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

Liverpool di. Manchester Railway.

Stage-coach travelling had arrived at the utmost perfection at
the close of the year 1828, the speed of animal power had reached
its limits, 'the carriages were constructed upon the best principles,
and our roads were unsurpassed, but the advance of the age required
some more speedy mode of travelling; and although Liverpool and
Manchester possessed good canals, and roads in the most perfect state,
yet the increase of trade and the peculiar local circumstances con-
necting these two cities seemed to justify a trial of the
new mode of transit, and as the men of Lancashire have
always been amongst the first in enterprise, they secured the
services of Mr. Stephenson, and subscribed nearly half a million to
try an experiment, which, if successful, they knew must revolu.
tionize the world. Railways had been heretofore established, in
America, but they were, in most cases, but rude and unfinished
tram-roads. The projectors of this Railway contemplated an en.
gineering work then unparalleled. They were to'tunnel the rock,
to drain the bog, and to 'make deep cuttings through the
bowels of the earth ; and before they could obtain the sanction
of the Legislature to the undertaking of this vast expe.
riment, they had to incur large individual responsibilities.
In after times, when the railway system administers to the corn.
fort and happiness of the universe, the names of the pro.
moters of the Manchester and Liverpool Railway will be held in
high honour. It is true that the Stockton and Darlington Rail-
way was nearly completed before this railway was commenced ;
but the Stockton and Darlington Railway is a mere tratn-road,
through a comparatively level country; the Liverpool and Man.
chester Railway is nearly a direct line, carried through from end
to end, and in the execution of which art conquers all the obstacles
that nature presents. The Stockton and Darlington engines never.
contemplated a velocity of more than 8 miles an hour—the Li.
verpool and Manchester Railway Directors in their rules for the
trial of engines upon their line, demand that the minimum rate of
travelling shall be 10 miles per hour. Our space will not allow us
to enter into this question fully, but whoever will take the trouble
to investigate this subject will find that the completion of this line
of Railway is an epoch to which all our improvements in railway
travelling are referable.

In the year 1822 Mr. William James, a civil engineer, surveyed
the country between Liverpool and Manchester for a Railway, but
it was not until the return of a deputation sent to view the pro.
gress of the Stockton and Darlington Railway that Mr. George
Stephenson was engaged to lay out a line, which went upon a dif-
ferent principle as to inclinations from the plan proposed by Mr.
James. An application was made to Parliament, founded upon the
Report of Mr. Stephenson,but the line had been very badly surveyed,
and it was opposed by the Canal proprietors and by the Marquis
of Stafford, through whose property a large proportion of the line
ran ; the application was unsuccessful. The Directors then engaged
Messrs. Rennie, who sent down Mr. Vignoles, who surveyed and
planned the Railway as it is now executed. The Marquis of Stafford
abandoned his opposition to the Bill, and on the sth of May, 1826,
the Royal Assent was given to the Act of Incorporation ; but when
the line was to be executed, the Directors and Messrs. Rennie did
not agree, and they employed Mr. G. Stephenson to lay down the
railway upon the line surveyed by Mr. Vignoles.
The Company have four Acts of Parliament, under which they
act, and one clause enacts, that when the dividend shall exceed
10 per cent., the tolls shall be reduced. The total amount of
money allowed to be used is 1,465,0001. The railway was opened
to the public on the 15th of September, 1830. The total
length of the line is 31 4. miles ; the"gage is 4 feet 834 inches ;
This line presents very fine examples of engineering. There arethree
tunnels attiverpool : Wapping Tunnel, 2,216 yards long, width
22 feet, height 16 feet; Crown-street Tunnel, 290 yards long, 16
feet 9 inches wide, and 12 feet high; Lime-street Tunnel, 2,000
yards long. There :•re 65 bridges and viaducts. The Sankey
Brook Viaduct and the Newton Viaducts, are finely executed. The
embankment over Chat Moss is a triumph of art over natural obsta-
des. Throughout the whole line the earthworks are very heavy,
amounting to 2,728,030 cubic yards. Nearly all the stone used for
the masonry of the line was quarried from the O'ives Mount cutting.
The Liverpool passenger staticn at Lime-street is a very fine stone
structure. The trains are wound from this station to the end of
the tunnel by means of an endless rope, which runs in the centre of
the way, the sheaves and machinery are very ingenious; and indeed
throughout the whole line, there are mechanical contrivances for
executing all kinds of labour, and supplying every want, evidencing
the successful application of thought, and the development of mind.
A tunnel runs under Liverpool to the Mersey.