Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1888-11-18
ENGLISH RAILWAYS
AN INTERESTING LETTER FROM 4 WHEEL
ING NAN ABROAD.
NJ. James Jspson Writes in an Entertaining Manner
Of Sights and Scenes Of Travel in the
British Isles.
DABwEN, ENGLAND, October 81.

as they are called he.e) With your per
mission, Mr.. Editor, I will o give a few
details on this 10 me- very interesting
subject, The figures I gave in. my last
espistle sho wed that the COS! Of English
railways, including stat;o:s, rolling stock,
&C., has tesn something like $500, 900
two hundred thousand dollars per mile.
This will 70 doubt be CO asideIel an exsg.
gerated sum by those of yrur readers who
hsvsnevsr seen the British I.lss,snd for their
benefit will offer a few explanations. In
the first place there is 10 Gent b titan aad
Ireland . population of about SO. 0O0, 900
lthirty-six mlllio 1s) or ovir go 10 the
SQUARE mile, so that towns are closer to-
gether ard large and costly sta icn3 have
to be built, while the expense o.
rights Of way through England's deDsely
populated cities aud towns is something
p,0iigous. 1 will give ycuan illustration
or two.
The Exchange station at Liverpool, re-
Gently built by the Llncsshire and York
shire railway, cost about $4,000, 900 six
millions Ct dollars. When l WAS a boy |
krew a little cid lumber yard at Back
burn. When the L. & Y. c.. wanted it in
I bai,ding their new station a. Blackb7In \
few years ago, how much do you think
they had to pay for il? Just eiI,00N, CT
1926 900 two hundred end thirty five
,houssrd dollars. You will thus see that
in the these matters Great Britain cannot
Justly be c:mp:rei t. The Un!te1 States,
With a population Of only tbout "A to the
slusre mile. Single track r.il Ways are
very rare here; with a double track some
companies are crowded for room, and some
have a doble track FOR tXprssstr trains alone,
using archer double track for accommcda-
ton and freight trsins.
Their, great Cesar. look ct the cost of
tunnels and bridges h.re. The Britannia
tubular br' dga, spanning M5nis Straits,
cot over So. 900, 900, but this is only l 40
feet lorg. The old Tory bridge, which
was b'oWn down a few years ago, has betu
replaced by a new one Quilt on So piers
which is over two miles in length. The
Forth bridge, now building, will be one
and or e-half miles long and will cost eight
million dvllare. The Severn bridge cost
S.. 900, 900. IL is nearly 4.GOO feet long
and crosses the river at 200 feet above the
water level. could make you tired with
more statistics Of this kind, bat / will for
bear. l cannot give you the cost o. tun-
npls but l will mention the length OF a
few, end after allowing for width Of doub'e
tracks, you can do your T figuring. The
Severn tunnel is Cvsr four miles long. The
Stanb-idge is over three miles in length
Woodtead ditto There are three Others
over two miles, five more II miles long
and 8 score more over q mile in length.
l had almost forgotten to mention the
viaducts. Between London and Birmirg'
ham there are 270; London aud Dover al
Liverpool and Mar chester 63; London and
Gosport lSS, &c., &c. The one at Soar,
dale IS about a quarter of a mile high and
$50 feet long. One at R~ibblshead is
about 300 feet in length and 100 feet
high. Cougleton Visduct is 1900 fee
long and cost $3.50, 900. Dane Viaduct is
1,5OO feet in length and coet a quart. r of a
million dollars.
Do l weary you with so many figures? il
not, e. me say something about the cost
OF a few of highlands railways stations OF
rather permit me 10 give You au idea Of
tteir size. ST. Psncrss station in London
headquarters of the Midland c. re,
GU red sixty mil ior of bricks eighty thous'
ard feet of dressed stone, and
1900 tors of iron in its construction. II
takes 900 three thousand) men ~ run
the Psddipgton Station, and lis offices,
signalling cabins, etc as far az the West
London function, a distance OF less than
two miles.
Liverpool Street Stltion, Lordon, Il
3 900 fest in length. New Street Station
at Birmingham is the largest IN the world,
and is the most elegant and bsst arranged
station in England. 1t covers an area Of
IS 900 square yards. York Station is
pretty but small lin fact hardly worth
mentionine) being only 1900 feat long
234 feet wide and so feet in height!
All stations in England, large
aud small, are built in the
same style, and if you travel from
John o. Greats TO LaLd's Eud,
you will not find the smallest
stations without lts waiting
rooms, well furnished they are too ma
caGamiztd platform, lsva'ories etc and
it is a very small station that has not its
b ok and newspaper stall, automatic
weighing m chiI e, by which you can find
on, your corrtc weight by ct funding on the
platform thereof, and doping a penny in
the eliot. By other automatic M icbines
you can procure postal cirds, cigarS, candy,
envelopes ect., by dropping your pennies
in the receptacles made and provided for
that purpose.
Passengers are not allowed to ride with
out having p:cclred tickets from the
looking" office. Tickets have to be CIV
en- up at the gate, as you 81 out Of the
station at your destination, except at
what are called open" stations, at large
cities where that plan is imprsctic abe.
Then your ticket wO1l1 be collected a.
the last stopping pl zee before your DIS.
t~ination was reached, WITH English cara
the conductor or guard" canrot go from
ore car 10 the othsr, while the t ain is in
mo'ion, as l explained before.
The system of checking baggage over
here is simply sbominable. The company
will not take charge cf il, except at your
risk, ard no checks are issued. II l 90 on
a trip 10 Newcastle from Manchester, /
would probably have to change cara at
Leeds and Yo;k; even if my baggage was
labeled for Newcastle. d. yOu think l
would ind it when l so! thereH Not a bit
Of ii. 1t would lie On the platform half
a day at Leeds, ard then Re thrown into
the 'los! baggage Office, unless l looked
after it myself, on arrival at Lseds.
The p,rter would expect a little Tip" for
puttirg it on the York train. The same
performance would have to be done at
York, then the porter at New Castle wcu'd
expert a fee for puttirg the baggage in my
cab, and the hotel porter would touch his
hat for q smsll piece of silver for carrying