EARLY WESTERN RAILROADS. 
83 
Circus, was also quarried at Heytor, and brought down over this 
tram-line. 
I have already alluded to the Heytor granite as an exceptionally 
good stone. It is a fine-grained porphyritic rock which can be 
obtained in blocks of almost any desired size; but owing to 
the lie of the jointing it involves a large expenditure of labour 
to quarry out, and from this reason has now ceased to be exten- 
sively worked. The quarry has not, however, been altogether 
deserted, as a few men were employed there when last I visited 
it, on which occasion Mr. Barry, c.e., of Newton (to whom I 
must express my indebtedness), very kindly walked over the 
railway with me. Besides the principal quarry at Heytor, branch 
lines were also run to neighbouring quarries, but the whole 
tramway has now fallen into disuse. As to the trucks, they 
were merely modified road waggons. The wdieels, as in all 
the earlier rolling stock, ran free on the axles, and I am informed 
by Mr. Barry that the leading truck of a train usually had 
shafts. 
BUDE canal. 
In 1819 an Act was obtained for the construction of the 
Bude Canal. This canal had at various points a series of inclined 
planes which w T ere worked by steam power. 
PLYMOUTH AND DARTMOOR RAILWAY. 
We now come to our own more immediate neighbourhood — to 
the Plymouth and Dartmoor Railway, the first idea of which, 
originated with Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt. This gentleman's state- 
ment, made at Plymouth to the Chamber of Commerce, is of 
considerable interest. Briefly stated, the following prospects 
were held forth : 
The barren slopes of Dartmoor were to be reclaimed, to which 
end lime and sea-sand were to be imported as manures. Pauperism 
was to be decreased, and a flourishing colony of agriculturists was 
to be planted on the moor. By this means Plymouth would 
acquire a valuable back-country, which would materially increase 
her prosperity as a port. It was in fact to be an undertaking- 
profitable alike both to the nation and to the shareholders, the 
latter apparently expecting an eighteen per cent, return on their 
capital. As the subject is of such local interest, I think it may 
be well to give an abstract of Sir Thomas Tyrwhitt's statement, 
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