The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-21 00:00:00

REPORT OF MR. RASTRICK.

TO THE DIRECTORS OF THE LONDON AND BRIGHTON
RAILWAY COMPANY.

Gentlemen,—When I had the honour to furnish you
with my last Half-yearly Report, the Railway had been
opened as far as Hayward's Heath, and the remainder of
the line was in so forward a state, that I promised it
should be opened throughout to Brighton, in the follow-
ing month. This I accomplished, and I then fully calcu-
lated that the works would all have been finished in the
course of a short period ; and I had every, reason to be-
lieve that the estimates you laid before the Proprietors
were adequate for that purpose. The line, however, was
scarcely opened, when the-most extraordinary wet sea-
son I ever remember set in, and has continued almost to
the present time. The whole country, as it were, be-
came inundated ; and such has been the effects upon the
heavy embankments, that it has only been by the most
strenuous exertions and constant labour that have been .
enabled to keep them in a fit state for the transit of our
traffic. The Railway, I believe, was worked to the sad--
faction of every one, up to the period of that most un-
fortunate accident, which has been the occasion of so
much anxiety and regret to -every one connected with"
this undertaking. •
I think it right _to allude to the interruptions at the.
Pateham Tunnel, and at the Merstham Cutting. The
former was occasioned by the continued wet, having
choked up the drains behind the front walls of .the Tun-
nel, and had nothing whatever to do with the Tunnel
itself, which is perfectly sound, and is, I believe, as good
a piece of brickwork its any in the kingdom ;. the latter,
in the deep cutting near the . Merstham Tunnel, did not
occur from any defect in the stratification of the chalk,
but from the accidental circumstance of there being at
that particular spot, near the outside of the cutting,
what is called " a funnel-shaped pot-hole," filled with
pebbles, gravel, • and soil, and which, becoming charged
and saturated with water, forced out the side of the cut--
ting, the chalk beingso thin in front of it, could not re-
sist the pressure from within.
I still retain the same opinion I have so often ex-
pressed, " that upright cuttings in chalk, similar to
that of the formation fotind on this line, will stand much
better than cuttings with any, considerable slope ;" and
I am fully confirmed in this, by the manner in whch all
our upright cuttings in chalk have stood during this wet
season. Ido not deny, that after a frost, a small quan-
tity will effloresce from off the surface ; but I maintain,
that that quantity will be much less than that from off a
flatter slope.
My attention was called to the earth4lopes at the top
of the chalk cuttings' • and "found the wet had so affected,,
them, that I have had them made much flatter, and
taken down to a greater depth, fearing that the mate-
rials might have slipped ; they are now all perfectly
secure ; but this has caused an expenditure, upon which
I had made no previous caletiliition.
The embankment at Earawood-common, and those
adjoining it, have caused a considerable extra outlay;.
but, by perseverance, we have now both, lines of .rails
open, there has been no recent settlement upon them,
and I may reasonably expect no further expense than
that usually attendant Upon works of their description.
The same remarks will apply to the embankment at
Kemps' Farm. The embankment at Kepner has suf-
fered in a greater degree from the continued wet sea-
son ; for a short distance there is only one line of rails
over it,' but no interruption to the traffic is experienced,
as, by the crossings which I have had put down, the.
trains pass very readily from the one line of rails to the
other. The road throughout, lam happy to say, is now
in good working order, and the embankments and slopes
of the cuttings appear to be getting into a permanent
state, and I have every reason to believe we have expe-
rienced the worst of our difficulties, as all the works
stand well, and show no unfavourable symptoms, and
surely, if they remain firm and secure_ 'after the severe
trial of the late season, we need be under no apprehen-
sion for the future. The untoward and vexatious cir-
cumstances we have had to contend with, no human pru-
dence or foresight could have anticipated or averted; and
it cannot. be a surprise to any one that they have en-
tailed up9P. the. Company a very much larger expendi-
ture than was dyer contemplated; and much, as I lament
it, lam sure, I have not incurred a, single expense un-
necessarily, and had this been the only line which had
suffered from the same causes, you.might have had great
reason to,complain. I have, I believe, called your atten-
tion to the chief causes of extra expenditure appertain-
ing to my. department ; but in addition to these, you
must remember it was deemed necessary to increase our
stock of engines, carriages, :waggons, &c., to a consider 7
able extent. Annexed is a statement of the amount, re-
quired to finish the works, and what I consider necessary
for the Convenience of the traffic :
Required to finish the contract works
now in hand £27,951
(Exclusive of the 10 per cent. held
back from the con tractors, in the
• hands of the Company.)
There will also be required for several
extra. works, part of which were
omitted to be estimated in last half-
year's account, some Of which are •
now in hand, others not 'yet began.
upon, but which will be required, in-
cluding also an allowance for any ac--
cidental extras, that may be found .

necessary 31,217

£59,068

Before long there will be required building's, ma-
chinery, engines, lathes. &c., for the repairs -of the loco-
motive engines, carriages, waggons, &c., as the Com-
pany will find it much to their interest to do all this
work themselves.

The traders upon the line will also require warehouses,
both at thenrighton and Shoreham stations, and you are
well aware that there is not accommodation at Shoreham
Harbour for one quarter of the shipping at, our present
wharf, and that we are losing our teaffic daily from this
cause, and, consequently, there must be a more extensive
wharf built and all the necessary appendages; and as it
has been determined to make; nearly the whole of the
coke at Shoreham. anaddition; 'pest be.made. to that es-
tablishment, and the ovens; &c, xnast„ be roofed, in. All
of these works will, howeiier, pay, end secure a revenue
independent of that derived from the Railway. The sums
required for all these works will amount to about 100,0001.
I have, also, to remind you, that I have, . jointly with
the Engineers of the South Eastern -and Croydon Rail-
ways, been engaged, on the Plans of the Joint Station; at
London-bridge, the specifications of which will be ready
in three weeks, and we have calculated that the money
required for our share of the expense of the engineering,
works, and buildings, now to be done, about3O,ooo/.
I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant,
(Signed) •J. C. RASTRICK.
London, 17th January, 1824.
Before submitting to the Proprietors the
particulars
of the liabilities of the Company, and. the amount requi-
site to .complete the line, and the _manner in which it is
proposed to provide the necessary funds, the Directors
beg to call the attention of the Meeting to the annexed
statement of the receipts and paYments to the 31st De-
cember last; together with accounts of the traffic:— • •
Thestatement of traffic on the main line, which is in-
cluded in these accounts, shows the receipts, exclusive
of payments for coaching during the partial opening, to
be 34,182/. Os. 2d., and the expenditure 24,4001. 3s. 4d.,
leaving a net surplus of 9,781 l 16s. 10d. This repre-
sents the result of scarcely more than three months'
traffic, the earnings during the partial opening having
been, as your Directors anticipated in their last Report,
barely more than equal to the expenditure. Deducting
from the whole amount of expenditure, as above the
toll, which amounts to 4,574 L 165., and which would not
be incurred wore the whole line the property of this .
Company, the-working expenses in respect of this traffic
have been 19,825/: 7s. 4d. • •
It Must be borne in Mind that a considerable portion
of this expenditure is of a fixed nature, arising from an
esta,blishnient adequate to carry on a very extensive
traffic., on which your Directors fully reckoned, and which
would, no doubt, have been secured, but for the unfor-
tunate occurrences on the Brighton Railway already ad-
verted to, and latterly the serious inconvenience to which
passengers are subjected by the Protracted stoppage on
the Croydon Railway. On the increase of traffic, which
may be confidently anticipated as the season Advances,
the ratio of the expenditure to the receipts will, no doubt,
be considerably diminished.
Your Directors have considered it of the first-import-
ince to insure the public safety by the utmost care and
vigilance of a large police establishment on their works
during the present trying season, and they are satisfied
that, by ye-assuring the•Pillilie mind in this respeet,even
at -a tensporaxy increa: e of expenditure; they aie Iket
consulting the real interests of the-Prprigtars.--ile-med
The receipts on the Shoreham line are 414, wbjeeiptit,6