Stockton and Darlington Railway developed the resources of the district, and offered facilities for bringing these resources to market. The result was the formation of a town, now containing a population of some 17,000 persons. In 1825 the site of the town was occupied by a solitary farm-house and its outbuildings; now the place possesses churches, chapels, schools, a custom-house, mechanics' institutes, banks, shipbuilding yards, and iron factories. Ironstone has been found in the neighbourhood; iron furnaces now blaze along the vale of Cleveland, and new smelting works appear in all directions, fed by the railway, which brings to them their supplies of fuel from the Durham coal-fields. Railways have indirectly improved the make and accelerated the speed of all vehicles on common roads. 66 Sir W. Davenant complained in 1684 that London was the only metropolis in Europe where there was wonderful dignity belonging to carts." He would not ride in a coach "till the quarrel were decided whether six of our nobles sitting together should stop and give way to as many barrels of beer." As far as passengers are concerned, the railway has greatly levelled distinctions, and first-class passengers embrace peers, merchants, bankers, and all who afford the fare; but as far as carts are concerned, there is "wonderful dignity" belonging to them still; and the nobleman who will try the strength of his carriage against one of Barclay's drays will show more spirit than discretion. Yet look. on the waggons, carts, and drays of the present time as compared with those of twenty years ago-see how "Chaplin's" and "Pickford's " vans are trotted along our thoroughfares-how the waggons of tradesmen are no longer the cumbrous machines they formerly were, but light, strong, useful vehicles, capable of receiving considerable weights, yet of moving with celerity and despatch. All this tells the lesson of the rail, "Time is money." Look at the influence of railways on habits of thought. Distance is not regarded-it is time. It is the five or six hours to Liverpool, not the 201 miles, that are thought of. Railway time, (that is, Greenwich time,) the time of all the electric clocks, is superseding ordinary reckoning by local clocks; the punctuality required by railways (at least, on starting from London) begets punctuality in general appointments. Men who travel daily by rail get up earlier and at a regular hour; they are at their business sooner, and plan the day's business better, than they did before. They learn to economize time by occupying every portion of it and they get into the habit of finishing their work more completely because they know the train will not wait for them. Railways benefit health by enabling men to obtain an entire change of scene when they leave business; to breathe purer air; travel greater distances; and actually to prolong life by crowding it with incident. Look at the importance of British railways in the works which have been executed (works nobler and more useful than those of ancient Rome or Egypt)-in the capital invested-in the multitudes employed by them-in their effect on commerce and on social life,—and we must regard with admiration the present results of a system, begun within our own recollection, and which has so early attained such gigantic proportions. It is one of the most wonderful things, if not the most wonderful, recorded in the history of the world. AMERICAN RAILWAYS. Next to his own country and her noble colonies, an Englishman must always be more interested in the United States of North America than in any other country or people in the world. The inhabitants are sprung from the same stock, speak the same language, have greater interests in common with us than any other nation-their virtues and their failings are much the same as our own—and, despite the occasional sharpness of tone (which people who are sensitive to each other's good opinion more frequently use than those who are indifferent), the two nations have a real regard and respect for each other. This was evidenced in Boston when the rail was opened between Canada and that city. Lord Elgin, Governor-General of Canada, was there: 3,000 dined in a tent on Boston Common, and all drank to the health of the Queen of England. The band within played our national air; the band outside took up the strain, till the whole place resounded with the notes of "God save the Queen." It is gratifying to notice the progress made in railways in the United States. Captain Douglas Galton has furnished a most valuable report upon them, and from some of his statements we shall draw liberally. There are now about 26,500 miles of railway in operation in the United States, only about one-sixth of which are of double line. The greater part were constructed by Irish labour; in this let us note the providential direction of human affairs. America could not have spared hands for this work; the famine in Ireland of 1847 sent crowds of emigrants to the States; they aided the construction of railroads, opening districts of country where these emigrants were gladly welcomed as settlers; and on the roads which the fathers toiled to make, the children in multitudes of cases will travel as independent men. It is a saying in the States, that "no railroad pays from north to south;" and certainly, apart from those which run between the great cities of the Atlantic coast, the chief use of American railways is to connect the fertile lands of the HH west with the Atlantic seaboard. A traveller would think this fact was ever present to the minds of conductors and station-masters; for instead of the guard's whistle, or the exclamation "All's right," the cry on the train starting is everywhere," All aboard!" just as though the railway car were a ship casting off from the quay. American railway stations are less expensive than ours, but quite as convenient; and at many of them there is a second opening from the booking-office into the ladies' waiting-room, so that ladies travelling alone may obtain their tickets without crowding or inconvenience. This is an improvement on our arrangements; and there are some others, one of which, for the sake of humanity, should be tried here-protection is afforded to the firemen and engine-drivers against the inclemency of the weather. The foot-plate of the engine is covered by a roof, supported by glazed sides and a glazed front; the windows are arranged to open readily, and a passage is afforded to the front of the engine; the shed is open at the back towards the tender. Another improvement might be adopted by us-the perfectly simple and effectual communication between the guard and the engine-driver, furnished by a cord passing through rings in the ceiling of the cars. Another is the system pursued with respect to baggage. The necessity is not so great here as in America, because our journeys are shorter; but it is a great convenience. When the luggage is delivered to the railway servants, a brass check for each package, and frequently with the name of the place to which the luggage is to be taken, is given to the passenger. A corresponding check, provided with a leather thong, is attached to each package. The passenger need not trouble himself further; the details are so well arranged, that loss is very rare indeed. As the train approaches large towns, a person walks through the cars, MODERN AMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE, 1857. Level Crossings. |