The Sun.
London, England, 1838-10-30 00:00:00

(From the Edinburgh Advertiser.)
On Thursday last, the 18th instant, a meeting of gen-
tlemen friendly to this important line of communication,
forming the last link of the great chain from London to
Edinburgh, and the only one remaining to be executed,
was held in the Royal Hotel. On the motion of Sir
JAMES GIBSON CRAIG, the Right Hon. the Lord Provost
was called to the chair, and stated shortly the object of the
meeting, and the great importance of the proposed under-
taking, not only to the citizens of Edinburgh, but to the
nation at large.
Mr. SMITH, W.S., of Smith and Kinnear, in the
absence of Mr. C. F. Davidson, W.S., then read to the
meeting a very able Report by the celebrated Mr. George
Stephenson, who had been appointed by the Newcastle
Committee to examine into the merits of the different
lines which had been proposed—namely, Ist. The line
along the coast by Haddington, Dunbar, Berwick, Aln-
wick, and Morpeth, to the Town's Moor, Newcastle ;
2d. The line over the Carter Fell, uniting with Edin-
burgh and Glasgow, by lines meeting at Peebles, and then
by a joint line through Galashiels, Melrose, Jedburgh, and
across the Carter ; and, lastly, a line by Kelso and Wooler.
To the first of these Mr. Stephenson gives the decided
preference, as being indeed the only one at all adapted by
the levels of the country for the application of locomotive
engines ; while the line by the Carter Fell presents enor-
Tons difficulties, and works of excavation, embankment,
and tunnelling of such magnitude, that he himself, ha says,
can scarcely form a right conception of them ; and, after
all; leaving such acclivities in the line, as far exceed any
that occur between London and Newcastle, and such as
the locomotive engine could with great diffi,:ulty surmount,
and never in such a vvay,as could be depended on at all
seasons of the year. In regard to the works necessary, he
enters into some farther particulars, stating that they far
exceed anything that has ever been attempted in this
country or the world.

On examining the Wooler line also, by Rothbury and
Wooler to the Tweed, Mr. Stephenson found the country
so uneven and presenting so many prominent and con-
tinuous ridges, that he did not hesitate to consider it quite
impracticable to carry a railway through it with locomo-
tive inclinations; and the works to be executed are such as
have never yet been attempted. The coast line, there-
fore, though somewhat longer, is the only one which he
could recommend, being a line most easily executed in
every part—presenting nearly an uninterrupted level the
whole way, and no acclivity exceeding 18 feet in a mile,
and passing through the country in such a way as affords
great facilities for branch railways, descending by easy
lines along the valleys of the different streams intersected
by the line, and by which the various mineral and agricul-
tural products can be conveyed down with ease to the
main line, and by it carried north and south, as may be
required. _ _ _

" The line of Railway," says be, " which I am proposing
will constitute the last link in the great chain of Railway
communication from London to Edinburgh and Glasgow ;
in the whole of this chain there will not be between
London and Edinburgh one inclination exceeding 20 feet a
mile (except at the London and Birmingham station), and
the characteristic inclination will be 16 feet a mile. The
same description of engine will be enabled to work the
whole of the lines included in this chain, so that if it should
be necessary, either from necessity or dispatch being requi-
site, or in case of accident, an engine May be transferred
from one line to another capable of performing the work.
But as I stated before, it appears to me that both in a na-
tional and commercial point of view the most important con-
sideration in endeavouring to procure easy inclinations is,
that it ensures a certain, speedy, and punctual performance
of the duties required from the engines."
On the above Report being read,
Mr. CADELL rose and expressed himself very clearly
and forcibly in regard to the great importance of the
measure now proposed. Different lines of railway were
already executed and in progress between London and
Newcastle, forming portions of one grand line of commu-
nication to Edinburgh. These were, Ist, The London
and Birmingham line ; 2d, the, Birmingham and Derby ;
31, The North Midland, from Derby to near Wake-
field ; 4th, The York and North Midland Railway, from
near Wakefield to York ; sth, The Great North of
England Railway, from York to Newcastle. The whole
of these are now in progress, and will certainly be comple-
ted in the course of three years at the most, forming
one entire Hoe of railway communication of 285 miles in
length. When this whole line, then, comes to be opened,
it will certainly be very odd if Scotland, with the aid of the
powerful Companies between London and Newcastle, all so
deeply interested in its prolongation, not to mention that of
the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, which will be com-
pleted at the same time—it would be strange, indeed,
if we were unable to add the remaining 117 miles, to
complete the connection between the two capitals. In
regard to the proper line to be adopted, he thought that,
after the distinct and able Report which they had just
heard, and which he would propose should be published and
extensively circulated throughout the kingdom, there could
be no hesitation p
as to the superiority of the coast line.
One feature, which appeared to him of the greatest im-
p rtance in a mercantile view, was the facility, and there-
fore economy, in the execution of this line. There were no
vast works necessary ; and we had before us the example
of the English railways now in operation, to show the im-
portance of this circumstance in the view of profit-
able speculation. If the present line from London to
Edinburgh
were compared with that which has been pro-
posed' on the west of the island by Lancaster, Carlisle,
and Glasgow, it would be found to be much superior. A
level line was now executing from Glasgow to Kilmarnock
and Ayr ; and it was proposed to extend this to Carlisle
and Lancaster ; but the Cumberland mountains presented
a great obstacle, so that the best line would be round the
coast. Still there were difficulties here, as it was neces-
sary to cross' the Lancashire sands at Morecombe Bay,
by a sea embankment, eight or ten miles in length, and
the expense of which would alone amount to 750,0001. ;
and after all, we would have to go round by Glasgow, in
place of going direct to London. One mistake, he thought,
was often fallen into in regard to these undertakings,
namely, that they were all borrowing money, which did not
look well. But the borrowing of money in these cases was
really done from motives of economy and profit. The
money being borrowed at a comparatively low rate of inte-
rest was so much gain to the proprietors on their actual
stock. On the whole, be would move that the meeting
approve of the Report, and appoint a Committee to proceed
with the necessary surveys, and a subscription be entered
into, to aid, along with that of the other Committees in
Newcastle and Berwick, to defray the expense.
Mr. MILNE, Advocate, expressed himself much satis-
fied with the Report by Mr: Stephenson, and though lie
had heard that Report for the first time, he thought
that gentleman had proceeded in the business entrusted
to him with great fairness and impartiality, and the
Committee in Newcastle by selecting Mr. Stephenson, the
most celebrated Railway Engineer of his day, had by
that act alone given a stamp to their proceedings which
would give every confidence to the public. There was
just one point on which he would make a remark,
namely, as to the line which had been proposed by Kelso
and Wooler—a line greatly more feasible in every re-
spect than the Carter line. Mr. Stephenson had only re-
ported generally in regard to this, and he thought it would
have been satisfactory to have had some specification of
facts, to bear out his condemnation of that line. There had
been surveys made of the line, and he held in his hand a
newspaper containing a report by Mr. Blackett, the engi-
neer who had made them, describing not only the places
through which this line was proposed to run, but also the
various works which would be necessary in the execution
of it. Mr. Blackett, in this account (which Mr. Milne
read), states that it is practicable to obtain inclinations not
exceeding 24 feet per mile. To attain even this inferior
inclination, works of very considerable magnitude would be
necessary one of which was a tunnel of two miles through
Rimside Moor, where he knew there was the thickest and
hardest whinstone in all Northumberland. It appeared also
that viaducts were necessary across the valleys of the Aln,
the Coequet, and other rivers, all of them greatly exceed-
ing is height and length any similar works necessary near
the coast ; so that it was clear, from the account of Mr.
Blackett himself, that the expense of the Wooler line
would very greatly exceed the expense of the coast line. It
was equally obvious that, though the Wooler line would
Pass through a more populous country than any line through
the Cheviots, it, in that respect, fell far short of the
coast line. The latter would pass also through a country
richer in mineral products than the Wooler or Carter
lines would do ; for about sixty-five miles of its course
from Newcastle northwards, it would pass through a
country abounding with lime and coal ; whilst the Wooler
line would pass through such a district for not more than
thirty miles of its course. These facts he had thought it
his duty to mention to the meeting, in order to show that
Mr. Stephenson was well warranted in condemning the
Wooler line, and in preferring the one by the coast. It