FARMERS' REGISTER— ON RAILWAYS, &c. 



5S1 



vations to the attention of the public, and of Rail- 

 way Preprielors, by an ardent desire to see Rail- 

 way conveyance rendered as secure as it is expe- 

 ditious ; and by the conviction that this great desi- 

 deratum is not only practicable, but that its accom- 

 plishment is essential to the lasting profit of such 

 undertakings. The promotion of the interests of 

 humanity is the true aiai and end of science ; and 

 Great Britain can furnish abundant examples to 

 show that mankind appreciates so accurately the 

 value of whatever contributes to its welfare, that 

 the greatest honors and fortunes commonly crown 

 the exertions of those who are most successful in 

 perfecting inventions for the use of man. I feel, 

 then, that no apology can be required for the public 

 expression of sentiments on subjects so interesting 

 to society, and to ourselves, as the prosperity of a 

 great enterprise, and the preservation of our own 

 existence. 



The proprietors of a Railway are as deeply con- 

 cerned in insuring, to the utmost of their means, 

 safety of life and limb to travellers, as in econom- 

 ising their own expenditure. These are matters 

 of weighty import to the Liverpool and Manches- 

 ter and toother established companies ; but they are 

 of still greater consequence to those recently cre- 

 ated for uniting the metropolis, by similar means 

 of transport, with the northern marts of commerce. 

 The London and Birmingham, and the Grand 

 Junction Railway Companies, cannot be too dili- 

 gent in ascertaining the various causes of tlie casu- 

 alties which have occurred in Railroad conveyance; 

 they cannot be too careful to avoid, in the original 

 plan of their jRailiuay, any defects which may have 

 had a share in occasioning accidents or hindrances 

 on those already executed. The two enterprises 

 referred to will require millions of capital for their 

 completion ; it is probable that the conveyance of 

 passengers and goods will encounter, on these grea- 

 ter lengths of line, multiplied difficulties and delays; 

 and it is possible that yet undiscovered sources of 

 personal danger may present themselves. Let it be 

 borne in mind, too, that Railways, once laid down, 

 cannot be altered in their dimensions like a turn- 

 pike road ; tunnels, bridges, viaducts, &c. cannot 

 be widened or narrowed at pleasure ; the errors of 

 their first formation will remain nearly, or alto- 

 gether irremediable. 



It will, I doubt not, be granted, by persons con- 

 versant with the subject, that the distance, four 

 feet eight inches, between the two lines of the Liv- 

 erpool and Manchester Railway, has been found in 

 practice most fatally limited, as, also, the pathway 

 on either side of the lines. These scanty spaces 

 render the descent of travellers from a carriage, or 

 the unloading of a luggage wagon, not only dange- 

 rous, but nearly impossible, should an axle break, 

 or other of the not unfrequent occasions for stop- 

 page arise whilst passing embankments, or deep 

 perpendicular cuttings. It is unnecessary for me 

 here to particularise the many other inconvenien- 

 ces resulting from this, I fear, incurable fault in 

 that railway. 



The running of engines or carriages ofTthe rails 

 is another frequent cause of delay to trains of mer- 

 chandiseas, well as of danger to passengers; and 

 inexpressibly awful would be the consequences 

 were a train of coaches (suddenly diverted towards 

 theother line, by some impediment on the road, or 

 some derangement of the machinery) to encounter 

 an engine proceeding in the opposite direction. 



Such a crash might indeed be disastrous I And 

 who will be bold enough to affirm that so melan- 

 choly an event may not reasonably be expected, 

 .sooner or later, to occur ? 



I am not disposed, sir, to imagine improbable, 

 or barely possible catastrophes; nor do I desire to 

 kindle, in the breasts of persons unaccustomed to 

 travelling by railways, an apprehension tliat this 

 mode of conveyance is attended with greater dan- 

 ger than the more usual ones. Such is not my 

 opinion. On the contrary I believe that the re- 

 cords of travelling, either by land or by water, 

 cannot supply data so satisfactory, on the score of 

 safety to travellers, as those deducible from a com- 

 parison of the number of persons conveyed along 

 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway with the 

 number of accidents which have happened to them. 

 But I do think that precautions might be, and 

 ought to be adopted, to check the recurrence of 

 many accidents, particularly those, most to be 

 dreaded, arising from engines running off the rails. 

 I am aware that this has been very partially effect- 

 ed (at the San key Viaduct, and atone or two oth- 

 er spots considered as particularly dangerous) on 

 the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, by a very 

 simple and not costly contrivance, first applied 

 along a high embankment on the Bolton and Leigh 

 Railway. I allude to the introduction of a beam 

 of wood, or continuous iron bar, placed parallel 

 with and near to one of the rails on each line, of 

 such height as to present a sufficient obstacle to the 

 passage of wheels over it. 



In laying down a new Railway, it would be well 

 for Companies to consider, whether some such 

 safeguard, extended throughout the line, should 

 not form partof their original plan ; whether twelve 

 feet should not be allowed between the middle rails 

 of a double Railway ; and six feet for the width of 

 pathway on either side. An additional defence 

 against the possibility of collision between ap- 

 proaching trains might also be advantageously pro- 

 vided by fixing a strong railing of moderate height 

 along the middle of the roadway, and throughout tlie 

 whole extent of the line. This railing would serve 

 as a complete barrier to passengers crossing the 

 road, to the imminent danger of their lives ; and it 

 might be so constructed as to form a support for a 

 series of low lamps, which would, in every respect, 

 be inore suitable to Railways than elevated ones ! 



I cannot but think that had the width, above 

 prescribed, existed between the two lines of the Li- 

 verpool and Manchester Railway, even without 

 the safeguards mentioned, we should not have had 

 to deplore the loss of Mr. Huskisson, and that the 

 fatal calamity of the Istof February last would not 

 have been so extensive. Neither these nor other 

 similar catastrophes could have occurred, or can 

 occur, were a breast-high railing established be- 

 tween the lines. 



The half-yearly Reports of the Liverpool and 

 Manchester Railway Company are documents of 

 inestimable value to all concerned in that or similar 

 undertakings. The candid and just observations 

 of the Directors of that Railway, in their last Re- 

 port, leave noroom to doul)t that they are impressed 

 with a due sense of the numerous defects of the en- 

 gines now employed by them, and that they are not 

 only on the alert to discover, but also well disjwsed 

 to adopt, such improvementas may tend to dimin- 

 ish the cost of working, or to increase the perfor- 

 mance of these macliines. I fully concur in their 



