[Picture: The "Rocket"]

The other arrangements of the "Rocket" were briefly these:--the boiler
was cylindrical with flat ends, 6 feet in length, and 3 feet 4 inches in
diameter.  The upper half of the boiler was used as a reservoir for the
steam, the lower half being filled with water.  Through the lower part,
25 copper tubes of 3 inches diameter extended, which were open to the
fire-box at one end, and to the chimney at the other.  The fire-box, or
furnace, 2 feet wide and 3 feet high, was attached immediately behind the
boiler, and was also surrounded with water.  The cylinders of the engine
were placed on each side of the boiler, in an oblique position, one end
being nearly level with the top of the boiler at its after end, and the
other pointing towards the centre of the foremost or driving pair of
wheels, with which the connection was directly made from the piston-rod,
to a pin on the outside of the wheel.  The engine, together with its load
of water, weighed only 4.25 tons, and was supported on four wheels, not
coupled.  The tender was four-wheeled, and similar in shape to a
waggon,--the foremost part holding the fuel, and the hind part a
water-cask.

When the "Rocket" was finished, it was placed upon the Killingworth
railway for the purpose of experiment.  The new boiler arrangement was
found perfectly successful.  The steam was raised rapidly and
continuously, and in a quantity which then appeared marvellous.  The same
evening Robert despatched a letter to his father at Liverpool, informing
him, to his great joy, that the "Rocket" was "all right," and would be in
complete working trim by the day of trial.  The engine was shortly after
sent by waggon to Carlisle, and thence shipped for Liverpool.

The time so much longed for by George Stephenson had now arrived, when
the merit of the passenger locomotive was to be put to a public test.  He
had fought the battle for it until now almost single-handed.  Engrossed
by his daily labours and anxieties, and harassed by difficulties and
discouragements which would have crushed the spirit of a less resolute
man, he had held firmly to his purpose through good and through evil
report.  The hostility which he experienced from some of the directors
opposed to the adoption of the locomotive, was the circumstance that
caused him the greatest grief of all; for where he had looked for
encouragement, he found only carping and opposition.  But his pluck never
failed him; and now the "Rocket" was upon the ground,--to prove, to use
his own words, "whether he was a man of his word or not."

Great interest was felt at Liverpool, as well as throughout the country,
in the approaching competition.  Engineers, scientific men, and
mechanics, arrived from all quarters to witness the novel display of
mechanical ingenuity on which such great results depended.  The public
generally were no indifferent spectators either.  The inhabitants of
Liverpool, Manchester, and the adjacent towns felt that the successful
issue of the experiment would confer upon them individual benefits and
local advantages almost incalculable, whilst populations at a distance
waited for the result with almost equal interest.

On the day appointed for the great competition of locomotives at
Rainhill, the following engines were entered for the prize:--

1.  Messrs. Braithwaite and Ericsson's "Novelty." {214}

2.  Mr. Timothy Hackworth's "Sanspareil."

3.  Messrs. R. Stephenson and Co.'s "Rocket."

4.  Mr. Burstall's "Perseverance."

Another engine was entered by Mr. Brandreth of Liverpool--the "Cycloped,"
weighing 3 tons, worked by a horse in a frame, but it could not be
admitted to the competition.  The above were the only four exhibited, out
of a considerable number of engines constructed in different parts of the
country in anticipation of this contest, many of which could not be
satisfactorily completed by the day of trial.

The ground on which the engines were to be tried was a level piece of
railroad, about two miles in length.  Each was required to make twenty
trips, or equal to a journey of 70 miles, in the course of the day; and
the average rate of travelling was to be not under 10 miles an hour.  It
was determined that, to avoid confusion, each engine should be tried
separately, and on different days.

              [Picture: Locomotive competition at Rainhill]

The day fixed for the competition was the 1st of October, but to allow
sufficient time to get the locomotives into good working order, the
directors extended it to the 6th.  On the morning of the 6th, the ground
at Rainhill presented a lively appearance, and there was as much
excitement as if the St. Leger were about to be run.  Many thousand
spectators looked on, amongst whom were some of the first engineers and
mechanicians of the day.  A stand was provided for the ladies; the
"beauty and fashion" of the neighbourhood were present, and the side of
the railroad was lined with carriages of all descriptions.

It was quite characteristic of the Stephensons, that, although their
engine did not stand first on the list for trial, it was the first that
was ready; and it was accordingly ordered out by the judges for an
experimental trip.  Yet the "Rocket" was by no means "the favourite" with
either the judges or the spectators.  A majority of the judges was
strongly predisposed in favour of the "Novelty," and nine-tenths of those
present were against the "Rocket" because of its appearance.  Nearly
every person favoured some other engine, so that there was nothing for
the "Rocket" but the practical test.  The first trip which it made was
quite successful.  It ran about 12 miles, without interruption, in about
53 minutes.

The "Novelty" was next called out.  It was a light engine, very compact
in appearance, carrying the water and fuel upon the same wheels as the
engine.  The weight of the whole was only 3 tons and 1 hundredweight.  A
peculiarity of this engine was that the air was driven or forced through
the fire by means of bellows.  The day being now far advanced, and some
dispute having arisen as to the method of assigning the proper load for
the "Novelty," no particular experiment was made, further than that the
engine traversed the line by way of exhibition, occasionally moving at
the rate of 24 miles an hour.  The "Sanspareil," constructed by Mr.
Timothy Hackworth, was next exhibited; but no particular experiment was
made with it on this day.

The contest was postponed until the following day, but before the judges
arrived on the ground, the bellows for creating the blast in the
"Novelty" gave way, and it was found incapable of going through its
performance.  A defect was also detected in the boiler of the
"Sanspareil;" and some further time was allowed to get it repaired.  The
large number of spectators who had assembled to witness the contest were
greatly disappointed at this postponement; but, to lessen it, Stephenson
again brought out the "Rocket," and, attaching to it a coach containing
thirty persons, he ran them along the line at the rate of from 24 to 30
miles an hour, much to their gratification and amazement.  Before
separating, the judges ordered the engine to be in readiness by eight
o'clock on the following morning, to go through its definitive trial
according to the prescribed conditions.

On the morning of the 8th October, the "Rocket" was again ready for the
contest.  The engine was taken to the extremity of the stage, the
fire-box was filled with coke, the fire lighted, and the steam raised
until it lifted the safety-valve loaded to a pressure of 50 pounds to the
square inch.  This proceeding occupied fifty-seven minutes.  The engine
then started on its journey, dragging after it about 13 tons weight in
waggons, and made the first ten trips backwards and forwards along the
two miles of road, running the 35 miles, including stoppages, in one hour
and 48 minutes.  The second ten trips were in like manner performed in 2
hours and 3 minutes.  The maximum velocity attained during the trial trip
was 29 miles an hour, or about three times the speed that one of the
judges of the competition had declared to be the limit of possibility.
The average speed at which the whole of the journeys were performed was
15 miles an hour, or 5 miles beyond the rate specified in the conditions
published by the Company.  The entire performance excited the greatest
astonishment amongst the assembled spectators; the directors felt
confident that their enterprise was now on the eve of success; and George
Stephenson rejoiced to think that in spite of all false prophets and
fickle counsellors, the locomotive system was now safe.  When the
"Rocket," having performed all the conditions of the contest, arrived at
the "grand stand" at the close of its day's successful run, Mr.
Cropper--one of the directors favourable to the fixed-engine
system--lifted up his hands, and exclaimed, "Now has George Stephenson at
last delivered himself!"

Neither the "Novelty" nor the "Sanspareil" was ready for trial until the
10th, on the morning of which day an advertisement appeared, stating that
the former engine was to be tried on that day, when it would perform more
work than any engine upon the ground.  The weight of the carriages
attached to it was only about 7 tons.  The engine passed the first post
in good style; but in returning, the pipe from the forcing-pump burst and
put an end to the trial.  The pipe was afterwards repaired, and the
engine made several trips by itself, in which it was said to have gone at
the rate of from 24 to 28 miles an hour.

The "Sanspareil" was not ready until the 13th; and when its boiler and
tender were filled with water, it was found to weigh 4 cwt. beyond the
weight specified in the published conditions as the limit of four-wheeled
engines; nevertheless the judges allowed it to run on the same footing as
the other engines, to enable them to ascertain whether its merits
entitled it to favourable consideration.  It travelled at the average
speed of about 14 miles an hour, with its load attached; but at the
eighth trip the cold-water pump got wrong, and the engine could proceed
no further.

It was determined to award the premium to the successful engine on the
following day, the 14th, on which occasion there was an unusual
assemblage of spectators.  The owners of the "Novelty" pleaded for
another trial; and it was conceded.  But again it broke down.  The owner
of the "Sanspareil" also requested the opportunity for making another
trial of his engine.  But the judges had now had enough of failures; and
they declined, on the ground that not only was the engine above the
stipulated weight, but that it was constructed on a plan which they could
not recommend for adoption by the directors of the Company.  One of the
principal practical objections to this locomotive was the enormous
quantity of coke consumed or wasted by it--about 692 lbs. per hour when
travelling--caused by the sharpness of the steam-blast in the chimney,
which blew a large proportion of the burning coke into the air.

The "Perseverance" was found unable to move at more than five or six
miles an hour; and it was withdrawn from the contest at an early period.
The "Rocket" was thus the only engine that had performed, and more than
performed, all the stipulated conditions; and its owners were declared to
be fully entitled to the prize of 500 pounds, which was awarded to the
Messrs. Stephenson and Booth accordingly.  And further, to show that the
engine had been working quite within its powers, Mr. Stephenson ordered
it to be brought upon the ground and detached from all incumbrances,
when, in making two trips, it was found to travel at the astonishing rate
of 35 miles an hour.

The "Rocket" had thus eclipsed the performances of all locomotive engines
that had yet been constructed, and outstripped even the sanguine
expectations of its constructors.  It satisfactorily answered the report
of Messrs. Walker and Rastrick; and established the efficiency of the
locomotive for working the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, and indeed
all future railways.  The "Rocket" showed that a new power had been born
into the world, full of activity and strength, with boundless capability
of work.  It was the simple but admirable contrivance of the steam-blast,
and its combination with the multitubular boiler, that at once gave the
locomotive a vigorous life, and secured the triumph of the railway
system. {219}  It has been well observed, that this wonderful ability to
increase and multiply its powers of performance with the emergency that
demands them, has made this giant engine the noblest creation of human
wit, the very lion among machines.  The success of the Rainhill
experiment, as judged by the public, may be inferred from the fact that
the shares of the Company immediately rose ten per cent., and nothing
more was heard of the proposed twenty-one fixed engines, engine-houses,
ropes, etc.  All this cumbersome apparatus was thenceforward effectually
disposed of.

Very different now was the tone of those directors who had distinguished
themselves by the persistency of their opposition to Mr. Stephenson's
plans.  Coolness gave way to eulogy, and hostility to unbounded offers of
friendship--after the manner of many men who run to the help of the
strong.  Deeply though the engineer had felt aggrieved by the conduct
pursued towards him during this eventful struggle, by some from whom
forbearance was to have been expected, he never entertained towards them
in after life any angry feelings; on the contrary, he forgave all.  But
though the directors afterwards passed unanimous resolutions eulogising
"the great skill and unwearied energy" of their engineer, he himself,
when speaking confidentially to those with whom he was most intimate,
could not help pointing out the difference between his "foul-weather and
fair-weather friends."  Mr. Gooch says of him that though naturally most
cheerful and kind-hearted in his disposition, the anxiety and pressure
which weighed upon his mind during the construction of the railway, had
the effect of making him occasionally impatient and irritable, like a
spirited horse touched by the spur; though his original good-nature from
time to time shone through it all.  When the line had been brought to a
successful completion, a very marked change in him became visible.  The
irritability passed away, and when difficulties and vexations arose they
were treated by him as matters of course, and with perfect composure and
cheerfulness.

                      [Picture: Railway versus Road]




CHAPTER XII.
OPENING OF THE LIVERPOOL AND MANCHESTER RAILWAY, AND EXTENSION OF THE
RAILWAY SYSTEM.


The directors of the Railway now began to see daylight; and they derived
encouragement from the skilful manner in which their engineer had
overcome the principal difficulties of the undertaking.  He had formed a
solid road over Chat Moss, and thus achieved one "impossibility;" and he
had constructed a locomotive that could run at a speed of 30 miles an
hour, thus vanquishing a still more formidable difficulty.

A single line of way was completed over Chat Moss by the 1st of January,
1830; and on that day, the "Rocket" with a carriage full of directors,
engineers, and their friends, passed along the greater part of the road
between Liverpool and Manchester.  Mr. Stephenson continued to direct his
close attention to the improvement of the details of the locomotive,
every successive trial of which proved more satisfactory.  In this
department he had the benefit of the able and unremitting assistance of
his son, who, in the workshops at Newcastle, directly superintended the
construction of the new engines required for the public working of the
railway.  He did not by any means rest satisfied with the success,
decided though it was, which had been achieved by the "Rocket."  He
regarded it but in the light of a successful experiment; and every
succeeding engine placed upon the railway exhibited some improvement on
its predecessors.  The arrangement of the parts, and the weight and
proportions of the engines, were altered, as the experience of each
successive day, or week, or month, suggested; and it was soon found that
the performances of the "Rocket" on the day of trial had been greatly
within the powers of the locomotive.

The first entire trip between Liverpool and Manchester was performed on
the 14th of June, 1830, on the occasion of a Board meeting being held at
the latter town.  The train was on this occasion drawn by the "Arrow,"
one of the new locomotives, in which the most recent improvements had
been adopted.  Mr. Stephenson himself drove the engine, and Captain
Scoresby, the circumpolar navigator, stood beside him on the foot-plate,
and minuted the speed of the train.  A great concourse of people
assembled at both termini, as well as along the line, to witness the
novel spectacle of a train of carriages dragged by an engine at a speed
of 17 miles an hour.  On the return journey to Liverpool in the evening,
the "Arrow" crossed Chat Moss at a speed of nearly 27 miles an hour,
reaching its destination in about an hour and a half.

In the mean time Mr. Stephenson and his assistants were diligently
occupied in making the necessary preliminary arrangements for the conduct
of the traffic against the time when the line should be ready for
opening.  The experiments made with the object of carrying on the
passenger traffic at quick velocities were of an especially harassing and
anxious character.  Every week, for nearly three months before the
opening, trial trips were made to Newton and back, generally with two or
three trains following each other, and carrying altogether from 200 to
300 persons.  These trips were usually made on Saturday afternoons, when
the works could be more conveniently stopped and the line cleared.  In
these experiments Mr. Stephenson had the able assistance of Mr. Henry
Booth, the secretary of the Company, who contrived many of the
arrangements in the rolling stock, not the least valuable of which was
his invention of the coupling screw, still in use on all passenger
railways.

At length the line was finished, and ready for the public ceremony of the
opening, which took place on the 15th September, 1830, and attracted a
vast number of spectators.  The completion of the railway was justly
regarded as an important national event, and the opening was celebrated
accordingly.  The Duke of Wellington, then Prime Minister, Sir Robert
Peel, and Mr. Huskisson, one of the members for Liverpool, were among the
number of distinguished public personages present.

Eight locomotive engines, constructed at the Stephenson works, had been
delivered and placed upon the line, the whole of which had been tried and
tested weeks before, with perfect success.  The several trains of
carriages accommodated in all about six hundred persons.  The procession
was cheered in its progress by thousands of spectators--through the deep
ravine of Olive Mount; up the Sutton incline; over the great Sankey
viaduct, beneath which a great multitude of persons had
assembled,--carriages filling the narrow lanes, and barges crowding the
river; the people below gazing with wonder and admiration at the trains
which sped along the line, far above their heads, at the rate of some 24
miles an hour.

At Parkside, about 17 miles from Liverpool, the engines stopped to take
in water.  Here a deplorable accident occurred to one of the illustrious
visitors, which threw a deep shadow over the subsequent proceedings of
the day.  The "Northumbrian" engine, with the carriage containing the
Duke of Wellington, was drawn up on one line, in order that the whole of
the trains on the other line might pass in review before him and his
party.  Mr. Huskisson had alighted from the carriage, and was standing on
the opposite road, along which the "Rocket" was observed rapidly coming
up.  At this moment the Duke of Wellington, between whom and Mr.
Huskisson some coolness had existed, made a sign of recognition, and held
out his hand.  A hurried but friendly grasp was given; and before it was
loosened there was a general cry from the bystanders of "Get in, get in!"
Flurried and confused, Mr. Huskisson endeavoured to get round the open
door of the carriage, which projected over the opposite rail; but in so
doing he was struck down by the "Rocket," and falling with his leg
doubled across the rail, the limb was instantly crushed.  His first
words, on being raised, were, "I have met my death," which unhappily
proved true, for he expired that same evening in the parsonage of Eccles.
It was cited at the time as a remarkable fact, that the "Northumbrian"
engine, driven by George Stephenson himself, conveyed the wounded body of
the unfortunate gentleman a distance of about 15 miles in 25 minutes, or
at the rate of 36 miles an hour.  This incredible speed burst upon the
world with the effect of a new and unlooked-for phenomenon.

The accident threw a gloom over the rest of the day's proceedings.  The
Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel expressed a wish that the
procession should return to Liverpool.  It was, however, represented to
them that a vast concourse of people had assembled at Manchester to
witness the arrival of the trains; that report would exaggerate the
mischief, if they did not complete the journey; and that a false panic on
that day might seriously affect future railway travelling and the value
of the Company's property.  The party consented accordingly to proceed to
Manchester, but on the understanding that they should return as soon as
possible, and refrain from further festivity.

As the trains approached Manchester, crowds of people were found covering
the banks, the slopes of the cuttings, and even the railway itself.  The
multitude, become impatient and excited by the rumours which reached
them, had outflanked the military, and all order was at an end.  The
people clambered about the carriages, holding on by the door-handles, and
many were tumbled over; but, happily no fatal accident occurred.  At the
Manchester station, the political element began to display itself;
placards about "Peterloo," etc., were exhibited, and brickbats were
thrown at the carriage containing the Duke.  On the carriages coming to a
stand in the Manchester station the Duke did not descend, but remained
seated, shaking hands with the women and children who were pushed forward
by the crowd.  Shortly after, the trains returned to Liverpool, which
they reached, after considerable interruptions, in the dark, at a late
hour.

On the following morning the railway was opened for public traffic.  The
first train of 140 passengers was booked and sent on to Manchester,
reaching it in the allotted period of two hours; and from that time the
traffic has regularly proceeded from day to day until now.

It is scarcely necessary that we should speak at any length of the
commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway.  Suffice it
to say that its success was complete and decisive.  The anticipations of
its projectors were, however, in many respects at fault.  They had based
their calculations almost entirely on the heavy merchandise traffic--such
as coal, cotton, and timber,--relying little upon passengers; whereas the
receipts derived from the conveyance of passengers far exceeded those
derived from merchandise of all kinds, which, for a time continued a
subordinate branch of the traffic.

For some time after the public opening of the line, Mr. Stephenson's
ingenuity continued to be employed in devising improved methods for
securing the safety and comfort of the travelling public.  Few are aware
of the thousand minute details which have to be arranged--the forethought
and contrivance that have to be exercised--to enable the traveller by
railway to accomplish his journey in safety.  After the difficulties of
constructing a level road over bogs, across valleys, and through deep
cuttings, have been overcome, the maintenance of the way has to be
provided for with continuous care.  Every rail with its fastenings must
be complete, to prevent risk of accident; and the road must be kept
regularly ballasted up to the level, to diminish the jolting of vehicles
passing over it at high speeds.  Then the stations must be protected by
signals observable from such a distance as to enable the train to be
stopped in event of an obstacle, such as a stopping or shunting train
being in the way.  For some years the signals employed on the Liverpool
railway were entirely given by men with flags of different colours
stationed along the line; there were no fixed signals, nor electric
telegraphs; but the traffic was nevertheless worked quite as safely as
under the more elaborate and complicated system of telegraphing which has
since been established.

From an early period it became obvious that the iron road as originally
laid down was far too weak for the heavy traffic which it had to carry.
The line was at first laid with fish-bellied rails weighing thirty-five
pounds to the yard, calculated only for horse-traffic, or, at most, for
engines like the "Rocket," of very light weight.  But as the power and
the weight of the locomotives were increased, it was found that such
rails were quite insufficient for the safe conduct of the traffic, and it
therefore became necessary to re-lay the road with heavier and stronger
rails at considerably increased expense.

The details of the carrying stock had in like manner to be settled by
experience.  Everything had, as it were, to be begun from the beginning.
The coal-waggon, it is true, served in some degree as a model for the
railway-truck; but the railway passenger-carriage was an entirely novel
structure.  It had to be mounted upon strong framing, of a peculiar kind,
supported on springs to prevent jolting.  Then there was the necessity
for contriving some method of preventing hard bumping of the
carriage-ends when the train was pulled up; and hence the contrivance of
buffer-springs and spring frames.  For the purpose of stopping the train,
brakes on an improved plan were also contrived, with new modes of
lubricating the carriage-axles, on which the wheels revolved at an
unusually high velocity.  In all these arrangements, Mr. Stephenson's
inventiveness was kept constantly on the stretch; and though many
improvements in detail have been effected since his time, the foundations
were then laid by him of the present system of conducting railway
traffic.  As an illustration of the inventive ingenuity which he
displayed in providing for the working of the Liverpool line, we may
mention his contrivance of the Self-acting Brake.  He early entertained
the idea that the momentum of the running train might itself be made
available for the purpose of checking its speed.  He proposed to fit each
carriage with a brake which should be called into action immediately on
the locomotive at the head of the train being pulled up.  The impetus of
the carriages carrying them forward, the buffer-springs would be driven
home and, at the same time, by a simple arrangement of the mechanism, the
brakes would be called into simultaneous action; thus the wheels would be
brought into a state of sledge, and the train speedily stopped.  This
plan was adopted by Mr. Stephenson before he left the Liverpool and
Manchester Railway, though it was afterwards discontinued; but it is a
remarkable fact, that this identical plan, with the addition of a
centrifugal apparatus, has quite recently been revived by M. Guerin, a
French engineer, and extensively employed on foreign railways, as the
best method of stopping railway trains in the most efficient manner and
in the shortest time.

Finally, Mr. Stephenson had to attend to the improvement of the power and
speed of the locomotive--always the grand object of his study,--with a
view to economy as well as regularity of working.  In the "Planet"
engine, delivered upon the line immediately subsequent to the public
opening, all the improvements which had up to that time been contrived by
him and his son were introduced in combination--the blast-pipe, the
tubular boiler, horizontal cylinders inside the smoke-box, the cranked
axle, and the fire-box firmly fixed to the boiler.  The first load of
goods conveyed from Liverpool to Manchester by the "Planet" was 80 tons
in weight, and the engine performed the journey against a strong head
wind in 2.5 hours.  On another occasion, the same engine brought up a
cargo of voters from Manchester to Liverpool, during a contested
election, within a space of sixty minutes!  The "Samson," delivered in
the following year, exhibited still further improvements, the most
important of which was that of _coupling_ the fore and hind wheels of the
engine.  By this means, the adhesion of the wheels on the rails was more
effectually secured, and thus the full hauling power of the locomotive
was made available.  The "Samson," shortly after it was placed upon the
line, dragged after it a train of waggons weighing 150 tons at a speed of
about 20 miles an hour; the consumption of coke being reduced to only
about a third of a pound per ton per mile.

The success of the Liverpool and Manchester experiment naturally excited
great interest.  People flocked to Lancashire from all quarters to see
the steam-coach running upon a railway at three times the speed of a
mailcoach, and to enjoy the excitement of actually travelling in the wake
of an engine at that incredible velocity.  The travellers returned to
their respective districts full of the wonders of the locomotive,
considering it to be the greatest marvel of the age.  Railways are
familiar enough objects now, and our children who grow up in their midst
may think little of them; but thirty years since it was an event in one's
life to see a locomotive, and to travel for the first time upon a public
railroad.

The practicability of railway locomotion being now proved, and its great
social and commercial advantages ascertained, the general extension of
the system was merely a question of time, money, and labour.  Although
the legislature took no initiative step in the direction of railway
extension, the public spirit and enterprise of the country did not fail
it at this juncture.  The English people, though they may be defective in
their capacity for organization, are strong in individualism; and not
improbably their admirable qualities in the latter respect detract from
their efficiency in the former.  Thus, in all times, their greatest
enterprises have not been planned by officialism and carried out upon any
regular system, but have sprung, like their constitution, their laws, and
their entire industrial arrangements, from the force of circumstances and
the individual energies of the people.

The mode of action in the case of railway extension, was characteristic
and national.  The execution of the new lines was undertaken entirely by
joint-stock associations of proprietors, after the manner of the Stockton
and Darlington, and Liverpool and Manchester companies.  These
associations are conformable to our national habits, and fit well into
our system of laws.  They combine the power of vast resources with
individual watchfulness and motives of self-interest; and by their means
gigantic undertakings, which otherwise would be impossible to any but
kings and emperors with great national resources at command, were carried
out by the co-operation of private persons.  And the results of this
combination of means and of enterprise have been truly marvellous.
Within the life of the present generation, the private citizens of
England engaged in railway extension have, in the face of Government
obstructions, and without taking a penny from the public purse, executed
a system of communications involving works of the most gigantic kind,
which, in their total mass, their cost, and their public utility, far
exceed the most famous national undertakings of any age or country.

Mr. Stephenson was of course, actively engaged in the construction of the
numerous railways now projected by the joint-stock companies.  The desire
for railway extension principally pervaded the manufacturing districts,
especially after the successful opening of the Liverpool and Manchester
line.  The commercial classes of the larger towns soon became eager for a
participation in the good which they had so recently derided.  Railway
projects were set on foot in great numbers, and Manchester became a
centre from which main lines and branches were started in all directions.
The interest, however, which attaches to these later schemes is of a much
less absorbing kind than that which belongs to the earlier history of the
railway and the steps by which it was mainly established.  We naturally
sympathise more keenly with the early struggles of a great principle, its
trials and its difficulties, than with its after stages of success; and,
however gratified and astonished we may be at its consequences, the
interest is in a great measure gone when its triumph has become a matter
of certainty.

The commercial results of the Liverpool and Manchester line were so
satisfactory, and indeed so greatly exceeded the expectations of its
projectors, that many of the abandoned projects of the speculative year
1825 were forthwith revived.  An abundant crop of engineers sprang up,
ready to execute railways of any extent.  Now that the Liverpool and
Manchester line had been made, and the practicability of working it by
locomotive power had been proved, it was as easy for engineers to make
railways and to work them, as it was for navigators to find America after
Columbus had made the first voyage.  Mr. Francis Giles attached himself
to the Newcastle and Carlisle and London and Southampton projects.  Mr.
Brunel appeared as engineer of the line projected between London and
Bristol; and Mr. Braithwaite, the builder of the "Novelty" engine, acted
in the same capacity for a railway from London to Colchester.

The first lines constructed subsequent to the opening of the Liverpool
and Manchester Railway, were mostly in connection with it, and
principally in the county of Lancaster.  Thus a branch was formed from
Bolton to Leigh, and another from Leigh to Kenyon, where it formed a
junction with the main line between Liverpool and Manchester.  Branches
to Wigan on the north, and to Runcorn Gap and Warrington on the south of
the same line, were also formed.  A continuation of the latter, as far
south as Birmingham, was shortly after projected under the name of the
Grand Junction Railway.

The last mentioned line was projected as early as the year 1824, when the
Liverpool and Manchester scheme was under discussion, and Mr. Stephenson
then published a report on the subject.  The plans were deposited, but
the bill was thrown out through the opposition of the landowners and
canal proprietors.  When engaged in making the survey, Stephenson called
upon some of the landowners in the neighbourhood of Nantwich to obtain
their assent, and was greatly disgusted to learn that the agents of the
canal companies had been before him, and described the locomotive to the
farmers as a most frightful machine, emitting a breath as poisonous as
the fabled dragon of old; and telling them that if a bird flew over the
district where one of these engines passed, it would inevitably drop down
dead!  The application for the bill was renewed in 1826, and again
failed; and at length it was determined to wait the issue of the
Liverpool and Manchester experiment.  The act was eventually obtained in
1833.

When it was proposed to extend the advantages of railways to the
population of the midland and southern counties of England, an immense
amount of alarm was created in the minds of the country gentlemen.  They
did not relish the idea of private individuals, principally resident in
the manufacturing districts, invading their domains; and they everywhere
rose up in arms against the "new-fangled roads."  Colonel Sibthorpe
openly declared his hatred of the "infernal railroads," and said that he
"would rather meet a highwayman, or see a burglar on his premises, than
an engineer!"  The impression which prevailed in the rural districts was,
that fox-covers and game-preserves would be seriously prejudiced by the
formation of railroads; that agricultural communications would be
destroyed, land thrown out of cultivation, landowners and farmers reduced
to beggary, the poor-rates increased through the number of persons thrown
out of employment by the railways,--and all this in order that Liverpool,
Manchester, and Birmingham shopkeepers and manufacturers might establish
a monstrous monopoly in railway traffic.

The inhabitants of even some of the large towns were thrown into a state
of consternation by the proposal to provide them with the accommodation
of a railway.  The line from London to Birmingham would naturally have
passed close to the handsome town of Northampton, and was so projected;
but the inhabitants of the shire, urged on by the local press, and
excited by men of influence and education, opposed the project, and
succeeded in forcing the promoters, in their survey of the line, to pass
the town at a distance.  When the first railway through Kent was
projected, the line was laid out so as to pass by Maidstone, the county
town.  But it had not a single supporter amongst the townspeople, whilst
the landowners for many miles round combined to oppose it.  In like
manner, the line projected from London to Bristol was strongly denounced
by the inhabitants of the intermediate districts; and when the first bill
was thrown out, Eton assembled under the presidency of the Marquis of
Chandos to congratulate the country upon its defeat.

During the time that the works of the Liverpool and Manchester line were
in progress, our engineer was consulted respecting a short railway
proposed to be formed between Leicester and Swannington, for the purpose
of opening up a communication between the town of Leicester and the
coal-fields in the western part of the county.  The projector of this
undertaking had some difficulty in getting the requisite capital
subscribed for, the Leicester townspeople who had money being for the
most part interested in canals.  George Stephenson was invited to come
upon the ground and survey the line.  He did so, and then the projector
told him of the difficulty he had in finding subscribers to the concern.
"Give me a sheet," said Stephenson, "and I will raise the money for you
in Liverpool."  The engineer was as good as his word, and in a short time
the sheet was returned with the subscription complete.  Mr. Stephenson
was then asked to undertake the office of engineer for the line, but his
answer was that he had thirty miles of railway in hand, which were enough
for any engineer to attend to properly.  Was there any person he could
recommend?  "Well," said he, "I think my son Robert is competent to
undertake the thing."  Would Mr. Stephenson be answerable for him?  "Oh,
yes, certainly."  And Robert Stephenson, at twenty-seven years of age,
was installed engineer of the line accordingly.

           [Picture: Map of Leicester and Swannington Railway]

The requisite Parliamentary powers having been obtained, Robert
Stephenson proceeded with the construction of the railway, about 16 miles
in length, towards the end of 1830.  The works were comparatively easy,
excepting at the Leicester end, where the young engineer encountered his
first stiff bit of tunnelling.  The line passed underground for 1.75
mile, and 500 yards of its course lay in loose dry running sand.  The
presence of this material rendered it necessary for the engineer first to
construct a wooden tunnel to support the soil while the brickwork was
being executed.  This proved sufficient, and the whole was brought to a
successful termination within a reasonable time.  While the works were in
progress, Robert kept up a regular correspondence with his father at
Liverpool, consulting him on all points in which his greater experience
was likely to be of service.  Like his father, Robert was very observant,
and always ready to seize opportunity by the forelock.  It happened that
the estate of Snibston, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was advertised for sale;
and the young engineer's experience as a coal-viewer and practical
geologist suggested to his mind that coal was most probably to be found
underneath.  He communicated his views to his father on the subject.  The
estate lay in the immediate neighbourhood of the railway; and if the
conjecture proved correct, the finding of coal would necessarily greatly
enhance its value.  He accordingly requested his father to come over to
Snibston and look at the property, which he did; and after a careful
inspection of the ground, he arrived at the same conclusion as his son.

The large manufacturing town of Leicester, about fourteen miles distant,
had up to that time been exclusively supplied with coal brought by canal
from Derbyshire; and Mr. Stephenson saw that the railway under
construction from Swannington to Leicester, would furnish him with a
ready market for any coals which he might find at Snibston.  Having
induced two of his Liverpool friends to join him in the venture, the
Snibston estate was purchased in 1831: and shortly after, Stephenson
removed his home from Liverpool to Alton Grange, for the purpose of
superintending the sinking of the pit.  He travelled thither by gig with
his wife,--his favourite horse "Bobby" performing the journey by easy
stages.

Sinking operations were immediately begun, and proceeded satisfactorily
until the old enemy, water, burst in upon the workmen, and threatened to
drown them out.  But by means of efficient pumping-engines, and the
skilful casing of the shaft with segments of cast-iron--a process called
"tubbing," {234} which Mr. Stephenson was the first to adopt in the
Midland Counties--it was eventually made water-tight, and the sinking
proceeded.  When a depth of 166 feet had been reached, a still more
formidable difficulty presented itself--one which had baffled former
sinkers in the neighbourhood, and deterred them from further operations.
This was a remarkable bed of whinstone or green-stone, which had
originally been poured out as a sheet of burning lava over the denuded
surface of the coal measures; indeed it was afterwards found that it had
turned to cinders one part of the seam of coal with which it had come in
contact.  The appearance of this bed of solid rock was so unusual a
circumstance in coal mining, that some experienced sinkers urged
Stephenson to proceed no further, believing the occurrence of the dyke at
that point to be altogether fatal to his enterprise.  But, with his faith
still firm in the existence of coal underneath, he fell back on his old
motto of "Persevere."  He determined to go on boring; and down through
the solid rock he went until, twenty-two feet lower, he came upon the
coal measures.  In the mean time, however, lest the boring at that point
should prove unsuccessful, he had commenced sinking another pair of
shafts about a quarter of a mile west of the "fault;" and after about
nine months' labour he reached the principal seam, called the "main
coal."

The works were then opened out on a large scale, and Mr. Stephenson had
the pleasure and good fortune to send the first train of main coal to
Leicester by railway.  The price was immediately reduced to about 8s. a
ton, effecting a pecuniary saving to the inhabitants of the town of about
40,000 pounds per annum, or equivalent to the whole amount then collected
in Government taxes and local rates, besides giving an impetus to the
manufacturing prosperity of the place, which has continued down to the
present day.  The correct principles upon which the mining operations at
Snibston were conducted offered a salutary example to the neighbouring
colliery owners.  The numerous improvements there introduced were freely
exhibited to all, and they were afterwards reproduced in many forms all
over the Midland Counties, greatly to the advantage of the mining
interest.

Nor was Mr. Stephenson less attentive to the comfort and well-being of
those immediately dependent upon him--the workpeople of the Snibston
colliery and their families.  Unlike many of those large employers who
have "sprung from the ranks," he was one of the kindest and most
indulgent of masters.  He would have a fair day's work for a fair day's
wages; but he never forgot that the employer had his duties as well as
his rights.  First of all, he attended to the proper home accommodation
of his workpeople.  He erected a village of comfortable cottages, each
provided with a snug little garden.  He was also instrumental in erecting
a church adjacent to the works, as well as Church schools for the
education of the colliers' children; and with that broad catholicity of
sentiment which distinguished him, he further provided a chapel and a
school-house for the use of the Dissenting portion of the colliers and
their families--an example of benevolent liberality which was not without
a salutary influence upon the neighbouring employers.

              [Picture: Stephenson's House at Alton Grange]

                       [Picture: Robert Stephenson]




CHAPTER XIII.
ROBERT STEPHENSON CONSTRUCTS THE LONDON AND BIRMINGHAM RAILWAY.


Of the numerous extensive projects which followed close upon the
completion of the Liverpool and Manchester line, and the Locomotive
triumph at Rainhill, that of a railway between London and Birmingham was
the most important.  The scheme originated at the latter place in 1830.
Two committees were formed, and two plans were proposed.  One was of a
line to London by way of Oxford, and the other by way of Coventry.  The
simple object of the promoters of both schemes being to secure the
advantages of railway communication with the metropolis, they wisely
determined to combine their strength to secure it.  They then resolved to
call George Stephenson to their aid, and requested him to advise them as
to the two schemes which were before them.  After a careful examination
of the country, Mr. Stephenson reported in favour of the Coventry route,
when the Lancashire gentlemen, who were the principal subscribers to the
project, having every confidence in his judgment, supported his decision,
and the line recommended by him was adopted accordingly.

At the meeting of the promoters held at Birmingham to determine on the
appointment of the engineer for the railway, there was a strong party in
favour of associating with Mr. Stephenson a gentleman with whom he had
been brought into serious collision in the course of the Liverpool and
Manchester undertaking.  When the offer was made to him that he should be
joint engineer with the other, he requested leave to retire and consider
the proposal with his son.  The father was in favour of accepting it.
His struggle heretofore had been so hard that he could not bear the idea
of missing so promising an opportunity of professional advancement.  But
the son, foreseeing the jealousies and heartburnings which the joint
engineership would most probably create, recommended his father to
decline the connection.  George adopted the suggestion, and returning to
the Committee, he announced to them his decision; on which the promoters
decided to appoint him the engineer of the undertaking in conjunction
with his son.

This line, like the Liverpool and Manchester, was very strongly opposed,
especially by the landowners.  Numerous pamphlets were published, calling
on the public to "beware of the bubbles," and holding up the promoters of
railways to ridicule.  They were compared to St. John Long and similar
quacks, and pronounced fitter for Bedlam than to be left at large.  The
canal proprietors, landowners, and road trustees, made common cause
against them.  The failure of railways was confidently predicted--indeed,
it was elaborately attempted to be proved that they had failed; and it
was industriously spread abroad that the locomotive engines, having been
found useless and highly dangerous on the Liverpool and Manchester line,
were immediately to be abandoned in favour of horses--a rumour which the
directors of the Company thought it necessary publicly to contradict.

Public meetings were held in all the counties through which the line
would pass between London and Birmingham, at which the project was
denounced, and strong resolutions against it were passed.  The attempt
was made to conciliate the landlords by explanations, but all such
efforts proved futile, the owners of nearly seven-eighths of the land
being returned as dissentients.  "I remember," said Robert Stephenson,
describing the opposition, "that we called one day on Sir Astley Cooper,
the eminent surgeon, in the hope of overcoming his aversion to the
railway.  He was one of our most inveterate and influential opponents.
His country house at Berkhampstead was situated near the intended line,
which passed through part of his property.  We found a courtly,
fine-looking old gentleman, of very stately manners, who received us
kindly and heard all we had to say in favour of the project.  But he was
quite inflexible in his opposition to it.  No deviation or improvement
that we could suggest had any effect in conciliating him.  He was opposed
to railways generally, and to this in particular.  'Your scheme,' said
he, 'is preposterous in the extreme.  It is of so extravagant a
character, as to be positively absurd.  Then look at the recklessness of
your proceedings!  You are proposing to cut up our estates in all
directions for the purpose of making an unnecessary road.  Do you think
for one moment of the destruction of property involved by it?  Why,
gentlemen, if this sort of thing be permitted to go on, you will in a
very few years _destroy the noblesse_!'  We left the honourable baronet
without having produced the slightest effect upon him, excepting perhaps,
it might be, increased exasperation against our scheme.  1 could not help
observing to my companions as we left the house, 'Well, it is really
provoking to find one who has been made a "Sir" for cutting that wen out
of George the Fourth's neck, charging us with contemplating the
destruction of the _noblesse_, because we propose to confer upon him the
benefits of a railroad.'"