RAILWAYS. 



795 



in it= course it pusses over some high land, its great- 

 est elevation being 990 feet above the level of the 

 Cromford canal, tlie ascent is accomplished by means 

 of several inclined planes, up which the wagons 

 are drawn by stationary steam-engines, and in its 

 course the railway passes through a hill by means 

 of a tunnel 638 yards long. The cnpital is 164,000, 

 divided in shares of 100 each. By means of this 

 railroad a convenient communication is opened for 

 traffic between the counties of Derby, Nottingham, 

 and Leicester, and the town of Manchester and 

 port of Liverpool. Contrary to ttie now almost 

 universal pratice in the construction of railways, I 

 cast-iron rails have been adopted in preference to 

 malleable iron. They are cast in lengths of four 

 feet each, which weigh 84 Ibs. , or 63 Ibs. per yard. 

 Fifty-two bridges and archways have been built. 

 The Nanttle Railway commences at the slate-quar- 

 ries near Nanttle Pool, in the county of Caernarvon, 

 and proceeds first to the west and then to the north 

 as far as the shipping quay at Caernarvon. The 

 joint-stock capital of the company is 20,000, in 

 shares of 100 each. The Portland Railway is a 

 short line of little more than two miles, beginning 

 at the priory lands in Portland Island, and ending 

 at the stone piers, Portland Castle. The capital is 

 5,000, in 50 shares. The Duffryn-Llynvi and 

 Port Cawl Railway begins in the parish of Llan- 

 goneyd to a bay called Perth Cawl, in the parish of 

 Newton Nottage, both in Glamorganshire. Its 

 course is first to the south and then to the west, 

 and its length 16J miles. From near the com- 

 mencement the line is one continued descent, at first 

 of more than fifty feet in a mile, but afterwards of 

 fifteen feet, and then of twenty-eight feet per mile. 

 The capital is 60,000, divided into 100 shares. 

 This railway opens a communication between many 

 large iron and coal mines, and quarries of limestone 

 ami ireestone, and the Bristol Channel. 



1826. The Ballochney Railway begins at a branch 

 of the Monkland and Kirkintilloch railway, l mile 

 west of Airdrie, in Lanarkshire, and proceeds to 

 Ballochney in the parish of New Monkland, in the 

 same county. The main line is four miles long, 

 and near to the middle of its course is a, branch a 

 mile and a quarter long, leading to some coal-pits 

 near the village of Clerkston. The capital, raised, 

 was 18,425, divided in shares of 25 each. The 

 traffic on this railroad is chiefly confined to the sup- 

 plying of coal to Glasgow, and the conveyance of 

 coal and iron-stone to the furnaces in its neighbour- 

 howl. The Dulais Railway begins at Aber-Dulais, 

 rims parallel with the Dulais river on its western 

 bank, to Ynis-y-bout, when it crosses the river and 

 follows its course on the eastern side to some lime- 

 works at Cwm-Dnlais, all in the parish of Cadox- 

 tone-juxta-Neath, in Glamorganshire. Its length is 

 about 8 miles, the capital is 10,000; it is used 

 tor the conveyance of iron, iron-stone, lime, 

 and coals. The Dundee and Newtyle Railway be- 

 gins on the north side of the town of Dundee, and 

 proceeds in a northerly course for eleven miles to 

 Newtyle. It passes through a hilly district. The 

 wagons employed to carry goods are assisted up 

 live inclined planes by stationary steam-engines, 

 but coaches with passengers have of late been im- 

 pelled by locomotive engines. The capital is 

 40,000, but the cost of the work has exceeded 

 this by 10,000. This railway is found to be use- 

 ful in connecting the fertile district of Strathmore 

 with Dundee, and the navigation of the Tay: goods 

 are conveyed by it at one-third the rate formerly 

 charged on the turnpike road. 



The KJinburgh and Dalkeith Railway begins on 

 lilt; south side of the city <f Edinburgh, near Salis- 



bury Craig, whence it proceeds eastward to Red 

 row, it thence crosses the north Esk river, about 

 half a mile on the west side of Dalkeith, and thence 

 to the banks of the south Esk river, near Newbat- 

 tle Abbey. There are three branches one from a 

 place called Wanton Walls to Fisher Row Harbour 

 in the Firth of Forth; another from Cairney to the 

 collieries near Musselburgh, and a third from Ned- 

 drie North Mains by Portobello, to Leith Harbour. 

 The main line is 10J miles long, and the branches 

 are 6 miles. The capital raised is 125,000, in 

 shares of 50 each. The object of this work was 

 to open a better and cheaper communication than 

 previously existed between the collieries and lime- 

 stone quarries in the district through which it pass- 

 es, and the Scottish capital, as well as the port of 

 Leith. The Garnkirk and Glasgow Railway be- 

 gins at Cargill colliery, near Gartsherrie Bridge, in 

 Lanarkshire, where it joins the Monkland and 

 Kirkintilloch railway, and proceeds in a westerly 

 direction to the junction of the Forth and Clyde 

 and the Monkland canals, near Glasgow, on the 

 road between Glasgow field and Keppoch. Its 

 length is about 8 miles: and the cost of construc- 

 tion about 40,000. This railway was opened for 

 use in the summer of 1831 . The power employed 

 is the locomotive steam-engine. The object of this 

 work is the conveyance of passengers and the pro- 

 duct of the Lanarkshire coal-field to Glasgow, for 

 the use of the inhabitants, and for shipment to other 

 parts. The Heck and fVentlridge Railway Com- 

 pany was incorporated for making and maintain- 

 ing a railway or tramroad from Heck-bridge, in the 

 parish of Snaith, to Wentbridge, in the parish of 

 Kirksmeaton, all in the West Riding of the county 

 of York.' From Wentbridge, which adjoins the 

 turnpike-road between Doncaster and Ferry-bridge, 

 the course of this railway is rather circuitous, in a 

 north-east direction, until it ends at the Knotting- 

 ley and Goole canal, which is part of the Aire and 

 Calder navigation, a distance of about 7^ miles. 

 The capital is 18,900, in shares of 100 each. It 

 is used to convey the stone procured at Wentbridge 

 and Smeaton for shipment to the London market. 



The Liverpool and Manchester railroad. The 

 commencement of the railroad at Liverpool is in 

 the company's yard in Wapping. Here the lower 

 entrance of the great tunnel is accessible through 

 an open cutting, twenty-two feet deep and forty- 

 six feet wide, being a space sufficient for four lines 

 of railway, with pillars between the lines, to sup- 

 port the flooring, &c. of the warehouses of the com- 

 pany, which are thrown across this excavation, 

 and under which the wagons pass to be loaded or 

 discharged through hatchways communicating with 

 the stores above ; wagons loaded with coal or lime 

 pass under the warehouses to the open wharves at 

 the Wapping end of the station. Proceeding along 

 the tunnel, the line of railway curves to the south- 

 east, till it reaches the bottom of the inclined plane, 

 which is a perfectly straight line, 1980 yards in 

 length, with a uniform rise of three fourths of an 

 inch to a yard. The railway from Wapping to the 

 commencement of the inclined plane is level ; the 

 whole rise, therefore, from Wapping to the tunnel 

 mouth at Edgehill, is 123 teet. The tunnel is 

 twenty-two feet wide and sixteen feet high, the 

 sides being perpendicular to the height of five feet, 

 surmounted by a semicircular arch ; the total length 

 is 2250 yards. The height, from the roof of the 

 tunnel upwards to the surface of the ground, varies 

 from five to seventy feet. The whole length of 

 this vast cavern is lighted with gas, and the sides 

 and roof are white-washed to add to the effect of the 

 illumination. At the eastern end of the tunnel, the 



