The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-17 00:00:00

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

REPORT OF THE RAILWAY DEPARTMENT
OF THE BOARD OF TRADE ON THE SCHEMES
FOR EXTENDING RAILWAY COMMUNICA-
TION IN SCOTLAND.

Railway Department, Board of Trade,
Whitehall, March 13, 1845.
The Board constituted by Minute of the Lords of
the Comittre of Privy Council for Trade, for the tran-
saction of railway business, having under consideratiott
the following schemes deposited with the Raila ay De-
partment, for extending railway communication in Scot-
land, viz. :
The Aberdeen Railway ;
Caledonian ;
Clydesdale Junction ;
Dundee and Perth ;
Edinburgh and Northern ;
Edinburgh and Glasgow--Stirling Branch ;
Edinburgh and Hawick ' •
Glasgow, Barrhead, and Neilston ' • . •
Glasgow and Ayr—Barrheacl and Neilston Branch].
Glasgow and Ayr—Cumnock Branch ; •
Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle ;
Glasgow Junction;
Glasgow Harbour Union;
Scottish Central;
Scottish Midland;
have determined on submitting the following report
thereon fur the consideration of Parliament.
The above schemes may be classed according to the
leading objects which they have in view.
I. The Caledonian Railway on the one hand, with the
Clydesdale and other minor railways, n hich it is pro-
posed to use in entering Glasgow; and on the other
hand, the Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle, anti
Edinburgh and Hawick, in connexion with the ex-
isting Edinburgh and Glasgow and Glasgow and Ayr
Railways, and the North . British Railway, sanctioned
last year, may be considered as competing schemes for
completing the railway communication south of the Forth
and Clyde between Scotland anA England.
11. The Scottish Central (in continuation of tbe lino
of the Caledonian from Castle Cary on the Edinburgh
and Glasgow Railway to Perth);
The Scottish Midland (in continuation of the Scottish
Central from Perth to Forfar) ;
The Edinburgh and Glasgow—Stirling Branch ;
The Edinburgh and Northern (from Burntisland on
the Frith of Forth opposite to Edinburgh, through Fife
Su Perth);

The Dundee and Perth ; and the Aberdeen (from
Friockheim, a point midway on the Arbroath and For-
far Railway to Aberdeen); are schemes proposed for
extending railway communication north of the Forth
and Clyde, or, more correctly speaking, north of the
line of the present Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway.
la. The Glasgow, Barrhead, and Nei!stop,' and Glas-
gow and Ayr—Barrhead and Neilston Branch, are com-
peting schemes for supplying local accommodation to a
manufacturing district in the vicinity of Glasgow.
IV. And finally, the Glasgow Junction, and Glasgow
Harbour Union, are schemes for extending existing rail-
ways in the town of Glasgow, with a view to effect s
junction with other railways, and to obtain a readier ac-
cess to tha river for coals and minerals. Both these
schemes, however, appear to depend so materially on
considerations of private interest, which we are pre-
cluded from entertaining, and on detailed evidence as to
local circumstances, that we do not feel ourselves justi-
fied in r( porting any decided opinion respecting them.
The other lines referred to are delineated on the map
accompanying this report, a reference to which will afford
the readiest explanation of their respective objects and
directior.

It is evident that a consideration of these lines raise&
the whole question of deciding on the best permanent
system of railway communications fOr Scotland• gene-
rally. The sanction of the North British Railway from
Edinburgh to Berwick, last year, together with the com-
pletion of the eastern chain of English lines up to New-
castle, warrant us in assuming as an admitted fact, that
this eastern line of communication from London to Edin-
burgh will be completed, but with the exception of this
fact, the whole question of railway communication for
Scotland may be considered as an open one.
_ _ _

In approaching it, we will endeavour to consider, first,
what are the cardinal points to be attended to in laying
out a system of railway communications for Scotland.
Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Perth, are evidently the
three points upon which we Must fix our attention, as
determining the direction of the leading railways.
Edinburgh, as the capital, and seat of the courts of jus-
tice and university, and Glasgow as the commercial and
manufacturing capital and city cf largest population, are
the great centres to which the principal streams of traffic
in Scotland converge, and from which the principal con-
nexion with England is maintained.
Perth again, from the natural configuration of the
country with the Grampians, on the one hand, and the
estuaries of the Forth and Tay on the other, is evidently
the point of convergence for the traffic of the northern
portion of the kingdom.
Ia railway communication- the preservation of an
entire and unbroken line is a point of vital importance,
and in our report on the Worcester and Wolverhampton
district, to which we here beg to refer, we have pointed
out numerous practical instances of the very great ex-
pense, delay, and inconvenience which have been found
to result from any break in this entireness of commu-
nication, occasioned by the meeting of different gauges.
A break occasioned by the intervention of an arm of the
sea or wide navigable river is, of course, an evil of a
still more formidable character. Considered merely
with reference to time, a short ferry would, generally
speaking, involve a delay equivalent to several additional
miles of travelling on an unbroken line of railway, a dis-
advantage which would be still further increased if; as
seems probable, the rate of railway travelling should, by
the continued improvements in the construction of the
locomotive engine, become considerably accelerated.
For the conveyance of goods, coals, cattle, agricul-
tural produce, &c. (which constitutes a most important
portion of the benefits likely to result to the community
from the introduction of railways), the loss of time re-
presents but a very small portion of the inconveniences
arising from any break in the chain of communication.
In fact, the inconvenience to all traffic of this descrip-
Lien is so great as to justify us in assuming, as the most
indispensable point to be attended to, in considering
the extension of a, trunk line for the northern portion
of Scotland, that such line shall afford an entire and un-
broken communication.
Now with this view, Perth and Stirling, which ere the
points at which the navigation of the estuaries of the
Forth and Tay ceases, evidently determine the direction
of the trunk line for the North of Scotland. A line
through Fife may give local accommodation and be used
for a portion of the traffic from Dundee, and the towns
on the east coast to Edinburgh ; but it can never be put
in competition with an unbroken inland line by Stirling
and Perth, as a trunk line for the connexion of the
North of Scotland with Edinburgh, Glasgow; and
England.
The Scottish Central line appears to comply with these
conditions, to be unexceptionable in its direction its the
first link of a great trunk line for the North. The gra-
dients of this line are, in parts, rather severe, but not
more so than are perfectly practicable and have been
frequently sanctioned, and as are necessary from the na-
ture of the country, in order to avoid any great expense.
The works are not on the whole very heavy, and the es.
timates of traffic, which have been carefully prepared,
appear to show a fair probability of a sufficient return on
the capital required.
We conclude, therefore, as the first stop in our inquiry
into the question of railway communications for Scot-
land, that the Scottish Central line it one which, upon
public grounds, appears to deserve the sanction of the .
Legislature.
As a consequence of this condlusion, it follows that we
must express an unfavourable opinion of the Edinburgh
and Glasgow Company's Stirling Branch. This branch
competes, and is manifestly inconsistent with the southern
portion of the Scottish Central line ; and although in it •
self it might have been an useful and proper undertak-
ing, it is clear that if our views, already stated, are cor-
to one of much larger scope and
nationalrect, it mus
importance.t gi e v‘a y
We now come to the more difficult question of Reit-
way communications south of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
We have already descrited generally the two com-
peting systems proposed ; which, for the sake of brevity,
we may designate as the " Caledonian" and the" Dum•
fries and Hawick" systems.
The Caledonian line consists of a main trunk line of
73 miles in length from Carlisle, in the most direct
practicable route, to a point near Lanark, where two
branches fork off, one of 27 miles in length, to Edin-
burgh, the other towards Glasgow. The connexion with
Glasgow is effected by two routes, and partly by mass
of railways already formed. From the fork or point of
junction with the Edinburgh branch, the Glasgow
branch diverges north-westward till it joins the Wishaw
and Cultness Railway, which it uses for four•nailes to
Motherwell. At this point, the proposed Clydesdale
Railway branches off to Glasgow, to the south side of
the Clyde, giving an access to the quays on the south
side of the river, and forming a junction with the
Glasgow and Ayr. and Glasgow and Greenock Rail-
ways; while the Wiiliaw and Coltness line, in connexion
with the Glasgow and Garnle;rk, continues the comma •
nieation to the north side of Glasgow, and to a junction
with the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. Agreements
have bc-en entered into between the CaledonianCompry
and the company of propriee rs of the minorbc.unnineelll'g
lines above-mentioned, by which the latter
,41
.them-
selves to adapt their lines tosetlii.er
tir,acincoof the Caledonian
°gra
Company, and allow the u
itznlst,ragtilieci,.,s. a priori ty to this traffic over their own
•
The Caledonian scheme further comprises a line from
the Glasgow and Garnkirk line, a little beyond Mother-
well, to loin the Scottish Central liue at its squthern
terminus at Castle Cary.
The whole Caledonian scheme, . therefore, will consist
of the following parts :