RAILWAY. 



fliDiild bt' cxprcfsly ftipulated, that the produce of thefe 

 ti)ll3 fhoiild be apphc-d folcly to keeping the road in repair,- 

 paying the iiitereil of fnms borrowed, and clearing ofl the 

 principal as fad as the colleftions would admit ; and when the 

 whole money borrowed was thus paid oft, tlie tolls (liould 

 be fo lowered as only to produce money fufiicient to keep 

 the roads in a Itate of continually good repair. Thus 

 would the expence of tranfporting goods be annually di- 

 minilhing, and the profperity of the country be thereby aug- 

 menting from day to day. He adds, that he is particularly 

 earnefi: in this bufinefs, as he lias not been an nuconcerned 

 obferver of the eftctts that have refulted from the eltablifh- 

 ment of turnpike roads in Scotland, which were begun 

 within his recoUeftion ; and theie eftefts have been fuch 

 as no man who had not feeu it would have believed could ever 

 have taken place. Diftance may be laid to be thus dimi- 

 niflied from place to place ; lands that were originally far 

 beyond the influence of the town as a market tor any thing 

 elfe than live-ftock, are thus brought, as it were, dole to its 

 gates ; and the value of the produce ot many articles is 

 thus to them augmented fourfold, while they are at the 

 fame time diminidied to the public. Not oidy is the value 

 of produce railed, but the quantity alfo of that produce is 

 augmented exceedingly by means of manures which become 

 then acceflible. Folhle manures, fuch as chalk, lime, and 

 marie, which were formerly confined to a narrow fpot, ex- 

 pand themfelves as if it were by a magical power, and by that 

 expanfible influence diffufe around fertihty, riches, and plenty. 

 Coals and other weighty articles that may be ufeful in arts 

 or manufaAures of various kinds, which never were, nor 

 ever could have been of any value to the owners of them, 

 fo long as the expence of tranfportation exceeded a certain 

 fum, find a ready market to any extent as foon as the price 



falls below that rate, thus contributing not only towards the adopted, fo as to render the other parts of the railway eafy. 

 enriching of the owners, but to the furnifhing of employment On fuch inclined planes the defcending loaded waggons bein«- 

 to the various perfons who muft be engaged in preparing or applied to raife the afcending empty, or partly loaded ones', 

 tranfporting them to market, and the univerfal accommoda- the necefTity of fledging the wheels is avoided ; and the labour 

 tion of the whole. Around every market you may fuppofe a of the horfe greatly reduced and leffened. 

 number of concentric circles drawn, within each of which In order to obtain the defired levels, gentle dcfcents, or 

 certain articles become marketable which were not fo be- fteep inclined planes, and to avoid (harp turns, and circuitou* 

 fore, and thus become the fource of wealth and profperity tracks, it will often be found prudent to crofs valleys by 

 to many individuals. Diminifh the expence of carriage but bridges and embankments ; to cut through ridges of land ; 

 one farthing, and you widen the circle ; you form, as it and in very rugged countries fhort tunnels may, he thinks, 

 were, a new creation, not only of itones, and earth, and fometimes be neceffary. The line of railway being fixed, 

 trees, and plants, but of men alfo, and what is more, of and the plans and feftions by which the fame is to be exe- 

 induftry, of happinefs, and joy. ^ It is added, that by cuted and fettled, the ground for the whole muft be formed 



meafure, that would tend fo efTechially to lower the price 

 of the neceffaries of life, and reftore abundance. 



In what regards the method of forming and conftruding 

 thefe railways, it is obferved by the fame writer, that the 

 following has been given by the inventor as the mod improved 

 plan : firif, that the belt line the country affords fhould be 

 traced out, having regard to the dircdion of the carriage 

 of articles or trade to be expefted ; and if fuch trade be 

 both ways in nearly equal quantities, a line as nearly hori- 

 zontally level as pofTible fhould be chofen. If the trade is 

 all in one direftion, as is generally the cafe between mines 

 and navigation, then the mod defirablc line is one with a 

 gentle gradual defcent, fuch as diall make it not greater 

 labour for the horfes employed to draw the loaded wag- 

 gons down, than the empty ones back ; and this will be 

 found to be the cafe on a railway defcending about one 

 foot rertical in one hundred feet horizontal. Or, if the 

 railway and carriages arc of the very bed conftriiaion, the 

 delcent vertical may be to the length horizontal as i to 

 50, where there is little or no upgate loading. In 

 cafes between mines and navigations the defcents will often 

 be found greater than could be widied. On a railway on 

 the improved plan, where the defcent is more than as i 

 to 50, fix or eight waggons, loaded with thirty or forty 

 hundred weight each, will have fuch a tendency to rundown- 

 wards, as would require great labour of one horfe to check 

 and regulate, unlefs that tendency was checked by fledging 

 fome of the wheels. On fuch, and deeper roads, iron 

 flippers are applied, one or more to a gang of waggons, as 

 occafion may require. Each flipper being chained to the 

 fide of one of the waggons, and, being put under the wheel, 

 forms a fledge. Where the defcent is very great, fteep in- 

 chned planes, with machinery, may, it is obferved, be 



making thefe roads the property of the public, and free to 

 every perfon to bring his own waggons upon them wherever 

 he pleafed, farmers, when near them, would make bye roads 

 of the fame fort leading into thefe from their refpeftive pre- 

 mifes ; the inhabitants of villages and country diilrifts would 

 join together, and at one common expence make roads of the 

 fame fort leading to a greater diilance inwards, as they now 

 make bye roads for themfelves. Thus would all be accommo- 

 dated ; thofe who had bufinefs enough to furnifh a fufficient 

 load for one horfe might go to market with it when they 

 pleafed : thofe who had dealings on a fmaller fcale could have 

 one, two, or more waggons of their own conjoined with 

 thofe of others to make up a load for one horfe : and thofe 

 of ftill fmaller means could have one waggon loaded with the 

 joint articles belonging to two, three, or more. A ton 



and effeftually drained. The breadth of the bed for a fingle 

 railway, diould be, in general, four yards ; and for a double 

 one fix yards, exclufive of the fences, fide drains, and 

 ramparts. 



That the bed of road being fo formed to the proper in- 

 clination, and the embankments and works thereof made 

 firm, the furface muft be covered wilh a bed of dones broken 

 fmall, or good gravel, fix inches in thicknefs or depth. On 

 this bed muft be laid the fleepers, or blocks to faden the 

 rails upon. Thefe fhould be of ftone in all places where it 

 can be obtained in blocks of fufficient fize. They fhould be 

 not lefs than eight, nor more than tw.'lve isches in thicknefs ; 

 and of fuch breadthf circular, fquart, or triangular,) as fliall 

 make them ijolbs. or zoolbs. weight each. Their fhape is 

 not material, fo as they have a flat bottom to reft upon, 



weight might then be pufhed before a man to market for and a fmall portion of their upper furface level, to form a 



many miles, as a wheelbarrow is now. It is fcarcely pofTible, 

 he fuppofes, to contemplate an inftitution from which would 

 refult a greater quantum of harmony, peace, and comfort, 

 to perfons living in the country, than would naturally refult 

 from this arrangement. In faft, he knows, he fays, no one 

 Vol. XXIX. 



firm bed for the end of the rails. In the centre of each 

 block fhouid be drilled a hole, an inch and a half diameter, 

 and fix inches in depth, to receive an oftagonal plug of dry 

 oak, five inches in length ; for it fhould not reach the bot- 

 tom of the hole ; nor fhould it be larger than fo as to put in 

 Y y eafily, 



