1873O Railway Development. 165 



his eyes open will not return empty ; he will feel that his 

 preconceived notions of what was necessary to a railway's 

 existence are torn to shreds and scattered to the four winds. 

 His prejudices of railway education will have been shaken 

 to their foundation, if not uprooted altogether, and he will 

 say with the philosopher of the last century, that " all his 

 knowledge only shows him that he really knows nothing 

 at all." 



Hence the great success of this Festiniog Railway as an 

 exemplar. Because it is different it has been taken hastily 

 as perfection, and has been recommended in cases to which 

 it is wholly unsuited. Yet honour to it for its great work. 

 The Russian Empire, the North and Southern Continents 

 of America, and now India itself, have not thought it beneath 

 them to learn from the little Welsh Railway ; and it may 

 be truly said that it is the first practical step in the right 

 direction, and has awakened men's minds more than any- 

 thing else to the necessity for something different, and 

 something better. 



It will now be the object of this paper to describe a 

 small and very unpretending ''steam tramway," constructed 

 by the Duke of Buckingham for the development of his 

 properties in Buckinghamshire, which in the writer's opinion 

 seems to offer the most universally applicable example of 

 what branch railways must be in the future in England, 

 and perhaps in less developed regions of the world's surface. 



This little line was commenced on 8th September, 1870, 

 and the first four miles, from Quainton as far as Wotton, 

 were opened on 4th April, 1871 ; the greater portion of the 

 remainder was used for mineral and agricultural produce in 

 November, 1871, but the last quarter of a mile up to Brill 

 was not brought into use till April, 1872. The main line 

 is nearly seven miles long, and the gauge the same as that 

 upon the adjoining railways, viz., 4 feet 8J inches. 



The cost of this " steam tramway," including sidings 

 and two goods sheds, was rather less than £1400 a mile 

 without land, which belongs principally to the Duke of 

 Buckingham. The gradients between Quainton and Wotton 

 are favourable, the worst being 1 in 78. But from Wotton 

 to Brill they are comparatively heavy, varying from 1 in 100 

 to 1 in 51, the total ascent in the last three miles being 

 130 feet. The line is worked by Messrs. Chaplin and Home, 

 but the maintenance is undertaken by His Grace the Duke, 

 who executed the work with the assistance of his own 

 engineers, and without a contractor. The expenses of 

 maintenance (and certain other works) is at the rate of 



