Part 4 (2/2)
A writer in _Notes and Queries_ re two journeys northward in 183031, I thought the readers ht be a, then in its infancy:-
”Monday, Oct 11, 1830, Darlington-Walked to the railroad, which co about twenty-five wagons, each containing about two tons and a half of coals
A single horse draws four such wagons I went to Stockton at four o'clock by coach on the railroad; one horse draws about twenty-four passengers I did not like it at all, for the road is very ugly in appearance, and, being only one line with occasional turns for passing, ere soed to wait, and at other ti eleven miles, and they are often more than three hours There is no other conveyance, as the cheapness has driven the stage-coaches off the road I only paid 1s for elevenand disagreeable noise”
On Sept 1, 1831, he remarks:-”The railroad to Stockton has been i down a second line”
”Wednesday, Oct 27, 1830-Left Manchester at ten o'clock by the railroad for Liverpool We enter upon it by a staircase through the office from the street at present, but there will, I suppose, be an open entrance, by-and-bye; they have built extensive warehouses adjoining We were two hours and a half going to Liverpool (about thirty-two ood deal overrated, for, prejudice apart, I think most people will allow that expedition is the only real advantage gained; the road itself is ugly, though curious and wonderful as a work of art Near Liverpool it is cut very deeply through rock, and there is a long tunnel which leads into a yard where oers to the inns The tunnel is too low for the engines at present in use, and the carriages are drawn through it by donkeys The engines are calculated to draw fifty tonsI cannot say that I at all liked it; the speed was too great to be pleasant, and iddy, and certainly it is not ses stop or go on, a very violent jolting takes place, froether I have heard many say they prefer a horse-coach, but the majority are in favour of the railroad, and they will, no doubt, knock up the coaches”
”Monday, Sept 12, 1831-Left Manchester by coach at ten o'clock, and arrived in Liverpool at half-past twoThe railroad is not supposed to answer vastly well, but they are ton, which will hurt the Sankey Navigation, and throw 1,500 men out of employment; these people are said to be loud in their execrations of it, and to threaten revenge It is certain the proprietors do not all feel easy about it, as one living at Warrington has deter to Liverpool by our coach if there had been rooladly sell his shares A dividend of 4 per cent had been paid for six e of goods, 10s for thirty-two miles, which appears very dear to me”
CRABB ROBINSON'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY
”June 9th, 1833-(Liverpool) At twelve o'clock I got upon an omnibus, and was driven up a steep hill to the place where the steaes start We travelled in the second class of carriages There were five carriages linked together, in each of which were placed open seats for the travellers, four or five facing each other; but not all were full; and, besides, there was a close carriage, and also a s for the thirty-onewent on so rapidly that I had scarcely the power of observation The road begins at an excavation through a rock, and is to a certain extent insulated froes, and frequently intersected by ordinary roads Not quite a perfect level is preserved On setting off there is a slight jolt, arising froe, but, once in motion, we proceeded as sentle, and is constantly varying The machine produces little smoke or steam First in order is the tall chi reservoir of water; then a vehicle for coals; and then coes If all the seats had been filled, our train would have carried about 150 passengers; but a gentleman assured me at Chester that he ith a thousand persons to Newton fair There ines then I have heard since that two thousand persons or more went to and from the fair that day
But two thousand only, at three shi+llings each ould have produced 600! But, after all, the expense is so great that it is considered uncertain whether the establishment will ultimately remunerate the proprietors Yet I have heard that it already yields the shareholders a dividend of nine per cent And Bills have passed for hae it will produce in the intercourse! One conveyance will take between 100 and 200 passengers, and the journey will be made in a forenoon! Of the rapidity of the journey I had better experience on es included, it may certainly be made at the rate of twenty miles an hour
”I should have observed before that the most remarkable movements of the journey are those in which trains pass one another The rapidity is such that there is no recognizing the features of a traveller On several occasions, the noise of the passing engine was like the whizzing of a rocket Guards are stationed in the road, holding flags, to give notice to the drivers when to stop Near Newton I noticed an inscription recording the memorable death of Huskisson”
-_Crabb Robinson's Diary_
EARLY AMERICAN RAILWAY ENTERPRISE
Mr C F Adain and Proble that the South Carolina Railroad was the first ever constructed in any country with a definite plan of operating it exclusively by locomotive steam power But in America there was not-indeed, from the very circumstances of the case, there could not have been-any such dramatic occasions and surprises as those witnessed at Liverpool in 1829 and 1830 Nevertheless, the people of Charleston were pressing close on the heels of those at Liverpool, for on the 15th of January, 1831-exactly fourof the Manchester and Liverpool road-the first anniversary of the South Carolina Railroad was celebrated with due honor A queer-looking machine, the outline of which was sufficient in itself to prove that the inventor owed nothing to Stephenson, had been constructed at the West Point Foundry Works in New York during the summer of 1830-a first attempt to supply that locomotive pohich the Board had, with sublime confidence in possibilities, unani January should alone be used on the road The naiven to this very sienius The idea of the ested itself in America The _Best Friend_, therefore, was supplied with a common vertical boiler, 'in form of an old-fashi+oned porter-bottle, the furnace at the bottom surrounded ater, and all filled inside of e call teats running out from the sides and tops' By means of the projections or 'teats' a portion at least of the necessary heating surface was provided
The cylinder was at the front of the platform, the rear end of which was occupied by the boiler, and it was fed by able researches of an enthusiast on railroad construction, we have an account of the perfor American locomotives, and the pictures hich Mr W H Brown has enriched his book would alone render it both curious and valuable Prior to the stockholders' anniversary of January 15th, 1831, it see at the rate of sixteen to twenty-one ers in some four or five cars, and without the cars, thirty to thirty-five miles an hour' The stockholders' day was, however, a special occasion, and the papers of the following Monday, for it happened on a Saturday, gave the following account of it:-
”Notice having been previously given, inviting the stockholders, about one hundred and fifty asses in Line Street, together with a nuht previous had been stor a postponeine had been taken to pieces for cleaning, but upon the asse of the company she was put in order, the cylinders new packed and at the word the apparatus was ready for movement The first trip was perfore, fitted for the occasion, upon which was a detachment of United States troops and a field-piece which had been politely granted by Major Belton for the occasionThe nuht dohich was performed in two trips, was estimated at upward of two hundred A band of ood hu, however, before the _Best Friend_ carief
Naturally, and even necessarily, inasmuch as it was a South Carolina institution, it was provided with a negro fireman It so happened that this functionary while in the discharge of his duties was much annoyed by the escape of steathe use of steae of a tee to effect a radical remedy of this cause of annoyance He not only fastened down the valve lever, but furtherupon it The consequences were hardly less disastrous to the _Best Friend_ than to the chattel fireman Neither were of much further practical use Before this mishap chanced, however in June, 1831, a second locomotive, called the _West Point_, had arrived in Charleston, and this last was constructed on the principle of Stephenson's _Rocket_ In its general aspect, indeed, it greatly resembled that already faestive cut representing a trial trip made with this locomotive on March 5th, 1831 The nerves of the Charleston people had been a good deal disturbed and their confidence in steam as a safe motor shaken by the disaster which had befallen the _Best Friend_ Mindful of this fact, and very properly solicitous for the safety of their guests, the directors now had recourse to a very sienious expedient
They put what they called a 'barrier car' between the locoer coaches of the train This barrier car consisted of a platform on wheels upon which were piled six bales of cotton A fortification was thus provided between the passengers and any future negro sitting on the safety valve We are also assured that 'the safety valve being out of the reach of any person but the engineer, will contribute to the prevention of accidents in the future, such as befel the _Best Friend_'
Judging by the cut which represents the train, this occasion must have been even more marked for its 'hilarity' than the earlier one which has already been described Besides the locoer coaches In the first of these was a negro band, in general appearance very closely rese the etically perfor on musical instruments of various familiar descriptions Then follow three cars full of the saddest looking white passengers, ere present as ere informed to the number of one hundred and seventeen The excursion was, however, highly successful, and two-and-a-quarter ht ood horse would trot for the same distance