisfy men of all tempers, some of which
were not of the most generous kind. On such occasions he might
be seen with his right-hand thumb thrust through the topmost
button-hole of his coat-breast, vehemently hitching his right
shoulder, as was his habit when laboring under any considerable
excitement. Occasionally he would take an early ride before
breakfast, to inspect the progress of the Sankey viaduct. He
STEPHENSON'S BAITING-PLACE AT SANKEY.
had a favorite horse, brought by him from Newcastle, called
"Bobby"-so tractable that, with his rider'on his back, he would
walk up to a locomotive with the steam blowing off, and put his
nose against it without shying. "Bobby," saddled and bridled,
was brought to Stephenson's door betimes in the morning, and,
mounting him, he would ride the fifteen miles to Sankey, putting
up at a little public house which then stood upon the banks of
the canal. There he had his breakfast of " crowdie," which he




CHAP. XI.]           HIS CORRESPONDENCE.                         297
made with his own hands. It consisted of oatmeal stirred into
a basin of hot water —a sort of porridge —which was supped
with cold sweet milk. After this frugal breakfast he would go
upon the works, and remain there, riding from point to point for
the greater part of the day. If he returned home before midday
it would be to examine the pay-sheets in the different departments sent in by the assistant engineers, or by the foremen of
the workshops; all this he did himself with the greatest care, requiring a full explanation of every item.
After a late dinner, which occupied very short time and was
always of a plain and frugal description,* he would proceed to
dispose of his correspondence, or prepare sketches of drawings,
and give instructions as to their completion. He would occasionally refresh himself for this evening work by a short doze, which,
however, he would never admit had exceeded the limits of "winking," to use his own'term. Mr. Frederick Swanwick, who officiated as his secretary after the appointment of Mr. Gooch as resident engineer to the Bolton and Leigh Railway, has informed us
that he then remarked-what in after years he, could better appreciate-'the clear, terse, and vigorous style of Stephenson's dictation; there was nothing superfluous in it, but it was close, direct, and to the point-in short, thoroughly business-like.' And if,
in passing through the pen of the amanuensis, his meaning happened in any way to be distorted or modified, it did not fail to escape his detection,:thoiugh he was always tolerant of any liberties
taken with his own form  of expression, solong as the words written down conveyed his real meaning.  His strong natural acumen
showed itself even in such matters as grammar and composition
-a department of knowledge in which, it might be supposed, he
* While at Liverpool Stephenson had very little time for " company;" but on one
particular occasion he invited his friend Mr. Sandars to dinner, and, as that gentleman was a connoisseur in port wine, his host determined to give him a special treat
of that drink. Stephenson accordingly went to the small merchant with whom he
usually dealt, and ordered " half a dozen of his very best port wine," which was
promised of first-rate quality. After dinner the wine was produced; and when Mr.
Sandars had sipped a glass, George, after waiting a little for the expected eulogium,
at length asked, "Well, Sandars, how d'ye like the port?" "Poor stuff!" said the
guest, "poor stuff!" George was very much shocked, and with difficulty recovered
his good humor. But he lived to be able to treat Mr. Sandars to a better article at
Tapton House, when he used to laugh over his first futile attempt at Liverpool to
gain a reputation for his port.




298           INSTRUCTION OF HIS PUPILS.         CPART II.
could scarcely have had either time or opportunity to acquire
much information. But here, as in all other things, his shrewd
common sense came to his help, and his simple, vigorous English
might almost be cited as a model of composition.
His letters and reports written, and his sketches of drawings
made and explained, the remainder of the evening was usually
devoted to conversation with his wife and those of his pupils who
lived under his roof, and constituted, as it were, part of the family.
He then delighted to test the knowledge of his young companions,
and to question them upon the principles of mechanics. If they
were not quite "up to the mark" on any point, there was no escaping detection by evasive or specious explanations on their part.
These always met with the verdict of, "Ah I you know naught
about it now; but think it over again, and tell me the answer
when you understand it." If; there was even partial success in
the reply, it would at once be acknowledged, and a full explanation was given, to which the master would add illustrative examples for the purpose of impressing the principle more deeply upon
the pupil's mind.
It was not so much his object and purpose to " cram" the minds
of the young men committed to his charge with the re8sults of
knowledge as to stimulate them to educate themselves-to induce
them to develop their mental and moral powers by the exercise
of their own free energies, and thus acquire that habit of selfthinking and self-reliance which is the spring of all true manly
action. In a word, he sought to bring out and invigorate the
character of his pupils., He felt that he himself had been made
stronger and better through his encounters with difficulty, and
he would not have the road of knowledge made too smooth and
easy for them. " Learn for yourselves-think for yourselves," he
would say: "make yourselves masters of principles-perseverebe industrious-and there is then no fear of you."  And not the
least emphatic proof of the soundness of this system of education,
as conducted by George Stephenson, was afforded by the after
history of the pupils themselves. There was not one of those
trained under his eye who did not rise to eminent usefulness and
distinction as an engineer. He sent them forth into the world
braced with the spirit of self-help-inspired by his own noble example.; and they repeated in their after career the lessons of ear



CHAP. XI.]   EVENINGS AT HOME. -CHAT MOSS.           299
nest effort and persistent industry which his daily life had taught
them.
Mr. Stephenson's evenings at home were not, however, exclusively devoted either to business or to the graver exercises above
referred to. He would often indulge in cheerful conversation
and anecdote, falling back from time to time upon the struggles
and difficulties of his early life. The not unfrequent winding up
of his story, addressed to those about him, was, "Ah! ye young
fellows don't know what wark is in these days!" Mr. Swanwick
delights recalling to mind hdw seldom, if ever, a cross or captious
word, or an angry look, marred the enjoyment of those evenings.
The presence of Mrs. Stephenson gave them an additional charm:
amiable, kind-hearted, and intelligent, she shared quietly in the
pleasure of the party; and the atmosphere of comfort which always pervaded her home contributed in no small degree to render it a centre of cheerful, hopeful intercourse, and of earnest,
honest industry.
CHAT MOSS-WORKS IN PROGRESS.
When Stephenson retired for the night, it was not always that
he permitted himself to sink into slumber. Like Brindley, he
worked out many a difficult problem in bed; and for hours he
would turn over in his mind and study how to overcome some
obstacle, or to mature some project, on which his thoughts were




300                AN EA RL Y RISER.            [PART II.
bent. Some remark inadvertently dropped by him at the breakfast-table in the morning served to show that he had been stealing some hours from the night in reflection and study. Yet
he would rise at his accustomed early hour, and there was no
abatement of his usual energy in carrying on the business of
the day.




CHAP. XII.]      ROBERT STEPHENSON.                 301
CHAPTER XII.
ROBERT STEPHESON'S RESIDENCE IN COLOMBIA AND RETURN-THE
BATTLE OF THE LOCOMOTIVE —-- THE ROCKET.
WE return to the career of Robert Stephenson, who was absent
from England during the construction of the Liverpool Railway,
but was now about to rejoin his father and take part in "the
battle of the locomotive" which was impending.
We have seen that, on his return from Edinburg College at
the end of 1821, he had assisted in superintending the works of
the Hetton Railway until its opening in 1822, after which he
proceeded to Liverpool to take part with Mr. James in surveying
the proposed railway there. In the following year we found him
assisting his father in the working survey of the Stockton and
Darlington Railway; and when the Locomotive Engine Works
were started in Forth Street, Newcastle, he took an active part
in that concern. "The factory," he says, "was in active operation in 1824; I left England for Colombia in June of that year,
having finished drawing the designs of the Brusselton stationary
engines for the Stockton and Darlington Railway before I left."*
Speculation was very rife at the time, and among the most
promising adventures were the companies organized for the purpose of working the gold and silver Inines of South America.
Great difficulty was experienced in finding mining engineers
capable of carrying out those projects, and young men of even
the most moderate experience were eagerly sought after. The
Colombian Mining Association of London offered an engagement
to young Stephenson to go out to Mariquita and take charge of
the engineering operations of that company. Robert was himself desirous of accepting it,'but his father said it would first be
necessary to ascertain whether the proposed change would be for
his good. His health had been very delicate for some time,
partly occasioned by his rapid growth, but principally because of
* Letter to the author.




302          PROCEEDS TO SOUTH AMERICA.        [PART II.
his close application to work and study. Father and son proceeded together to call upon Dr. Headlam, the eminent physician
of Newcastle, to consult him on the subject. During the examination which ensued, Robert afterward used to say that he felt
as if he were upon trial for life or death. To his great relief, the
doctor pronounced that a temporary residence in a warm climate
was the very thing likely to be most beneficial to him. The appointment was accordingly accepted, and, before many weeks had
passed, Robert Stephenson had set sail for South America.
After a tolerably prosperous voyage he landed at La Guayra,
on the north coast of Venezuela, on the 23d of July, from thence
proceeding to Caraccas, the capital of the district, about fifteen
miles inland. There he remained for two months, unable to proceed in consequence of the wretched state of the roads in the interior. He contrived, however, to make occasional excursions in
the neighborhood with an eye to the mining business on which
he had come. About the beginning of October he set out for
Bogota, the capital of Colombia or New Granada. The distance
was about twelve hundred miles, through a very difficult region,
and it was performed entirely upon mule-back, after the fashion
of the country.
In the course of the journey Robert visited many of the districts reported to be rich in minerals, but he met with few traces
except of copper, iron, and coal, with occasional indications of
gold and silver. He found the people ready to furnish information, which, however, when tested, usually proved worthless. A
guide, whom he employed for weeks, kept him buoyed up with
the hope of finding richer mining places than he had yet seen;
but when he professed to be able to show him mines of " brass,
steel, alcohol, and pinchbeck," Stephenson discovered him to be
an incorrigible rogue, and immediately dismissed him. At length
our traveler reached Bogota, and after an interview with Mr. I1lingworth, the commercial manager of the Mining Company, he
proceeded to Honda, crossed the Magdalena, and shortly after
reached the site of his intended operations on the eastern slope
of the Andes.
Mr. Stephenson used afterward to speak in glowing terms of
this his first mule-journey in South America. Every thing was
entirely new to him. The variety and beauty of the indigenous




CHAP. XII.]   RESIDENCE AT MARIQ UITA.              303
plants, the luxurious tropical vegetation, the appearance, mannels, and dress of the people, and the mode of traveling, were altogether different from every thing he had before seen. His own
traveling garb also must have been strange even to himself. " My
hat," he says, "was of plaited grass, with a crown nine inches in
height, surrounded by a brim of six inches; a white cotton suit;
and a rucana of blue and crimson plaid, with a hole in the centre
for the head to pass through. This cloak is admirably adapted
for the purpose, amply covering the rider and mule, and at night
answering the purpose of a blanket in the net-hammock, which is
made from the fibres of the aloe, and which every traveler carries before him on his mule, and suspends to the trees or in
houses, as occasion may require."
The part of the journey which seems to have made the most
lasting impression on his mind was that between Bogota and the
mining district in the neighborhood of Mariquita. As he ascended the slopes of the mountain range, and reached the first step of
the table-land,:he was struck beyond expression with the noble
view of the valley of Magdalena behind him, so vast that he failed in attempting to define the point at which the course of the
river blended with the horizon. Like all travelers in the district,
he noted the remarkable changes of climate and vegetation as he
rose from the burning plains toward the fresh breath of the
mountains. From an atmosphere as hot as that of an oven he
passed into delicious cool air, until, in his onward and upward
journey, a still more temperate region was reached, the very perfection of climate. Before him rose the majestic Cordilleras,
forming a rampart against the western sky, and at certain times
of the day looking black, sharp, and even at their summit almost
like a wall.
Our engineer took up his abode for a time at Mariquita, a fine
old city, though then greatly fallen into decay. During the period of the Spanish dominion it was an important place, most of
the gold and silver convoys passing through it on their way to
Cartagena, there to be shipped in galleons for Europe. The
mountainous country to the west was rich in silver, gold, and other metals, and it was Mr. Stephenson's object to select the best
site for commencing operations for the company. With this object he "prospected" about in all directions, visiting long-aban



304                 MINING INTRIGUES.                 [PART II.
doned mines, and analyzing specimens obtained from many quarters. The mines eventually fixed upon as the scene of his operations were those of La M[anta and Santa Anna, long before worked by the Spaniards, though, in consequence of the luxuriance
and rapidity of the vegetation, all traces of the old workings had
become completely overgrown and lost. Every thing had to be
begun anew. Roads had to be cut to open a way to the mines,
machinery had to be erected, and the ground opened up, when
some of the old adits were eventually hit upon. The native peons
or laborers were not accustomed to work, and they usually contrived to desert when they were not watched, so that very little
progress could be made until the arrival of the expected band of
miners from England. The authorities were by'no means helpful, and'the engineer was driven to an old expedient with the object ofovercoming this difficulty. "We endeavor all we can,"
he says, in one of his letters, " to make ourselves popular, and
this we find most effectually accomplished by'regaling the venal
beasts."' He also gave a ball at Mariquita, which passed off
with dclat, the governor.from Honda, with a host of friends, honoring it with their presence. It was, indeed, necessary to "make
a party" in this way, as other schemers were already trying to
undermine the Colombian Company in influential directions.
The engineer did not exaggerate when he said, " The uncertainty
of transacting business in this country is perplexing beyond description." In the mean time laborers had been attracted to
Santa Anna, which became, the engineer wrote, " like an English
fair on Sundays: people flock to it from all quarters to buy beef
and chat with their friends. Sometimes three or four torros are
slaughtered in a day. The people now eat more beef in a week
than they did in two months before, and they are consequently getting fat."*
At last Stephenson's party of miners arrived from England,
but they gave him even more trouble than the peons had done.
They were rough, drunken, and sometimes ungovernable. He
* Letter to Mr. Illingworth, September 25th, 1825. The reports made to the directors and officers of the company, which we have seen, contain the details of the
operations carried on at the mines, but they are as dry and uninteresting as such reports usually are, and furnish no materials calculated to illustrate the subject of the
text.




CHAP. XII.]       MINING QUARRELS.                  305
set them to work at the Santa Anna mine without delay, and at
the same time took up his abofe among them, "to keep them,"
he said, "if possible, from indulging in the detestable vice of
drunkenness, which, if not put a stop to, will eventually destroy
themselves, and involve the mining association in ruin." To add
to his troubles, the captain of the miners displayed a very hostile
and insubordinate spirit, quarreled and fought with the men, and
was insolent to the engineer himself. The captain and his gang,
being Cornishmen, told Robert to his face that because he was
a North-country man, and not brought up in Cornwall, it was
impossible that he should know any thing of mining. Disease
also fell upon him-first fever, and then visceral derangement,
followed by a return of his " old complaint, a feeling of oppression in the breast." No wonder that in the midst oI these troubles
he should longingly speak of returning to his native land. But
he stuck to his post and his duty, kept up his courage, and by a
mixture of mildness and firmness, and the display of great coolness and judgment, he contrived to keep the men to their work,
and gradually to carry forward the enterprise which he had undertaken. By the beginning of July, 1826, quietness and order
had been restored, and the works were proceeding more satisfactorily, though the yield of silver was not as yet very promising,
the engineer being of opinion that at least three years' diligent
and costly operations would be necessary to render the mines
productive.
In the mean time he removed to the dwelling which had been
erected for his accommodation at Santa Anna. It was a structure speedily raised after the fashion of the country. The walls
were of split and flattened bamboo, tied together with the long
fibres of a dried climbing plant; the roof was of palm-leaves,
and the ceiling of reeds. When an earthquake shook the district-for earthquakes were frequent —the inmates of such a fabric merely felt as if shaken in a basket, without sustaining any
harm. In front of the cottage lay a woody ravine, extending almost to the base of the Andes, gorgeously clothed in primeval
vegetation-magnolias, palms, bamboos, tree-ferns, acacias, cedars; and towering over all were the great almendrons, with
their smooth, silvery stems, bearing aloft noble clusters of pure
white blossom. The forest was haunted by myriads of gay inU




306                COTTAGE AT SANTA ANNA.: [PART II.
sects, butterflies with wings of dazzling lustre, birds of brilliant
plumage, humming-birds, golden orioles, toucans, and a host of
solitary warblers.  But the glorious sunsets seen from  his cottage-porch more than all astonished and delighted the young
engineer, and he was accustomed to say that, after having witnessed them, he was reluctant to accuse the ancient Peruvians of
idolatry.
I                    I
ROBERT STEPHENSON'BS COTTAGE AT SANTA ANNA.
But all these natural beauties failed to reconcile him  to the
harassing difficulties of his position, which continued to increase
rather than diminish.  He was hampered by the action of the
board at home, wrho gave ear to hostile criticisms on his reports;
and although they afterward made handsome acknowledgment
of his services, he felt his position to be altogether unsatisfactory.
He therefore determined to leave at the expiry of his three years'
engagement, and communicated his decision to the directors accordingly.*
* In a letter to Mr. Illingworth, then resident at Bogotd, dated the 24th of March,
1826, Robert wrote as follows: " Nothing but the fullest consent of my partners in
England could induce me to stay in this country, and the assurance that no absolute
necessity existed to call me home. I must also have the consent of my father. I




CHAP. XII.]         URGED, TO RETURN HO.ME.                     307
On receiving his letter, the board, through Mr. Richardson, of
Lombard Street, one' of the directors, communicated with his father at Newcastle, representing that if he would allow his son to
remain in Colombia the company would make it "worth his
while."  To this the father gave a decided negative, and intimated that he himself urgently needed his son's assistance, and
that he must return at the expiry of his three years' term-a decision, Robert wrote, "at which I feel much gratified, as it is
clear that he is as anxious to have me back in England as I am
to get there."
At the same time, Edward Pease, a principal partner in the
Newcastle firm, privately wrote Robert to the following effect,
urging his return home: ".I can assure thee that the business at
Newcastle, as well as thy father's engineering, have suffered very
much from thy absence, and, unless thou soon return, the former
will be given up, as Mr. Longridge is not able to give it that attention it requires; and what:is done is not done with credit to
the house."  The idea of the manufactory being given up, which
Robert had labored so hard to establish before leaving England,
was painful to him  in the extreme, and he wrote to Mr. Illingworth, strongly urging that arrangements should be made for enabling him to leave without delay. In the mean time he was
laid prostrate: by another violent attack of aguish fever; and
when able to write, in June; 1827, he expressed himself as " completely wearied and worn down with vexation."
At length, when he was sufficiently recovered from his attack
and able to travel, he set out on his voyage homeward in the beginning of August.  At Mompox, on his way down the River
Magdalena, he met Mr. Bodmer, his successor, with a fresh party
know that he must have suffered severely from my absence, but that having been extended so far beyond the period he was led to expect, may have induced him to curtail his plans, which, had they been accomplished, as they would have been by my assistance, would have placed us both in a situation far superior to any thing that I can
hope for as the servant of an association however wealthy and liberal. What I might
do in England is perhaps known to myself only; it is difficult, therefore, for the association to calculate upon rewarding me to the full extent of my prospects at home.
My prosperity is involved in that of my father, whose property was sacrificed in laying the foundations of an. establishment for me; his capital being invested in a concern which requires the greatest attention, and which, with our personal superintendence, could not fail to secure that independence which forms so principally the object
of all our toil."




308              VOYAGE TO NEW YORK.              [PART II.
Of miners from England, on their way up the country to the quarters which he had just quitted. Next day, six hours after leaving Mompox, a steam-boat was met ascending the river, with Bolivar the Liberator on board, on his way to St. Bogota; and it was
a mortification to our engineer that he had only a passing sight
of that distinguished person. It was his intention, on leaving
Mariquita, to visit the Isthmus of Panami on his way home, for
the purpose of inquiring into the practicability of cutting a canal
to unite the Atlantic and Pacific-a project which then formed
the subject of considerable public discussion; but Mr. Bodmer
having informed him at Mompox that such a visit would be inconsistent with the statements made to the London Board that
his presence was so anxiously desired at home, he determined to
embrace the first opportunity of proceeding to New York.
Arrived at the port of Cartagena, he found himself under the
necessity of waiting some time for a ship. The delay was very
irksome to him, the more so as the place was then desolated by
the ravages of the yellow fever. While sitting one day in the
large, bare, comfortless public room of the miserable hotel at
which he put up, he observed two strangers, whom he at once
perceived to be English. One of the strangers was a tall, gaunt
man, shrunken and hollow-looking, shabbily dressed, and apparently poverty-stricken.  On making inquiry, he found it was
Trevithick, the builder of the first railroad locomotive! He was
returning home from the gold mines of Peru penniless. Robert
Stephenson lent him ~50 to enable him to reach England; and
though he was afterward heard of as an inventor there, he had
no farther part in the ultimate triumph of the locomotive.
But Trevithick's misadventures on this occasion had not yet
ended, for before he reached New York he was wrecked, and
Robert Stephenson with him. The following is the account of
the voyage, " big with adventures," as given by the latter in a
letter to his friend Illingworth:
"At first we had very little foul weather, and, indeed, were for
several days becalmed among the islands, which was so far fortunate, for a few degrees farther north the most tremendous gales
were blowing, and they appear (from our future information) to
-have wrecked every vessel exposed to their violence. We had two
examples of the effects of the hurricane; for, as we sailed north, we




CHAP. XII.]       RETURN TO ENGLAND.                 309
took on board the remains of two crews found floating about on
dismantled hulls. The one had been nine days without food of any
kind except the carcasses of two of their companions who had died
a day or two previously from fatigue and hunger. The other crew
had been driven about for six days, and were not so dejected, but
reduced to such a weak state that they were obliged to be drawn
on b6ard our vessel by ropes. A brig bound for Havana took part
of the men, and we took the remainder. To attempt any description of my feelings on witnessing such scenes would be in vain.
You will not be surprised to learn that I felt somewhat uneasy at
the thought that we were so far- from England, and that I also
might possibly suffer similar shipwreck; but I consoled myself with
the hope that fate would be more kind to us. It was not so much
so, however, as I had flattered myself; for on voyaging toward
New York, after we had made the land, we ran aground about midnight. The vessel soon filled with water, and, being surrounded by
the breaking surf, the ship shortly split up, and before morning our
situation became perilous. Masts and all were cut away to prevent
the hull rocking, but all we could do was of no avail. About eight
o'clock on the following morning, after a most miserable night, we
were taken off the wreck, and were so fortunate as to reach the
shore. I saved my minerals, but Empson lost part of his botanical
collection. Upon the whole, we got off well; and, had I not been
on the American side of the Atlantic, I'guess' I would not have
gone to sea again."
After a short tour in the United States and Canada, Robert
Stephenson and' his friend took ship for Liverpool, where they
arrived at the end of November, and at once proceeded to Newcastle. The factory, we have seen, was by no means in a prosperous state. During the time Robert had been in America it
had been carried on at a considerable loss; and Edward Pease,
very much disheartened, wished to retire from it, but George Stephenson being unable to raise the requisite money to buy him
out, the establishment was of necessity carried on by its then
partners until the locomotive could be established in public estimation as a practicable and economical working power. Robert
Stephenson immediately instituted a rigid inquiry into the working of the concern, unraveled the accounts, which had been allowed to fall into confusion during his father's absence at Liverpool, and very shortly succeeded in placing the affairs of the fac



310        FIXED ENGINES versus LOCOMOTIVES.   [PART II.
tory in a more healthy condition. In all this he had the hearty
support of his father, as well as of the other partners.
The works of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway were now
approaching completion. But, strange to say, the directors had
not yet decided as to the tractive power to be employed in working the line when opened for traffic. The differences of opinion
among them were so great as apparently to be irreconcilable. It
was necessary, however, that they should come to some decision
without farther loss of time, and many board meetings were accordingly held to discuss the subject.  The old-fashioned and
well-tried system of horse-haulage was not without its advocates;
but, looking at the large amount of traffic which there was to be
conveyed, and at the probable delay in the transit from station
to station if this method were adopted, the directors, after a visit
made by them to the Northumberland and Durham railways in
1828, came to the conclusion that the employment of horse-power was inadmissible.
Fixed engines had many advocates; the locomotive very few:
it stood as yet almost in a minority of one-George Stephenson.
The prejudice against the employment of the latter power had
even increased since the Liverpool and Manchester Bill underwent its first ordeal in the House of Commons. In proof of this,
it may be mentioned that the Newcastle and Carlisle Railway
Act was conceded in 1829 on the express condition that it should
not be worked by locomotives, but by horses only.
Grave doubts still existed as to the practicability of working a
large traffic by means of traveling engines. ~ The most celebrated
engineers offered no opinion on the subject. They did not believe
in' the locomotive, and would scarcely take the trouble to examine
it, The ridicule with which George Stephenson had been assailed by the barristers before the Parliamentary Committee had not
been altogether distasteful to them. Perhaps they did not relish
the idea of a man who had picked up his experience in Newcastle coal-pits appearing in the capacity of a leading engineer before Parliament, and attempting to establish a new system of internal communication in the country.
The directors could not disregard the adverse and conflicting
views of the professional men whom they consulted. But Stephenson had so repeatedly and earnestly urged upon them the




CHAP. XII.] SCHEMES FOR EFFECTING LOCOMOTION.        311
propriety of making a trial of the locomotive before coming to
any decision.against it, that they at length authorized him to proceed with the construction of one of his engines by way of experiment. In their report to the proprietors at their annual meeting
on the 27th of March, 1828, they state that they had, after due
consideration, authorized the engineer "to prepare a locomotive
engine, which, from the nature of its construction and from the
experiments already made, he is of opinion will be effective for
the purposes of the company, without proving an annoyance to
the public." The locomotive thus ordered was placed upon the
line in 1829, and was found of great service in drawing the wagons full of marl from the two great cuttings.
In the mean time the discussion proceeded as to the kind of
power to be permanently employed for the working of the railway. The directors were inundated with schemes of all sorts for
facilitating locomotion. The projectors of England, France, and
America seemed to be let loose upon them. There were plans
for working the wagons along the line by water-power. Some
proposed hydrogen, and others carbonic acid gas. Atmospheric
pressure had its eager advocates. And various kinds of fixed
and locomotive steam-power were suggested. Thomas Gray
urged his plan of a greased road with cog-rails; and Messrs. Vignolles and Ericsson recommended the adoption of a central friction-rail, against which two horizontal rollers under the locomotive, pressing upon the sides -of this rail, were to afford the means
of ascending the inclined planes.
The directors felt themselves quite unable to choose from amid
this multitude of projects. Their engineer expressed himself as
decidedly as heretofore in favor of smooth rails and locomotive
engines, which, he was confident, would be found the most economical and by far the most convenient moving power that could
be employed. The Stockton and Darlington Railway being now
at work, another deputation went down personally to inspect the
fixed and locomotive engines on that line, as well as at Hetton
and Killingworth. They returned to Liverpool with much information; but their testimony as to the relative merits of the two
kinds of engines was so contradictory, that the directors were as
far from a decision as ever.
They then resolved to call to their aid two professional engi



312           WALKER AND RASTRICK'S REPORT.                  [PART II.
neers of high standing, who should visit the Darlington and Newcastle railways, carefully examine both modes of working-the
fixed and the locomotive-and report to them  fully on the subject.  The gentlemen selected' were Mr. Walker, of Limehouse,
and Mr. Rastrick, of Stourbridge.  After carefully examining
the working of the Northern lines, they made their report to the
directors in the spring of 1829.  They conciurred in the opinion
that the cost of an establishment of fixed engines would be somewhat greater than that of locomotives to do the same work, but
they thought the annual charge would be less if the formuer were
adopted. They calculated that the cost of moving a ton of goods,
thirty miles by fixed engines would be 6'40d., and by locomotives,
8'36d., assuming a profitable traffic to be obtained both ways. At
the same time, it was admitted that there appeared more grounds
for expecting improvements in the construction and working of
locomotives than of stationary engines.  ":'On the whole, however, and looking especially at the computed' annual charge of
working the road on the two systems on a large scale, Messrs.
Walker and Rastrick were of opinion that fixed engines were
preferable, and accordingly recommended their adoption to the
directors."*  And in order to carry'the system recommended by
them  into effect, they proposed to divide the railroad between
Liverpool and Manchester into nineteen stages of about a mile
and a half each, with twenty-one engines fixed at the different
points to work the trains forward.
Such was the result, so far, of George Stephenson's labors.
* Mr. Booth's Account, p. 70-1. While concurring with Mr. Rastrick in recommending " the stationary reciprocating system as the best" if it was the directors' intention to make the line complete at once, so as to accommodate the traffic expected
by them, or a quantity approaching to it (i. e., 3750 tons of goods and passengers from
Liverpool toward Manchester, and 3950 tons from Manchester toward Liverpool),
Mr. Walker added," but if any circumstances should induce the directors to proceed
by degrees, and to proportion the power of conveyance to the demand, then we recommend locomotive engines upon the line generally;. and two fixed engines upon
Rainhill and Sutton planes, to draw up the locomotive engines as well as the goods
and carriages;" and " if on any occasion the trade should get beyond the supply of
locomotives, the horse might form a temporary substitute." As, however, it was the
directors' determination, with a view to the success of their experiment, to open the
line complete for working, they felt that it would be unadvisable to adopt this partial
experiment; and it was still left for them to decide whether they would adopt or not
the substantial recommendation of the reporting engineers in favor of the stationaryengine system for the complete accommodation of the expected traffic.




CHAP. XII.] STEPHENSON'S FAITH IN THE LOCOMOTIVE.  313
The two best practical engineers of the day concurred in reporting substantially in favor of the employment of fixed engines.
Not a single professional man of eminence could be found to coincide with the engineer of the railway in his preference for locomotive over fixed engine power. He had scarcely a supporter,
and the locomotive system seemed on the eve of being abandoned. Still he did not despair. With the profession against him,
and public opinion against him-for the most frightful stories
went abroad respecting the dangers, the unsightliness, and the
nuisance which the locomotive would create-Stephenson held
to his purpose. Even in this, apparently the darkest hour of the
locomotive, he did not hesitate to declare that locomotive railroads would, before many years had passed, be "the great highways of the world."
He urged his views upon the directors in all ways, in season,
and, as some of them thought, out of season. He pointed out
the greater convenience of locomotive power for the purposes of
a public highway, likening it to a series of short unconnected
chains, any one of which could be removed and another substituted without interruption to the traffic; whereas the fixed-engine system might be regarded in the light of a continuous chain
extending between the two termini, the failure of any link of
which would derange the whole.* But the fixed-engine party
were very strong at the board, and, led by Mr. Cropper, they
urged the propriety of forthwith adopting the report of Messrs.
Walker and Rastrick. Mr. Sandars and Mr. William Rathbone,
on the other hand, desired that a fair trial should be given to the
locomotive; and they with reason objected to the expenditure
of the large capital necessary to construct the proposed enginehouses, with their fixed engines, ropes, and machinery, until they
had tested the powers of the locomotive as recommended by their
* The arguments used by Mr. Stephenson with the directors in favor of the locomotive engine were afterward collected and published in 1830 by Robert Stephenson
and Joseph Locke, as "compiled from the Reports of Mr. George Stephenson." The
pamphlet was entitled "Observations on the Comparative Merits of Locomotive and
Fixed Engines." Robert Stephenson, speaking of the authorship many years after,
said, "I believe I furnished the facts and the arguments, and Locke put them into
shape. Locke was a very flowery writer, whereas my style was rather bald and unattractive; so he was the editor of the pamphlet, which excited a good deal of attention among engineers at the time."




314            PRIZE FOR THE BEST LOCOMOTIVE.                    [PART II,
own.engineer.  George Stephenson continued to urge upon them
that the locomotive was yet capable of great improvements, if
proper inducements were held out to inventors and machinists
to make them; and he pledged himself that, if time were given
him, he would construct an engine that should satisfy their requirements, and prove  itself capable  of working heavy loads
along the railway with speed, regularity, and safety. At length,
influenced by his persistent earnestness not less than by his arguments, the directors, at the suggestion of Mr. Harrison, determined to offer a prize of ~500 for the best locomotive engine,
which, on a certain day, should be produced on the'railway,
and perform certain specified conditions in the most satisfactory
manner.*
The requirements of the directors as to speed were not excessive. All that they asked for was that ten miles an hour should
be maintained.  Perhaps they had in mind the animadversions
of the " Quarterly Reviewer" on the absurdity of traveling at a
greater velocity, and also the remarks published by Mr. Nicholas
* The conditions were these:
1. The engine must effectually consume its own sm9ke.
2. The engine, if of six tons' weight, must be able to draw after it, day by day,
twenty tons' weight (including the tender and water-tank) at ten miles an hour, with
a pressure of steam on the boiler not exceeding fifty pounds to the square inch.
3. The boiler must have two safety valves, neither of which must be fastened down,
and one of them be completely out of the control of the engine-man.
4. The engine and boiler must be supported on springs, and rest on six wheels, the
height of the whole not exceeding fifteen feet to the top of the chimney.
5. The engine, with water, must not weigh more than six tons; but an engine of
less weight would be preferred on its drawing a proportionate load behind it; if of
only four and a half tons, then it might be put on only. four wheels. The company
to be at liberty to test the boiler, etc., by a pressure of one hundred and fifty pounds
to the square inch.
6. A mercurial gauge must be affixed to the machine, showing the steam pressure
above forty-five pounds per square inch.
7. The engine must be delivered, complete and ready for trial, at the Liverpool
end of the railway, not later than the 1st- of October, 1829.
8. The price of the engine must not exceed ~550.
Many persons of influence declared the conditions published by the directors of the
railway chimerical in the extreme. One gentleman of some eminence in Liverpool,
Mr. P. Ewart, who afterward filled the office of Government Inspector of Post-office
Steam Packets, declared that only a parcel of charlatans would ever have issued such
a set of conditions; that it had been proved to be impossible to make a locomotive
engine go at ten miles an hour; but if it ever was done, he would undertake to eat a
stewed engine-wheel for his breakfast!




CHAP. XII.]  DISCUSSIONS OF THE STEPHENSONS.        315
Wood, whom they selected to be one of the judges of the competition, in conjunction with Mr. Rastrick, of Stourbridge, and
Mr. Kennedy, of Manchester.
It was now felt that the fate of railways in a great measure'depended upon the issue of this appeal to the mechanical genius
of England. When the advertisement of the prize for the best
locomotive was published, scientific men began more particularly to direct their attention to the new power which was thus
struggling into existence. In the mean time public opinion on
the subject of railway working remained suspended, and the progress of the undertaking was watched with intense interest.
During the progress of this important controversy with reference to the kind of power to be employed in working the railway, George Stephenson was in constant communication with his
son Robert, who made frequent visits to Liverpool for the purpose of assisting his father in the preparation of his reports to
the board on the subject. Mr. Swanwick remembers the vivid interest of the evening discussions which then took place between
father and son as to the best mode of increasing the powers and
perfecting the mechanism of the locomotive. He wondered at
their quick perception and rapid judgment on each other's suggestions; at the mechanical difficulties which they anticipated
and provided for in the practical arrangement of the machine;
and he speaks of these evenings as most interesting displays of
two actively ingenious and able minds stimulating each other to
feats of mechanical invention, by which it was ordained that the
locomotive engine should become what it now is. These discussions became more frequent, and still more interesting, after the
public prize had been offered for the best locomotive by the directors of the railway, and the working plans of the engine which
they proposed to construct had to be settled.
One of the most important considerations in the new engine
was the arrangement of the boiler and the extension of its heating surface to enable steam enough to be raised rapidly and continuously for the purpose of maintaining high rates of speedthe effect of high-pressure engines being ascertained to depend
mainly upon the quantity of steam which the boiler can generate,
and upon its degree of elasticity when produced. The quantity
of steam so generated, it will be obvious, must chiefly depend




316        INCREASE OF HEATING SURFACE..    [PART II.
upon the quantity of fuel consumed in the furnace, and, by necessary consequence, upon the high rate of temperature maintained
there.
It will be remembered that in Stephenson's first Killingworth
engines he invited and applied the ingenious method of stimulating combustion in the furnace by throwing the waste steam into
the chimney after performing its office in the cylinders, thereby
accelerating the ascent of the current of air, greatly increasing
the draught, and consequently the temperature of the fire. This
plan was adopted by him, as we have seen, as early as 1815,
and it -was so successful that he himself attributed to it the
greater economy of the locomotive as compared with horsepower. Hence the continuance of its use upon the Killingworth
Railway.
Though the adoption of the steam-blast greatly quickened combustion and contributed to the rapid production of high-pressure
steam, the limited amount of heating surface presented to the fire
was still felt to be an obstacle to the complete success of the locomotive engine. Mr. Stephenson endeavored to overcome this
by lengthening the boilers and increasing the surface presented
by the flue-tubes. The " Lancashire Witch," which he built for
the Bolton and Leigh Railway, and used in forming the Liverpool and Manchester Railway embankments, was constructed with
a double tube, each of which contained a fire, and passed longitudinally through the boiler. But this arrangement necessarily
led to a considerable increase in the weight of those engines,
which amounted to about twelve tons each; and as six tons was
the limit allowed for engines admitted to the Liverpool competition, it was clear, that the time was come when the Killingworth
engine must undergo a farther important modification.
For many years previous to this period, ingenious mechanics
had been engaged in attempting to solve the problem of the best
and most economical boiler for the production of high-pressure
steam.
The use of tubes in boilers for increasing the heating surface
had long been known. As early as 1780, Matthew Boulton employed copper tubes longitudinally in the boiler. of the Wheal
Busy engine in Cornwall-the fire passing through the tubesand it was found that the production of steam was thereby con



CHAP. XII.]          TUBULAR BOILERS.                       317
siderably increased.*  The use of tubular boilers afterward became common in Cornwall.  In 1803, Woolf, the Cornish engineer, patented a boiler with tubes; with the same object of increasing the heating surface.  The water was inide the tubes,
and the fire of the boiler outside.  Similar expedients were proposed by other inventors. In 1815 Trevithick invented his light
high-pressure boiler for portable purposes, in which, to " expose a
large surface to the fire," he constructed the boiler of a number
of small perpendicular tubes " opening into a common reservoir
at the top."  In 1823 W. H.James contrived a boiler composed
of a series of annular wrought-iron tubes, placed side by side and
bolted together, so as to form by their union a long cylindrical
boiler, in the centre of which, at the end, the fireplace was situated. The fire played round the tubes, which contained the
water. In 1826 James Neville took out a patent for a boiler
with vertical tubes surrounded by the water, through which the
heated air of the furnace passed, explaining also in his specification that the tubes might be horizontal or inclined, according to
circumstances.  Mr. Goldsworthy Gurney, the persevering adaptor of steam-carriages to traveling on common roads, applied the
tubular principle in the boiler of his engine, in which the steam
was generated within the tubes; while the boiler invented by
Messrs. Summers and Ogle for their turnpike-road steam-carriage
consisted of a series of tubes placed vertically over the furnace,
through which the heated air passed before reaching the chimney.
About the same time George Stephenson was trying the effect
of introducing small tubes in the boilers of his locomotives, with
the object of increasing their evaporative power. Thus, in 1829,
he sent to France two engines constructed at the Newcastle works
for the Lyons and St. Etienne Railway, in the boilers of which
tubes were placed containing water. The heating surface was
thus considerably increased; but the expedient was not successful, for the tubes, becoming furred with deposit, shortly burned
out and were removed. It was then that M. Seguin, the engineer
* Some correspondence took place between Boulton and Watt on the subject, when
the latter was scheming the application of the steam-engine to locomotive purposes.
In a letter to Boulton, dated the 27th of August, 1784, Watt said, " Perhaps some
means may be hit upon to make the boiler cylindrical with a number of tubes passing
through, like the organ-pipe condenser, whereby it might be thinner and lighter; but,"
he added, "I fear this would be too subject to accidents."




318             MULTITUBULAR BOILERS.            [PART II.
of the railway, pursuing the same idea, is said to have adopted
his plan of employing horizontal tubes through which the heated
air passed in streamlets, and for which he took out a French
patent.
In the mean time Mr. Henry'Booth, secretary to the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, whose attention had been directed to
the subject on the prize being offered for the best locomotive to
work that line, proposed the same'method, which, unknown to
him, Matthew Boulton had employed, but not patented, in 1780,
and James Neville had patented, but not employed, in 1826; and
it was carried into effect by Robert Stephenson in the construction of the "Rocket," which won the prize at Rainhill in October,
1829. The following is Mr. Booth's account in a letter to the
author:
"I was in almost daily communication with Mr. Stephenson at
the time, and I was not aware' that he had any intention of competing for the prize till I communicated to him my scheme of a multitubular boiler. This new plan of boiler comprised the introduction
of numerous small tubes, two or three inches in diameter, and less
than one eighth of an inch thick, through which to carry the fire,
instead of a single tube or flue eighteen inches in diameter, and
about half an inch thick, by which plan we not only obtain a very
much larger heating surface, but the heating surface is much more
effective, as there intervenes between the fire and the water only a
thin sheet of copper or brass, not an -eighth of an inch thick, instead
of a plate of iron of four times the substance, as well as an inferior
conductor of heat.
"When the conditions of trial were published, I communicated
my multitubular plan to Mr. Stephenson, and proposed to him, that
we should jointly construct an engine and compete for the prize.
Mr. Stephenson approved the plan, and agreed to my proposal. He
settled'the mode in which the fire-box and tubes were to be mutually arranged and connected, and the engine was constructed at the
works of Messrs. Robert Stephenson and Co., Newcastle-on-Tyne.
" I am ignorant of M. Seguin's proceedings in France, but I claim
to be the inventor in England, and feel warranted in stating, without reservation, that until I named my plan to Mr. Stephenson, with
a view to compete for the prize at Rainhill, it had not been tried,
and was not known in this country."
From the well-known high character of Mr. Booth, we believe




CHAP. XII.]   CONSTRUCTION OF THE "ROCKET."          319
his statement to be made in perfect good faith, and that he was
as much in ignorance' of the plan patented by Neville as he was
of that of Seguin. As we have seen, from the many plans of
tubular boilers invented during the preceding thirty years, the
idea was not by any means new; and we believe Mr. Booth to
be entitled to the merit of inventing the method by which the
multitubular principle was so effectually applied in the construction of the famous " Rocket" engine.
The principal circumstances connected with the construction
of the "Rocket," as described by Robert Stephenson to the author,
may be briefly stated. The tubular principle was adopted in a
more complete manner than had yet been attempted. Twentyfive copper tubes, each three inches in diameter, extended from
one end of the boiler to the other, the heated air passing through
them on its way to the chimney; and the tubes being surrounded by the water of the boiler, it will be obvious that a large extension of the heating surface was thus effectually secured. The
principal difficulty was in fitting the copper tubes in the boilerends so as to prevent leakage. They were manufactured by a
Newcastle coppersmith, and soldered to brass screws which were
screwed into the boiler-ends, standing out in great knobs. Wheni
the tubes were thus fitted, and the boiler was filled with water,
hydraulic pressure was applied; but the water squirted out at
every joint, and the factory floor was soon flooded. Robert went
home in despair;'and in the first moment of grief he wrote to
his father that the whole thing was a failure.' By return of post
came a letter from his father, telling him that despair was not to
be thought of-that he must "try again;" and he suggested a
mode of overcoming the difficulty, which his son had already anticipated and proceeded to adopt. It was, to bore clean holes in
the boiler-ends, fit in the smooth copper tubes as tightly as possible, solder up, and then raise the steam. This plan succeeded
perfectly, the expansion of the copper tubes completely filling up
all interstices, and producing a perfectly water-tight boiler, capable of withstanding extreme external pressure.
The mode of employing the steam-blast for the purpose of increasing the draught in the chimney was also the subject of numerous experiments. When the engine was first tried, it was
thought that the blast in the chimney was not sufficiently strong




320                THE STEAM-BLAST.               [PART II.
for the purpose of keeping up the intensity of the fire in the furnace, so as to produce high-pressure steam with the required velocity. The expedient was therefore adopted of hammering the
copper tubes at the point at which they entered the chimney,. whereby the blast was considerably sharpened; and on a farther
trial it was found that the draught was increased to such an extent as to enable abundance of steam to be raised. The rationale
of the blast may be simply explained by referring to the effect of
contracting the. pipe of a water-hose, by which the force of the
jet of:water is proportionately increased. Widen the nozzle of
the pipe, and the jet is in like manner diminished. So is it with
the steam-blast in the chimney of the locomotive.
Doubts were, however, expressed whether the greater draught
obtained by the contraction of the blast-pipe was not counterbalanced in some degree by the negative pressure upon the piston.
Hence a series of experiments was made with pipes of different
diameters, and their efficiency was tested by the amount of vacuum that was produced in the smoke-box. The degree of rarefaction was determined by a glass tube fixed to the bottom of the
smoke-box, and, descending into a bucket of water, the tube:being open at. both ends. As the rarefaction took place,: the water
would of course rise in, the tube, and the height to which it rose
above the surface of the water in the bucket -was made the measure of the amount of. rarefaction. These experiments proved
that a considerable increase of draught was obtained by the contraction of the,orifice; accordingly, the two blast-pipes opening
from the cylinders into either side of the:" Rocket" chimney, and
turned up within it, were contracted slightly below the area of
the steam-ports; and before the engine left the factory, the water rose in the glass tube three inches above the water in the
bucket.
The other arrangements of the " Rocket" were briefly these:
the boiler was cylindrical, with flat ends, six feet in length, and
three feet four inches in diameter. The upper half.of the boiler
was used as a reservoir for the steam, the lower half being filled
with water.: Through the lower part the copper tubes extended,
being open to.the fire-box at one end, and to the chimney at the
other. The:fire-box, or furnace, two feet wide and three feet
high, was attached immediately behind the boiler, and was also




CHAP. XII.]     THE "ROCKET" FINISHED.              321
surrounded with water. The cylinders of the engine were placed
on each side of the boiler, in an oblique position, one end being
nearly level with the top of the boiler at its after end, and the
other pointing toward the centre of the foremost or driving pair
of wheels, with which the connection was directly made from the
piston-rod to a pin on the outside of the wheel. The engine, together with its load of water, weighed only four tons and a quarter; and it was supported on four wheels, not coupled. The tender was four-wheeled, and similar in shape to a wagon-the foremost part holding the fuel, and the hind part a water-cask.
When the "Rocket" was finished, it was placed upon the Killingworth Railway for the purpose of experiment. The new
boiler arrangement was found perfectly successful. The steam
TIlE "ROCKET."
was raised rapidly and continuously, and in a quantity which
then appeared marvelous. The same evening Robert dispatched
a letter to his father at Liverpool, informing him, to his great joy,
that the "Rocket" was "all right," and would be in complete
working trim by the day of trial. The engine was shortly after
sent by wagon to Carlisle, and thence shipped for Liverpool.
X




322             THE EVE OF THE CONTEST.              [PART II.
The time so much longed for by George Stephenson had
now arrived, when the merits of the passenger locomotive were
about to be put to the test. He had fought the battle for it until now almost single-handed. Engrossed by his daily labors and
anxieties, and harassed by difficulties and discouragements which
would have crushed the spirit of a less resolute man, he had held
firmly to his purpose through good and through evil report. The
hostility which he experienced from some of the directors opposed
to the adoption of the locomotive was the circumstance that
caused him the greatest grief of all; for where he had looked for
encouragement, he found only carping and opposition. But his
pluck never failed him  and now the "Rocket" was upon the
ground to prove, to use his own words, "whether he was a man
of his word or not."
Great interest was felt at Liverpool, as well as throughout the
country, in the approaching competition. Engineers, scientific
men, and mechanics arrived from all quarters to witness the novel display of mechanical ingenuity on which such great results
depended. The public generally were no indifferent spectators
either. The populations of Liverpool, Manchester, and the adjacent towns felt that the successful issue of the experiment
would confer upon them individual benefits and local advantages
almost incalculable, while populations at a distance waited for
the result'with almost equal interest.
On the day appointed for the great competition of locomotives
at Rainhill the following engines were entered for the prize:
1. Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson's* " Novelty."
2. Mr. Timothy Hackworth's " Sanspareil."
3. Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co.'s " Rocket."
4. Mr. Burstall's " Perseverance."
Another engine was entered by Mr. Brandreth, of Liverpoolthe " Cycloped," weighing three tons, worked by a horse in a
frame, but it could not be admitted to the competition. The
above were the only four exhibited, out of a considerable number of engines constructed in different parts of the country in an* The inventor of this engine was a Swede, who afterward proceeded to the United
States, and there achieved considerable distinction as an engineer. His caloric engine has so far proved a failure, but his iron cupola vessel, the "Monitor," must be
admitted to have been a remarkable success in its way.




CHAP. XII.]    THE COMPETITION AT RAINHILL.            323
ticipation of this contest, many of which could not be satisfactorily completed by the day of trial.
The ground on which the engines were to be tried was a level
piece of railroad, about two miles in length. Each was required
to make twenty trips, or equal to a journey of seventy miles, in
the course of the day, and the average rate of traveling was to be
not under ten miles an hour. It was determined that, to avoid
confusion, each engine should be tried separately, and on different days.
The day fixed for the competition was the 1st of October, but,
to allow sufficient time to get the locomotives into good working
order, the directors extended it to the 6th. On the morning of
the 6th the ground at Rainhill presented a lively appearance, and
there was as much excitement as if the St. Leger were about to
be run. Many thousand spectators looked on, among whom
were some of the first engineers and mechanicians of the day.
A stand was provided for the ladies; the "beauty and fashion"
of the neighborhood were present, and the side of the railroad
was lined with carriages of all descriptions.
It was quite characteristic of the Stephensons that, although
their engine did not stand first on the list for trial, it was the first
that was ready, and it was accordingly ordered out by the judges
for an experimental trip. Yet the "Rocket" was by no means
the " favorite" with either the judges or the spectators. Nicholas Wood has since stated that the majority of the judges were
strongly predisposed in favor of the "Novelty," and that "nine
tenths, if not ten tenths, of the persons present were against the'Rocket' because of its appearance."* Nearly every person favored some other engine, so that there was nothing for the
"Rocket" but the practical test. The first trip made by it was
quite successful. It ran about twelve miles, without interruption, in about fifty-three minutes.
The "Novelty" was next called out. It was a light engine, very
compact in appearance, carrying the water and fuel upon the
same wheels as the engine. The weight of the whole was only
three tons and one hundred weight. A peculiarity of this engine
was that the air was driven or forced through the fire by means
of bellows. The day being now far advanced, and some dispute
* Mr. Wood's speech at Newcastle, 26th of October, 1858.




324        THE "SANSPAREIL" AND "ROCKET."    [PART II.
having arisen as to the method of assigning the proper load for
the "Novelty," no particular experiment was made farther than
that the engine traversed the line by way of exhibition, occasionally moving at the rate of twenty-four miles an hour. The " Sanspareil;" constructed by Mr. Timothy Hackworth, was next exhibited, but no particular experiment was made with it on this day.
This engine differed but little in its construction from the locomotive last supplied by the Stephensons to the Stockton and Darlington Railway, of which Mr. lHackworth was the locomotive
foreman.
The contest was postponed until the following day; but, before
the judges arrived on the ground, the bellows for creating the
blast in the "Novelty" gave way, and it was found incapable of
LOCOMOTIVE COMPETITION AT RAINHILL.
going through its performance. A defect was also detected in
the boiler of the " Sanspareil," and some farther time was allowed
to get it repaired. The large number of spectators who had assembled to witness the contest were greatly disappointed at this
postponement; but, to lessen it, Stephenson again brought out
the "Racket," and, attaching to it a coach containing thirty persons, he ran them along the line'at the rate of from twenty-four
to thirty miles an hour, much to their gratification and amazement. Before separating, the judges ordered the engine to be in
readiness by eight o'clock on the following morning, to go through
its definitive trial according to the prescribed conditions.
On the morning of the 8th of October the " Rocket" was again
ready for the contest. The engine was taken to the extremity of




CHAP. XII.]     TRIUMPH OF THE "ROCKET."             325
the stage, the fire-box was filled with coke, the fire lighted, and
the steam raised until it lifted the safety-valve loaded-to a pressure of fifty pounds to the square inch. This proceeding occupied fifty-seven minutes. The engine then started on its journey,
dragging after it about thirteen tons' weight in wagons, and made
the first ten trips backward and forward along the two miles of
road, running the thirty-five miles, including stoppages, in an
hour and forty-eight minutes. The second ten trips were in like
manner performed in two hours and three minutes. The maximum velocity attained during the trial trip was twenty-nine miles
an hour, or about three times the speed that one of the judges of
the competition had declared to be the limit of possibility. The
average speed at which the whole of the journeys were performed
was fifteen miles an hour, or five miles beyond the rate specified
in the conditions published by the company. The entire performance excited the greatest astonishment among the assembled spectators; the directors felt confident that their enterprise was now
on the eve of success; and George Stephenson rejoiced to think
that, in spite of all false prophets and fickle counselors, the locomotive system was now safe. When the "Rocket," having
performed all the conditions of the contest, arrived at the "grand
stand" at the close of its day's successful run, Mr. Cropper-one
of the directors favorable to the fixed engine system-lifted up
his hands, and exclaimed, "Now has George Stephenson at last
delivered himself."
Neither the " Novelty" nor the " Sanspareil" was ready for trial
until the 10th, on the morning of which day an advertisement appeared, stating that the former engine was to be tried on that
day, when it would perform more work than any engine on the
ground. The weight of the carriages attached to it was only
about seven tons. The engine passed the first post in good style;
but, in returning, the pipe from the forcing-pump burst and put
an end to the trial. The pipe was afterward repaired, and the
engine made several trips by itself, in which it was said to have
gone at the rate of from twenty-four to twenty-eight miles an
hour.
The " Sanspareil" was not ready until the 13th; and when its
boiler and tender were filled with water, it was found to weigh
four hundred weight beyond the weight specified in the published




326         FAILURE OF THE OTHER ENGINES.    [PART II.
conditions as the limit of four-wheeled engines; nevertheless, the
judges allowed it to run on the same footing as the other engines,
to enable them to ascertain whether its merits entitled it to favorable consideration. It traveled at the average speed of about
fourteen miles an hour, with its load attached; but at the eighth
trip the: cold-water pump got wrong, and the engine could proceed no farther.
It was determined to award the premium to the successful engine on the following day, the 14th, on which occasion there was
an unusual assemblage of spectators. The owners of the "Novelty" pleaded for another trial, and it was conceded. But again it
broke down. Then Mr. Hackworth requested the opportunity
for making another trial of his " Sanspareil." But the judges
had now had enough of failures, and they declined, on the ground
that not only was the engine above the stipulated weight, but
that it was constructed on a plan which they could not recommend for adoption by the directors of the company. One of the
principal practical objections to this locomotive was the enormous
quantity of coke consumed or wasted by it-about 692 lbs. per
hour when traveling —caused by the sharpness of the steam-blast
in the chimney, which blew a large proportion of the burning
coke into the air.
The "'Perseverance" of Mr. Burstall was found unable to move
at- more than five or six miles an hour, and it was withdrawn
from the contest at an early period. The " Rocket" was thus the
only engine that had performed, and more than performed, all
the stipulated conditions, and it was declared to be entitled to the
prize of ~500, which was awarded to the Messrs. Stephenson and
Booth accordingly. And farther to show that the engine had
been working quite within its powers, George Stephenson ordered
it to be brought upon the ground and detached from all incumbrances, when, in making two trips, it was found to travel at the
astonishing rate of thirty-five miles an hour.
The "Rocket" had thus eclipsed the performances of all locomotive engines that had yet been constructed, and outstripped
even the. sanguine expectations of its constructors. It satisfactorily answered the report of Messrs. Walker and Rastrick, and
established the efficiency of the locomotive for working the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and, indeed, all future railways.




CHAP. XII.]           END OF THE "ROCKET.''                       327
The "Rocket" showed that a new power had been born into the
world, full of activity and strength, with boundless, capability of
work. It was the. simple but admirable contrivance of the steamblast, and its combination with the multitubular boiler, that at
once gave locomotion a vigorous life, and secured the triumph of
the railway system.*  As has been well observed, this wonderful
ability to increase and multiply its powers of performance with
the emergency that demands them  has made this giant engine
the noblest creation, of human wit, the very lion among machines.
The success of the Rainhills experiment, as judged by the public,
may be inferred from the fact that the, shares of the company
immediately rose ten per cent., and nothing farther was heard of
the proposed twenty-one fixed engines, engine-houses, ropes, etc.
All this cumbersome apparatus was thenceforward effectually
disposed of.
Very different now was the tone of those directors who had
distinguished themselves by the persistency of their opposition to
George Stephenson's plans. Coolness gave way to eulogy, and
hostility to unbounded offers of friendship, after the manner of
many men who run to the help of the strong.  Deeply though
the engineer had felt aggrieved by the conduct exhibited toward
him during this eventful struggle by some from whom forbearance was to have been expected, he never entertained toward
them  in after life any angry feelings; on the contrary, he forgave all. But, though the directors afterward passed unanimous
resolutions eulogizing "the great skill and unwearied energy" of
* When heavier and more powerful engines were brought upon the road, the old
" Rocket," becoming regarded as a thing of no value, was sold in 1837. It was purchased by Mr. Thompson, of Kirkhouse, the lessee of the Earl of Carlisle's coal and
lime works, near Carlisle. He worked the engine on the Midgeholme Railway for
five or six years, during which it hauled, coals from the pits to the town. There was
wonderful vitality in the old engine, as the following circumstance proves.'When
the great contest for the representation of East Cumberland took place, and Sir James
Graham was superseded by Major Aglionby, the "Rocket" was employed to convey
the Alston express with the state of the poll from Midgeholme to Kirkhouse. On
that occasion the engine was driven by Mr. Mark Thompson, and it ran the distance
of upward of four miles in four and a half minutes, thus reaching a speed of nearly
sixty miles an hour, proving its still admirable qualities as an engine. But again it
was superseded by heavier engines; for it only weighed about four tons, whereas the
new engines were at least three times that weight. The "Rocket" was consequently
laid up in ordinary in the yard at Kirkhouse, from whence it has since been transferred to the Museum of Patents at Kensington, where it is still to be seen.




328             FAIR- WEATHER FRIENDS.            [PART II.
their engineer, he himself, when speaking confidentially to those
with whom he was most intimate, could not help pointing out
the difference between his " foul - weather and fair - weather
friends."  Mr. Gooch says that, though naturally most cheerful
and kind-hearted in disposition, the anxiety and pressure which
weighed upon his mind during the construction of the railway
had the effect of making him occasionally impatient and irritable,
like a spirited horse touched by the' spur, though his original good
nature from time to time shone:through it all. When the line
had been brought to a successful completion, a very marked
change in him became visible. The irritability passed away,
and when difficulties and vexations arose they were treated by
him as matters of course, and with perfect composure and cheerfulness.
RAILWAY CertsU8 ROAD.




CHAP. XIII.]   LINE O VER CHAT MOSS OPENED.          329
CHAPTER XIII.
OPENING OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY, AIJ
EXTENSION OF THE RAILWAY SYSTEM.
THE directors of the railway now began to see daylight, and
they derived encouragement from the skillful manner in which
their engineer had overcome the principal difficulties of the undertaking. He had formed a solid road over Chat Moss, and
thus achieved one " impossibility;" and he had constructed a locomotive that could run at a speed of thirty miles an hour, thus
vanquishing a still more formidable difficulty.
A single line of way was completed over Chat Moss by the 1st
of January, 1830, and on that day the "Rocket," with a carriage
full of directors, engineers, and their friends, passed along the
greater part of the road between Liverpool and Manchester. "Mr.
Stephenson continued to direct his close attention to the improve*ment of the details of the locomotive, every successive trial of
which proved more satisfactory. In this department he had the
benefit of the able and unremitting assistance of his son, who; in
the workshops at Newcastle, directly superintended the construction of the engines required for the' public working of the railway. He did not by any means rest satisfied with the success,
decided though it was, which had been achieved by the' Rocket."
He regarded it but in the light' of a successful experiment;
and every successive engine placed upon the railway exhibited
some improvement on its predecessors. The arrangement of the
parts, and the weight and proportion of the engines, were altered as the experience of each successive day, or week, or month
suggested; and it was soon found that the performances of the
" Rocket" on the day of trial had been greatly within the powers
of the improved locomotive.
The first entire trip between Liverpool and Manchester was
performed on the 14th of June, 1830, on the occasion of a board
meeting being held at the latter town. The train was on this




3'30      THE "ARROWr." —THE PUBLIC OPENING.   [PART II.
occasion drawn by the "Arrow," one of the new locomotives, in
which the most recent improvements had been adopted. George
Stephenson himself drove the engine, and Captain Scoresby, the
circumpolar navigator, stood beside him on the foot-plate, and
minuted the speed of the train. A great concourse of people assembled at both termini, as well as along the line, to witness the
novel spectacle of a train of carriages drawn by an engine at the
speed of seventeen miles an hour. On the return journey to Liverpool in the evening, the " Arrow" crossed Chat Moss at a speed
of nearly twenty-seven miles an hour, reaching its destination in
about an hour and a half.
In the mean time Mr. Stephenson and his assistant, Mr. Gooch,
were diligently occupied in making the necessary preliminary
arrangements for the conduct of the traffic against the time when
the line should be ready for opening.  The experiments made
with the object of carrying on the passenger traffic at quick velocities were of an especially harassing and anxious character.
Every week, for nearly three months before the opening, trial
trips were made to Newton and back, generally with two or three
trains following each other, and carrying altogether from two to
three hundred persons. These trips were usually made on Saturday afternoons, when the works could be more cenveniently stopped and the line cleared for the occasion. In these experiments
Mr. Stephenson had. the. able assistance. of Mr. Henry Booth, the
secretary of the company, who contrived many of the arrangements in the passenger carriages, not the least valuable of which
was his invention of the coupling screw, still in use on all passenger railways..
At length the line was finished and ready for the public opening, which took place on the 15th of September, 1830, and attracted a vast number of spectators from all parts of the country.
The completion of the railway was justly regarded as an important national event, and the ceremony of its opening was celebrated accordingly. The Duke of Wellington, then prime minister, Sir Robert Peel, Secretary of State, Mr. Huskisson, one of
the members for Liverpool and an earnest supporter of the project from its commencement, were among the number of distinguished public personages present.
Eight locomotive engines, constructed at the Stephenson works;




CRAP. XIII.]    ACCIDENT TO MR. HUSKISSON.           331
had been delivered and placed upon the line, the whole of which
had been tried and tested, weeks before, with perfect success. The
several trains of carriages accommodated in all about six hundred
persons.  The "Northumbrian" engine, driven by George Stephenson himself, headed the line of trains; then followed the
"Phoenix," driven by Robert Stephenson; the "North Star," by
Robert Stephenson senior (brother of George); the "Rocket," by
Joseph Locke; the "Dart," by Thomas L. Gooch; the" Comet,"
by William Allcard; the "Arrow," by Frederick Swanwick; and
the " Meteor," by Anthony Harding. The procession was cheered
in its progress by thousands of spectators-through the deep ravine of Olive Mount; up the Sutton incline; over the great Sankey viaduct, beneath which a multitude of persons had assembled
-carriages filling the narrow lanes, and barges crowding the
river; the people below gazing with wonder and admiration at
the trains which sped along the line, far above their heads, at the
rate of some twenty-four miles an hour.
At Parkside, about seventeen miles from Liverpool, the engines
stopped to take in water. Here a deplorable accident occurred
to one of the illustrious visitors, which threw a deep shadow over
the subsequent proceedings of the day. The "Northumbrian" engine, with the carriage containing the Duke of Wellington, was
drawn up on one line, in order that the whole of the trains on the
other line might pass in review before him and his party. Mr.
Huskisson had alighted from the carriage, and was standing on
the opposite road, along which the " Rocket" was observed rapidly coming up. Atthis moment the Duke of Wellington, between
whom and Mr. Huskisson some coolness had existed, made a sign
of recognition, and held out his hand. A hurried but friendly
grasp was given; and before it was loosened there was a general
cry from the by-standers of " Get in, get in!" Flurried and confused, Mr. Huskisson endeavored to get round the open door of
the carriage, which projected over the opposite rail, but in so
doing he was struck down by the " Rocket," and falling with his
leg doubled across the rail, the limb was instantly crushed. -His
first words, on being raised, were, " I have met my. death," which
unhappily proved true, for he expired that same evening in the
parsonage of Eccles. It was cited at the time as a remarkable
fact that the " Northumbrian" engine, driven by George Stephen



332         THE RAIL WA Y PUBLICL Y OPENED.    [PART II.
son himself, conveyed the wounded body of the unfortunate gentleman a distance of about fifteen miles in twenty-five minutes,
or at the rate of thirty-six miles an hour. This incredible speed
burst upon the world with the effect of a new and unlooked-for
phenomenon.
The accident threw a gloom over the rest of the day's proceedings. The Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel expressed a
wish that the procession should return to Liverpool. It was, however, represented to them that a vast concourse of people had assembled at Manchester to witness the arrival of the trains; that
report would exaggerate the mischief if they did not complete
the journey; and that a false panic on that day might seriously
affect future railway traveling and the value of the company's
property. The party consented accordingly to proceed to Manchester, but on the understanding that they should return as soon
as possible, and refrain from farther festivity.
As the trains approached Manchester, crowds of people were
found covering the banks, the slopes of the cuttings, and even the
railway itself. The multitude, become impatient and excited by
the rumors which reached them, had outflanked the military, and
all order was at an end. The people clambered about the carriages, holding on by the door-handles, and many were tumbled
over; but, happily, no fatal accident occurred. At the Manchester station the political element began to display itself; placards
about " Peterloo," etc., were exhibited, and brickbats were thrown
at the carriage containing the duke. On the trains coming to a
stand in the Manchester station, the duke did not descend, but remained seated, shaking hands with the women and children who
were pushed forward by the crowd. Shortly after, the trains returned to Liverpool, which they reached, after considerable delays, late at night.
On the following morning the railway was opened for public
traffic. The first train of 140 passengers was booked and sent on
to Manchester, reaching it in the allotted time of two hours; and
from that time the traffic has regularly proceeded from day to
day until now.
It is scarcely necessary that we should speak at any length of
the. commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.
Suffice it to say that its success was complete and decisive. The




CHAP. XIII.]   ORGANIZATION OF THE TRAFFIC.          333
anticipations of its projectors were, however, in many respects at
fault. They had based their calculations almost entirely on the
heavy merchandise traffic-such as coal, cotton, and timber-relying little upon passengers; whereas the receipts derived from
the conveyance of passengers far exceeded those derived from
merchandise of all kinds, which for a time continued a subordinate branch of the traffic. In the evidence given before the Committee of the House of Commons, the promoters stated their expectation of obtaining about one half of the whole number of
passengers which the coaches then running could carry, or about
400 a day. But the railway was scarcely opened before it carried on an average about 1200 passengers daily; and five years
after the opening, it carried nearly half a million of persons
yearly. So successful, indeed, was the passenger traffic, that it
engrossed the whole of the company's small stock of engines.
For some time after the public opening of the line, Mr. Stephenson's ingenuity continued to be employed in devising improved methods for securing the safety and comfort of the traveling public. Few are aware of the thousand minute details
which have to be arranged-the forethought and contrivance
that have to be exercised-to enable the traveler by railway to
accomplish his journey in safety. After the difficulties of constructing a level road over bogs, across valleys, and through deep
cuttings have been overcome, the maintenance of the way has to
be provided for with continuous care. Every rail, with its fastenings, must be complete, to prevent risk of accident, and the road
must be kept regularly ballasted up to the level to diminish the
jolting of vehicles passing over it at high speeds. Then the stations must be protected by signals observable from such a distance as to enable the train to be stopped in event of an obstacle,
such as a stopping or shunting train being in the way. For some
years the signals employed on the Liverpool Railway were entirely given by men with flags of different colors stationed along
the line; there were no fixed signals nor electric telegraphs; but
the traffic was nevertheless worked quite as safely as under the
more elaborate and complicated system of telegraphing which
has since been established.
From an early period it became obvious that the iron road, as
originally laid down, was quite insufficient for the heavy traffic




334       IMPROVEMENT OF ROAD AND PLANT.   [PART II.
which it had to carry. The line was in the first place laid with
fish-bellied rails of only thirty-five pounds to the yard, calculated
only for horse-traffic, or, at most, for engines like the "Rocket,"
of very light weight. But as the power and the weight of the
locomotives were increased, it was found that such rails were
quite insufficient for the safe conduct of the traffic, and it therefore became necessary to relay the road with heavier and stronger
rails at considerable expense.
The details of the carrying stock had in like manner to be settled by experience. Every thing had, as it were, to be begun
from the beginning. The coal-wagon, it is true, served in some
degree as a model for the railway-truck; but the railway passenger-carriage was an entirely novel structure. It had to be
mounted upon strong framing, of a peculiar kind, supported on
springs to prevent jolting. Then there was the necessity for contriving some method of preventing hard bumping of the carriageends when the train was pulled up, and hence the contrivance
of buffer-springs and spring-frames. For the purpose of stopping the train, brakes on an improved plan were also contrived,
with new modes of lubricating the carriage-axles, on which the
wheels revolved at an unusually high velocity. In all these contrivances Mr. Stephenson's inventiveness was kept constantly on
the stretch; and though many improvements in detail have been
effected since his time, the foundations were then laid by him of
the present system of conducting railway traffic. As a curious
illustration of the inventive ingenuity which he displayed in contriving the working of the Liverpool line, we may mention his
invention of the Self-acting Brake. He early entertained the
idea that the momentum of the running train might itself be
made available for the purpose of checking its speed. He proposed to fit each carriage with a brake which should be called
into action immediately on the locomotive at the head of the
train being pulled up. The impetus of the carriages carrying
them forward, the buffer-springs would be driven home, and, at
the same time, by a simple arrangement of the mechanism, the
brakes would be called into simultaneous action; thus the wheels
would be brought into a state of sledge, and the train speedily
stopped. This plan was adopted by Mr. Stephenson before he
left the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, though it was after



CHAP; XIII.] IMPROVEMENT OF THE LOCOMOTIVE.         335
ward discontinued; and it is a remarkable fact, that this identical plan, with the addition of a centrifugal apparatus, was recently revived by M. Gudrin, a French engineer, and extensively employed on foreign railways.
Finally, Mr. Stephenson had to attend to the improvement of
the power and speed of the locomotive-always the grand object
of his study —with a view to economy as well as regularity in the
working of the railway. In the " Planet" engine, delivered upon
the line immediately subsequent to the public opening, all the
improvements whlich had up to this time been contrived by him
and his son were introduced in combination-the blast-pipe, the
tubular boiler, horizontal cylinders inside the smoke-box, the
cranked axle, and the fire-box firmly fixed to the boiler. The
first load of goods conveyed from Liverpool to Manchester by
the " Planet" was eighty tons in weight, and the engine performed the journey against a strong head wind in two hours and a
half. On another occasion, the same engine brought up a cargo
of voters from Manchester to Liverpool, during a contested election, within a space of sixty. minutes. The" Samson," delivered
in the following year, exhibited still farther improvements, the
most important of which was that of coupling the fore and hind
wheels of the engine. By this means the adhesion of the wheels
on the rails was more effectually secured, and thus the full hauling power of the locomotive was made available. The " Samson;" shortly after it was placed upon the line, dragged after it a
train of wagons weighing a hundred and fifty tons at a speed of
about twenty miles an hour, the consumption of coke being reduced to only about a third of a pound per ton per mile.
The rapid progress thus made will show that the inventive
faculties of Mr. Stephenson and his son were kept fully on -the
stretch; but their labors were amply repaid by the result. They
were, doubtless, to some extent stimulated by the number of competitors who about the same time appeared as improvers of the
locomotive engine. But the superiority of Stephenson's locomotives over all others that had yet been tried induced the directors
of the railway to require that the engines supplied to them by
other builders should be constructed after the same model. Mr.
Stephenson himself always had the greatest faith in the superiority of his own engines over all others, and did not hesitate




336             STEPHENSON'S WORKIMEN.            [PART II.
strongly to declare it. When it was once proposed to introduce
the engines of another maker on the Manchester and Leeds line,
he said, "Very well; I have no objection; but put them to this
fair test. Ilang one of -'s engines on to one of mine, back
to back. Then let them go at it; and whichever walks away
with the other, that's the engine."
The engineer had also to seek out the proper men to maintain
and watch the road, and more especially to work the locomotive
engines. Steadiness, sobriety; common sense, and practical experience were the qualities which he especially valued in those
selected by him for that purpose. But where were the men of
experience to be found? Very few railways were yet at work,
and these were almost exclusively confined to the northern coal
counties; hence a considerable proportion of the drivers and
firemen employed on the Liverpool line were brought from the
neighborhood of Newcastle. But he could not always find skilled workmen enough for the important and responsible duties to
be performed. It was a saying of his that "he could engineer
matter very well, and make it bend to his purpose, but his greatest difficulty was in engineering men." He often wished that he
could contrive heads and hands on which he might rely, as easily
as he could construct railways and manufacture locomotives. As
it was, Stephenson's mechanics were in request all over England
-the Newcastle workshops continuing for many years to perform the part of a training-school for engineers, and to supply
locomotive superintendents and drivers, not only for England,
but for nearly every country in Europe —preference being given
to, them by the directors of railways, in consequence of their previous training and experience, as well as because of their generally excellent qualities as steady and industrious workmen.
The success of the Liverpool and Manchester experiment naturally excited great interest. People flocked to Lancashire from
all quarters to see the steam-coach running upon a railway at
three times the speed of a mail-coach, and to enjoy the excitement of actually traveling in the wake of an engine at that incredible velocity. The travelers returned to their respective districts full of the wonders of the locomotive, considering it to be
the greatest marvel of the age. Railways are familiar enough
objects now, and our children who grow up in their midst may




.CHAP. XIII.]   FAST STA GE- COACH TRA VELING.      337
think little of them; but thirty years since it was an event in
one's life to see a locomotive, and to travel for the first time upon
a public railroad.
In remote districts, however, the stories told about the benefits
conferred by the Liverpool Railway were received with considerable incredulity, and the proposal to extend such roads in all
directions throughout the country caused great alarm. In the
districts through which stage-coaches ran, giving employment to
large numbers of persons, it was apprehended that, if railways
were established, the turnpike roads would become deserted and
grown over with grass, country inns and their buxom landladies
would be ruined, the race of coach-drivers and hostlers would become extinct, and the breed of horses be entirely destroyed. But
there was hope for the coaching interest in the fact that the government were employing their engineers to improve the public
high roads so as to render railways unnecessary. It was announced in the papers that a saving of thirty miles would be effected by the new road between London and Holyhead, and an
equal saving between London and Edinburg. And to show what
the speed of horses could accomplish, we find it set forth as an
extraordinary fact that the " Patent Tally-ho Coach," in the year
1830 (when the Birmingham line had been projected), performed
the entire journey of 109 miles between London and Birmingham-breakfast included -in seven hours and fifty minutes!
Great speed was also recorded on the Brighton road, the "Red
Rover" doing the distance between London and Brighton in four
hours and a half. These speeds were not, however, secured without accidents, for there was scarcely a newspaper of the period
that did not contain one or more paragraphs headed "Another
dreadful coach accident."
The practicability of railway locomotion being now proved,
and its great social and commercial advantages ascertained, the
extension of the system was merely a question of time, money,
and labor. A fine opportunity presented'itself for the wise and
judicious action of the government in the matter, the improvement' of the internal communications of a country being really
one of its most important functions. But the government of the
day, though ready enough to spend money in improving the old
turnpike roads, regarded the railroads with hostility, and met
Y




338           GO VERNIENT AND RAIL WAYS.          [PART II.
them with obstructions of all kinds. They seemed to think it
their duty to protect the turnpike trusts, disregarding the paramount interest of the public. This may possibly account for the
singular circumstance that, at the very time they were manifesting indifference or aversion to the locomotive on the railroad,
they were giving every encouragement to the locomotive on turnpike roads. In 1831, we find a Committee of the House of Commons appointed to inquire into and report upon —not the railway
system, but-the applicability of the steam-carriage to common
roads; and, after investigation, the committee were so satisfied
with the evidence taken, that they reported decidedly in favor of
the road locomotive system. Though they ignored the railway,
they recognized the steam-carriage.
But even a Report of the House of Commons, powerful though
it be, can not alter the laws of gravity and friction; and the road
locomotive remained, what it ever will be, an impracticable machine. Not that it is impossible to work a locomotive upon a
common road, but to work it to any profit at all as compared with
the locomotive upon a railway. Numerous trials of steam-carriages were made at the time by Sir Charles Dance, Mr. Hancock,
Mr. Gurney, Sir James Anderson, and other distinguished gentlemen of influence. Journalists extolled their utility, compared
with "the much-boasted application on railroads."*  But, notwithstanding all this, and the House of Commons' Report in its
favor, Stephenson's first verdict, pronounced on the road locomotive many years before, when he was only an engine-wright at
Killingworth, was fully borne out by the result, and it became
day by day clearer that the attempt to introduce the engine into
general use upon turnpike roads could only prove a delusion and
a snare.
Although the Legislature took no initiative step in the direction of railway extension, the public spirit and enterprise of the
country did not fail it at this juncture. The English people,
though they may be defective in their capacity for organization,
are strong in individualism, and not improbably their admirable
qualities in the latter respect detract from their efficiency in the
former. Thus, in all times, their greatest national enterprises
have not been planned by officialism and carried out upon any
* Letter of Mr. John Herapath in " Mechanics' Magazine," vol. xv., p. 123.




CHAP. XIII.]    RAIL WAY COMPANIES FORMED.           339
regular system, but have sprung, like their Constitution, their
laws, and their entire industrial arrangements, from the force of
circumstances and the individual energies of the people. Hence
railway extension, like so many other great English enterprises,
was now left to be carried out by the genius of English engineers, backed by the energy of the British public.
The mode of action was characteristic and national. The execution of the new lines was undertaken entirely by joint-stock
associations of proprietors, after the manner of the Stockton and
Darlington, and Liverpool and Manchester companies. These
associations are conformable to our national habits, and fit well
into our system of laws. They combine the power of vast resources with individual watchfulness and motives of self-interest; and by their means gigantic undertakings, which elsewhere
would be impossible to any but kings and emperors with great
national resources at command, were carried out by the co-operation of private persons. And the results of this combination of
means and of enterprise have been truly marvelous. Within the
life of the present generation, the private citizens of England engaged in railway extension have, in the face of government obstructions, and without taking a penny from the public purse,
executed a system of communications involving works of the
most gigantic kind, which, in their total mass, their cost, and
their public utility, far exceed the most famous national undertakings of any age or country.
Mr. Stephenson was, of course, actively engaged in the construction of the numerous railways now projected by the jointstock companies. During the formation of the Manchester and
Liverpool line he had been consulted respecting many projects of
a similar kind. One of these was a short railway between Canterbury and Whitstable, about six miles in length. He was too
much occupied with the works at Liverpool to give this scheme
much of his personal attention; but he sent his assistant, Mr.
John Dixon, to survey the line, and afterward Mr. Locke to superintend the execution of the works. The act was obtained in
1826, and the line was opened for traffic in 1830. It was partly
worked by fixed engine-power, and partly by Stephenson's locomotives, similar to the engines used upon the Stockton and Darlington Railway.




340                NEW ENGINEERS.                [PART II.
But the desire for railway extension principally pervaded the
manufacturing districts, especially after the successful opening
of the Liverpool and Manchester line. The commercial classes
of the larger towns soon became eager for a participation in the
good which they had so recently derided. Railway projects
were set on foot in great numbers, and Manchester became a
centre from which main lines and branches were started in all
directions. The interest, however, which attaches to these later
schemes is of a much less absorbing kind than that which belongs to the early history of the railway and the steps by which
it was mainly established. We naturally sympathize more with
the early struggles of a great principle, its trials and its difficulties, than w1th its after stages of success; and, however gratified
and astonished we may be at its results, the interest is in a great
measure gone when its triumph has become a matter of certainty.
The commercial. results of the Liverpool and Manchester line
were so satisfactory, and, indeed, so greatly exceeded the expectations of its projectors, that many of the abandoned projects of
the speculative year 1825 were forthwith revived. An abundant
crop of engineers sprang up, ready to execute railways of any
extent.'Now that the Liverpool and Manchester line had been
made, and the practicability of working it by locomotive power
had been proved, it was.a ewsy for engineers to make railways
and to work them as it was for navigators to find America after
Columbus had made the first voyage. Mr. Francis Giles himself
took the field as a locomotive railway engineer, attaching himself
to the Newcastle and Carlisle and London and Southampton
projects. Mr. Brunel appeared, in like manner, as the engineer
of the line projected between London and Bristol; and Mr.
Braithwaite, the builder of the " Novelty" engine, as the engineer
of a line from London to Colchester.
The first lines, however, which were actually constructed subsequent to the opening of. the:Liverpool and Manchester Railway
were in connection with it, and principally in the county of Lancaster. Thus a branch was formed from Bolton to Leigh, and
another from Leigh to Kenyon, where it formed a junction with
the main line between Liverpool and Manchester. Branches to
Wigan on the north, and to Runcorn Gap and Warrington on
the south of the same line, were also formed; and a continuation




CHAP. XIII.]    OPPOSITION OF LAND-O WNERS.          341
of the latter, as far south as Birmingham, was shortly after projected, under the name of the Grand Junction Railway.
The last-mentioned line was projected as early as the year 1824,
when the Liverpool and Manchester scheme was under discussion,
and Mr. Stephenson then published a report on the subject. The
plans were deposited, but the bill was thrown out on the opposition of the land-owners and canal proprietors. When engaged in
making the survey, Stephenson called upon some of the landowners in the neighborhood of Nantwich to obtain their assent,
and was greatly disgusted to learn that the agents of the canal
companies had been before him, and described the locomotive to
the farmers as a most frightful machine, emitting a breath as
poisonous as the fabled dragon of old; and telling them that if a
bird flew over the district when one of these engines passed, it
would inevitably drop down dead!. The application for the bill
was renewed in 1826, and again failed; and at length it was determined to wait the issue of the Liverpool and Manchester experiment: The act was eventually obtained in 1833, by which
time the projectors of railways had learned the art of "conciliating" the landlords-and a very expensive process it proved. But
it was the only mode of avoiding a still more expensive Parliamentary opposition.
When it was proposed to extend the advantages of railways to
the population of the midland and southern counties of England,
an immense amount of alarm was created in the minds of the
country gentlemen. They did not relish the idea of private individuals, principally residents in the manufacturing districts, invading their domains, and they every where rose up in arms
against the "new-fahgled roads." Colonel Sibthorpe openly declared his hatred of the "infernal railroads," and said that he
"would rather meet a highwayman, or see a burglar on his
premises, than an engineer!" Mr. Berkeley, the member for
Cheltenham, at a public meeting in that town, re-echoed Colonel
Sibthorpe's sentiments, and " wished that the concoctors of every
such scheme, with their solicitors and engineers, were at rest in
Paradise I" The impression prevailed among the rural classes
that fox-covers and game-preserves would be seriously prejudiced
by the formation of railroads; that agricultural communications
would be destroyed, land thrown out of cultivation, land-owners




342        OPPOSITION OF THE LARGE TOWNS    [PART II.
and farmers reduced to beggary, the poor-rates increased through
the number of persons thrown out of employment by the railways, and all this in order that Liverpool, Manchester, and Birmingham shop-keepers and manufacturers might establish a monstrous monopoly in railway traffic.
The inhabitants of even some of the large towns were thrown
into a state of consternation by the proposal to provide them with
the accommodation of a railway. The line from London to Birmingham would naturally have passed close to the handsome
town of Northampton, and was so projected. But the inhabitants
of the place, urged on by the local press, and excited by men of
influence and education, opposed the project, and succeeded in
forcing the promoters, in their survey of the line, to pass the town
at a distance. The necessity was thus involved of distorting the
line, by which the enormous expense of constructing the Kilsby
Ttinnel- was incurred. Not many years elapsed before the ihhabitants of Northampton became clamorous for railway accommodation, and a special branch was constructed for them. The additional cost involved by this forced deviation of the line could
not have amounted to less than half a million sterling; the loss
falling, not upon the shareholders only, but upon the public.
Other towns in the south followed the example of Northampton in howling down the railways.  When the first railway
through Kent was projected, the line was laid out so as to pass
by Maidstone, the county town. But it had not a single supporter
among the townspeople, while the land-owners for many miles
round continued to oppose it. A few years later the Maidstone
burgesses, like those of Northampton, became clamorous for a
railway, and a branch was formed for their accommodation. In
like manner, the London and Bristol (afterward the Great Western) Railway was vehemently opposed by the people of the towns
through which the line was projected to pass; and when the bill
was thrown out by the Lords-after ~30,000 had been expended
by the promoters-the inhabitants of Eton assembled, under the
presidency of the Marquis of Chandos, to rejoice and congratulate themselves and the country upon its defeat. Eton, however,
has now the convenience of two railways to the metropolis.
During the time that the works of the Liverpool and Manchester line were in: progress, our engineer was consulted respecting




CHAP. XIII.] LEICESTIER AND SWANNINGTON RAIL WAY.   343
a short railway proposed to be formed between Leicester and
Swannington, for the purpose of opening up a communication
between the town of Leicester and the coal-fields in the western
part of the county. Mr. Ellis,
— W   g   the projector of this undertaking, had some difficulty in
getting the requisite capital
subscribed for, the Leicester
townspeople who had moneOF TE ECET AND
being for the most part interested in canals. George SteStephenson was then asked to undertakphenson was invited to come
difficulty  he had             upon the  ground andmsurvey
way in fihanding suwhichb-  was enougthe line    e did so, attend theo
scpropiberly.   the         the eprojector told him. of the
concern.  "_Give
me a sheet,"  said
thing." Would Mr. Stephenson, "andanswerable for him? "Oh
I    will raise the
money for you inbeen obtained,
iRobverool." Stephenson proceeded with the construction of the railengineer  was as    - -
good as his word,    MAP OF THE~ EICESTER AND, SwANINGTON RAILWAY.
and in a short
wime the sheet was returned with the subscription complete. Mr.
Stephenson was then asked to undertake the office of engineer
for the line but his answer was that he had thirty miles of tranelway in hand, whicn   was enough for any  engineer to attend to
properly. Was there any person he could recommend?. Well,"
said he, "I think  my son Robert is competent to undertake the
thing." Would Mr. Stephenson be answerable for him.? "Oh
yes, certainly." And Robert Stephenson, at twenty-seven years
of age, was installed engineer of the line accordingly.
The requisite Parliamentary powers having been obtained,
Robert Stephenson proceeded with the construction of the railway, about sixteen miles in length, toward the end of 1830. The
works were comparatively easy, excepting at the Leicester end,
where the young engineer encountered his first stiff bit of tunneling, The line passed under ground for a mile and three quar



344          SNIBSTON ESTATE PURCHASED.            [PART II.
ters, and 500 yards of its course lay through loose running sand.
The presence of this material rendered it necessary for the engineer, in the first place, to construct a wooden tunnel to support
the soil while the brick-work was being executed. This measure
proved sufficient, and the whole was brought to a successful termination within a reasonable time. While the works were in
progress, Robert kept up a regular correspondence with his father
at Liverpool, consulting him on all points in which his greater experience was likely to be of service. Like his father, Robert was
very observant, and always ready to seize opportunity by the forelock. It happened that the estate of Snibston, near Ashby-de-laZouch, was advertised for sale, and the young engineer's experience as a coal-viewer and practical geologist suggested to his
mind that coal was most probably to be found underneath. He
communicated his views to his father on the subject. The estate
lay in the immediate neighborhood of the railway; and if the
conjecture proved correct, the finding of the coal must necessarily prove a most fortunate circumstance for the purchasers of
the land. He accordingly requested his father to come over to
Snibston and look at the property, which he did; and after a
careful inspection of the ground, he arrived at the same conclu-,sion as his son.
The large manufacturing town of Leicester, about fourteen
rniles distant, had up to that time been exclusively supplied with
coal brought by canal from Derbyshire, and the Stephensons saw
that the railway under construction from Swannington to Leicester would furnish a ready market for any coals which might be
found at Snibston. Having induced two of his Liverpool friends
to join him in the venture, the Snibston estate was purchased in
1831, and shortly after Stephenson removed his home from Liverpool to Alton Grange, for the purpose of superintending the
sinking of the pit.
Sinking. operations were immediately begun, and proceeded
satisfactorily until the old enemy, water, burst in upon the workmen, and threatened to drown them out. But by means of efficient pumping-engines, and the skillful casing of the shaft with
segments of cast iron-a process called " tubbing,"* which Ste* Tubbing is now adopted in many cases as a substitute for brick-walling. The
tubbing consists of short portions of cast-iron cylinder fixed in segments. Each




CHAP. XIII.]       OPENS OUT THE COAL.                  345
phenson was the first to adopt in the Midland Counties-it was
eventually made water-tight, and the sinking proceeded. When
a depth of 166 feet had been reached, a still more formidable
difficulty presented itself-one which had baffled former sinkers
in the neighborhood, and deterred them from farther operations.
This was a remarkable bed of whinstone or greenstone, which had
originally been poured out as a sheet of burning lava over the
denuded surface of the coal measures; indeed, it was afterward
found that it had turned to cinders one part of the seam of coal
with which it had come in contact. The appearance of this bed
of solid rock was so unusual a circumstance in coal-mining that
some experienced sinkers urged Stephenson to proceed no farther, believing the occurrence of the dike: at that point to be altogether fatal to his enterprise. But, with his faith still firm in the
existence of coal underneath, he fell back on his old motto of
"Persevere!" He determined to go on boring; and down through
the solid rock he went until, twenty-two feet lower, he came upon
the coal measures. In the mean time, however, lest the boring
at that point should prove unsuccessful, he had commenced sinking another pair of shafts about a quarter of a mile west of the
"fault," and, after about nine months' labor, he reached the principal seam, called the " main coal."
The works were then opened out on a large scale, and George
Stephenson had the. pleasure and good fortune to send the first
train of main coal to Leicester by railway. The price was immediately reduced there to about 8s. a ton, effecting a pecuniary
saving to the inhabitants of the town of about ~40,000 per annum, or equivalent to the whole amount then collected in government taxes and local rates, besides giving an impetus to the manufacturing prosperity of the place, which has continued to the
present day. The correct principles upon which the mining operations at Snibston were conducted offered a salutary example
to the neighboring colliery owners. The numerous improvements
there introduced were freely exhibited to all, and they were afterward reproduced in many forms all over the Midland Counties,
greatly to the advantage of the mining interest.
weighs about 41 cwt., is about three or four feet long, and about three eighths of an
inch thick. These pieces are fitted closely together, length under length, and form
an impermeable wall along the sides of the pit.




346           THE SNIBSTON WORK-PEOPLE.          [PART II.
Nor was Mr. Stephenson less attentive to the comfort and wellbeing of those immediately dependent upon him-the work-people of the Snibston Colliery and their families. Unlike many of
those large employers who have " sprung from the ranks," he was
one of the kindest and most indulgent of masters. He would
have a fair day's work for a fair day's wages, but he never forgot
that the employer had his duties as well as his rights. First of
all, he attended to the proper home accommodation of his workpeople. He erected a village of comfortable cottages, each provided with a snug little garden. He was also instrumental in
erecting a church adjacent to the works, as well as Church schools
for the education of the colliers' children; and with that broad
catholicity of sentiment which distinguished him, he farther provided a chapel and a school-house for the use of the Dissenting
portion of the colliers and their families —n examnple of benevolent liberality which was not without a salutary influence upon
the neighboring employes.r
STEPHENSON'B HOUSE AT ALTON GRANGE.








K   -'-l      </7ir'/6J7/!. -..s 0..... /''''/'',  Y,', /             i'///')!  /'i,',.
NEW YORK, HARPER & BROTHERS.




CHAP. XIV.] LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWA Y.        349
CHAPTER XIV.
ROBERT STEPHENSON CONSTRUCTS THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAMI
RAILWAY.
OF the numerous extensive projects which followed close upon
the completion of the Liverpool and Manchester line and the locomotive triumph at Rainhill, that of a railway between London
and Birmingham was the most important. The scheme originated at the latter place in 1830. Two committees were formed,
and two plans were proposed. One was of a line to London by
way of Oxford, and the other by way of Coventry. The object
of the promoters of both schemes being to secure the advantages
of railway communication with the metropolis, they wisely determined to combine their strength to secure it. They resolved to
call George Stephenson to their aid, and requested him to advise
them as to the two schemes which were before them. After a
careful examination of the country, Stephenson reported in favor
of the Coventry route. The Lancashire gentlemen, who were
the principal subscribers to the project, having confidence in his
judgment, supported his decision, and the line recommended by
him was adopted accordingly.
At the meeting of gentlemen held at Birmingham to determine
upon the appointment of the engineer for the railway, there was
a strong party in favor of associating with Stephenson a gentleman with whom he had been brought into serious collision in the
course of the Liverpool and Manchester undertaking. When the
offer was made to him that he should be joint engineer with the
other, he requested leave to retire and consider the proposal with
his son. The two walked into St. Philip's church-yard, which adjoined the place of meeting, and debated the proposal. The father was in favor of accepting it. His struggle heretofore had
been so hard that he could not bear the idea of missing so.promising an opportunity of professional advancement. But the son,
foreseeing the jealousies and heartburnings which the joint engi



350          OPPOSITION TO THE RAIL WAY.        [PART II.
neership would most probably create, recommended his father to
decline the connection. George adopted the suggestion, and, returning to the committee, announced to them his decision, on
which the promoters decided to appoint him the engineer of the
undertaking in conjunction with his son.
This line, like the Liverpool and Manchester, was very strongly
opposed, especially by the land-owners. Numerous pamphlets
were published, calling on the public to " beware of the bubbles,"
and holding up the promoters of railways to ridicule. They
were compared to St. John Long and similar quacks, and pronounced fitter for Bedlam than to be left at- large. The canal
proprietors, land-owners, and road trustees made common cause
against them. The failure of railways was confidently predicted
-indeed, it was elaborately attempted to be proved that they had
failed; and it was industriously spread abroad that the locomotive engines, having been found useless and highly dangerous on
the Liverpool and Manchester line, were immediately to be abandoned in favor of horses —a rumor which the directors of the
company thought it necessary publicly to contradict.
Public meetings were held in all the counties through which
the line would pass between London and Birmingham, at which
the project was denounced, and strong resolutions against it were
passed. The attempt was made to conciliate the landlords by explanations, but all such efforts proved futile, the owners of nearly seven eighths of the land being returned as dissentients. "I
remember," said Robert Stephenson, describing the opposition,
"that we called one day on Sir Astley Cooper, the eminent surgeon, in the hope of overcoming his aversion to the railway. He
was one of our most inveterate and influential opponents. His
country house at Berkhampstead was situated near the intended
line, which passed through part of his property. We found a
courtly, fine-looking old gentleman, of very stately manners, who
received us kindly, and heard all we had to say in favor of the
project. But he was quite inflexible in his opposition to it. No
deviation or improvement that we could suggest had any effect
in conciliating him. He was opposed to railways generally,
and to. this in particular.'Your scheme,' said he,'is preposterous in the extreme. - It is of so extravagant a character as to be
positively absurd. Then look at the recklessness of your proceed



CHAP. XIV.]    OPPOSITION TO THE SURVEY.            351
ings! You are proposing to cut up our estates in all directions
for the purpose of making an unnecessary road. Do you think
for one moment of the destruction of property involv*e by it?
Why, gentlemen, if this sort of thing be permitted to go on, you
will in a very few years destroy the noblesse!' We left the honorable baronet without having produced the slightest effect upon
him, excepting perhaps, it might be, increased exasperation against
our scheme. I could not help observing to my companions as
we left the house,'Well, it is really provoking to find one who
has been made a " Sir" for cuttinrg that wen out of George the
Fourth's neck, charging us with contemplating the destruction of
the noblesse because we propose to confer upon him the benefits
of a railroad."'
Such being the opposition of the owners of land, it was with
the greatest difficulty that an accurate survey of the line could
be made. At one point the vigilance of the land-owners and
their servants was such that the surveyors were effectually prevented taking the levels by the light of day, and it was only at
length accomplished at night by means of dark lanterns. There
was one clergyman, who made such alarming demonstrations of
his opposition, that the'extraordinary expedient was resorted to
of surveying his property during the time he was engaged in the
p'ulpit. This was managed by having a strong force of surveyors in readiness to commence their operations, who entered the
clergyman's grounds on one side the moment they saw him fairly off them on the other. By a well-organized and systematic
arrangement, each man concluded his allotted task just as the
reverend gentleman concluded his sermon; so that, before he
left the church, the deed was done, and the sinners had all decamped. Similar opposition was offered at many other points,
but ineffectually. The laborious application of Robert Stephenson was such that, in examining the country to ascertain the best
line, he walked the whole distance between London and Birmingham upward of twenty times.
When the bill went before the committee of the Commons in
1832, a formidable array of evidence was produced. All the
railway experience of the day was brought to bear in support of
the measure, and all that interested opposition could do was set
in motion against it. The necessity for an improved mode of




352           THE BILL LOST AND REVIVED.         [PART II.
communication between London and Birmingham was clearly
demonstrated, and the engineering evidence was regarded as
quite sAisfactory. Not a single fact was proved against the utility of the measure, and the bill passed the committee, and afterward the third reading in the Commons, by large majorities.
It was then sent to the Lords, and went into committee, when
a similar mass of testimony was again gone through. But scarcely had the proceedings been opened when it became clear that
the fate of the bill had been determined before a word of the evidence had been heard. At that time the committees were open
to all peers; and the promoters of the measure found, to their
dismay, many of the lords who were avowed opponents of the
measure as land-owners, sitting as judges to decide its fate.
Their principal object seemed to be to bring the proceedings to
a termination as quickly as possible. An attempt at negotiation
was made in the course of the proceedings in committee, but
failed, and the bill was thrown out on the motion of Earl Brownlow, one of Lady Bridgewater's trustees; but, though carried by
a large majority, the vote was far from unanimous.
As the result had been foreseen, measures were taken to n'eutralize the effect of this decision as regarded future operations.
Not less than ~32,000 had been expende* in preliminary and
Parliamentary expenses up to this stage; but the promoters determined not to look back, and forthwith made arrangements
for prosecuting the bill in a future session. A meeting of the
friends of the measure was held in London, attended by members of both houses of Parliament and by leading bankers and
merchants, when a series of resolutions was passed, declaring their
conviction of the necessity for the railway, and deprecating the
opposition by which it had been encountered. Lord Wharncliffe,
who had acted as the chairman of the Lords' Committee, attributed the failure of the bill entirely to the land-owners; and Mr.
Glyn subsequently declared that they had tried to smother it by
the high price which they demanded for their property. It was
determined to reintroduce the bill in the following session (1833),
and measures were taken to prosecute it vigorously. Strange to
say, the bill on this occasion passed both houses silently and almost without opposition. The mystery was afterward solved by
the appearance of a circular issued by the directors of the com



CHAP. XIV.]       THE WORKS BEGUN.                  353
pany, in which it was stated that they had opened negotiations
with the most influential of their opponents; that "these measures had been successful to a greater extent than they had ventured to anticipate; and the most active and formidable had
been conciliated."  An instructive commentary on the mode by
which these noble lords and influential landed proprietors had
been "conciliated" was found in the simple fact that the estimate
for land was nearly trebled: and that the owners were paid about
~750,000 for what had been originally estimated at ~250,000.
The total expenses of carrying the bill through Parliament
amounted to the enormous sum of ~72,868.
The land-owners having been thus " conciliated," the promoters of the measure were at length permitted to proceed with the
formation of their great highway. Robert Stephenson was, with
his father's sanction, appointed engineer-in-chief of the line, at a
salary of ~1500 a year. He was now a married man, having become united to Miss Frances Sanderson in 1829, since which his
home had been at Newcastle, near to the works there; but, on receiving his new appointment, he removed with his wife to London, to a house on Haverstock Hill, where he resided during the
execution of the Birmingham Railway.
Steps were at once taken to proceed with the working survey,
to prepare the working drawings, and arrange for the prosecution
of the undertaking. Eighty miles of the line were shortly under
construction; the works were let (within the estimates) to contractors, who were necessarily, for the most part, new to such
work. The business of railway construction was not then well
understood. There were no leviathans among contractors as
now, able to undertake the formation of a line of railway hundreds of miles in length; they were, for the most part, men of
small capital and slender experience. Their tools and machinery
were imperfect; they did not mnderstand the economy of time
and piece labor; the workmen, as well as their masters, had still
to learn their trade; and every movement of an engineer was attended with outlays, which were the inevitable result of a new
system of things, but which each succeeding day's experience
tended to diminish.
The difficulties encountered in the construction of this railway
were thus very great, the most formidable of them originating in




354          DIFFICULTIES.
the character of the works themselves. Extensive tunnels had to be driven through unknown strata, and miles of underground excavation had to be carried out in order to
form a level road from valley to valley under
the intervening ridges. This kind of work
was the newest of all to the contractors oft w =Q
that day. Robert Stephenson's experience in
the collieries of the North rendered him well
fitted to. grapple with such difficulties; yet
even he, with all his practical knowledge,  R
could scarcely have foreseen the serious obstacles which he was called upon to enooun-    i    L
ter in executing the formidable cuttings, em- #   _ l
bankments, and tunnels of the London and
Birmingham Railway.  It would be an un-   iVpT
interesting, as it would be a fruitless task, to
attempt to describe these works in detail;  ""
but a general outline of their extraordinary
character and extent may not be out of place. 
The length of railway to be constructed i,"
between London and Birmingham was 112k.1
miles. The line crossed a series of low-lying
districts, separated fromn each other by con-        AL
siderable ridges of hills, and it was the object     4.r.  
of the engineer to cross the valleys at as high
an elevation, and the hills at as low a one as
possible. The high ground was therefore c.ut
down, and the " stuff" led into embankments,,
in some places of great height and extent, so    OcAN
as to form a road upon as level a plane as.        w)
was considered practicable for the working WS
of the locomotive engine. In some places t
the high grounds were passed in open.cut-'tings, while in others it was necessary to bore  p
through them in tunnels with deep cuttings
at either end.
The most formidable excavations on the
line are those at Tring, Denbigh Hall, and




CHAP. XIV.]  TRING AND BLISWORTH CUTTING.             355
Blisworth. The Tring cutting is an immense chasm across the
great chalk ridge of Ivinghoe. It is two miles and a half long,
and for a quarter of a mile is fifty-seven feet deep. A million
and a half cubic yards of chalk and earth were taken out of this
cutting by means of horse-runs, and deposited in spoil-banks, besides the immense quantity run into the embankment north of
the cutting, forming a solid mound nearly six miles long and
about thirty feet high. Passing over the Denbigh Hall cutting,
and the Wolverton embankment of a mile and a half in length
across the valley of the Ouse, we come to the excavation at Blisworth, a brief description of which will give the reader an idea
of one of the most formidable kinds of railway work.
The Blisworth Cutting is a mile and a half long, in some places
BLISWORTH OUTTING. By Percival Skelton.]
sixty-five feet deep, passing through earth, stiff clay, and hard
rock. Not less than a million cubic yards of these materials
were dug, quarried, and blasted out of it. One third of the cutting was stone, and beneath the stone lay a thick bed of clay, under which were found beds of loose shale so full of water that
almost constant pumping was necessary at many points to enable
z




356             PRIMROSE HILL TUNNEL.           [PART II.
the works to proceed. For a year and a half the contractor went
on fruitlessly contending with these difficulties, and at length he
was compelled to abandon the adventure. The engineer then
took the works in hand for the company, and they were vigorously proceeded with. Steam-engines were set to work to pump
out the water; two locomotives were put on, one at either end of
the cutting, to drag away the excavated rock and clay; and eight
hundred men and boys were employed along the work, in digging, wheeling, and blasting, besides a large number of horses.
Some idea of the extent of the blasting operations may be formed
from the fact that twenty-five barrels of gunpowder were exploded
weekly, the total quantity used in forming this one excavation
being about three thousand barrels. Considerable difficulty was
experienced in supporting the bed of rock cut through, which
overlaid the clay and shale along either side of the cutting. It
was found necessary to hold it up by strong retaining walls, to
prevent the clay bed from bulging out, and these walls were farther supported by a strong invert —that is, an arch placed in an
inverted position under the road-thus binding together the walls
on both sides. Behind the retaining walls, a drift or horizontal
drain was run to enable the water to escape, and occasional openings were left in the walls themselves for the same purpose. The
work was at length brought to a successful completion, but the
extraordinary difficulties encountered in executing the undertaking had the effect of greatly increasing the cost of this portion of
the railway.
The Tunnels on the line are eight in number, their total length
being 7336 yards. The first high ground encountered was Primrose Hill, where the stiff London clay was passed through for a
distance of about 1164 yards. The clay was close, compact, and
dry, more difficult to work than stone itself. It was entirely free
from water; but the absorbing properties of the clay were such
that when exposed to the air it swelled out rapidly. Hence an
unusual thickness of brick lining' was found necessary; and the
engineer afterward informed the author that for some time he
entertained an:apprehension lest the pressure should force in the
brick-work altogether, as afterward happened in the case of the
short Preston Brook tunnel upon the Grand Junction Railway,
constructed by his father. The pressure behind the brick-work




CHAP. XIV.]           KILSBY TUNNEL.                      357
was so great that it made the face of the bricks to fly off in minute chips, which covered his clothes while he was inspecting the
work. The materials used in the building were, however, of excellent quality, and the work was happily brought to a completion
without accident.
At Watford the chalk ridge was penetrated by a tunnel about
1800 yards long, and at Northchurch, Lindslade, and Stowe Hill
there were other tunnels of minor extent. But the' chief difficulty of the undertaking was the execution of that under the
Kilsby ridge. Though not the largest, this is in many respects
one of the most interesting works of the kind. It is about two
thousand four hundred yards long, and runs at an average depth
of about a hundred and sixty feet below the surface. The ridge
under which it extends is of considerable extent, the famous battle of Naseby having been fought upon one of the spurs of the
same high ground, about seven miles to the eastward.
Previous to the letting of the contract, the character of the underground soil was fairly tested by trial shafts, which indicated
that it consisted of shale of the lower oolite, and the works were
-INE Or THE SHAFTS OVER KILSBY TUNNEL. [By Percival Skelto]LINE OF THE BSAFTS OVER KILSBY TUNNEL. [By Percival Skelton.J




358         THE WORKMEN "DROWNED OUT."    [PART II.
let accordingly. But they had scarcely been commenced when
it was discovered that, at an interval between the two trial-shafts,
which had been sunk about two hundred yards from the south
end of the tunnel, there existed an extensive quicksand under a
bed of clay forty feet thick, which the borings had escaped in the
most singular manner. At the bottom of one of these shafts, the
excavation and building of the tunnel were proceeding, when the
roof at one part suddenly gave way, a deluge of water burst in,
and the party of workmen with the utmost difficulty escaped with
their lives. They were only saved by means of a raft, on which
they were towed by one of the engineers swimming with the rope
in his mouth to the lower end of the shaft, out of which they were
safely lifted to the daylight.
The works were of course at that point immediately stopped.
The contractor who had undertaken the construction of the tunnel was so overwhelmed by the calamity that, though he was relieved by the company from his engagement, he took to his bed
and shortly after died. Pumping-engines were erected for the
purpose of draining off the water, but for a long time it prevailed,
and sometimes even rose in the shaft. The question arose whether, in the face of so formidable a difficulty, the works should be
proceeded with or abandoned. Robert Stephenson sent over to
Alton Grange for his father, and the two took serious counmsel together. George was in favor of pumping out the water from the
top by powerful engines erected over each shaft, until the water
was fairly mastered. Robert concurred in that view, and, although other engineers who were consulted pronounced strongly
against the practicability of the scheme and advised the abandonment of the enterprise, the directors authorized him to proceed,
and powerful steam-engines were ordered to be constructed and
delivered without loss of time.
In the mean time Robert suggested to his father the expediency of running a drift along the heading from the south end of
the tunnel, with the view of draining off the water in that way.
George said he thought it would scarcely answer, but that it was
worth a trial, at all events until the pumping-engines were got
ready. Robert accordingly gave orders for the drift to be proceeded with. The excavators were immediately set to work, and
they had nearly reached the quicksand, when one day, while the.




CHAP. XIV.]    PUMPING POWER EMPLOYED.              359
engineer, his assistants, and the workmen were clustered about
the open entrance of the drift-way, they heard a sudden roar as
of distant thunder. It was hoped that the water had burst infor all the workmen were out of the drift- and that the sand-bed
would now drain itself off in a natural way. Instead of which,
very little water made its appearance, and on examining the inner end of the drift, it was found that the loud noise had been
caused by the sudden discharge into it of an immense mass of
sand, which had completely choked up the passage, and thus prevented the water from draining off.
The engineer now found that nothing remained but to sink numerous additional shafts over the line of the tunnel at the points
at which it crossed the quicksand, and endeavor to master the water by sheer force of engines and pumps. The engines, which
were shortly erected, possessed an aggregate power of 160 horses;
and they went on pumping for eight months, emptying out an almost incredible quantity of water. It was found that the water,
with which the bed of sand extending over many miles was
charged, was in a great degree held back by the particles of the
sand itself, and that it could only percolate through at a certain
average rate. It appeared in its flow to take a slanting direction
to the suction of the pumps, the angle of inclination depending
upon the coarseness or fineness of the sand, and regulating the
time of the flow. IIence the distribution of the pumping power
at short intervals along the line of the tunnel had a much greater
effect than the concentration of that power at any one place. It
soon appeared that the water had found its master. Protected
by the pumps, which cleared a space for engineering operations
-carried on, as it were, amid.two almost perpendicular walls of
water and sand on either side-the workmen proceeded with the
building of the tunnel at numerous points. Every exertion was
used to wall in the dangerous parts as quickly as possible, the excavators and bricklayers laboring night and day until the work
was finished. Even while under the protection of the immense
pumping power above described, it often happened that the bricks
were scarcely covered with cement ready for the setting ere they
were washed quite clean by the streams of water which poured
from overhead. The men were accordingly under the necessity
of holding over their work large whisks of straw and other




360     WATER RAISED. —RUIN OF CONTRACTORS. [PART II.
appliances to protect the bricks and cement at the moment of
setting.
The quantity of water pumped out of the sand-bed during
eight months of this incessant pumping averaged two thousand
gallons per minute, raised from an average depth of 120 feet. It
is difficult to form an adequate idea of the bulk of water thus
raised, but it may be stated that if allowed to flow for three hours
only, it would fill a lake one acre square to the depth of one foot,
and if allowed to flow for an entire day it would fill the lake to
over eight feet in depth, or sufficient to float a vessel of a hundred tons' burden. The water pumped out of the tunnel while
the work was in progress would be nearly equivalent to the contents of the Thames at high water between London and Woolwich. It is a curious circumstance, that notwithstanding the
quantity of water thus removed, the level of the surface in the
tunnel was only lowered about two and a half to three inches
per week, showing the vast area of the quicksand, which probably
extended along the entire ridge of land under which the railway
passed.
The cost of the line was greatly increased by the difficulties
thus encountered at Kilsby. The original estimate for the tunnel was only ~99,000; but by the time it was finished it had cost
about ~100 per lineal yard forward, or a total of nearly ~300,000.
The expenditure on the other parts of the line also greatly exceeded the amount first set down by the engineer, and, before the
railway was complete, it had been more than doubled. The land
cost three times more than the estimate, and the claims for compensation were enormous. Although the contracts were let within the estimates, very few of the contractors were able to finish
them without the assistance of the company, and many became
bankrupt. Speaking of the difficulties encountered during the
construction of the line, Robert Stephenson subsequently observed
to us: "After the works were let, wages rose, the prices of materials of all kinds rose, and the contractors, many of whom were
men of comparatively small capital, were thrown on their beamends. Their calculations as to expenses and profits were completely upset. Let me just go over the list. There was Jackson,
who took the Primrose Hill contract-he failed. Then there
was the next length —Nowells; then Copeland and Harding;




CHAP. XIV.]   MAGNITUDE OF THE WORKS.              361
north of them Townsend, who had the Tring cutting; next Norris, who had Stoke Hammond; then Soars; then Hughes: I think
all of these broke down, or at least were helped through by the
directors. Then there was that terrible contract of the Kilsby
Tunnel, which broke the Nowells, and killed one of them. The
contractors to the north of Kilsby were more fortunate, though
some of them pulled through only with the greatest difficulty.
Of the eighteen contracts in which the line was originally let,
only seven were completed by the original contractors. Eleven
firms were ruined by their contracts, which were relet to others
at advanced prices, or were carried on and finished by the company. The principal cause of increase in the expense, however,
was the enlargement of the stations. It appeared that we had
greatly under-estimated the traffic, and it accordingly became
necessary to spend more and more money for its accommodation,
until I think I am within the mark when I say that the expenditure on this account alone exceeded by eight or ten fold the
amount of the Parliamentary estimate."
The magnitude of the works, which- were unprecedented in
England, was one of the most remarkable features in the undertaking. The following striking comparison has been made between this railway and one of the greatest works of ancient times.
The great Pyramid of Egypt was, according to Diodorus Siculus,
constructed by three hundred thousand-according to Herodotus,
by one hundred thousand-men.. It required for its execution
twenty years, and the labor expended upon it has been estimated
as equivalent to lifting 15,733,000,000 of cubic feet of stone one
foot high; whereas, if the labor expended in constructing the
London and Birmingham Railway be in like manner reduced to
one common denomination, the result is 25,000,000,000 of cubic
feet more than was lifted for the Great Pyramid; and yet the
English work was performed by about 20,000 men in less than
five years. And while the Egyptian work was executed by a
powerful monarch concentrating upon it the labor and capital of
a great nation, the English railway was constructed, in the face
of every conceivable obstruction and difficulty, by a company of
private individuals out of their own resources, without the aid of
government or the contribution of one farthing of public money.
The laborers who executed these formidable works were in




362              THE RAIL WAY NA VVIES.           [PART II.
many respects a remarkable class. The " railway navvies,"* as
they were called, were men drawn by the attraction of good
wages from all parts of the kingdom; and they were ready for
any sort of hard work. Many of the laborers employed on the
Liverpool line were Irish; others were from the Northumberland
and Durham railways, where they had been accustomed to similar work; and some of the best came from the fen districts of
Lincoln and Cambridge, where they had been trained to execute
works of excavation and embankment. These old practitioners
formed a nucleus of'skilled manipulation and aptitude which
rendered them of indispensable utility in the immense undertakings of the period. Their expertness in all sorts of earth-work,
in embanking, boring, and well-sinking-their practical knowledge of the nature of soils and rocks, the tenacity of clays, and
the porosity of certain stratifications -were very great; and,
rough-looking as they were, many of them were as important in
their own department as the contractor or the engineer.
During the railway-making period the navvy wandered about
from one public work to another, apparently belonging to no
country and having no home. He usually wore a white felt hat
with the brim turned up, a velveteen or jean square-tailed coat, a
scarlet plush waistcoat with little black spots, and a bright-colored kerchief round his Herculean neck, whenj as often happened,
it was not left entirely bare.' His' corduroy breeches were retained in position by a leathern strap round the waist, and were
tied and buttoned at the knee, displaying beneath a solid calf and
foot incased in strong high-laced boots. Joining together in a
" butty gang," some ten or twelve of these men would take a contract to cut out and remove so much "dirt" —as they denominated earth-cutting-fixing their price according to the character
of the "stuff," and the distance to which it had to be wheeled
and tipped. The contract taken, every man put himself to his
mettle; if any was found skulking, or not putting forth his full
working power, he was ejected from the gang. Their powers
of endurance were extraordinary. In times of emergency they
would work for twelve and even sixteen hours, with only short
* The word "navvie," or "navigator," is supposed to have originated in the fact
of many of these laborers having been originally employed in making the navigations,
or canals, the construction of which immediately preceded the railway era.




CHAP. XIV.]     THE RAIL WAY NA V VIES.              363
intervals for meals. The quantity of flesh-meat which they consumed was something enormous; but it was to their bones and
muscles what coke is to the locomotive-the means of keeping
up the steam. They displayed great pluck, and seemed to disregard peril. Indeed, the most dangerous sort of labor-such as
working horse-barrow runs, in which accidents are of constant
occurrence-has always been most in request among them, the
danger seeming to be one of its chief recommendations.
3KILSBY TUNNEL. [North End.]
Working together, eating, drinking, and sleeping together, and
daily exposed to the same influences, these railway laborers soon
presented a distinct and well-defined character, strongly marking
them from the population of the districts in which they labored.
Reckless alike of their lives as of their earnings, the navvies
worked hard and lived hard. For their lodging, a hut of turf
would content them; and, in their hours of leisure, the meanest
public house would serve for their parlor. Unburdened, as they
usually were, by domestic ties, unsoftened by family affection,
and without much moral or religious training, the navvies came




364             THE RAIL WY NA  VVIES.          [PART II.
to be distinguished by a sort of savage manners, which contrasted strangely with those of the surrounding population. Yet, ignorant and violent though they might be, they were usually goodhearted fellows in the main-frank and open-handed with their
comrades, and ready to share their last penny with those in distress. Their pay-nights were often a saturnalia of riot and disorder, dreaded by the inhabitants of the villages along the line
of works. The irruption of such men into the quiet hamlet of
Kilsby must, indeed, have produced a very startling effect on the
recluse inhabitants of the place. Robert Stephenson used to tell
a story of the clergyman of the parish waiting upon the foreman
of one of the gangs to expostulate with him as to the shocking
impropriety of his men working during Sunday. But the head
navvy merely hitched up his trowsers and said, "Why, Soondays
hain't cropt out here yet!" In short, the navvies were little better than heathens, and the village of Kilsby was not restored to
its wonted quiet until the tunnel-works were finished, and the engines and scaffolding removed, leaving only the immense masses
of debris around the line of shafts which extend along the top
of the tunnel.




CHAP. XV.] RAILROADS POPULAR. -GRAND JUNCTION LINE. 365
CHAPTER XV.
MANCHESTER AND LEEDS, AND MIDLAND RAILVAYS — STEPHENSON'S
LIFE AT ALTON - VISIT TO BELGIUM - GENERAL EXTENSION OF
RAILWAYS AND THEIR RESULTS.
THE rapidity with which railways were carried out, when the
spirit of the country became roused, was indeed remarkable.
This was doubtless in some measure owing to the increased force
of the current of speculation at the'time, but chiefly to the desire
which the public began to entertain for the general extension of
the system. It was even proposed to fill up the canals and convert them into railways. The new roads became the topic of
conversation in all circles; they were felt to give a new value to
time; their vast capabilities for "business" peculiarly recommended them to the trading classes, while the friends of " progress" dilated on the great benefits they would eventually confer
upon mankind at large. It began to be seen that Edward Pease
had not been exaggerating when he said; "Let the country but
make the railroads, and the railroads will make the country!"
They also came to be regarded as inviting objects of investment
to the thrifty, and a safe outlet for the accumulations of inert
men of capital. Thus new avenues of iron road were soon in
course of formation, branching in all directions, so that the country promised in a wonderfully short space of time to become
wrapped in one vast network of iron.
In 1836 the Grand Junction Railway was under construction
between Warrington and Birmingham-the northern part by Mr.
Stephenson, and the southern by Mr. Rastrick. The works on
that line embraced heavy cuttings, long embankments, and numerous viaducts; but none of these are worthy of any special
description. Perhaps the finest piece of masonry on the railway
is the Dutton Viaduct across the valley of the Weaver. It consists of 20 arches of 60 feet span, springing 16 feet from the per



366          MANCHESTER AND LEEDS LINE.          [PART II.
pendicular shaft of each pier, and 60 feet in height from the
crown of the arches to the level of the river. The foundations
of the piers were built on piles driven 20 feet deep. The structure has a solid and majestic appearance, and is perhaps the finest
of George Stephenson's viaducts.
THE DUTTON VIADUOT.
The Manchester and Leeds line was in progress at the same
time - an important railway connecting Yorkshire and Lancashire, passing through a district full of manufacturing towns and
villages, the hives of population, industry, and enterprise. An
attempt was made to obtain the act as early as the year 1831;
but its promoters were defeated by the powerful opposition of
the land-owpers, aided by the canal companies, and the project
was not revived for several years. The act authorizing the construction of the line was obtained in 1836; it was amended in
the following year, and the first ground was broken on the 18th
of August, 1837.
An incident occurred while the second Manchester and Leeds
Bill was before the Committee of the Lords which is worthy of
passing notice in this place, as illustrative of George Stephenson's
character. The line which was authorized by Parliament in 1836
had been hastily surveyed within a period of less than six weeks,
but before it received the royal assent the engineer became convinced that many important improvements might be made in it,




CHAP. XV.]       SCENE IN COMMITTEE.                367
and he communicated his views to the directors. They determined, however, to obtain the act, although conscious at the time
that they would have to go for a second and improved line in the
following year. The second bill passed the Commons in 1837
without difficulty, and was expected in like manner to pass the
Lords' Committee. Quite unexpectedly, however, Lord Wharncliffe, who was interested in the Manchester and Sheffield line,
which passed through his colliery property in the south of Yorkshire, conceiving that the new Manchester and Leeds line might
have some damaging effect upon it, appeared as an opponent of
the bill. Himself a member of the committee, he adopted the
unusual course of rising to his feet, and making a set speech
against the measure while.the engineer was under examination.
He alleged that the act obtained in the preceding session was one
that the promoters had no intention of carrying out, that they
had only secured it for the purpose of obtaining possession of the
ground and reducing the number of the opponents to their present application, and that, in fact, they had been practicing a deception upon the House. Then, turning full round upon the witness, he said, "I ask you, sir, do you call that conduct honest."
Stephenson, his voice trembling with emotion, replied, "Yes, my
lord, I do call it honest. And I will ask your lordship, whom I
served for many years as your engine-wright'at the Killingworth
collieries, did you ever know me to do any thing that was not
strictly honorable? You know what the collieries were when. I
went there, and.you know what they were when I leftthem. Did
you ever hear that I was found wanting when honest services
were wanted, or when duty called me?  Let your lordship but
fairly consider the circumstances of the case, and I feel persuaded
you will admit that my conduct has been equally honest throughout in this matter."  He then briefly but clearly stated the history of the application to Parliament for the act, which was so satisfactory to the committee that they passed the preamble of the
bill without farther objection; and Lord Wharncliffe requested
that the committee would permit his observations to be erased
from the record of the evidence, which, as an acknowledgment
of his error, was allowed. Lord Kenyon and several other members of the committee afterward came up to Mr. Stephenson,
shook him by the hand, and congratulated him on the manly way




368                 SUIMMIT TUNNEL.              [PART tI.
in which he had vindicated himself from the aspersions attempted to be cast upon him.
In conducting this project to an issue, the engineer had the
usual opposition and prejudices to encounter. Predictions were
confidently made in many quarters that the line could never succeed. It was declared that the utmost engineering skill could
not construct a railway through such a country of hills and hard
rocks; and it was maintained that, even if the railway were practicable, it could only be.made at a cost altogether ruinous.
During the progress of the works, as the Summit Tunnel near
Littleborough was approaching completion, the rumor was spread
ENTRANCE TO TEE SUMMIT TUNNEL, LITTLEBOROUGH. [By Percival Skelton.]
abroad in Manchester that the tunnel had fallen in and buried a
number of the workmen. The last arch had been keyed in, and
the work was all but finished, when a slight accident oBcurred
which was thus exaggerated by the lying tongue of rumor. An
invert had given way through the irregular pressure of the surrounding earth and rock at a part of the tunnel where a "fault"
had occurred in the strata.
A party of the directors accompanied the engineer to inspect
the scene of the accident. They entered the tunnel mouth pre



CHAP. XV.]           SUMMIT TUNNEL.                   369
ceded by upward of -fifty navvies, each bearing a torch. After
walking a distance of about half a mile, the inspecting party arrived at the scene of the "frightful accident," about which so
much alarm. had been spread abroad. All that was visible was a
certain unevenness of the ground, which had been forced up by
the invert under it giving way; thus the ballast had been loosened,
the drain running along the centre of the road had been displaced,
and small pools of water stood about. But the whole of the walls
and the roof were as perfect as at any other part of the tunnel.
The engineer explained the cause of the accident; the blue shale,
THE LITTLEBOBOUGH TUNAL. The walden End.]
he said, through which the excavation passed at that point, was
considered so hard and firm as to render it unnecessary to build
the invert very strong there. But shale is always a deceptive material. Subjected to the influence of the atmosphere, it gives but
a treacherous support. In this case, falling away like quicklime,
it had left the lip of the invert alone to support the pressure of
the arch above, and hence its springing inward and upward.
Stephenson then directed the attention of the visitors to the completeness of the arch overhead, where not the slightest fracture
or yielding could be' detected. Speaking of the work in the




370    MIDLAND RAIL WA Y.
course of the same day, he said, "I will I.
stake my character, my head, if that tun- 
nel ever give way, so as to cause dan-    "      ET
ger to any of the public passing through  S,
it. Taking it as a whole, I don't think
there is another such a piece of work
in the world. It is the. greatest work /At)
that has yet been done of this kind, and
there has been less repairing than is         /
usual-though an engineer might well
be beaten in his calculations, for he can
not beforehand see into those little frac-  "
tured parts of the earth he may meet
with."  As Stephenson had promised,..
the invert was put in, and the tunnel  m  P:Y f.N
was made perfectly safe.
The construction of this subterranean    t,/\
road employed the labor of above a I.5
thousand men for nearly four years.       FLE F        N
Besides excavating the arch out of the
solid rock, they used 23,000,000 of
bricks and 8000 tons of Roman cement               f
in the building of the tunnel. Thirteen
stationary engines and about 100 horses,
were also employed in drawing the' H i 9} j   r
earth and stone out of the shafts. Its I 
entire length is 2869 yards, or nearly a
mile and three quarters, exceeding the
famous Kilsby Tunnel by 471 yards.
The Midland Railway was a favorite      ~A"'
line of Mr. Stephenson's for several rea- 
sons. It passed through a rich mining!.district, in which it opened up many E.;,
valuable coal-fields, and it formed part
of the great main line of communication between London and Edinburg.
The line was originally projected by     ~/;;;
gentlemen interested in the London and
Birmingham Railway. Their intention




CHAP. XV.]  COMPARED WITH THE SIMPLON ROAD.         371
was to extend that line from Rugby to Leeds; but, finding themselves anticipated in part by the projection of the Midland Counties Railway from Rugby to Derby, they confined themselves to
the district between Derby and Leeds, and in 1835 a company
was formed to construct the North Midland line, with George
Stephenson for its engineer. The act was obtained in 1836, and
the first ground was broken in February, 1837.
Although the Midland Railway was only one of the many
great works of the same kind executed at that time, it was almost enough of itself to be the achievement of a life. Compare
it, for example, with Napoleon's military road over the Simplon,
and it will at once be seen how greatly it excels that work, not
only in the constructive skill displayed in it, but also in its cost
and magnitude, and the amount of labor employed in its formation. The road of the Simplon is 45 miles in length; the North
Midland Railway 721 miles. The former has 50 bridges and 5
tunnels, measuring together 1338 feet in length; the latter has
200 bridges and 7 tunnels, measuring together 11,400 feet, or
about 2j miles. The former cost about ~720,000 sterling, the.latter above ~3,000,000. Napoleon's grand military road was
constructed in six years, at the public cost of the two great kingdoms of France and Italy, while Stephenson's railway was formed
in about three years by a company of private merchants and
capitalists out of their own funds and under their own superintendence.
It is scarcely necessary that we should give any account in detail of the North Midland works. The making of one tunnel so
much resembles the making of another-the building of bridges
and viaducts, no matter how extensive, so much resembles the
building of others-the cutting out of "dirt," the blasting of
rocks, and the wheeling of excavation into embankments, is so
much matter of mere time and hard work, that it is quite unnecessary to detain the reader by any attempt at their description.
Of course there were the usual difficulties to encounter-and overcon, lut the railway engineer regarded these as mere matters of
course, and would probably have been disappointed if they had
not presented themselves.
On the Midland, as on other lines, water was the great enemy
to be fought against-water in the Clay-cross and other tunnelsAA




372                MIDLAND RAIL WAY.              [PART II.
water in the boggy or sandy foundations of bridges-and water
in cuttings and embankments. As an illustration of the difficulties of bridge building,
we may mention the:~,~:~.k\ APl-,::  case of the five-arch:   ":: 4:'       bridge over the Der"'*-''   "~x. ~~'..~  went, where it took two
years' work, night and
day, to get in the foundatfons of the piers
alone.  Another curious illustration of the
A D  mischief done by water in cuttings may be
/ F'-%   briefly mentioned. At
a part of the North
Midland line, near Ambergate, it was necessary to pass along a
hill-side in a cutting.
a few yards deep. As
the cuttingproceeded,
LAND-BLIP ON NORTH MIDLAND LINE, NEAR AMBIEROTE. a seam  of shale was
cut across, lying at an
inclination of 6 to 1; and shortly after, the water getting behind
it, the whole mass of earth along the hill above began to move
down across the line of excavation. The accident completely
upset the estimates of the contractor, who, instead of fifty thousand cubic yards, found that he had about five hundred thousand
to remove, the execution of this part of the railway occupying
fifteen months instead of two.
The Oakenshaw cutting near Wakefield was also of a very
formidable character. About six hundred thousand yards of
rock shale and bind were quarried out of it, and led to form the
adjoining Oakenshaw embankment. The Normanton cuttArwvas
almost as heavy, requiring the removal of four hundred thousand
yards of the same kind of excavation into embankment and spoil.
But the progress of the works on the line was so rapid during
1839 that no less than 450,000 cubic yards of excavation were accomplished per month.




CHAP. XV.]     MIDLAND RAIL WAY WORKS.               373
BULL BRIDGE, NEAR AMBERGATE
As a curiosity in construction, we may also mention a very
delicate piece of work executed on the same railway at Bull
Bridge in Derbyshire, where the line at the same point passes
over a bridge which here spans the River Amber, and under the
bed of the Cromford Canal. Water, bridge, railway, and canal
were thus piled one above the other, four stories high. In order
to prevent the possibility of the waters of the canal breaking in
upon the railway works, Stephenson had an iron trough made, 150
feet long, of the width of the canal, and exactly fitting the bottom. It was brought to the spot in three pieces, which were
firmly welded together, and the trough was then floated into its
place and sunk, the whole operation being completed without in
the least interfering with the navigation of the canal. The railway works underneath were then proceeded with and finished.
Another line of the same series, constructed by George Stephenson, was the York and North Midland, extending from Normanton — a point on the Midland Railway-to York; but it was
a line of easy formation, traversing a comparatively level country. The inhabitants of Whitby, as well as York, were projecting a railway to connect these towns as early as 1832, and in the




374         THE YORK' AND NORTH MIDLAND.        [PART II.
year following Whitby succeeded in obtaining a horse line of
twenty-four miles, connecting it with the small market-town of
Pickering. The York citizens were more ambitious, and agitated the question of a locomotive line to connect them with the
town of Leeds. Stephenson recommended them to connect their
line with the Midland at Normanton, and they adopted his advice. The company was formed, the'shares were at once subscribed for, the act was obtained in the following year, and the
works were constructed without difficulty.
As the best proof of his conviction that the York and North
Midland would prove a good investment, Stephenson invested in
it a considerable portion of his savings, being a subscriber for
420 shares. The interest taken in this line by the engineer was
on more than one occasion specially mentioned by Mr. Hudson,
then Lord-mayor of York, as an inducement to other persons of
capital to join the undertaking; and had it not been afterward
encumbered and overlaid by comparatively useless and profitless
branches, in the projection of which Stephenson had no part, the
sanguine expectations which he early formed of the paying qualities of that railway would have been more than realized.
There was one branch, however, of the York and North Midland Line in which he took an anxious interest, and of which he
may be said to have been the projector-the branch to Scarborough, which proved one of the most profitable parts of the
railway. He was so satisfied of its value, that, at a meeting of
the York and North Midland proprietors, he volunteered his gratuitous services as engineer until the company was formed, in addition to subscribing largely to the undertaking. At that meeting he took an opportunity of referring to the charges brought
against engineers of so greatly exceeding the estimates: "He had
had a good deal to do with making out the estimate of the North
Midland Railway, and he believed there never was a more honest
one. He had always endeavored to state the truth as far as was
in his power. He had known a contractor who, when he (Mr.
Stephenson) had sent in an estimate, came forward and said,' I
can do it for half the money.' The contractor's estimate went
into Parliament, but it came out his. He could go through the
whole list of the undertakings in which he had been engaged, and
show that he had never had any thing to do with stock-jobbing




CHAP. XV.]    QUICKNESS OF OBSER VA TION.           375
concerns. He would say that he would not be concerned in any
scheme unless he was satisfied that it would pay the proprietors;
and in bringing forward the proposed line to Scarborough, he
was satisfied that it would pay, or he would have had nothing to
do with it."
During the time that our engineer was engaged in superintending the execution of these undertakings, he was occupied upon
other projected railways in various parts of the country. He
surveyed several lines in the neighborhood of Glasgow, and afterward alternate routes along the east coast from Newcastle to
Edinburg, with the view of completing the main line of communication with London. When out on foot in the field on these
occasions, he was ever foremost in the march, and he delighted
to test the prowess of his companions by a good jump at any
hedge or ditch that lay in their way. His companions used to
remark his singular quickness of observation. Nothing escaped
his attention —the trees, the crops, the birds, or the farmer's
stock; and he was usually full of lively conversation, every thing
in nature affording him an opportunity for making some striking
remark or propounding some ingenious theory. When taking a
flying survey of a new line, his keen observation proved very
useful, for he rapidly noted the general configuration of the country, and inferred its geological structure. He afterward remarked to a friend," I have planned many a railway traveling along
in a post-chaise, and following the natural line of the country."
And it was remarkable that his first impressions of the direction
to be taken almost invariably proved correct; and there are few
of the lines surveyed and recommended by him which have not
been executed, either during his lifetime or since. As an illustration of his quick and shrewd observation on such occasions,
we may mention that when employed to lay out a line to connect
-Manchester, through IMacclesfield, with the Potteries, the gentleman who accompanied him on the journey of inspection cautioned him to provide large accommodation for carrying off the water, observing, "You must not judge by the appearance of the
brooks; for after heavy rains these hills pour down volumes of
water, of which you can have no conception."  " Pooh! pooh!
don't I see your bridges." replied the engineer. He had noted
the details of each as he passed along.




376          LINE ACROSS MORECAMBE BAY.          [PART II.
Among the other projects which occupied his attention about
the same time were the projected lines between Chester and Holyhead, between Leeds and Bradford, and between Lancaster and
Maryport by the west coast. This latter was intended to form
part of a western line to Scotland; Stephenson favoring it partly
because of the flatness of the gradients, and because it could be
formed at comparatively small cost, while it would open out a
valuable iron-mining district, from which a large traffic in ironstone was expected. One of its collateral advantages, in the
engineer's opinion, was that, by forming the railway directly
across Morecambe Bay, on the northwest coast of Lancashire, a
large tract of valuable land might be reclaimed from the sea, the
sale of which would considerably reduce the cost of the works.
He estimated-that, by means of a solid embankment across the
bay, not less than 40,000 acres of rich alluvial land would be
gained. He proposed to carry the road across the ten miles of
sands which lie between Poulton, near Lancaster, and Humphrey
Head on the opposite coast, forming the line in a segment of a
circle of five miles' radius. His plan was to drive in piles across
the entire length, forming a solid fence of stone blocks on the
land side for the pnrpose of retaining the sand and silt brought
down by the rivers from the interior. The embankment would
then be raised from time to time as the deposit accumulated, until the land was filled up to high-water mark; provision being
made, by means of sufficient arches, for the flow of the river waters into the bay. The execution of the railway after this plan
would, however, have occupied more years than the promoters of
the West Coast line were disposed to wait, and eventually Mr.
Locke's more direct but less level line by Shap Fell was adopted.
A railway has, however, since been cairied across the head of the
bay, in a modified form, by the Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway
Company; and it is not improbable that Stephenson's larger
scheme of reclaiming the vast tract of land now left bare at every receding tide may yet be carried out.
While occupied in carrying out the great railway undertakings
which we have above so briefly described, George Stephenson's
home continued, for the greater part of the time, to be at Alton
Grange, near Leicester. But he was so much occupied in traveling about from one committee of directors to another-one week




CHAP. XV.]    STEPHENSON'S IMMENSE LABORS.                 377
in England, another in Scotland, and probably the next in Ireland, that he often did not see his home for weeks together.  He
had also to make frequent inspections of the various important
and difficult works in progress, especially on the Midland and
Mlanchester and Leeds lines, besides occasionally going to Newcastle to see how the locomotive works were going on there.
During the three years ending 1837-perhaps the busiest years
of his life*  he traveled by post-chaise alone upward of 20,000
miles, and yet not less than six months out of the three years were
spent in London. Hence there is comparatively little to record
of Mr. Stephenson's private life at this period, during which he
had scarcely a moment that he could call his own.
To give an idea of the number of projects which at this time
occupied our engineer's attention, and of the extent and rapidity
of his journeys, we subjoin from his private secretary's journal the
following epitome of one of them, on which he entered immediately after the conclusion of the heavy Parliamentary session of
1836.
"August 9th. From Alton Grange to Derby and Matlock, and
forward by mail to Manchester, to meet the committee of the South
Union Railway. August 10th. Manchester to Stockport, to meet
committee of the Manchester and Leeds Railway; thence to meet
directors of the Chester and Birkenhead, and Chester and Crewe
Railways. August 11th. Liverpool to Woodside, to meet committee of the Chester and Birkenhead line; journey with them along
the proposed railway to Chester; then back to Liverpool. August
1 2th. Liverpool to Manchester, to meet directors of the Manchester
and Leeds Railway, and traveling with them over the works in
progress. August 13th. Continued journey over the works, and
arrival at Wakefield; thence to York. August 14th. Meeting with
Mr. Hudson at York, and journey from York to Newcastle. August 15th. At Newcastle, working up arrears of correspondence.
August 16th. Meeting with Mr. Brandling as to the station for the
* During this period he was engaged on the North Midland, extending from Derby
to Leeds; the York and North Midland, from Normanton to York; the Manchester
and Leeds; the Birmingham and Derby, and the Sheffield and Rotherham Railways;
the whole of these, of which he was principal engineer, having been authorized in
1836. In that session alone, powers were obtained for the construction of 214 miles
of new railways under his direction, at an expenditure of upward of five millions
sterling.




378            JOURNAL OF WORK DONE.             [PART II.
Brandling Junction at Gateshead, and stations at other parts of the
line. August 17th. Carlisle to Wigton and Maryport, examining
the railway. August 19th. Maryport to Carlisle, continuing the
inspection. August 20th. At Carlisle, examining the ground for
a station; and working up correspondence. August 21st. Carlisle
to Dumfries by mail; forward to Ayr by chaise, proceeding up the
valley of the Nith, through Thornhill, Sanquhar, and Cumnock.
August 22d. Meeting with promoters of the Glasgow, Kilmarnock,
and Ayr Railway, and journey along the proposed line; meeting
with the magistrates of Kilmarnock at Beith, and journey with them
over Mr. Gale's proposed line to Kilmarnock. August 23d. From
Kilmarnock along Mr. Miller's proposed line to Beith, Paisley, and
Glasgow. August 24th. Examination of site of proposed station
at Glasgow; meeting with the directors; then from Glasgow, by
Falkirk and Linlithgow, to Edinburg, meeting there with Mr. Giainger, engineer, and several of the committee of the proposed Edinburg and Dunbar Railway. August 25th. Examining the site of
the proposed station at Edinburg; then to Dunbar, by Portobello
and Haddington, examining the proposed line of railway. August
26th. Dunbar to Tommy Grant's, to examine the summit of the
country toward Berwick, with a view to a through line to, Newcastie; then return to Edinburg. August 27th. At Edinburg, meeting the provisional committee of the proposed Edinburg and Dunbar Railway. August 28th. Journey from Edinburg, through Melrose and Jedburg, to Horsley, along the route of Mr. Richardson's
proposed railway across Carter Fell. August 29th. From Horsley
to Mr. Brandling's, then on to Newcastle; engaged on the Brandling Junction Railway. August 30th. Engaged with Mr. Brandling; after which, meeting a deputation from Maryport. August
31st. Meeting with Mr. Brandling and others as to the direction of
the Brandling Junction in connection with the Great North of England line, and the course of the railway through Newcastle; then
on to York. September 1st. At York; meeting with York and
North Midland directors; then journeying over Lord Howden's
property, to arrange for a deviation; examining the proposed site
of the station at York. September 2d. At York, giving instructions
as to the survey; then to Manchester by Leeds. September 3d.
At Manchester; journey to Stockport, with Mr. Bidder and Mr.
Bourne, examining the line to Stockport, and fixing the crossing of
the river there; attending to the surveys; then journey back to
Manchester, to meet the directors of the Manchester and Leeds
Railway. September 4th. Sunday at Manchester. September 5th.




CHAP. XV.]    PHYSICAL AND MENTAL LABOR.           379
Journey along part of the Manchester and Leeds Railway. September 6th. At Manchester, examining and laying down the section
of the South Union line to Stockport; afterward engaged on the
Manchester and Leeds working plans, in endeavoring to give a
greater radius to the curves; seeing Mr. Seddon about the Liverpool, Manchester, and Leeds Junction Railway. September 7th.
Journey along the Manchester and Leeds line, then on to Derby.
September 8th. At Derby; seeing Mr. Carter and Mr. Beale about
the Tamworth deviation; then home to Alton Grange. September
10th. At Alton Grange, preparing report to the committee of the
Edinburg and Dunbar Railway."
Such is a specimen of the enormous amount of physical and
mental labor undergone by the engineer during the busy years
above referred to. He was no sooner home than he was called
away again by some other railway or business engagement.
Thus, in four days after his arrival at Alton Grange from the
above journey into Scotland, we find him going over the whole
of the North Midland line as far as Leeds; then by Halifax to
Manchester, where he staid for several days on the business of
the South Union line; then to Birmingham and London; back
to Alton Grange, and next day to Congleton and Leek; thence
to Leeds and Goole, and home again by the Sheffield and Rotherham and the Midland works. And early in the following
month (October) he was engaged in the north of Ireland, examining the line, and reporting upon the plans of the projected U1ster Railway. He was also called upon to inspect and report
upon colliery works, salt works, brass and copper works, and such
like, in addition to his own colliery and railway business. He
usually also staked out himself the lines laid out by him, which
involved a good deal of labor since undertaken by assistants.
And occasionally he would run up to London, attending in person to the preparation and depositing of the plans and sections
of the projected undertakings for which he was engaged as engineer.
His correspondence increased so much that he found it necessary to engage a private secretary, who accompanied him on his
journeys. He was himself exceedingly averse to writing letters.
The comparatively advanced age at which he learned the art of
writing, and the nature.of his duties while engaged at the Killing



380      STEPHENSON'S PHYSICAL ENDURANCE.  [PART II.
worth Colliery, precluded that facility in correspondence which
only constant practice can give. IHe gradually, however, acquired
great facility in dictation, and had also the power of laboring continuously at this work, the gentleman who acted as his secretary
in the year 1835 having informed us that during his busy season
he one day dictated no fewer than thirty-seven letters, several of
them embodying the results of much close thinking and calculation.  On another occasion he dictated reports and letters for
twelve continuous hours, until his secretary was ready to drop off
his chair from sheer exhaustion, and at length pleaded for a suspension of the labor. This great mass of correspondence, though
closely bearing on the subjects under discussion, was not, however, of a kind to supply the biographer with matter for quotation, or to give that insight into the life and character of the
writer which the letters of literary men so often furnish. They
were, for the most part, letters of mere business, relating to works
in progress, Parliamentary contests, new surveys, estimates of cost,
and railway policy-curt, and to the point; in short, the letters of
a man every moment of whose time was precious.
Fortunately, George Stephenson possessed a facility of sleeping, which enabled him to pass through this enormous amount of
fatigue and labor without injury to his health. He had been
trained in a hard school, and could bear with ease conditions
which, to men more softly nurtured, would have been the extreme of physical discomfort. Many, many nights he snatched
his sleep while traveling in his chaise; and at break of day he
would be at work, surveying until dark, and this for weeks in succession. His whole powers seemed to be under the control of his
will, for he could wake at any hour, and go to work at once. It
was difficult for secretaries and assistants to keep up with such a
man.
It is pleasant to record that in the midst of these engrossing
occupations his heart remained as soft and loving as ever. In
spring-time he would not be debarred of his boyish amusement
of bird-nesting, but would go rambling along the hedges spying
for nests. In the autumn he went nutting, and when he could
snatch a few minutes he indulged in his old love of gardening.
Iis uniform kindness and good temper, and his communicative,
intelligent disposition, made him a great favorite with the neigh



CHAP. XV.]    THIE ROBINS AT ALTON GRANGE.           381
boring farmers, to whom he would volunteer much valuable advice on agricultural operations, drainage, plowing, and labor-saving processes. Sometimes he took a long rural ride on his favorite " Bobby," now growing old, but as fond of his master as ever.
Toward the end of his life "Bobby" lived in clover, his master's
pet, doing no work; and he died at Tapton in 1845, more than
twenty years old.
During one of George's brief sojourns at the Grange he found
time to write to his son a touching account of a pair of robins
that had built their nest within one of the empty upper chambers
of the house. One day he observed a robin fluttering outside the
windows, and beating its wings against the panes, as if eager to
gain admission. HIe went up stairs, and there found, in a retired
part of one of the rooms, a robin's nest, with one of the parent
birds sitting over three or four young-all dead. The exchided
bird outside still beat against the panes; and on the window being let down, it flew into the room, but was so exhausted that it
dropped upon the floor. Stephenson took up the bird, carried it
down stairs, and had it warmed and fed. The poor robin revived,
and for a time was one of his pets. But it shortly died too, as if
unable to recover from the privations it had endured during its
three days' fluttering and beating at the windows. It appeared
that the room had been unoccupied, and the sash having been let
down, the robins had taken the opportunity of building their nest
within it; but the servant having closed the window again, the
calamity befell the birds which so strongly excited the engineer's
sympathies. An incident such as this, trifling though it may
seem, gives a true key to the heart of a man.
The amount of his Parliamentary business having greatly increased with the projection of new lines of railway, the Stephensons found it necessary to set up an office in London in 1836.
George's first office was at No. 9 Duke Street, Westminster, from
whence he removed in the following year to 301 Great George
Street. That office was the busy scene of railway politics for several years. There consultations were held, schemes were matured, deputations were received, and many projectors called upon
our engineer for the purpose of submitting to him their plans of
railways and railway working. His private secretary at the time
has informed us that at the end-of the first Parliamentary session




382                VISIT TO BELGIUM.              [PART II.
in which he had been engaged as engineer for more companies
than one, it became necessary for him to give instructions as to
the preparation of the accounts to be rendered to the several companies. In the simplicity of his heart, he directed Mr. Binns to
take his full time at the rate of ten guineas a day, and charge the
railway companies in the proportion in which he had actually
been employed in their respective business during each day.
When Robert heard of this instruction, he went directly to his father and expostulated with him against this unprofessional course;
and, other influences being brought to bear upon him, George at
length reluctantly consented to charge as other engineers did, an
entire day's fee to each of the companies for which he was concerned while their business was going forward; but he cut down
the number of days charged for, and reduced the daily amount
front ten to seven guineas.
Besides his journeys at home, George Stephenson was on more
than one occasion called abroad on railway business. Thus, at
the desire of King Leopold, he made several visits to Belgium to
assist the Belgian engineers in laying out the national lines of the
kingdom. That enlightened monarch at an early period discerned the powerful instrumentality of railways in developing a country's resources, and he determined at the earliest possible period to
adopt them as the great high roads of the'nation. The country,
being rich in coals and minerals, had great manufacturing capabilities. It had good ports, fine navigable rivers, abundant canals,
and a teeming, industrious population. Leopold perceived that
railways were eminently calculated to bring the industry of the
country into full play, and to render the riches of the provinces
available to the rest of the kingdom. IHe therefore openly declared himself the promoter of public railways throughout Belgium. A system of lines was projected at his instance, connecting Brussels with the chief towns and cities of the state, extending from Ostend eastward to the Prussian frontier, and from
Antwerp southward to the French frontier.
Mr. Stephenson and his son, as the leading railway engineers
of England, were consulted by the king, in 1835, as to the best
mode of carrying out his intentions. In the course of that year
they visited Belgium, and had several interesting conferences
with Leopold and his ministers on the subject of the proposed




CHAP. XV.]     "WHICH IS STEPHENSON?"              383
railways. The king then appointed George Stephenson by royal
ordinance a Knight of the Order of Leopold. At the invitation
of the monarch, Mr. Stephenson made a second visit to Belgium
in 1837, on the occasion of the public opening of the line from
Brussels to Ghent. At Brussels there was a public procession,
and another at Ghent on the arrival of the train. Stephenson
and his party accompanied it to the Public Hall, there to dine
with the chief ministers of state, the municipal authorities, and
about five hundred of the principal inhabitants of the city; the
English embassador being also present. After the king's health
and a few others had been drunk, that of Mr. Stephenson was
proposed; on which the whole assembly rose up, amid great excitement and loud applause, and made their way to where he sat,
in order to "jingle glasses" with him, greatly to his own amazement. On the day following, our engineer dined with the king
and queen at their own table at Laaken, by special invitation,
afterward accompanying his majesty and suite to a public ball,
given by the municipality of Brussels in honor of the opening
of the line to Ghent, as well as of their distinguished English
guests. On entering the room, the general and excited inquiry
was, " Which is Stephenson?" The English engineer had not before imagined that he was esteemed to be so great a man.
The London and Birmingham Railway having been completed
in September, 1838, after being about five years in progress, the
great main system of railway communication between London,
Liverpool, and Manchester was then opened to the public.'For
some months previously the line had been partially open, coaches
performing the journey between Denbigh Hall (near Wolverton)
and Rugby-the works of the Kilsby tunnel being still incomplete. It was already amusing to hear the complaints of the
travelers about the slowness of the coaches as compared with the
railway, though the coaches traveled at a speed of eleven miles
an hour. The comparison of comfort was also greatly to the
disparagement of the coaches. Then the railway train could
accommodate any quantity, whereas the road conveyances were
limited; and when a press of travelers occurred-as on the occasion of the queen's coronation —the greatest inconvenience was
experienced, as much as ~10 having been paid for a seat on a
donkey-chaise between Rugby and Denbigh. On the opening




384               RAIL WA Y OPENINGS.           [PART II.
of the railway throughout, of course all this inconvenience and
delay was brought to an end.
Numerous other openings of railways constructed by George
Stephenson took place about the same time. The Birmingham
and Derby line was opened for traffic in August, 1839; the Sheffield and Rotherham in November, 1839; and in the course of
the following year, the Midland, the York and North Midland,
the Chester and Crewe, the Chester and Birkenhead, the Manchester'and Birmingham, the Manchester and Leeds, and the
Maryport and Carlisle railways, were all publicly opened in whole
or in part. Thus 321 miles of railway (exclusive of the London
and Birmingham), constructed under Mr. Stephenson's superintendence, at a cost of upward of eleven millions sterling, were, in
the course of about two years, added to the traffic accommodation of the country.
The ceremonies which accompanied the public opening of these
lines were often of an interesting character. The adjoining population held general holiday; bands played, banners waved, and
assembled thousands cheered the passing trains amid the occasional booming of cannon. The proceedings were usually wound
up by a public dinner; and in the course of his speech which
followed, Mr. Stephenson would revert to his favorite topic-the
difficulties which he had early encountered in the promotion of
the railway system, and in establishing the superiority of the locomotive. On such occasions he always took great pleasure in
alluding to the services rendered to himself and the public by
the young men brought up under his eye-his pupils at first, and
afterward his assistants. No great master ever possessed a more
devoted band of assistants and fellow-workers than he did; and
it was one of the most marked evidences of his admirable tact
and judgment that he selected, with such undeviating correctness,
the men best fitted to carry out his plans. Indeed, the ability to
accomplish great things, to carry grand ideas into practical effect,
depends in no small measure on that intuitive knowledge of character which our engineer possessed in so remarkable a degree.
At the dinner at York, which followed the partial opening of
the York and North Midland Railway, Mr. Stephenson said " he
was sure they would appreciate his feelings when he told them
that, when he first began railway business, his hair was black,




CHAP. XV.]    S'TEPHENSON'S ASSISTANTS.             385
although it was now gray; and that he began his life's labor as
but a poor plowboy. About thirty years since he had applied
himself to the study of how to generate high velocities by mechanical means. IIe thought he had solved that problem; and
they had for themselves seen, that day, what perseverance had
brought him to. He was, on that occasion, only too happy to
have an opportunity of acknowledging that he had, in the latter
portion of his career, received much most valuable assistance
particularly from young men brought up in his manufactory.
Whenever talent showed itself in a young man, he had always
given that talent encouragement where he could, and he would
continue to do so."
That this was no exaggerated statement is amply proved by
many facts which redound to Stephenson's credit, He was no
niggard of encouragement and praise when he saw honest industry struggling for a footing. Many were the young men whom,
in the course of his career, he took by the hand and led steadily
up to honor and emolument, simply because he had noted their
zeal, diligence, and integrity.  One youth excited his interest
while working as a common carpenter on the Liverpool and
Manchester line; and before many years had passed he was recognized as an engineer of distinction. Another young man he
found industriously working away at his by-hours, and, admiring
his diligence, he engaged him as his private secretary, the gentleman shortly after rising to a position of eminent influence and
usefulness. Indeed, nothing gave the engineer greater pleasure
than in this way to help on any deserving youth who came under his observation, and, in his own expressive phrase, to " make
a man of him."
The openings of the great main lines of railroad communication shortly proved the fallaciousness of the numerous rash
prophecies which had been promulgated by the opponents of
railways. The proprietors of the canals were astounded by the
fact that, notwithstanding the immense traffic conveyed by rail,
their own traffic and receipts continued to increase; and that, in
common with other interests, they fully shared in the expansion
of trade and commerce which had been so effectually promoted
by the extension of the railway system. The cattle-owners were
equally amazed to find the price of horseflesh increasing with the




886              EFFECTS OF RAIL WA YS.          [PART II.
extension of railways, and that the number of coaches running
to and from the new railway stations gave employment to a
greater number of horses than under the old stage-coach system.
Those who had prophesied the decay of the metropolis, and the
ruin of the suburban cabbage-growers, in consequence of the approach of railways to London, were disappointed; for, while the
new roads let citizens out of London, they also let country-people
in. Their action, in this respect, was centripetal as well as centrifugal. Tens of thousands who had never seen the metropolis
could now visit it expeditiously and cheaply; and Londoners
who had never visited the country, or but rarely, were enabled,
at little cost of time or money, to see green fields and clear blue
skies far from the smoke and bustle of town. If the dear suburban-grown cabbages became depreciated in value, there were
truck-loads of fresh-grown country cabbages to make amends for
the loss: in this case, the "partial evil" was a far more general
good. Slhe food of the metropolis became rapidly improved, especially in the supply of wholesome meat and vegetables. And
then the price of coals-an article which, in this country, is as
indispensable as daily food to all classes-was greatly reduced.
What a blessing to the metropolitan poor is described in this
single fact!
The prophecies of ruin and disaster to landlords and farmers
were equally confounded by the openings of the railways. The
agricultural communications, so far from being "destroyed," as
had been predicted, were immensely improved. The farmers
were enabled to buy their coals, lime, and manure for less money,
while they obtained a readier access to the best markets for their
stock and farm-produce. Notwithstanding the predictions to the
contrary, their cows gave milk as before, the sheep fed and fattened, and even skittish horses ceased to shy at the passing trains.
The smoke of the engines did not obscure the sky, nor were farmyards burnt up by the fire thrown from the locomotives. The
farming classes were not reduced to beggary; on the contrary,
they soon felt that, so far from having any thing to dread, they
had very much good to expect from the extension of railways.
Landlords also found that they could get higher rent for farms
situated near a railway than at a distance from one. Hence they
became clamorous for "sidings."  They felt it to be a grievance




CHAP. XV.] DOWNFALL OF THE STAGE-COACH SYSTEM.   387
to be placed at a distance from a station. After a railway had
been once opened, not a landlord would consent to have the line
taken from him. Owners who had fought the promoters before
Parliament, and compelled them to pass their domains at a distance, at a vastly increased expense in tunnels and deviations,
now petitioned for branches and nearer station-accommodation.
Those who held property near towns, and had extorted large
sums as compensation for the anticipated deterioration in the value of their building land, found a new demand for it springing
up at greatly advanced prices. Land was now advertised for
sale with the attraction of being "near a railway station."
The prediction that, even if railways were made, the public
would not use them, was also completely falsified by the results.
The ordinary mode of fast traveling for the middle classes had
heretofore been by mail-coach and stage-coach. Those who
could not afford to pay the high prices charged by such conveyances went by wagon, and the poorer classes trudged on foot.
George Stephenson was wont to say that he hoped to see the day
when it would be cheaper for a poor man to travel by railway
than to walk, and not many years passed before his expectation
was fulfilled. In no country in the world is time worth more
money than in England; and by saving time-the criterion of
distance-the railway proved a great benefactor to men of industry in all classes.
Many deplored the inevitable downfall of the old stage-coach
system. There was to be an end of that delightful variety of incident usually attendant on a journey by road. The rapid scamper across a fine country on the outside of the four-horse "Express" or " Highflyer;" the seat on the box beside Jehu, or the
equally coveted place near the facetious guard behind; the journey amid open green fields, through smiling villages and fine old
towns, where the stage stopped to change horses and.the passengers to dine, was all very delightful in its way, and many regretted that this old-fashioned and pleasant style of traveling was
about to pass away. But it had its dark side also. Any one who
remembers the journey by stage from London to Manchester or
York will associate it with recollections and sensations of not unmixed delight. To be perched for twenty-four hours, exposed to
all weathers, on the outside of a coach, trying in vain to find a
BB




388           POPULARITY OF RAIL WA YS.         [PART II.
soft seat-sitting now with the face to the wind, rain, or sun, and
now with -the, back-without any shelter such as the commonest
penny-a-mile Parliamentary train now daily provides-was a miserable undertaking, looked forward to with horror by many whose.business required them to travel frequently between the provinces
and the metropolis. Nor were the inside passengers more agreeably accommodated. To be closely packed in a little, inconvenient, straight-backed vehicle, where the cramped limbs could
not be in the least extended, nor the wearied frame indulge in
any change of posture, was felt by many to be a terrible thing.
Then there were the constantly-recurring demands, not always
couched in the politest terms, for an allowance to the driver every two or three stages, and to the guard every six or eight; and
if the gratuity did not equal their expectations, growling and open
abuse were not unusual. These desagr6men8, together with the
exactions practiced on:travelers by innkeepers, seriously detracted from the romance of stage-coach traveling, and there was a
general disposition on the part of the public to change the system for a better.
The avidity with which the public at once availed themselves
of the railways proved that this better system had been discovered.
Notwithstanding the reduction of the coach-fares on many of the
roads. to one third of their previous rate, the public preferred
traveling by the railway. They saved in time, and they saved in
money, taking the whole expenses into account. In point of comfort there could be no doubt as to the infinite superiority of the
locomotive train. But there remained the question of safety,
which had been a great bugbear with the early opponents of railways, and was made the most of by the coach-proprietors to deter the public from using them. It was predicted that trains of
passengers would be blown to pieces, and that none but fools
would intrust their persons to the conduct of an explosive machine such as the locomotive. It appeared, however, that during
the first eight years not fewer than five millions of passengers
had been conveyed along the Liverpool and Manchester Railway,
and of this vast number only two persons had lost their lives by
accident. During the same period, the loss of life by the upsetting of stage-coaches had been immensely greater in proportion.
The public were not slow, therefore, to detect the fact that trav



CHAP. XV.]   STEPHENSON'S COACH ACCIDENT.            389
eling by railways was greatly safer than traveling by common
roads, and in all districts penetrated by railways the coaches were
very shortly taken off for want of support.
George Stephenson himself had a narrow escape in one of the
stage-coach accidents so common thirty years since, but which are
already almost forgotten. While the Birmingham line was under construction, he had occasion to travel from Ashby-de-laZouch to London by coach. HIe was an inside passenger with
several others, and the outsides were pretty numerous. When
within ten miles of Dunstable, he felt, from the rolling of the
coach, that one of the linchpins securing the wheels had given
way, and that the vehicle must upset. He endeavored to fix himself in his seat, holding on firmly by the arm-straps, so that he
might save himself on whichever side the coach fell. The coach
soon toppled over, and fell crash upon the road, amid the shrieks
of his fellow-passengers and the smashing of glass. HIe immediately pulled himself up by the arm-strap above him, let down
the coach-window, and climbed out. The coachman and passengers lay scattered about on the road, stunned, and some of them
bleeding, while the horses were plunging in their harness. Taking out his pocket-knife, he at once cut the traces and set the
horses free. Hie then went to the help of the passengers, who
were all more or less hurt. The guard had his arm broken, and
the driver was seriously cut and contused. A scream from one
of his fellow-passenger " insides" here attracted his attention: it
proceeded from an elderly lady, whom he had before observed to
be decorated with one of the enormous bonnets in fashion at the
time. Opening the coach-door, he lifted the lady out, and her
principal lamentation was that her large bonnet had been crushed
beyond remedy! Stephenson then proceeded to the nearest village for help, and saw the passengers provided with proper assistance before he himself went forward on his journey.
It was some time before the more opulent classes, who could
afford to post to town in aristocratic style, became reconciled to
the railway train. It put an end to that gradation of rank in
traveling which was one of the few things left by which the nobleman could be distinguished from the Manchester manufacturer and bagman. But to younger sons of noble families the
convenience and cheapness of the railway did not fail to com



390            CONVENIENCE OF RAIL WA YS.        [PART IT.
mend itself. One of these, whose eldest brother had just succeeded to an earldom, said to a railway manager, " I like railways
-they just suit young fellows like me, with'nothing per annum
paid quarterly.' You know, we can't afford to post, and it used
to be deuced annoying to me, as I was jogging along on the boxseat of the stage-coach, to see the little earl go by, drawn by his
four posters, and just look up at me and give me a nod. But
now, with railways, it's different. It's true, he may take a firstclass ticket, while I can only afford a second-class, one, but we
both go the same pace."
For a time, however, many of the old families sent forward
their servants and luggage by railroad, and condemned themselves to jog along the old highway in the accustomed family
chariot, dragged by country post-horses. But the superior comfort of the railway shortly recommended itself to even the oldest
families; posting went out of date;' post-horses were with difficulty to be had along even the great high roads; and nobles and
servants, manufacturers and peasants, alike shared in the comfort, the convenience, and the dispatch of railway traveling. The
late Dr. Arnold, of Rugby, regarded the opening of the London
and Birmingham line as another great step accomplished in the
march of civilization. "I rejoice to see it," he said, as he stood
on one of the bridges over the railway, and watched the train
flashing along under him, and away through the distant hedgerows-"I rejoice to see it, and to think that feudality is gone forever: it is so great a blessing to think that any one evil is really
extinct."
It was long before the late Duke of Wellington would trust
himself behind a locomotive. The fatal accident to Mr. Huskisson, which had happened before his eyes, contributed to prejudice
him strongly against railways, and it was not until the year 1843
that he performed his first trip on the Southwestern Railway, in
attendance upon her majesty. Prince Albert had for some time
been accustomed to travel by railway alone, but in 1842 the queen
began to make use of the same mode of conveyance between
Windsor and London. Even Colonel Sibthorpe was eventually
compelled to acknowledge its utility. For a time he continued
to post to and from the country as before. Then he compromised the matter by taking a railway ticket for the long journey,




CHAP. XV.] SIBTHORPE ON THE "INFERNAL RAILROAD."  391
and posting only a stage or two nearest town; until, at length, he
undisguisedly committed himself, like other people, to the express
train, and performed the journey throughout upon what he had
formerly denounced as "the infernal railroad."
COALVILLE AND SNIBSTON COLLIERY.




TAPTON HOUSE. [By Percival Skelton.]
CHAPTER XVI.
GEORGE STEPHENSON7S COAL-MINES — APPEARS AT MECHANICS' INSTITUTES-HIS OPINION ON RAILWAY SPEEDS —ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM
-RAILWAY MANIA-VISITS TO BELGIUM AND SPAIN.
WHILE George Stephenson was engaged in carrying on the
works of the Midland Railway in the neighborhood of Chesterfield, several seams of coal were cut thwough in the Claycross
Tunnel, when it occurred to him that if mines were opened out
there, the railway would provide the means of a ready sale for
the article in the midland counties, and even as far south as the
metropolis itself.
At a time when every body else was skeptical as to the possibility of coals being carried from the midland counties to London, and sold there at a price to compete with those which were
sea-borne, he declared his firm conviction that the time was fast
approaching when the London market would be regularly supplied with North-country coals led by railway. One of the great
advantages of railways, in his opinion, was that they would bring
iron and coal, the staple products of the country, to the doors of
all England. "The strength of Britain," he would say, "lies in




CHAP. XVI.] GEORGE STEPHENSON ON COAL LINES.         393
her iron and coal beds, and the locomotive is destined, above all
other agencies, to bring it forth. The lord chancellor now sits
upon a bag of wool; but wool has long since ceased to be emblematical of the staple commodity of England. He ought rather to sit upon a bag of coals, though it might not prove quite so
comfortable a seat. Then think of the lord chancellor being addressed as the noble and learned lord on the coal..sack! I am
afraid it wouldn't answer, after all."
To one gentleman he said: "We want from the coal-mining,
the iron-producing and manufacturing districts, a great'railway
for the carriage of these valuable products. We want, if I may
so say, a stream of steam running directly through the country
from the North to London. Speed is not so much an object as
utility and cheapness. It will not do to mix up the heavy merchandise and coal-trains with the passenger-trains. Coal and
most kinds of goods can wait, but passengers will not. A less
perfect road and less expensive works will do well enough for
coal-trains, if run at a low speed; and if the line be flat, it is not
of much consequence whether it be direct or not. Whenever
you put passenger-trains on a line, all the other trains must be
run at high speeds to keep out of their way. But coal-trains run
at high speeds pull the road to pieces, besides causing large expenditure in locomotive power; and I doubt very much whether
they will pay, after all; but a succession of long coal-trains, if
run at from ten to fourteen miles an hour, would pay very well.
Thus the Stockton and Darlington Company made a larger profit
when running coal at low speeds at a halfpenny a ton per mile,
than they have been able to do since they put on their fast passenger-trains, when every thing must needs be' run faster, and a
much larger proportion of the gross receipts is consequenitly absorbed by working expenses."
In advocating these views, George Stephenson was considerably ahead of his time; and although he did not live to see his
anticipations fully realized as to the supply of the London coalmarket, he was nevertheless the first to point it out, and to some
extent to prove, the practicability of establishing a profitable
coal-trade by railway between the northern counties and the metropolis. So long, however, as the traffic was conducted on main
passenger-lines at comparatively high speeds, it was found that




394             AMBERGA TE LIME- WORKS.          [PART II.
the expenditure on tear and wear of road and locomotive power
-not to mention the increased risk of carrying on the first-class
passenger traffic with which it was mixed up-necessarily left a
very small margin of profit, and hence our engineer was in the
habit of urging the propriety of constructing a railway which
should be exclusively devoted to goods and mineral traffic run at
low speeds as the only condition on which a large railway traffic
of that sort could be profitably conducted.
Having induced some of his Liverpool friends to join him in a
coal-mining adventure at Chesterfield, a lease was taken of the
Claycross estate, then for sale, and operations were shortly after
begun. At a subsequent period Stephenson extended his coalmining operations in the same neighborhood, and in 1841 he himself entered into a contract with owners of land in the townships
of Tapton, Brimington, and Newbold for the working of the coal
thereunder, and pits were opened on the Tapton estate on an extensive scale. About the same time he erected great lime-works,
close to the Ambergate station of the Midland Railway, from
which, when in full operation, he was able to turn out upward of
two hundred tons a day. The limestone was brought on a tramway from the village of Crich, about two or three miles distant
from the kilns, the coal being supplied from his adjoining Claycross Colliery. The works were on a scale such as had not beLIME-WORKS AT AMBERGATE. [By Percival Skelton.]




CHAP. XVI.]   RESIDENCE AT TAPTON HOUSE.             395
fore been attempted by any private individual engaged in a similar trade, and we believe they proved very successful.
Tapton House was included in the lease of one of the col-.
lieries, and as it was conveniently situated-being, as it were, a
central point on the Midland Railway, from which the engineer
could readily proceed north or south on his journeys of inspection of the various lines then under construction in the midland
and northern counties-he took up his residence there, and it
continued his home until the close of his life.
Tapton House is a large, roomy brick mansion, beautifully
situated amid woods, upon a commanding eminence, about a
mile to the northeast of the town of Chesterfield. Green fields
dotted with fine trees slope away from the house in all directions. The surrounding country is undulating and highly picturesque. North and south the eye ranges over a vast extent of
lovely scenery; and on the west, looking over the town of Chesterfield, with its church and crooked spire, the extensive range of
the Derbyshire hills bounds the distance. The Midland Railway
skirts the western edge of the park in a deep rock cutting, and
the locomotive's shrill whistle sounds near at hand as the trains
speed past. The gardens and pleasure-grounds adjoining the
house were in a very neglected state when Mr. Stephenson first
went to Tapton, and he promised himself, when he had secured
rest and leisure from business, that he would put a new face upon
both. The first improvement he made was in cutting a woodland footpath up the hill-side, by which he at the same time added a beautiful feature to the park, and secured a shorter road to
the Chesterfield station; but it was some years before he found
time to carry into effect his' contemplated improvements in the
adjoining gardens and pleasure-grounds. He had so long been
accustomed to laborious pursuits, and felt himself still so full of
work, that he could not at once settle down into the habit of
quietly enjoying the fruits of his industry.
lHe had no difficulty in usefully employing his time. Besides
directing the mining operations at Claycross, the establishment
of the lime-kilns at Ambergate, and the construction of the extensive railways still in progress, he occasionally paid visits to
Newcastle, where his locomotive manufactory was now in full
work, and the proprietors were reaping the advantages of his




396               VISIT TO NEWCASTLE.             PART II.
early foresight in an abundant measure of prosperity. One of
his most interesting visits to the place was in 1838, on the occasion of the mIeeting of the British Association there, when he acted as one of the Vice-Presidents in the section of Mechanical
Science. Extraordinary changes had taken place in his own fortunes, as well as in the face of the country, since he had first appeared before a scientific body in Newcastle —the members of
the Literary and Philosophical Institute-to submit his safetylamp for their examination. Twenty-three years had passed over
his head, full of honest work, of manful struggle, and the humble "colliery engine-wright of the name of Stephenson" had
FORTH-STREET WORKS, NEW(ASTLE.
achieved an almost world-wide reputation as a public benefactor.
His fellow-townsmen, therefore, could not hesitate to recognize
his merits and do honor to his presence. During the sittings of
the Association, the engineer took the opportunity of paying a
visit to Killingworth, accompanied by some of the distinguished
savans whom he numbered among his friends. He there pointed
out to them, with a degree of honest pride, the cottage in which
he had lived for so many years, showing what parts of it had
been his handiwork, and told them the story of the sun-dial over
the door, describing the study and the labor it had cost him and
his son to calculate its dimensions and fix it in its place. The




CHAP. XVI.] ADDRESSES AT MECHANICS' INSTITUTES.    397
dial had been serenely numbering the hours through the busy
years that had elapsed since that humble dwelling had been his
home, during which the Killingworth locomotive had become a
great working power, and its contriver had established the railway system, which was now rapidly becoming extended in all
parts of the civilized world.
About the same time, his services were very much in request
at the meetings of Mechanics' Institutes held throughout the
northern counties. From a very early period in his history he
had taken an active interest in these valuable institutions. While
residing at Newcastle in 1824, shortly after his locomotive foundery had been started in Forth Street, he presided at a public
meeting held in that town for the purpose of establishing a Mechanics' Institute. The meeting was held; but, as George Stephenson was a man comparatively unknown even in Newcastle
at that time, his name failed to secure " an influential attendance."
Among those who addressed the meeting on the occasion was Joseph Locke, then his pupil, and afterward his rival as an engineer. The local papers scarcely noticed the proceedings, yet the
Mechanics' Instititute was founded and struggled into existence.
Years passed, and it was felt to be an honor to secure Mr. Stephenson's presence at any public meetings held for the promotion
of popular education. Among the Mechanics' Institutes in his
immediate neighborhood at Tapton were those of Belper and
Chesterfield, and at their soir6es he was a frequent and a welcome
visitor. On these occasions he loved to tell his auditors of the
difficulties which had early beset him through want of knowledge,
and of the means by which he had overcome them. His grand
text was-PERSEVERE; and there was manhood in the word.
On more than one occasion the author had the pleasure of listening to George Stephenson's homely but forcible addresses at
the annual soirees of the Leeds Mechanics' Institute.' He was
always an immense favorite with his audiences there. His personal appearance was greatly in his favor. A handsome, ruddy,
expressive face, lit up by bright dark blue eyes, prepared one for
his earnest words when he stood up to speak, and the cheers had
subsided which invariably hailed his rising. He was not glib,
bat he was very impressive. And who, so well as he' could serve
as a guide to the working-man in his endeavors after higher




398       STEPHENSON'S SELF-ACTING BRAKE.   [PART II.
knowledge  His early life had been all struggle — encounter
with difficulty-groping in the dark after greater light, but always
earnestly and perseveringly. His words were therefore all the
more weighty, since he spoke from the fullness of his own experience.
Nor did he remain a mere inactive spectator of the improvements in railway working which increasing experience from day
to day suggested. He continued to contrive improvements in the
locomotive, and to mature his invention of the carriage-brake.
When examined before the Select Committee on Railways in
1841, his mind seems to have been impressed with the necessity
which existed for adopting a system of self-acting brakes, stating
that, in his opinion, this was the most important arrangement that
could be provided for increasing the safety of railway traveling.
"I believe," he said, "that if self-acting brakes were put upon every carriage, scarcely any accident could take place." His plan
consisted in employing the momentum of the running train to
throw his proposed brakes into action immediately on the moving power of the engine being checked. He would also have
these brakes under the control of the guard, by means of  a connecting line running along the whole length of the train, by
which they should at once be thrown out of gear when necessary.
At the same time he suggested, as an additional means of safety,
that the signals of the line should be self-acting, and worked by
the locomotives as they passed along the railway. He considered
the adoption of this plan of so much importance that, with a view
to the public safety, he would even have it enforced upon railway companies by the Legislature. He was also of opinion that
it was the interest of the companies themselves to adopt the plan,
as it would save great tear and wear of engines, carriages, tenders, and brake-vans, besides greatly diminishing the risk of accidents upon railways.
While before the same committee, he took the opportunity of
stating his views with reference to railway speeds, about which
wild ideas were then afloat, one gentleman of celebrity having
publicly expressed the opinion that a speed of a hundred miles
an hour was practicable.in railway.traveling! Not many years
had passed since Mr. Stephenson had been pronounced inswane
for stating his conviction that twelve miles an hour could be per



CHAP. XVI.]  STEPHENSON ON RAILWAY SPEED.            399
formed by the locomotive; but, now that he had established the
fact, and greatly exceeded that speed, he was thought behind the
age because he recommended it to be limited to forty miles an hour.
He said: "I do not like either forty or fifty miles an hour upon
any line —I think it is an unnecessary speed; and if there is danger upon a railway, it is high velocity that creates it. I should
say no railway ought to exceed forty miles an hour on the most
favorable gradient; but upon a curved line the speed ought not
to exceed twenty-four or twenty-five miles an hour." He had,
indeed, constructed for the Great Western Railway an engine
capable of running fifty miles an hour with a load, and eighty
miles without one. But he never was in favor of a hurricane
speed of this sort, believing it could only be accomplished at an
unnecessary increase both of danger and expense.
"It is true," he observed on other occasions,* "I have said the
locomotive engine might be made to travel a hundred miles an
hour, but I always put a qualification on this, namely, as to what
speed would best suit the public. The publlic may, however, be
unreasonable; and fifty or sixty miles an hour is an unreasonable
speed. Long before railway traveling became general, I said to
my friends that there was no limit to the speed of the locomotive,
provided the works could be made to stand. But there are
limits to the strength of iron, whether it be manufactured into
rails or locomotives, and there is a point at which both rails and
tires must break. Every increase of speed, by increasing the
strain upon the road and the rolling stock, brings us nearer to
that point. At thirty miles a slighter road will do, and less perfect rolling stock may be run upon it with safety. But if you
increase the speed by say ten miles, then every thing must be
greatly strengthened. You must have heavier engines, heavier
and better-fastened rails, and all your working expenses will be
immensely increased. I think I know enough of mechani4 to
know where to stop. I know that a pound will weigh a pound,
and that more should not be put upon an iron rail than it will
bear. If you could insure perfect iron, perfect rails, and perfect
locomotives, I grant fifty miles an hour or more nmight' be run
with safety on a level railway. But then you must not forget
* It may be mentioned that these views were communicated to the author by
Robert Stephenson, and noted down in his presence.




400         THEORY OF " UND ULATING LINES."    [PART II.
that iron, even the best, will' tire,' and with constant use will become more and more liable to break at the weakest point-perhaps where there is a secret flaw that the eye can not detect.
Then look at the rubbishy rails now manufactured on the contract system-some of them little better than cast metal: indeed,
I have seen rails break merely on being thrown from the truck on
to the ground. How is it possible for such rails to stand a twenty or thirty ton engine dashing over them at the speed of fifty
miles an hour? No, no," he would conclude, " I am in favor of
low speeds because they are safe, and because they are economical; and you may rely upon it that, beyond a certain point, with
every increase of speed there is a certain increase in the element
of danger."
When railways became the subject of popular discussion, many
new and unsound theories were started with reference to them,
which Stephehson opposed as calculated, in his opinion, to bring
discredit on the locomotive system. One of these was with reference to what were called "undulating lines."  Dr. Lardner,
who at an earlier period was skeptical as to the powers of the locomotive, now promulgated the idea that a railway constructed
with rising and falling gradients would be practically as easy to
work as a line perfectly level. Mr. Badnell went even beyond
him, for he held that an undulating railway was much better
than a level one for purposes of working.* - For a time this theory found favor, and the " undulating system" was extensively
adopted; but George Stephenson never ceased to inveigh against
it, and experience has proved that his judgment was correct.
His practice, from the beginning of his career until the end of
it, was to secure a road as nearly as possible on a level, following
the course of the valleys and the natural line of the country;
preferring to go round a hill rather than to tunnel under it or
ca4 his railway over it, and often making a considerable circuit
to secure good workable gradients. He studied to lay out his
lines so that long trains of minerals and merchandise, as well as
passengers, might be hauled along them at the least possible expenditure of locomotive power. He had long before ascertained,
by careful experiments at Killingworth, that the engine expends
hablits power in overcoming a rising gradient of 1 in 260, which
* "Treatise on Railway Improvements." By Mr. Richard Badnell, C.E.




CaAP. XVI.]   THE NEW SCHOOL OF ENGINEERS.                  401
is about 20 feet in the mile, and that when the gradient is so
steep as I in 100, not less than three fourths of its power is sacrificed in ascending the acclivity. He never forgot the valuable
practical lessons taught him by these early trials, which he had
made and registered long before the advantages of railways had
become recognized. He saw clearly that the longer flat line
must eventually prove superior to the shorter line of steep grw
dients as respected its paying qualities. He urged that, after all,
the power of the locomotive was but limited; and, although he
and his son had done more than any other men to increase its
working capacity, it provoked him to find that every improvement made in it was neutralized by the steep gradients which the
new school of engineers were setting it to overcome. On one occasion, when Robert Stephenson stated before a Parliamentary
committee that every successive improvement in the locomotive
was being rendered virtually nugatory by the difficult and almost
impracticable gradients proposed on many of the new lines, his
father, on his leaving the witness-box, went up to him, and said,
"Robert, you never spoke truer words than those in all your
life."
To this it must be added, that in urging these views George
Stephenson was strongly influenced by commercial considerations.
He had no desire to build up his reputation at the expense of
railway shareholders, nor to obtain engineering eclat by making
" ducks and drakes" of their money. He was persuaded that, in
order to secure the practical success of railways, they must be so
laid out as not only to prove of decided public utility, but also to
be worked economically and to the advantage of their proprietors. They were not government roads, but private ventures-in
fact, commercial speculations. He therefore endeavored to render them financially profitable; and he repeatedly declared that
if he did not believe they could be " made to pay," he would have
nothing to do with them.* Nor was he influenced by the sordid
* He often refused to act as engineer for lines which he thought would not prove
remunerative, or when he considered the estimates too low. Thus, when giving evidence on the Great Western Bill, Stephenson said, " I made out an estimate for the
Hartlepool Railway, which they returned on account of its being too high, but I declined going to Parliament with a lower estimate. Another engineer was employed.
Then, again, I was consulted about a line from Edinburg to Glasgow. The directors
chalked out a line and sent it to me, and I told them I could not support it in that




402        ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS PROPOSED.   [PART II.
consideration merely of what he could make out of any company
that employed him, but in many cases he voluntarily gave up his
claim to remuneration where the promoters of schemes which he
thought praiseworthy had suffered serious loss. Thus, when the
first application was made to Parliament for the Chester and Birkenhead Railway Bill, the promoters were defeated. They repeated their application on the understanding that in event of
their succeeding the engineer and surveyor were to be paid their
costs in respect of the defeated measure. The bill was successful, and to several parties their costs were paid. Stephenson's
amounted to ~800, and he very nobly said, "You have had an
expensive career in Parliament; you have had a great struggle;
you are a young company; you can not afford to pay me this
amount of money; I will reduce it to ~200, and I will not ask
you for the ~200 until your shares are at ~20 premium; for,
whatever may be the reverses you have to go through, I am satisfied I shall live to see the day when your shares will be at ~20
premium, and when I can legally and honorably claim that ~200."*
We may add that the shares did eventually rise to the premium
specified, and the engineer was no loser by his generous conduct
in the transaction.
Another novelty of the time with which George Stephenson
had to contend was the proposed substitution of atmospheric
pressure for locomotive steam-power in the working of railways.
The idea of obtaining motion by means of atmospheric pressure
originated with Denis Papin more than a century and a half ago;
but it slept until revived in 1810 by Mr. Medhurst, who published a pamphlet to prove the practicability of carrying letters and
goods by air. In 1824, Mr.Vallance, of Brighton, took out a
patent for projecting passengers through a tube large enough to
contain a train of carriages, the tube ahead of the carriages being previously exhausted of its atmospheric air. The same idea
was afterward taken up, in 1835, by Mr. Pinkus, an ingenious
American. Several scientific gentlemen, Dr. Lardner and Mr.
Clegg among others, advocated the plan, and an association was
case." Hence the employment of another engineer to carry out the line which Stephenson could not conscientiously advocate.
* Speech of Wm. Jackson, Esq., M.P., at the meeting of the Chester and Birkenhead Railway Company, held at Liverpool, October, 1845.




CHAP: XVI.]  ATMOSPHERIC RAILiWA YS ADOPTED.         403
formed to carry it into effect. Shares were created, and ~18,000
raised; and a model apparatus was exhibited in London.. ]Mr.
Vignolles took Mr. Stephenson to see the model;. and after carefully examining it, he- observed emphatically, "It won't do: it.is
only the fixed engines and, ropes over again, in,,aiother form;
and, to tell you the truth, I don't think this rope of wind will answer:so well as the. rope.,of. wire  did."  He did not: think the
principle would stand -the test of.practice, and he objected to the
mode of applying the principle.:The stationary-engine system
was open to serious objections in: whatever form applied; and
every day's experience showed that the fixed engines could not
complete:with locomotives'in.point of efficiency and. economy.
Stephenson. stood by the locomotive engie, and subsequent! experience proved that he was right.
Messrs. Clegg and Samuda afterward, in 1840, patented their
plan of an atmospheric railway, and they publicly tested its worki:g Aon\ a portion of the West London Railway. The results of
the experiment..were considered so satisfactory, that the directors
of the Dublin and. Kingatown line adopteditbetween Kingstown
and Dalkey. The London and Croydon, Company  eo adopted
the atmospheric principle; and their line was opened in 18450
The ordinary mode of applying the power was to lay between the
line of rails a pipe, in which a large piston was inserted, and attached by a shaft to the framework of a carriage. The propellingpowpr was the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere acting
against the piston in the tube on one side, a vacuum being created in the tube on the other side of the piston by the working of
a stationary engine..: Great was the populaty of,the atmospheric
system;. and still George Stephenson, said li,It won't do; it's but
a gimcrack,"  Engineers.of distinction said he was prejudiced,
and that he looked upon the locomotive as a pet child of his own.
" Wait a little," he replied, "and you will see that I am right."
It was generally supposed that the locomotive system was about
to be snuffed out. "Not so fast," said Stephenson. "Let us wait
to, see if it will pay."  He never, believed it would. It was ingenious, clever, scientific, and all that; but railways were commercial enterprises, not toys; and if the atmospheric railway
could not work to a profit, it would not do. Considered in this
light, he even went so far'as to call it "a great humbug."
Cc




404       FAILURE OF THE A TMOSPHERIC SYSTEM.  [PART II.
No one can say that the atmospheric railway had not a fair
trial. The government engineer, General Pasley, did for it what
had never been done for the locomotive-he reported in its favor,
whereas a former government engineer had inferentially reported
against the tise of locomotive power on railways. The House of
Commons had also reported in favor of the use of the steam-engine on common roads; yet the railway locomotive had vitality
enough in it to live through all.  "Nothing will beat it," said
George Stephenson, "for efficiency in all weathers, for economy
in drawing loads of average weight, and for power and speed as
occasion may require."
The atmospheric system was fairly and fully tried, and it was
found wanting.  It was admitted to be an exceedingly elegant
mode of applying power; its devices were very skillful, and its
mechanism was most ingenious.  But it was costly, irregular in
action, and, in, particular kinds of weather, not to be depended
upon. At best, it was but a, modification of the stationary-engine
system, and experience proved it to be so expensive that it was
shortly after entirely abandoned in favor of locomotive power.*
One of the remarkable results of the system  of railway locomotion which George Stephenson had by his persevering labors
mainly contributed to establish was the outbreak of the railway
mania toward the close of his professional career.  The success
of the first main lines of railway naturally led to their extension
into many new districts; but a strongly speculative tendency soon
began to display itself, which contained in it the elements of great
danger.
The extension of railways had, up to the year 1844, been mainly effected by men of the commercial classes, and the shareholders in them principally belonged to the manufacturing districtsthe capitalists of the metropolis as yet holding aloof, and prophesying disaster to all concerned in railway projects.  The Stock
Exchange looked askance upon them, and it was with difficulty
* The question of the specific merits of the atmospheric as compared with the fixed
engine and locomotive systems will be found fully discussed in Robert Stephenson's
able " Report on theAtmospheric Railway System, 1844, in which he gave the result
of numerous observations and experiments made by him on the Kingstown Atmospheric Railway, with the object of ascertaining whether the new power would be applicable for the working of the Chester and Holyhead Railway then under construction. His opinion was decidedly against the atmospheric system.




CHAP. XVI.]       GAMBLING IN RAIL WAYS.                   405
that respectable brokers could be found to do business in the
shares. But when the lugubrious anticipations of the City men
were found to be so entirely falsified by the results-when, after
the lapse of years, it was ascertained that railway traffic rapidly
increased and dividends steadily improved-a change came over
the spirit of the London capitalists.  They then invested largely
in railways, the shares in which became a leading branch of business on the Stock Exchange, and the prices of some rose to nearly double their original value.
A stimulus was thus given to the projection of farther lines,
the shares in most of which came out at a premium, and became
the subject ofs immediate traffic.  A reckless spirit of gambling
set in, which completely changed the character and objects of
railway enterprise. The public outside the Stock Exchange became also infected, and many persons utterly ignorant of railways, but hungering and thirsting after premiums, rushed eagerly
into the vortex. They applied for allotments, and subscribed for
shares in lines, of the engineering character or probable traffic of
which they knew nothing. Provided they could but obtain allotments which they could sell at a premium, and put the profit —
in many cases the only capital they possessed*-into their pock-.
ets, it was enough for them. The mania was not confined to the
precincts of the Stock Exchange, but infected all ranks.  It embraced merchants and manufacturers, gentry and shop-keepers,
clerks in public offices, and loungers at the clubs. Noble lords
were pointed at as ",stags;" there were even clergymen who were
characterized:as" bulls," and amiable ladies who had the reputation of "bears," in the share-markets. -The few quietz men who
remained uninfluenced by the speculation of the time were,, in
not a few cases, even reproached for doing injustice to their families in declining to help themselves from the stores of wealth that
were poured out on all sides.
Folly and knavery were for a time in the ascendant. The
sharpers of society were let loose, and jobbers and schemers became more and more plentiful., They threw out railway schemes
* The Marquis of Clanricarde brought under the notice of the House of Lords, in
1845, that one Charles Guernsey, the son of a charwoman and a clerk in a broker's
office at 12s. a week, had his name down as a subscriber for shares in the London and
York line for ~52,000.




406              TI'E.RA IT WA Y MANIA.          [PiRT I.
as lures to.catch: the unwary.:They fed the. mania with a.constant succession of new projects. The, railway.,papers became
loaded with their advertisements. The post-office was scarcely
able; to distribute the multitude of prospectuses and circulars
which they issued. For a time their popularity was immense.
They rose like froth into0 the upper heights: of society, and the
fiunkey Fitz Pluse, by virtue of his supposed wealth, sat among
peers and was idolized. Then was the harvest-time. fori scheming
lawyers, Parliamentary agents, engineers, surveyors, and traffictakers,-:who were ready to. take up any railway scheme however
desperate, and to prove any amount of traffic. eveir:where none
existed. The traffic.in the credulity of their dupes was, however,
the great fact that mainly concerned them, and of the profitable
character of which there could be.no doubt.
Parliament, whose previous, conduct iL canneteoon with raiway ipgia ion was so open to  prei nsion, interposed no check
-attempted nm e. edy:.::na the. contrary,:it -helped to intensify
the evils arising, from:this unseemly state of things. Many of
its members were themselves involved in the mania, and as much
interested in its continuance as the vulgat -herd of money-grubbers,..The railway prospe.edtuses  now i'sued —unirke:the riginal
Liverpool and:Manchester, and Iondon: and'Birmingham schemes
-were headed bylpeers, baronets, landed proprietors, and strings
of:' ].EPs.:: Thus it was found in 1845 ~that no: fewer than 157
memabersof Parliament were.:on: theists. of new companies. as
subscribers..'.,::ums.a ging from.- ~291,000 downward!.The
projectors of new lines even came;to boast of their. Parliamentary
strength, and of the number of votes which they could command
in " the House," - At all events, it is matter of fact, that, many
utterly. ruinous branches' and extensions projected during the
mania,  lclated&- only:tob beniefit.the.:inhabitants of a few miserable boroughs accidentally omitted.:from Schedule A, were authorized in the: memorable essions of 1844 and 1845.
George Stephenson iwaS anxiously entreated to lend his name
to prospectuses during the railway mania, but he invariably refused. He held aloof from the headlong folly of the hour, and
endeavored to check it, but in vain. Had he been less scrupulous, and given his countenance to the numerousprojects about
which he was consulted, he might, without any trouble, have thus




CRAP. XVSI.] STEPHENSON'ON R-AIL WA YSPECULA TION.   407
secured enormous gains;' but-he had no desire to' accumulate a
fortune without: labor' and- without honor. He himself never
speculated,in shares.  When he was satisfied as to the merits of
an undertaking, he would sometimes.subscribe  for a certain
amount of capital in it, when he:held on, neither buying:nor
selling. At a dinner of the Leeds and Bradford' directors. at
Ben Rydding in October, 1844, before the mania had' reached its
height,'he warned those: present against the prevalent disposition
toward railway speculation. It was, he said, like walking upon a
piece of ice with shallows and deeps; the shallows were frozen
over, and they would carry, but it required great- caution to get
over the deeps.< tie wao satisfied that in:the course of the next
year many would step  on' t   places:not strong enough to carry
them, and would get into the Ad-eeps'; they would be taking: shares,
and afterward be unable to pay the calls upon them.:Yorkshiremen were' reckoned clever men, and his advice to them was to
stick together and promote communication in their own neighborhood —noatdt go;abroad with their speculations. - If any had
done: so, he advised them- to gettheir moeyack:as fast:as- they
could, for if they did not they would not get;it. at al. tEe;'in.
formed the company, at the same time, of his earliest holding of
railway shares; it was in the Stockton and Darlington Railway,
and the number he held was three-' a very large capital for
himn to possess at the time." ~ But a Stockton friend was anxious
to possess a share, and he sold him one at a premium of 338.; he
supposed he had-been about the first man in England to sell a
railway share at a premium.
During 1845, his son's offic in Great'-Georgettree6t, Westmain
ster, was crowded with persons of various conditions seeking interviews, presenting very much the appearance of the levee of a
minister of state. The burly figure of Mr. Hudson, the " Railway
King," surrounded by' an admiring group of followers, was often
to be seen there'; and a still more interesting person, in the-, estimation of many, was George -Stephenson, dressed in black, his
coat of-somewhat old-fashioned cut, with square, pockets in the
tails. He wore a white neckcloth, and a large bunch of seals
was suspended from his watch-ribbon.'Altogether, he presented
an appearance of health, intelligence, and good humor, that it
gladdened one to look upon in that sordid, selfish, and eventually
ruinous saturnalia of railway speculation.




408              RAGE -FOR DIRECT LINES.             [PART II.
Being still the consulting engineer of several of the older companies, he necessarily appeared before Parliament in support of
theirsbranches and extensions. In 1845 his name was associated
with that of his son as the engineer of the Southport and Preston
Junction. In the same session he gave evidence in favor of the
Syston and Peterborough branch of the Midland Railway; but
his principal attention was confined to the promotion of the line
from Newcastle to Berwick, in which he had never ceased to take
the. deepest interest.
Powers were granted by Parliament in 1845 to construct not
less than 2883 miles of new railways in Britain, at an expenditure of about forty-four millions sterling! Yet the mania was
not appeased; for in the following session of 1846, applications
were made to Parliament for powers to raise ~389,000,000 sterling for the construction of farther lines; and they were actually' conceded to the extent of 4790> miles, (including 60 miles of
tunnels), at a cost of about ~120,000,000 sterling.*  During this
session Mr. Stephenson appeared as engineer for only one new
line-the Buxton, Macclesfield, Congleton, and Crewe Railwaya line in which, as a coal-owner, he was'personally interested;
and of three branch lines in connection with existing companies
for which he had long acted as engineer. At the same period
all the leading professional men were fully occupied, some of
them  appearing as consulting engineers for upward of thirty
lihes each!,
One of the features of this mania was the rage for "direct
lines" which every where displayed itself. There were "Direct
Manchester," "Direct Exeter," "Direct York," and, indeed, new
direct lines between most of the large towns. The Marquis of
Bristol, speaking in favor of the "Direct Norwich and London"
project at a public meeting at IIaverhill, said, "If necessary, they
might make a tulnnel beneath his very drawing-room rather than
be defeated in their undertaking!" And the Rev. F. Litchfield,
at a meeting in Banbury on the subject of a line to that town,
said, " He had laid down for himself a limit to his approbation
* On the 17th of November, 1845, Mr. Spackman published a list of the lines projected (many of which were not afterward prosecuted), from which it appeared that
there were then 620 new railway projects before the public, requiring a capital of
~563,203,000.




CHAP. XVI.] THE LEGISLA TURE AND THE MANIA.        409
of railways -at least of such as approached the neighborhood
with which he was connected-and that limit was, that he did not
wish them to approach any nearer to him than to rnn throuqgh hi
bedroom, with the bedposts for a station!".How different was
the'spirit which influenced these noble lords and gentlemen but
a few years before!
The course adopted by Parliament in dealing with: the multitude of railway bills applied for during the prevalence of the
mania was as irrational as it proved unfortunate. The want of
foresight displayed by both houses in obstructing the railway system so long as it was based upon sound commercial principles
was only equaled by the fatalfacility with which they now granted railway projects based upon the wildest speculation  Parliament interposed no check, laid down no principle, furnished no
guidance, for the conduct of railway projectors, but left every
company to select its own locality, determine its own line, and
fix its own.gauge. No regard.was.paid to the claims of existing
companies, which had: already expended so large an amount in
the formation of useful railways; -and speculators were left at
liberty to project and carry out lines almost parallel with theirs.
The House of;Commons became thoroughly influenced by the
prevailing excitement. Even the Board of Trade began to favor
the views of the new and reckless school of engineers. In their
",Report on the Lines projected in the Manchester and Leeds
District," they promulgated some remarkable views respecting
gradients, declaring themselves in favor of the "undulating system." They there stated that lines of an undulating character
"which gave gradient of 1 in 70 or 1. in 80 distributed over them
in short lengths, may be positively better lines, i. e., imo"esusceptible of cheap and expeditious working, than others which have
nothing steeper than 1 in 100 or 1 in 120!" They concluded by
reporting in favor of the line which exhibited the worst gradients
and the sharpest curves, chiefly on the ground that it could be
constructed for less money
Sir Robert Peel took occasion, when speaking in favor of the
continuance of the Railways Department of the Board of Trade,
to advert to this report in the House of Commons on the 4th of
March following, as containing "a novel and highly important
view on the subject of gradients, which, he was certain, never




410             LEGISLATIVE BUNGLING.            [PART II.
could. have;been taken by any committee of the House of Commons, however intelligent;" and he might have added, that the
more intelligent, the less likely would they be to arrive at any
such conclusion. When George Stephenson saw this report of
the premier's speech in the newspapers of the following morning,
he went forthwith to his son, and asked him to'write a letter to
Sir Robert Peel on the subject. He saw clearly that if such
views were adopted, the utility and economy of railways would
be seriously curtailed. "These members of Parliament," said he,
"are now as much disposed to exaggerate the powers of the locomotive as they were to underestimate them but a few years ago."
Robert accordingly wrote a letter for his father's signature, embodying the views which heso strongly entertained as to the importance of flat gradients, and referring to the experiments conducted by him many years before in proof: of -the -,grat loss of.
working power which was incurredon a. line of steep as compared with easy gradients. -It was clear, from the tone of Sir
Robert Peel's speech in a subsequent debate, that he had carefully read and considered Mr. Stephenson's practical observations:on
the subject, though it did not appear that he had come to, any
definite conclusion thereon farther;than that he strongly approved
of the Trent Valley Railway, by which Tamworth would be placed
upon a direct main line of communication.:
The result of the labors of Parliament was a tisue of legislative
bungling, involving enormous loss to' the nation. Railway bills
were granted in heaps,.  Two" hundred and seventy-two additional acts were passed in 1846. Some authorized the construction
of lines running almost parallel with existing railways, in: order
to afford the public "the benefits of unrestricted.competition."
Locomotive and atmospheric lines, broadgauge a-ndnarrow-gauge
lines, were granted without hesitation. - ommittees decided without judgment and without discrimination; and in the scramble
for bills, the most unscrupulous were usually the most successful.
As an illustration of the legislative folly of the period, Robert
Stephenson, speaking at Toronto, in Upper Canada, some years
later, adduced the following instances:
"There was one district through which it was proposed to run
two lines, and there was no other difficulty between them than the
simple rivalry that, if one got a charter, the other might also. Buat




CAP. XVI.]          GEORGE HUDSON.                   411
here, where the committee might have given both, they gave neither. In another instance, two lines were projected through a barren country, and the committee gave the one which afforded the
least accommodation to the public. In another, where two lines
were projected.to run, merely to shorten the time by a few minutes,
leading through a mountainous country, the committee gave both.
So that, where the committee might have given both, they gave
neither, and where they should have given neither, they gave both."
Among the.many: ill effects of the mania, one of the worst was
that it introduced a low tone of morality into railway transactions.:The.-bad spirit which had been evoked by it unhappily extended to.the commercial classes, and many of the most flagrant
swindles of:recent times. ha4 their origin- in the year. 184.
Those who had suddenly: gained lrge: sums without labor, and
also without honor, were too ready:to enter upon courses  of the
wildest extravagance; and a false style of living arose, the poisonous influence of which extended through all classes. Men begann to: look upo railway ra s ainstruments to job with. Persons
sometimes possessing informatWion  speoting railways, but more
frequently possessing none, got upof boards fo; the Cpurpose of
promoting their individual objects, often in a very unsru-pulous
manner-; land-owners, to promote branch lines through their
property; speculators in shares, to trade upon the exclusive information which they obtained; while some directors were appointed:,through the influence mainly of solicitors, contractors,
or,engineers, who used them as tools to serve their own ends.
In this way the unfortunate proprietors were in many cases betrayed, and their property was-v shamefully squaxndered., much to
the discredit of the railway system.
One of the most prominent celebrities of the mania was George
Hudson, of York. He was a man of some local repute in that
city when the line between Leeds and York was projected. His
views as to railways were then extremely moderate, and his main
object in joining the undertaking: was to secure; for York the advantages of the best railway communication. The company was
not very prosperous at first, and during the years 1840 and 1841
the shares had greatly sunk in value. Mr. Alderman: Meek, he
first chairman, having retired, Mr. Hudson was elected in his
stead, and he very shortly contrived to pay improved dividends to




412                GEORGE HUDSON.               [PART II.
the proprietors, who asked no questions. Desiring to extend the
field of his operations, he proceeded to lease the Leeds and Selby
Railway at five per cent. That line had hitherto been a losing
concern; so its owners readily struck a bargain with Mr. Hudson, and sounded his praises in all directions. He increased the
dividends on the York and North Midland shares* to ten per
cent., and began to be cited as the model of a railway chairman.
He next interested himself in the North Midland Railway,
where he appeared in the character of a reformer of abuses.
The North Midland shares also had gone to a heavy discount,
and the shareholders were accordingly desirous of securing his
services. They elected him a director. His bustling, pushing,
persevering character gave him an influential position at the
board, and he soon pushed the old members from their/ stools.
He labored hard, at much personal inconvenience, to help the
concern out of its difficulties, and he succeeded. The new directors, recognizing his power, elected him their chairman.
Railways revived in 1842, and public confidence in them as
profitable investments was gradually increasing. Mr. Hudson
had the benefit of this growing prosperity. The dividends in his
lines improved, and the shares rose in value. The Lord-mayor
of York began to be quoted as one of the most capable of railway directors. Stimulated by his success and encouraged by his
followers, he struck out or supported many new projects-a line
to -Scarborough, a line to Bradford, lines in the Midland districts,
and lines to connect Yorkwith Newcastle and Edinburg.;Ie
was elected chairman of the Newcastle and Darlington Railway;
and when-in order. to complete the continuity of the main line
of communication —it was found necessary to secure the Durham
junction, which was an'important link in the chain, he and George
Stephenson boldly purchased that railway between them, at the
price of ~88,500. It was an exceedingly fortunate purchase for
the company, to whom it was worth double the money. The act,
though not strictly legal, proved successful in the issue, and was
much lauded. Thus encouraged, Mr. Hudson proceeded to buy
the Brandling Junction line for ~500,000 in his own name-an
operation at the time regarded as equally favorable, though he
was afterward charged with appropriating 1600 of the shares
created for the purchase, when worth ~21 premium each. The




CHAP. XVI.] ADULATION OF " THEE RAILWAY KING."       413
Great North of England line being completed, Mr. Hudson had
thus secured the entire line of communication from York to
Newcastle, and the route was opened to the public in June, 1844.
On that occasion Newcastle eulogized Mr. Hudson in its choicest
local eloquence, and he was pronounced to be the greatest benefactor the district had ever known.
The adulation which followed Mr. Hudson would have intoxicated a stronger and more self-denying man. He was pronounced
the man of the age, and hailed as "the Railway King."  The
highest test by which the shareholders judged him was the dividends that he paid, though subsequent events proved'that these
dividends were in many cases delusive, intended only "to make
things pleasant."  The policy, however, had its effect. The shares
in all the lines of which hei was chairman went to a premium,
and then arose the temptation to create new shares in branch and
extension lins, often worthless, which were issued at a premium
also. Thus he shortly found himself chairman of nearly 600
miles of railway, extending from Rugby to Newcastle, and at the
head of numerous new projects, by means of which paper-wealth
could be created as it were at pleasure. He held in his own
hands almost the entire administrative power of the companies
over which he presided: he was chairman, board, manager, and
all. His admirers for the time, inspired sometimes by gratitude
for past favors, but oftener by the expectation of favors to come,
supported him in all his measures. At the meetings of the companies, if any suspicious shareholder ventured to put a question
about the accounts, he was snubbed by the chair and hissed by
the proprietors. The Railway King was voted praises, testimonials, and surplus shares alike ftberally, and scarcely a word
against him could find a hearing. He was equally popular outside the circle Iof railway proprietors. His entertainments at Albert Gate were crowded by sycophants, many of them titled; and
he went his rounds of visits among the peerage like a prince.
Of course Mr. Hudson was a great authority on railway: questions in Parliament, to which the burgesses of Sunderland had
sent him. His experience of railways, still little understood,
though the subject of so much legislation, gave value and weight
to his opinions, and in many respects he was a useful member.
During the first years of his membership he was chiefly occupied




414    STEPHENSON AND HUDSON TESTIMONIALS. CPART II.
in passing the' railway bills in which he was more p rticultrly
interested; and in the session of 1845, when he was at the height
of his power, it was triumphantly said of him that " he walked
quietly through Parliament with some sixteen:railway bills under
his arm."
One of these bills, however, was the subject of a severe contest-we mean that empowering the construction of the -railway
from Newcastle to Berwick. It was almost the only bill-in which
George Stephenson was concerne4 that year. Mr.  Hudson' displayed great energy in supporting' the mieasure,;and he worked
hard to insure its success both in and out of Pa rliament; but he
himself attributed the chief merit to Stephenson; He accordingly suggested to the shareholders that they should present the engineer with some fitting testimonial in recognition of his serfices.
Indeed, a Stephenson Testimonial had long been'.spoken'of, and
a committee was'forined'for: raising subcrlptions for the purpose
as early as thie year 1839.. Mr. Hudson now revived the subject,
and appealed to the Newcastle and Darlington, the Midland, and
the York and North Midland Companies, who unanimously adopted the resolutions which he proposed to them'amid "'loud ap
plause," but there the matter ended.
The Hudson Testimonial was a much more taking thing, for
H-idson had it in his power to allot ehares (sellifng at a premium)
io:his adulatoirs  But Stephenson pretended: to fill no man's
pocket:With premiums;/he jwas. noS r:ator of shares, and could
not therefore work'upon' Bhareholders' gratitude for "favbrs to
come." The proposed testimonial to him accordingly ended with
resolutions and speeches.  The York, Newcastle, and Berwick
Board - in other words, Mr. Iludson- did indeed, mark their
sense of the " great obligations" which; they were uider to George
Stephenson for helping to: cary their bill through Parliament by
making him an allotment of thirty of the new shares authorized
by the act. But, as afterward appeared, the chairman had at the
same: t'me appropriated to himself not fewer than 10,894 of the
same:shares; the premiums on which were then worth, in the
market, about:~145,000. This shabbymanner of'acknowledging
the gratitude of the company to their engineer was. strongly resented by stephenson at the time, and a coolness took place between him, and Hudson which was never wholly removed, though




CHAP. XVI.]   FALL. OF THE "RIL WAY KNG.':415
they afterward shook hands, and Stephenson declared that all
was forgotten.
Mr. Hudson's brief reign drew to a close., The saturnalia of
1845 was followed by the usual reaction., Shares, went down
faster than~ they had gone. up;the holders of them hastened to
sell in order.to avoid payment of the calls, and many found themselves ruined..; Then came repentance, and a sudden return to
virtue,.  The betting man, who, temporarily abandoning the, turf
for the share-market, had played his heaviest stake, and lost; the
merchant: who had left his business,, and the doctor who had neglected his patients, to gamble in railway stock and been ruined;
the penniless knaves and schemers who had, speculated so reck:
lessly. and gained.so little; the title  and.fashiona blepeope, who
had bowed themselves so, low, befqre the, idol,of the day, and
found themselves deceived and "done;" the credulous small capitalists, who, dazzled by premiums, had invested their all in railway shares, and now saw themselves'stripped of every thing, were
gri~eosilyjexaged,: and looked about them for a victim., In this
temper were shareh.ld<rs:whe/,:t  a.ralway meeting in York,
some pertinent questions were put tpo. the  aflwy Klg,,.,is
replies were not satisfactory, and the questions were pushed home.
Mr. Hudson became confused. Angry voices rose in the meeting., A committeeof investigation was appointed. The golden
calf was found to be of brass, and hurled down, Hudson's own
toadies.and sycophants eagerly joining the chorus of popular indignation.;.Simnilar proceedings shortly after followed at the
meetings of: o.her companies1,and the bubbles having by that
time burst, the Railway Mania tjs came.to anignpminious,end.
While the mania was at:its hetihti:England,.rail4.w}ys were
also being extended abroad, and George Stephenson. continued to
be invited to, give the directors of foreign undertakings the benefit of his advice.. One of the most agreeable of his excursions
with that object was his third visit to Belgium in 18.45. His
special purpose was to examine the proposed line of the Sambre
and YIeuse Railway, for which a concession had been granted by
the Belgian Legislature, Arrived on the ground, he went carefully,over the, entire length of the proposed line, by Couvins,
through the Forest of Ardennes, t.o, Rocroi, across the French
frontier, examining the beai.ng  of the coal-field, the slate and




416             BANQ UET AT BR USSELS.           [PART II.
marble quarries, and the numerous iron-mines in existence between the Sambre and the Meuse, as well as. carefully exploring
the ravines which extended through the district, in order to satisfy himself that the best possible route had been selected. Stephenson was delighted with.the novelty of the journey, the beauty of the scenery, and the industry of the population. His companions were entertained by his ample and varied stores of practical information on all subjects, and his conversation was full of
reminiscences of his youth, on which he always delighted to dwell
when in the society of his more intimate friends. The journey
was varied by a visit to the coal-mines near Jemappe, where Stephenson examined with interest the mode adopted by the Belgian
miners of draining the pits, inspecting their engines and brakeing machines, so familiar to him in early life.
The engineers of Belgium took the opportunity of the engineers visit to invite him to a magnificent banquet at Brussels.
The Public Hall, in which they entertained him, was gayly decorated with flags, prominent among which was the Union Jack, in
honor of their distinguished guest. A handsome marble pedestal, ornamented with his bust crowned with laurels, stood at one
end of the room.  The chair was occupied by M. Massui, the
Chief Director of the National Railways of Belgium; and the
most eminent scientific men of the kingdom were present. Their
reception of the "'father of railways" was of the most enthusiastic description. Stephenson was greatly pleased with the entertainment.  Not the least interesting incident of the evening was
his observing, when the dinner was about half over, the model of
a locomotive engine placed upon the centre table, under a triumphal arch. Turning suddenly to his friend Sopwith, he exclaimed, " Do you see the'Rocket?'  It was, indeed, the model
of that celebrated locomotive; and the engineer prized the delicate compliment thus paid him perhaps more than all the enconiums of the evening.
The next day (April 5th) King Leopold invited him to a private interview at the palace. Accompanied by Mr. Sopwith, he
proceeded to Laaken, and was cordially received by his majesty.
The king immediately entered into familiar conversation with
him, discussing first the railway project which had been the object of his visit to Belgium, and then the structure of the Belgian




CHAP. XVI.]  INTERVIEW WITH KING LEOPOLD.          417
coal-fields, his majesty expressing his sense of the great importance of economy in a fuel which had become indispensable to
the comfort and well-being of society, which was the basis of all
manufactures, and the vital power of railway locomotion. The
subject was always a favorite one with George Stephenson, and,
encouraged by the king, he proceeded to explain to him the geological structure of Belgium, the original formation of coal, its
subsequent elevation by volcanic forces, and the vast amount of
denudation. In describing the coal-beds he used his hat as a sort
of model to illustrate his meaning, and the eyes of the king were
fixed upon it as he proceeded with his description. The conversation then passed to the rise and progress of trade and manufactures, Stephenson pointing out how closely they every where followed the coal, being mainly dependent iupon -it, as it were, for
their very existence.
The king seemed greatly pleased with the interview, and at its
close expressed himself as obliged by the interesting information
which the engineer had communicated. Shaking hands cordially with both the gentlemen, and -wishing them success in their
important undertakings, he bade them adieu. As they were leaving the palace, Stephenson, bethinking him of the model by which
he had just been illustrating the Belgian coal-fields, said to his
friend, "By-the-by, Sopwith, I was afraid the king would see the
inside of my hat; it's a shocking bad one!"
George Stephenson paid a farther visit to Belgium in the course
of the same year, on the business of the West Flanders Railway,
and he had scarcely returned from it ere he was requested to proceed to Spain, for the purpose of examining and reporting upon
a scheme then on foot for constructing the Royal North of Spain
Railway." A concession had been made by the Spanish government of a line of railway from Madrid to the Bay of Biscay, and
a numerous staff of engineers was engaged in surveying the proposed line. The directors of the company had declined making
the necessary deposits until more favorable terms had been secured; and Sir Joshua Walmsley, on their part, was about to visit
Spain and press the government on the subject. George Stephenson, whom he consulted, was alive to the difficulties of the office
which Sir Joshua was induced to undertake, and offered to be his
companion and adviser on the occasion, declining to receive any




418              PYRENEAN PASTORAL.              -PART II.
recompense beyond the simple expenses of the journey..  e could
only arrange to be absent for six weeks, and he set ou.t:from England about the middle of September, 1845.
The, party was joined at Paris by  Mr. Mackenzie, the contractor for the Orleans and Tours Railway,.then in course of construction, who took them over:the works and accompanied them as far
as Tours. They soon reached the great chain of the Pyrenees,
and crossed over into Spain., It was on.a Sunday evening after a
long day's;tbilome journey through the mountains, that hparty
sudde:nqly found themselves in, oneofthosee beautiful aseClided valleys:lying amid the Western Pyrenees. A small hamlet lay before them, consisting of some thirty or forty houses and a fine old
church. The sun was low on the horizon, and under the wide
porch, beneath the shadow of the, church, were seated nearly all
the inhabitants of the place. They were dressed in: their holiday
attired:The.bright bit oAired and, nmberheo:.te inthe dresses of
the women, and ethe -gay:sashes oof: the men, formed a- itriking pictaxre, on which the travelers gazed in silent admiration. It was
something entirely novel and unexpected. Beside the villagers
sat two venerable old men, whose canonical hats indicated their
quality as village pastors. Two groups of young women and ehildren were dancing: outside the porch to the accompaniment of a
simple pipe,. and within, a hundred yards of them: some of the
youths of, the village were disporting themselves in athletic exercises, the whole: beag carried on beneath the fostering care of the
old church, and~ with, the sanctigonof its ministers. It was a beautiful scene, and deeply moved the travelers as they approached the
principal group. The villagers greeted them courteously, supplied their present wants, and pressed upon them some fine melons, brought from their adjoining gardens. George Stephenson
used, afterward o look back upon thats simpe scene, and speak of
it as one oaf the most charming pastorals he had ever witnessed.
They shortly reached the site of the proposed railway, passing through Irun, St., Sebastian, St. Andero, and Bilbao, at which
places they met deputations oftle principal inhabitants who were
interested in the object of their journey. At Raynosa Stephenson carefully examined the mountain passes and ravines through
which a railway could be made. He rose at break of' day, and
surveyed until the darkness set in;and frequently his resting-place




CHAP. XVI. ]  SPANISH RAIL WAY SCHEME.              419
at night was the floor of some miserable hovel. He was thus laboriously occupied for ten days, after which he proceeded across
the province of Old Castile toward Madrid, surveying as he went.
The proposed plan included the purchase of the Castile Canal, and
that property was also examined. He next proceeded to El Escorial, situated at the foot of the Guadarama Mountains, through
which he found it would be necessary to construct two formidable tunnels; added to which, he ascertained that the country between El Escorial and Madrid was of a very difficult and expensive character to work through. Taking these circumstances into
account, and looking at the expected traffic on the proposed line,
Sir Joshua Walmsley, acting under the advice of Mr; Stephenson,
offered to construct the line from Madrid to the Bay of Biscay
on condition that the requisite land was given to the company for
the purpose; that they should be allowed every facility for cutting such timber belonging to the crown as might be required for
the purposes of the railway; and also that the materials required
from abroad for the construction of the line should be admitted
free of duty. In return for these concessions the company offered to clothe and feed several thousand convicts while engaged
in the execution of the earthworks.'General Narvaez, afteiward
Duke of Valencia, received Sir Joshua Walmsley and Mr. Stephenson on the subject of their proposition, and expressed his
willingness to close with them; but it was necessary that other
influential parties should give their concurrence before the scheme
could be carried into effect. The deputation waited ten days to
receive the answer of the Spanish government, but no answer of
any kind was vouchsafed. The authorities, indeed, invited them
to be present at a Spanish bull-fight, but that was not quite the
businesF Stephenson had gone all the way to Spain to transact,
and the offer was politely declined. The result was that Stephenson dissuaded his friend from making the necessary deposit at
Madrid. Besides, he had by this time form'ed an unfavorable
opinion of the entire project, and considered that the traffic would
not amount to one eighth of the estimate.
Mr. Stephenson was now anxious to be in England. During
the journey from Madrid he often spoke with affection of friends
and relatives, and when apparently absorbed by other matters he
would revert to what lie thought might then be passing at home.
D D




420              RETURN TO ENGLAND.             [PART II.
Few incidents worthy of notice occurred on the journey homeward, but one may be mentioned. While traveling in an open
conveyance between Madrid and Vittoria, the driver urged his
mules down hill at a dangerous pace. He was requested to slacken speed; but, suspecting his passengers to be afraid, he only flogged the brutes into a still more furious gallop. Observing this,
Stephenson coolly said, "Let us try him on the other tack; tell
him to show us the fastest pace at which Spanish mules can go."
The rogue of a driver, when he found his tricks of no avail, pulled
up and proceeded at a more moderate speed for the rest of the
journey.
Urgent business required Mr. Stephenson's presence in London
on the last day of November. They traveled, therefore, almost
continuously, day and night, and the fatigue consequent on the
journey, added to the privations endured by the engineer while
carrying on the survey among the Spanish mountains, began to
tell seriously on his health. By the time he reached Paris he
was evidently ill, but he nevertheless determined on proceeding.
He reached Havre in time for the Southampton boat, but when
on board pleurisy developed itself, and it was necessary to bleed
him freely. After a few weeks' rest at home, however, he gradually recovered, though his health remained severely shaken.
OLAYROSS WOBRKS.




NEWCASTLE, FROM THE HIGH-LEVEL BIDGE. [By R P. Leitch.]
CHAPTER XVII.
ROBERT STEPIENONOS CAREER-THE STEPHENSONS AND BRUNELEAST COAST RQUTE TO SCOTLAND-ROYAL BORDER BRIDGE, BERWICK-HIGH-LEVEL BRIDGE, NEWCASTL.
THE career of George Stephenson was drawing to a close. He
had for some time been gradually retiring from the more active
pursuit of railway engineering, and confining himself to the promotion of only a few undertakings, in which he took a more
than ordinary personal interest. In 1840, when the extensive
main lines in the Midland districts had been finished and opened
for traffic, he publicly expressed his intention of withdrawing
from the profession. He had reached sixty, and, having spent
the greater part of his life in very hard work, he naturally desired rest and retirement in his old age. There was the less necessity for his continuing " in harness," as Robert Stephenson was
now in full career as a leading railway engineer, and his father
had pleasure in handing over to him, with the sanction of the
companies concerned, nearly all the railway appointments which
he held.
Robert Stephenson amply repaid: his father's care. The sound
education of which he had laid the foundations at school, improved by his subsequent culture, but more than all by his father's
example of application, industry, and thoroughness in all that he




422         ROBERT STEPHIENSON'S CAREER.         [PART II.
undertook, told powerfully in the formation of his character not
less than in the discipline of his intellect. His father had early
implanted in him habits of mental activity, familiarized him with
the laws of mechanics, and carefully trained and stimulated his
inventive faculties, the first great fruits of which, as we have seen,
were exhibited in the triumph of the " Rocket" at Rainhill. " I
am fully conscious in my own mind," said the son at a meeting
of the Mechanical Engineers at Newcastle in 1858, " how greatly
my civil engineering has been regulated and influenced by the
mechanical knowledge which I derived directly from my father;
and the more my experience has advanced, the more convinced I
have become that it is necessary to educate an engineer in the
workshop. That is, emphatically, the education which will render the engineer most intelligent, most useful, and the fullest of
resources in times of difficulty."
Robert Stephenson was but twenty-six years old when the performances of the " Rocket" established the practicability of steam
locomotion on railways. He was shortly after appointed engineer of the Leicester and Swannington Railway; after which, at
his father's request, he was made joint engineer with himself in
laying out the London and Birmingham Railway, and the execution of that line was afterward intrusted to him as sole engineer.
The stability and excellence of the works of that railway, the difficulties which had been successfully overcome in the course of
its construction, and the judgment which was displayed by Robert Stephenson throughout the whole conduct of the undertaking
to its completion, established his reputation as an engineer, and
his father could now look with confidence and pride upon his
son's achievements. From that time forward, father and son
worked together cordially, each jealous of the other's honor; and
on the father's retirement it was generally recognized that, in the
sphere of railways, Robert Stephenson was the foremost man,
the safest guide, and the most active worker.
Robert Stephenson was subsequently appointed engineer of the
Eastern Counties, the Northern and Eastern, and the Blackwall
Railways,'besides many lines in the midland and southern districts. When the speculation of 1844 set in, his services were, of
course, greatly in request. Thus, in one session, we find him engaged as engineer for not fewer than thirty-three new schemes.




CHAP. XVII.] PARLIAMENTARY ENGINEERING WORK.        423
Projectors thought themselves fortunate who could secure his
name, and he had only to propose his terms to obtain them. The
work which he performed at this period of his life was indeed
enormous, and his income was large beyond any previous instance
of engineering gain. But much of the labor done was mere
hackwork of a very uninteresting character. During the sittings
of the committees of Parliament, much time was also occupied
in consultations, and in preparing evidence or in giving it.
The crowded, low-roofed committee-rooms of the old houses of
Parliament were altogether inadequate to accommodate the press
of perspiring:projectors of bills, and even the lobbies were sometimes choked with them. To have borne that noisome atmosphere and heat would have tested the constitutions of salamanders, and engineers were only human, With brains kept in a
state of excitement during the entire day, no wonder their nervous systems became unstrung. Their only chance of refreshment was during an occasional rush to the bun and sandwich
stand in the lobby, though sometimes even that resource failed
them. Then, with mind and body jaded-probably after undergoing a series of consultations upon many bills after the rising
of the committees-'the exhausted engineers would seek to stimulate nature by a late, perhaps a heavy dinner. What chance
had any ordinary constitution of surviving such an ordeal a The
consequence was, that stomach, brain, and liver were alike injured,
and hence the men who bore the heat and brunt of those struggles-Stephenson, Brunel, Locke, and Errington-have already
all died, comparatively young men.
In mentioning the name of Brunel, we are reminded of him as
the principal rival and competitor of Robert Stephenson. Both
were the sons of distinguished men,. and both inherited the fame
and followed in the footsteps of their fathers. The Stephensons
were inventive, practical, and sagacious; the Brunels ingenious,
imaginative, and daring. The former were as thoroughly English in their characteristics as the latter perhaps, were as thoroughly French. The fathers and the sons were alike successful
in their works, though not in the same degree. Measured by
practical and profitable results, the Stephensons were unquestionably the safer men to -follow.
Robert Stephenson and Isambard Kingdom Brunel were des



424               THE GREAT WESTERN GA UGE.                      [PART II.
tined often to come into collision in the course of their professional life.  Their respective railway districts "marched" with
each other, and it became their business to' invade or defend
those districts, according as the policy of their respective boards
might direct.  The gauge of 7 feet fixed by Brunel for the Great
Western Railway, so entirely different from  that of 4 feet 8*
inches adopted by the Stephensons on the Northern and Midland
lines,* was from the first a great cause of contention.  But Brunel
had always an aversion to follow any man's lead; and that another engineer had fixed the gauge of a railway, or built a bridge,
or designed an engine in one way, was of itself often a sufficient
reason  with  him  for adopting  an  altogether different course.
Robert Stephenson, on his part, though less bold, was more practical, preferring to follow the old routes, and to tread in the safe
steps of his father.
Mr. Brunel, however, determined that the Great Western should
be a giant's road, and that traveling should be conducted upon it
at double speed.  His ambition was to make the best road that
imagination could devise, whereas the main object of the Ste* The original width of the coal tram-roads in the North virtually determined the
British gauge. It was the width of the ordinary road-track-not fixed after any
scientific theory, but adopted simply because its use had already been established.
George Stephenson introduced it without alteration on the Liverpool and Manchester
Railway, and the lines subsequently formed in that district were laid down of the same
width.. Stephenson from the first anticipated the general extension of railways throughout England, and one of the ideas with which he started was the essential importance
of preserving such a uniformity as would admit of perfect communication between
them. When consulted about the gauge of the Canterbury and Whitstable, and Leicester and Swannington Railways, he said, "Make them of the same width: though
they may be a long way apart now, depend upon it they will be joined together some
day." All the railways, therefore,laid down by himself and his assistants in the neighborhood of Manchester, extending from' thence to London on the south, and to Leeds
on the east, were constructed on the Liverpool and Manchester, or narrow gauge. Besides the Great Western Railway, where the gauge adopted was seven feet, the only
other line on which a broader gauge than four feet eight and a half inches was adopted was the Eastern Counties, where it was five feet, Mr. Braithwaite, the engineer,
being of opinion that an increase of three and a half inches in the width of the line
would afford better space for the machinery of the locomotive. But when the northem and eastern extension of the same line was formed, which was to work into the
narrow-gauge system of the Midland Railway, Robert Stephenson, its new engineer,
strongly recommended the directors of the Eastern Counties Line to alter their gauge
accordingly, for the purpose of securing uniformity, andthey adopted his recommendation.




CHAP. XVII.]  ROBERT STEPHENSON'S CAUTION.           425
phensons, both father and son, was to make a road that would
pay. Although, tried by the Stephenson test, Brunel's magnificent road was a failure so far as the shareholders in the Great
Western Company were concerned, the stimulus which his ambitious designs gave to mechanical invention at the time proved
a general good. - The narrow-gauge engineers exerted themselves
to quicken their locomotives to the utmost. They improved and
reimproved them. The machinery was simplified and perfected.
Outside cylinders gave place to inside; the steadier and more
rapid and effective action of the engine was secured, and in a few
years the highest speed on railways went up from thirty to about
fifty miles an hour. For this rapidity in progress we are in no
small degree indebted to the stimulus imparted to the narrowgauge engineers by Mr. Brunel.
It was one of the characteristics of Brunel to believe in the
success of the schemes for which he was professionally engaged
as engineer, and he proved this by investing his savings largely
in the Great Western:Railway, in the South Devon Atmospherical line, and in the Great Eastern steam-ship, with what results
are well known. Robert Stephenson, on the:contrary, with characteristic caution, toward the latter years of his life avoided holding unguaranteed railway shares; and though he might execute
magnificent structures, such as the Victoria Bridge across the St.
Lawrence, he was careful not to'embark any portion of his own
fortune intthe ordinary capital of these concerns. In 1845 he
shrewdly foresaw the inevitable crash that was about to succeed
the mania of that year, and while shares were still at a premium
-he took the opportunity of selling out all that he held. He urged
his father to do the same thing; but George's reply was characteristic. "No," said he, "'I took my shares for an investment, and
not to speculate with, and I am not going to sell them now because people have gone mad about railways."  The consequence
was,'that he continued to hold the ~60,0'00 which he had invested in the shares of various railways iuntil his death,'when they
were at once sold out by his son, though at a great. depreciation
on their original cost.
One of the hardest battles fought between the Stephensons
and Brunel was for the railway'between Newcastle and Berwick,
forming part of the great East Coast route to Scotland. As early




426        EAST COAST ROUTE TO SCOTLAND.    [PART II.
as 1836 George Stephenson had surveyed two lines to connect
Edinburg with Newcastle: one by Berwick and Dunbar along
the coast, and-the other, more inland, by Carter Fell, up the vale
of the Gala, to the northern capital. Two years later he made
a farther examination of the intervening country, and reported in
favor of the coast line. The inland route, however, was not without its advocates. But both projects lay dormant for several
years longer, until the completion of the Midland and other main
lines as far north as Newcastle had the effect of again reviving
the subject of the extension of the route as far as Edinburg.
On the 18th of June, 1844, the Newcastle and Darlington line
-an important link of the great main highway to the northwas completed and publicly opened, thus connecting the Thames
and the Tyne by a continuous line of railway. On that day
George, Stephenson and a distinguished party of railway men
traveled by express train from London to Newcastle in about
nine hours. It was a great event, and was worthily celebrated.
The population of Newcastle held holiday; and a banquet given
in the Assembly Rooms the same evening assumed the form of
an ovation to Mr. Stephenson and his son.
After the opening of this railway, the project of the East Coast
line from Newcastle to Berwick was revived, and George Stephenson, who had already identified himself with the question,
and was intimately acquainted with every foot of the ground,
was again called upon to assist the promoters with his judgment
and experience. He again recommended as strongly as before
the line he had previously surveyed; and on its being adopted
by the local committee, the necessary steps were taken to have
the scheme brought before Parliament in the ensuing session.
The East Coast line was not, however, to be allowed to pass without a fight. On the contrary, it had to encounter as stout an opposition- as Stephenson had ever experienced.
We have already stated that about this time the plan of substituting atmospheric pressure for locomotive steam-power in the
working of railways had become very popular. Many eminent
engineers avowedly supported atmospheric in preference to locomotive lines; and many members of Parliament, headed by the
prime ministers, were strongly disposed in their favor. Mr. Brunel warmly espoused the atmospheric principle, and his persua



CHAP. XVII.] BRUNEL'S PROPOSED ATMOSPHERIC LINE.  427
sive manner, as well as his admitted scientific ability, unquestionably exercised considerable influence in determining the views
of many leading members of both houses. Among others, Lord
Howick, one of the members for Northumberland, advocated the
new principle, and, possessing great local influence, he succeeded
in forming a powerful confederacy of the landed gentry in favor
of Brunel's atmospheric railway through the country.
George Stephenson could not brook the idea of seeing the locomotive, for which he had fought so many stout battles, pushed
to one side, and that in the very county in which its great powers
had been first developed. Nor did he relish the appearance of
Mr. Brunel as the engineer of Lord Howick's scheme, in opposition to the:line whioh had occupied his thoughts and been the
object of his strenuous advocacy for so many years. When Stephenson first met Brunel in Newcastle, he good-naturedly shook
him by the collar, and asked " what business he had north of the
Tyne?'" George gave him to understand that they were to have
a fair stand-up fight.for the ground, and shaking hands before
the battle like Englishmen, they parted in good-humor. A public meeting was held at Newcastle -in the following December,
when, after a full discussion of the merits of the respective plans,
Stephenson's line was almost unanimously adopted as the best.
The rival projects went before Parliament in 1845, and a severe contest ensued. The display of ability and tactics on both
sides was great. Robert Stephenson was examined at great
length as to the merits of the locomotive line, and Brunel at
equally great length as to the merits of the atmospheric. Mr.
Brunel, in his evidence, said that after numerous experiments, he
had arrived at the conclusion that the mechanical contrivance of
the atmospheric system was perfectly applicable, and he believed
that it would likewise be more economical in most cases than locomotive power. "In short," said he, " rapidity, comfort, safety,
and economy are its chief recommendations."
Notwithstanding the promise of MIr. Sergeant Wrangham, the
counsel for Lord Howick's scheme, that the Northumberland atmospheric was to be "a respectable line, and not one that was to
be converted into a road for the accommodation of the coal-owners of the district," the locomotive again triumphed. The Stephenson Coast line secured the approval of Parliament, and the




428            INTER VIEW WITH LORD HO WICK.                  [PART II.
shareholders in the Atmospheric Company were happily prevented investing their capital in what would unquestionably have
proved a gigantic blunder.  For, less than three years later, the
whole of the atmospheric tubes which had been laid down on
other lines were pulled up and the materials sold, including Mr.
Brunel's immense.tube on the South Devon Railway*-to make
way for the, working of the locomotive engine. George Stephenson's first verdict of "It won't do" was thus conclusively confirmed.
Robert Stephenson used afterward to describe with gusto an
interview which took place between Lord HIowick and his father,
at his office in Great George Street, during the progress of.the
bill in Parliament.  His father was in the outer office, where he
used to spend a good deal of his spare time, occasionally taking
a quiet wrestle with a friend when nothing else was stirring.t
On the day in question, George. was standing, with his back to
the fire, when Lord Howick called to see Robert.  Oh! thought
George, he has come to try and talk Robert over about that atmospheric gimcrack; but I'll tackle his lordship.  "Come in,
my lord," said he; " Robert's busy; but I'll answer your purpose
quite as well; sit down here, if you please.". George began,
" Now, my lord, I know very well what you. have come- about:
it's that atmospheric line in the North; I will show you in less
than five minutes.that it can never answer."'  "If Mr. Robert
Stephenson is not at liberty, I can call again," said his lordship.
* The atmospheric lines had for some time been working very irregularly and very
expensively. Robert Stephenson, in a letter to Mr. T. Sopwith, F.R.S., dated the 8th
of January, 1846, wrote: "Since my return [from Italy] I have learned that your
atmospheric friends are very sickly. A slow typhus has followed the high fever I left
them in about three months ago. I don't anticipate, however, that the patient will
expire suddenly. There is every appearance of the case being a protracted one,
though a fatal termination is inevitable. When the pipes are sold by auction, I intend to buy one and present it to the British Museum." During the last half year
of the atmospheric experiment on the South Devon line in 1848, the expenditure exceeded the gross income (~26,782) by ~2487, or about 9j per cent. excess of working expenses beyond the gross receipts.
t " When my father came about the office," said Robert, "he sometimes did not
well know what to, do with himself. So he used to invite Bidder to have a quiet
wrestle with him, for old acquaintance sake. And the two wrestled together so often,
and had so many'falls' (sometimes I thought they would bring the house down between them), that they broke half the chairs in my outer office. I remember once
sending my father in a joiner's bill of about ~2 10s. for the mending of broken chairs."




Cmau,.XVII.] NEWCASTLE AND BERWICK RAIL WAY.         429
"He's certainly occupied on important business just at present,"
was George's answer, " but I can tell you far better than he can
what nonsense the atmospheric system is: Robert's good-natured,
you see, and if your lordship were to get alongside of him you
might talk him'over; so. you have been quite lucky in meeting
with me. Now just look at the question of expense," and then
he proceeded in his strong Doric to explain his views in detail,
until Lord Howick could stand it no longer, and he rose and
walked toward the door. George followed him down stairs to
finish his demolition of the atmospheric system, and his parting
words were, " You may take my word for it, my lo4, it will never answer."  George afterward told his son with glee of "the
settler" he had given Lord Howick.
So closely were the Stephensons identified with this measure,
and so great was the personal interest which they were both
known to take in its success, that, on the news of the passing of
the bill reaching Newcastle, a sort of general holiday took place,
and the workmen belonging to the Stephenson Locomotive Factory, upward of eight hundred in number, walked in procession
through the principal streets of the town, accompanied by music
and banners.
It is unnecessary to enter into any description of the works of
the Newcastle and Berwick Railway. There are no fewer than
a hundred and ten bridges of all sorts on the line —some under
and some over it-the viaducts over the Ouseburn, the Wansbeck,
and the Coquet being of considerable importance. But by far
the most formidabl$ piece of masonry work on this railway is
at its northern extremity, where it passes across the Tweed into
Scotland, immediately opposite the formerly redoubtable castle
of Berwick. Not many centuries had passed since the district
amid which this bridge stands was the scene of almost constant
warfare. Berwick was regarded as the key of Scotland, and was
fiercely fought for, being sometimes held by a Scotch and sometimes by an English garrison. Though strongly fortified, it was
repeatedly taken by assault. On its capture by Edward I., Boetius says, 17,000 persons were slain, so that its streets "ran with
blood like a river." Within sight of the ramparts, a little to the
west, is Halidon Hill, where a famous victory was gained by Edward III. over the Scottish army under Douglas; and, there is




430                ROYAL BORDER.BRIDGE.                 [PART II.
_. -                                       _
RoYAL BORDER BIrDGz, BERWIOx. [By R. P. Leitch, after his original Drawing.]
scarcely a foot of ground in the neighborhood but has been the
scene of contention in days long past. In the reigns of James I.
and Charles I., a bridge of fifteen arches was built across the
Tweed at Berwick; and now a railway bridge of twenty-eight
arches was built a little above the old one, but at a much high



CHAP. XVII.]  NEWCASTLE HIGH-LEVEL BRIDGE.           431
er level. The bridge built by the kings out of the national resources cost ~15,000, and occupied twenty-four years and four
months in the building; the bridge built by the Railway Company, with funds drawn from private resources, cost ~120,000,
and was finished in three years and four months from the day of
laying the foundation stone.
This important viaduct, built after the designs of Robert Stephenson, consists of a series of twenty-eight semicircular arches,
each 61 feet 6 inches in span, the greatest height above the bed
of the river being 126 feet. The whole is built of ashlar, with a
hearting of rubble, excepting the river parts of the arches, which
are constructed with bricks laid in cement. The total length of
the work is 2160 feet. The foundations of the piers were got in
by coffer-dams in the ordinary way, Nasmyth's steam-hammer
being extensively used in driving the piles. The bearing piles,
from which the foundations of the piers were built up, were each
capable of carrying 70 tons.
Another bridge, of still greater importance, necessary to complete the continuity of the East Coast route, was the master-work
erected by Robert Stephenson between -the north and south banks
of the Tyne, at Newcastle, commonly known as the High-Level
Bridge. Mr. R. W. Brandling, George Stephenson's early'friend,
is entitled to the merit of originating the idea of this bridge, as
it was eventually carried out, with a central terminus for the
northern railways in the Castle Garth. The plan was first promulgated by him in 1841; and in the following year it was resolved that George Stephenson should be consulted as to the most
advisable site for the proposed structure. A prospectusof a HighLevel Bridge Company was issued in 1843, the names of George
Stephenson and George Hudson appearing on the committee of
management, Robert Stephenson being the consulting engineer.,
The project was eventually taken up by the Newcastle and Darlington Railway Company, and an act for the construction of the
bridge was obtained in 1845.
The rapid extension of railways had given an extraordinary
stimulus to the art of bridge-building; the number of such structures erected in Great Britain alone, since 1830, having been above
thirty thousand, or far more than all that previously existed in the
country. Instead of the erection of a single large bridge consti



482          PROGRESS OF BRIDGEB UILDING.          [PART II.
tuting, as formerly, an epoch in engineering, hundreds of extensive bridges of novel design were simultaneously constructed.
The necessity which existed for carrying rigid roads, capable of
bearing heavy railway trains at high speed, over extensive gaps
free of support, rendered it apparent that the methods which had
up to that time been employed for bridging space were altogether
insufficient. The railway engineer could not, like the ordinary
road engineer, divert his road, and make choice of the best point
for crossing a river or a valley. He must take such ground as
lay in the line of his railway, be it bog, or mud, or shifting sand.
Navigable rivers and crowded thoroughfares had to be crossed
without interruption to the existing traffic, sometimes by bridges
at right angles to the river or road, sometimes by arches more or
less oblique. In many cases great difficulty arose from the limited nature of the headway; but, as the level of the original road
must generally be preserved, and that of the railway was in a
measure fixed and determined, it was necessary to modify the
form and structure of the bridge in almost every case, in order to
comply with the public requirements. Novel conditions were met
by fresh inventions, and difficulties of an unusual character were
one after another successfully surmounted. In executing these
extraordinary works, iron has been throughout the sheet-anchor
of the engineer. In the various forms of cast and wrought iron
it offered a valuable resource where rapidity of execution, great
strength and cheapness of construction in the first instance were
elements of prime importance, and by its skillful use the railway
architect was enabled to achieve results which thirty years since
would scarcely have been thought possible.
In many of the early cast-iron bridges the old form of the arch
was adopted, the stability of the structure depending wholly on
compression, the only novel feature consisting in the use of iron
instead of stone. But in a large proportion of cases, the arch,
with the railroad over it, was found inapplicable in consequence
of the limited headway which it provided. Hence it early occurred to George Stephenson, when constructing the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, to adopt the simple cast-iron beam for
the crossing of several roads and canals along that line-this
beam resembling in some measure the lintel of the early temples
— the pressure on the abutments being purely vertical. One of




CHAP. XVII.] THE TYNE VALLEY AT NEWCASTLE.           433
the earliest instances of this kind of bridge was that erected over
Water Street, Manchester, in 1829; after which, cast-iron girders,
with their lower webs considerably larger than their upper, were
ordinarily employed where the span was moderate, and wroughtiron tie-rods below were added to give increased strength where
the span was greater.
The next step was the contrivance of arched beams or bowstring girders, firmly held together by horizontal ties to resist the
thrust, instead of abutments. Numerous excellent specimens of
this description of bridge were erected by Robert Stephenson on
the original London and Birmingham Railway; but by far the
grandest work of the kind-perfect as a specimen of modern constructive skill-was the, High-Level Bridge, which we owe to the
genius of the same engineer.
The problem was to throw a railway bridge across the deep
ravine which lies between the towns of Newcastle and Gateshead,
at the bottom of which flows the navigable river Tyne. Along
and up the sides of the valley-on the Newcastle bank especially
-run streets of old-fashioned houses, clustered together in the
strange forms peculiar to the older cities. The ravine is of great
depth-so deep and gloomy-looking toward dusk, that local tradition records that when the Duke of Cumberland arrived late in
the evening, at the brow of the hill overlooking the Tyne, on his
way to Culloden, he exclaimed to his attendants, on looking down
into the black gorge before him," For God's sake, don't think of
taking me down that coal-pit at this time of night!" The road
down the Gateshead High Street is almost as steep as the roof of
a house, and up the Newcastle Side, as the street there is called,
it is little better. During many centuries the traffic north and
south passed along this dangerous and difficult route, across the
old bridge which spans the river in the bottom of the valley. For
some thirty years the Newcastle Corporation had discussed variious methods of improving the communication between the towns;
and the discussion might have gone on for thirty years more, but
for the advent of railways, when the skill and enterprise to which
they -gave birth speedily solved the difficulty and bridged the ravine. The local authorities adroitly took advantage of the opportunity, and insisted on the provision of a road for ordinary
vehicles and foot passengers in addition to the railroad. In this




434          FOUNDATIONS OF THE BRIDGE.           [PART II.
circumstance originated one of the most remarkable peculiarities
of the High-Level Bridge, which serves two purposes, being a railway above, with a carriage roadway underneath.
The breadth of the river at the point of crossing is 515 feet,
but the length of the bridge and viaduct between the Gateshead
station and the terminus on the Newcastle side is about 4000 feet.
It springs from Pipewell Gate Bank, on the south, directly across
to Castle Garth, where, nearly fronting the bridge, stands the fine
old Norman keep of the New Castle, now nearly eight hundred
years old; and a little beyond it is the spire of St. Nicholas
Church, with its light and graceful Gothic crown, the whole forming a grand architectural group of unusual historic interest. The
bridge passes completely over the roofs of the houses which fill
both sides of the valley, and the extraordinary height of the up:
per parapet, which is about 130 feet above the bed of the river,
offers a prospect to the passing traveler the like of which is perhaps nowhere' else to be seen. Far below lie the queer chares
and closes, the wynds and lanes of old Newcastle; the water is
crowded with pudgy, black coal keels; and, when there is a lull
in the great clouds of smoke which usually obscure the sky, the
funnels of steamers and the masts of the shipping may be seen
far down the river. The old bridge lies so far beneath that the
passengers crossing it seem like so many bees passing to and fro.
The first difficulty encountered in building the bridge was in
securing a solid foundation for the piers. The dimensions of the
piles to be driven were so huge that the engineer found it necessary to employ some extraordinary means for the purpose. He
called Nasmyth's Titanic steam-hammer to his aid-the first occasion, we believe, on which this prodigious power was employed
in bridge pile-driving. A temporary staging was erected for the
steam-engine and hammer apparatus, which rested on two keels,
and, notwithstanding the newness and stiffness of the machinery,
the first pile was driven on the 6th of October, 1846, to a depth
of 32 feet in four minutes. Two hammers of 30 cwt. each were
kept in regular use, making from 60 to 70 strokes per minute,
and the results were astounding to those who had been accustomed to the old style of pile-driving by means of the ordinary
pile-frame, consisting of slide, ram, and monkey. By the old system the pile was driven by a comparatively small mass of iron
descending with great velocity from a considerable height —the




CHAP. XVII.]    PILE-DRIVING BY STEAM.               435
velocity being in excess and the mass deficient, and calculated,
like the momentum of a cannon-ball, rather for destructive than
impulsive action. In the case of the steam pile-driver, on the contrary, the whole weight of a heavy mass is delivered rapidly upon
a driving-block of several tons weight placed directly over the
head of the pile, the weight never ceasing, and the blows being
repeated at the rate of a blow a second, until the pile is driven
home. It is a curious fact, that the rapid strokes of the steamhammer evolved so much heat, that on many occasions the pilehead burst into flame during the process of driving. The elastic
force of steam is the power that lifts the ram, the escape permitting its entire force to fall upon the head of the driving-block;
while the steam above the piston on the upper part of the Icylinder, acting as a buffer or recoil-spring, materially enhances the
effect of the downward blow. As soon as one pile was driven,
the traveler, hovering overhead, presented another, and down it
went into the solid bed of the river with almost as much ease as
a lady sticks pins into a cushion. By the aid of this formidable
machine, what before was among the most costly and tedious of engineering operations was rendered simple,:easy, and:economical.
When the piles had been driven and the coffer-dams formed
and puddled, the water within the inclosed spaces was pumped
out by the aid of powerful engines, so as to lay bare the bed of
the liver. Considerable difficulty was experienced in getting in
the foundations of the middle pier, in consequence of the water
forcing itself through the quicksand beneath as fast as it was removed. This fruitless labor went on for months, and many expedients were tried. Chalk was thrown in in large quantities
outside the piling, but without effect. Cement concrete was at
last put within the coffer-dam until it set, and the bottom was
then found to be secure. A. bed of concrete was laid up to the
level of the heads of the piles, the foundation course of stone
blocks being commenced about two feet below low water, and the
building proceeded without farther difficulty. It may serve to
give an idea of the magnitude of the work when we state that
400,000 cubic feet of ashlar, rubble, and concrete were worked
up in the piers, and 450,000 cubic feet in the land-arches and approaches.
The most novel feature of the structure is the use of cast and
wrought iron in forming the double bridge, which admirably comE E




436                PLAN OF THE BRIDGE.                [PART II.
bines the two principles of the arch and suspension, the railway
being carried over the back of the ribbed arches in the usual
manner, while the carriage-road and footpaths, forming a long
gallery or aisle, are suspended from these arches by wrought-iron
vertical rods, with horizontal tie-bars to resist the thrust. The
suspension-bolts are inclosed within ~pandril pillars of cast iron,
which give great stiffness to the superstructure. This system of
longitudinal and vertical bracing has been much admired, for it
not only accomplishes the primary object of securing rigidity in
the roadway, but at the same time, by its graceful arrangement,
heightens the beauty of the structure. The arches consist of four
main ribs, disposed in pairs, with a clear distance between the two
inner arches of 20 feet 4 inches, forming the carriage-road, while
between each of the inner and outer ribs there is a space of 6 feet
2 inches, constituting the footpaths. Each arch is cast in five
separate lengths or segments, strongly bolted together. The ribs
spring from horizontal plates of cast iron, bedded and secured on
the stone piers. All the abutting joints were carefully executed
by machinery, the fitting being of the most perfect kind. In order to provide for the expansion and contraction of the iron arching, and to preserve the equilibrium of the piers without disturbance or racking of the other parts of the bridge, it was arranged
that the ribs of every two adjoining arches.resting on the same
pier should be secured to the springing-plates by keys and joggles; while on the next piers, on either side, the ribs remained
free, and were at liberty to expand or contract according to temHIMHLEVEL BRIDGE-LEVATION OF ONE RCH.L
PLAN OF ONE ARCH.




CHAP. XVII.]  THE "LAST ACT OF THE, UNION."          437
perature-a space being left for the purpose. Hence each arch
is complete and independent in itself, the piers having simply to
sustain their vertical pressure. The arches are six in number, of
125 feet span each, the two approaches to the bridge being formed of cast-iron pillars and bearers in keeping with the arches.
The result is a bridge that for massive solidity may be pronounced unrivaled. It is one of the most magnificent and striking of the bridges to which railways have given birth, and has
been worthily styled " the King of railway structures."  It is a
monument of the highest engineering skill of our time, with the
impress of power grandly stamped upon it. It will also be observed from the drawing placed as the frontispiece to this Life,
that the High-Level Bridge forms a very fine object in a picture
of great interest, full of striking architectural variety and beauty.
The bridge was opened on the 15t]h of August, 1849.  A few
days after, the royal train passed over it, halting fbr a few minutes to enable her majesty to survey the wonderful scene below.
In the course of the following year the queen opened the extensive stone viaduct across the Tweed above described, by which
the last link was completed of the continuous line of railway between London and Edinburg. Over the entrance to the Berwick
station, occupying the site of the once redoubtable Border fortress, so often the deadly battle-ground of the ancient Scots and
English, was erected an arch under which the royal train passed,
bearing in large letters of gold the appropriate words, "The last
act of the Union."
The warders at Berwick no longer look out from the castle
walls to descry the glitter of Southron spears. The bell-tower,
from which the alarm was sounded of old, though still standing,
is deserted; the only bell heard within the precincts of the old
castle being the railway porter's bell announcing the arrival and
departure of trains. You see the Scotch Express pass along the
bridge and speed southward on the wings of steam. But no
alarm spreads along the Border now. Northumbrian beeves are
safe. Chevy Chase and Otterburn are quiet sheep-pastures. The
only men-at-arms on the battlements of Alnwick Castle are of
stone. Bamborough Castle has become an asylum for shipwrecked mariners, and the Norman Keep at Newcastle has been converted into a Museum of Antiquities. The railway has indeed
consummated the Union.




438     RAIL WAY FROM CHESTER TO HOLYHEAD.  [PART II.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD RAILWAY~-MENAI AND CONWAY BRIDGES.
WE have now to describe briefly another great undertaking,
begun by George Stephenson, and taken up and completed by
his son, in the course of which the latter carried out some of his
greatest works-we mean the Chester and Holyhead Railway,
completing the railway connection with Dublin, as the Newcastle
and Berwick line completed the connection with Edinburg. It
will thus be seen how closely Telford was followed by the Stephensons in perfecting the highways of their respective epochs;
the former b means of turnpike roads, and the latter by means
of railways.
George Stephenson surveyed a line from Chester to Holyhead
in 1838, and at the same time reported on the line through North
Wales to Port Dynallen, as proposed by the Irish Railway Commissioners. His advice was strongly in favor: of adopting the
line to Holyhead, as' less costly and presenting better gradients.
A public meeting was held at Chester in January, 1839, in sup.
port of the latter measure, at which he was present to give explanations. Mr. Uniacke, the mayor, in opening the proceedings, observed that it clearly appeared that the rival line through Shrewsbury was quite impracticable. Mr. Stephenson, he added, was
present in the room, ready to answer any questions which might
be put to him on the subject; and "it would be better that he
should be asked questions than required to make a speech; for,
though a very good engineer, he was a bad speaker."
One of the questions then put to Mr. Stephenson related to the
mode by which he proposed to haul the passenger-carriages over
the Menai Suspension Bridge by horse-power; and he was asked
whether he knew the pressure the bridge was capable of sustaining. His answer was that "he had not yet made any calculations, but he proposed getting data which would enable him to
arrive at an accurate calculation of the actual strain upon the
bridge during the late gale. He had, however, no hesitation in




CHAP. XVIII.]    MENAI'SUSPENSION BRIDGE.           439
saying that it was more than twenty times as much as the strain
of a train of carriages and a locomotive engine. The only reason
why he proposed to convey the carriages over by horses was in
order that he might, by distributing the weight, not increase the
wavy motion. All the train would be on at once, but distributed.
This he thought better than passing them linked together, by a
locomotive engine." It will thus be observed that the practicability of throwing a rigid railroad bridge across the Straits had
not yet been completed.
The Dublin Chamber of Commerce passed resolutions in favor
of Stephenson's line after hearing his explanations of its essential
features. The project, after undergoing much discussion, was at
length embodied in an act passed in 1844, and the work was
brought to a successful completion by his son, with several important modifications, including the grand original feature of the
tubular bridges across the Menai Straits and the estuary of the
Conway. Excepting these great works, the construction of this
line presented'no unusual features, though the remarkable terrace
cut for the accommodationi of the railway under the steep slope
of Penmaen Mawr is worthy of a passing notice.
About midway between Conway and Bangor, Penmaen Mawr
forms a bold and almost precipitous headland, at the base of
which, in rough weather, the ocean dashes with great fury. There
was not space enough between the mountain and the strand for
the passage of the railway; hence in some places the rock had to
be blasted to form a terrace, and in others sea walls had to be
built up to the proper level, on which to form an embankment of
sufficient width to enable the road to be laid. A tunnel of 101
chains in length was cut through the headland itself; and on its
east and west sides the line was formed by a terrace cut out of
the cliff, and by embankments protected by sea walls, the terrace
being three times interrupted by embankments in its course of
about a mile and a quarter. The road lies so close under the
steep mountain face that it was even found necessary at' certain
places to protect it against possible accidents from falling stones,
by means of a covered way.' The terrace on the east side of the
headland was, however, in some measure, protected against the
roll of the sea by the mass of stone run out from the tunnel,
which formed a deep shingle-bank in front of the wall.




440             WORKS AT PENMAE.N MA WR.            [PART IT.
PENMAXN MAWR. [By Percival Skelton, after his original Drawing.]
The part of the work which lies to the westward of the headland penetrated by the tunnel was, exposed to the full force of
the sea, and the formation of the road at that point was attended
with great difficulty.  While the sea wall was still in progress,
its strength was severely tried by a strong northwesterly gale
which blew in October, 1846, accompanied with a spring tide of
17 feet; On the following morning it was found that a large
portion of the rubble was irreparably injured, and 200 yards of
the wall were then replaced by an open viaduct, with the piers
placed edgeways to the sea, the openings between them being
spanned by ten cast-iron girders 42 feet long. This accident farther induced the engineer to alter the contour of the sea wall, so




CHAP. XVIII.]  CROSSING OF THE MENAI STRAIT.               441
that it should present a diminished resistance to the force of the
waves.
But the sea repeated its assaults, and made farther havoc with
the work, entailing heavy expenses and a complete reorganization
of the contract. Increased solidity was then given to the masonry, and the face of the wall underwent farther change. At some
points outworks were constructed, and piles were driven into the
beach about 15 feet from the base:of the wall for the purpose of
protecting its foundations and breaking the. force of the waves.
The work was at length finished after about three years' anxious
labor; but Mr. Stephenson confessed that if a long tunnel had
been made in the first instance through the solid rock of Penmaen Mawr, a saving of from ~25;000 to ~30,000 would have
been effected. He also said he had arrived at the conclusion
that in railway works engineers should endeavor as far as possible to avoid the necessity of contending with the sea;* but' if he
were ever again compelled to go within its reach, he would
adopt, instead of retaining walls, an open viaduct, placing all the
piers edgeways to'the force of the sea, and allowing the waves to
break upon a natural slope of beach. He was ready enough to
admit the errors he had committed in the original design 6f this
work; but he said he had'always gained more information from
studying the causes of failures and endeavoring to,surmount
them, than he had done from easily-won successes. While many
of the latter had been forgotten, the former were indelibly fixed
in his memory.
But by far the greatest difficulty which Robert Stephenson had
to encounter in executing:this railway was in carrying it across
the Straits of Menai and the estuary of the Conway, where; like
his predecessor Telford, when formning his high road through
North Wales, he was under the necessity of resorting to new and
altogether untried methods of bridge construction. At Menai,
the waters of the Irish Sea are perpetually vibrating along the
precipitous shores of the Strait, rising and falling from 20 to 25
* The simple fact that in a heavy storm the force of impact of the waves is from
one and a half to two tons per square foot, must necessarily dictate the greatest possible caution in approaching so formidable an element. Mr. R. Stevenson (Edinburg) registered a force of three tons per square foot at Skerryvore during a gale in
the Atlantic, when the waves were supposed to run twenty feet high.




442           THE FIRST PROPOSED BRIDGE.           [PART II.
feet at each successive tide, the width and depth of the. channel
being such as to render it available for navigation by the largest
ships. The problem was to throw a bridge across this wide chasm
-a bridge of unusual span and dimensions-of such strength as
to be capable of bearing the heaviest loads at high speeds, and of
such a uniform height throughout as not -in any way to interfere
with the navigation of the Strait. From an early period Mr. Stephenson had fixed upon the spot where the Britannia Rock occurs, nearly in the middle of the" channel, as the most eligible
point for crossing, the water width from shore to shore at high
water being there about 1100 feet.
The engineer's first idea was to construct the bridge of two
cast-iron arches of 350 feet
ltil:;... span each.. There was no.:,,.           novelty in this idea; for, as..  early'as the year 1801, Mr.
Rennie prepared a design of.   4iwjX.                a cast-iron bridge across the
j   ~:~/~      ~Strait at the Swily Rocks,
~t') ~~i, ~the great centre arch of which
-WS~I'i -  ~  was to be 450 feet span; and
* W f i.lh;22ati a later period, in 1810, Tel5,  Si     x      ford submitted a design of a
similar bridge at Inys-y-Moch,
with a single cast-iron arch of
4;,         500 feet. But the same objections which led to the res N    E   ^jection of Rennie's and Telford's designs proved fatal to.., ~Robert Stephenson's, and his
iron - arched railway bridge
gg)/0,C8 _    I was rejected by the Admiral/~/llii /:)\jJIj il  - vty.  The navigation of the
Strait was under no circumstances to be interfered with;
and even the erection of scaffolding from below, to support the
bridge during construction, was not to be permitted. The idea
of a suspension bridge was dismissed as inapplicable, a' degree
of rigidity and strength greater than could be secured by any




CHAP. XVIII.] PLAN OF SUSPENDED CENTERING.                 443
bridge erected on the principle of suspension being considered an'indispensable condition of the proposed structure.
Mr. Stephenson next considered the expediency of erecting a
bridge by means of suspended centering, after the ingenious method proposed by Telford in 1810,* by which the arching was to be
carried out by placing equal and corresponding voussoirs on opposite sides of the pier at the same time, tying them together by
horizontal tie-bolts.  The arching, thus extended outward from.each pier and held in equilibrium, would have been connected at
the crown with the extremity of the arch advanced in like manner from  the adjoining pier.  It was, however, found that this
method of construction was not applicable at the crossing of the
Conway, and it was eventually abandoned. Various other plans
were suggested; but the whole question remained unsettled even
down to the time when the company went before Parliament in
1844 for power to construct the proposed bridges.' No existing
kind of structure seemed to be capable of bearing the severe extension to which rigid bridges of the necessary spans would be
subjected, and some new. expedient: of engineering therefore became necessary.
Mr. Stephenson was then led to reconsider a design which he
had made in 1841 for a road bridge over the River Lea at Ware,
with a span of 50 feet, the conditions only admitting -of a platform 18 or. 20 inches thick. For this purpose a wrought-iron
platform was devised, consisting of a series of simple cells, formed of boiler-plates riveted together with angle-iron. The bridge
was not, however, Carried out after this design, but was made of
separate wrought-iron girders composed of riveted plates.t  Recurring to his first idea of this bridge, the engineer thought that a
stiff platform might be constructed, with sides of strongly-trussed
frame-work of wrought iron, braced together at top and bottom
with plates of like material riveted together with angle-iron, after
a method adopted by Mr. Rendel in stiffening the suspension
* See " Lives of the Engineers," vol. ii., p. 445. It appears that Mr. Fairbairn
suggested this idea in his letter to Mr. Stephenson, dated the 3d of June, 1845, accompanied by a drawing. See his "Account of the Construction of the Britannia and
Conway Tubular Bridges," etc. London, 1849.
t Robert Stephenson's narrative of the early history of the design, in Edwin Clark's
"Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges," vol. i., p. 25, London, 1850.




444            A TUBULAR BEAM PROPOSED.              [PART II.
bridge at Montrose with wooden trellis-work a few years before;
and that such platform might be suspended by strong chains on
either side to give it increased security. "It was now," says Mr.
Stephenson, "that I came to regard the tubular platform as a
beam, and that the chains should be looked upon as auxiliaries."
It appeared to him, nevertheless, that without a system of diagonal struts inside, which of course would have prevented the passage of trains th/rough it, this kind of structure was ill suited for
maintaining its form, and would be very liable to become lozengeshaped. Besides, the rectangular figure was deemed objectionable, from the large surface which it presented to the wind.
It then occurred to him that circular or elliptical tubes might
better answer the intended purpose; and in March, 1845, he gave
instructions to two of his assistants to prepare drawings of such
a structure, the tubes being made with a double thickness of plate
at top and bottom. The results of the calculations made as to
the strength of such a tube were considered so satisfactory, that
Mr. Stephenson says he determined to fall back upon a bridge of
this description on the rejection of his design of the two cast-iron
arches by the Parliamentary Committee. Indeed, it became evident that a tubular wrought-iron beam was the only structure
which combined the necessary strength and stability for a railway, with the conditions deemed essential for the protection of
the navigation:
" I stood," says Mr. Stephenson, " on the verge of a responsibility
from which, I confess, I had nearly shrunk. The construction of a
tubular beam of such gigantic dimensions, on a platform elevated
and supported by chains at such a height, did at first present itself
as a difficulty of a very formidable nature. Reflection, however,
satisfied me that the principles upon which the idea was founded
were nothing more than an extension of those daily in use in the
profession of the engineer. The method, moreover, of calculating
the strength of the structure which I had adopted was of the simplest and most elementary character; and whatever might be the
form of the tube, the principle on which the calculations were
founded was equally applicable, and could not fail to lead to equally accurate results."*
* Robert Stephenson's narrative in Clark's "Britannia and Conway Tubular
Bridges," vol. i., p. 27.




CHAP. XVIII.] STRENGTH OF THE WROUGHT-IRON BEAM.  445
Mr. Stephenson accordingly announced to the directors of the
railway that he was prepared to carry out a bridge of this general
description, and they adopted his views, though not without considerable misgivings.
While the engineer's mind was still occupied with the subject,
an accident occurred to the Prince of Wales iron steam-ship, at
Blackwall, which singularly corroborated his views as to the
strength of wrought-iron beams of large dimensions. When this
vessel was being launched, the cleet on the bow gave way in consequence of the bolts breaking, and let the vessel down so that
the bilge came in contact with the wharf, and she remained suspended between the water and the wharf for a length of about
110 feet, but without any injury to the plates of the ship, satisfactorily proving the great strength of this form of construction.
Thus Mr. Stephenson became gradually confirmed in his opinion
that the most feasible method of bridging the strait at Menai and
the river at Conway was by means of a hollow tube' of wrought
iron. As the time was approaching for giving evidence before
Parliament on the subject, it was necessary for him to settle some
definite plan for submission to the committee.
" My late revered father," says he, "having always taken a deep
interest in the various proposals which had been considered for carrying a railway across the Menai Straits, requested me to explain
fully to him the views which led me to suggest the use of a tube,
and also the nature of the calculations I had made in reference to it.
It was during this personal conference that Mr. William Fairbairn
accidentally called upon me, to whom I also explained the principles of the structure I had proposed. He at once acquiesced in
their truth, and expressed confidence in the feasibility of my project,
giving me at the same time some facts relative to the remarkable
strength of iron steam-ships, and invited me to his works at Millwall to examine the construction of an iron steam-ship which was
then in progress."*
The date of this consultation was early in April, 1845, and Mr.
Fairbairn states that, on that occasion,
"Mr. Stephenson asked whether such a design was practicable,
and whether I could accomplish it; and it was ultimately arranged
* "Robert Stephenson's narrative in- Clark's "Britanhia and Conway Tubular
Bridges," vol, i., p. 27.




446               EXPERIMENTS ON TUBES.                  [PART IL.
that the subject should be investigated experimentally, to determine not only the value of Mr. Stephenson's original conception (of
a circular or egg-shaped wrought-iron tube, suppofted by chains),
but that of any other tubular form of bridge which might present
itself in the prosecution of my researches. The matter was placed
unreservedly in my hands; the entire conduct of the investigation
was intrusted to me; and, as an experimenter, I was to be left free
to exercise my own discretion in the investigation of whatever forms
or conditions of the structure might appear to me best calculated
to secure a safe passage across the Straits."*
Mr. Fairbairn then proceeded to construct a number of experimental models, for the purpose of testing the strength of tubes of
different forms. The short period which elapsed, however, before the bill was in committee, did not admit of much progress
being made with those experiments; but from the evidence in
chief given by Mr. Stephenson on the subject on the 5th of May
following, it appears that the idea which prevailed in his mind
was that of a bridge with openings of 450 feet (afterward increased to 460 feet), with a roadway formed of a hollow wroughtiron beam about 25 feet in diameter, presenting a rigid platform
suspended by chains. At the same time, he expressed the confident opinion that a tube of wrought ironi would possess sufficient
strength and rigidity to support a railway train running inside
of it without the'help of;the chains.
While the bill was still in progress, Mr. Fairbairn proceeded
with his experiments. He first tested tubes of a cylindrical form,
in consequence of the favorable opinion entertained by Mr. Stephenson of tubes in that shape, extending them subsequently to
those of an elliptical form.t  He found tubes thus shaped more
or less defective, and proceeded to. test those of a rectangular
kind. After the bill had received the royal assent, on, the 30th
of June, 1845, the directors of the company, with great liberality,
voted a sum for the purpose of enabling the experiments to be
* "Account of the Construction of the Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges."
By W. Fairbairn, C.E., London, 1849.
t Mr. Stephenson continued to hold that the elliptical tube was the right idea, and
that sufficient justice had not been done to it. A year or two before his death, Mr.
Stephenson remarked to the author that, had the same arrangement for stiffening
been adopted to which the oblong rectangular tubes owe a great part of their strength,
a very different result would have been obtained.




CHAP. XVIII.] MIR. FAIRBAIRN.-MR. HODGKINSON.                 447
prosecuted, and upward of ~6000 were thus expended to make
the assurance of their engineer doubly sure.
Mr. Fairbairn's tests were of the most elaborate and eventually
conclusive character, bringing to light many new and important
facts of great practical value. The due proportions and thicknesses of the top, bottom, and sides of the tubes were arrived at
after a vast number of separate trials, one of the results of the
experiments being the adoption of Mr. Fairbairn's invention of
rectangular hollow cells in the top of the beam for the purpose
of, giving it the requisite degree of strength. About the end of
August it was thought desirable to obtain the assistance of a
mathematician, who should prepare a formula by which the
strength of a full-sized tube might be calculated from  the results of the experiments made with tubes of smaller dimensions.
Professor Hodgkinson was accordingly called in, and he proceeded to verify and confirm  the experiments which Mr. Fairbairn had made, and afterward reduced them to the required
formulae, though Mr. Fairbairn states that they did not appear
in time to be of any practical service in proportioning the parts
of the largest tubes.*
Mr. Stephenson's time Was so much engrossed with his extensive engineering business that he was in a great measure precluded from devoting himself to the consideration of the practical details, which he felt were safe in the hands of Mr. Fairbairn
— "a gentleman," as he stated to the Committee of the Commons, "whose experience was greater than fhat of any other man
in England." The results of the experiments were communicated to him from time to time, and were regarded by him as
exceedingly satisfactory.  It would appear, however, that while
Mr. Fairbairn urged the sufficient rigidity and strength of the
tubes without the aid of chains, Mr. Stephenson had not quite
made up his mind upon the point.  Mr. Hodgkinson, also, was
strongly inclined to retain them.t  Mr. Fairbairn held that it
* "Mr. Fairbaird's Account," p. 22.
t The following passage occurs in Robert Stephenson's report to the directors ofv
the Chester and Holyhead Railway, dated the 9th of February, 1846: " You will observe in Mr. Fairbairn's remarks that he contemplates the feasibility of stripping the
tube entirely of all the chains that may be required in the erection of the bridge;
whereas, on the other hand, Mr. Hodgkinson thinks the chains will be an essential,
or, at all events, a useful auxiliary, to give the tube the requisite strength and rigid



448             ROBERT STEPHENSON'S CA UTION.                    [PART II.
was quite practicable to make the tubes " sufficiently strong to
sustain not only thpir own weight, but, in addition to that load,
2000 tons equally distributed over the surface of the platforma load ten times greater than they will ever be called upon to
support."
It was thoroughly characteristic of Mr. Stephenson, and of the
caution with which he proceeded in every step of this great undertaking-probing every inch of the ground before he set his
foot down upon it-that he should, early in 1846, have appointed
his able assistant, Mr. Edwin Clark, to scrutinize carefully the
results of every experiment, whether made by Mr. Fairbairn or
iMr. Hodgkinson, and sbject them  to a separate and independent
analysis before finally deciding upon the form  or dimensions of
the structure, or upon any mode of procedure connected with it.
That great progress had been made by the two chief experimenters before the end of 1846 appears from  the papers on the subject read by Messrs. Fairbairn and Hodgkinson before the British
Association at Southampton in September of that year. In the
course of the following month Mr. Stephenson had become satisfied that the use of auxiliary chains was unnecessary,  and that
the tubular bridge might be made of' such strength as to be entirely self-supporting.*
ity. This, however, will be determined by the proposed additional experiments, and
does not interfere with the construction of the masonry, which is designed so as to
admit of the tube, with or without chains. The application of chains as an auxiliary
has occupied much of my attention, and I am satisfied that the ordinary mode of applying them to suspension bridges is wholly inadmissible in the present instance; if,
therefore, it be hereafter found necessary or desirable to employ them in conjunction
with the tube, another mode of employing them must be devised, as it is absolutely
essential to attach them in such a manner as to preclude the possibility of the smallest oscillation."
* In a letter of Mr. Fairbairn to Mr. Stephenson, dated July 18th, 1846, he says:
"To get rid of the chains will be a desideratum; and I have made the tube of such
strength, and intend putting it together upon such a principle, as will insure its carrying a dead weight, equally distributed over its hollow surface, of 4000 tons. With a
bridge of such powers, what have we to fear?.and why, in the name of truth and in
the face of conclusive: facts, should we hesitate to adopt measures calculated not only
to establish the principle as a triumph of art, but, what is of infinitely more importance to the, shareholders, the saving of a large sum of money, nearly equal to half the
cost of the bridge? I have been ably assisted by Mr. Clark in all these contrivances;
but in a matter of such importance we must have your sanction and support."-" Mr.
Fairbairn's Account," p. 93.




CHAP. XVIII.]     THE WORKS BEGUN.                   449
While these important discussions were in progress, measures
were taken to proceed with the masonry of the bridges simultaneously at Conway and the Menai Strait. The foundation-stone
of the Britannia Bridge was laid by Mr. Frank Forster, the resident engineer, on the 10th of April, 1846; and on the 12th of
May following that of the Conway Bridge was laid by Mr. A. M.
Ross, resident engineer at that part of the works. Suitable platforms and workshops were also erected for proceeding with the
punching, fitting, and riveting of the tubes; and when these operations were in full progress, the neighborhood of the Conway and
Britannia Bridges presented scenes of extraordinary bustle and
industr.  On the 11th of July, 1847, Mr. Clark informed Mr.
Stephenson that "the masonry gets on rapidly. The abutments
on the Anglesea side resemble the foundations of a great city
rather than of a single structure, and nothing appears to stand
still here." About 1500 men were employed on the Britannia
Bridge alone, and they mostly lived upon the ground in wooden
cottages erected for the occasion. The iron plates were brought
in ship-loads from Liverpool, Anglesea marble from Penmon, and
red sandstone from Runcorn, in Cheshire, as wind and tide, and
shipping and convenience, might determine: There was an wremitting clank of hammers, grinding of machinery, and blasting
of rock going on from morning to night. In fitting the Britannia tubes together not less than 2,000,000 of bolts were riveted,
weighing some 900 tons.
The Britannia Bridge consists of two independent continuous
tubular beams, each 1511 feet in length, and each weighing 4680
tons, independent of the cast-iron frames inserted at their bearings on the masonry of the towers. These immense beams are
supported at five places, namely, on the abutments and on three
towers, the central of which is known as the Great Britannia
Tower, 230 feet high, built on a rock in the middle of the Strait.
The side towers are 18 feet less in height than the central one,
and the abutments 35 feet lower than the side towers. The design of the masonry is such as to accord with the form of the
tubes, being somewhat of an Egyptian character, massive and
gigantic rather than beautiful, but bearing the unmistakable impress of power.
The bridge has four spans —two of 460 feet over the water,




450               MAIN BRITANNIA TUBE.                [PART IL
CONSTRUCTION OF THII MAIN BRITANNIA TUBE ON THE SBAGING.
and two of 230 feet over the land.  The weight of the longer
spans, at the points where the tubes repose on the masonry, is not
less than 1587 tons. On the centre tower the tubes lie solid; but
on the land towers and abutments they lie on roller-beds, so as to
allow of expansion and contraction.  The road within each tube
is. 15 feet wide, and theheight varies from 23 feet at the'ends to
30 feet at the,centre. To give'an idea of the vast size of the
tubes by comparison with other structures, it may be mentioned
that each length constituting the main spans is twice as long as
London Monument ishigh;: and if it could be set on end in St.
Paul's Church-yard, it would reach nearly 100 feet above the
cross.
The Conway Bridge is, in most respects, similar to the BBritannia, consisting of two tubes of 400 feet span, placed side by side,




CHAP. XVIII.]     THE CONWAY BRIDGE.                 451
each weighing 1180 tons. The principle adopted in the construction of the tubes, and the mode of floating and raising them, was
nearly the same as at the Britannia Bridge, though the general
arrangement of the plates is in many respects different.
It, was determined to construct the shorter outer tubes of the
Britannia Bridge on scaffoldings in the positions in which they
were permanently to remain, and to erect the larger tubes upon
wooden platforms at high-water-mark oni the Caernarvon shore,
from whence they were to be floated in pontoons-in like manner as Rennie had floated into their places the centerings of his
Waterloo and other bridges-.and then raised into their proper
places, by means of hydraulic power, after a method originally
suggested by Mr. Edwin Clark. The tubes of the Conway Bridge
also were to be constructed on shore, and floated to their places
on pontoons, as in the case of the main centre tubes of the Britannia Bridge.
aONwaY BRIDGE.  (By Percival Skelton.]
FF




452       THE CONWA Y AND BRITANNIA TUBES.  [PART II.
The floating of these tubes on pontoons, from the places where
they had been constructed to the recesses in the masonry of the
towers, up which they were to be hoisted to the places they were
permanently to occupy, was an anxious and exciting operation.
The first proceeding of this nature was.at Conway, where Mr.
Stephenson directed it in person, assisted by Captain Claxton, Mr.
Brunel, and other engineering friends. On the 6th of March,
1848, the pontoons bearing the first great tube of the up-line were
floated round quietly and majestically into their place between
the towers in about twenty minutes. Unfortunately, one of the
sets of pontoons had become slightly slued by the stream, by which
the Conway end of the tube was prevented from being brought
home, and five anxious days to all concerned intervened before it
could be set in its place. In the mean time, the presses and raising machinery had been fitted in the towers above, and the lifting process was begun on the 8th of April,'when the immense
mass was raised 8 feet, at the rate of about 2 inches a minute.
On the 16th the tube had been raised and finally lowered into its
permanent bed; the rails were laid within it; and on the 18th
Mr:Stephenson passed through with the first locomotive. The
second tube was proceeded with on the removal of the first from
the platform, and w6s completed and floated in seven months.
The rapidity with which this second tube was constructed was
in no small degree owing to the Jacquard punching-machine, contrived for the purpose of punching the holes for the rivets by Mr.
Roberts, of Manchester. The tube was finally fixed in its permanent bed on the 2d of January, 1849.
The floating and fixing of the great Britannia tubes was a still
more formidable enterprise, though the experience gained at Conway rendered it easy compared with what it otherwise would have
been. Mr. Stephenson superintended the operation of floating the
first in person, giving the arranged signals from the top of the
tube on which he was mounted, the active part of the business
being performed by a numerous corps of sailors, under the immediate direction of Captain Claxton. Thousands of spectators lined
the shores of the Strait on the evening of the 19th of June, 1849.
On the land attachments being cut, the pontoons began to float
off; but one of the capstans having given way from the too great
strain put upon it, the tube was brought home again for the night.




CHAP. XVIII.] FLOATING OF THE FIRST BRITANNIA TUBE. 453
By next morning the defective capstan was restored, and all was
in readiness for another trial. At half past seven in the eve nng
the tube was afloat, and the pontoons swung out into the current
like a monster pendulum, held steady by the shore guide-lines,
but increasing in speed-to almost a fearful extent as they neared
their destined place between the piers.
" The success of this operation," says Mr. Clark," depended mainly on properly striking the' butt' beneath the Anglesey tower, on
which, as upon a centre, the tube was to be veered round into its
position across the opening. This position was determined by a
12-inch line, which was to be paid out to a fixed mark from the
Llanfair capstan. The coils of the rope unfortunately overrode
each other upon this capstan, so that it could not be paid out. In
resisting the motion of the tube, the capstan was bodily dragged
out of the platform by the action of the palls, and the tube was in
imminent danger of being carried away by the stream, or the pontoons crushed upon the rocks. The men at the capstan were all
knocked down, and some of them thrown into the water, though
they made every exertion to arrest the motion of the capstan-bars.
In this dilemma, Mr. Charles Rolfe, who had charge of the capstan,
with great presence of mind called the visitors on shore to his assistance; and handing out the spare coil of the 12-inch line into the
field at the back of the capstan, it was carried with great rapidity
up the field, and a crowd of people, men, women, and children, holding on to this huge cable, arrested the progress of the tube, which
was at length brought safely against the butt and veered round.
The Britannia end was then drawh into the recess of the masonry
by a chain passing through the tower to a crab on the far side.
The violence of the tide abated, though the wind increased, and the
Anglesey end was drawn into its place beneath the corbeling in the
masonry; and as the tide went down, the pontoons deposited their
valuable cargo on the welcome shelf at each end. The successful
issue was greeted by cannon from the shore and the hearty cheers
of many thousands of spectators, whose sympathy and anxiety were
but too clearly indicated by the unbroken silence with which the
whole operation had been accompanied."*
By midnight all the pontoons had been got clear of the tube,
which now hung suspended over the waters of the Strait by its
* "The Britannia and Conway Tubular Bridges." By Edwin Clark. Vol. ii.,
p. 683-4.




454         THE ENGINEER'S GREAT ANXIETY.          CPART II.
two ends, which rested upon the edges cut in the rock for the
purpose at the base of the Britannia and Anglesey towers respectively, up which the tube had now to be lifted by hydraulic power
to its permanent place near the summit. The accuracy with
which the gigantic beam had been constructed may be inferred
from the fact that,.after passing into its place, a clear space remained between the iron plating and the rock outside of it of
only about three quarters of an inch!
Mr. Stephenson's anxiety was, of course, very great up to the
time of effecting this perilous operation. When he had got the
first tube floated at Conway and saw all safe, he said to Captain
Moorsom, "Now I shall go to bed."  But the Britannia Bridge
was a still more difficult enterprise, and cost him many a sleepless night. Afterward describing his feelings to his friend Mr.
Gooch, he said," It was a most anxious and harassing time with
me., Often at night I would lie tossing about, seeking sleep in
vain. The tubes filled my head. I went to bed with them and
got up with them. In the gray of the morning, when I looked
across the Square,* it seemed an immense distance across to the
houses on the opposite side. It was nearly the same length as
the span of my tubular bridge!" When the first tube had been
floated, a friend observed to him," This great work has made you
ten years older." "I have not slept sound," he replied," for three
weeks." Sir F. Head, however, relates that, when he revisited the
spot on the following morning, he observed, sitting on a platform
overlooking the suspended tube, a gentleman, reclining entirely
by himself, smoking a cigar, and gazing, as if indolently, at the
aerial gallery beneath him. It was the engineer himself, contemplating his newborn cliild. He had strolled down from the
neighboring village, after his first sound and refreshing sleep for
weeks, to behold in sunshine and solitude that which, during a
weary period of gestation, had been either mysteriously moving
in his brain, or, like a vision-sometimes of good omen and sometimes of evil-had, by night as well as by day, been flitting across
his mind.
The next process was the lifting of the tube into its place,
which was performed very deliberately and cautiously. It was
raised by powerful hydraulic presses, only a few feet at a time,
* No. 34 Gloucester Square, Hyde Park, where he lived.




CHAP.XVIII.]    FALL OF THE MAIN TUBE!               455
and carefully under-built, before being, raised to a farther height.
When it had been got up by successive stages of this kind to
about 24 feet, an extraordinary accident occurred, during Mr. Stephenson's absence in London, which he afterward. described to
the author in as nearly as possible the following words: "In a
work of such novelty and magnitude, you may readily imagine
how anxious I was that every possible contingency should be provided for. Where one chain or rope-was required, I provided
two.  I was not satisfied with'enough:' I must have absolute
security, so far as that was possible.:I knew the consequences of
failure would be most disastrous to the company, and that the
wisest economy was to provide for all contingencies, at whatever
cost. When the first tube at the Britannia had been successfully
floated between the piers, ready for being raised, my young engineers were very much elated; and when the hoisting apparatus
had' been fixed, they wrote to me, saying,' We are now all ready
for raising her: we could do it in a: day, or in two at the most.'
But my reply was, No; you must only raise the tube inch by inch,
and you must build up under it as you rise. Every inch must
be made good. Nothing must be left to chance or good luck.
And fortunate it was that I insisted upon this cautious course
being pursued; for, one day, while the hydraulic presses were at
work, the bottom of one of them burst clean away! The crosshead and the chains, weighing more than 50 tons, descended with
a fearful crash upon the press, and the tube itself fell down upon
the packing beneath. Though the fall of the tube was not more
than nine inches, it crunched solid castings, weighing tons, as if
they had been nuts. The tube itself was slightly strained and
deflected, though it still remained sufficiently serviceable. But
it was a tremendous test to which it was put, for a weight of upward of 5000 tons falling even a few inches must be admitted to
be a very serious matter. That it stood so well was extraordinary. Clark immediately wrote me an account of the circumstance, in which he said,' Thank God you have been so obstinate;
for if this accident had occurred without a bed for the end of the
tube to fall on, the whole would now have been lying across the
bottom of the Straits.' Five thousand pounds extra expense was
caused by this accident, slight though it might seem. But careful provision was made' against future failure; a new and im



456    STEPHENSON CAIRN.-HYDRA ULIC PRESSES. [PART II.
proved cylinder was provided; and the work was very soon advancing satisfactorily toward completion."*
When the queen first visited the Britannia Bridge, on her return from the North in 1852, Robert Stephenson accompanied her
majesty and Prince Albert over the works, explaining the principles on which the bridge had been built, and the difficulties
which had attended its erection. He conducted the royal party
to near the margin of the sea, and, after describing to. them the
incident of the fall of the tube, and the reason of its preservation,
he pointed with pardonable pride to a pile of stones which the
workmen had there raised to commemorate the event. While
nearly all the other marks of the work during its progress had
been obliterated, that cairn had been left standing in commemoration of the caution and foresight of- their chief.
The floating and raising of the remaining tubes need not be
described in detail.  The second was floated on the 3d of December, and set in its permanent place on the 7th of January,
1850. The otherst were floated and raised in due course; on
* The hydraulic presses were of an extraordinary character. The cylinders of
those first constructed were of wrought iron (cast iron being found altogether useless),
not less than 8 inches thick. They were tested by being subjected to an internal
pressure of 3 or 3S tons to the circular inch. The pressure was such that it squeezed
the fibres of the iron together; so that, after a few tests of this character, the piston,
which at first fitted it quite closely, was found considerably too small. "A new piston," says Mr. Clark, "was then made to suit the enlarged cylinder; and a farther
enlargement occurring again and again with subsequent use, the new pistons became
as formidable an obstacle as the cylinders. The Wrought-iron cylinder was on the
point of being abandoned, when Mr. Amos (the iron manufacturer), having carefully
gauged the cylinder inside and out, found to his surprise that, although the internal
diameter had increased considerably, the external diameter had retained precisely its
original dimensions. He consequently persevered in the construction of new pistons,
and ultimately found that the cylinder enlarged no longer, and to this day it continues in constant use. Layer after layer having attained additional pernianent set,
sufficient material was at length brought into play, with sufficient tenacity to withstand the pressure; and thus an obstacle, apparently insurmountable, and which
threatened at one time to render much valuable machinery useless, was entirely overcome. The workman may be excused for calling the stretched cylinder stronger
than the new one, though it is only stronger as regards the amount of its yielding to
a given force."-Clark, vol. i., p. 306. The hydraulic presses used in raising the
tubes of the Britannia Bridge, it may be remembered, were afterward used in starting
the Great Eastern from her berth on the shore at Milwall, where she had been built.
t While the preparations were in progress for floating the third tube, Mr. Stephenson received a pressing invitation to a public railway celebration at Darlington, in
honor of his old friend, Edward Pease. His reply, dated the 15th of May, 1850, was




CHAP. XVIII.]           THE MENAI BRIDGE.                            457
XMNAI BRIDGe. [By Percival Skelton, after his original Drawing.]
the 5th of March Mr. Stephenson put the last rivet in the tube,
and passed through the completed bridge, accompanied by about
as follows: "I am prevented having the pleasure of a visit to Darlington on the 22d,
owing to that or the following day having been fixed upon for floating the next tube
at the Menai Straits; and as this movement depends on the tide, it is, of course, impossible for me to alter the arrangements. I sincerely regret this circumstance, for
every early association connected with my profession would have tended to render
my visit a gratifying one. It would, moreover, have given me an opportunity of saying publicly how much the wonderful progress of railways was dependent upon the
successful issue of the first great experiment, and how much that issue was influenced
by your great discernment, and your confidence in my late revered father. In my
remembrance you stand among the foremost of his patrons and early advisers; and I
know that throughout his life he regarded you as one of his very best friends. One
of the things in which he took especial delight was in frequently and very graphically
describing his first visit to Darlington, on foot, to confer with you on the subject of
the Stockton and Darlington Railway."




458         THE BRITANNIA BRIDGE A MONUMENT  [PART II.
a thousand persons, drawn by three locomotives. The bridge
was found almost entirely rigid, scarcely showing the slightest
deflection.  When, in the course of the day, a train of 200 tons
of coal was allowed to rest with all its weight, for two hours, in
the centre of the eastern l!id tube, the deflection was only four
tenths of an inch, or less than that produced upon the structure
by half an hour's sunshine;* while the whole bridge might with
safety, and without injury to itself, be deflected to the extent of
13 inches. The bridge was opened for public traffic on the 18th
of March.  The cost of the whole work was ~234,450.
The Britannia Bridge is one of the most remarkable monuments of the enterprise and skill of the present century.  Robert
Stephenson was the master spirit of the undertaking. To him
belongs the merit of first seizing the ideal conception  of the
structure best adapted to meet the necessities of the case, and of
selecting the best men, to work.:out  is dea,.himself watching,
controlling, and testing: every.:resultw.:by independent check and
counter-check.  And, finally, he organized and directed, through
his assistants, the vast band of skilled workmen and laborers who
were for so many years occupied in carrying his magnificent
original conception to a successful practical issue.
But it was not.awcc Mplished without tfhe greatest anxiety and
mental pressure.  Mr. Clark: has well observed that few persons
who merely witness the results of the engineer's labors can form
any conception of the real difficulties overcome, and the intense
anxiety involved in their elaboration.  "If the stranger," he says,
" who contemplates the finished reality, requires so much thought
* The effect of sunshine in deflecting the bridge is very curious. When the first
main tube was tested, ballast-wagons loaded with iron were drawn into the centre
and left standing there. The first 20 tons increased the' deflection an eighth of an
inch, and with 50 tons the deflection was 9 inches. After standing all night, the deflection in the morning was found to be only 8* inches. How was this to be accounted for? Mr. Clark says: "This was attributed at the time to an error made in the
reading; but this, and many other anomalies in the deflection, were afterward fully
accounted for by local changes of temperature. A gleam of sunshine on the top of
the tube raised it on one occasion nearly an inch in half an hour with 200 tons at the
centre, the'top plates being expanded by increase of temperature, while the lower
plates remained constant from. radiation to the water immediately beneath them. In
a similar manner, the tube was drawn sidewise to the extent of an inch from the sun
shining on one side, and returned immediately as clouds passed over the sun, being, in
fact, a most delicate thermometer in constant motion, both vertically and laterally."




CHAP. XVIII.]   OF SKILL AND INDUSTRY.               459
to appreciate its principles and comprehend its detail, what weary hours must he have undergone who first conceived its bold
proportions-who, combating, almost alone, every prejudice that
assailed him, and:with; untiring labor. discussing every objection,
listening to every opinion, and. embodying:every inquiry, at length
matured, step by step,!this noble monument?."  On the occasion
of raising the last tube intoiits place; Mr. Stephenson.deilared, in
reply to the felicitations of a larige.edpauy.who:had, witnessed
the proceedings with intense interest, ithata.not all the.triumph
which attended this great work, ind.the solution of the difficult
problem of carrying a rigid roadway across an arm of the sea at
such a height as to allow the largest vessels to pass with all their
sails set beneath it, could repay him for the anxieties he had gone
through, the friendships he had compromised, an4 the unworthy
motives which had been attributed to him; and that, were an.
other work of the same magnitude offered to him with like con,
sequences, he would not for worlds undertake it!
The Britannia Bridge, was indeed the result of a vast combination of skill and industry. But for the perfection of: our tools,
and the ability of our mechanics to use them to the greatest advantage-but for the matured powers of the steam-engine-but
for the improvements in the iron manufacture, which enabled
blooms to be puddled of sizes before deemed impracticable, and
plates and bars of immense size to be rolled and forged-but for
these, the Britannia Bridge would have been designed in vain.
Thus it was not the product of the genius of the railway engineer alone, but of the collective mechanical genius of the English
nation.
CONWAY B3IIDGE-FLOATING THE FIRST TUB. 




VIEW IN TAPTON GARDENS. [By Percival Skelton.]
CHAPTER XIX.
CLOSING YEARS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON S LIFE-ILLNESS AND
DEATH —CHARACTER.
IN describing the completion of the series of great works detailed inll the preceding chapter, we have somewhat anticipated
the closing years of George Stephenson's life. He could not fail
to take an anxious interest in the success of his son's designs, and
he paid many visits to Conway and to Menai during the progress
of the bridges. He was present on the occasion of the floating
and raising of the first Conway tube, and there witnessed a proof
of the soundness of Robert's judgment as to the efficiency and
strength of the structure, of which he had at first expressed some
doubt; but before the like test could be applied at the Britannia
Bridge, George Stephenson's mortal anxieties were at an end, for
he had then ceased from all his labors.
Toward the close of his life, George Stephenson almost entirely
withdrew from the active pursuit of his profession. He devoted
himself chiefly to his extensive collieries and lime-works, taking
a local interest only in such projected railways as were calculated
to open up new markets for their products.
At home he lived the life of a country gentleman, enjoying his
garden and grounds, and indulging his love of nature, which,
through all his busy life, had never left him. It was not until
the year 1845 that he took an active interest in horticultural pursuits. Then he began to build new melon-houses, pineries, and




CHAP. XIX.]     GARDENING AT TAPTON.                461
vineries, of great extent; and he now seemed as eager to excel
all other growers of exotic plants in his neighborhood, as he had
been some thirty years before to surpass the villagers of Killingworth in the production of cabbages and cauliflowers. He had
a pine-house built 68 feet in length and a vinery 140 feet. Workmen were constantly employed in enlarging them, until at length
he had no fewer than ten glass forcing-houses. He did not take
so much pleasure in flowers as in fruits. At one of the county
agricultural meetings he said that he intended yet to grow pineapples at Tapton as big as pumpkins.' The only man to whom
he would " knock under" was his friend Paxton, the gardener to
the Duke of Devonshire; but he was so old in the service, and
so skillful, that he could scarcely hope to beat him. Yet his
"Queen" pines did take the first prize at a competition with the
duke, though this was not until shortly after his death, when the
plants had become fully grown. Stephenson's grapes also took
the first prize at Rotherham, at a competition open to all England.
He was extremely successful in producing melons, having invented a method of suspending them in baskets of wire gauze, which,
by' relieving the stalk from tension, allowed nutrition to proceed
more freely, and better enabled the fruit to grow and ripen.
He also took much pride in his growth of cucumbers. He
raised.them very fine and large, but he could not make them
grow straight. Place them as he would, notwithstanding all his
propping and humoring of them by modifying the application of
heat and the admission of light, they would still insist on growing crooked in their own way. At last he had a number of glass
cylinders made at Newcastle, and into these the growing cucumbers were inserted, when at last he succeeded in growing them
perfectly straight. Carrying one of the new products into his
house one day, and exhibiting it to a party of visitors, he told
them of the expedient he had adopted, and added, "I think I
have bothered them noo!"
Farming operations were also carried on by him with success.
He experimented on manure, and fed cattle after methods of his
own. He was very particular as to breed and build in stockbteding. "You see, sir," he said to one gentleman, "I like to
see the coo's back at a gradient something like this" (drawing an
imaginary line with his hand)," and then the ribs or girders will




462                BIRDS AND BEES.              [PART II
carry more flesh than if they were so-or so." When he attended the county agricultural meetings, which he frequently did, he
was accustomed to take part in the discussions, and 1He brought
the same vigorous practical mind to bear upon questions of tillage, drainage, and farm economy which he had before been accustomed to exercise on mechanical and engineering matters.
All his early affection for birds and animals revived. He had
favorite dogs, and cows, and horses; and again he began to keep
rabbits, and to pride himself on the beauty of his breed. There
was not a bird's nest in the grounds that he did not know of; and
from day to day he went round watching the progress which the
birds made with their building, carefully guarding. them from
harm. His minute knowledge of the habits of British birds was
the result of a long, loving, and close observation of nature.
At Tapton he remembered the failure of his early experiment
in hatching birds' eggs byheat, and: he now performed it successfully, being able to secure a proper apparatus for maintaining a
uniform temperature. -He was also curious about the breeding
and fattening of fowls; and when his friend Edward Pease, of
Darlington, visited him at Tapton, he explained a method which
he had invented of fattening chickens in half,the usual time.
The chickens were confined in boxes, which were so made as to
exclude the light. Dividing the day into two or three periods,
the birds were shut up at the end of each after a heavy feed,
and went to sleep. The plan proved very successful, and Mr.
Stephenson jocularly said that if he were to devote himself to
chickens he could soon make a little fortune.
Mrs. Stephenson tried to keep bees, but found they would- not
thrive at Tapton. Many hives perished, and there was no case
of success. The cause of failure was long a mystery to the engineer; but one day his acute powers of observation enabled him
to unravel it. At the foot of the hill on which Tapton House
stands, he saw some bees trying to rise up from among the grass,
laden with honey and wax. They were already exhausted, as if
with long flying; and then it occurred to him that the height at
which the house stood above the bees' feeding-ground rendered
it difficult for them to reach their hives when heavy laden, ajid
hence they sank exhausted. He afterward incidentally mentioned the circumstance to Mr. Jesse, the naturalist, who concur



CHAP. XIX.]     LOVE OF CONVERSATION.               463
red in his view as to the cause of failure, and was much struck
by the keen observation which had led to its solution.
George Stephenson had none of the habits of the student. He
read very little; for reading is a habit which is generally acquired in youth, and his youth and manhood had been, for the
most part, spent in hard work. Books wearied him and sent him
to sleep. Novels excited his feelings too much, and he avoided
them, though he would occasionally read through a philosophical
work on a subject in which he felt particularly. interested. He
wrote very few letters'with his own hand. Nearly all his letters
were dictated, and he avoided even dictation when he could.
His greatest pleasure was in conversation, from which he gather.
ed most of his imparted, information.
It was his practice, when about to set out on a journey by railSway, to walk along the train before it started, and look into the
carriages to see if he could find "a conversible face." On one
of such occasions, at the Euston Station, he discovered in a carriage a very handsome, manly, and intelligent face, which he afterward found was that of the late Lord Denman. He was on
his way down to his seat at Stony Middelton, in Derbyshire.
Stephenson entered the carriage, and the two were shortly engaged in interesting conversation. It turned upon chronometry
and horology, and the engineer amazed his lordship by the extent of his knowledge on the subject, in which he displayed as
much minute information, even down to the latest improvements
in watch-making, as if he had been bred a watchmaker and lived
by the trade. Lord Denman was curious to know how a man
whose time must have been mainly engrossed by engineering had
gathered so much knowledge on a subject quite out of his own
line, and he asked the question. "I learned clockmaking and
watchmaking," was the answer, " while a working-man at Killingworth, when I made a little money in my spare hours by cleaning the pitmen's clocks and watches; and since then I have kept
up my information on the subject." This led to farther questions, and then he proceeded to tell Lord Denman the interesting
story of his life, which held him entranced during the remainder
of the journey.
Many of his friends readily accepted invitations to Tapton
House to enjoy his hospitality, which never failed. With them




464         HOSPITALITY A T TAPTON HO1 USE.      [PART II.
he would "fight his battles o'er again," reverting often to his
battle for the locomotive; and he was never tired of telling, nor
were his auditors of listening to, the lively anecdotes with which
he was accustomed to illustrate the struggles of his early career.
While walking in the woods or through the grounds, he would
arrest his friends' attention by allusion to some simple objectsuch as a leaf, a blade of grass, a bit of bark, a nest of. birds, or
an ant carrying its eggs across the path-and descant in glowing
terms on the creative power of the Divine Mechanician,'whose
contrivances were so exhaustless and so wonderful. This was a
theme upon which he was often accustomed to dwell in reverential admiration when in the society of his more intimate friends.
One night, when walking under the stars, and gazing up into
the field of suns, each the probable centre of a system, forming
the Milky Way, a friend observed, "What an insignificant creature is man in sight of so immense a creation as this!" "Yes!"
was his reply: "but how wonderful a creature also is man, to be
able to think and reason, and even'in some measure to comprehend works so infinite!"
A microscope which he had brought down to Tapton was a
source of immense enjoyment, and he was never tired of contemplating the minute wonders which it revealed. One'evening,
when some friends were visiting him, he induced each of them
to puncture his skin so as to draw blood, in order that he might
examine the globules through the microscope. One of the gentlemen present was a teetotaler, and Stephenson pronounced his
blood to be the most lively of the whole. He had a theory of
his own about the movement of the globules in the blood, which
has since become familiar. It was, that they were respectively
charged with electricity, positive at one end and negative at the
other, and that they thus attracted and repelled each other, causing a circulation. No sooner did he observe any thing new than
he immediately set about devising a reason for it. His training
in mechanics, his practical familiarity with matter in all its forms,
and the strong bent of his mind, led him first of all to seek for
a mechanical explanation; and yet he was ready to admit that
there was a something in the principle of life —so mysterious and
inexplicable-which baffled mechanics, and seemed to dominate
over and control them. He did not care much, either, for ab



CHAP. XIX.] LOVE OF FUN.-A "CRO WDIE" NIGHT.       465
struse mechanics, but only for the experimental and practical, as
is usually the case with those whose knowledge has been self-acquired.
Even at his advanced age the spirit of frolic had not left
him.  When proceeding
from  Chesterfield Station
to Tapton House with his..friends, he would almost
-  y invariably challenge them
to a race up the steep path,
_  partly f o rm e d of stone': ~''steps, along the hill-side.
And he would struggle, as
of old, to keep the front
place, though by this time
his "wind" greatly failed
him. He would occasionally invite an old friend to
take a wrestle with him: on the lawn, to keep up: his skill, and perhaps to try
some new "knack" of
throwing. In the evening'-~-           &~. he would sometimes in-.  dulge his visitors by recit-. - _ —'- G         ing the old pastoral of
"Damnon and Phyllis," or singing his favorite song of "John
Anderson my Joe."
But his greatest enjoyment on such occasion was " a crowdie."
" Let's have a crowdie night," he would say; and forthwith a
kettle of boiling water was ordered in, with a basin of oatmeal.
Taking a large bowl, containing a sufficiency of hot water, and
placing it between his knees, he poured in oatmeal with one
hand, and stirred the mixture vigorously with the other. When
enough meal had been added, and the stirring was completed, the
crowdie was made. It was then supped with new milk, and Mr.
Stephenson generally pronounced it "capital!"  It was the diet
to which he had been accustomed when a working-man, and all
the dainties with which he had become familiar in recent years




466               VISITS TO LONDON.             [PART II.
had not spoiled his simple tastes. To enjoy crowdie at his years,
besides, indicated that he still possessed that quality on which no
doubt much of his practical success in life had depended-a
strong and healthy digestion.
He would also frequently invite to his house the humbler companions of his early life, and take pleasure in talking over old
times with them. He never assumed any of the bearings of the
great man on such occasions, but treated his visitors with the
same friendliness and respect as if they had been his equals,
sending them away pleased with themselves and delighted with
him. At other times, needy men who had known him in their
youth would knock at his door, and they were never refused access. But if he had heard of any misconduct on their part, he
would rate them soundly. One who knew him intimately in
private life has seen him exhorting such backsliders, and denouncing their misconduct and imprudence, wi:'ith the tears
streaming down his cheeks. And he would generally conclude
by opening his purse, and giving, them the help which they needed " to make a fresh start in the world."
His life at Tapton during his later years-was'occasionally diversified by a visit to London. His engineering business having
become limited, he generally went.there for the purpose of visiting friends, or "to see what therfe:wvas.fresh going on." He
found a new race of engineers springing up on all sides-men
who knew him not; and his London journeys gradually ceased
to yield him pleasure. A friend used to take him to the opera,
but by the end of the first act he was generally observed in a
profound slumber. Yet on one occasion he enjoyed a visit to
the Haymarket, with a party of friends on his birthday, to see T.
P. Cooke in "Black-eyed Susan" —if that can be called enjoyment which kept him in a state of tears during half the performance. At other times he visited Newcastle, which always gave
him great pleasure. He would, on such occasions, go out to Killingworth and seek up old friends, and if the people whom he
knew were too retiring and shrunk into their cottages, he went
and sought them there. Striking the floor with his stick, and
holding his noble person upright, he would say, in his own kind
way, " Well, and how's all here to-day?" To the last he had always a warm heart for Newcastle and its neighborhood.




CHAP. XIX.]    VISIT TO DRAYTON MANOR.             467
Sir Robert Peel, on more than one occasion, invited George
Stephenson to his mansion at Drayton, where he was accustomed
to assemble round him men of the highest distinction in art, science, and legislation, during the intervals of his Parliamentary
life. The first invitations were respectfully declined; but Sir
Robert again pressing him to come down to Tamworth, where he
would meet Buckland, Follett, and others well known to both, he
at last consented.
Stephenson's strong powers of observation, together with his
native humor and shrewdness, imparted to his conversation at all
times much vigor and originality. Though mainly an engineer,
he was also a profound thinker on many scientific questions, and
there was scarcely a subject of speculation or a department of
recondite science on which he had not employed his faculties in
such a way as to have formed large and original views. Mr.
Sopwith, F.R.S., has informed us that the conversation at Drayton, on one occasion, turned on the theory of the formation of
coal, in the course of which Stephenson had an animated discussion with Dr. Buckland. But the result was, that Dr. Buckland,
a much greater master of tongue-fence, completely silenced him.
Next morning, before breakfast, when' he was walking in the
grounds deeply pondering, Sir William Follett came up and asked what he was thinking about. " Why, Sir William, I am thinking over that argument I had with Buckland last night. I know
I am right, and that, if I had only the command of words which
he has, I'd have beaten him." "Let me know ll about it," said
Sir William, "and I'll see what I can do for you." The two sat
down in an arbor, where the astute lawyer made himself thoroughly acquainted with the points of the case, entering into. it
with the zeal of an advocate about to plead the interests of his
client. After he had mastered the subject, Sir William said,
"Now I am ready for him." Sir Robert Peel was made acquainted with the plot, and adroitly introduced the subject of the
controversy after dinner. The result was, that in the argument
which followed, the man of science was overcome by the man of
law. " And what do you say, Mr. Stephenson a?" asked Sir Robert, laughing. "Why," said he, " I say this, that of all the powers
above and under the earth, there seems to me to be no power so
great as the gift of the gab."
GG




468            THEORY ABOUT THE SUN'S LIGHT.                  [PAT Il.
One Sunday, when the party had just returned from  church,
they were standing together on the terrace near the Hall, and
observed in the distance a railway flashing along, tossing behind
its long white plume of steam.  "Now, Buckland," said Stephenson, " I have a poser for you.  Can you tell me what is the power that is driving that train?"  "Well," said the other, " I suppose
it is, one of your big. engines."  " But what drives the engine."
"Oh, very likely a canny Newcastle driver."  "What do you say
to the light of the sun?"  "How can that be." asked the doctor.
"It is nothing else," said the engineer: "it is light bottled up in
the earth for tens of thousands of years-light, absorbed by
plants and vegetables, being necessary for the condensation of
carbon during the process of their growth, if it be not carbon in
another form-and now, after being buried in the earth for long
ages in fields of coal, that latent light is again brought forth and
liberated, made to work as in that locomotive, for great human
purposes."*
During the same visit Mr. Stephenson one evening repeated
his experiment with blood drawn from the finger, submitting it
to the microscope in order to show the curious circulation of the
globules.  He set the example by pricking his own thumb; and
the other guests, by turns, in like manner gave up a small portion
of their blood for the purpose of ascertaining the comparative
liveliness of their circulation.   When Sir -Robert Peel's turn
came, Stephenson said he was curious to know "how  the blood
* This was a favorite notion of George Stephenson's, and he held that what produced light and heat had originally been light and heat. Mr. Fearon, solicitor, has
informed the author that he accompanied Stephenson on one of his visits to Belgium,
when it seemed to him that the engineer did not take much interest in the towns,
churches, or public buildings of Belgium, probably because he knew little of history,
and they recalled no associations with the past. One day the party went to see the
beautiful H6tel de Ville at Brussels, but Stephenson did not seem moved by it. On
passing out of the square, however, by the little street which leads toward the Montague de la Cour, his interest was thoroughly roused by the sight of an immense fat
pig hung up in a butcher's shop. He immediately took out his foot-rule, measured
the pig, and expressed a desire to have some conversation with the butcher as to how
it had been fed. The butcher accordingly waited upon them at the hotel, and told all
he knew about the feeding of the pig; and then, says Mr. Fearon, " George went off
into his favorite theory of the sun's light, which he said had fattened the pig; for the
light had gone into the pease, and the pease had gone into the fat, and the fat pig
was like a field of coal in this respect, that they were, for the most part, neither more
nor less than bottled sunshine."




CHAP. XIX.] STEPHENSON'S LAST.RAILWAY OPENING.   469
globules of a great politician would conduct themselves."  Sir
Robert held forth his finger for the purpose of being pricked; but
once and again he sensitively shrunk back, and at length the experiment, so far as he was concerned, was abandoned. Sir Robert
Peel's sensitiveness to pain was extreme, and yet he was destined,
a few years after, to die a death of the most distressing agony.
In 1847, the year before his death, George Stephenson was
again invited to join a distinguished party at Drayton Manor, and
to assist in the ceremony of formally opening the Trent Valley
Railway, which had been originally designed and laid out by
himself many years before. The first sod of the railway had
been cut by the prime minister in November, 1845, and the formal opening took place on the 26th of June, 1847; the line having thus been constructed in less than two years.
What a change had come over the spirit of the landed gentry
since the time when George Stephenson had first projected a railway through that district! Then they were up in arms against
him, characterizing him as the devastator and spoiler of their estates, whereas now he was hailed as one of the greatest benefactors of the age. Sir Robert Peel, the chief political personage in
England, welcomed him as a guest and friend, and spoke of him
as the chief among practical philosophers. A dozen members of
Parliament, seven baronets, with all the landed magnates of the
district, assembled to celebrate the opening of the railway. The
clergy were there to bless the enterprise, and to bid all hail to
railway progress, as " enabling them to carry on with greater facility those operations in connection with religion which were
calculated to be so beneficial to the country." -The army, speaking through the mouth of General A'Court, acknowledged the
vast importance of railways, as tending to improve the military
defenses of the country. And representatives from eight corporations were there to acknowledge -the great benefits which railways had conferred upon the merchants, tradesmen, and working
classes of their respective towns and cities.
In the spring of 1848 George Stephenson was invited to Whittington House, near Chesterfield, the residence of his friend and
former pupil, Mr. Swanwick, to meet the distinguished American,
Emerson. On being introduced to each other they did not immediately engage in conversation; but presently Stephenson jumped




470     MEETING WITH.EMERSON.-LAST ILLNESS. [PART II.
up, took Emerson by the collar, and, giving him one of his friendly shakes, asked how it was that in England we could always tell
an American. This led to an interesting conversation, in the
course of which Emerson said how much he had every where
been struck by the haleness and comeliness of the English men
and women, from which they diverged into a discussion of the
influences which air, climate, moisture, soil, and other conditions
exercised on the physical and moral development of a people.
The conversation was next directed to the subject of electricity,
on which Stephenson launched out enthusiastically, explaining
his views by several simple and some striking illustrations. From
thence it gradually turned to the events of his own life, which he
related in so graphic a manner as completely to rivet the attention of the American.  Afterward Emerson said "that it was
worth crossing the Atlantic were it only to have seen Stephenson
-he had such force of character and vigor of intellect."
The rest of George Stephenson's days were spent quietly at
Tapton, among his dogs, his rabbits, and his birds. When not
engaged about the works connected with his collieries, he was occupied in horticulture and farming. He continued proud of his
flowers, his fruits, and his crops, while the old spirit of competition was still strong within him. Although he had for some
time been in delicate health, and his hand shook from nervous
debility, he appeared to possess a sound constitution. Emerson
had observed of him that he had the lives of many men in him.
But perhaps the American spoke figuratively, in reference to his
vast stores of experience. It appeared that he had never completely recovered from the attack of pleurisy which seized him
during his return from Spain. As late, however, as the 26th of
July, 1848, he felt himself sufficiently well to be able to attend a
meeting of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers at Birmingham,
and to read to the members his paper "On the Fallacies of the
Rotatory Engine."
It was his last public appearance. Shortly after his return to
Tapton he had an attack of intermittent fever, from which he
seemed to be recovering, when a sudden effusion of blood from
the lungs carried him off, on the 12th of August, 1848, in the
sixty-seventh year of his age. When all was over, Robert wrote
to Edmund Pease, "With deep pain I inform you, as one of his




CHAP.' XIX.]        DEATH AND BURIAL.                      471
oldest friends, of the death of my dear father this morning at
12 o'clock, after about ten days' illness from severe fever." Mr.
Starbuck, who was also present, wrote: "The favorable symptoms of yesterday morning were toward evening followed by a
serious change for the worse. This continued during the night,
and early this morning it became evident that he was sinking. At
a few minutes before 12 to-day he breathed his last. All that the
most devoted and unremitting care of Mrs. Stephenson* and the
skill of medicine could accomplish has been done, but in vain."
George Stephenson's remains were followed to the grave by a
large body of his work-people, by whom he was greatly admired
and beloved. They remembered him as a kind master, who was
ever ready actively to promote all measures for their moral, physical, and mental improvement.  The inhabitants of Chesterfield
evinced their respect for the deceased by suspending business,
closing their shops, and joining in the funeral procession, which
was headed by the corporation of the town. Many of the surrounding gentry also attended. The body was interred in Trinity Church, Chesterfield, where a simple tablet marks the great
engineer's last resting-place.
TRnoITn eiHUH, OHEaSTirdFIE.
* The second Mrs. Stephenson having died in 1845, George married a third time
in 1848, about six months before his death. The third Mrs. Stephenson was an intelligent and respectable lady, who had for some years officiated as his housekeeper.




472               MEMORIAL STATUES.               PART II.
The statue of George Stephenson, which the Liverpool and
Manchester and Grand Junction Companies had commissioned,
was on its way to England when his death occurred; and it served
for a monument, though his best monument will always be his
works. The statue referred to was placed in St. George's Hall,
Liverpool. A full-length statue of him, by Bailpy, was also erected, a few years later, in the noble vestibule of the London and
Northwestern Station, in Euston Square. A subscription for the
purpose was set on foot by the Society of Mechanical Engineers,
of which he had been the founder and president. A few advertisements were inserted in the newspapers, inviting subscriptions;
and it is a notable fact that the voluntary offerings included an
average of two shillings each from 3150 working-men, who embraced this opportunity of doing honor to their distinguished fellow-workman.
But the finest and most appropriate statue to the memory of
George Stephenson is that which was erected in 1862, after the
design of John Lough, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It is in the immediate neighborhood of the Literary and Philosophical Institute,
to which both George and his son Robert were so much indebted
in their early years; close to the great Stephenson locomotive
foundery established by the shrewdness of the father; and in the
vicinity of the High-Level Bridge, one of the grandest products
of the genius of the son. The head of Stephenson, as expressed
in this noble work, is massive, characteristic, and faithful; and
the attitude of the figure is simple, yet manly and energetic. It
stands on a pedestal, at the respective corners of which are sculptured the recumbent figures of a pitman, a mechanic, an enginedriver, and a plate-layer. The statue appropriately stands in a
very thoroughfare of working-men, thousands of whom see it
daily as they pass to and from their work; and we can imagine
them, as they look up to Stephenson's manly figure, applying to it
the words addressed by Robert Nicoll to Robert Burns, with perhaps still greater appropriateness:
"Before the proudest of the earth
We stand, with an uplifted brow;
Like' us, thou wast a toiling manAnd we are noble, now!"
The portrait prefixed to this volume gives a good indication of




CHAP. XIX.]    PERSONAL CHARA CTERISTICS.              473
George Stephenson's shrewd, kind, honest, manly face. His fair,
clear countenance was ruddy, and seemingly glowed with health.
The forehead was large and high, projecting over the eyes, and
there was that massive breadth acrogs the lower part which is
usually observed in men of eminent constructive skill. The
mouth was firmly marked, and shrewdness and humor lurked
there as well as in the keen gray eye. His frame was compact,
well knit, and rather spare. His hair became gray at an early
age, and toward the close of his life it was of a pure silky whiteness. He dressed neatly in black, wearing a white neckcloth;
and his face, his person, and his deportment at once arrested attention, and marked the Gentleman.
I'JII I                 I/p
TTIN TENT OBUREACE:D OSHTI _ l.
TABL IN TINITYORUR I I'
TABLBT IN COIN~Y CBIamI~ tI@




VaOTOBIA BEID/EG MONTBEAL.
CHAPTER XX.
ROBERT STEPHENSON's VICTORIA BRIDGE, LOWER CANADA —ILLNESS
AND DEATH.
GEORGE STEPHEN bequeathed to his son his valuable collieries, his share in the engine manufactory at Newcastle, and his
large accumulation of savings, which, together with the fortune
he had himself amassed by railway work, gave Robert the position of an engineer millionaire-the first of his order. He continued, however, to live in a quiet style; and although he bought
occasional pictures and statues, and indulged in the luxury of a
yacht, he did not live up to his income, which went on accumulating until his death.
There was no longer the necessity for applying himself to the
laborious business of a Parliamentary engineer, in which he had
now been occupied for some fifteen years. Shortly after his father's death, Edward Pease recommended him to give up the
more harassing work of his profession; and his reply (15th of
June, 1850) was as follows:
"The suggestion which your kind note contains is quite in accordance with my own feelings and intentions respecting retirement; but I find it a very difficult matter to bring to a close so
complicated a connection in business as that which has been established by twenty-five years of active and arduous professional duty.
Comparative retirement is, however, my intention, and I trust that
your prayer for the Divine blessing to grant me happiness and quiet
comfort will be fulfilled. I can not but feel deeply grateful to the
Great Disposer of events for the success which has hitherto attend



CHAP. XX.] EGYPTIAN BRIDGES.-CANADIAN RAIL WA YS.  475
ed my exertions in life, and I trust that the future will also be
marked by a continuance of His mercies."
Although Robert Stephenson, in conformity with this expressed intention, for the most part declined to undertake new business, he did not altogether lay aside his harness, and he lived to
repeat his tubular bridges both in Egypt and Canada. The success of the tubular system, as adopted at IMenai and Conway, was
such as to recommend it for adoption wherever great span was
required, and the peculiar circumstances connected with the navigation of the Nile and the St. Lawrence may be said to have
compelled its adoption in carrying railways across both those
rivers.
Two tubular bridges were built after our engineer's designs
across the Nile, near Damietta, in Lower Egypt. That near Benha contains eight spans or openings of 80 feet each, and two centre spans, formed by one of the largest swing-bridges ever constructed, the total length of the swing-beam being 157 feet, a
clear waterway of 60 feet being provided on either side of the
centre pier. The only novelty in these bridges consisted in the
road being carried upon the tubes instead of within them, their
erection being carried out in the usual manner by means of
workmen, materials, and plant sent out from England. The Tubular Bridge constructed in Canada, after Mr. Stephenson's designs, was of a much more important character, and deserves a
fuller description.
The important uses of railways had been recognized at an early period by the inhabitants of North America, and in the course
of about thirty years more than 25,000 miles of railway, mostly
single, were constructed in the United States alone. The Canadians were more deliberate in their proceedings, and it was not
until the year 1840 that their first railwvay, 14 miles in length,
was constructed between Laprairie and St. John's, for the purpose
of connecting Lake Champlain with the River St. Lawrence.
From this date, however, new lines were rapidly projected; more
particularly the Great Western of Canada, and the Atlantic and
St. Lawrence (now forming part of the Grand Trunk), until in
the course of a few years Canada had a length of nearly 2000
miles of railway open or in course of construction, intersecting
the provinces almost in a continuous line from Riviere du Loup,




476         PROPOSED BRIDGE AT MONTREAL.    [PART II.
near the mouth of the St. Lawrence, to Port Sarnia, on the shores
of Lake Huron.
But there still remained one most important and essential link
to connect the lines on the south of the St. Lawrence with those
on the north, and at the same time place the city of Montreal in
direct railway connection with the western parts of Canada. The
completion of this link was also necessary in order to maintain
the commercial communication of Canada with the rest of the
world during five months in every year; for, though the St. Lawrence in summer affords a splendid outlet to the ocean-toward
which the commerce of the colony naturally tends-the frost in
winter is so severe, that during that season Canada is completely
frozen in, and the navigation hermetically closed by the ice.
The Grand Trunk Railway was designed to furnish a line of
land communication along the great valley of the St. Lawrence
at all seasons, following the course of the river, and connecting
the principal towns of the colony. But stopping short on the
north shore, nearly opposite Montreal, with which it was connected by a dangerous and often impracticable ferry, it was felt that,
until the St. Lawrence was bridged by a railway, the Canadian
system of railways was manifestly incomplete. But how to bridge
this wide and rapid river! Never before, perhaps, was a problem
of such difficulty proposed for solution by an engineer. Opposite
Montreal, the St. Lawrence is about two miles wide, running at
the rate of about ten miles an hour; and at the close of each winter it carries down the ice of 2000 square miles of lakes and rivers, with their numerous tributaries.
As early as the year 1846, the construction of a bridge at Montreal was strongly advocated by the local press as the only means
of connecting that city with the projected Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway. But the difficulties of executing such a work
seemed almost insurmountable to those best acquainted with the
locality. The greatest difficulty was apprehended from the tremendous shoving and pressure of the ice at the break-up of winter. At such times, opposite Montreal, the whole river is packed
with huge blocks of ice, and it is often seen piled up to a height
of from 40 to 50 feet along the banks, placing the surrounding
country under water, and occasionally doing severe damage to
the massive stone buildings erected along the noble river front of
the city.




CHAP. XX.] ROBERT STEPHENSON APPOINTED ENGINEER. 477
But no other expedient presented itself but a bridge, and a
survey was made accordingly at the instance of the Hon. John
Young, one of the directors of the railway. A period of colonial
depression having shortly after occurred, the project slept for a
time, and it was not until six years later, in 1852, when the Grand
Trunk Railway was under construction, that the subject was again
brought under discussion. In that year, Mr. Alexander M. Ross,
who had superintended the construction of Robert Stephenson's
tubular bridge at Conway, visited Canada, and inspected the site
of the proposed structure, when he at once formed the opinion
that a tubular bridge carrying a railway was the most suitable
means of crossing the St. Lawrence, and connecting Montreal with
the lines on the norfh of the river.
The directors felt that such a work would necessarily be of a
most formidable and difficult character, and before coming to any
conclusion they determined to call to their assistance Mr. Robert
Stephenson, as the engineer most competent to advise them in the
matter. Mr. Stephenson considered the subject of so much interest and importance that, in the sunmer of 1853, he proceeded to
Canada to inquire as to all the facts, and examine carefully the
site of the proposed work. He then formed the opinion that a
tubular bridge across the river was not only practicable, but by
far the most suitable for the purpose intended, and early in the
following year he sent an elaborate report on the whole subject
to the directors of the railway. The result was the adoption of
his recommendation and the erection of the Victoria Bridge, of
which Robert Stephenson was the designer and engineer, and
Mr. A. M. Ross the joint and resident engineer in directly superintending the execution of the undertaking. The details of the
plans were principally worked out in Mr. Stephenson's office in
London, under the superintendence of his cousin, Mr. George Robert Stephenson, while the iron-work was for the most part constructed at the Canada Works, Liverpool, from whence it was
shipped, ready for being fixed in position on the spot.
The Victoria Bridge is, without exception, the greatest work
of its kind in the world. For gigantic proportions, and vast
length and strength, there is nothing to compare with it in ancient or modern times. The entire bridge, with its approaches, is
only about sixty yards short of two miles in length, being five




478               THE VICTORIA BRIDGE.             [PART II.
times longer than the Britannia Bridge across the Menai Straits,
seven and a half times longer'than Waterloo Bridge, and more
than ten times longer than Chelsea Bridge. The two-mile tube
across the St. Lawrence rests on twenty-four piers, which, with
the abutments, leave twenty-five spaces or spans for the several
parts of the tube. Twenty-four of these spans are 242 feet wide;
the centre span-itself a huge bridge-being 330 feet. The road
is carried within the tube 60 feet above the level of the river, so
as not to interfere with its navigation.
As one of the principal difficulties apprehended in the erection
of the bridge was that arising from the tremendous "shoving"
SUMMER WATER LEVEL
WAnTER  Lotd
SIDE ELEVATION OF PIER.
and ramming of the ice at the break-up of winter, the plans were
carefully designed so as to avert all danger from this cause.
Hence the peculiarity in the form of the piers, which, though
greatly increasing their strength for the purpose intended, must
be admitted to detract considerably from the symmetry of the
structure as a whole. The western face of each pier-that is, the
up-river side-has a large wedge-shaped cutwater of stone-work,
presenting an inclined plane toward the current, for the purpose
of arresting and breaking up the ice-blocks, and thereby preventing them from piling up and damaging the tube carrying the
railway. The piers are of immense strength. Those close to the




CHAP. XX.] FOUNDATIONS AND CONSTRUCTION OF PIERS. 479
abutments contain about 6000 tons of masonry each, while those
which support the great centre tube contain about 12,000 tons.
The former are 15 feet wide, and the latter 18. Scarcely a block
of stone used in the piers is less than seven tons in weight, while
many of those opposed to the force of the breaking-up ice weigh
fully ten tons.
As might naturally be expected, the getting in of the foundations of these enormous piers in so wide and rapid a river was
attended with many difficulties. To give an idea of the waterpower of the St. Lawrence, it may be mentioned that when the
river comes down in its greatest might, large stone boulders
weighing upward of a ton are rolled along by the sheer force of
the current. The depth of the river, however, was not so great
as might be supposed, varying from only five to fifteen feet during summer, when the foundation-work was carried on.
The method first employed to get in the foundations was by
means of dams or caissons, which were constructed on shore,
floated into position, and scuttled over the places at which the
foundations were to be laid, thus at once forming a nucleus from
which the dams could be constructed. The first of such dams
was floated, got into position, scuttled, and sunk, and the piling
fairly begun, on the 19th of June, 1854. By the 15th of the following month the sheet-piling and puddling was finished, when
the pumping of the water out of the inclosed space by steampower was proceeded with, and in a few hours the bed of the
river was laid almost dry, the toe of every pile being distinctly
visible. By the 22d the first stone of the pier was laid, and on
the 14th of August the masonry was above water-level.
The getting in of the foundations of the other piers was proceeded with in like manner, though frequently interrupted by
storms, inundations, and collisions of timber-rafts, which occasionally carried away the moorings of the dams. Considerable difficulty was in some places experienced from the huge boulderstones lying in the bed of the river, to remove which sometimes
cost the divers several months of hard labor. In getting in the
foundations of the later piers, the method first employed of sinking the floating caissons in position was abandoned, and the dams
were constructed of" crib-work,"*- which was found more con* The dams of " crib-work" were formed by laying flattened pine logs along the




480                   ERECTION OF THE TUBES.                       ]PART II.
venient, and less liable to interruption by accident from collision
or otherwise.
By the spring of 1857 a sufficient number of piers had been
finished to enable the erection of the tubes to be proceeded with.
The operations connected with this portion of the work were also
of a novel character.  Instead of floating the tubes between the
piers and raising them into position by hydraulic power, as at
Conway and Menai, which the rapid current of the St. Lawrence
would not permit, the tubes were erected in situ  on a staging
prepared for the purpose, as shown in the following engraving.
Floating scows, each 60 feet by 20, were moored in position,.... -/L.,__. —'_. —_ _-'.    i
wORKS IN PROGRESS, 17 —VIEW FROM ABOVE THE SOUTH ABUTMENT.
whole outer edge of the work, and at intervals of from 5 to 10 feet parallel therewith
throughout the whole of the breadth, connected with transverse timbers firmly treenailed and notched into them. When one course was formed, another was laid upon
and firmly treenailed to it. After two or three courses were laid, transverse timbers
were placed over them close together, so as to form a flooring, on which stone was
placed to suit the crib as the work progressed. When the under side of the crib
touched the bottom, it was carefully filled with loose stones and clay puddle to the
water level. The process of puddling and pumping out the water, and building up the
pier within the dam thus formed, then proceeded in the usual manner. In some
cases a powerful steam dredge was employed to clear out the puddle-chambers.




CHAP. XX.]     BREAKING UP OF THE ICE.               481
and kept in their place by piles sliding in grooves. These piles,
when firmly fixed in the bed of the river, were bolted to the sides
of the scows, and the tops were leveled to receive the sills upon
which the framing carrying the truss and platform was erected.
Timbers were laid on the lower chords of the truss, forming a
platform 24 feet wide, closely planked with deals. The upper
chords carried rails, along which moved the " travelers" used in
erecting the tubes. The plates forming the bottom of each tube
having been accurately laid and riveted, and adjusted to level
and centre by oak wedges, the erection of the sides was next proceeded with, extending outward from the centre on either side,
this work being closely followed by the plating of the top. Each
tube between the respective pairs of piers was in the first place
erected separate and independent of its adjoining tubes; but after completion, the tubes were joined in pairs and firmly bolted to
the masonry over which they were united, their outer ends being
placed upon rollers so arranged on the adjoining piers that they
might expand or contract according to variations of temperature.
The work continued to make satisfactory progress down to
the spring of 1858, by which time fourteen out of the twentyfour piers were finished, together with the formidable abutments
and approaches to the bridge. Considerable apprehensions were
entertained as to the security of the piers and the unfinished parts
of the work at the usual breaking-up of the ice. We take the
following account from a letter written by Mr. Ross to Mr. Stephenson descriptive of the scene.
"On the 29th of March, the ice above Montreal began to show
signs of weakness, but it was not until the 31st that a general movement became observable, which continued for an hour, when it suddenly stopped, and the water rose rapidly. On the following day,
at noon, a grand movement commenced; the waters rose about four
feet in two minutes, up to a level with many of the Montreal streets.
The fields of ice at the same time were suddenly elevated to an incredible height; and so overwhelming were they in appearance,
that crowds of the townspeople, who had assembled on the quay to
watch the progress of the flood, ran for their lives. This movement
lasted about twenty minutes, during which the jammed ice destroyed several portions of the quay wall, grinding the hardest blocks to
atoms. The embanked approaches to the Victoria Bridge had tre



482              OPERATIONS IN WINTER.            [PART II.
mendous forces to resist. In the full channel of the stream, the ice
in its passage between the piers was broken up by the force of the
blow immediately on its coming in contact with the cutwaters.
Sometimes thick sheets of ice were seen to rise up and rear on end
against the piers, but by the force of the current they were speedily
made to roll over into the stream, and in a moment after were out
of sight. For the two next days the river was still high, until on
the 4th of April the waters seemed suddenly to give way, and by
the following day the river was flowing clear and smooth as a millpond, nothing of winter remaining except the masses of bordage ice
which were strewn along the shores of the stream. On examination of the piers of the bridge, it was found that they had admirably resisted the tremendous pressure; and though the timber " cribwork" erected to facilitate the placing of floating pontoons to form
the dams was found considerably disturbed and in some places
seriously damaged, the piers, with the exception of one or two
heavy stone blocks, which were still unfinished, escaped uninjured.
One block -of many tons' weight was carried toia considerable distance, and must have been torn out of its place by sheer force, as
several of the broken fragments were found left in the pier."
Toward the end of January, 1859, the plating of the bottom of
the great central tube was begun. The execution of this part of
the undertaking was of a very formidable and difficult character.
The gangs of men employed upon it were required to work night
and day, though the season was mid-winter, as it was of great importance to the navigation that the staging should be removed by
the time that the ice broke up and the river became open. The
night gangs were lighted at their work by wood-fires filling huge
braziers, the bright glow of which illumined the vast snow-covered ice-field in the midst of which they worked at so lofty an elevation; and the sight as well as the sounds of the hammering
and rivyting, the puffing of the steam-engines, and the various operations thus carried on, presented a scene the like of which has
rarely been witnessed. The work was not conducted without
considerable risk to the men, arising from the intense cold. The
temperature was often 20~ below zero, and notwithstanding that
they all worked in thick gloves, and that care was taken to protect every exposed part, many of them were severely frostbitten.
Sometimes, when thick mist rose from the river, they would become covered with icicles, and be driven from their work.




CHAP. XX.]   ERECTION OF THE CENTRAL TUBE.             483
Notwithstanding these difficulties, the laying of the great cential tube made' steady progress. By the 17th of February the
first pair of side-plates was erected; on the 28th, the bottom was
riveted and completed; 180 feet of the sides was also in place,
—.. —._._.. ~_
]EECTION OF MAIN OENTRAL TUBE.
and 100 feet of the top was plated; and on the 21st of March
the whole of the plating was finished. A few days later the
wedges were knocked away, and the tube hung suspended between the adjoining piers. On the 18th of May following the
RH




484         ROBERT STEPHENSON'S LATER YEARS.    [PART II.
staging was all cleared away, with the moored scows and the
crib-work, and the centre span of the bridge was again clear for
the navigation of the river.
The first stone of the bridge was laid on the 22d of July, 1854.
The works continued in progress for a period of five and a half
years, until the 17th of December, 1859, when the first train passed over the bridge; and on the 25th of August, 1860, it was
formally opened for traffic by the Prince of Wales.  It was the
greatest of Robert Stephenson's bridges, and worthy of being the
crowning and closing work of his life. But he was not destined
to see its completion. Two months before the bridge was finished he had passed from the scene of all his labors.
We have little to add as to the closing events in Robert Stephenson's life. Retired in a great measure from the business of
an engineer, he occupied himself for the most part in society, in
yachting, and in attending the House of Commons and the Clubs.
It was in the year 1847 that he entered the House of Commons
as member for Whitby; but he does not seem to have been very
regular in his attendance, and only appeared on divisions when
there was a " whip" of the party to which he belonged.  He was
a member of the Sewage and Sanitary Commissions, and of the
Commission which sat on Westminster Bridge.  He very seldom
addressed the House, and then only on matters relating to engineering. The last occasions on which he spoke were on the Suez
Canal* and the cleansing of the Serpentine.
* Mr. Stephenson entertained a very strong opinion as to the inexpediency of making this canal, and the impracticability of keeping it open except at an enormous expense. Of course it was possible to make the canal provided there was money enough
raised for the purpose.  But, even if made, he held that it would not long be
used, for there would not be traffic enough to pay working expenses. In 1846, Mr.
Stephenson carefully examined the country along the line of the proposed canal, from
Tineh on the Mediterranean, to Suez on the Red Sea, in company with the agents of
M. Talabot, a French engineer, and M. de Negrelli, an Austrian engineer. They ascertained that there was no difference of level between the two seas, and that consequently a canal capable of being scoured by the waters of either was impracticable.
On the occasion of Captain Pim's reading a paper on the subject of the revived project of the canal before' the Geographical Society on the 11th of April, 1859, Mr. Stephenson took part in the discussion which followed. He held that any harbor constructed at Port Said, however far it might be extended into the sea, would only act
as a mud-trap, and that it would be impracticable to keep such a port open. Mr.
George Rennie had compared the proposed breakwater at Pelusium with the break



CHAP. XX.]              FOREIGN SERVICES.                             485
Besides constructing the railway between Alexandria and Cairo,
he was consulted, like his father, by the King of Belgium  as to
the railways of that country; and he was made Knight of the
Order of Leopold because of the improvements which he had
made in locomotive engines, so much to the advantage of the
Belgian system of inland transit. He was consulted by the King
of Sweden as to the railway between Christiana and Lake Midsen,
and in consideration of his services was decorated with the Grand
Cross of the Order of St. Olaf.  He also visited Switzerland,
Piedmont, and Denmark, to advise as to the system of railway
communication best suited for those countries. At the Paris Exhibition of 1855 the Emperor of France decorated him with the
Legion of Honor in consideration of his public services; and at
home the University of Oxford made him a Doctor.of Civil Laws.
In 1855 he was elected President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, which office he held with honor and filled with distinguished ability for two years, giving place to his friend Mr. Locke at
the end of 1857.'Mr. Stephenson was frequently called upon to act as arbitrator
water at Portland, on which Mr. Stephenson observed, "Why, at Portland, the stones
are carried out from the shore and thrown into the sea, but at Pelusium there is no
solid shore, and all the stones must be brought 100 miles. Can there be any comparison between a breakwater at Portland and one in the Mediterranean on a leeshore, where there is no stone and no foundation whatever? It is only the silt of the
Nile. The Nile brings down millions of tons of mud yearly, and hence the Delta
formed at its mouth. The moment you construct a harbor at Port Said and project
piers into the sea, you immediately arrest the course of the mud, and will never be
able to keep the port open. It would be the most extraordinary thing in the world
to project two jetties into an open sea on a lee-shore, which has for almost three
months in the year a northeast wind blowing upon it. There is no seaman, except in
fair weather, who would venture to approach such a place. To render it at all accessible and safe, there must be a harbor of refuge made, and we know from experience in our own country what a large question that would open up. But even suppose such a harbor to be made. The current carries the mud of the Nile in an easterly direction; and if you provide a harbor of refuge, which means a quiescent harbor, it will act merely as a gigantic mud-trap. I believe it to be nearly if not absolutely true, that there is no large harbor in the world maintained on the delta of a
large river. Any such harbor would be silted up in a few years. And whoever has
traveled over the district between Part Said and Suez, and seen the moving sands,
must see that it would be necessary to dredge, not only that harbor, but the canal itself." Mr. Stephenson's conclusion accordingly was that the scheme was impracticable, that it would not justify the expenditure necessary to complete it, and that, if
ever executed, it would prove a commercial failure.




486      ROBERT STEPHENSON'S LATER YEARS.  [PART II.
between contractors and railway companies, or between one company and another, great value being attached to his opinion on
account of his weighty judgment, his great experience, and his
upright character; and we believe his decisions were invariably
stamped by the qualities of impartiality and justice. He was always ready to lend a helping hand to a friend, and no petty jealousy stood between him and his rivals in the engineering world.
The author remembers being with Mr. Stephenson one evening
at his house in Gloucester Square when a note was put into his
hand from his friend Brunel, then engaged in his fruitless efforts
to launch the Great Eastern. It was to ask Stephenson to come
down to Blackwall early next morning, and give him the benefit
of his judgment. Shortly after six next morning Stephenson was
in Scott Russell's building-yard, and he remained there until dusk.
About midday, while superintending the launching operations,
the balk of timber on which he stood canted up, and he fell up
to his middle in the Thames mud. He was dressed as usual,
without great-coat (though the day was bitter cold), and with
only thin boots upon his feet. He was urged to leave the yard
and change his dress, or at least dry himself; but, with his usual
disregard of health, he replied, "Oh, never mind me; I'm quite
used to this sort of thing;" and he went paddling about in the
mud, smoking his cigar, until almost dark, when the day's work
was brought to an end. The result of this exposure was an attack of inflammation of the lungs, which kept him to his bed for
a fortnight.
He was habitually careless of his health, and perhaps he indulged in narcotics to a prejudicial extent. Hence he often became " hipped," and sometimes ill. When Mr. Sopwith accompanied him to Egypt in the Titania, in 1856, he succeeded in
persuading Mr. Stephenson to limit his indulgence in cigars and
stimulants, and the consequence was that by the end of the voyage he felt himself, as he said, " quite a new man." Arrived at
Marseilles, he telegraphed from thence a message to Great George
Street, prescribing certain stringent and salutary rules for observance in the office there on his return. But he was of a facile,
social disposition, and the old associations proved too strong for
him. When he sailed for Norway in the autumn of 1859, though
then ailing in health, he looked a man who had still plenty of life




CHAP. XX.] CHARA CTERISTICS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. 487
in him. By the time he returned his fatal illness had seized him.
He was attacked by congestion of the, liver, which first developed
itself in jaundice, and then ran into dropsy, of which he died on
the 12th of October, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. He was
buried by the side of Telford in Westminster Abbey, amid the
departed great men of his country, and was attended to his resting-place by many of the intimate friends of his boyhood and his
manhood.. Among those who assembled round his grave were
some of the greatest men of thought and action in England, who
embraced the sad occasion to pay the last mark of their respect
to this illustrious son of one of England's greatest working-men.
It would be out of keeping with the subject thus drawn to
a conclusion to pronounce any panegyric on the character and
achievements of George and Robert Stephenson. These, for the
most part, speak for themselves; and both were emphatically true
men, exhibiting in their lives many valuable and sterling qualities.
No beginning could have been less promising than that of the
elder Stephenson. Born in a poor condition, yet rich in spirit,
he was from the first compelled to rely upon himself, every step
of advance which he made being conquered by patient labor.
Whether working as a brakesman or an engineer, his mind was
always full of the work in hand. He gave himself thoroughly
up to it. Like the painter, he might say that he had become
great " by neglecting nothing." Whatever he was engaged upon,
he was as careful of the details as if each were itself the whole.
He did all thoroughly and honestly. There was no "scamping"
with him. When a workman, he put his brains and labor into
his work; and when a master, he put his conscience and character into it. He would have no slop-work executed merely for
the sake of profit. The materials must be as genuine as the
workmanship was skillful. The structures which he designed
and executed were distinguished for their thoroughness and solidity; his locomotives were famous for their durability and excellent working qualities. The engines which he sent to the
United States in 1832 are still in good condition; and even the
engines built by him for the Killingworth Colliery, upward of
thirty years since, are working there to this day. All his work
was honest, representing the actual character of the man.




488   CHARACTERISTICS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. [PART IL
He was ready to turn his hand to any thing-shoes and clocks,
railways and locomotives. He contrived his safety-lamp with the
object of saving pitmen's lives, and periled his own life in testing it. With him to resolve was to do. Many men knew far
more than he, but none was more ready forthwith to apply what,
he did know to practical purposes. It was while working at
Willington as a brakesman that he first learned how best to handle a spade in throwing ballast out of the ships' holds. This casual employment seems to have left upon his mind the most lasting impression of what " hard work" was; and he often used to
revert to it, and say to the young men about him, " Ah, ye lads!
there's none o' ye know what wark is." Mr. Gooch says he was
proud of the dexterity in handling a spade which he had thus acquired, and that he has frequently seen him take the shovel from
a laborer in some railway cutting, and show him how to use it
more deftly in filling wagons of earth, gravel, or sand. Sir Joshua
Walmsley has also informed us that, when examining the works
of the Orleans and Tours Railway, Stephenson, seeing a large
number of excavators filling and wheeling sand in a cutting, at a
great waste of time and labor, went up to the men and said he
would show them how to fill their barrows in half the time. He
showed them the proper position in which to stand so as to exercise the greatest amount of power with the least expenditure of
strength; and he filled the barrow with comparative ease again
and again in their presence, to the great delight of the workmen.
When passing through his own workshops he would point out to
his men how to save labor and get through their work skillfully
and with ease. His energy imparted itself to others, quickening
and influencing them as strong characters always do, flowing
down into theirs, and bringing out their best powers.
His deportment to the workmen employed under him was familiar, yet firm and consistent. As he respected their manhood,
so they respected his masterhood. Although he comported himself toward his men as if they occupied very much the same level with himself, he yet possessed that peculiar capacity for governing which enabled him always to preserve among them the
strictest discipline, and to secure their cheerful and hearty services. Mr. Ingham, M.P. for South Shields, on going over the
workshops at Newcastle, was particularly struck with this quality




CHAP. XX.] CHARACTERISTICS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. 489
of the master-in his bearing toward his men. "There was nothing," said he, "of undue familiarity in their intercourse, but they
spoke to each other as man to man; and nothing seemed to please
the master more than to point out illustrations of the ingenuity
of his artisans. He took up a rivet, and expatiated on the skill
with which it had been fashioned by the workman's hand-its
perfectness and truth. He was always proud of his workmen
and his pupils; and, while indifferent and careless as to what
might be said of himself, he fired up in a moment if disparagement were thrown upon any one whom he had taught or trained."
In manner, George Stephenson was simple, modest, and unassuming, but always manly. He was frank and social in spirit.
When a humble workman, he had carefully preserved his sense
of self-respect. hIis companions looked up to him, and his example was worth much more to many of them than books or schools.
His devoted love of knowledge made his poverty respectable, and
adorned his humble calling. When he rose to a more elevated
station, and associated with men of'the highest position and influence in Britain, he took his place among them with perfect selfpossession. They wondered at the quiet ease and simple dignity
of his deportment; and men in the best ranks of life have said
of him that " he was one of Nature's gentlemen."
Probably no military chiefs were ever more beloved by their
soldiers than were both father and son by the army of men who,
under their guidance, worked at labors of profit, made labors of
love by their earnest will and purpose. True leaders of men and
lords of industry, they were always ready to recognize and encourage talent in those who worked for and with them. Thus it
was pleasant, at the openings of the Stephenson lines, to hear the
chief engineers attributing the successful completion of the works
to their assistants; while the assistants, on the other hand, ascribed
the principal glory to their chiefs.
George Stephenson, though a thrifty and frugal man, was essentially unsordid. His rugged path in early life made him careful of his resources. He never saved to hoard, but saved for a
purpose, such as the maintenance of his parents or the education
of his son. In his later years he became a prosperous and even
a wealthy man; but riches never closed his heart, nor stole away
the elasticity of his soul. He enjoyed life cheerfully, because




490    CH'ARA CTERISTICS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. [PART II.
hopefully.  When he entered upon a commercial enterprise,
whether for others or for himself, he looked carefully at the
ways and means. Unless they would "pay," he held back. " He
would have nothing to do," he declared," with stock-jobbing speculations." His refusal to sell his name to the schemes of the
railway mania-his survey of the Spanish lines without remuneration-his offer to postpone his claim for payment from a poor
company until their affairs became more prosperous, are instances of the unsordid spirit in which he acted.
Another; marked feature in Mr. Stephenson's character was his
patience. Notwithstanding the strength of his convictions as to
the great uses to which the locomotive might be applied, he waited long and patiently for the opportunity of bringing it into no.
tice; and for years after he had completed an efficient engine,
he went on quietly devoting himself to the ordinary work of the
colliery. He made no noise nor stir about his locomotive, but
allowed another to take credit for the experiments on velocity
and friction which he had made with it upon the Killingworth
railroad. By patient industry and laborious contrivance he was
enabled, with the powerful help of his son, almost to do for the
locomotive what James Watt had done for the condensing engine. He found it clumsy and inefficient, and he made it powerful, efficient, and useful. Both have been described as the improvers of their respective engines; but, as to all that is admirable in their structure or vast in their utility, they are rather entitled to be described as their inventors. They have both tended
to increase indefinitely the mass of human comforts and enjoyments, and to render them cheap and accessible to all. But Stephenson's invention, by the influence which it is daily exercising
upon the civilization of the world, is even more remarkable than
that of Watt, and is calculated to have still more important consequences. In this respect it is to be regarded as the grandest
application of steam-power that has yet been discovered.
George Stephenson's close and accurate observation provided
him with a fullness of information on many subjects which often
appeared surprising to those who had devoted to them a special
study. On one occasion the accuracy of his knowledge of birds
came out in a curious way at a convivial meeting of railway men
in London. The engineers and railway directors present knew




CHAP. XX.] CHARACTERISTICS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. 491
each other as railway men and nothing more. The talk had been
all of railways and railway politics. Stephenson was a great
talker on those subjects, and was generally allowed, from the interest of his conversation and the extent of his experience, to take
the lead. At length one of the party broke in with, " Come, now,
Stephenson, we have had nothing but railways! can not we have
a change, and try if we can talk a little about something else?"
"Well," said Stephenson," I'll give you a wide range of subjects;
what shall it be about?" "Say bird8' nest8 " rejoined the other,
who prided himself on his special knowledge of the subject.
"Then birds' nests be it."  A long and animated conversation
ensued: the.bird-nesting of his boyhood-the blackbird's nest
which his father had held him up in his arms to look at when a
child at Wylam-the hedges in which he had found the thrush's
and the linnet's nests-the mossy bank where the robin builtthe cleft in the branch of the young tree where the chaffinch had
reared its dwelling-all rose up clear in his mind's eye, and led
him back to the scenes of his boyhood at Callerton and Dewley
Burn. The color and number of the birds' eggs-the period of
their incubation-the materials employed by them for the walls
and lining of their nests, were described by him so vividly, and
illustrated by such graphic anecdotes, that one of the party remarked that, if George Stephenson had not been the greatest engineer of his day, he might have been one of the greatest naturalists.
His powers of conversation were very great. He was so
thoughtful, original, and suggestive. There was scarcely a department of science on which he had not formed some novel
and sometimes daring theory. Thus Mr. Gooch, his pupil, who
lived with him when at Liverpool, informs us that when sitting
over the fire, he would frequently broach his favorite theory of
the sun's light and heat being the original source of the light
and heat given forth by the burning coal. "It fed the plants of
which that coal is made," he would say, "and has been bottled
up in the earth ever since, to be given out again now for the use
of man." His son Robert once said of him, " My father flashed
his bull's eye full upon a subject, and brought it out in its most
vivid light in an instant: his strong common sense and his varied
experience, operating on a thoughtful mind, were his most powerful illuminators."




492   CHARACTERISTICS OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. [PART II.
The Bishop of Oxford related the following anecdote of him
at a recent public meeting in London: " Hq heard the other day
of an answer given by the great self-taught man, Stephenson,
when he was speaking with something of distrust of what were
called competitive examinations. Stephenson said,' I distrust
them for this reason-they will lead, it seems to me, to an unlimited power of cram;' and he added,'Let me give you one
piece of advice-never to judge of your goose by its stuffing!"'
George Stephenson had once a conversation with a watchmaker, whom he astonished by the extent and minuteness of his
knowledge as to the parts of a watch. The watchmaker knew
him to be an eminent engineer, and asked how he had acquired
so extensive a knowledge of a branch of business so much-out
of his sphere. "It is very easily to be explained," said Stephenson; "I worked long at watch-cleaning myself, and when I was
at a loss, I was never ashamed to ask for information."
His hand was open to his former fellow-workmen whom old
age had left in poverty. To poor Robert Gray, of Newburn,
who acted as his brideman on his marriage to Fanny Henderson,
he left a pension for life. He would slip a five-pound note into
the hand of a poor man or a widow in such a way as not to offend their delicacy, but to make them feel as if the obligation
were all on his side. When Farmer Paterson, who married a
sister of George's first wife, Fanny Henderson, died and left a
large young family fatherless, poverty stared them in the face.
"But ye ken," said our informant, "George struck infayther for
them." And perhaps the providential character of the act could
not have been more graphically expressed than in these simple
words.
On his visit to Newcastle, he would frequently meet the friends
of his early days, occupying very nearly the same station in life,
while he had meanwhile risen to almost world-wide fame; but
he was not less hearty in his greeting of them than if their relative position had remained the same. Thus, one day, after shaking hands with Mr. Brandling on alighting from his carriage, he
proceeded to shake hands with his coachman, Anthony Wigham,
a still older friend, though he only sat on the box.
Robert Stephenson inherited his father's kindly spirit and benevolent disposition. We have already stated that he was often




CHAP. XX.] CHARAl CTERISTICS OF ROBERT STEPHENSON. 493
called in as an umpire to mediate between conflicting parties,
more particularly between contractors and engineers. On one
occasion Brunel complained to him that he could not get on with
his contractors, who were never satisfied, and were always quarreling with him. "You hold them too tightly to the letter of
your agreement," said Stephenson; " treat them fairly and liberally." " But they try to take advantage of me at all points," rejoined Brunel. " Perhaps you suspect them too much." said Stephenson. "I suspect all men to be rogues," said the other, "till
I find them to be honest."  " For my part," said Stephenson, " I
take all men to be honest till I find them to be rogues."  "Ah!
then, I fear we shall never agree," concluded Brunel.
Robert almost worshiped his father's memory, and was ever
ready to attribute to him the chief merit of his own achievements as an engineer. "It was his thorough training," we once
heard him say, "his example, and his character, which made me
the man I am."  On a more public occasion he said, " It is my
great pride to remember that, whatever may have been done, and
however extensive may have been my own connection with railway development, all I know and all I have done is primarily
due to the parent whose memory I cherish and revere."* To
Mr. Lough, the sculptor, he said he had never had but two loves
-one for his father, the other foir his wife.
Like his father, he was eminently practical, and yet always
open to the influence and guidance of correct theory. His main
consideration in laying out his lines of railway was what would
best answer the intended purpose, or, to use his own words, to secure the maximum of'result with the minimum of means. He
was pre-eminently a safe man, because cautious, tentative, and experimental; following closely the lines of conduct trodden by his
father, and often quoting his maxims.
In society Robert Stephenson was simple, unobtrusive, and
modest, but charming and even fascinating in an eminent degree.
Sir John Lawrence has said of him that he was, of all others, the
man he most delighted to meet in England-he was so manly yet
gentle, and withal so great. While admired and beloved by men
of such calibre, he was equally a favorite with women and children. He put himself upon the level of all, and charmed them
* Address as President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, January, 1856.




494       POLITICS OF THE TWO STEPHENSONS.  [PART II.
no less by his inexpressible kindliness of manner than by his simple yet impressive conversation.
His great wealth enabled him to perform many generous acts
in a right noble and yet modest manner, not letting his right
hand know what his left hand did.  Of the numerous kindly
acts of his which have been made public, we may mention the
graceful manner in which he repaid the obligations which both
himself and his father owed to the Newcastle Literary and Philosophical Institute when working together as fellow experimenters many years before in their humble cottage at Killingworth.
The Institute was struggling under a debt of ~6200, which impaired its usefulness as an educational agency. Mr. Stephenson
offered to pay one half the sum provided the local supporters
of the Institute would raise the remainder, and conditional also
on the annual subscription being reduced from two guineas to
one, in order that the usefulness of the institution might be
extended. His generous offer was accepted and the debt extinguished.
Both father and son were offered knighthood, and both declined it. During the summer of 1847, George Stephenson was
invited to offer himself as a candidate for the representation of
South Shields in Parliament. But his politics were at best of a
very undefined sort. Indeed, his life had been sp much occupied
with subjects of a practical character that he had scarcely troubled himself to form any decided opinion on the party political
topics of the day, and to stand the cross-fire of the electors on the
hustings might possibly have proved an even more distressing ordeal than the cross-questioning of the barristers in the Committees of the House of Commons. "Politics," he used to say, " are
all matters of theory-there is no stability in them; they shift
about like the sands of the sea; and I should feel quite out of
my element among them." He had, accordingly, the good sense
respectfully to decline the honor of contesting the representation
of South Shields.
We have, however, been informed by Sir Joseph Paxton that,
although George Stephenson held no strong opinions on political
questions generally, there was one question on which he entertained a decided conviction, and that was the question of Free
Trade. The words used by him on one occasion to Sir Joseph




CEAP. XX.]    AD VANTAGES OF RAIL WA YS.             495
were very strong. " England," said he, "is, and must be, a shopkeeper; and our docks and harbors are only so many wholesale
shops, the doors of which should always be kept wide open." It
is curious that his son should have taken precisely the opposite
view of this question, and acted throughout with the most rigid
party among the Protectionists, supporting the Navigation Laws
and opposing Free Trade, even to the extent of going into the
lobby with Colonel Sibthorp, Mr. Spooner, and the fifty-three
"cannon-balls," on the 26th of November, 1852. Robert Stephenson to the last spoke in strong terms as to the "betrayal of
the Protectionist party" by their chosen leader, and he went so
far as to say that he " could never forgive Peel."
But Robert Stephenson will be judged in after times by his
achievements as an engineer rather than by his acts as a politician; and, happily, these last were far outweighed in value by
the immense practical services which he rendered to trade, commerce, and'civilization, through the facilities which the railways
constructed by him afforded for free intercommunication between
men in all parts of the world. Speaking in the midst of his
friends at Newcastle in 1850, he observed:
"It seems to me but as yesterday that I was engaged as an assistant in laying out the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Since
then, the Liverpool and Manchester, and a hundred other great
works have sprung into existence. As I look back upon these stupendous undertakings, accomplished in so short a time, it seems as
though we had realized in our generation the fabled powers of the
magician's wand. Hills have been cut down and valleys filled up;
and when these simple expedients have not sufficed, high and magnificent viaducts have been raised, and, if mountains stood in the
way, tunnels of unexampled magnitude have pierced them through,
bearing their triumphant attestation to the indomitable energy of
the'nation, and the unrivaled skill of our artisans."
As respects the immense advantages of railways to mankind
there can not be two opinions. They exhibit, probably, the
grandest organization of capital and labor that the world has yet
seen. Although they have unhappily occasioned great loss to
many, the loss has been that of individuals, while, as a national
system, the gain has already been enormous. As tending to multiply and spread abroad the conveniences of life, opening up new




496            AD VANTAGES OF RAIL WA YS.            [PART II.
fields of industry,/bringing nations nearer to each other, and thus
promoting the great ends of civilization, the founding of the railway system by George Stephenson and his son must be regarded
as one of the most important events, if not the very greatest, in
the first half of this nineteenth century.
T, iT._k. EI SO  - T 
TUBE STEPHENSON MEMORIAL S0E[00LI WILINGTON QUAY.




INDEX.
AccPDENT, G. Stephenson's stage-coach, 389.   Callerton Colliery and village, 109,116, 117.
Accidents in coal-mines, 175, 196.            Canada, railways in, Preyf., v., 476.
Adam, Mr., counsel for Liverpool and Man- Canal Companies' opposition to railways, 260,
chester Railway Bill, 265.                   841
Adhesion of wheel and rail, 82,152, 16, 165.   Cardiff and Merthyr Railroad, 73.
Albert, Prince, an early traveler by rail, 390.   Carrying stock of railways Pref., ix., 334.
Alderson, Mr., counsel against Liverpool and  Cattle brought to London by rail, Pref., xx.
Manchester Railway Bill, 268, 2T1,274, 275.   Chapman's locomotive, 157, 163.
Allcard, Wm., 283.                            " Charlotte Dundas," the first practical steamAlton Grange, G. Stephenson's house at, 344.   ~boat 0.
Ambergate, land-slip at, 372; lime-works at, Chat Moss, surveying on, 252, 264; railway
394, 395.                                    constructed on, 283-288.
Anderson, Dr., his early advocacy of railroads, Chester and Birkenhead Railway, 402; and
73.                                          Holyhead Railway, 438.
Arnold, Dr., on railways, 390.               Chesterfield, town of, 395, 471.
Atmospheric railways, 402, 403, 426-428.     Clanny, Dr., his safety-lamp, 179, 196.
Clark, Edwin, R. Stephenson's assistant, 448.
Bald, Robed:mining engineer, 198 212.         Claycross Colliery, 394, 420.
Barrow, Sir John, on railway speed, 262.      Coach, first railway, 240.
Beaumont, Mr., his wooden wagon-ways, 48.   Coal, working of, 100,101; supply of, to LonBelgium, railwaysin,: 882; G. Stephenson's vis-   don, Pref., xxv.; haulage of, 153, 161; supits to, 382, 383, 415.                       ply of, by railways, 386, 392.
Benton Colliery and village, 138,140,151.    Coal Railways, G. Stephenson on, 393.
Berkeley, Mr., on railways, 341.             Cochrane, Lord, and Peruvian revolution, 89.
Berwick, Royal Border Bridge at, 430.        Coe, William, 116, 117, 121, 125.
Bird-nesting, G. Stephenson's love of, 106,109, Coffin, Sir Isaac, on. railways, 280.
880, 491.                                  Collieries, G. Stephenson's, at Snibston, 344;
Black Callerton Colliery, 109,116,117.         at Claycross, 392.
Blackett, Mr. Wylam, 102, 153,154,157-161.   Colombia, R. Stephenson's residence in, 301Blast, the steam, its invention, 170.          308.
Blenkinsop, Mr., Leeds, his locomotive, 155- Companies, joint-stock railway, 339, 404.
157, 162.                                   Contractors and railways, 353, 360, 361, 493.
Blisworth Cutting, 355.                       Conversation, G. Stephenson's love of, 463, 491.
Boiler, the multitubular, its invention, 816-318. Conway, tubular bridge at, 450, 451.
Booth, Henry, 256, 12, 318, 319.             Cooper, Sir A., R. Stephenson's interview with,
Boulton, Matthew, his tubular boiler, 316-318.   350.
Boulton and Watt, and the locomotive, 63-68.  Cornish engineers, early, 75, 76.
Bradshaw, Mr., his opposition to Liverpool Correspondence, G. Stephenson's, 297, 379, 380.
and Manchester line, 255, 258.     4        Crib-work, Victoria Bridge, 479, 480.
Braithwaite and Ericsson's "Novelty," 322- Cropper, Isaac, Liverpoo, 293, 313, 325.
824.                                        "Crowdie night," a, 465.
Brakes G. Stephenson's self-acting, 334, 398.    Croydon and Merstham Railroad, 74, 216.
Brakeing of colliery engines, 116-118, 131.  Cubitt,W., evidence of, on Liverpool and ManBrandling, Messrs., 184, 191,192, 431.         chester Railway, 272.
Brandreth's "Cycloped," 322.                 Cugnot, N., his road locomotive, 60.
Bridge building, rapid progress of, 431, 432.    Curr, John, his cast-iron tram-way, 50.
Bridges —Royal Border, 430; High-Level,New- Cuttings —Olive Mount, 291; Tring, 354; Bliscastle, 431; Britannia (Menai), 439-442; Con-   worth, 355. Ambergate, 372; Oake0 ihaw,
way, 451; Victoria, Lower Canada, 476.       372.
Britannia Bridge, North Wales, 449, 452-459.
Brougham,William, counsel for Liverpool and  Darlington, railway projected'at, 218.
Manchester Bill, 262, 265.                 Darwin, Erasmus, his fiery chariot, 53-59.
Bruce, Mr., R. Stephenson's schoolmaster, 141. Davy, Sir H., on Trevithick's steam-carriage,
Brunel, I. K. 423-427, 486.                    79; his paper on fire-damp, 179: his safetyBrunton's "Mechanical Traveler," 157.          lamp,189; testimonial to, 191; his lamp comBrussels, railway celebrations at, 383,416.    pared with Stephenson's, 195.
Buckland, Dr., 467.                          Denman, Lord, 463.
Bull Bridge, near Ambergate, 373.             Derby, Earl of, and Liverpool and Manchester
Bull, Edward, his Cornish engine, 76; Wil-   Railway, 252, 258, 280.
liam, partner of Trevithick, 76, 88.        Dewley Burn Colliery, 107-111.
Burrell, G. Stephenson's partner, 207.        Direct lines, rage fort 408.
Burstall's "Perseverance," 322, 326.          Dixon, John, assists m survey of Stockton and




498                                    INDEX.
Darlington Railway, 219, 236; resident en- Howick, Lord, his support of atmospheric railgineer Liverpool and Manchester Railway,   ways, 427; G. Stephenson's interview with,
283.                                          428, 429.
Dodds, Ralph, Killingworth, 132, 139.        Hudson, George, the "Railway King," 407,
Dutton Viaduct, 366.                           411.
Huskisson, Mr., an early advocate of railways,
East Coast route to Scotland, 426.             278, 280; fatal accident to, 331.
Edgeworth, R. L., early speculations on rail- Hydraulic press used to lift the tubes at the
ways, 56, 51.                                 Britannia Bridge, 456.
Eggs, brought to London by rail, Pref., xxii.
Egypt, R. Stephenson's tubular bridges in, 507; Ice-flood at Montreal, 481, 482.
Suez Canal, 484, 485.                       Inclined planes, self-acting, 149, 150, 162.
Electric telegraphing on railways, Pref., xiii.  India, railways in, Pref., iv.
Emerson, G. StepIhenson's meeting with, 469, Iron bridge building, progress in, 432, 443.
470.  Italian railways, Pref., iv.
Ericsson's "Novelty," 322-324.
Evans, Oliver, his steam-carriage, 71, 12; his James, William, surveys Liverpool and Manboiler, 11.                                   chester Railway, 248; visit to Killingworth
Explosions from fire-damp, 176.                 250; arrangement with Stephenson  and
Losh, 251; compelled to relinquish the surFairbairn, William, C.E., early friendship with   vey, 253, 254.
G. Stephenson, 124, 125; experiments on iron  James, W. H., his tubular boiler, 317.
tubes for R. Stephenson, 446.               Jameson, Professor, Edinburg, 213.
Fire-damp, explosions of, 175.                Jessop, William, his cast-iron edge-rail, 51.
Fish brought to London by rail, Pref., xxi.    Joy, Mr., counsel for Liverpool and ManchesFitch, John, American engineer, 1.       ter Bill, 265, 268.
Food brought to London by rail, Pref., xix. 
Forth-Street Works, Newcastle, 232, 396.      Keelmen of the Tyne, 101, 102.
Foster, Jonathan, Wylam, 158.                 Kent, opposition to railways in, 342.
Foundations —of bridge on the Derwent, 372; Killingworth, 126, 129; High Pit, 181; locoof High -Level Bridge, Newcastle, 434; of   motlve, 168; underground machinery 198;
Victoria Bridge, Montreal, 479.               visited by Edward Pease, 230; W. James,
Free Trade, G. Stephenson's notions of, 494,   250; promoters of Liverpool and Manchester
496.                                          Railway, 257.
Friction, G. Stephenson's early experiments in, Kilmarnock and Troon tram-roah, 206.
202  and gradients, 400.                    Kilsby Tunnel, 342, 357-361, 363.
Frolic, G. Stephenson's love of, 135, 375, 465.
Lambton, Mr. (Earl of Durham), 225.
Gauge of railways, 234, 424.                 Lamp, invention of the safety, 175.
"Geordy" safety-lamp, 175-195.               Land-slip at Ambergate, 372.
Gilbert, Davies, and Trevithick, 79, 82, 83.  Landlords and railways, 223, 252, 341, 352, 469.
Giles, Francis, CE., his evidence against Liv- Lardner, Dr., on undulating lines, 400.
erpool and Manchester Railway Bill, 273, 275, Leicester and Swannington Railway, 343.
289.                                        Leopold, King, G. Stephenson's interviews
Gooch, Thomas, C.E., 277, 295, 328, 330.       with, 382, 383, 416.
Government and railways, 337, 338.            Lime-works at Ambergate, 394, 395.
Gradients and friction, 202, 400.            Littleborough Tunnel, 368.
Grand Allies, Killingworth, 135.             Liverpool and Manchester Railway projected,
Grand Junction Railway, 341 365.               241; survey by W. James, 249; George SteGrand Trunk Railway, Canada, 476.              phenson appointed engineeer, 254; virulent
Gray, Thomas, and the locomotive, 156, 811.    opposition, 259, 260; the bill in committee,
Great Western Railway, 340, 342, 424.          265; rejected, 277; renewed application, 278;
Greenwich Railway opened as a " show," Pref.,  the bill passed, 280; the railway constructxv.                                           ed, 281; discussion as to the power to be
Gurney, Goldsworthy, 111, 317.                  employed to work the line, 311; prize offered for the best locomotive, 314; the comHackworth, T., and the steam-blast, 174; his   petition at Rainhill, 322; triumph of the
locomotive "Sanspareil," 322, 324, 325, 326.  "Rocket," 326; public opening of the railHalf-lap joint, G. Stephenson's, 200.          way, 330; its success, 332.
Harrison, Mr., counsel against Liverpool and  Locke, Joseph, C.E., resident engineer on LivManchester Bill, 265, 272, 276.               erpool and Manchester Railway, 283.
Harvey, Mr., engineer, Hayle, 76.             Locomotive engine gradually perfected, 47; Sir
Hedley, William, Wylam, 159,160, 171.           I. Newton's idea, 53; Darwin's, 53-59; CugHenderson, Fanny, G. Stephenson's first wife,   not's 60-63; James Watt's1 60, 64;  William
118 123,125, 12.                              Murdock's model locomotive, 66; William
Heppel Kit, Killingworth, 132, 135.             Symington's model, 68-T0; Oliver Evans's
Hetton Railway constructed by G. Stephenson,   711; Richard Trevithick's steam-carriage and
208.                                         first locomotive, 77-82; Blenkinsop's Leeds
High-Level Bridge, Newcastle, 433.             locomotive, 155; Blackett's Wylam locomoHindmarsh, Miss, G. Stephenson's second wife,   tive, 157-161; Stephenson's Killingw.orth lo214.  comotive, 164-170;  farther improvements by
Hodgkinson, Professor, his calculations as to    Stephenson, 201, 202; locomotives constructstrength of iron tubes, 447.                  ed for Stockton and Darlington Railway, 235;
Holyhead, railway to, 438.                     the "Rocket," 319; fartherimprovements in
Hornblower, Jonathan, 75, 76.                  locomotives, 3385; number of locomotives in
Horticulture, G. Stephenson's experiments in,   the United Kingdom, Pref., ix., x.; self-feed460, 461.                                    ing apparatus of, ib., xiv.
Horse traction on railways, 48, 57, 14, 153, 166, Locomotive workshops at Newcastle, the Ste234, 240.                                    phensons', 232, 396.




INDEX.                                       499
London and Birmingham Railway, 349-364.        337, 341; at Northampton, 342; in Kent, 342;
London, railways in, opening of the Green-   at Eton, 342; to London and Birmingham,
wich line, Pref., xv.; magnitude of suburb-   350.
an traffic, ib., xvi.; new lines opened, ib., Organization-of early railways, 330, 333; of
xvi.; population increased by, ib., xviii.;   modern railways, Pref., xi.
provisioning of London, ib., xix.; coal sup- Outram's railway, first use of stone blocks, 51.
ply of; ib., xxv.
Losh, Mr. Stephenson's partner, 201, 233.    Parliament and railways, 338, 406, 410.
Lough's statue of G. Stephenson, 472.        Parr Moss, railway across, 288.
Passenger-carriage, the first, 240.
Mackworth, Sir H., his sailing wagon, 52.    Passenger-traffic, beginnings of, Pref., vii., xv.,
Mail service by railway, Pref., xxvi.          240, 241, 333, 338; of London, Pref., xvii.
Manchester, railways projected in connection  Pease, Edward, promotes Stockton and Darwith, 340; and Leeds Railway, 366.           lington Railway, his character, 222; anticipaMania, the railway, 405, 406.                  tions concerning railways, 225; intercourse
Maps-of Newcastle district, 98; Stockton and    with George Stephenson, 227, 229, 230, 231,
~Darlington Railway, 224; Liverpool and    232; assists George Stephenson with capital,
Manchester Railway, 250-251; Leicester and    232; faith in the locomotive, 235, 246; letter
Swannington Railway, 343; London and    to Robert Stephenson, 306, 307.
Birmingham. Railway, 354; Midland Rail- Peel, Sir R., on undulating lines, 409, 410; G.
way, 370; Straits of Menai, 442.              Stephenson's visit to, 467.
Mechanics' Institutes, G. Stephenson at meet- Penmaen Mawr, railway under, 439.
ings of, 397.                               Pen-y-darran, Trevithick's locomotive made
Menai, bridge over Straits of, 439.            and tried at, 80-82.
Merchandise, traffic of London, Pref., xxvi.    Permanent way, Pref., viii., xi., 159, 200.
Merstham tram-road, 74, 217.                 Peruvian mining, Trevithick's adventures in
Merthyr tram-road, 73; Trevithick's locomo-   connection with, 87.
tive tried on, 80.                          Petherick, J., his description of Trevithick's
Middlesborough-on-Tees, growth of, 245.        steam-carriage, 78, 79.
Midland Railway, 370.                         Phillips, Sir Richard, on railroads, 217.
Milk brought to London by rail, Pref., xxiv.   Pile-driving by steam, 434.
Miller, Mi., Dalswinton, and steam  naviga- Pitmen, habits and character of Newcastle,
tion, 70.                                     100,101.
Montreal, Victoria Bridge at, 476.            Plate-ways, 50, 82.
Moore, Francis, his patent for steam-carriages, Politics, G. and R. Stephenson's, 494.
63.      ~                                  Population of London, how influenced by railMorecambe Bay, G. Stephenson's proposed    ways, Pref., xviii.
line across, 376.                           Postal service and railways, Pref., xxvii.
Moss, Chat (see Chat Moss).                   Potatoes brought to London by rail, Pref.,
Multitubular boiler, invention of the, 318.     xxiii.
Murdock, William, his model locomotive, 66; Poultry brought to London by rail, Pref., xxii.
Watt discourages his application to the sub- Primrose Hill Tunnel, 356.
ject, 67, 77.                              Professional charges, G. Stephenson's, 382.
Murray, Matthew, and the Leeds locomotive, Provisioning of London, Pref., xix.
155.                                       Pyrenean pastoral, 418.
Nasmyth's steam-hammer first applied tp pile-  Quarterly Review on railway speed, 263.
driving, 434.                               Queen, the, her first use of the railway, 390;
Navvies, Railway, 362.                          opens the High-Level and Royal Border
Newcastle-on-Tyne, early history, 97; Liter-   Bridges, 437; visits the Britannia Bridge,
ary and Philosophical Institute, 142, 185, 189,   456.
209, 494; Mechanics' Institute, 397; HighLevel Bridge, 431.                          Rails-stone blocks first used, 48; planks, 48;
Newcastle and Berwick Railway, 426.             plates of iron, 50; cast-iron rails, 50; flanchNewcomen's atmospheric engine, 100.             ed rails, 51; tram-plates at Merthyr, 81; WyNeville's tubular boiler, 317, 318.            lam wagon-way, 153; rack rail, 156, 157, 159,
Newton, Sir I., his idea of steam locomotion,   160; heavier cast-iron rails used, 160; rough53.                                          ly laid, 200; Stephenson's half-lapjoint, 200;
Nicholson's steam-jet, 82, 11.                  Stephenson recommends wrought-iron rails,
Nile, R. Stephenson's tubular bridges over the,   233; temporary rails in constructing roads,
475.                                         284; Vignolles's and Ericsson's central fricNorth Midland Railway, 370, 373, 374.          tion, 311; strained by high speed, 399.
North, Roger, description of early tram-roads, Railway locomotive (see Locomotive).
49.                                        Railway king, the, 407,.411.
Northampton, opposition of, to railways, 342.  Railway speed (see Speed).
Northumberland Atmospheric Railway, 427.   Railway speculation and mania, 374, 401-405.
"Novelty" locomotive, 323.                   Railways, length of, constructed, Pref., iii.; in
India, ib., iv.; in United States, ib., vi.; carOaks Pit Colliery explosion, 195.              rying stock of, ib., ix.; effects of, ib., xv.; in
Offices, Stephenson's London, 381, 407.        London, ib., xv.; number of workmen emOld Quay Navigation, Liverpool, 256.           ployed on, ib., xxviii.
Olive Mount Cutting, 291.                    Railways constructed and opened-'Cardiff and
Openings of railways —Hetton, 209; Stockton    Merthyr, 73; Sirhowy, 73; Wandsworth,
and Darlington, 236; Liverpool and Man-   Croydon, and Merstham, 73, 74; Wylam,
chester, 830; London and Birmingham, 384;   160; Kilmarnock and Troon, 206; Hetton,
in Midland Counties, 384; East Coast route   207; Stockton and Darlington, 224; Liverto Scotland, 426, 437; Britannia Bridge, 458;   pool and Manchester, 247; Canterbury and
Trent Valley,4469.                            Whitstable, 339; Grand Junction, 340, 365:
Opposition to railways-in country districts,   Leicester and Swannington, 343; London
II




500                                    INDEX.
and  Birmingham, 349; Manchester and    George's father and mother, 103-105; brothLeeds, 366; Midland, 370; in Belgium, 382;   ers and sisters, 111, 112; old Robert, 123;
Chester and Birkenhead, 402; Newcastle   maintained by his son George, 129.
and Darlington, 412; Newcastle and Ber- Stephenson, George, birth and birthplace, 103,
wick, 414, 426; Royal North of Spain, 417;   104; his parents, 105; boyhood 107-110; fireChester and Holyhead,438; TrentValleyRail-   man and engine-man, 109-113; learns to read,
way, 469; Grand Trunk, Lower Canada, 476.   114; learns to brake, 116, 117; makes and
Rainhill, locomotive contest at, 322.           mends shoes and " falls in love," 118; thrashRamsbottom's locomotive self-feeding appa-   es a bully, 119, 120; self-improvement, 121;
ratus, Pref., xiv.                            removes to Willington, 122; marries Fanny
Rastrick, Mr., C.E., 153, 312, 315.             Henderson,123; studies mechanics, perpetual
Ravensworth, Lord, 135, 192.                    motion, 124; cleans clocks, 125; birth of only
Rennie, John, C.E., 220, 221; Messrs. Rennie   son and removal to Killingworth, 126; death
and Liverpool and Manchester line, 279, 281.   of his wife, 121; goes to Scotland, his pump
Residential area of London, enlarged by rail-   boot, 128; returns to Killingworth, ibid.;
ways, Pref., xvii.                            brakesman at West Moor pit, 129; joins in a
Richardson, Thomas, Lombard Street, 230, 232,   brakeing contract, 130,131; cures a pumping266, 267, 301.                                engine, 132-134; appointed engine-wright,
Road locomotion-Stevin's sailing-coach, 52;   135; education of his son, 139-141; his cotMackworth's and Edgeworth's sailing-wag-   tage at West Moor, 146; the sun-dial, 148,
ons, 52, 53, 57; Cugnot's road locomotive, 61;   149; studies the locomotive, 151, 161-163; his
Murdock's model, 66; Symington's steam-   first traveling-engine, 163-170; invents his
carriage, 68; Oliver Evans's locomotive, 11,   safety-lamp, 19-186; improves underground
72; Trevithick's steam-carriage, 77; G. Ste-   machinery at Killingworth, 198; patent for
phenson's views of locomotion on common    improved rails and chairs, 200, 201; experiroads, 202-205; House of Commons report   ments on friction, 202; constructs Hetton
in favor of, 338.                             Railroad, 208; marriesElizabeth Hindmarsh,
Robins at Alton Grange, anecdote of, 381.       214; appointed engineer of the Stockton wand
" Rocket" locomotive, the, 319-328.            Darlington Railway, 228, 229; commences loRoscoe, Mr., his farm on Chat Moss, 282 283.    comotive factory at Newcastle, 232; supplies
Ross, A. M., joint engineer of Victoria Bridge,   locomotives to Stockton andDarlington RailMontreal, 477.                                way, 235; appointed engineer to Liverpool
Royal Border Bridge, Berwick, 429,              and Manchester Railway, 254; obstructions
to the survey, 259, 260; his evidence in comSafety-lamp-Dr. Clanny's, 179; George Ste-   mittee, 266; bill rejected, 277; reappointed
phenson's first lamp, 180; second and third    engineer, 281; construction of Liverpool and
lamps, 186; Sir H. Davy's paper on fire-damp,   Manchester Railway, 282-295; battle of the
179; his lamp, 187; dates when lamps pro-   locomotive, 310-315; triumph of the "Rockduced, 188; controversy Davy v. Stephenson,   et" at Rainhill, 319-328; organization of the
18; comparative merits of lamps, 195.        railway traffic, 333; improvements of the loSafety of railway traveling, Pref., x.          comotive, 335; the self-acting brake, 334, 398;
Sailing-coaches and wagons, 52, 53, 57.         leases the Snibston estate, 344; engineer of
Saint Fond on colliery wagon roads, 49.         Manchester and Leeds Railway, 366; engiSaint Lawrence River, Victoria Bridge across,   neer of North Midland, 371; of York and
476-484.                                      North Midland, 373; quickness of observaSandars, Mr., Liverpool and Manchester Rail-   tion, 315; proposed line across Morecambe
way, 248, 253, 254, 255, 262, 263, 29T, 313.  Bay, 316; immense labors, 3771; extensive
Sankey Viaduct, 292, 293.                       correspondence, 379, 380; London office, 381;
"Sanspareil" locomotive, Hackworth's, 324,   visits to Belgium, 382, 383; leases Claycross
325.                                          estate and colliery, 394; on railway speculaScarborough, railway to, 314.                  tion, 406, 401; third visit to Belgium, 415;
Screw-prcpeller patented by Trevithick, 86.     visit to Spain, 41; interview with Lord HowSeguin, M., his tubular boiler, 317, 318.      ick, 428, 429; life in retirement atTapton, 460;
Self-feeding apparatus of boilers, Pref., xiv.  visit to Sir Robert Peel, 467; theory about
Sheep carned to London by rail, Pref., xxi.     sun's light, 468; illness and death, 470; statSibthorp, Col., on railways, 341, 390, 391.     ues of, 4172; characteristics, 487-492.
Signaling of railway trains, Pref., xi.       Stephenson, Robert, his birth, 126; boyhood
Simplon, Midland Railway compared with road    and education, 140-143; boyish tricks, 143,
over the, 371.                                144; scientific amusements, 145; teaches alSirhowy Railroad, 73.                           gebra, 148; joint production with his father
Snibston, George Stephenson's sinking for coal   of a sun-dial, 148, 149; assists his father in
at, 344.                                      safety-lamp experiments, 181,184; Newcastle
Sopwith, Mr., F.R.S., 416,467.                  Institute, 209; apprenticed as coal-viewer,
South Devon atmospheric railway, 428.           209; coal-pit explosion, narrow escape, joint
Spain, George Stephenson's visit to, 418.       studies with his father, 210; sent to EdinSpankie, Mr. Sergeant, counsel for Liverpool   burg University, 211; his notes of lectures,
and Manchester Railway Bill, 271.             212; life in Edinburg, 213; geological excurSpeculation in railways, 374, 401; G. Stephen-   sion in the Highlands, return to Killingson on, 406, 407; R. Stephenson and, 425.     worth, 213, 214; assists Mr. James in survey
Speed, railway, Pref., viii.; on Liverpool and    of Liverpool and Manchester Railway, 252;
Manchester line, 332; George Stephenson    makes drawings for engines, 301; engages
on, 398, 399.                                 with Colombian Mining Association, and
Spur-gear, George Stephenson's, 164, 165.       residence in South America, 301-306; resigns
Stage-coach traveling, Pref., vii., 337, 387, 389.    his situation, 306; meeting with Trevithick
Statues of George Stephenson, 472.              at Cartagena, 308; shipwreck, 308; tour in
Steam-blast, invention of the, 168, 170; rival   the United States, and return home, 309; coclaims, 170, 171; of the " Rocket," 320.     operates with his father in the locomotive
Steam-boat, the first working, 70.              competition, 315; builds the "Rocket," 319;
Stephenson family, the-Robert and Mabel,   engineer ofLeicester and Swannington Rail



INDEX.                                       501
way, 343; engineer of London and Birming-   Robert Stephenson at Cartagena, 90; shipham Railway, 349; marriage to Miss Sander-   wreck and return to England, 91; new inson, 353; report on atmospheric system, 404;   ventions, his last days and death in poverty,
succeeds his father generally as engineer,   92, 93; his character, his important inven421; his extensive practice, 422, 423; his cau-   tions, ibid.; his locomotive, 152, 153, 170, 317.
tion, 425, 448, 456; engineer of High-Level Tring Cutting, 354.
Bridge, Newcastle, 431; engineer of Chester Trinity Church, Chesterfield, G. Stephenson's
and Holyhead Railway, 438; designs the first   burial-place, 471.
iron tubular bridge, 444; opens the Britan-  "Tubbing" in coal-pits, 344.
niaBridge, 457; designs tubular bridges over Tubes, floating of, at Conway, 451, 452; at
the Nile, 475; designs the Victoria Tubular   Menai Strait, 452; lifting of the, 455; erecBridge, Lower Canada, 477; member of   tion of, at Victoria Bridge, Montreal, 480.
House of Commons, 484; honors, 485; pres- Tubular boilers by various inventors, 317.
ent at launch of "Great Eastern," 486; ill- Tubular bridges-over Menai Straits, 443; at
ness and death, 481; characteristics, 492-494.   Conway, 451, 452; at Damietta and Benha,
Stevin's sailing-coach, 52.                     Lower Egypt, 475; at Montreal, 480.
Stockton and Darlington Railway projected  Tunnels-at Liverpool, 290; at Primrose Hill,
and surveyed, 222; Edward Pease, promoter,   356; at Kilsby, 357; at Littleborough, 368.
222; act obtained, 224; George Stephenson  Turner, Rev. William, Newcastle, 185.
resurveys and constructs line, 228, 229; line
opened, 236; coal-traffic, 239; first passenger- Undulating Railways, theory of, 400.
traffic, 240, 241; growth of Middlesborough, United States, railways in, Pref., v'
245.                                        Uvill6, M., and Trevithick, 87-89.
Straits of Menai, bridge over, 441.
Strathmore, Earl of, 135, 192.                Vegetables carried to London by rail, Pref.,
Suez Canal, Robert Stephenson's opinion of,   xxiii.
484, 485.                                   Viaducts-Sankey, 292; Dutton, 366; Berwick,
Summers and Ogle's tubular boiler, 317.        430; Newcastle, 431.
Sun-dial at Killingworth, 148,149, 396.      Victoria Bridge, Montreal, 471.
Sun's light and coal formation, G. Stephenson's Vignolles, Charles, C.E. 279, 291, 311.
ideas on, 468,491.                          Vivian, Andrew, Trevitlick's partner, 76.
Sunshine, effect of, on tubes of Britannia
Bridge, 458.                                Walker, James, C.E., report on fixed and locoSuperheated steam, Trevithick's use of, 91.     motive engines, 312.
Swanwick, Frederick, G. Stephenson's secre- Wallsend, 97.
tary, 297 299, 315.                         Walmsley, Sir Joshua, 418, 419.
Sylvester, Mr., on maximum speed, 264.        Waters, Mr., Gateshead, 158.
Symington, William, his working model of a  Watt, James, his model locomotive, 60; his
road locomotive, 68; co-operation with Mil-   scheme of 1784, 64, 65; discourages applicaler of Dalswinton in applying power to boats,   tion of steam to locomotion, 67.
70; his misfortunes and death, 70.          "Way-leave" tram-ways, 49.
Wellington, Duke of, and railways, 330-32,
Tapton House, George Stephenson's residence   390.
at, 392, 395, 460.                          West Moor Colliery, 177, 214.
Telegraph signaling on railways, Pref., xiii.    Wharncliffe, Lord, and George Stephenson,
Thames Tunnel begun by Trevithick, 85, 86.      135, 367.
Thirlwall, William, engineer, 108.            Wheat carried to London by rail, Pref., xx.
Thomas, Mr., of Denton, on railways, 73.      Whinfield, Mr., Gateshead, 154.
Traffic, passenger, beginnings of, Pref., vi., Wigham, John, G. Stephenson's teacher, 138.
xv., 240, 241, 333, 385, 388; cattle, Pref., xx. -; Williams, Mr. Scorrier, his gratitude to Treycoal, ib., xxv., 153, 161, 386, 392; food, Pref.,  ithick, 77.
xix.; merchandise, ib., xxvi.; poultry, etc., Willington Quay, G. Stephenson at, 122.
ib., xxii.; postal, ib., xxvi.              Wind, power of, employed in locomotion, 52,
Train service of London, Pref., xvii.          57.
Tram-ways, early, 48, 49, 73, 106, 152.       Wood, Nicholas, testimony concerning SteTrevithick, Richard, birth and education, 74;   phenson's invention of the steam-blast, 171engineering ability in youth, 75; partner   173; makes drawing for Stephenson's safetyWith Andrew Vivian at Camborne, 76; his   lamp, 180; assists in experiments, 180, 185,
improved engine and boiler, 77; his steam-   189, 196, 198; in colliery explosions, 210; on
carriage for roads, 77-79; carriage exhibited   the locomotive, 262, 314, 315.
in London, 79, 80; constructs the first rail- Woolf, Cornish engineer, 84, 317.
way locomotive, 80; dredges the Thames by  Workmen, railway, Pref., xxviii., 336, 362.
steam-power, 83; his high-pressure engines Wylam Colliery and village, 102-104; wagonand new patents, 83, 84; partly constructs a   way, 153.
Thames tunnel, 85, 86; returns to Camborne,
-new patents, 86; his tubular boiler, engines York and North Midland Railway, 373, 374;
for Peru, 86, 87; goes to Lima, received with   public opening of, 384.
honors, 88; civil war and ruin, 89; meets Young, Arthur, on early tram-ways, 49.
THE END.








BOOKS OF TRAVEL AND ADVENTURE
PUBLISHED BY
HARPER & BROTHERS, NEw YORK.
HABPXB & BROTIEBS will send any of the following Works by mail, postage free, to any part
of the United States, on receipt of the Price.
HARPER'S CATALOGUE OF TRAVEL-BOOKS is one of the literary curiosities of
the day, exhibiting at & glance the contributions of modern travel to geographical
and other knowledge.  Commencing with South Africa, and marking on a map the
tracks of these travelers, the reader will be astonished to see how thoroughly they
cover the length and breadth of Africa.  Livingstone, Ellis, Burton, Du Chaillu,
Reade, Andersson, Speke, Davis, Wilson, and others, have within afew years explored Africa pretty thoroughly; Egypt and the Holy Land have been repeatedly
described in late times; Layard had given us the revelations of the Euphrates and
the Tigris valleys; Atkinson had written his admirable accounts of Siberia, illustrated by his own most brilliant pencil; Hluc and others described China; and
now a hitherto almost unknown portion of the very heart of Asia is opened to us by
the delightful book of Vdmbnry.-N. Y. JOURNAL OF COMMERCE.
Livingstone's Zambesi.  Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and
its Tributaries; and of the Discovery of Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864. By DAvIn
and CHARLEs LIVINGSTONE. With Map and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
Dr. Livingstone's South Africa. Missionary Travels and Researches in
South Africa; including a Sketch of Sixteen Years' Residence in the Interior of Africa, and
a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loando on the West Coast; thence across the
Continent, down the River Zambesi, to the Eastern Ocean. By DAVID LIVINGsTONE LL.D.,
D.C.L. With Portrait, Maps by Arrowsmith, and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.
Social Life of the Chinese: With some Account of their Religious
Governmental, and Business Customs and Opinions. With special but not exclusive refer.
ence to Fuhchau. By Rev. JUSTUS DOOLITTLE, Fourteen Years Member of the American
Board. With over 150 Illustrations. In Two Volumes. 12mo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $5 00.




2   Harper & Brothers' Books of Travel and Adventure.
The Story of the Great March: Diary of General Sherman's Campaign
through Georgia and the Carolinas. By Brevet Major GEORGE WARD NICHOLS, Aid-deCamp to General Sherman. With a Map and numerous Illustrations, and an Appendix,
containing Official Reports by Major-General Sherman, Quarter-master and Commissary
Reports, &c. Twenty-second Edition. 12mo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $2 00.
Captain Hall's Arctic Researches and Life among the Esquimaux.
Arctic Researches and Life among the Esquimaux: being the Narrative of an Expedition in
Search of Sir John Franklin, in the Years 1860, 1861, and 1862. By CHARLES FRANCIS
HALL. With Maps and 100 Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
Vdmb6ry's Central Asia. Travels in Central Asia. Being the Account
of a Journey from Teheran across the Turkoman Desert, on the Eastern Shore of the Caspian, to Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand, performed in the Year 1863. By AmmINIur VimBtaY. With Map and Woodcuts. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50.
Reade's Savage Africa. Western Africa: Being the Narrative&:of a
Tour in Equatorial, Southwestern, and Northwestern Africa; with Notes on the Hfabiiq of
the Gorilla; on the Existence of Unicorns and Tailed Men; on the Slave Trade; on the
Origin, Character, and Capabilities of the Negro, and of the future Civilization of Western
Africa. By W. WrNWOOD READE.  With Illustrations and a Map. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
Speke's Africa.  Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile.  By
Captain JOHN IHANNING SPEER. With Maps and Portraits, and numerous Illustrations,
chiefly from Drawings by Captain GRBNT. 8vo, Cloth, uniform with LIVINGSTONE, BARTH,
BURTON, &c. Price $4 00.
Du Chaillu's Africa.  Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa:
with Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the Gorilla,
the Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamuse, and other Animals. By PAUL B. DU
CHAILLU, Corresponding Member of the American Ethnological Society; of the Geograph.
ical and Statistical Society of New York; and of the Boston Society of Natural History.
With numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
Squier's Central America, The States of Central America: Their Geography, Topography, Climate, Population, Resources, Productions, Commerce, Political
Organization, Aborigines, &c., &c. Comprising Chapters on Honduras, San Salvador,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Belize, the Bay Islands, the Mosquito Shpre, and the
Honduras Inter-Oceanic Railway. By E. G. SQUIER, formerly Charge d'Affaires of the
United States to the Republics of Central America. With numerous Original Maps and Il.
lustrations. A New and Enlarged Edition. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
Squier's Nicaragua. Nicaragua: Its People, Scenery, Monuments, Resources, Condition, and proposed Canal. With 100 Maps and Illustrations. By E. G. SQUIER,
formerly Charg6 d'Affaires of the United States to the Republics of Central America. A Re.
vised Edition. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
Squier's Waikna. Waikna; or, Adventures on the Mosquito Shore. By
SaMurL A. BARD. With a Map of the Mosquito Shore, and upward of 60 original Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
Burton's City of the Saints. The City of the Saints; and Across the
Rocky Mountains to California. By Captain RICHARD F. BUmTON, Fellow and Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Societies of France and England; H. M. Consul in West Africa; Author of "' The Lake Regions of Central Africa." With Maps and numerous Illus.
trations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.




Harper d Brothers' Books of Travel and Adventure.   3
Burton's Lake Regions of Central Africa. The Lake Regions of Central Africa. A Picture of Exploration. By RICHARD F. BURTON, Captain H.M.I. Army;
Fellow and Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society. With Maps and Engravings
on Wood. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.
Atkinson's Amoor Regions. Travels in the Regions of the Upper and
Lower Amoor, and the Russian Acquisitions on the Confines of India and China. With
Adventures among the Mountain Kirghis; and the Manjours, Manyargs, Toungouz, Touzemtz, Goldi, and Gelyaks; the Hunting and Pastoral Tribes. By TaOMAS WITLAM ATKINSON, F.G.S., F.R.G.S., Author of "Oriental and Western Siberia." With a Map and
numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.
Andersson's Okavango River. The Okavango River. A Narrative of
Travel, Exploration, and Adventure. By CHARLES JOHN ANDERESSN, Author of "Lake
Ngami." With a Steel Portrait of the Author, numerous Woodcuts, and a Map, showing
the Regions explored by Andersson, Cumming, Livingstone, and Du Chaillu. 8vo, Cloth,
$3 50.
Stephens's Travels in Central America. Travels in Central America,
Chiapas, and Yucatan. By J. L. STEPHNtS. With a Map and 88 Engravings. 2 vols., 8vo,
Cloth, $6 00.
Stephens's Travels in Yucatan. Incidents of Travel in Yucatan. By
J. L. STEPHENS. 120 Engravings, from Drawings by F. CATHERWOOD. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth,
$6 00.
Stephens's Travels in Egypt. Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petrsea, and the
Holy Land. By J. L. STEPHsEN. Engravings. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.
Stepihenis's Travels in Greece. Travels in Greece, Turkey, Russia, and
Poland. By J. L. STEPHENS. Engravings. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.
Arizona and Sonora. The Geography, History, and Resources of the Silver Region of North America. By SYLVESTER MowhY, late Lieutenant United States Army,
late United States Boundary Commissioner, &c. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
" From Dan to Beersheba;" or, The Land of Promise as it now Appears.
Including a Description of the Boundaries, Topography, Agriculture, Antiquities, Cities, and
Present Inhabitants of that Wonderful Land. With Illustrations of the Remarkable Accuracy of the Sacred Writers in their Allusions to their Native Country. By Rev. J. P. NEWmAN, D.D. Maps and Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.
Hunting in South Africa. African Hunting from Natal to the Zambesi,
including Lake Ngami, the Kalahari Desert, &c., from 1852 to 1860. By WILLIAM CHABLES
BALDWIN, Esq., F.R.G.S. With Illustrations by'James Wolf and J. B. Zwecker. 12mo,
Cloth, $1 50.
Wyoming; Its History, Stirring Incidents, and Romantic Adventures.  By
GEORGE PEca, D.D. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.
Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation in 1838-1839. By
FRANCES ANNE KEMBLLE. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
Three Years in Japan. The Capital of the Tycoon: A Narrative of a
Three Years' Residence in Japan. By Sir RUTHERFORD AIOOcK, K.C.B., Her Majesty's Envoy Extraordinary and MinisterPlenipotentiary in Japan. With Maps and numerous Illustrations. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $350.
The Sioux War.  History of the Sioux War and Massacres of 1862 and
1863. By ISAAC V. D. HEARD. With Portraits and Illustrations., 12mo, CIoth, $1 75.




4   Harper & Brothers' Books of Travel and Adventure.
Crusoe's Island: A Ramble in the Footsteps of Alexander Selkirk. With
Sketches of Adventure in California and Washoe. By J. Ross BRowNE. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.
Davis's Carthage. Carthage and Her Refftains: Being an Account of the
Excavations and Researches on the Site of the Phoenician Metropolis in Africa and other
Adjacent Places. Conducted under the Auspices of Her Majesty's Government. By Dr.
DAVIs, F.R.G.S. Profusely Illustrated with Maps, Woodcuts, Chromo-Lithographs, &c.,
&c. 8vo, Cloth, $4 00.
Lamont's Seasons with the Sea-Horses. Seasons with the Sea-Horses;
or, Sporting Adventures in the Northern Seas. By JAMEs LAMONT, Esq., F.G.S. With Map
and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.
Life and Adventure in the South Pacific.  By JONES. With Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $1 50.
Pfeiffer's Last Travels and Autobiography. The Last Travels of Ida
Pfeiffer: inclusive of a Visit to Madagascar. With an Autobiographical Memoir of the Author. Translated by H. W. DULaCKEN. Steel Portrait. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
Lord Elgin's Mission to China, &c.  Narrative of Lord Elgin's Mission
to China and Japan in 1857,'58,'59. By LAURENCE OLIPHANT, Secretary to Lord Elgin.
Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.
Life in Spain. Past and Present. By WALTER THORNBURY, Author of
"Every Man his own Trumpeter," "Art and Nature," " Songs of the Cavaliers and Roundheads," &c. With Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
The Prairie Traveller. A Hand-Book for Overland Emigrants. With
Maps, Illustrations, and Itineraries of the Principal Routes between the Mississippi and the
Pacific. By RANDOLPH B. MAROY, U. S. Army. Published by Authority of the War Department. 16mo, Cloth, $1 00.
Ellis's Madagascar.  Three Visits to Madagascar during theYears 18531854-1856. Including a Journey to the Capital, with Notices of the Natural History of the
Country and of the Present Civilization of the People. By the Rev. WILLIAM ELLIB, F.H. S.,
Author of "Polynesian Researches." Illustrated by a Map and Woodcuts from Photoq
graphs, &c. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50.
Fankwei; or, The San Jacinto in the Seas of India, China, and Japan.
By WILLIAM MAXWELL WOOD, M.D., U.S.N., late Surgeon of the Fleet to the United States
East India Squadron, Author of "Wandering Sketches in South America, Polynesia," &c.,
&c. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50.
Page's La Plata. La Plata: The Argentine Confederation and Paraguay.
Being a Narrative of the Exploration of the Tributaries of the River La Plata and Adjacent
Countries, during the Years 1853,'54,'55, and'56, under the orders of the United States
Government. By THOMAS J. PAGE, U.S.N., Commander of the Expedition. With Maps
and numerous Engravings. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.
The Land and the Book; or, Biblical Illustrations drawn from the Manners and Customs, the Scenes and the Scenery of the Holy Land. By W. M. THOMSON, D.D.,
Twenty-five Years a Missionary of the A.B.C.F.M. in Syria and Palestine. With two elaborate Maps of Palestine, an Accurate Plan of Jerusalem, and several Hundred Engravings,
representing, the Scenery, Topography, and Productions of the Holy Land, and the Costumes, Manners, and Habits of the People. Two elegant Large 12mo Volumes, Cloth, $5 00.