The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-27 00:00:00

COLCHESTER AND STOUR VALLEY (LA-

VENBAIVI AND BURT EXTENSION).

The Select Committee appointed to consider the merits of
the Bills comprised in this group re-assembled at the usual
hour this morning; Mr. Forbes Mackenzie in the chair.:
The engineering evidence in this case having been brought
to a close this morning, the Committee consulted together
for a few minutes, and afterwards decided that the preamble
to the Bill had been proved.
The remainder of the day was occupied with the clauses.

GROUP XVIII.
The Committee on this group assembled this morning, at
' twelve o'clock • the Earl of Linosln in the Chair, with Mr.' J.
O'Connell, Sir Cap
t. James, Mr. Smythe, and Ca t. Jones.
CRELICENEA.res AND OXFORD LINE.
A variety of evidence was taken to show the advantage of
this branch to the traffic of the South-Wales District, by way
of Reading and Tring, to the Valley of the Thames.
Mr. Paul described the several gradients on the line, and
he underwent a long cross-examination by Mr. Alexander,
upon the subject of the drains of Cheltenham, the construe-
tone of some of which had had the effect of drawing off the
waters from the shallow wells of the town.
To Mr. M. O'Connell the witness replied, that the average
distance of the sewer from the broad gauge line was fifteen
chains, and the sandbed near the line would be deeper than
in the digh-street, but the cutting would cross the sewer
near th it street.
Mrrßrunell stated that he was the engineer of the line, and
that the principal reason for taking the north of the Mar-
borough Downs, on the Great Western line, was a desire
to accommodate Cheltenham. The Cheltenham and
Gloucester line was also constructed by him, but
the company by which it was designed was a dis-
tinct company, he being the only person connected with
both that company and the Great Western, in an official
capacity. The Bill for the Gloucester and Oxford line was
obtained in 1836, and was shortly after commenced, and part
of it to Swindon made. But in consequence of the mercan-
tile difficulty of 1838 and 1839, the Company was obliged to
stay their proceedings, and the Great Western Company
early in 1845 obtained an Act to purchase the
line. The works had been subsequently continued
but an interruption of a violent proceeding, in consequence of
a body of individuals to the number of seventy or eighty
coming down forcibly, deporting the men engaged on the
works, and carrying them before the magistrates at Glou-
cester. The several works had, however, been shortly re-
sumed, and were now far advanced. Since the arrangement
with the Gloucester and Oxford, the Gloucester and Hereford
Company, and the South Wales Railway Company had ob-
tained their Acts, and as a great portion of the traffic of those
lines would come upon the new line, it was determined to
come up to Parliament for an Act to go direct from Chelten-
ham to Oxford ; especially as the Worcester, Wolverhamp-
ton, and Oxford Bill was then passing through the Legis-
lature. With respect to the station at Cheltenham, the
company bad been for several years in communication with
the inhabitants, and it was at the desire of a Committee
that they had selected the site which they wished
to adopt. That was one of the chief reasons for
going ao near to the centre of the town. After leaving the
station, which would
High street,
part of the market-place, it
-would pass under 1i
pass Lt-srt, and thence under
streets, and so the other
.course affecting property the town of Cheltenham, in its
ylleenerally of very small value. It
was intended that the should be carried through the
-town in a cutting under walls, but where the noise
would be
at the desire of
-was likely to prove
Tub!, covered over from
the committee, the cutting
was in Mc Brunel's
:North-place to Winchcornb-street.
a town, and it
opinion the best mode of passing thTrholtla.
is indeed hardly
which will not
saved tunnelling to a great depth,
a large town in England which is not., or
shortly
Tel
traversed in this way. It was the
and at Teignmouth, on the Great Western line. mecase at Bath,
tha transit through Cheltenhara would be betweed.staanfct:
and sixty chains. He was aware that a great outcnryshuajd
bean made respecting the line affecting the
ply of water, but he believed that it was all a mere
groundless alarm ; but his attention had been drawn
to it, but there would be no difficulty whatever in the
xnattar. A great part of the town of Cheltenham stands on
.a. bed of sand, but the cutting would be formed with an
invert and side walls, which will be perfectly watertight,
too that draining the water down to its level was not at all
likely. Then as to the interception of the water—the line to
the east of the town was far above the water level,
snd did not reach it till it came near High-
street, and, from the construction of the line, there would
be no obstacle whatever to its flowing down freely both on
the orth and South sidees, as the water flowed -oast to
'west, and where there was the slightest chance of a stoppage
5n one small portion it was intended to lay the • line on in-
•verted tiles. In fact there was no engineering difficulty, and
it was merely a case of every-day engineering experience.
etks to lowering the wells during the progress of the works he
oppreheaded neither difliculty nor inconvenience in-either,

saving the loss of water. Indeed, in order to allay the
apprehensions which had been excited he bad requested three
professional gentlemen, unacquainted with the railway, to go
down to ascertain the facts of the case, and they had de-
cidedly agreed with him. After leaving Cheltenham he
went direct by an inclined plain to the summit of the Cotes-
wold Hills, which has attained, first, a small distance on a
gradient of 1 in 113, then for four miles and eight ehains, to
Dowdeswell by an incline of 1 in 60, then on
to Northleach (which is at the summit) on an incline
of 1 in 100. The Cheltenham and Tring Company placed
their station on an elevation then descended, going a little
circuit outside the town by a gradient of 1 in 100, then rose
en an incline of 1 in 90, then 1 in 100, and 1 in 132, and 1 in
175. The distance being somewhat more than eleven miles.
To the CHAIRMAN-Mr. Brunel replied that the distance
on his own line was seven miles and a quarter, there being a
few intermediate bits of gradients. He proposed to
work this incline by assistant power. as after passing
Northleach the highest gradient would be only 1 in 200. No
difficulty was to be apprehended from the incline of 1 in 60,
as there was 1 in 60 and 1 in 75, the whole distance was
about four miles long; on the present Cheltenham line, be-
tween Swindon and Stroud, in which they were constantly
working; but, in order to ascertain the real fact of the case,
he had several trains running constantly up this
incline, and the results of the experiments were,
that with one of their large eight-wheeled engines they carried
up trains of 50, 60, and 70 tons each, at a rate of from 25 to
35 miles an hour. Seventy tons was about equal to a train
of 14 carriages on the narrow gauge line. With a common
goods' train engine they had taken up 140 tons and 110 tons
at 25 miles an hour, which is faster than the usual speed.
Neither did he apprehend any difficulty in going down
into Cheltenham, for they constantly did so on their Swindon
and Stroud incline, and stopped with ease at the bottom.
On the Birmingham and Gloucester narrow gauge line their
is an incline of one in thirty-six, which has for years been
worked. The distance saved between Gloucester and London
would be five miles, and between Cheltenham and London
nineteen miles„ and twenty-one miles if they went into
Cheltenham. Between Gloucester and Oxford the saving
would of course be greater. On his own line there would be
no tunnels whatever between Cheltenham and Oxford, and
there were none between Oxford and London. Nor
were there any roads either turnpike or others
crossed at a level, while on the other hand the Tring line
would have four tunnels between that place and London, and
it passed seven turnpikes, and forty eight other roads
on a level. The formation of this line would give greater
opportunities of sending trains frequently to the South Wales
district, and, on the whole, he conceived it to be the natural
completion of the works which had already been begun.
Mr. HILDYAAD cross-examined on the alteration made
since the project of last year, and the respective advantages
of the rival projects.
The Committee adjourned at four o'clock.