242 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



class passengers at the same or a lower fare by all 

 trains, even the swiftest expresses, the ' Parly ' has 

 fallen into abeyance. 



Once, when very young indeed, I took this train, by 

 preference, from Euston to Liverpool. My impression 

 is that I started at six or seven o'clock in the morn- 

 ing, and reached my destination well before night. 

 In 1846, at all events, the seven o'clock a.m. train 

 from Euston for Lancaster, by which passengers for 

 Liverpool could travel as far as Warrington, stopped 

 at forty-two stations up to that point, and the branch 

 train was not due at Edgehill or Lime Street until 

 10.30 p.m. I had ample opportunity, even at a 

 somewhat later date, of noticing the country by the 

 way, and the details of even the smallest roadside 

 stopping-places. 



To this day, the quaint appearance of the little 

 Hartford Station — a hundred and sevent}^ miles or so 

 from London — as designed in the days of the Grand 

 Junction Company, is stamped on my recollection. 



Between Euston Square and Carlisle are nearly 

 ninety stations. A single stoppage is generally held 

 to involve five minutes' delay in slowing down 

 speed, in the actual pause, and in getting up speed 

 again. Thus, from terminus to terminus, by the 

 Parliamentary train, more than seven hours might 

 by taken up in stoppages alone. Even in 1854, 

 several years after the opening of the line throughout, 

 the early morning train from Euston took nearly 

 fourteen hours to get to Carlisle, stoppmg, not, indeed. 



