R A I 



K A I 



as fubjefts of raillery. It is below the charafter of perfons 

 of humanity and good brecdnig, to indulge mirth, while 

 any one in the company is fuffering, as the .cfFeft of that 

 mirth, pain and n-.ortiiication. 



RAILWAY, Tram or Dram-ioacI, or JVaggon-'way, in 

 Rural Economy, a track conftruCted of iron. Hone, timber, 

 or other material, upon the level furfaceof an inclined plane, 

 or other fituatioii, for the purpofe of diminifliing fridUon, 

 and thus ferving for the eafy conveyance of heavy loads of 

 any kind of articles. See Plate IV. Canals, figs. 3 I to 35. 

 See alfo Canal. 



It has been remarked, that railways have hitherto been 

 confined, almoll cxcluilvely, to coal-works, and other mines ; 

 and that niventions, whofe only recommendations are fim- 

 plicity and ufefulnefs, arc often fuflered to lie long in a 

 ftate of public negleft ; while others, perhaps, of no real 

 utihty, but of more impofing afpeft, and being pertina- 

 cioudy blazoned forth by interelted or blinded partifans, 

 are readily adopted ; and ba(k, for a while, in the funfhine 

 of public favour. The time has, however, at length ar- 

 rived, when carriages moving on level furfaces, or on gently 

 inclining planes, with little fridtion, and 'without obftruftion?, 

 are fad fpreadlng over the face of the country. It has 

 been obferved that there may be many lime-works, as well 

 as other forts, from which railways may be laid, in different 

 direftions, with great benelit to their proprietors and the 

 furrounding neighbourlioods in general. . 



With tiie view of dmiinifliing horfe labour, it has been 

 fuggetled by Dr. Andcrfon, in his Recreations in Agricul- 

 ture, that where internal canals cannot be eilablifhed, this 

 may be effedted, and intercourfe facilitated, by means of 

 railways, which have not yet been introduced mto general 

 praftice. It is further Hated, that they were firfl folely 

 employed for tranfporting coals to a moderate diftance from 

 the pits, to the places where they could be fliipped, being 

 unWerfally made of wood. And long, fays he, had they 

 been applied to this ufe, without any idea having been enter- 

 tained that they could be employed for more general pur- 

 pofea. By degrees they were, however, carried to a farther 

 extent ; the fcarcity of wood, and the expence of their re- 

 pairs, fuggelled the idea of employing iron for the purpofe 

 of improving tlicfe roads. At thefirlt, flat rods of bar-iron 

 were nailed upon the original wooden rails, or as they were 

 technically called, Jlcepers ; and this, though an expenfive 

 procefs, was found to be a great niiprovement. But the 

 wood on which thefe reiled being liable to rot and give way, 

 fome imperfedt attempts were made to make them of call 

 iron, but thefe were found to be liable to many objecfions, 

 until the bufinefs was taken in hand by Mr. Outram, engi- 

 neer, at Butterly Hall, Derbyfliire, who contrived at the 

 fame time, fo far to diminifh the expence, and improve the 

 llrength of the road, as to bring them to a degree of per- 

 feftion, that no one who has not feen them can eafily con- 

 ceive could have been done. And it is added, that this 

 having been carried into execution in a few cafes, and found 

 to anfwer, has been improved upon and fimplified by prac- 

 tice, till it is now brought to fuch a ftate of perfeftion as 

 to have given proofs, that it admits of being carried much 

 beyond the limits of what was for many years conceived to 

 be poffible, and to aiFord demonftrative evidence, that it 

 may be in future employed to a wider extent ftill, to which 

 no hmits can be at prefent affigned or forefeen. 



There are a gre.at number of railways in Derbylhire, 



Shropfhire, Lancadiire, and many other parts of the country. 



In the firlt of the above counties, there are railways of 



very different lengths ; one of five miles in length, leading 



from the town of Derby to the collieries in the vicinity ; 



another, from the lime-ftone rocks on the Cranford canal, 

 called the Crick railway, which is about one mile and a half 

 in length ; a third from the Beggarlue colliery to tlie fame 

 canal, denominated Barber and Walker's railway, of fimilar 

 length ; a fourth from the lime-works in the neighbourhood 

 of Bofton, to the canal near Whaley bridge, termed tlie 

 Peak-foreil railway, which is about fix miles in length ; a 

 fifth called the Marple railway, of about one mile and a 

 half long, on the Peak-forcll canal ;• fixthly, railways over 

 Blifworth-hill near Nottingham, on the Grand Junction 

 canal, which are three miles and a half in length, and con- 

 ftrutted in a double manner ; a feventh, whicli has the name 

 of the Afhby de la Zouch railway, has four miles of doublr 

 and eight miles of fingle rails. Some of thefe railways are 

 formed in a very complete manner, efpecially thofe which 

 have been made fince the various improvements of them were 

 introduced. They have been of prodigious utility and 

 advantage to the county, both in regard to its agricultural 

 improvements and its maiiufadluring intereils and concerns. 



Thefe forts of railway roads have likewife been intro- 

 duced into many parts of the county of Salop, with vali 

 benefit and fuccefs to the different intereils of the diltridt. 

 They liave here had a new application, in being employed 

 for the puipofe of conveying heavy weights from different 

 levels on canals. 



Speaking of the great utility of canals in the carriage of 

 various articles in tkis county, it is obferved by Mr. Telford, 

 an able engineer, that another mode of conveyance has fre- 

 quently been adopted to a confiderable extent ; which is 

 that of forming roads by means of iron rails laid along 

 them, upon which materials are carried in waggons, which 

 contain from fix to thirty hundred weight ; experience. Ire 

 thinks, has now convinced us, that in countries the furfaces 

 of which are rugged, or where it is difficult to obtain water 

 for lockage, where the weight of the articles of the produce 

 is great in comparifon with their bulk, and where they are 

 moilly to be conveyed from a higher to a low-er level, that 

 in thofe cafes, iron railways are in general preferable to 

 canal navigation. 



It is fuppofcd, that on a railway well coaflrucled, and 

 laid with a declivity of fifty-five feet in a mile, one horle 

 will readily take down waggons containing from twelve to 

 fifteen tons, and bring back the fame waggons with four 

 tons in them. This declivity, therefore, fuits well, when 

 the imports are only one-fourth part of what is to be ex- 

 ported. If the empty waggons only are to be brought 

 back, the declivity may be made greater ; or an additionaj 

 horfe applied on the returning journey will balance the m- 

 creafe of declivity. If the lengtJi of the railways were to 

 be confidered, it may, it is fuppoled, without much incon- 

 venience, be varied from being level to a declivity of one 

 inch in a yard, and by dividing the wliole diftance into fcpa- 

 rate ftages, and providing the number of horfes fuitable for 

 each portion of railway, according to the diftance and de- 

 gree of declivity, the wliole operation may be carried on 

 with regularity and difpatch. 



It is upon the whole believed, that this ufeful contrivance 

 may be varied fo as to fuit the furface of many difficult 

 countries, at a comparatively moderate expence. It may 

 be conftrudted in a much more expeditious manner than 

 navigable canals ; it may be introduced into many diftridls 

 where canals are wholly inapplicable ; and in cafe of any 

 change in the working of mines, pits, or manufacfories, 

 the rails may be taken up and laid down agaiu in new fitua- 

 tions, at no very great expence or trouble. 



It is alfo further noticed, that fome parts of this and 

 the neighbouring counties, in which canals had once been 



intended 



