The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-10 00:00:00

ST. JOHN'S-WOOD RAILWAY.

On Wednesday a formal inspection of this most
mportant link in our lines of metropolitan com-
munication was made by the directors and a large
party of the shareholders previous to its being opened
for public traffic on Easter Monday. The line
itself is not a long one —barely more than two miles
and a quarter—yet this short length, by its con-
nection with the Metropolitan Railway, gives to
an immense district access to all parts of Lon-
don. Many years ago it was said by a great
engineer, Sir Robert Stephenson, that people
would never realise what London passenger traffic
was till they attempted;to provide for it by giving
it the facilities which it should possess. The
line which was inspected yesterday has what
is called a physical junction with the Metropolitan
at Baker-street—that is to say, the trains pass on
to the Metropolitan line at once without any change
of carriages. From the Baker-street station, which
is now in direct communication, through the north-
ern and southern lines, with all parts of England,
the new line continues direct on to the Swiss Cot-
tage. The act for this railway was obtained in
1864, when it was one of the very few out of nearly
60 metropolitan schemes which obtained the sanc-
tion of the House of Commons. Although the St.
John's-wood line is a separate company, it is essen-
tially a branch and feeder of the Metropolitan
Railway. Mr. Fowler and Mr. Johnstone are the
engineers, and they have constructed it essentially
upon the underground system, as being the cheapest
—but they have, nevertheless, introduced many im.
provements which have suggested themselves from
the practical working of the Metropolitan line,
the chief change being the opening to the air of
all the stations. The line, as we have said, com-
mences at Baker-street, and passes beneath the
Park-road to near Lori's Cricket-ground, where
a very beautiful station has been built. Here let
us say that the stations are in their way truly model
stations. All are built across the line on very deep
girders, which carry the buildings in the centre.
From the Park-road station the line passes under
the Wellington-road to the Marlborough-road,
where there is another station, and thence under
the New Finchley-road to► the Swiss Cottage, which
for the present serves as the terminus. Thus three
stations have been provided in the centre of thickly
populated districts, and the line being mostly taken
under private property has enabled the engineers
to give open air stations, which was impossible in
the case of the Metropolitan stations at Gower-
street, Portland-road, and Baker-street. The great
engineering difficulty found in carrying out the
work was in the stiff nature of the subsoil. Another
difficulty arose in pasaing over the Regent's-canal,
where the line has to rise at a gradient of 1 in 60.
This, however, was a trifling work compared with
taking all the sewage under the canal at such a level
that it was always within a yard of the water over
it. The work was accomplished by driving iron
cylinders beneath the canal ; and though sometimes
within less than aft. of where the keels of the barges
passed over them, there was no leakage or delay of
any kind. Beyond this first gradient over the canal
there are hardly any curves or gradients worth speak-
ing of. The whole line has been built on what is called
the " cut and over" principle, and the foundations of
the tunnel sides are carried dawn deep into the clay

and then laid on concrete. The railway has been
constructed as a single line for the present, with
double lines at each station. Provision has, how-
ever, been made for constructing a double line when
necessary, and also for carrying it on to Hamp-
stead. A double line is now considered requisite, as
the capacity of a single line with passing places half
a mile apart is capable of conveying no less than
60,000 passengers daily. The agreement with the
Metropolitan upon which the new line will be
worked is such that a rebate is made by the
former in respect to all traffic brought to the old
line, so that the profits are not confined to that
taken on the St. John's-wood line itself. The agree-
ment is so arranged that it amounts to a guarantee
of 6 per cent. on the whole capital, with powers
reserved to the Metropolitan line to buy it up
within a certain period as the traffic grows more and
more remunerative. All the works have been car-
ried out by Messrs. Lucas and Aird, whose experi-
ence in underground lines most peculiarly fitted
them for such a task. On Wednesday, after the
whole line and all the stations had been inspected
from end to end, the party of visitors, to the num-
ber of 200, returned to the Marlborough-road sta-
tion, where a dejeuner was laid out on an impro-
vised platform along one side of the line. As an
experiment the lunch was a success, inasmuch as it
proved that, though the stations were the hand-
somest in London, yet as dining rooms they were
about the worst in the world, for the wind from the
tunnels at either end almost blew away the viands.
It is, however, due to Messrs. Spiers and Pond to
say that at a very short notice they contrived to
put a most sumptuous repast on the improvised
tables. Captain Tyler went over the line yesterday,
and on Monday it will be opened for traffic.