The Sun.
London, England, 1845-07-01 00:00:00

RAILWAi7-6-0A111111"11EES

(THIS DAY.)

HOUSE OF LORDS.
CALEDONIAN RAILWAY.

This Committee met to-day at eleven o'clock, in the Vice
ofhan-
cellor's Court, Lord Radnor in the chair, when the examination
witnesses was resumed,
Mr. Morris, who furnished Mr. Parc with a considerable
are ertivoin.
of his data regarding the traffic on the route of the line, g
dence to that effect, and to its general correctness.
'
Mr. Nelson, butcher, of Glasgow,
of cattle that passed through the district for the
deposed respecting
Englishithe number
market.
The number of sheep and cattle was very large,anldh. e had no
:ioubt the greater portion would be carried along this line.
Mr. Smith, factor, of Blackwood, near Glasgow;pumilks and
Mr Miller,
r,
factor, of Cambernauld ; Mr. Robson, o
• of
Burrell, of Dumfries, severally
gaveevidence
traffic. These witnesses were all examined denee on the subject of
in the Committee of
the House of Commons, and their evidence now was, in substance,
but a repetition of what was stated there.
'Mr. Locke, civil engineer, w
examined. He went in
peculiarities of the line,
detail through the various engineeringasxne
gradients, tunnels, cuttings, embankments,st,catciot to h
stations,
t&ce.,aacleloomfrawlodlicah.
have already been fully reported. With respect
tion of Dumfries, it was the intention, he believed, to supply that
town with railway accommodation, though their branch had been
rejected in the Committee of the other House. He did not be-
eve that the plans of the Glasgow, Dunaries, and Carlisle were
qualified for that purpose. They (the Caledonian) had agreed to
have an independent station at Edinburgh, and also to cross the
Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway at C_stlecory, without touching
the railway. This was necessary, as the Edinburgh and Glasgow
Railway Company would oppose the construction of the present
line, and was now acting in concert with the Glasgow, Dumfries,
and Carlisle, against the passing of the Bill.
Mr. ANDREWS cross-examined the witness at some length. He
admitted that the Caledonian would not give much accommodation
to the district of country through which the Glasgow, Dumfries,
and Carlisle line was proposed to be taken. The amount of ac-
commodation, however, could be much increased by omnibuses
from the various towns to the railway stations. The Caledonian
line passed through a considerable portion of country very thinly
populated, yet, nevertheless, it was a fine agricultural country.
He surveyed the south of Scotland, for the purposes of a railway,
in 1836, and again in 1840. He made reports of these surveys.
The severest gradient he proposed in 1840 was 1 in 100. In
the present plan, I iii 75 was the severest. There were seve-
ral others nearly as severe. They could be very easily
worked by locomotive engines. There was a gradient
on the Glqucester and Birmingham Railway, two miles in
length lin 35, worked by a locomotive engine. It had always been
worked by a locomotive. The severeness of the gradients was
Compensated by advantages of shortness of distance and superior
gradients and levels on other portions of the line.
Mr. Locke was further cross-examined at great length respecting
the distances to Glasgow and Edinburgh of the line under consi-
deration, compared with the Glasgow, Dumfries, and Carlisle on the
other side, and the Carlisle, ilawick, and Edinburgh on the other,
with the view of showing that the latter lines would furnish a much
superior communication between the respective termini than the
former.