RAILWAYS. 



793 



reduced. The average consumption of coke by a 

 locomotive engine, on a passage from Liverpool to 

 Manchester, thirty-two miles, is stated by Mr Wood 

 to be 800 pounds, and the water evaporated 225 

 gallons per hour, and 450 gallons on the passage. 

 Mr Wood computes that one of those locomotives 

 will perform the work of 240 horses travelling at the 

 rate of ten miles per hour upon a turnpike road, 

 the velocity of the locomotive being fifteen miles 

 per hour. The fact is well established, that where 

 the transportation is sufficient for supplying ade- 

 quate loads for locomotive engines, and where the 

 road is so constructed that they can be advantage- 

 ously used, and where fuel is not exceedingly ex- 

 pensive, they afford much the most economical mo- 

 tive power. 



The following is an account of the principal rail- 

 roads projected, constructing or finished, in Europe 

 and America: The first Railway Act which 

 rrceived the sanction of Parliament was in 1801. 

 The total number of Acts, inclusive of this one, 

 passed in each year, has been as follows : 



18 I 1 18151 1827 6 



1802-2 18161 1S28-11 



1803-1 18171 1829 9 



18041 1818-1 18308 



18081 1819-' 1831 9 



1809 -i 1821-1 1832 8 



1810-1 1823-1 1833-11 



IH1 3 18242 183414 



18122 18255 183518 



1814-1 1826-6 183635 



making in all 164 Acts. These will be classed in 

 chronological order, with the view of affording a 

 view of the progress which the system of communi- 

 cation is making ; the total length of rail being 850 

 miles. 



1801. The Surrey Iron Railway Company was 

 incorporated " for making and maintaining a rail- 

 way from the town of Wandsworth to the town of 

 Croydon, with a collateral branch into the parish of 

 Carshalton, and a navigable communication be- 

 tween the river Thames and the said railway, at 

 Wandsworth. In length this railway is about nine 

 miles, and the cost about 60,000. It was erected 

 for the conveyance of lime, chalk, fuller's earth, 

 &c., to London, and the return of coals and manure, 

 it has not answered the expectations of the proprie- 

 tors : the moving power is from horses alone. 



1802. The Caermarthenshire Railway or Tram- 

 road Company was incorporated " for making and 

 maintaining a railway or tramroad from the Flats, 

 in the parish of Llanelly, in the county of Caermar- 

 then, to certain lime-works called Castell-y-Garreg, 

 in the parish of Llanfihangel-Aberbythick in the 

 said county ; and for making and maintaining a 

 dock or basin at the termination of the said railway 

 or tramroad, at or near the said place called the 

 Flats." It is sixteen miles in length. Its chief ob- 

 ject is the conveyance of limestone, coal, and iron. 



Sirhowey Tramroad. This railway extends from the 

 Monmouthshire canal at Newport through Tredegar 

 Park to Sirhowey Furnaces, a distance of eleven 

 miles. The capital which the company was em- 

 powered to raise was 45,000. Its use is almost 

 entirely confined to the conveyance for shipment, 

 on the Monmouthshire canal, of the produce of the 

 Tredegar Iron Works. 



1803. The Croydon, Merstham. and Godstone 

 Railway is a continuation of the Surrey Railway, 

 and commences on the west side of Croydon, runs 

 by the side of the Brighton road to Merstham, and 

 thence to the town of Reigate. A branch road 

 from Merstham is carried toGodstone Green. The 

 length of the whole is 15J miles, the cost of iis con- 

 struction was 90,COO. The railway is a double 

 line throughout, with a pathway on each side, 



twenty-four feet wide. Its principal object is the 

 conveyance of lime and coal to and from London, 

 in wagons drawn by horses. 



18O4. The Oystermouth Railway begins at 

 Swansea, at the terminus of the Swansea canal, 

 and is carried in a south-westerly direction to Oys- 

 termouth, a distance of about six miles ; a branch 

 is carried northward from Swansea, on the west 

 side of the canal, to Morriston. The capital of the 

 company is .12,000. This railroad passes through 

 a district rich in minerals. 



1808. The Kilmarnock Railway runs between 

 the town of Kilmarnock, in Ayrshire, and the Troon, 

 a distance of 9| miles. The capital of the com- 

 pany, raised under the Act of incorporation, is 

 40,000. Its object, in which it has proved suc- 

 cessful, was to open a cheap conveyance for coal, 

 lime, and merchandise, to and from the various 

 large works in its neighbourhood. 



1S09. The Bullo Pill, or Forest of Dean, Ruil- 

 M>oy,proceeds from the river Severn, near the town 

 of Newnham, to the summit of the hill above 

 Churchway Engine, in the forest of Dean, in the 

 county of Gloucester ; there being three short 

 branches from the main line to different coal mines 

 in the forest, the length is about 7 miles, capital 

 of the company, by its Act of incorporation, is 

 125,000. The forest of Dean belongs to the 

 Crown, to which a rent is reserved of 100 per 

 annum, and a guinea a week towards payment of 

 her Majesty's inspectors. The business of this 

 railway consists in the conveyance of the timber, 

 coal, iron ore, &c., in the forest to the river Severn. 

 The Severn and fVye Railway, commences at Lid- 

 brook on the Wye and terminates at the Lower 

 Verge, both in Gloucestershire ; it is connected with 

 the Severn at Nass Point, by a canal one mile in 

 length . Its extent, including nine branches, laid 

 from the main line to coal and other mines, is about 

 twenty-six miles. The joint stock of the company 

 is 110,000. The company pays to the Crown for 

 the ground occupied by the main line and branches 

 in the forest of Dean, 310 per annum, and one 

 guinea a week towards the expense of inspectors. 

 This railway affords means for conveying for ship- 

 ment the timber of the forest. 



1810. The Monmouth Railway is also connected 

 with the forest of Dean, and runs from Howler Slade 

 to the town of Monmouth. Several branch railways 

 communicate with various quarries and collieries 

 near to the main line. The subscribed capital is 

 22,000. 



1811. The Berwick and Kelso Railway Company 

 was incorporated for the purpose of making am! 

 maintaining a railway from Spittal, in the county 

 of Durham, to Kelso, in Roxburghshire. The com- 

 pany was empowered to raise 130,000. Twenty- 

 seven years have elapsed since the incorporation of 

 the company, without its having proceeded in the 

 execution of the work, and it does not at present ap- 

 pear likely that this railway will ever be completed. 

 The Hay Railway commences at the wharf of the. 

 Brecknock and A bergavenny canal, near Brecon, and 

 ends at the village of Parton Cross, in the parish of 

 Eardisley, in Herefordshire, taking a course ot 

 twenty-four miles through a mountainous district. 

 The capital of the company is 50,000. This rail- 

 road affords facilities for the transit of their mineral 

 and other products, through the Brecknock and 

 Abergavenny canal, or by the Kington railroad, 

 which joins it at Parton Cross, through the Leo- 

 minister canal. The Llanfihangel Railway com- 

 mences on the bank of the Brecknock and Aber- 

 gavenny canal, two miles north-west from Aberga- 

 venny, and ends at Llanfihangcl Cruci vney, also in 



