228 PARR MOSS. CHAP. XII. 



joined to the floating road already laid upon the Moss. 

 In the course of forming the embankment, the pressure 

 of the bog turf tipped out of the waggons caused a 

 copious stream of bog-water to flow from the end of it, 

 in colour resembling Barclay's double stout ; and when 

 completed, the bank looked like a long ridge of tightly 

 pressed tobacco-leaf. The compression of the turf may 

 be understood from the fact that 670,000 cubic yards of 

 raw moss formed only 277,000 cubic yards of embank- 

 ment at the completion of the work. 



At the western, or Liverpool end of the Chat Moss, 

 there was a like embankment ; but, as the ground was 

 there solid, little difficulty was experienced in forming 

 it, beyond the loss of substance caused by the oozing out 

 of the water held by the moss-earth. 



At another part of the Liverpool and Manchester 

 line, Parr Moss was crossed by an embankment about a 

 mile and a half in extent. In the immediate neighbour- 

 hood was found a large excess of cutting, which it would 

 have been necessary to " put out in spoil banks " (accord- 

 ing to the technical phrase), but for the convenience of 

 Parr Moss, into which the surplus clay, stone, and shale, 

 were tipped, waggon after waggon, until a solid but 

 concealed embankment, from fifteen to twenty-five feet 

 high, was formed, although to the eye it appears to be 

 laid upon the level of the adjoining surface, as at Chat 

 Moss. 



The road across Chat Moss was finished by the 1st of 

 January, 1830, when the first experimental train of pas- 

 sengers passed over it, drawn by the " Rocket ; " and it 

 turned out that, instead of being the most expensive 

 part of the line, it was about the cheapest. The total 

 cost of forming the line over the Moss was 28,000/., 

 whereas Mr. Giles's estimate was 270,000/. ! It also 

 proved to be one of the best portions of the railway. 

 Being a floating road, it was smooth and easy to run 

 upon, just as Dr. Arnott's water-bed is soft and easy to 



