The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-04-23 00:00:00

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

GLASGOW, DUMFRIES, AND CARLISLE
RAILWAY.

A meeting of the county of Ayr was held on Friday,
the 12th current, to con,ider the proposed railway via
Dumfries to Carlisle, and to resolve what means should be
taken to promote its success. The area of the Court-
house was crowded by an audience comprising some of the
most influential gentlemen in the county.
On the motion of Mr. A. Oswald, M.P., seconded by
Mr. Alexander, of Southbar, the Earl of Eglinton and
Winton was unanimously called to the ehair.
The requisition calling the meeting was then read; after
which
The Earl of Eglinton rose, and having recalled to the
remembrance of the mee,ing the course taken by the in-
habitants of the county upon the first starting of the Gies-
govi and Ayr Railway, and the extent to which their
exp,ctations of advantage had been realised, expressed
briefly his opinion of the great benefit which the Glasgow,
Dumfries, and Carlisle Railway would confer upon the
west of Scotland, in comparison with that to he derived
from the' success of its formidable rival, the Caledonian
line. They would, however, be better able to form a
judgment after hearing the able statement of Mr. Logie,
whom he should.introduce to them ; but before doing so
he would read letters'of apology which had been received
froth Mr. Campbell, of Uraigie, and Colonel Smith Neill,
of Swindrigemuir. '
The letters of these gentlemen, who had travelled over
the two lines of road, were then read, giving a decided
preferment to the Dumfries route.
Mr. Logie then rose, and after a few preliminary ob-
ser.ations proceeded to state that they were all aware that
three lines of communication with England had been pro-
posed. There was, first, the Eastern line, which was to
connect Edinburgh with Newcastle, one-half of which
might he said to have already secured the sanction of par-
liament. • But what was the fact? The !emit given to the
government commissioners was not a remit to consider
what was the best line to Scotland, but what was the best
line to connect Edinburgh, and Glasgow with England.
The other inhabitants of Scotland were not c,,mmitted to
that report. That central line, after reaching 'yming-
ton, was intended to branch off to Glasgow in the one di-
rection, and Edinburgh in the other. The whole distance
from Carlisle to Glasgow was 101 miles. This was no
doubt the shortest route to Scotland ; but the Caledonian
Railway had departed from the line recommended by the
government commissioners. They did not branch off at
Symington, but proposed to carry forward the single line
to a point near Lanark ; after which, instead of tAing the
direct line by keeping the south bank of the Clyde, they
intended to cross that river, in ord3r to gain the advantage
of some small mineral railways in Lanarkshire. They
had given no plan by which their distances could be
checked ; but it was evident that the circuitous route
which it was now their intention to adopt, would tend to
lengthen the distance considerably. The total distance of
the Glasgow and Dumfries line was 125 miles ; therefore,
if it had been the Glasgow, Dumfries, and' Carlisle line,
versus the Government Commissioners' line, there would

have been a difference of 21 miles in f+vour of the latter

But since the Caledonian Company had departed from
that, he could not exactly state the difference between the
two lines, but he was of opinion it would not he above
"fifteen or sixteen miles. (Applause.) The speaker pro-
ceeded to show that from the more favourable nature of
the country the journey would be accomplished in a shorter
time by the Dumfries than the Caledonian line. He then
referred to an opinion given by Mr. Locke, the present
engineer of the Caledonian line to the Directors of the
Grand Junction Railway in 1836, in which the line of
country taken by the Dumfries line, and the advantages
to the towns and districts through which it passes,
are very highly spoken of, and contended- that when
Mr. Locke was employed by the Grand Junction
Company, in 1836, it was for him to report as to the best
line from Carlisle to Glasgow. 1 his he reported to be by
way of Nithsdale, for reasons which are unanswerable;
and when the question again resolves itself into which is
the best line to Glasgow only, the same causes which
rendered the Nithsdale line the best in 1836 make it the
best still. What, therefore, has deprived us of his ad-
vocacy now is the desire to secure for the Grand Junction
Company the traffic not only of Glasgow and the west of
Scotland, but of Edinburgh and the east. As the engi-
neer of the Grand Junction Railway, he has, naturally
enough, been led to look to what would be the best feeder
to that company; and if he could get 'only one line to
Scotland, by way of Carlisle to Glasgow and Edinburgh,
it was clear that that would be the best line for the Grand
Junction. But when the hcrpe of getting the Edinburgh
traffic was gone by the making of the line from'Edinburgh to
Glasgow, then the central line became useless, and the
necessity for a Western or the Nithsdale became obvious.
The speaker then went on to compare the benefits to the
county of Ayr to be derived from the two lines. The Ca-
ledonian railway would. be of no service to that county,
neither would it benefit the Stewarty of Kirkcudbright, or
the adjoining county of Wigton. There would be no
saving of time in 'the whole route to set off against these`
obj-ctions, owing to the gradients of 1 in 75 for ten miles
on the Caledonian, which, notwithstanding the advanced
state of engineering., would still be difficult to overcome.
Besides, upon that line there' was no mineral wealth to
develope, and no rich agricultural wealth -to open out ;
whereas, by the Dumfries line, they would have the traffic
of the enterprising tOwn'of Dumfries, the rising seaport
of Annan, and, in Ayrshire, extensive sources of mineral

wealth, which only lequired a railway to bring them into
immed'ate productiveness. It was quite clear that one

line passing through a comparatively uninhabited country
could be of little advantage compared to two lines, which.
while traversing totally opposite directions, passed through
rich and populous districts. 'ln looking at the map they
could not fail to see how beautifully Scotland would be en-

circled in an i ron chain by tiraf connexion betweenEdinburg'

and Newcastle on the one side,and by thatbetweenGlasg,;7
and Carlisle via Dumfries on the other. Mr. Logie then

referred to the case of purchasers from the English mar-
kets, who, if they came by the Caledonian line would

scarcely ever think_ of going farther than Edinburgh or

GlasgoW, because they could not get to Dumfries without

taking the coach or some other expensive mode of convey-
ance; whereas with an east and western line they could
come down to Scotland by the one and return by the other,
making their purchases along both. (Applause.) The
speaker having referred further to the benefits to be de-
rived by the people of Ayrshire by the formation of
the Dumfries line, proceeded to remark upon the fact
that whereas the projectors of the Caledonian having
been first in the field, had secured the valuable as-
sistance of the Marquis of Queensbury and other influen-

tial parties, and yet .had been three years in taking up the
subscriptions necessary, their own line had only been
agitated two months, and be had much pleasure in inform-
ing them that by that day's post he had received notice
that 50,000 shares had now been applied for, leaving only
2000 shares to complete their entire capital. (Applause.)
He mentioned this only to urge those resident in the

western counties to 'bestir themselves and enable the pro-
visional commitree to secure, what was so veryadvanta-

geous, an extensive local interest in the allocation of the

shares.

Sir D. H. Blair having moved the resolutions in an ex-
cellent speech, in which he announced the important fact
that Lord Queensbuty had deserted the Caledonian and

would now lend his influence to this line,

Mr. LOGIE said, perhaps he might be permitted to
mention one argument in favour of the Dumfries line

which he had overlooked in the statement he had already
submitted to them ; and it was this, that it was well
known among those best informed on. the subject, that
_ _

the black baiid of the Monklands, would not list above

four years: It was therefore quite clear, there not being

another district in which bla.ck band could be so easily

got as in Ayrshire, that this county would, ere long,

some the Afonklands of Scotland. It was an invariable
result of a railway passing through a fertile country that,
as the trade and profits of the railway increased, the views
of the directors began to expand; and whenever it be-
came lucrative, branches would spring up in all direc-
tion., so that they would ultimately have all the great
mineral fields of Ayrshire supplied and collected in one
unbroken chain of communication. (Applause.)
The resolutions were then briefly seconded and carried,
and after a few words from Lord Eglinton and a vote of
thanks for his conduct in the Chair the meeting broke
up.

The railroad between Brunswick and Hanover is to be
opened on the Ist of June next.
The total cost of the intended Chester and Holyhead
Railway is estimated at £2,100,000, of which the London
and Birmingham Company subscribes £1,000,000.
Speculations in railway shares have become so excessive
in Paris that it has been determined that there shall be
two settling days in the month.
A contemporary journal states that the Great Westxrn
Railway Company have now in contemplation to make a
branch line to Frome and Warminster, embracing. the
towns of Melksham, Bradford, and Trowbridge. A line
for the three latter was provided for in their first act.
Among the new projects of railways is one for con-
structing a line of road from Edinburgh through Fife to
Dundee, with a junction to Perth, which has the support
of the most influential and wealthy people of the Scotch
metropolis. £BOO,OOO is to be the capital.

A Newcastle paper, in adverting to the great railway
movement which had arisen throughout Scotland, antici-
pates that, in the course of two or three years, persons
will be enabled to leave Newcastle-upon-Tyne m the
morning, and dine at Aberdeen, or even Inverness, the
same day.

A. general expectation gains ground amongst railroad
directors and speculators, that the present session of par-
liament will relieve third class carriages from the tax of
five per cent., and will regulate and enforce the principle
on which railways ought to be assessed in the relief of the
poor. This expectation is not, so far as we can learn, the
result of any communication had with government, but is
based on the reasonableness of the concessions anticipated
on the general tone and language which Sir Robert Peel
and Mr. Gladstone have adopted in the House of Com-
mons during railway discussions, and on the almost uni-
versal response made by the house to the friendly disposi-
tions of the Premier and the Trade Minister.—Morning
Herald.
BIRMINGHAM AND DERBY JUNCTION RAILWAY,—
A special general meeting of the shareholders in the Bir-
mingham •and Derby Junction Railway was held in the
board room of the station last week, for the purpose
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Midland, the Midland Counties, and the Derby Railway
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Beale, Esq., chairman of the board of directors,
tsCpSeeraonterntmdslieideaneid. A resolution was moved to the effect that the
bill be approved. On this an amendment was proposed,
which was negatived by 15 to 3, and the original motion
was carried.