LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY. 



ALTHOUGH we cannot exactly pin our faith to the flourish of Mr. 

 Arthur Freeling, in his very clever " Railway Companion," that this is 

 a Roman work, conceived in a Roman spirit, and accomplished with 

 Roman perseverance and determination," yet we join him in belief that 

 it is destined to be " the great highway for the northern portions of the 

 kingdom, to communicate with the Metropolis." Like all schemes for 

 public advantage, the projectors of this railway had to combat with 

 no ordinary degree of prejudice and opposing interests, and they deserve 

 infinite credit for their spirit and resolution in accomplishing their 

 great design, amidst such numerous difficulties ; difficulties, which can 

 only be estimated by a knowledge of the Parliamentary struggle to 

 obtain their act of incorporation, and by many natural obstacles which 

 they had to overcome. When these are considered, it is not surprising 

 to find, that the expense of this railway nearly doubled the estimate, 

 which was 2,400,456. The entrance at the London Terminus in 

 Euston Square, is by an elegant archway having two wings; it is built of 

 fine stone from the Fall Quarry, at Bromley, in Yorkshire ; it is of the 

 Greek Doric order, and the portico is seventy-four feet in height. On 

 either of the wings are booking offices, waiting rooms, &c. The whole 

 front is three hundred and sixteen feet, and forms a truly elegant 

 entrance, worthy the vastness of the work and the genius of the architect. 

 The first object which engages the attention at this front, is the 

 immense tunnel, called the " grand excavation;" this is nearly a mile in 

 length ; it is crossed by seven bridges, the sides are supported by walls 

 about twenty feet high, surmounted by a neat iron railing, with brick 

 piers, coped with stone ; these walls are the internal segment of a curve, 

 the inclination inwards being, perhaps, two inches to a foot of rise. At 

 every interval of twenty feet is a pier, four feet six inches in width; the 

 whole has a most massive and imposing effect. Through this excavation 

 the carriages are drawn by means of an endless rope, connected with the 

 stationary engine at Camden Town. This rope is 10,950 feet in 

 length, seven inches in circumference, and weighs about 11 tons 12cwt. ; 

 it runs over hollowed iron sheaves, turning on an axle in an iron frame, 

 placed at a distance of twenty-four feet ; there are four lines of rails in this 

 tunnel. The railway proceeds by the following places : Watford, Box- 



