work, he states,

the following account of the Coal Trade is given: "Many thousand people are employed in this trade of coales; many live by conveying them in waggons and waines to the river Tyne," &c. And in p. 31 of the same Some south gentlemen hath, upon great losse of benefit, come into this country to hazard their monies in coale pits Master Beaumont, a gentleman of great ingenuity and rare parts, adventured into our mines with his £30,000, who brought with him many rare engines not known then in those parts, as the art to boore with iron rodds, to try the deepnesse and thicknesse of the Coale; rare engines to draw water out of the pits; waggons with one horse to carry down coales from the pits to the staythes to the river, &c.; within a few years, he consumed all his money, and rode home upon his light horse."

Considering that the carts employed in conveying the coals were, in 1602, called "waynes," and the carriages introduced by Master Beaumont "waggons ;" and also, that ever since that period, the carriages employed upon Railroads have been designated by that name; we may infer, that the "waggon" of Mr. Beaumont was applied upon a Rail-way, and that he was the first to introduce them into the north.

The date of the introduction of Rail-ways, as a substitute for common roads, at Newcastle, would then take place between the years 1602 and 1649; probably a considerable time prior to the latter period, as we find Master Beaumont had at that time expended his £30,000.

Whether they were used in any other part of the country before this time or not, I have not had the means of ascertaining.

In 1676, they are thus described: "the manner of the carriage is by laying rails of timber from the colliery to the river, exactly straight and parallel; and bulky carts are made, with four rollers, fitting those rails, whereby the carriage is so easy, that one horse will draw down four or five chaldron of coals, and is an immense benefit to the coal-merchants."*

At that time, it is probable, the road would be of the simplest construction, consisting of single rails, fastened upon transverse sleepers, stretched across the road. The following description is given of them in Jaa's Voyages Metallurgiques, in 1765 (vol. I. p. 199.) "when the road has been traced, at six feet in breadth, and where the declivities are fixed, an excavation is made of the breadth of the said road, more or less

* Life of Lord Keeper North.

deep, according as the levelling of the ground requires. There are afterwards arranged, along the whole breadth of this excavation, pieces of oak wood, of the thickness of four, five, six, and even eight inches square these are placed across, and at the distance of two or three feet from each other; these pieces need only be squared at their extremities; and upon these are fixed other pieces of wood, well -squared and sawed, of about six or seven inches breadth by five in depth, with pegs of wood; these pieces are placed on each side of the road, along its whole length; they are commonly placed at four feet distance from each other, which forms the interior breadth of the road."

Fig!!!! Cute!

Fig. 1. Plate I. II. represent a plan and elevation of this kind of Rail-road, which was called the "single-way;" a a, a a, are the rails laid parallel to each other, upon the sleepers or transverse bearings, b b b b; the mode of fastening them together was by means of pins or pegs of wood, shewn at c c; holes being bored through the rail and sleepers, and the pins driven through the rail and about half way through the sleeper. The rails six feet long, and the sleepers about two feet apart. The ends of the rails meet upon the sleeper, as at c' c'; two pins being driven into the same sleeper fastens them down, and prevent them separating from each other.

This kind of Rail-road was very imperfect, and had many disadvantages, though probably

at first made of greater strength than necessary to support the weight, yet, by frequent use, the rails would soon become reduced in depth by the action of the wheels, and would break long before they were worn through. It would thus be necessary that the rails should be often renewed, and as the road required to be always of the same width, the bearing section of the sleeper, by the frequent perforation of the holes to fasten the sleeper down, would soon be rendered useless. Though much superior to the common roads, in point of economy and facility, yet the frequent renewal of the rails and sleeper would be attended with considerable expence, not only of time and labour, but also in the cost of the material.

The waste of timber thus occasioned, principally by the rail, when partly worn, being insufficient to support the weight of the carriages, and being therefore thrown away, would no doubt produce many attempts to remedy the inconvenience; and, it is not improbable but the addition of another rail upon the surface of that which rested immediately on the sleeper, was the next improvement, thus forming what is called the "double-way." The upper rail, or that subjected to the action of the wheels of the carriages, could then be almost completely worn away, without affecting, to a great de

gree, the strength of that which supported the weight.

Fig. III. Plate I. is a representation of this form of rail; a a are the rails fastened down upon the cross sleepers bb bb, similar to those of the "single-way;" a' a' the rails laid upon the other, and firmly secured to them by wooden pins, in the same manner as the other rails are fastened to the sleepers. In the single-way, the joinings of the rails are necessarily upon a sleeper, as shewn at c' c'; but in the double-way it is not so, for being fastened down upon the surface of the under rail, which in every part presents a proper bearing, they can be secured any where upon it; c"c" shews the joinings of the upper rail, which is midway between the sleepers, but which can be varied at pleasure. This prevents the under rail from being destroyed by the frequent perforation of the pin-holes in receiving the upper or wearing rail, and saves the waste of timber thus occasioned by use of the single-way.

The sleepers in this description of road were generally formed of young sapling, or strong branches of the oak, obtained by thinning the plantations, and were six feet long by five or six inches in thickness, and about the same breadth. At their first introduction, the under rail was of oak, and afterwards of fir, mostly six feet long, reaching across three sleepers, each two feet apart, and about five inches broad on the surface, by four or five inches in depth. The upper rail was of the same dimensions, and almost always made of beech or plane

tree.