SHIPPING STAITH. 351 their being drawn from the pit: the latter, however, is generally the case at Newcastle, nor does there at present exist more than one or two such store-houses on the banks of the Tyne. The annexed is an outline representation of the staith, by means of which coals are shipped from the collieries about Wallsend. Fig. 38. A (fig. 38.) is the platform upon which the railroad terminates: it is supported by upright and cross timbers over the river. At the extremity of the platform is a wooden shed B, across which passes a strong axle, having upon it four large pullies, two inside and two outside the shed. Upon the two former, wind the flat ropes c, attached to the stout lever D, which is composed of two beams, (appearing as one in profile), connected by transverse pieces, and working by bolt joints at E: upon the two latter, or outside pullies, wind on each side other flat ropes F, fastened to long levers of timber as G. The weight H, which along with these levers is intended to counterpoise the waggon 1, consists of a pile of cast-iron slabs. In the quiescent state of the machine, this weight is at the bottom of the frame, while the upper end of the lever D, stands nearly vertical within the open front of the shed, a cradle hung at the end of it for the reception of the waggon, lying, at the same time, exactly level with the rail-road of the platform A. In this state, if a loaded waggon were moved into the cradle or slip, and the latch loosed, it would rapidly descend by a curved line from the platform to the ship the machinery in the middle stage of the transit appearing as in the engraving. To counteract, however, the dangerously rapid descent of the load, the axle in the shed carries, in addition to the roperollers above described, a large wheel of wood, constricted by a brake, and turning in the outshot K, where the staithman manages it by means of a lever. Commonly, a man descends with the waggon, and upon reaching the deck of the vessel, strikes out the catch of the trap-door or loose bottom of the waggon, thus emptying the contents at once into the hold. The weight H then descends, the empty waggon and its attendant meanwhile being drawn up to the position first described. Spouts have already been mentioned; one of these conveniences usually occurs along with what is locally termed the drop, just described. In the figure alluded to, L indicates the position of the spout, and м the tackle connected with a board to regulate the descent of the matters passing down. Small or inferior coals are readily loaded by the spout, the waggon bottom being merely loosed over an opening of the platform, and its contents suf fered to run down directly into the vessel moored underneath. In consequence of the intense interest which, within the last few years, has been excited in the public mind relative to railroads, and the accessibility of various publications in which the subject has been discussed, the reader will be prepared to hear that these vastly expensive and widely ramified lines of inland transit, had their origin in the railways laid down to facilitate the movement of the coal waggons between the above-mentioned staiths and the various collieries in the north. At what period these roads were first introduced, does not distinctly appear. Down to the year 1600, the mode of conveying coals from the pits to the river, seems to have been by carts, on the ordinary roads, and in some instances by "panniers" on horseback.* Half a century afterwards, we are told, "many thousand people are employed in this trade of coals: many live by conveying them in waggons and wains to the river Tyne."+ Soon after the last-mentioned period, we have unequivocal mention of railways, constructed, as the appellation would imply, of pieces of timber laid parallel upon wooden sleepers, and upon which, waggons with small trundle wheels were drawn along. An obvious improvement was to plate the rails with iron; and remains of this description may still be seen about Newcastle. The earliest satisfactory mention of iron rails refers to the year 1767, when six tons appear to have been cast at the great iron-works of Colebrook-Dale, Shropshire, and laid down by way of * Treatise on Railroads, by Nicholas Wood. In this work will be found ample information, historical, practical, and theoretical. Gray's Chorographia. experiment—but with what success does not appear. Mr. Curr claimed "the making and use of iron railroads," in 1776, as one of his "inventions," for working the Duke of Norfolk's collieries at Sheffield. The ingenious individual just named, formed his roads of light cast-iron edge-rails-and to him was probably due, if not absolute priority in the attempt to substitute iron for wood, yet the first successful application of metal for the purpose intended, by making a number of small waggons, and linking them together, so as to distribute the weight over a greater space, and thus to overcome a difficulty in the way of conducting the original heavy vehicles along the newly devised roads. It would be out of place here, to go into any details concerning the progressive improvements by means of which rail-roads have arrived at their present pre-eminent degree of perfection and utility, in connexion with the use of locomotive steam engines. Lord Keeper Guildford, who was upon the northern circuit in 1676, thus describes the waggons and the waggon-ways:-"The manner of the carriage is by laying rails of timber from the colliery down to the river, exactly straight and parallel; and bulky carts* are made with rowlets, fitting these 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." In situations where these roads were inclined, and particularly when plated with iron, no horse was required to draw the There was a tradition among the old people connected with the coal works, that the first waggon that was used for this purpose in the vicinity of Newcastle, was lined with tin, and filled with the liquor called punch. It is easy to conjecture that the unloading of such a waggon would prove a very grateful task to the thirsty workmen.-Brand. SELF-ACTING PLANES, AND WAGGONS. 355 waggons, as without such aid they ran along very readily," and sometimes with such rapidity, that a piece of wood called a tiller, is obliged to be applied to one wheel, and pressed thereon by the weight of the attendant, who sits on it to retard the motion; by the friction of which the tiller, and sometimes the carriage, is set on fire." The wooden brake thus applied upon the wheel is called a convoy, and may still be seen constantly in use on the rail-roads about the collieries in the north. In some cases the waggons are of sheet iron; attached to these vehicles, and, indeed, generally also to the wooden ones nowa-days, is a convoy of a better construction, bearing upon two wheels; the waggon-man standing on a projecting part of the vehicle, and pressing upon a lever, as shewn in the annexed sketch (fig. 39.) It is not Fig. 39. uncommon to see a horse yoked behind the loaded waggons in their descent; the animal by this means assisting to prevent their too rapid motion, and being also ready to draw the waggons back, after they have discharged their contents at the staithes. The waggons are wider at the top than at the bottom, and when made to carry about fifty hundred weight of coals, measure as follows:-length at the top, 7 feet 9 inches; breadth at the top, 5 feet; length at the bottom, 5 feet; breath at the bottom, 2 feet 6 inches; perpendicular height, 4 feet 3 inches. These vehicles are usually made with a sort of trap-door at the bottom, which on being loosened lets the coals fall through without further trouble than the striking of a |