11 



RAILWAY. 



RAILWAY. 



C13 



rttled, it is IIIIIIMHIJ carefully to examine the country to be traversed, 

 iU rrlu-f , iu means of transport for the materials required, iU rive r, 

 road>, nod canal*, both on account of the facilities they may furnish, 

 and of the work* they may render necessary, and its geological struc- 

 ture, both superficial and subterranean. If this inquiry should not 

 lead to the discovery of any special necessity for carrying the line in 

 a definite direction, it should, of course, be made as straight and with 

 as near an approach to a dead level, as is possible. In the early days 

 of railway Tnl""g greater importance was attached to the latter 

 condition than U now the case ; and in France, even as late as in 1846, 

 Mr. Locke had great difficulty in persuading the authorities to tolerate 

 inclines of a rise of 1 in 126 ; but upon the Birmingham and 

 Gloucester line, the Lackey incline with a gradient of 1 in 37, has been 

 for years in successful work, and in the passage of the Sccmering, on 

 the Vienna and Trieste railway, the inclines are sometimes carried for 

 great distances, at the rate of 1 in 40, and the radii admitted in the 

 curves upon the level parU are often not more than 628 feet, whilst 

 upon the inclines of 1 in 40 they are still occasionally of only 934 feet; 

 the length of the arcs in the latter cases does not exceed 1300 feet in 

 round numbers. Of course the speed over lines with inclines of so 

 severe a nature cannot be great, but the introduction of the expansion 

 gear into the locomotive has so much increased what may be allied the 

 elasticity of its powers, that at the present day an incline of 1 in 100 

 would not be regarded as unfavourable, and the former limit of 1 in 

 200 would not be a matter of a moment's hesitation. Curves of 

 800 feet radius are often resorted to, when, on account of the approach 

 to a station, the speed of a train must be slackened ; but it is hardly 

 safe to admit them of a less radius than of about j of a mile on the 

 ordinary parts of the line. 



The limit* of incline above quoted are the maximum ones which 

 can be worked economically by locomotive power, and whenever it 

 might become necessary to overcome differences of level, which could 

 not so be passed, it would be indispensable- to resort either to the use 

 of inclined planes, or to tunnel through the hill which interposes itself. 

 The mechanical principles upon which these considerations mainly 

 turn are, firstly, .that upon a railway the traction does not exceed jth of 

 the effort required to move a load on a level and well-made turnpike 

 road ; or as the traction on the latter is as 1 to 80 of the load, it is on 

 a railway as 1 to 210 or to 250; at an inclination of 1 in 250 it is 

 already about as 1 to 100; and it thence rapidly increases until with 

 an inclination of 1 in about 1 50 a well-made carriage would, if left to 

 itself, descend an incline by the mere effect of gravity ; or, in other 

 words, the force required to draw the load up the incline must not 

 only be in excess of that required to overcome the friction, but also to 

 raise a portion of the dead weight of the train. The practical ques- 

 tions connected with the nature of the inclines admissable on a 

 railway, it may be added, may often be materially affected by the use 

 of bank engines upon the heaviest part of the inclines ; but however 

 the difficulties of such inclines may be obviated they must always con- 

 stitute a burden upon the working expenses of a railway, so that they 

 should never be admitted unless at the last extremity. As far as 

 possible alternate directions of inclination should be avoided, ami the 

 rise should take place as nearly as may be to some engine station, 

 whence a supplementary engine could be obtained if needed. Curves 

 of small radius are nearly as unfavourable to the economical working 

 of a railway as are heavy inclines, and they therefore should only be 

 resorted to in the last extremity. 



The only other special considerations to be taken into account in the 

 laying out the plans of railways are, firstly, that they should cross exist- 

 ing roads as seldom as possible on a level ; and secondly, that the stations 

 should be made in positions where they can easily be approached. All 

 that relates to the execution of embankments, bridges, viaducts, cul- 

 verts under or over passages, resembles so closely the same description 

 of work required in ordinary engineering operations, that they may 

 fairly be discussed under the exclusively practical section of the forma- 

 tion of the road. 



Obtaining an Act of Parliament. A* the railways in England are 

 constructed by associations of private individuals, with a view to then- 

 own pecuniary advantage, as well as with a view to the public benefit, 

 it is necessary that, on the one hand, legislative restrictions should be 

 imposed to protect the interests of all who may, either directly or 

 indirectly, be affected by the execution of such works ; whilst, on the 

 other hand, the promoters of the scheme should be protected against 

 the imposition of the landowners, and should be vested with the 

 necessary powers to carry their scheme into effect, if the legislature 

 should consider it to be advisable. Lands, buildings, water-courses, 

 canals, roads, &c., have from time to time to be interfered with ; and 

 whilst justice requires that the various parties interested in them 

 should be fairly and liberally indemnified for any loss accruing to them 

 or to their property, either directly or contingently, and that every 

 unnecessary interference with the existing rights of property should 

 be voided, it is equally necessary for the public benefit that opera- 

 tions of this description should not be defeated by objections inspired 

 by prejudice, or by mistaken private interest. It has been with a 

 view of reconciling both of these conditions that the Houses of Parlia- 

 ment have issued a code of instructions, known under the name of the 

 ti-itiding ordtn, for the purpose of affording the parties interested the 

 means of stating their respective cases before the tribunals appointed 



to examine the necessity for the legislative powers sought to be 

 obtained ; and although there are no doubt instances in which great 

 ap|n>ut injury is thus inflicted, on the whole the system of referring 

 railway bills to select committees of the two Houses has (to quote a 

 well-known phrase) " worked well." The opportunity thus afforded 

 for factious opposition U, perhaps, one of the worst evils attending this 

 system of legislation ; and it often leads to a frightful expense. Tlu> 



act for the London and Birmingham Railway cost at least 72, I. ; 



that for the Great Western, cost 88,0001. ; and that for the Brighton 

 Railway, a still larger sum. The standing orders and the legislation of 

 railway companies have been frequently modified ; but at the present 

 day they may be stated to be (briefly) as follows. 



Bills for the establishment of a joint-stock company for the execution 

 of a railway, or for the increase of the powers of any existing COUI|MH\ , 

 are of the second class of private bills. Notices of the intention to 

 apply to parliament for the necessary powers must be given once in 

 the months of October and November, or in one of them, in the 

 London, Edinburgh, or Dublin Gazette, and in three consecutive weeks 

 in some one and the same newspaper of the county in which the lands 

 such bill refers to may be situated ; if the works should extend over 

 more than one county, then the notices must also appear in the journals 

 published in London, Edinburgh, or Dublin, as the case may be. 

 Notices are to be given, in writing, to the landowners, lessees, and 

 occupiers, of the intention to apply for the bill, and these i. 

 must be served before the 15th of December previous to the session in 



which the application to parliament is to be made. Plans and I k< 



of reference of the lands and houses to be taken, together with .; 

 section of the intended line, are to be deposited before the 30th of 

 November with the clerk of the peace, or the sheriff clerk, of the 

 respective counties traversed, with the Board of Trade, and at the 

 private bill offices of the Houses of Parliament; and in cases wl 

 is proposed to execute works upon tidal lands, within range of spring 

 tides, similar plans and sections have to be deposited with the Board of 

 Admiralty. The petition for the bill is to be deposited at the Private 

 Bill Offices on or before the 23rd of December, and it must be accom- 

 panied by a declaration from a parliamentary agent, and a copy of the 

 proposed bill : in the declaration by the agent, he shall distinctly state 

 the class of the bill, and the powers sought to be obtained by it. 

 Printed copies of the bill must also bo deposited with the Board of 

 Trade, on or before the 23rd of December; and with the Admiralty, if 

 necessary. Copies of the estimates, declarations, lists of owners, lessees, 

 and occupiers, are to be deposited at the Private Bill Offices on or 

 before the 81st of December ; and in cases wherein new companies are 

 proposed to be established, a declaration must be made, stating the 

 amount of capital, the number of shares to be issued, the number sub- 

 scribed for, and the number paid up. In some cases, copies < if the 

 last-named documents are required to be deposited also at the Vote 

 Office. The plans required are to be drawn to a scale of 4 inches to a 

 mile, and must show the liin' or situation of the whole work, and the 

 lands, &c., it is intended to traverse ; and whenever it is proposed to 

 apply for powers to make lateral deviations, the limits of those 

 deviations must be distinctly indicated. Enlarged plans of buildings, 

 court-yards, gardens, &c., to a scale of not less than \ of an inch to 

 every 100 feet, must be added; the distances from one of the termini 

 must be indicated in miles and furlongs ; those portions of the line 

 which are to be executed in tunnel must be indicated by dotted 

 and every deviation or alteration of turnpike or other roads, of rivers, 

 or of canals, must be clearly set forth. The book of reference must 

 contain the names of the owners, lessees, or occupiers of the houses 

 and lands to be interfered with, and it must contain a description of 

 the nature of the property to be taken. The sections are to be drawn 

 to the same horizontal scale as the plan, and to a vertical scale of not 

 less than one inch to every 100 feet ; they must show the natural level 

 of the ground, the intended level of the work, the relative heights of 

 the embankments and cutting, the datum line, and the rails' level ; 

 the height and span of the various bridges, viaducts, &c., are to be 

 indicated, as also are to be indicated the alterations proposed to be 

 made in the levels of the existing roads or other communications. 

 The estimate must be signed by the person making it. In the case of 

 railway bills, a deposit of 8 per cent, on the amount of the estimate 

 must be made before the 15th of January. 



The details of the preliminary requirements of the legislature, 

 stated above as being necessary before the bill can be entertained, are 

 extracted from the standing orders of the House of Commons ; but, 

 according to May's ' Parliamentary Practice,' the requirements of the 

 two Houses are identical, excepting in some insignificant matters of 

 detail The further stages of the proceedings, it may be added, are 

 described upon the supposition that the bill sought for i 

 firstly, to the House of Commons. 



Any person interested in the proposed railway, or in its operation, M 

 entitled to present a memorial in opposition to its progress, on the 

 ground of non-compliance with the standing orders, before some day 

 between the 9th and 23rd of January, according to the number of 

 rotation assigned to the petition for the bill. The examiners of 

 petitions for private bills then inquire into the manner in which the 

 standing orders have been complied with; and, if any irregularity 

 shoidd have been committed, they make a report to the House of 

 Commons, or send a certificate to the House of Lords, to the effect 



