The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-09 00:00:00

London and Birmingham Railway.

The London and Birmingham, the Grand Junction, and the
Liverpool and Manchester Railways form the grand trunk line
through the centre of England, and although the London and Bir-
mingham line, with its dark tunnels, its curves, and its cuttings, is
not such a line as the present experienced civil engineer would adopt,
yet, knowing that railway making was an art untried when this sail.
way was made, we recognise Mr. Robert Stevenson as the first of
his day, and know that this line will be an imperishable monu-
ment to his fame. In 1825 the country was surveyed for a line of
railway, and in 1828 the first public intimation appeared of the
formation of "a Company for making a railway from London to
Birmingham." In 1831 the Company advertised their intention
to apply to Parliament, but so great was the outcry upon the part
of gentlemen who feared that their parks would be desolated, and
their mansions smoke.filled, that it was not until the
year 1832 that the Act of Incorporation was obtained,
at an expense of nearly 100,0001. The enormous ex-
pense attendant upon Railway Bills is a shocking proof of
the venality of the Members of the Legislature. Very
few Bills have been obtained without open or indirect bribery, and
the convenience of some petty parkholder has often cost the share-
holders of a Railway Company more than the title to the fee-simple
of the land had originally cost its possessor. The railway was opened
to the public as far as Boxmoor on the 20th of July, 1837; and on the
17th of September, 1838, the line was opened throughout. The
total length of the line is 1141 miles. The difference of level between
London and Birmingham is 215 feet, to obviate which, there is a
gradual ascent of about two feet in a mile. The width of the rail~•
way on the embankment is 28 feet, and in the excavations 32 feet,
the additional two feet being allowed for drainage. The way is
double, and a space of 6 feet 5 inches is allowed between each pair
of rails. The rails are_ divided into lengths of 15 feet each,
and weighing from 3 to 31 owt. -The total weight of
of the rails and chairs which support them, is 38,000 tons, the
chairs which support the rails are frequently inserted into Kyanised
sleepers or bearers of timber, where the line is embanked, but in ex.
cavations, the chains are always inserted into stone-blocks, of
which there are 290,000, of four cubic feet each, and 75,200 of
five cubic feet each, weighing about 105,000 tons ; the gage'of the
way is 4 feet 84 inches. The quantity of earth excavated, about
16,000,000 cubic yards, and the quantity on the embankments,
11,000,000 cubic yards. The amount of money authorised to be
raised by Parliament, 5,500,000 i. The number of 1001. shares, is
25,000, 25,000 quarter shares of 251., 31,250 shares of 32/. each,
total number of shares 81,250. On the course of the line there are
eight tunnels, one at Primrose-hill, 1,250 yards in length ; Kensal
Green, 320 yards ; Watford. 1,830 yards--during the excavation of
this tunnel ten labourers were suffocated by the falling in of the
earth; Northchurch Tunnel, 300 yards; Leighton, '272 yards;
Weedon Tunnel, 418 yards in length; Kilsby Tunnel,-2,398
yards—this is the longest tunnel upon the line, and for
nearly a quarter of its length it runs through a quicksand,
which, during the excavation, required to be kept under by steam-
engines of great power, working during night and.day, and Berkswell
Tunnel, 300 yards in length. The viaducts are over the Regent's
Canal, the rivers Brent, Colne,.and Sowe, and at Birmingham. The
entrance to the railway at Euston square is a fine piece of architec.
lure in the Doric style. The depot :.t Camden Town occupies
an area of about 28 acres, enclosing within it the stationary en.
gine , which draws the train up the inclined plane from the Euston
station. There is also a fine depot and manufactory of locomotive
engines at Wolverton. Fourteen trains leave London daily, ex-
cept Sundays; ten run through the entire length of the line, one
only to Rugby, two to Aylesbury, and one to Wolverton. On Sundays
three trains run to Birmingham, and one toWolvcrton. A wail train
leaves London at 9 45m. a.m., and at 8 30m. p.m., and from Bir-
mingham leaves at Bh. 30m. •.nr., and :at 12 midnight. The
mail trains are allowed five hours to complete the journey, the first
class trains five and a quarter hours, the mixed trains five and a
half hours, and the third class trains eight and three quarter hours.
Upon this railway the tickets are taken from the passengers at the
Camden depot, in London, and at the Canal Bridge, in Birming-
ham. The stations are—
Euston-square; Camden depot; Harrow, 11s; Watford, 171 ;
Boxmoor, 244; I3irkhampstead, 28; Tring, 314; the Aylesbury
Railway, Leighton, 41 ; Bletchley, 461 ; Wolverton, 521 ;
Roade, 60 ; Blisworth, 624; Weedon, 694 ; Crick, 754 ; Rug.
by, 831 ; Brandon, 89*; Coventry. 94 ; Hampton in Arden,
113 ; Birmingham, 114 miles.
The gross amount of revenue for the year ending Jan. 30, 1840,
was
Expenditure ••• 422,467 10 3

Profit

Within a few miles of the railway are many objects of interest,
and the citizens of London, Birmingham, and the intermediate
towns haze afforded to them a cheap and expeditious mode of
visiting many Paces and scenes made classic in the history of their
ecitii4ry. !Wobitrn Abbey, a splendid mansion built by the Russell

family, who, by virtue of a gift from Henry VIII., enjoy this property,
Olney; where the poet Cowper lived and wrote. Lt.tterworth Church,
tvhere John' Wickliffe preached. Kenilworth, whose castle Sir
Walter Scott has for ever• peopled with life. Warwick Castle,
where Piers Gaveston was beheaded, whose chronicles are written
'in the blood of feudal nobility. And old Coventry with its tradi+
tions and its tales. An hour's journey upon this railway, either
way, will plac_ the traveller upon some classic spot.
London and Blackwall Railway.

This railway runs from• Fenchurch-street to the Brunswick-
wharf, at Blackwall. Its total length is three miles 843 yards;
its capital is 800,0004 ; the number of shares is 24,000, of 251.
each ; the gage of the way is the same as the Eastern Counties,
viz., five feet. The trains are drawn on the rails by means of
ropes and fixed engines, and a rapid communication is kept up
throughout the whole distance by the electro.galvanic telegraph.
The numbers of down-trains, daily, is 51, and up.trains 50.

STATIONS.

West India Dock entrance
Poplar
Blackwall

Minories
Shadwell
Stepney
Limehouse
London and Rrighton Railway.

Five parties competed for the execution of this line, Sir John
Rennie, Messrs. Stephenson, Cundy, and Gibbs, and the South
Eastern Railway Company. Nearly '2 00,0 0 0 / . was expended in
the Parliamentary contest. The line proposed by Sir John Rennie
was ultimately can led, but the Company were compelled by the
Parliamentary Committee to admit the shareholders of the compet-
ing lines to a participation in the management and profits of the
successful Company. This Railway, although called Sir John
Rennie's line, is Mr. Rastrick's line, as he surveyed the line, and
his judgment and ability caused it to be successful be-
fore Parliament, and he is now carrying out the details of its
execution, through a very difficult country, with very great skill.
The length of the main line is 42 miles, and of the Shoreham
branch 5 4 miles. The capital of the Company is 2,400,0001., in
36,000 shares of 501. each. The railway runs out of the Croydon
Railway 9i miles from London, and terminates at Church-street,
Brighton. When it is completed it will be a fine specimen
of engineering ; the country through which it runs is very
difficult for railway works, and tunnels :ire very fre-
quent in the chalk formation ; there is a very large viaduct over
the Ouse Valley, 462 yards in length, the cuttings are more ex-
tensive for the length of the line than upon any other Railway in
the kingdom. They amount to 6,864,686 cubic yards. The
Shoreham branch was opened to the public on the 12th of May,
l 840, and nearly 1,000 persons travel upon it every day. This Rail-
way will be completed in 1842.