The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-09 00:00:00

T.H. SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1830

GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY
MEETING-(THIS DAY).

A Special General Meeting of the Directors and Proprie-
tors of the Great Western Railway Company took place this
day, pursuant to adjournment, for the purpose of taking into
consideration the Reports of Mr. Hawkshaw and Mr.
Nicholcs Wood, who had been directed to go over the
entire line, and give their opinion upon the working of the
entire system, the increased width of gunge, and continuous
timber bearings, &c., &c.
At twelve o'clock precisely, WILLIAM R. U. G. Sims,
Esq., Chairman, accompanied by a large body of Directors,
the Secretaries, Engineer (Mr. Brunel), Solicitor, and other
officers of the Company, entered the room, which was at the
time nearly full.
The SECRETARY having read tho advertisement calling
the meeting,
The CHAIRMAN said it was hardly necessary to go into
any details with reference to the business before the meet-
ing. He would, in the first instance, call upon the Secre-
tary to read the report of the opinion formed upon the two
reports of Mr. Hawkshaw and Mr. Wood, by the Directors
of the Company.
The SECRETARY then proceeded to read the report agreed
upon by the Directors. It remarked upon the opinion ex-
pressed by Mr. Wood as to the advantages of the wider
guage, and the difficulty of obtaining a higer rate of speed
than that which can be attained on other Railways in con-
sequence of atmospheric resistance. It stated further, that
the Directors themselves had lately made experiments
on the Railway, accompanied by some scientific men ;
that fie average speed attained by the North Star engine,
with carriages and passengers weighing forty-three tons, was
38 miles, and at full speed 4.5 miles, consuming .951 b. (or a
little less than 11b.) of coke per ton per mile, instead of
2.761 b., or about 2416. per ton per mile, as stated by Mr.
Wood, and that the discrepancy arose from a mecnanical
defect in the engine.—(Great cheering.) The report con-
cluded by stating that the Directors had agreed to give up
the plan of securing the bearers by piles, but were decidedly
of opinion that the wide guage, with a greater scantling of
timber and heavier rails, should be continued.—( Much
cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN, after the report had been read, said it
was desirable that the opinions of some of the Propriet Irs
should be obtained with respect to the reports which were
now before them.
After a pause
Mr. RUSSELL GURNEY said be felt reluctant to obtrude
himself if any other gentleman had a resolution to propose.
He, like many other Proprietors, hail heretofore rested sa-
tisfied with the general management of the Directors, and
had placed implicit confidence in their judgment. But it
must have been felt by all that the time. was at length
arrived when some inquiry should take place into the
truth of certain charges of mismanagement which had
been very generally circulated. He had there-
fore, satisfied himself by personal inquiry, as to the
truth of these charges. He had read all the pro-
e!dings, and these two reports, and had arrived at
the conclusion that the confidence originally reposed in the
Directors was thoroughly well foundd, and fully justified
by the course they had pursued.---( Cheers.) If any ad-
ditional proof were wanting it would be found in the report
of the documents which had just been read. It was im-
possible to have listened to it without being satisfied that
they had paid the utmost attention to the interests of the
Proprietary—that they were ready to adopt any improve-
ments that might be suggested, while at the same time
they evinced proper firmness, whatever obloquy they
ireght be subjected to, to adhere to which they
were convinced would be productive of ultimate benefit.
It was admitted by all that the time was arrived when the
question must be set at rest one way or another. If they
had any regard for the good working of the railway--if
they had any regard for their own interests, some decision
should now be come to by the body of Proprietors at large,
and the Directors should be apprised whether they pos-
sessed the confidence of the Proprietors, and were supported
by them in the views they had adopted. There were, he
be:ieved, now only two important matters in dispute—the
width of guage, and the continuous timber bearings. The
late system adopted of continuous timber supports had
he: n, on its first introduction, quite as viclently assailed
as the plan of the wide guage. To prove that stone
blocks were not so well calculated for the purposes
of railways, he need only advert to the Dublin and
Kingston Company, who had given up stone blocks on
the ground that such expenses were entailed by their use
as to render it impossible to continue their use. A similar
result was to be found on the Ulster, the Croydon, and the
Bolton and Bury Railways, the latter of which was under
the superintendence of Mr. Hawkshaw, who in his report had
not said one wcrd upon the subject. Mr. Wood had recom-
mended the adoption of the wooden blocks, and Mr. Hawk-
shaw,by hi- silence, must be supposed to be tacitly of the same
opinion. With respect to the width of the guage, he had
to contend against the opinion of Mr. Hawkshaw, who re-
commended that the whole of the rails should be pulled up,
and that the works should be commenced again. He had
looked through Mr. Hawkshew's Report with great care
and anxiety, but he could see no reason for his
arriving at the conclusion he had done. Speed was
the object of all Railways, and that, in his opinion,
could not be accomplished by the plan laid down by Mr.
Hawkshaw. He had not only had to contend against the
authority of Mr. Ilawkshaw, but that of Mr. Wood, who
had never mended a narrow guage. Great advantages hail
been gained by the Directors by the adoption of the wide
guage, and they would be foolish indeed if they now gave
it up. Then, with respect to atmospheric resistance, that,
it had been clearly shown, could be overcome by the con-
sumption of a little more coke. One great objection against
the wide guage was the great expense it entailed on the Corn-
peny, but that expense havingin a great measure been incurred
already, very little would be saved by the adoption of the
narrow guage.—(Cheers.) It was said the wide guage
caused accidents—that he denied in toto ; for, if the causes
of accidents on other Railways were looked to, it would
seem that those circumstances which had caused accidents
on other lines had been attended with no danger on the
Great Western. Upon a full review of the conduct of the
Directors, he thought they had preserved a proper and
sound course, and that they ought to be supported in it by
the Shareholders.—(Cheers.) As great mischief and irk;ury
arose to the property of the Company, by the frequent
discussions that had taken place as to the course to be
adopted in the further construction of the line, he should
conclude by proposing the following resolution :—" That
this Report be approved and adopted ; and that this meet-
ing, being deeply sensible of the disastrous consequences
that inevitably arise, by re?eated discussions as to the
'course in future to be adopted, do request the Directors
to adhere to the principles they have laid down in their
Report, as most conducive to the interest of the Pro-
prietors."—(Cheers.)
Mr. HOYES seconded the amendment. He thought
there could be very little difficulty in adopting the reports
of Mr. Hawkshaw and Mr. Woods, because they had been
confirmed by every engineer in the kingdom, with the
solitary exception of Mr. Brunel. They had hitherto pur-
sued a plan which everybody acknowledged to be bad.—
(Cries of " No, no.") As regarded speed, he considered it
to be a most extraordinary thing that, although
the Great Western had now been six months
in operation, a greater speed had not been attained on
that line than on the Liverpool and Manchester.
Mr BABBAGE said he had not merely looked at the
undertaking in a mechanical point of view, but had
looked at it with respect to its utility and as
regarded the ultimate profit.—(Hear, hear.) -If
other difficulties besides mechanical difficulties were put
in the way, it would require a very comprehensive
mind indeed to get over them, and, therefore, he
always attributed higher skill, and gave greater
praise, to him who happily got over the economical
than to him, who overcame what were called mechanical
difficulties. Mechanical difficulties, no doubt, might be
easily got over, but the question was at what cost ?
.._(Hear, hear.) If the Proprietors wished to have
opinions, they ought to have the opinions of the
men most eminent in the profession. They hail heard
that some eminent men had. abstained from giving their
opinions, and they had assigned their reasons. Now
he must say, • that no notions of delicacy need
or ought to prevent any professional man giving an
opinion, when that opinion was founded upon, and could
be supported by, measures. With respect to the two
reports before the meeting, he must say, in the first place,
it had never come to his knowledge that Mr. Hawkshaw
was an engineer. He was most unwilling to say any thing
of a gentleman that he was unacquainted with ;
but here was a Report, and, in the face of it,
he would say that it was utterly unfit for their
guid -nee. There was such a want of those principles in
the Report, which ought to guide a scientific man, that
would induce him (Mr. B.) to throw it overboard altogether.
With respect to the atmospheric resistance about which so
much had been said, nobody ever hearth of its being taken
into calculation before. The laws of the resistance of the
atmosphere to bodies moving through it, had been lone since
ascertained, and these laws—like other laws of Nature
—were immutable. The resistance was as to the
square of the velocity.—(Several voices—" We can't hear
a word. Speak up.") He would now say a word with
respect to the performance of the engines, and he would
first refer to Mr. Hawkshaw, who had himself constructed
a railway.—( Hear, hear.) He would probably consider
that what he had done on that line was right. Mr.
Hawkshaw's railway was one of the most expen-
sive in the kingdom, for it bad cost 65,0001.
per mile.—(Laughter.) Mr. H. had also adopted the
continuous bearings on his line, and it was known that the
gradients of that line were extremely bad. Mr. Hawkshaw
reported that on that railway the speed was 23 3-10