CHAP. XVII. ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAYS. 371 



a gimcrack." Engineers of distinction said he was 

 prejudiced, and that he looked upon the locomotive as 

 a pet child of his own. " Wait a little," he replied, 

 " and you will see that I am right." 



Mr. Brunei, Mr. Cubitt, Mr. Yignolles, Mr. James 

 Walker, Dr. Lardner, and many others equally distin- 

 guished, strongly approved of the atmospheric railway ; 

 and it was generally supposed that the locomotive 

 system was about to be snuffed out. "Not so fast," 

 said Stephenson. " Let us wait to see if it will pay." 

 He never believed it would. It was ingenious, clever, 

 scientific, and all that; but railways were commercial 

 enterprises, not toys ; and if the atmospheric railway 

 could not work to a profit, it would not do. Considered 

 in this light, he even went so far as to call it " a great 

 humbug." 



No one can say that the atmospheric railway had not 

 a fair trial. The Government engineer, General Pasley, 

 did for it what had never been done for the locomotive 

 he reported in its favour, whereas a former Govern- 

 ment engineer had inferentially reported against the 

 use of locomotive power on railways. The House of 

 Commons also had reported in favour of the use of the 

 steam-engine on common roads ; yet the railway loco- 

 motive had vitality enough in it to live through all. 

 " Nothing will beat it," said George Stephenson, " for 

 efficiency in all weathers, for economy in drawing loads 

 of average weight, and for power and speed as occasion 

 may require." 



The atmospheric system was fairly and fully tried, 

 and it was found wanting. It was admitted to be an 

 exceedingly elegant mode of applying power ; its devices 

 were very skilful, and its mechanism was most ingenious. 

 But it was costly, irregular in action, and, in particular 

 kinds of weather, not to be depended upon. At best, 

 it was but a modification of the stationary-engine system, 

 and experience proved it to be so expensive that it was 



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