232 



steel for axles of railway engines and rolling stock, experience 

 has shown that this material is not altogether trustworthy, and 

 the returns of the Board of Trade show that steel axles are not 

 so reliable as iron. 



During the year 1884, 385 axles failed on the English rail- 

 ways, killing 24 and injuring 75 passengers, and out of the 385 

 axles that failed 200 were locomotive crank axles, and the 

 average mileage of iron crank axles for the same year was 

 216,333 miles, and of steel 173,287 miles, but the breakage of 

 steel axles is not confined to crank axles, which are essentially 

 of a weak form to resist the varying strains to which they are 

 subjected, for numerous instances of the breakage of carriage 

 and waggon axles have occurred, and are occurring, and I do 

 not doubt that we shall eventually return to iron as the best 

 material for railway axles. 



TUNNELLING. 



Tunnelling is executed with much greater dispatch now than 

 formerly, in consequence of the introduction of rock drills 

 driven by air or water, the use of better explosive compounds, 

 and better system of ventilation. 



The most recent examples of large tunnels completed are 

 those under the Mersey at Liverpool, and under the Severn. 



MEBSEY TUNNEL. 



The Mersey Tunnel, connecting Liverpool with Birkenhead, is 

 3,820 yards long, and is carried under the bed of the river, 

 which is 1,320 yards in width. It is constructed for a double 

 line of rails. It leaves the Central Station in Liverpool and 

 joins the Central Station at Birkenhead, the distance being 

 about two miles. The tunnel is 26 feet wide and 19 feet high, 

 and is lined with brick-work, set in cement. It is ventilated 

 with four "Guibal" fans, which work in separate air passages, 

 7' 4" diameter, cut through the rock and connected with the 

 tunnel. There are two underground stations — one at Hamilton- 

 square, the other at James-street, and being about 80 feet below 

 the street level, are approached by an inclined subway and 

 hydraulic lift 18 feet square, capable of seating 100 passengers. 

 The underground portion of these stations is hewn from solid 

 rock, and is 400 feet long, 50 feet wide, and 30 feet high. The 

 traffic amounts to over 26,000,000 of passengers and 750,000 

 tons of goods per annum. The engineers were Mr. James 

 Brunlees, with whom was associated Mr. Chas. D. Fox. The 

 tunnel was formally opened to the public by H.E.H. the Prince 

 of Wales on January 20th, 1886, and occupied six years in its 

 execution. The length of the railway is three miles, and the 

 cost has been £1,000,000. 



