CHAP. IX. THE COAL TRAFFIC. 169 



on to the waggons, which must have gone at a safe and 

 steady pace of from four to six miles an hour from 

 Darlington. " The arrival at Stockton," it is added, 

 " excited a deep interest and admiration." 



The working of the line then commenced, and the 

 results were such as to surprise even the most sanguine 

 of its projectors. The traffic upon which they had 

 formed their estimates of profit proved to be small 

 in comparison with the traffic which flowed in upon 

 them that had never been taken into account. Thus, 

 what the company had principally relied upon for their 

 profit was the carriage of coals for land sale at the 

 stations along the line, whereas the haulage of coals 

 to the seaports for exportation to the London market 

 was not contemplated as possible. When the bill was 

 before Parliament, Mr. Lambton (afterwards Earl of 

 Durham) succeeded in getting a clause inserted, limiting 

 the charge for the haulage of all coal to Stockton-on- 

 Tees for the purpose of shipment, to one halfpenny per 

 ton per mile ; whereas a rate of fourpence per ton was 

 allowed to be taken for all coals led upon the railway 

 for land sale. Mr. Lambton' s object in enforcing the 

 low rate of one halfpenny was to protect his own trade 

 in coal exported from Sunderland and the northern 

 ports. He believed, in common with everybody else, 

 that the halfpenny rate would .effectually secure him 

 against any competition on the part of the Stockton and 

 Darlington Company ; for it was not considered possible 

 for coals to be led at that low price, and the proprietors 

 of the railway themselves considered that to carry coals 

 at such a rate would be utterly ruinous. The projectors 

 never contemplated sending more than 10,000 tons a 

 year to Stockton, and those only for shipment as ballast ; 

 they looked for their profits almost exclusively to the 

 land sale. The result, however, was as surprising to 

 them as it must have been to Mr. Lambton. The half- 

 penny rate which was forced upon them, instead of being 



