The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-24 00:00:00

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The question, however, cannot be considered prac-
tically without reference to considerations of expense.
As au abstract proposition, it may be undeniable that
it is desirable to extend the benefits of railway commu-
nication to every village and hamlet in the kingdom ;
but as a practical question, the probability of a sufficient
return upon the requisite capital to enable the railway
to support itself. in a state of solvency and efficiency,
affording to the public the benefits of good accommoda-
tion and moderate rates, must, under ordinary c:rcum-
stances, be looked upon as decisive of the question,
whether a particular district can be considered to require
a railway.
Also when very nearly the same objects arc attained
by two schemes, one of which is extremely expensive,
while the other, although in a certain degree less com
prehensive, is so much less costly that its promoters can
afford to offer much greater advantages to the public
generally than could be done by the other, it would ob-
viously be a sacrifice of the greater to the lesser object,
to sanction the more expensive scheme, and thus impose
a heavy additional tax upon the bulk of the traffic, for
the sake of minor advantages.
It is essential, therefore, that we should consider in
some detail the probable cost of the two schemes be-
tween which, as we have already stated, we consider the
compari,:on to lie.
To begin with the London and York scheme. This
scheme consists of the following parts :

Miles.

Main line from London to York; cia Hunting-
don, Peterborough, Grantham, Newark, and
Doncaster
Lo( p from Peterborough, by Boston and Lancas-
ter, to Bawtry B6
Sheffield Branch 2O;
Wakefield Branch
Bedford Branch
Stamford Branch 5
Minor Branches, Junctions, &e.

Total 327i
The estimated capital required for the construction
of this railway is 6,500,0001., or at the average rate of
20,0001. per mile. The extreme improbability of the
line being constructed for anything like this estimate
must be apparent. It is true that a great part of the
line traverses a country where nature presents few ob-
stacles to the construction of railways. The loop of 86
miles through the level parts of Lincolnshire, and along
the bank of the Witham Navigation, runs nearly on the
surface, and considerable portions of the main line are
also of an easy character. Other portions, however, are
of a very difficult and expensive character ; as, for in-
stance, the line fur some distance north of London, the
Sheffield Branch, and a portion of the Doncaster and
Wakefield Branch. On the whole, the scheme has 64
miles, or 11,771 yards of tunnelling, 2,677 yards of
viaduct, and about 69 miles of which the earth-works
are very heavy and decidedly above an average.
The comparison of the first 112 miles of the London
and York line out of London to Grantham, with the 112
miles of the Loudon and Birmingham Railway, is sttaed,
in a document officially submitted to us, and which the
parties state that they are prepared to bear out by evi•
denee before Parliament, to show the following results
London Earth .azdrkßirminghlm
t,oOßO,Tunnels 4-A. miles.
Longest viaduct
Birmingham
ovacyu—hie l 1
3,2 -ards.
miles.
Ditto, greatest height
London and York Railway-112 miles.
Earth-work 13,000,000 cubic yards.
Tunnels 4 miles.
Longest viaduct
Ditto, greatest height B9 „
We have not been in a position to test the accuracy of
all the details of this statement ; but it appears suffi
eiently established that there is no such decided diffe-
rence in the nature of the works upon the two lines as
would warrant us in assuming, owing to this cause alone,
an entirely different rate of cost of construction.
It is true, that since the time when the London and
Birmingham Railway was made, a much greater degree
of economy has been introduced in the construction of
railways. A great part of this economy, however, has
obviously resulted from temporary causes, which are no
longer in operation. For instance, the price of iron rails,
which, at the time when the estimates for most of the
railways now proposed were framed, did not exceed 64
or 71. per ton, has since risen to nearly double that
amount; and from the extraordinary demand that must
exist for the next four or five years, from the simulta-
neous construction of so many thousands of miles of new
railway, both in this and in other countries, it is evident
that, notwithstanding the increase that may be antici,
pated in the powers of production, it is impossible to
calculate upon a lower price of rails than prevailed
while the London and Birmingham IlaiLvay was in
course of construction.

The increase of during the last six months,. upon
the article of iron alone, would swell the estimate of
cost for the 307 miles of the London and York Railway,
by an amount not less than 500,000/.
The rise in the price of almost every description of
labour applicable to the construction of railways, dur-
ing the last six er eight months, has also been con-
siderable, and where, as in the present instance, im-
mense works would have to be completed within a
short period by the collection of !age masses of the class
of men known by the appellation of " navigators," it Az
can hardly be expected that the cost of common earth.: if"
work will be much below what prevailed during the
period from 1836 to 1839. In remote localities, where
the additional demand for labour is less felt, or where

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the Cambridge-route-ft e very superior ; - -
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the terminus at Farringdon-street is nearer ,
the Post-office, and Charing-cross, than • a littilbms2.ll.,
London and York Railway at King's-cross. The main '
line of the London and York has two miles of its length
at an inclination of 1 in 100, to 1 in 110 ; and 51 miles
at an inclination of 1 in.lBl, to 1 in 200 ; with 4/ miles
of tunnelling ; while the whole of the proposed line from
Cambridge to York has" no plane so steep as 1 in 200,
and only five short planes, whose united length amounts
to .si. miles, steeper than 1 in 250 ; while for the greater
part of its course it is practically level.
Although the gradients of the London and York line
are for moderate lengths, and have nothing in themselves
that can be considered as objectionable, it is evident, that
as compared with the extraordinarily good gradients of
the Cambridge route, they detract from the advantage
in respect of absolute distance.
Recent experience has shown upon the Brighten Rail-
way, that a train may be worked regularly with safety
and punctuality at an average speed of 33 miles an hour.
including stoppages •, and there is nothing upon any
portion of the route between London and York, by way
of Cambridge, to prevent this or even a higher speed
from being attained, at which rate the journey from
London to York could be accomplished in six hours.
Taking into account, therefore, on the one hand, the
difference of absolute distance, and on the other the dif-
ference of gradients, and the advantage of the Cambridge
route by the superior proximity of its terminus to the
heart of the metropolis, we are of opinion that, for the
purposes of through traffic between London and York,
the merits of the two schemes may be considered as very
evenly balanced.
The more important question remains to be cousiderid
of local accommodation tbr the eastern districts of Eng.
land, now deprived of the benefits of railway communi-
cation
In order to arrive at sound conclusions upon this ques-
tion, we must consider the nature and wants of this dis-
trict: It is almost exclusively "agricultural, being,
in fact, the great corn and cattle producing district of
England, from which food is sent, on the one hand, to
the dense manufacturing population of Yorkshire and
Lancashire, and, on the other, to London. From North
Lincolnshire, Newark, East Retford, &c., the bulk of
the produce ends its way (mostly by circuitous water
conveyance) to the manufacturing districts, a great deal
of it centering at the important corn mart of Wakefidd.
From South Lincolnshire, Stamford, Peterborough, Cam-
bridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, &c., the produce, goes
partly to the west and north, and partly to London by
sea from Boston, Spalding, and Lynn. , The fat cattle
and sheep of the whole district go principally to Loud*
The whole district is destitute of coal, lime, building
stone, &c., all which it draws from the west and north-
west (the Wakefield, Barnsley, Sheffield, Clay Crows,
Pinxton, &c., coal fields), or from the sea ports.
General merchandise, colonial produce, &c., come
principally from London and Hull. Timber, oil-cake,
bones, guano, &c., from Hull and the shipping ports..,
It is clear, therfore, that the leading object is to con-
nect.the chief towns and principal markets for agricul-
tural produce with one another ; with London ; with
the railways leading to the manufacturing districts ; and
with the shipping ports.
The chief. towns and marketi as we go north from
London arc— Population.
Cambridge 23,455
Peterborough ' 6,991
Stamford * 7,384
Grantham * * * " " " • 8,786
Newark... 10,218
Lincoln . . .. . . 13,411
Doncaster - 11,245
The principal shipping ports are—
Spalding
- 7,778
Boston
Gainsborough . 6,948
in addition to Hull, Selby, and Goole, and to Lynn and
•Wisbeach, which, however, are rather connected with
another system of railway communication. •
A reference to the map will show how these objects
respectively are attained by the London and York, and
Cambridge and Lincoln combinations.
If we disregard for the present all considerations of
expense, it may be considered that the London and York
scheme, on the whole, presents a larger and more com-
prehensive system of Communication. It runs a nets
trunk line from London to Peterborough, half way be-
tween the London and Birmingham, and Northern and
Eastern, and thus accommodates a greater extent of
country. Again, by the loop or second line from Peter-
borough, by way of Boston and Lincoln to Bawtry, com-
bined with the direct line, it traverses a greater extent
of country, and, places both the towns on the old North-
road, Grantham; Newark, and East Retford, and also
Lincoln and Boston, in a continued line of communica-
tion, which no single line could do. Also, it comprises
branches direct to Sheffield and Wakefield, which place
it in
_a better position for competing with existing lines
for the traffic of the manufacturing districts to London.;
and, on the whole, having 32; miles of new railway, as
compared with less than 200 by the opposite combina-
tion, it of course traverses a greater extent of country,
and thus aftbrds greater accommodation.
On the othcs hand, the Cambridge and Lincoln line
places Cambridge (which is by far the most important
town between London and York) on the main line, and
is, we think, a better kcal line for South Lincolnshire,
running through the heart of the country, just skirting
the fens in the line of the principal population, and at
the head of all the principal drains and navigable cuts,
while the lints of the London and York scheme skirt it
on each side, and run from Boston to Lincoln paral:el
%%ith an existing water communication.

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