The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-29 00:00:00

Completion of the Charing•cross Railway,

Formal notice was on Saturday given to the
Railway Department of the Board of Trade that
this important metropolitan railway would be com-
pleted by the Ist of November, and requesting that
the official inspection should be made by the officers
previous to the opening of the line for public traffic.
The time specified in the contracts for the comple-
tion of the works has already expired, and the delay
in opening has been solely attributable to the slow
progress made in the preparation and delivery of
the ironwork for the bridges and stations. For
nearly 12 months the brickwork has been completed,
the rails and permanent way laid, and, with the
exception of some of the iron bridges, everything
has been ready for the accommodation of that traffic
which for months past has blocked up the leading
thoroughfares from the 'Vest-end to the City, and
which this railway will most conveniently divert
from its present channel. The most strenuous ex-
ertions have been made during the past few weeks
by Mr. Hawkshaw, the engineer, to stir up the con-
tractors for the ironwork; but the dispute in the
iron districts has retarded the delivery of a large
quantity of:the girders and other portions required
for the Charing-cross Station. It is probable that
the whole of the works connected with this large
and handsome station and the hotel will not be
finished by the Ist of November; bat, as the whole
of the permanent way will be ready by that time,
it has been thought advisable to open at once,
leaving the completion of the roof and some other
ornamental works, which can be carried on without
obstructing the traffic, to be proceeded with after-
wards. Had the effortsof the engineer been seconded
with the vigour and energy which the directors had
a right to expect from the contractors, the whole
work would have been opened in a finished and
completed condition by the middle of the present
month. Tho bridge over the Thames has been tested
with very satisfactory results, a deflection of not
more than three-eighths of an inch taking place in
the first span of the Surrey side under a load equal
to 700 tons. The hotel, which will be over the
offices at the station, is being pushed forward with
rapidity, and has now reached beyond the second
story. The hotel is being built of stone and white
brick with terracotta ornaments, and is from the
design of Mr. Edward Barry. The building will
have a frontage in the Strand of about 300 feet in
length, and it will be set back 100 feet clear from
the roadway, leaving ample room for approaches to
and from the station without interfering with the
accommodation for the ordinary traffic. In addition
to the front facing tho Strand there will be a wing
on the western side of Villiers-street.
The Strand
front will have a tower at each end, and the roof
will be in the French style, similar in manY respects
to that of the Grosvenor and Westminster Palace
Hotels. The station has a bold semicircular span
of 170 feet, constructed of light ironwork and glass,
and will be furnished with suitable platforms for
the short City traffic, and for the main lino of the
South-Eastern Railway. There are four lines of
rails on the bridge, but these expand on the Cher-
i ingset OES side into seven lines, which are included
, within the station. The accommodation for foot
passengers across the river will be provided for by
means of a projecting pathway seven feet in width
on each side of the bridge, and the steamboat pas-
sengers will still have benefit eth
--- •Ja, as before, of a
pier at Hengerford. The Signal posts and the pots
at, the junction u ii h the South-Western Reil way in
' the Waterloo-road were tested and adjusted or
) Saturday, and from the excellent manner in which
, the whole of the works had been carried out by Mr.
Wythes, the contractor, there is no doubt that the
report of the Government inspector will be of such
a character as to admit of the opening of the rail-
,
way by the time specified.
....

" Tou BRowtsr," tbut is Major Hughes, of the
19th Milcile,4ex, proposes that gymnastic exercises ehaii be
introduced amongst the Volunteers.