RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION. 249 



There is a wide range from the simple village station, with its 

 one short siding, to the great city terminus, with its labyrinth of 

 lines and sidings, and its groups of platforms, offices, warehouses, 

 and other accessories. Each station should be laid out with a 

 view to meet the special requirements of the principal traffic 

 likely to arise, whether passenger, timber, coal, stone, cattle, or 

 general merchandise, and ample space should be retained to 

 permit further enlargement and additional sidings at any future 

 time. If provision is not made for the latter in the outset it 

 will certainly lead to large expenditure at some later date. 

 Land adjoining a railway station is quickly appropriated by the 

 public on account of its proximity and convenience for con- 

 veyance, and soon covered with store-yards, warehouses, and 

 other buildings, and when any portion of these have to be 

 acquired for station enlargements, they can only be obtained at 

 a large cost, very often ten times as much as the value of the 

 original ground. 



When laying out approach roads to goods or passenger 

 stations, whether intermediate or terminal, due importance 

 should be given to the advantage of making them wide, easy in 

 gradient, and fairly straight. A narrow, crooked access to a 

 busy goods yard is a great impediment to the expeditious 

 working of a heavy traffic ; and road waggons conveying long 

 pieces of timber or ironwork along such a route, would be very 

 apt to block the roadway and delay the passage of other vehicles 

 A steep gradient will prevent the carriers taking full loads, and 

 will add to the cost and time of delivery. 



An approach road to a large passenger station should be laid 

 out with a long frontage to a wide footpath to enable the 

 numerous intending passengers to alight conveniently from the 

 conveyances which bring them to the station. A portion of the 

 footpath and carriage-way in front of the entrance to the booking- 

 hall should be covered over with a light roof to provide shelter 

 during inclement weather. The footpath should be on the same 

 level as the vestibule or booking-hall, so that the public may pass 

 at once to the ticket-office and their luggage be wheeled on hand- 

 barrows direct to the platform or luggage-room. Every effort 

 should be made to avoid introducing steps from the footpath to the 

 booking-hall, as they check the proper ingress of the passengers, 

 and are very severe on elderly persons and invalids, besides 

 necessitating the dilatory method of carrying each piece of the 



