The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-02 00:00:00

JUNCTION TERMINUS RAILWAY.

The promoters of this project, for which a company
has not been formed, intend that it should leave the
Great Western at West Drayton, and pass through
Hounslow, Brentford, Turnham-green, Hammersmith,
Brompton, Chelsea, Pimlico, and Westminster, and meet
the Thames Embankment line at Hungerford.
It is also designed that this railway should be the
means of bringing the London and Birmingham traffic
to the same southern terminus by means of the West
London Line • and that it should receive the traffic of
the Direct ixeter Railway, should such a line be
formed.
It is proposed to have four lines to accommodate the
short traffic, as well as that coining from the two long
lines. The trains to be propelled on the atmospheric
principle.
The engineer of the Brentford Junction proposes to
take a low level, so as to pass under the roads and streets
in coming into London ; and it has been suggested by
Mr. Moffatt, the architect, that from Pimlico to West-
minster the line should be laid down in a railway street.
the opposite sides of which should be IGO feet apart, hav-
ing rows of trees on each side of the railway.
It is further intended, if the London and Birmingham
and Great Western Railway traffic should be brought in
by this line, that an ample station should be provided in
that part of Westminster which is behind the Mews
and Westminster Hospital; and in this case the Mews
would be taken by the railway company. Thence the
line would pass under the junction of Great George-
street and Parliament-street, and be brought into con-
nexion with the Thames Embankment in front of and
under the Terrace of Whitehall-gardens; but in such
manner that the railway would not be visible from the
gardens.

Proceeding eastward from Whitehall-gardens, the
railway would rise to a higher level, so as to correspond
with the top of the embankment at Hungerford-bridge.
The line would pass under the first arch of Waterloo-
bridge, then rise from Somerset House to a level of 42
feet above the Trinity datum, in front of the Temple-
gardens, and pass over the north end of Blackfriars-
bridge by a viaduct. Thence it would be carried
through the City, crossing King William-street, to form
a connexion with the Blackwell Railway. In front of
the Temple-gardens the railway would be 38 feet above'
the carriage-way on the proposed embankment. Be-
tween Blackfriars-bridge and the Blackwall Terminus a
railway street would be formed, having a width of 75
feet between the opposite houses; the carriage-way being
under the railway. At King William-street the viaduct
would be at such an elevation as to leave 20 feet head-
room for loaded waggons.
The projectors of the Thames Embankment Railway
Company propose to construct the embankment free of
cost to the public, provided they are permitted to form
the Hungerford and Blackwell Railway.
The estimate from Ilungerford Market to Blackfriars,
including the Thames embankment for that portion, is
500,0001.
The estimate from West Drayton to Hungerford is
1,100,0001. There would be stations at Hungerlord,
Waterloo-bridge, Blackfriars -bridge, King William-
street, and at Fenchurch-street, where additional ground
would be taken to enlarge the present station.
It is also a part of this project ta form a junction with
the London-bridge station of the Dover, Brighton, and
Croydon Railways, by carrying a double line of rails
over the present carriage road of London-bridge. This,
however, as well as the crossing of the Southwark-
bridge in the same manner, to join the North Kent Rail-
way, would have been independent parts of the general
scheme.
To that portion of this line by which, leaving the
shore of the river, it is proposed to connect the em-
bankment with the Blackwell terminus in Fenchurch-
street, all the objections which SI e have pointed out to
the passage of a railway through a populous and busy
part of the City apply in their fullest force.
We also see great objection to a railway being carried
across any of the bridges, at a level so high as to allow
of the carriage and other traffic remaining undisturbed.
The advantage of an economy of space effected by such
an arrangement would be more than counterbalanced,
by the necessity which it imposes of approaching the
bridge on a viaduct ; which, of all methods by which a
railway can be carried through a town, is the most in-
convenient and injurious to property.
s regards that p rtion of the line which would con-
nect the Great Western Railway and the neighbourhood
of Hounslow, Brentford, &c., with a terminus in West-
minster, we are of opinion that the wants and conveni-
ence of the district through which this line would pass,
might be equally well served by one which would carry
passengers and goods to the already existing station of the
South-Western Railway at Nine Elms, and to the other
terminus of that line, already sanctioned by Parliament,
at Waterloo-bridge. And therefore we are not disposed
to recommend the establishment of a terminus in the
heart of Westminster, at the expense of much interfe-
rence with property, and probably with future improve-
ments in that part of the metropolis.
There remains that portion of the scheme which would
follow the line of the Thames Embankment. To this,
unconnected with any terminus for the reception of
traffic from distant parts of the country, and used solely
as a line of short passenger traffic, in the manner of the
Blackwell Railway, we are not prepared to raise any ob-
jection. We are, on the contrary, disposed to think that
such a line might be a convenience to the public ; at all
events it would draw off a considerable portion of the
overcrowded traffic of Fleet-street and the Strand, and
therefore that if-it can be constructed as not to disfigure
the embankment, or to cause any additional interference
with the traffic of the river, and with the convenience of
wharfs and warehouses, or any deterioration of private
property, it will deserve the consideration of Parliament.
In the doubt which exists as to the formation of an
embankment, we have not thought it necessary to exa-
mine closely how far the above conditions might be com-
plied with, but if an embankment of the river should be
sanctioned by Parliament, we have no reason to think
them impracticable.

12. THE THAMES EMBANKMENT CENTRAL TERMINUS.
Mr. Page, the engineer, has informed us that the
Central Terminus Company propose to subscribe money
for the construction of a central portion of the Thames
Embankment, provided they may have space on the
embankment for a grand terminus between Waterloo and
Hungerford-bridge.
The confusion that would result from any general
terminus, for the accommodation of several railways, is
a matter so generally admitted, and so strongly insisted
on by persons most experienced in railway matters, that
such a project could scarcely be entertained, even if
ample approaches were formed to it ; but any such ter-
minus, which would have to be approached by the nar-
row and much-thronged thoroughfare of the Strand, as
it now exists, would, it appears to us, be a great public
evil.

13. THE LONDON RAILWAY.
Mr. James Clephan has submitted to us the general
outline of the London Railway, the object of which is
stated to be to form a connexion with all the existing
termini in the vicinity of the metropolis, going partly
through the town, and principally constructed on a
viaduct.
Mr. Clephan describes the line as follows :—Starting
from Rlackfriars-road, it is proposed to cross Waterloo-
bridge and the Strand, and to pass up Bow-street into
Tottenham-court-read ; thence a branch would pass
along Paddington-street, and Crawford-street, to the
Great Western Railway • and pursuing a course to the
New-road, the line would skirt the reservoir in the
llampstead-road, and join the Birmingham Railway, at
Euston-square. Proceeding still further eastward, the
line would pass through Somer's-town, and join the
New-road at Pentonville. At King's-cross it would be
connected with the London and York line, if that rail.
way should be made. From King's-cross, the line would
proceed down the City-road, and take such a direction
as to join the Eastern Counties Railway. From Shore.
ditch it would pass through St. Mary Axe and Lime-
street into King William street, which it would cross,
as well as Thames-street and Southwark-bridge ; and
from the south side of the bridge the line would curve
into Union-street, and continue on until it reached
Blackfriars-road;at the point from which it started.
Mr. Clephan also stated that, from Fenchurch-street
there would be a branch to the London and St. Cathe-
rine's Docks, and that from Union-street there would be
a branch to the Greenwich and Brighton Station at
London-bridge ; and that there would be likewise a
branch to join the south-Western Railway.
It appears that this scheme is estimated to require a
capital of 5,000,000/., of which 3,300,000/. would be
necessary for the purchase of the houses to be removed
by this railway.
Although a company has been formed for this scheme,
no deposits have been made, nor are there any surveys
of the line.
As its projectors contemplate occupying two of the
bridges over the Thames, and passing through the heart
of the metropolis in two directions in a most objection-
able way, we consider this scheme altogether inadmissi-
ble.

4. THE LONDON CONNECTING RAILWAY AND RAILWAI

TRANSIT LINE.
This project has been brought before us by Mr. John
Martin, K.H., who gives a general description of it in a
paper dated May, 1846 (See Appendix).
Commencing at Barking-creek, this line would run
along the north bank of the Thames, to a point in
Woolwich-reach nearly opposite to Bugsby's Marsh,
where a branch would diverge towards a station to be
placed near the north-east angle of the East India Doeks,
at which point it would meet a line also starting from
Barking-creek, but passing Over the levels 200 or 300
yards north of the river. From this point of junction,
the line would pass between Mile-end town and Stratford-
le-Bow, dose to the south side of Victoria-park, through
Hackney, above Islington, and through Kentish-town
From thence it would curve round between Hampstead-
hill and Primrose-hill, continuing the curve so as to pass
Shepherd's Bush, Hammersmith, and Waltham-green,
and crossing the Thames above Battersea,. From that
point it would sweep round to form a junction with the
South Western Railway at the Nine-elms station, and
thence proceed to Lambeth, where, opposite the Obelisk,
a grand terminal station will be established for the
Dover, Brighton, and South Western Railways. From
that terminus the line would proceed in a curve towards
Rotherhithe, where it would separate into branches,
each taking the course of the south bank of the river;
one eastward along Greenwich Reach, and the other
westward, intersecting all the bridges from London-
bridge to Vauxhall, and terniinating at a station near a