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12.—Nores on tHE New Cross Curtine (L.B. & 8.C.R.). 
By N. F. Rosarts, F.G.S. 
(Read April 19th, 1904:) 
Tue work of widening this cutting, which has been going on 
for upwards of a year, has given opportunity for the re-examina- 
tion of the section which was exposed about sixty years since, 
when the term Plastic Clay embraced the beds since more speci- 
fically divided into the Blackheath or Oldhaven and the Wool- 
wich and Reading Beds. A few notes therefore on the section 
recently exposed, with a slightly increased list of fossils, may be 
of interest. 
By the courtesy of Mr. Charles L. Morgan, Chief Engineer of 
the L.B. & §.C.R., I was able, during the summer of last year, 
to pay frequent visits to the cutting both before and after the 
members of our Society visited it on 18th April, 1908. 
The unfortunately wet season, however, made any examination 
of the section almost impossible, at times for weeks together, 
London Clay and Plastic Clay having most undesirable qualities 
in continuous wet weather. Not only was the face of the section 
frequently obscured by slips, but the extraction of fossils was 
impossible unless the clay was moderately dry. Those of our 
members who have travelled upon the line must have noticed 
the frequent slips, which hindered the work, at times burying 
waggons and rails; whilst to all appearance the slips are likely 
to continue for a long time to come, a great part of the cutting 
which has been graded having already given way. 
These slips are, however, small compared to that recorded by 
Mr. C. H. Gregory, which took place in 1841.* The line had 
then been open about four years, when on Nov. 2nd, in the course 
of about four hours, about 50,000 cubic yards of clay slipped 
from the western side of the cutting (the inner side of the curve 
of the road), and ‘‘ overwhelmed the line of railway for a length 
of 120 yards, and a depth of 10 or 12 feet.”’ By Nov. 18th both 
lines were cleared, but on Noy. 22nd both lines were again 
covered, and traffic was suspended until Dec. 28rd, clay having 
come forward on both sides of the cutting. On Jan. 7th, 1842, 
the west side again gave way, and, in spite of relays of men 
working unceasingly by day and night, it was not until after 
Feb. 10th that the trains ran through regularly. : 
* «On Railway Cuttings and Embankments, with an Account of some 
Slips in the London Clay, on the Line of the London and Croydon Railway,” 
by C. H. Gregory. March 26th, 1844. Inst. of Civil Engineers, vol. iii. 
p. 135. 
BQ 
