326 THE GRAND JUNCTION. CHAP. XVI. 



will make the country ! " They also came to be re- 

 garded as inviting objects of investment to the thrifty, 

 and a safe outlet for the accumulations of inert men of 

 capital. Thus new avenues of iron road were soon in 

 course of construction in all directions, branching north, 

 south, east, and west, so that the country promised in a 

 wonderfully short space of time to become wrapped in 

 one vast network of iron. 



I In 1836 the Grand Junction Railway was under 

 construction between Warringtoii and Birmingham the 

 'northern part by Mr. Stephenson, and the southern by 



THB DtTTTON VIADUCT. 



Mr. Rastrick. The works on that line were of the 

 usual kind heavy cuttings, long embankments, and 

 numerous viaducts ; but none of these are worthy of 

 any special description. Perhaps the finest piece of 

 masonry on the railway is the Dutton Yiaduct across 

 the valley of the Weaver. It consists of twenty arches 

 of 60 feet span, springing 16 feet from the perpendi- 

 cular shaft of each pier, and 60 feet in height from 

 the crown of the arches to the level of the river. The 

 foundations of the piers were built on piles driven 20 



