FARMERS' REGISTER— SLOPES AND TUNNELS. 



571 



in progress in Umi steam-packets, it appears that, 

 under average circumstances, tliey may be de- 

 pended on to make the voyage li'om Liverpool to 

 Kingston (near Dublin) in ten hours: the mail 

 which would arrive at, Liverj)ool at seven in the 

 morning would tlierefore be at Dublin at six in the 

 evening, so that the Dublin merchants could an- 

 swer their London letters the same night. It 

 would, therelbre, he possible that an answer to a 

 letter Irom London to Dublin could arrive in Lon- 

 don in about (illy hours after the despatch of the 

 letter. 



In the evidence of Mr. Moss wc find a striking 

 instance of the preterence given by the public to 

 rail road conveyance. 



'Do you know whether there are some places on the 

 line horn Liverpool to Manchester where persons go 

 down a consideruble distance to come to the rail? Yes; 

 Southportis an example. This town is 38 miles from 

 Manchester, and 25 from Liverpool. Persons gonig to 

 Manchest'er prefer to come the 25 miles to Liver])ool, 

 and 30 along the rail road, making 55 miles, to going 

 38 miles by the direct road to Manchester. 



'Do they do that with a sa^'ing of time and expense? 

 They save both time and expense. 



'Jaeing aware of these facts, and knowing the pro- 

 jected hne between London and Liverpool, are there 

 many places from wliich persons would come to the 

 rail road, for the purpose of going to London, rather 

 than take the direct turnpike road? Yes; all places in 

 the manufacturing part of Yorkshire, such as iiradford, 

 Halifax, and Leeds; they would come to Manchester, 

 and there take the rail road. 



'What would be the saving from Leeds? It would 

 be 40 miles round; but it would save four hours in 

 time, and £■ 1 in money. 



'What would be the saving from Rochdale? Ten 

 hours in time, and 30s. in money.' 



A large portion of the time of those fiirmers 

 and graziers, living at a distance from London, 

 who are obliged tolittend the London markets, is 

 consumed in making the journey. JSIr. Robert 

 Attenborough, a farmer and grazier residing at 

 Braybrook, eighty miles from London, staled that 

 his business oijliged him to attend once a week at 

 Smithfield market; that it takes him three days 

 and a night, travelling at night, to go up to Lon- 

 don, do his bu.^iness, and return; that he seldom 

 gets home till four o'clock on Sunday morning; and 

 that a like inconvenience is sustained by the otiier 

 farmers and graziers in his neighborhood: that be- 

 sides the expenses on the way, the tare of the 

 coach is £3 4s., and that the sacrifice of his bu- 

 siness at home is the consequence of his journeys 

 to London. A rail road would take him to Lon- 

 don in about lour hours, and starting in the morn- 

 ing he could arrive at home at a reasonable hour 

 the same night. 



By the evidence of other witnesses it appeared 

 that a saving to a very large amount has been 

 made by houses of business in Manchester, since 

 the establishment of the railway, in their agencies 

 alone. Some notion of the extent of this may be 

 formed, when we state that several houses have 

 saved £500 a year in this item of expendi- 

 ture. 



The advantage of the increased speed and 

 cheapness of communication obtained by railways, 

 worked b}" steam-engines, is not confined to the 

 saving ot the time and money of those who are 

 compelled by business, or induced by pleasure, to 

 travel. Vast numbers, who, under other circum- 



stances, would remain stationuiy, find it for their 

 advantage to avail themselves ol' the opportunities 

 of intercourse with distant places tlius opened to 

 them. It appears by the evidence of Mr. Booth, 

 that before the establishment of the railway be- 

 tween Manchester and Liverpool, there Avere 

 about twenty-two regular coaches running be- 

 tween these places; these coaches were licensed 

 to carry about 700 persons; and taking them at 

 their average number, they may be estimated as 

 having transported 450 persons daily between 

 these two towns. The inside liire was ten shil- 

 lings, the outside six; and the time of the journey 

 varied from four hours to four hours and a halil 

 The fare at present, on the rail road, by the first 

 class train, is five shillings and sixpence, and by 

 the second class, three shillings and sixpence; be- 

 ing about half the lare by the coaches; and the 

 time of the first class an hour and a hall^ and of 

 the second class two hours; being less than half 

 the time occupied on the turn])ike road. The 

 number of passengers between the two places in 

 the six months ending in December, 1833, was 

 215,071 booked; to which if we add 5,000 lor the 

 passengers taken up on the road and not booked, 

 we shall have a total of about "220,000: if we di- 

 vide this by the number ol" days in the half-year, 

 we shall find that the average daily including Sun- 

 days, was 1,209. It appears, therefore, that the 

 number of passengers between these towns has 

 been tripled since the establishment of the rail 

 road; — in other Avords, about 800 persons daily, 

 who have occasion to pass between the two 

 places, but who were belore |)revented irom doing 

 so, either by reason of the time or expense of the 

 turnpike road, are now enabled to perlbrm the 

 journey. 



The ill efiects of the slopes on the Manchester 

 and Liverjjool railway have impi'essed on engineers 

 the indispensable necessity of avoiding them, or 

 rendering them as gentle as j:;ossible in future un- 

 dertakings. This object will be attained in a 

 great degree on the Birmingham and London line, 

 but at an enormous expense. The country 

 through which it will pass is of an undulating 

 character, so that there is scarcely a mile of the 

 road in v^diich either cuttings or embankments will 

 not be necessaiv. Where the elevations to be 

 encountered are inconsiderable, a level is obtained 

 by forming a chasm in the crest of the hill, and 

 using the stuff removed from it to form an em- 

 bankment in the valley; but there are numerous 

 elevations along the proposed line of road, which 

 either from their great height or other causes, ren- 

 der tliis method impracticable. In such cases 

 the level of the road will be maintained by pene- 

 trating the elevations by tunnels. Of these stmc- 

 tures eleven were proposed in the ];arliamentaiy 

 plan; but it is probable that cuttings will be sub- 

 stituted for some of them as the work proceeds, 

 and that the actual number will not exceed eight: 

 the largest will be constructed at Kilsby, nearDa- 

 ventry, seventy- seven miles from London; it will 

 be about a mile and a half in length. Another, 

 situate about two miles beyond Watford, will be a 

 mile in length. That which will pass under 

 Primrose Hill, and under the roads leading from 

 the Regent's Park, and from St. John's Wood to 

 Finchley, will be half a nnle in length: one near 

 Weedoii will be three quarters of a mile long, but 



