1845.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECrS JOURNAL. 



247 



ject of guages, would instinctively shrink from travelling upon such a pigmy 

 contrivance — and yet, what engineer is bold enough to say that, in fifty years' 

 time, our present lines may not he treated as equally Ldipulian affairs, and 

 our engineering science be sulijcct to the smile of ridicule of the lirunels and 

 Stephensons of that day ; perhaps, even the inquiry at this stage of our pro- 

 gress in locomotive travelling, be then a subject very well fitted for a joke — 

 as the advertisements of the fast coaches of fifty years ago, are not only to 

 our able engineers, hut, indeed, to the whole comnuiiiily — the speed of the 

 old coach was increased to double, and, perhaps, treble, its pace in the period 

 alluded to, by the same instrumentality — viz., horses, turnpikes, and a little 

 more elegance and accomplishment in using the thong and holding the rib- 

 bons ; and to such perfection had this delightful method of travelling arrived, 

 that a modern jarvey could not only well have atVorded a sly smile at bis old 

 fashioned prototype, but our nobles were not ashamed to be seen in bis posi- 

 tion. Nay, who was a finished gentlemen, who could not gracefully guide 

 Lis trap and four through a crowded thoroughfare .' and where is now this 

 iwift and elegant system of transit — the British mail — the boast of the na- 

 tion ? — nearly among the things that have been. Shall we, then, in the in- 

 fancy of knowledge of steam-power — and with such a power, and subject to 

 )uch modification at our command — or the absence of experience of sufficient 

 engineering skill, trammel ourselves to imperfection, and bind ourselves, by 

 Act of Parliament, to slow coaches, accidents, and 4 ft. 85 in. guages ? Sup- 

 pose, if the experiment of introducing 10 ft. in. diameter wheels, by Brunei, 

 had answered the calculations he had made for them, by one revolution of 

 the engine, one stroke of the piston, bad sent us as far as two of the first 

 that were invented, and the old speed of twenty-five miles would have been 

 doubled, while the old engine would have been entirely discarded, and 7 feet 

 6 inch rails would then have been the true width, until some better one was 

 discovered? And yet, who is able to decide, that, if the passenger carriages 

 had been raised upon wheels equally high, that the experiment would not 

 have answered in every way the expectation .' One thing is certain, the pro- 

 pelling power would have borne better upon the weight, and in a more 

 direct line, and most likely the object in view would have been accomplished ; 

 but, suppose, with even this alteration, it bad failed, is that a reason that 

 rails and carriages cannot be so constructed as to work much larger wheels, 

 and much larger and firmer rails, and a much wider guage, than, perhaps, 

 any thing that has been yet considered practicable ? Is it inconsistent with 

 the spirit of improvement, that we may gain not only greater speed, but with 

 it greater safety and security ? — We thiuk not. — Mining Journal. 



RAILWAY CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR GAUGES. 

 The following is a list of the principal railways of Great Britain, classified 

 according to the breadth of their gauges. The column giving the length of 

 each railway refers only to the number of miles of rails laid down and used 

 for trafhc. Branch lines are distinguished from main line, so that in no case 

 is the same length of railway reckoned twice over. 

 (1.) Gauge ifeet 6 inches. 



Miles. 

 Ballochney . , . . . . . , , . 6 



Garnkirk to Glasgow .. .. .. ,, 8 



Slamannan Railway .. ,. ., .. 12 



Total 26 



(2.) Gauge 4 Jeet 8i inches. 

 (In this class are included some railways of which the gauge is half an inch 

 wider to allow for the play of the wheels.) 



Birmingham (from London) .. .. .. 112 



Peterborough Branch .. ,. ,. 47 



Birmingham to Gloucester .. .. .. 5;i 



Bishop's Auckland and Weardale . . , . 8 



Bodmin to Wadebridge .. .. .. ,, 14 



Bolton, Leigh and Kenyon ., .. .. 9 



Brandling Junction .. .. ., .. 17 



Brighton (from Croydon to Shoreham) .. .. 48 



Chester to Birkenhead .. ,. .. ,. 15 



Chester and Crewe .. .. .. ,. 21 



Croydon .. .. .. .. .. .. 10 



Dover (from Reigate Junction) .. .. ,. 66 



Dublin and Kingston .. .. .. .. 6 



Eastern Counties (to Colchester) .. .. .. 50 



Edinburgh to Glasgow .. .. .. .. 46 



Glasgow and Greenock (from Paisley) .. .. 16 



Glasgow, Kilmarnock and Ayr .. .. .. 51 



Grand Junction (to Lancaster) .. ,, ,, 126 



Gravcsend and Uucbester . . . . . . . . 7 



Great North of England (Darlington to York and"l ., 



North Midland Kailwav) J 



HuUtoSelby 31 



Lancaster and Preston .. ,, ,. .. 



Leicester and Swannington . . . . 



Liverpool and Manchester 



Manchester and Crewe 



Manchester to Leeds 



Maryport to Carlisle 



tlidlaud. Derby to Birmingham 



Derby to Leeds 



Rugby to Derby 

 Newcastle to Carlisle 

 Newcastle to Darlington .. 

 Newcastle and North Shields 

 North and Eastern (from Eastern Counties Rail- 1 



way) I 



North Union. Preston to Manchester and Liver- 1 

 |>oul Railway . . .. .. ., ., j 



Norwich to Yarmouth 



I'rcston and Wyre . . . . . . 



South Western (to Southampton) 



Gosport Branch . . , . , , 



Stockton to Darlington .. .. ,. ,. 



Stockton, Hartlepool and Clarence .. ,, 



TaffVale 



York and North Midland . . . . 



(3.) Gauge 5 /eel 3 inches. 

 Dublin and Drogheda 



(1.) Gauge hfeet G inches. 



* Abroath to Forfar 



* Dundee to Abroath .. ., 



Total 



t (5.) Gauge 6/eei 2 inches. 

 Belfast to Portadown . . . . 



(S. ) Gauge "i feet. 

 Great Western: Bristol and Gloucester*: Chel 

 tenham and Great Western : Bristol and 

 Exeter 



el--] 

 nd \ 



CHRISTIAN ICONOGRAPHY. 



On the Application of the Form of the Cross during the 

 Middle Ages. 



(From the Hisloire de Dieii, par M. Didron.^ 



(Continued from Page 217.) 



In the West our churches are usually in the form of tlie Latin Cross 

 of unequal parts ; the afiex and arms being shorter than tiie shaft or 

 trunk. The foot or shaft forms the longitudinal nave, the arms form 

 the transept or transversal nave, the apex forms the choir. In the 

 Middle Ages tlie choir was shorter and the nave longer In the 

 basilicas of Constantine tlie transverse nave (called the transepts or 

 cross aisles) cuts the longitudinal nave immediately adjoining the 

 apsis, it leaves no room for the choir. In tlie 13lh century the choir 

 lengthens and forces the transept tovpards the west ; there are 

 even some churches in which the transverse nave is nearer to the 

 portal than to the apsis, so that it is still a Latin Cross, the divisions 

 being unequal, and the cross ai?le cutting the transverse nave into two 

 unequal portions, but it is a Latin Cross reversed, the apex of which 

 is longer than the pedestal. The church of St. Germain^l'Auxerrois 

 at Paris is of this form ; from the portal to the transept the nave is 

 four widths in length, from the transept to the bottom of the church 

 the distance is nine widths : tlie top, which ought to be much longer, 

 is really shorter than the bottom: the arms are short, as is usual in ths 

 Latin Cross, only occupying three widths bi'tween tliein. 



Many of the Englisli cathedral churches have a form which is neitlier 

 that of tbe Latin Cross aor of the (ireek Cross, uor even that of the 



