THE STEAM LOCOMOTIVE 



its kind ever constructed for the special purpose of 

 carrying passengers, was remarkable for its simplicity. 

 One writer described it as "a modest and uncouth- 

 looking affair, made more for strength than for beauty. 

 A row of seats ran along each side of the interior, and 

 a long table was fixed in the centre, the access being 

 by the doorway behind, like an omnibus. This vehicle 

 was named the Experiment, and was the only carriage 

 for passengers upon the road for some time." 



About this time the now famous Liverpool and Man- 

 chester Railway was projected. It was elaborately 

 planned and carried out at an enormous expense. The 

 construction of the road-bed was given special atten- 

 tion, although as yet the question of what motive power 

 should be used had not been decided. Most of the 

 directors and engineers favored the use of horses. The 

 few that were in favor of steam did not favor the use of 

 locomotives, but a system that would now be called a 

 relay-cable system. According to this plan the road 

 of about thirty miles was to be divided into nineteen 

 sections, over each of which a stationary steam-engine 

 was to work a chain or cable. But when the board of 

 engineers appointed to investigate the possibilities of 

 this system reported on the matter, it was found that 

 there were several vital defects in such a system. For 

 example, should any one of the sections of cable break 

 or become inoperative, the entire line would have to 

 stand idle; and furthermore, the cost of building and 

 maintaining these nineteen stations offered serious 

 financial obstacles. 



It is an interesting fact that until the report of this 

 ▼OL. VII.— 9 [129] 



