The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-26 00:00:00

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

THE CHRISTMAS RAILWAY TRAFFIC.—The recur-
reflect of Christmas-day brought with it an extraordi-
nary amount of railway traffic, teeming in and out of
the chief metropolitan termini. Yesterday the Euston
station of the London and North-Western Railway
was the scene of the same incessant occupation that
it has been, either more or less, since Saturday. In
front of the station wall, on which was written the
different districts or destinations, separate compart-
ments being assigned for " the City," "Strand," "the
Squares," "over the water," "Islington," " East-
end," " Finsbury," " West-end," iingsland,"
Clerkenwell," &c., at each of these points two or
three omnibuses and vans stood in the process of being
loaded. The various consignments were checked by
the company's clerks, and this having been done, as
soon as filled, the thirty or forty conveyances drove
off without delay with their deliveries, consisting of
barrels of oysters, baskets of fish, fruit, game, and other
Christmas presents. The immense contents of the mail
and other trains arriving yesterday end on Monday at
half past 4 A.M. were disposed of in this manner by 10
o'clock, at which time the station was cleared. On
Sunday morning the men remained at work, and the
conveyance vans were in all parts of town by nine
o'clock. Every care was taken to prevent the labels
falling off. The various omnibuses and vans as they
went out attracted no small attention, some of them
being so piled with packages as to reach up to the
second floor windows of the houses. On some there
were 200 packages. Policemen were about to pre-
vent pilfering. On the departure side of the stations
extra clerks and porters were employed day and
night with the trransmissions by the trains to the
various manufacturing towns, and it is calculated that
the number of packages and consignments of all
descriptions going " down " the line could not, for
the four days, have amounted to less than 20 000,
and those coming in to less than 15,000. There
were also several hundred waggons of live
and dead stock, and a great influx of passengers to
and fro was occasioned, the company having issued
double journey tickets, !available from Saturday to
Wednesday. On the Great Western,Eastern Counties
and South-Western, the same expeditious system of
delivery was adopted, the carrying agents being the
same. The number of consignments over the Great
Western during the four days is computed at 18,000
" down," and some 8,000 " up." On Saturday the
trains on this line are said to have been " tremen-
dous" with people going in and out of town—the
luggage such as had never been seen before, and as
though the stay of the parties was intended till next
Christmas. Extra carriages had to be put on to the
express and ordinary trains. On the Eastern Coun-
ties an immense tent was constructed for the pur-
pose, being of a similar perfect description with those
at Euston-square, with this addition, that on the arrival
side of the line the shoals of packages were backed
out of the trains into the tents, by means of a huge
sliding platform, while upon the " down" si le was a
sort of dock, into which the railway carriages were
run, and conveniently loaded on the line with their
cargoes. The consignments by this line, taking iv,
as it does, the great game and agricultural districts,
Were immense, more particularly in live and dead
stock, which, during the preceding week, were
enormous.

MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINCOLNSHIRE.—
The dissentient shareholders in this company, who
are now endeavouring to get a committee appointed
to investigate the alLirs of the undertaking, have
issued a statement, from whith it appears " that the
Sheffield and Manchester, the Sheffield and Lincoln-
s%ire Junction, the Sheffield and-Lincolnshire Exten-
sion, the Great Grimsby and Sheffield Junction, and
the Great Grimsby Dock Companies, were incorpo-
rated together by the 9th and 10th Victoria, cap. 268.
The originakeavittil of the company onsiated of 7,000