for Agricultaral Purposes. 
393 
rolled by Messrs. Townsend, Wood and Co., Briton Ferry, South Wales; the 
price was 8/. 2.s. per ton delivered at Quaintou Station ; they are fastened to 
the sleeix;rs by fimg bolts ; a fishing-piece of oak, 8 inches long, connects each 
pair of rails at the ends ; it is fitted into the hollow of the rails. 
" The G" X 6" longitudinal sleepers and 30-lb. rail, fastened together by 
fang bolts, makes in practice a way sufliciently stiff for the work done ; the 
bearing surface is found to be ample for the maximum load pulled, which is 
theoretically not to exceed 2\ tons per wheel. The waggons are those in 
ordinary use on the English railways, say of 3-^ tons weight average, and 
carrying 6 to 7 tons of freight each. As a matter of fact, waggons weighing 
over 5 tons each, and carrying 10 tons of coal, do occasionally run over the 
line, showing nearly 4 tons of weight per wheel total, instead of the theoretic 
2|- tons. 
" The gradients are excellent and the curves fair ; the steepest gradient is 
1 in 50 for a length of a quarter of a mile, the rest vary from 1 in 100 to 1 in 800. 
" The cost of the railway was 1400^. per mile, exclusive of land. 
" The revenue at present is about 50Z. per week. 
" The traffic, so far, is chiefly in goods, coal, chalk and manure for the 
farms, and agricultural produce generally, including felled timber ; passenger 
traffic hardly can be said to exist. 
" The liaulage for the first year was done by horse-power, but is now 
conducted by Aveling and Porter's (Rochester) locomotive engines, speed 6 
miles the hour, weight 9 tons in steam, and having only a single cylinder, the 
driving wheels being worked by an endless chain from the fly-wheel shaft. 
" The cost of each engine, of which the number found necessary is two, was 
400Z. delivered at Quainton. 
" Before the introduction of the steam engines two horses could pull three 
ordinary loaded waggons over any jjart of the line, except on the gradient of 
1 in 50, upon which two horses could pull but one waggon. 
" The Duke would not allow anj^ gauge to be adopted but that of 4' 8|-", 
the standard gauge of the country. The heavy locomotive engines of the 
lines adjoining are not allowed to run in upon the tramway. 
" The terrain of the railway is a valley of the cul-de-sac type, Quainton 
Station lying at the open end, and the Brill terminus at the head of the 
yallej', at an elevation of about 100 feet above Quainton. The village of Brill 
is at a much higher elevation, and lies at about three-quarters of a mile from 
the terminus. 
" The railway is axial in its relation to the valley. Wootton Mansion, one 
of the residences of the Duke, rests close to the railway at four miles distance 
from Quainton, and is surrounded by pleasure grounds, woods, and shrubberies, 
with lakes of large size hard by. His Grace has not hesitated to carry the line 
in close proximity to the mansion, and it crosses two of the avenues. 
" The sides and, in places, the bottom of the valley are occupied by the 
numerous farms belonging to the Wootton estate ; they are generally of the 
grazing class, each with its picturesquely situated dwelling-house, offices, and 
plantations. 
"The staple articles of production on these farms are butter and milk. 
Immediately after the completion of the railway large milk vans were placed 
on the route by the London and North-Western Railway, in order to bring 
these rich milk and butter producing districts into immediate connection with 
London. These milk-vans are run every day into the Broad Street Station 
of the London and North-Western Railway, a point only a quarter of a mile 
distant from the Bank of England. 
" His Grace the Duke took a warm interest in the construction of this 
railway, and, doubtless, much of the economy attending it is due to the 
continual supervision exercised by himself. 
2 E 2 
