1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



185 



menced, provision being mailc to complete the entire line, but the smaller 

 portion being proceeded with and opened at the earliest possible period. 



The cstablibhment of schools upon the European principle, in the several 

 sanataria in India, and the ready acccbs alfordcd to them by means of Rail- 

 ways, will do much to alleviate one of the most severe privations and hard- 

 ships to which every resident in India is to a greater or less extent subjected 

 — the continual separation from one or more member* of bis family, who, in 

 lieu of iiroccoding to England, the Cape, or other distant parts, for the pur- 

 poses of health, education, or change, will he enabled within a few hours, to 

 acconiplisli their object as etTeclually as at present can only be obtained at a 

 very considerable cost of time and money, and at a sacrilicc of personal feel- 

 ing and anxiety to which there are few who cannot bear ready testimony 

 from their own sad experience. 



1 wouhl further suggest, to prevent as much as possible the speculation in 

 shares, which a less amount is calculated to facilitate, and to render this 

 stock one for permanent rather than for temporary and speculative invest- 

 ment, that the shares should be fixed at no less than .t2J0 each ; the more 

 especially as the payment of the several instaliueuts wUl of necessity extend 

 over a period of several years. 



From a pamphlet recently published, under the title of "Railway Reform," 

 it appears that of a capital of £03,000,000 invested in 55 railroads, of the 

 aggregate length of 1,732 miles, in the United Kingdom, the 21 principal 

 lines, of 1,014 miles, which have cost £28,000,000, are now worth 

 £48,000,000, and that they are paying an average dividend of (jj per cent. 

 upon the original outlay, of which the London and liiruiingbam Railway, to 

 which the ))roposcd Calcutta and Xlirzapore line bears a close analogy and 

 resemblance, as regards the relative trathc between the two termini, is paying 

 U per cent, on the original capital expended; and that these 24 railways 

 have cost on an average £30,910 per mile; whereas, from the level character 

 of a considerable portion of the country throughout India, from the absence 

 of any heavy Parliamentary expenses, from tlie cheapness of labour and ma- 

 terials, and from the moderate cost of the land, if purchased by the Govern- 

 ment of Dengal for the Company as being applied to a public work, the cost 

 of a raihvay in that country will not, on the average, exceed one-fourth of 

 that amount, while the extent of traffic, if it do not exceed, is very little be- 

 low that from which, even at the above heavy original expenditure, a divi- 

 dend of 1 1 per cent, has been derived. 



A Calcutta merchant who desires to visit Mirzapore must incur an expendi- 

 ture of £70, and a loss of six weeks, if he avails himself of the steam vessels, 

 and if he proceeds by Duk the amount will be nearly the same, and the 

 period required to perform the distance there and back will be about ten 

 days of unremitting and most fatiguing travelling. 



The Railway will enable bim to perform the entire distance to Mirzapore 

 and back to Calcutta in thirty hours, and at an expense, if the English rates 

 were adopted, of £11 4s., £7 18s., or £5 Is. !</., according to the train 

 which might be selected. These rates would, however, be unnecessarily low, 

 and an intermediate would be readily paid, and unquestionably induce very 

 many to avail themselves of the facilities oflered, who are at present of ne- 

 cessity prevented by the delay and loss of time, more than on account of the 

 expense which is entailed. 



From the accompanying documents it appears, that the imports and ex- 

 ports of Calcutta, amount to £10,570,000 in one year, of which the chief 

 portion has been received from or is conveyed into the interior. 



■J'hat the transport of merchandize between Calcutta and Mirzapore ave- 

 rages by water 47s. Grf. per ton, and by land 10/. IG.v. to 13/. 10s. per ton, 

 the former occupying an average of six weeks, the latter seven weeks, in the 

 transit ; 



And that the estimated traffic, at a moderate calculation made by an ex- 

 perienced officer in the service, who has furnished the most recent and care- 

 fully collated details of the trade between Calcutta and Eurdwan, will amount 

 to upwards of 107,310 tons a year upon the existing traffic, exclusive of pas- 

 sengers. 



The levels of those portions of the line which have been already ascer- 

 tained, show a gradual inclination of twenty-four inches in the mile, from 

 Howrah, on the banks of the Iloogly, opposite to Calcutta, at which the 

 railway would commence, to the Burdwan Collieries, to which it is proposed 

 to extend the first line at once. Upon this portion of the entire line the 

 expense will not exceed C,000/. per mile, or 840,000/. for its completion, 

 upon which the gross returns of the ascertained existing traffic in goods 

 alone, exclusive of passengers, troops, the mails, or Government stores, will 

 be 125,100 a year, without calculating upon that increase which invariably 

 follows the pioviding of improved and additional facilities for comraunica- 

 tion. 



The whole of the documents, plans, levels, &c., have been placed in the 

 hands of one of the most eminent English engineers (Charles Vignoles, Esq.), 

 whose attention has been, for some years past, directed to this important 

 subject, and whose opinion will be found annexed, in regard to the sufficiency 

 for every useful purpose of the information which has been submitted, to 

 enable him to express his decided as well as unqualified and favourable 

 opinion of the undertaking. 



In conclu.Mon, I may mention that, having travelled over and examined a 

 consideralde number of the European, as well as American lines of railway, 

 I have no hesitation in stating that the amount of existing, as well as of the 

 certain prospective traffic in goods and passengers, through several of the 

 principal districts, with the facilities which the country alfords for the eco- 

 nomical construction of railways, are calculated to render such an under- 



taking one of the most remunerative, and extensively beneficial of any similar 

 work, with which I am acquainted. 



Extracts from a Letter from Captain A. S. Wau(jh, Surveyor (leiicral tf 

 India, Jug. 10, 1844. 

 Although I am of opinion that a preliminary survey is indispensaljle to an 

 accurate discussion of the question, still the general knowledge which we 

 have of the tract of country between the commercial capital of I'.engal and 

 the upper terminus will be useful in taking a cursory view of the subject. 

 Referring to the map it will be found that the direct distance from Calcutta 

 to Benares is about 388 miles, to Mirzapore about 408, to Allahabad about 

 450 miles. Of this distance 218 miles are situated in a highland country, 

 rising in one direction to the height of near two thousand feet above the sea. 

 The rocks composing it, are primitive transition and secondary, and with tho 

 exception of a small portion of sandstone grit belonging to the coal measure, 

 they arc of the hardest class of rocks, such as granites, basalt, and greenstone. 

 These are impenetrable, except at vast expense, by means of tunnels, or ex- 

 cavations, and the acclivities are so steep that they cannot be surmounted by 

 railroads. But even if the direct line was not beset by insurmountable ob- 

 stacles, it would be inexpedient on account of the poverty of the country, 

 which for nearly the whole distance above cited, is a wildcrncbs, diversified 

 at long intervals by a little cultivation, and scarcely animated by human 

 beings. This line would moreover follow the valley of the Damooda for 

 some distance, and would have to cross that river at least twice. Abandon- 

 ing this line, and moving a little to the eastward, we come to the tract be- 

 tween the Damooila and Adji Rivers, and following the lines of the new road, 

 we pass through Burdwan, and the district of the coal mines. This line mi- 

 doubtedly offers fewer obstacles than the other ; it outflanks the Damooda 

 River, and also tlie highest levels of the hilly tract. If it be practicable in 

 other respects, it is iireferable to any other line that could be proposed. It 

 is very nearly a direct line, and the immediate connection of the coal districts 

 is in itself a great oliject. I have never travelled upon this route, and cannot 

 therefore otter an opinion, but valuable information could be obtained from 

 the superintendent of the road. The first part of the line through the 

 Iloogly and Burdwan districts is covered with water during the rains, and 

 ihe road would need to be embanked the whole way to the height of a few 

 feet, but this would not be a costly work, provided the embankment be not 

 made unnecessarily high, which is generally the case in all such undertakings. 

 The first 120 miles therefore presents no obstacles of any consequence. The 

 line then enters the coal districts, wbicli are intersected by numerous dykes, 

 hills, and ranges of primitive formation. Passing along the foot of the 

 Parisnath Mountains (4,483 feet high), the line follows a tract which I ima- 

 gine is not impracticable, although more or less hilly and rocky, until it 

 reaches the Llanwa Pass, which impediment I suppose might be surmounted 

 by judicious measures. The gradient at this spot would, however, be very 

 steep, and I imagine fixed engines would ho indispensable. From Llanwa 

 Pass to Sassrara is 87 miles including the passage of the Son River, a for- 

 midable but not insurmountable obstacle. I have never traversed this part 

 of the line, although I have surveyed the country a few miles south of it, and 

 am disposed to consider that there is nothing impracticable. The rest of the 

 line will he comparatively easy work. 



-"Vrrived near Rajmahal, it is a question whether the line can continue along 

 the right or south bank of the Ganges. The river frequently runs close to 

 the Rajmahal Hills, which are composed of obdurate igneous rocks, and what 

 with these obstructions, and swamps, creeks, and shifting nature of the river, 

 I apprehend great dithculfy as far as Monghyr, after which, with the excep- 

 tion of the passage of many tributary streams, the work will proceed with 

 comparative facility. 



If on examination it should be found impossible to creep along the foot of 

 the Rajmahal and Bhagulpur hills, there is no alternative but to cross the 

 Ganges below Rajmahal, and carry the line through the rich and fertile 

 country on the north bank of the Ganges. This part of the line will present 

 no formidable difficulties, except at the passage of the Ganges, and its prin. 

 eipal tributaries, viz., the Guudak, Gogra, and Goomtee, besides many smaller 

 rivers. 



Statistics of Trade, and Cost of Materials upon the Line of Railway. 

 Timber. — There are several descriptions of timber available for railway 

 purposes in Bengal ; but sauI and sisso, from their abundance, will probably 

 be found most suitable for works of the kind. The former is a hard though 

 coarse grained wood, and hears exposure tolerably well. I have seen posts 

 which have been five years in the ground, and yet seemed sound. The white 

 ants do not attack it until it begins to decay, and at no lime are they very fond 

 of it. It is at present brought down the Ganges to Calcutta from forests at the 

 base of the Himalaya; but it abounds in other directions especially in the 

 hilly tract lying along the Benares road, where it may be obtained for little 

 more than the expense of cutting. The price in Calcutta is generally about 

 half a rupee (one shilling) the cubic foot for squared timber. Round sticks 

 fitted for railway sleepers — that is, seven or eight feet long and seven inches 

 in width, would cost 8r/. or 10'/. sterling eacli. Sisso is a dark, coarse 

 grained, but very tenacious wood, and has at times been much used for ship- 

 budding. It bears exposure to the weather nearly as well as saul, and re- 

 sists the white ants ; but it is more expensive in Calcutta. The country in 

 all directions is covered with the Babool — -a species of mimosa — which lasts 

 a long time when in contact with the ground. It never grows to a great 

 size ; but sticks large enough for railway sleepers might he procured in Ben- 



