SPITALFIELDS IN 1780 AND 1840. [Selected from the evidence given before a Committee of the House of Commons.] IT may appear strange to those whose attention has not been drawn to the subject, but it is nevertheless true, that the origin of many important societies may be traced to the weavers of Spitalfields. The wellknown Dollond, sen.*, was a weaver, and Simpson † and Edwards were weavers, and taken from the loom into the employment of government at Woolwich and Chatham, to teach mathematics. Of Simpson the following anecdote is told:-After the publication of his work on Fluxions, and while living and working as a weaver in a garret, in Angel-alley, Bishopsgatestreet, a gentleman called upon him for the purpose of engaging him as a teacher of mathematics to the cadets at Woolwich. The gentleman gave a lad a few half-pence to find out Simpson, and tell him that a person wished to speak with him. Simpson came down from the loom at which he was working, in a green baize apron, and very meanly dressed. The gentleman said, "I want to see Mr. Simpson;" to which the weaver replied, "I am Mr. Simpson." "But I want to see the Mr. Simpson," said the gentleman; "I am the Mr. Simpson," was the reply. "But I want to see the Mr. Simpson who wrote the work on Fluxions," said the still incredulous gentleman; "I am the Mr. Simpson who wrote the work on Fluxions," was the reply; "and if you will come up stairs, I will show you the manuscript at my loom." The gentleman followed him up stairs, was satisfied of his being the right person, and engaged him. On asking him when he would commence, Simpson answered, "When I have finished the piece of goods now in the loom." The Spitalfields Mathematical Society is second in point of time to the Royal Society, and still exists. There was an Historical Society, which was merged in the Mathematical Society; and there was a Floricultural Society, for a time very numerously attended, but now extinct. The weavers were almost the only botanists of their day, in the metropolis; passing their leisure hours in their little gardens in the environs of London. There was also an Entomological Society, and the Spitalfields weavers were among the first entomologists in the kingdom; this society is likewise gone. They had, too, a Recitation Society, for Shakspearian readings, as well as readings from other authors; and also a Musical Society, though both have long since ceased. The existence and strong support of such societies, * JOIN DOLLOND was born in Spitalfields, in 1706. His father was a poor operative silk weaver, to which laborious business the early part of young Dollond's life was devoted. But even under such circumstances, he contrived to make considerable progress in Mathematics, and various branches of Natural Philosophy, and at length completed some extraordinary discoveries in the theory of light. The results of his scientific labours were communicated in various papers to the Royal Society, of which learned body he was elected a fellow. He associated himself with his son, as an optical instrument maker, and effected some important improvements in the construction of microscopes and telescopes. This was the foundation of the present house of Dollond and Co., the well known mathematical instrument makers of London. John Dollond died in 1761, of an attack of apoplexy, brought on by severe mental exertion. -however, as have been described, proves that in for- That the condition, religious, moral, intellectual, and physical, of this class of operatives, is of a decidedly lower standard than that of the other trades of their neighbourhood, appears to be an almost universally recognised fact; but though there is reason to fear that this opinion is too correct, there are very many splendid exceptions. Indeed, the instances to be met with amongst this class of labourers of vigorous, self-cultivated, intellectual powers, and an elevated standard of moral and religious feeling, surpass any examples witnessed among persons of a corresponding station in society. And perhaps the causes of this apparent contradiction, in the extremely opposite character of the weavers, may be traced in the nature and character of the occupation itself. To a person of prudence and frugality, and in other respects of ordinary, well-regulated moral habits, there are sperhaps few occupations of a similar grade which offer equally favourable opportunities for the developement of a high moral and even intellectual character. The circumstance of the weaver's work being necessarily done at home, in the midst of his family, would appear especially favourable to the growth of the domestic virtues and charities, both in himself and his children. The circumstance of his working by the piece, ensures attention and perseverance in his employment; whilst the nature of the work itself stimulates the mechanical ingenuity of the workman, by its constant demand upon his invention for contrivances to meet the evervarying patterns. But, on the other hand, the extreme alternations of occupation and idleness experi-' enced in a trade subjected to commercial changes in common with others, and to the caprices of fashion, perhaps far exceeding all other employments; these alternations acting upon persons who are unprepared THOMAS SIMPSON was born at Market Bosworth, in Leicester-by moral habits of providence and frugality, to provide for such contingencies, must evidently degrade the great mass of minds which are subjected to its operation. shire, in 1710. His father was a weaver, and brought up his son to his trade; but the young man being more fond of books than of labour at the loom, disputes occurred, and a separation followed. He removed to Nuneaton, where he married, and afterwards to Derby, still working at his business for support, though occasionally teaching, and, indeed, at one time, actually professing Astrology and fortunetelling. In 1736, he removed to London, and settled in Spitalfields; where he worked as a weaver by day, and taught Mathematics in the evening. At length his great talents became known, and he was encouraged to write many useful works, which were favourably received by the public. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and was consulted on the plan for the building of Blackfriars Bridge, respecting which he drew up an elaborate report. He died in May, 1761, in the fifty-first year of his age, and his widow, who was allowed a pension of 2001. a year, survived to the age of 102. There are two Savings Banks in this neighbourhood, having a population of about 25,000; but the weavers, and persons engaged in the silk trade, who avail themselves of the benefits of these institutions, do not exceed 400 in number. LONDON: JOHN WILLIAM PARKER, WEST STRAND. PUBLISHED IN WEEKLY NUMBERS, PRICE ONE PENNY, AND IN MONTHLY PARTE PRICE SIXPENCE. _ • NOTHING will serve better to sober down our judgment of what is great or wonderful among the productions of man, than a review of what has been done in railroads within the last twelve years. Before that period railroads were looked upon by a large majority of persons as insane, impracticable, and visionary schemes which would never be brought into successful operation, and that a well-built coach driven ten miles an hour was a noble instance of swift travelling. At present, instead of deeming railroad schemes insane, impracticable, and visionary, we regard them as splendid monuments of engineering ability, and as being one among the means by which the social and commercial relations of life may be benefited. Twenty years hence we may perhaps look back with a smile to the time when locomotive carriages travelled on our railroads at the rate of only fiveand-twenty miles an hour. Such are the changes in our feelings and opinions, when we become accustomed to any particular state of things; this ought to teach us, while we properly appreciate the labours of those who have benefited society at large, not to have a too great fondness for things to which we have become accustomed, to the exclusion of changes which may turn out to be valuable improvements. We have been led to these remarks by considering the astonishing extent to which railroads have been carried since the completion of that from Liverpool to Manchester. Numerous lines now traverse the country in various directions, and many more are in progress. In the Supplement for October, after a brief account of the origin of railroads, we detailed the history and progress of that from Liverpool to Manchester, with a description of which we concluded. On the present occasion we propose taking a glance at a portion of what has been since done; we say a portion, for tife whole would occupy several Supplements. The first thing that strikes us is the undisputed establishment of a steam-engine as the source of locomotive power. It will be remembered that in the former Supplement we stated that it was only after a series of experiments that the adoption of steam locomotive engines was resolved VOL. XVI, upon on the Liverpool and Manchester railway. Since that time every railroad has adopted similar locomotive power; and as we did not on the former occasion describe the mode by which the steam-engine is thus applied, we propose to do so now, previous to detailing the progress of other railroads. RAILROAD LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES. We must beg our readers to refer to the Supplement for last May, on Steam Navigation, by which a general idea of the action of the steam engine will be obtained. The Supplement for October will also furnish a few elucidatory details. What we propose at present is to show how the steam-engine is made to turn the wheels of a locomotive carriage, as the whole progress of the railroad train depends thereupon. The figure in page 164 will give a general idea of the appearance of a locomotive engine, such as are now employed on our railroads. We observe a strong cast-iron frame A A, supported on four wheels, of which the two hinder and larger are called the driving-wheels. On this carriage rests the boiler, B B, which is cylindrical in form, and is made up of plates of wrought iron. The furnace or stove is at the hinder end, and the chimney in front. The former is a cubical iron box, the lower part of which is seen at c; its sides and top are double, containing between them a layer of water about three inches thick, which is constantly replenished by water descending from the boiler; for, as the top of the stove is rather below the level of the water in the boiler, this layer of water is always preserved of the same thickness, and the steam as it is generated passes up into the boiler. The smoke and hot air from the fire escape into a number of small tubes, (of which there are about ninety,) which completely traverse the lower half of the boiler, on their way to the chimney; so that nearly all the heat, smoke, and hot air from the furnace, are turned to the useful purpose of assisting to heat the boiler; and the draught is increased by the waste steam being projected up the chimney. Any pieces of ignited fuel which may be carried up with the draught are prevented from escaping into the air and 502 Magazine. APRIL, 1840. PRICE ONE PENNY. doing mischief, by a wire-net capping on the top of the chimney. At E is the throttle-valve, which is moved by the engineer, by the aid of a long rod, FF, so as to regulate the supply of steam, and consequently the speed of the engine. From this valve the steam passes by a large tube into the valve-box, G, and thence into the top or bottom of the cylinder, to work the piston; it then escapes by the pipe н into the chimney. The cylinder in this engine preserves its usual upright position; but in other engines almost every variety of situation and position has been tried for it; it has been placed horizontal, inclined, and vertical, with the piston-rod pointing in various directions. Of course all the apparatus shown in our figure, on one side only of the boiler, is repeated on the other; so that there are, in fact, two engines, one for each driving-wheel. Each piston-rod, 1, bears at the top a cross-piece, from which hangs a rod, connected by a joint at the lower end, to one corner of the moveable iron triangle, K K, whose centre of motion is at L; to the other corner of this triangle is joined the rod, м, which, by means of a crank, works the wheel. The action of the triangular frame, K к, is similar to that of the brass quadrants used at the corners of rooms, to alter the direction of the bell-wire; it converts the vertical motion of the piston rod at one corner into a horizontal motion at the other. The water and fuel are carried behind in the first carriage, which is called the tender, and the water is drawn through the feed-pipe by means of the horizontal pump, P, which is worked by having its rod attached to the triangle at K. At N are the handles of two levers, by which the course of the steam may be so altered as to reverse the action of the engine, and consequently of the wheels, so as to move the engine backwards or forwards at pleasure. This, then, is the arrangement of parts by which the steam engine becomes the source of motion to the train moving along a railroad; for it need hardly be said that, when the engine itself is in motion, nothing is more easy than to communicate that motion to a train of carriages, by hooking them to the locomotive carriage. This, then, being the grand source of motion in all our railroads, we proceed to notice the LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY. THE bili for empowering a company to construct a railroad from London to Birmingham met with a very powerful op. position in the House of Commons, in 1832; it, however, passed through that house, but was rejected by the House of Lords. In the following session the projectors were more successful; and the bill received the royal assent in May, 1833. the railroad, we will say something of its general construc tion. The line commences at Euston-square, and passes near Harrow, Watford. Boxmoor, Berkhamstead, Tring, Leighton, Wolverton, Roade, Busworth, Weedon, Crick, Rugby, Brandon, Coventry, Hampton, to Birmingham; there are stations at all these places, those in italics being first class stations. There were originally to have been eleven tunnels, but the number has been reduced to eight; viz., the Primrose Hill, 1164 yards; Kensall Green, 322 yards; Watford, 1719 yards: Northchurch, 315 yards; Linslade, 372 yards; Stowe Hill, 418 yards; "Kilsby, 2398 yards; and Beechwood, 600 yards. The greatest width of the tunnels within the walls is twenty-four feet; the greatest height above the rails twenty-two feet: in most of the tunnels the shafts, or vertical openings, originally made for working the tunnels, are the same now used for ventilation. An approximation to a level for the railway was obtained, as usual, by cutting through hills, and using the earth taken therefrom to form embankments. The width of the embankment on the top, and of the excavation on the bottom, is thirty-three feet. The greatest height of an embankment is forty-five feet, and the greatest depth of an excavation sixty-five. The greatest slope of the sides of the excavations is as twelve to four, and the least as three to four. The number of embankments is 130, and of cuttings about the same; the greatest length of any one of the former being about a mile and a half, and of the latter two and a half. At the bottom of each embankment, and at the top of each excavation, there is a space of ten feet on each side, to allow of a hedge, a post and rail, and a ditch for the purpose of draining. The most formidable works on the line, from the great difficulties encountered in quicksands, water, &c., were the Kilsby tunnel, and the Blisworth cutting, which last averaged about fifty feet in depth for two miles, and from which 1,200,000 cubic yards of earth were taken. The total quantity of earth excavated along the line is about 15,000,000 cubic yards averaging 120,000 per mile. The span of the bridge where the turnpike and other roads pass under, and the width between the parapet where they pass over the railroad, is in no case less than fifteen feet, and the arch is about sixteen feet in height. In some few cases the railway passes on a level across a road not much frequented. In such cases gates are erected, and policemen stationed; the gates being so contrived as to close either across the railway or across the road. When a railroad train is approaching, the gates are closed across the road; and as soon as the train has passed, the gates are shut across the railway, and the communication by the road again opened. In order to give notice to the policeman of the approach of a train, the engineer sometimes makes use of a steam whistle, which consists of a pipe or whistle attached to the engine, and through which steam from the boiler is allowed to pass, thus producing a similar (but more powerful) effect to the blowing by means of the breath. The capital which the shareholders were empowered to raise among themselves, by subscriptions of 100%. per share, was 2,500 0007., a sum which, according to the calculations made by the engineers, would greatly exceed the outlay. That engineers make gross mistakes sometimes in their We must now leave the mere formation of the road-way, estimates of the probable expense of a great undertaking is and shortly speak of the very important subject of the rails. well known; nor should we be justified in viewing in too The reader must not suppose that the iron rails merely lie severe a light the miscalculations thus made; but rarely along the ground, with a slight mode of fastening: on the has there been an instance in which the expense has ex- contrary, the preparatory arrangements are both extensive ceeded the estimate by so large a sum as is the case with and difficult. The rails are supported by iron chairs, and respect to the London and Birmingham railway. In Feb- the chairs are fixed either to wooden sleepers or stone blocks. ruary last the directors drew up a report, in which the total Considerable difference of opinion has existed, and still exists, amount of money received was 5,276,457 5s. 8d.; of which as to the relative merits of stone blocks and wooden sleepers; had been expended 5,018,8167. .68. 3d! The expense of but we believe that in the railway now under our consideraobtaining the act of Parliament alone was above seventy tion both are used, blocks in the excavation and on the thousand pounds; and the price paid for land and compensmaller embankments, and sleepers on the large embanksation to inhabitants, &e, was more than six hundred ments. The sleepers are made principally of larch thousand pounds. The extra capital required, beyond that and oak, and are nine feet long, nine inches wide, and allowed by act of Parliament, has been provided for by five inches deep. These pieces of wood are arranged means of loans, taken upon debentures at a favourable rate lengthwise, end to end, one row under each rail. In those of interest, charged on the general income of the company. parts where these sleepers are not employed, their place is The works were commenced in June, 1834; and by July, supplied by stone blocks, two feet long, the same in width, 1837, twenty-four and a half miles at the London end were and one foot deep,—some of these fifteen inches deep. They opened to the public; on October the 16th, in the same are arranged in a direction diagonal to the rails; and the year, it was opened to Tring, thirty-one miles and three- distance from centre to centre of the blocks varies from two quarters; on April the 9th, 1838, to Denbigh Hall, forty-feet and a half to four feet. The stone blocks for the whole eight miles, and from Birmingham to Rugby, twenty-nine miles. Finally, on the 20th of August, 1838, a large party of directors and shareholders left the Birmingham station at half-past six in the morning, and travelled along the whole extent of the railroad to London, performing the whole distance of 110 miles in five hours; and on the 17th of September it was opened to the public. Before we ask the reader to accompany us in a trip along line have been estimated at 152,460 tons weight, costing 180,0007; the expense being pretty nearly divided into three parts, viz., one third for the cost of stone, one third for the freight from the quarries to the Thames, and one third for delivery on various parts of the works. On the blocks and sleepers are fixed cast-iron chairs or pedestals, of an average weight of about twenty-five pounds each. They are fixed to the blocks by drilling two holes in each block, into which oak trenails, or plugs, are driven, and a spike inserted through them and the chairs; a piece of felt being placed between each chair and block. The chairs are attached to the sleepers by a couple of pins or spikes. The rails are the continuous iron bearing, on which the wheels run. From Euston Square to Camden Town there are four double lines of rails; and two double lines for the remainder of the distance. The sidings, or passing-places, with the rails at the stations, &c., increase the total length of railway to 125 miles. The width of each double line of way is five feet, and the central space between the lines, six feet. The rails are made of malleable iron. The rails originally laid down on the Liverpool and Manchester line, and which weighed thirty-five pounds to the yard, were found insufficient to bear the enormous traffic passing over them. Those of the London and Birmingham have therefore been made more massive: ten miles of road are laid with fish-belly rails, (so called from the convex form of their lower edge) at fifty pounds to the yard: twenty-five miles with parallel rails, at sixty-five pounds to the yard; and the remainder with parallel rails, at seventy-five pounds to the yard. The rails are raised above the ground rather more, than an inch; and the weight of iron used for the whole is about 35,000 tons, which cost the company 460,0002. The inclinations, or changes of level along the railroad, ave been influenced by the natural formation of the ground here are five ridges or hilly districts, separated by six valleys, between London and Birmingham. These ridges and valleys had to be made as nearly level as could conveniently be done, by excavating the one and carrying a raised embankment across the other. Still however an exact level is rarely attained, the distance being regulated as follows: -thirteen miles are level; fifty-one and three quarters are at inclinations varying from one to fourteen feet per mile; and forty-six and three quarters are at inclinations between fourteen and sixteen feet per mile. The general nature of the level may be judged from the following table :— Distance from Station at Euston Square. Miles. Name of Place. Height above the Sea. The Birmingham station is thus nearly 250 feet higher that at London. In proceeding from London to Birmingham, fifty-five miles are ascending, forty-four descending, and thirteen level. The remainder of our notice of this splendid undertaking may be chiefly comprised in a glance at the principal objects along the route. The London terminus of the railway is in every way worthy of it. It consists of a noble Doric gateway, resembling the entrance to a temple: the height to the top of the pediment is seventy feet, to which the other dimensions of the gateway are proportional. There are various gates on each side of the grand gateway, for the entrance of vehicles, &c. A station at Euston Square did not form part of the original plan, as it was intended to have the terminus at Camden Town; but as it was deemed more convenient to passengers to be set down nearer the heart of town, an extension of the railway was adopted. The Euston Square station, which occupies about seven acres of ground, is devoted to passengers; and the Camden Town station, containing thirty-three acres, is occupied with buildings for engines, wagons, goods, &c., devoted to the carriage or luggage department. There is a remarkable circumstance connected with the conveyance of a train of carriages from Euston Square, to Camden Town. Although parliament agreed to the extension of the railway to Euston Square, they refused to allow the smoke of locomotive engines to annoy the inhabitants of the houses near which they passed; another plan had therefore to be adopted. The connexion between the two stations is through a deep inclined cutting about a mile in length, walled up on each side, in going through which the carriages pass under several bridges. There is a stationary steam-engine at the top of the inclined plane; and there is an endless rope, 10,000 feet long and seven inches in circumference, which acts upon two large wheels or cylinders, one at the engine, the other at the Euston station. The train of carriages is attached to the rope at the lower end, and upon a given signal, the wheel or cylinder at the upper end is set in rotation, by which the rope is made to traverse the whole distance and back again, much in the same way as the strap that goes round the wheel of a lathe. The two stationary engines, of sixty-horse power each, draw a train up the inclined plane in three minutes. The engines and the rope together cost 25,000l. The two lofty and beautifully-formed chimneys at the Camden Town station, belong to the stationary engines employed to work the rope. In proceeding from Camden Town to London, a train descends this inclined plane by the effect of gravity alone. When the train has been drawn up from the Euston station, it is detached from the rope and a locomotive engine, such as we have described, is prefixed to it, and the whole proceed on their journey. The train passes round Chalk Farm, and speedily enters the Primrose Hill tunnel, which is bricked throughout, and ventilated by five capacious shafts. It then crosses the country north of Paddington, to Kensalgreen, where it passes through a short tunnel, ventilated by one shaft. At about the sixth mile-stone, the road becomes level for a mile and a half. A little further on it crosses the river Brent, by a handsome bridge of seven arches. Near Harrow is one of the stations for receiving and putting down passengers, &c.; and at about the eighteenth mile is the Watford station, from which omnibuses convey passengers to Watford for six-pence. The railroad then enters a deep cutting which ends in the Watford tunnel; this is ventilated by five shafts; iron gratings are fixed at the top of the shafts, and high walls built round thein, to prevent anything being thrown down from above. After passing near the estates of the Earls of Essex and Clarendon, and the paper-mills of Mr. Dickenson, the train arrives at the station at Boxmoor, twenty-four miles from town. The next two stations are at Berkhamstead and Tring; on leaving the latter of which the railroad enters a deep excavation, which continues upwards of two miles, passing under three bridges; it is between fifty and sixty feet deep, and occupied four hundred men for three years and a half; in the course of it we pass from Hertfordshire into Buckinghamshire. From thence we proceed to Leighton Buzzard, where there is a station, and also a short tunnel, ventilated by one shaft; which is succeeded by a deep, excavation through a hard brown stone. Denbigh-hall, forty-eight miles from town, was, for about half a year, the limit of the railroad from London; the distance from Denbigh to Rugby being performed by coach on the common roads, and from Rugby to Birmingham by the railroad. After passing Denbigh, the railroad passes be tween Fenny Stratford on the right, and Stony Stratford on the left, to Blisworth; where there is a cutting two miles long and nearly fifty feet deep, through blue limestone rock: this excavation cost 200,000l. We next arrive at Wedon tunnel, which passes obliquely under the ancient Roman Watling Street. At a few miles from this we enter the magnum opus of the whole railway, the Kilsby tunnel. Nearly six hundred yards of its length is carried through a quicksand; and the constant use of powerful steam-engines was necessary, in order to keep the water sufficiently under to enable the excavators to continue their work: the cost is estimated at 400,0002. The railroad then reaches Rugby station, within twentynine miles of Birmingham; and at about twelve miles distance from thence, Coventry station, the intervening road not calling for any particular notice. A tunnel occurs at Beechwood, near Hampton in Arden, beyond which lie the villages of Sheldon and Yardley. After passing over the high road from Coventry to Birmingham, and also passing the entrance to the Grand Junction railway, we enter the town of Birmingham. The Birmingham station occupies an area of about ten acres, and contains all the requisite conveniences for conducting the passenger and merchandise traffic of the company; although in architectural grandeur the entrance is inferior to that at Euston Square. The receipts of this noble railway have already reached an extraordinary sum per diem. When it was opened only from London to Tring, the receipts averaged 971. per day; when it was opened from London to Denbigh, and from Birmingham to Rugby, the receipts averaged $217 per day; by the end of August, 1838, they had reached 10001. per day; by December, (the whole line being opened,) they 164 amounted to 15001. per day; by the end of last May, they were about 18001.; and they may now be roundly estimated at 20007. per day. We may fitly conclude our notice of this railway by a few observations on its economy and management. On a pas senger entering the London station, he enters a portico, from which admission is obtained to the pay departments, by separate doors, each door appropriated to a particular class of passenger carriages. These doors are opened about an hour before the starting of each train. The fare is paid to a clerk, who gives a receipt ticket; or, if the fare be paid at any of the booking offices, (of which there are several in London,) and a particularly-coloured ticket given the pas senger as a receipt, this ticket being shown at the station will admit the passenger: the receipt tickets are not given up until the end of the journey. The train of carriages about to depart is drawn up alongside a raised stone platform, protected from the weather by a light handsome shed, supported by cast-iron pillars. At a given signal, when the passengers are seated and the luggage stowed away, the endless rope is attached to the engine, and the train commences its journey. At the various stations along the road, clerks, police inspectors, police constables, porters, and sometimes engineers, are stationed, to facilitate the traffic that may occur at each station. Besides the constables placed at the stations, there are others placed at intervals of about a mile or a mile and a half along the whole extent of the line. Each man is furnished with two flags, red and white, during the day, and a lamp at night, which is made to show either a white, green, or red light: the first announces to the engineer of the approaching train that there is no obstruction to its progress, the green colour directs him to slacken the speed of the train, and the red to stop as soon as possible. The flags answer a similar purpose, except that upon seeing the red one the engineer merely lessens his speed, without stopping. The inspector at each station has a certain number of these men under his orders: they are walking backward and forward on their beat, from half an hour before the passing of the first train in the morning, till after the passing of the last train at night. Watch-boxes are placed at intervals along the line, for the convenience of the constables; and the men are sworn in as county constables, to render their powers more efficient. Here we must close our notice of this noble undertaking; not from lack of materials, but from a desire of briefly describing one or two others of our great railways. GRAND JUNCTION RAILWAY. A RAILROAD from Birmingham to Manchester or Liverpool, or both, is scarcely less important than one from London to Birmingham: because it would become not only the medium of communication between those three important towns, but would also form part of the route from London to Manchester and Liverpool. This circumstance was not lost sight of by railroad projectors, and the Grand Junction railway shows that such a speculation is in every way important. Although the London and Birmingham railway is the most gigantic, there is a probability that the Grand Junction will excel it as a profitable investment. The engineering difficulties that had to be surmounted were so few, that the cost per mile has been lower than almost any other railway in the kingdom. In deciding whether this railway should proceed to Manchester or to Liverpool, the happy plan was ultimately adopted of leading it to both, by having its northern terminus at about the middle of the Manchester and Liverpool railway, from which either of those two towns could be reached in thirty or forty minutes. There were three steps by which this has been accomplished. In 1829 an act was obtained for constructing a railway from Warrington to Newton, the central point between Manchester and Liver pool. This is a distance of only four miles and a half, and the capital raised for it was 53.000l. In 1833, an act was obtained for a railway from Warrington to Birmingham, under the name of the Grand Junction Railway. In 1835, the two companies were incorporated into one, and the whole line, from Birmingham to Newton, obtained the name of the Grand Junction. It is eighty-two miles and a half in length. It commences in Curzon-street, Birmingham, and passes by or near Wednesbury, Walsall, Dudley, Bilston, Wolverhampton, Parkridge, Stafford, Stone, Eccleshall, Newcastle, the Potteries, Nantwich, Sandbach, Middlewich, Northwich, Preston Brook, Frodsham, Runcorn, and Warrington, to Newton; from which, fifteen miles to the right leads to Manchester, and fifteen to the left to Liverpool, by the Liverpool and Manchester railway. From the Newton, terminus a farther line of railroad to Lancaster is approaching rapidly towards completion, making altogether a line 237 miles in length from London to Lancaster. The Birmingham terminus of the Grand Junction is 371 feet above the level of low-water mark at Liverpool, so that a general descent occurs from Birmingham to Newton, From Wolverhampton to Stafford, fifteen miles, there is a fall of 157 feet, or ten feet and a half per mile; from Staf ford to Whitmore, fourteen miles, there is a rise of 116 feet, about eight feet per mile; from Whitmore to Warrington, thirty-five miles, there is a descent of 331 feet, nine feet and a half per mile; and from Warrington to Newton, four miles. and a half, there is a rise of sixty feet, or nearly thirteen feet per mile. A notable circumstance connected with this railway is, that there is no tunnel of any considerable length, a point equally pleasing to engineers, shareholders, and passengers; and what is especially creditable to the engineer is, that the whole undertaking was completed within the estimated expense, viz., a million and a half. sterling, less than one third the expense of the London and Birmingham, which is only thirty miles longer. On leaving the station at Birmingham, the passenger proceeds to the station at Perry Barr, between which and |