p, fig. 15, and are screwed down at intervals of eighteen | inches on each side, a layer of felt being interposed between them and the timbers. These rails weigh about forty-seven pounds to the yard.—q, fig. 15, is the rail of the Great Western Railway, which is fixed in a similar manner, but the Fig. 15.

screws on the inner side of the rail are round-headed and countersunk, while the others are ordinary square-headed bolts. The longitudinal timbers are of larger dimensions, and the cross-pieces or transoms are placed fifteen feet apart, and framed with them, their office being more to keep the track in gauge than to bear any considerable part of the weight.-r and s are forms of rail sometimes used on continuous bearings, r being fastened by clamps or pins driven in obliquely. Rails similar top have been fixed in the same manner, but the use of screws, though expensive, is decidedly preferable.

Continuous bearings of stone have been tried, but found too harsh and rigid.

Gauge, Width between Tracks, &c.--The gauge or width between the two rails forming a track is one of the points in railway practice which has excited much discussion. On the old railways four feet was not an uncommon width, but many lines were less. Some of the colliery railways in Northumberland are four feet eight inches and a half, and from these the Stockton and Darlington, Liverpool and Manchester, and other lines, took their gauge. The advantage of uniformity has led most companies to follow this example, and for a time it was rendered imperative by Parliament, but at present no standard is fixed by the legislature. The ordinary width being considered inconveniently limited, Brunel fixed upon seven feet as the gauge of the Great Western and its tributary lines. Much opposition has been made to this bold step, mainly on account of the inconvenience of not being able to connect with other lines, which is in some degree obviated by laying an inner rail for the use of narrow carriages on any portion of railway passed over by two companies whose lines are laid of different widths. The superiority of this enlarged gange is apparent in the increased power and speed of the engines, and the stability and convenience of the carriages; but many who admit the inconvenience of the narrow gauge consider seven feet to be beyond the most advantageous width. Six feet two inches has been recommended by the Irish Railway Commissioners. Six feet is the width of some of the continental lines. The Dundee and Arbroath, and Arbroath and Forfar railways are five feet six inches; and the Eastern Counties, and London and Blackwall, about five feet. The ordinary standard in North America is four feet eight inches and a half, having been copied from the Liverpool line. Several recent lines in this country have been made four feet nine inches, to allow rather more play to the flanges than the common width. One of the great recommendations of a wide gauge is the scope that it allows for improvements iu machinery; a circumstance evidently of much importance when it is considered that the experience of ten years only has led to the enlargement of locomotive engines to so great a degree that their weight and cost are now nearly treble what they were when the Liverpool and Manchester Railway was opened.

The width between the two tracks is a matter of much less Consequence. On the Liverpool and Manchester line it is four feet eight inches and a half. The London and Birmingham Railway, and many others, have a space of six feet, which allows loads of ten feet wide to be carried with safety. The same intermediate space on the Great Western Railway, in consequence of the increased gauge, allows a maximum load of twelve feet. The space which is necessary outside the tracks is dependent on the width of load provided for, and seldom exceeds four feet, except on embankments, where a little more is sometimes allowed, so that, in case of carriages

getting off the track, there may be width for them to run on the ballasting until the inner wheels come in contact with the outer rail, which will in most cases prevent the train from overturning.

In laying the rails, allowance should be made for the effect of temperature, which will cause a difference of length in a fifteen-feet rail, exposed to a range of 76° Fahrenheit, of about

th of an inch. The insertion of a piece of wood between the ends of two rails is an ingenious mode of avoiding concussion from the opening of the joints from this cause, for the wood expands as the iron contracts.

In the description of fig. 8 it is stated that the wheel-tires are made slightly conical, in order that the flanges may come in contact with the rails as little as possible. In ordinary wheels three inches and a half wide, the inclination of the tire is about 1 in 7, the diameter at the outside being an inch less than close to the flange. The wheels are so fixed that, when running straight, the flanges are about an inch from the rails. When the rails are fixed vertically, the line of contact between them and the wheels is, in consequence of their conical shape, so narrow as to cause considerable wear. Most engineers, therefore, give a slight inclination inwards to the rails, that they may present a greater surface to the wheels, although the friction is increased by the rubbing of the conical tire. This inclination is stated by Lecount to be of an inch in eleven inches, or about 1 in 29, on the Birmingham Railway. On the Great Western it is 1 in 20.

In running on a straight road, the conical tires keep the carriage in the true line of direction, because any deviation from it causes the wheels on one side to roll on an increased, and those on the other on a reduced periphery—an irregularity which immediately checks itself. But on a curved track the centrifugal force overcomes that of gravity so far as to cause the flange on the outer side of the curve to approach the rail, and consequently the opposite wheels to roll on unequal peripheries, thereby avoiding part of the friction consequent on the wheels (which are fixed to the axle) being compelled to revolve with equal velocity, though the outer one has to pass over a greater length of rail than the other. To prevent unnecessary friction between the flange and the rail, it is usual to lay the outer rail on curves rather higher than the inner one, that the opposing forces may be so balanced as to cause average loads moving at the medium speed employed to pass round the curve without the flanges on either side coming in contact with the rails, and with the wheels rolling on diameters unequal in a degree corresponding with the radius of the curve. A pair of ordinary coned wheels, three feet diameter, might run in a circle of only 565 feet radius without the flanges touching; and as no curves of such small radius are admitted on a main line of railway, it is evident that, in theory, nothing more than an accurate adjustment of the outer rail with reference to the speed of transit is necessary to enable trains to pass along any ordinary railway without the flanges being called into action, unless by accidental circumstances. The following is selected from a much more extensive table by the Chevalier de Pambour, to show the proper elevation of the outer rail on a line of four feet eight inches and a half gauge, under given circumstances. The calculations are suited to the use of three-feet wheels, coned as above described :—

lower level is unavoidable, approaches of moderate inclination should be made for carriages. The station of the Brandling Junction Railway at Gateshead is of novel and ingenious design. The line is on a viaduct, the arches of which are prolonged so as to support a level of considerable extent. A branch track at right angles with the main line is laid along the crown of each arch, by which waggons are conducted to platforms that form part of the railway level, but may be lowered, with waggons upon them, to that of the warehouses, which are underneath the arches, and communicate with the natural surface. Stations vary in character, from mere booking-offices, where passengers and parcels wait to be taken up by passing trains, to great establishments covering several acres of ground, with separate offices for passengers, parcels, and heavy goods; facilities for transferring carriages, horses, and cattle to or from the railway; extensive sheds for trains to stand under; repairing-shops for engines and carriages; and many other necessary erections. The stations of the London and Birmingham Railway at Euston Square, Camden Town, and Birmingham, extend collectively over a space of about fifty acres; besides which the company have establishments of great magnitude at Wolverton, Rugby, and Hampton, and several of smaller dimensions.

Contrivances for conducting engines and carriages from one track to another are required in a variety of situations. They generally consist of switches and turn-tables. Switches are moveable rails placed at the point where two tracks fall into one, and they are capable of adjustment so as to guide vehicles from the single track into either of the two, or from either of the two into the single track. In the old railways this was effected by short tongues of iron, moved by hand; but it is necessary where locomotives are used to have the transition from one track into the other as gradual and free from concussion as possible, and therefore the moveable bars are made of considerable length, seldom less than eight or ten feet, and, on the Great Western Railway, fifteen feet. Fig. 16 represents a switch formed on the model of the old contrivance

rails are fixed in a wrong direction, a train can never get off the track, as the momentum enables the flange to open the switch and pass through. In some situations a spring or weight is applied with great advantage, to hold the switch in the position most commonly required, and return it to that position The double rail repre immediately after being acted upon.

sented in fig. 17 is a contrivance much used as a switch, aud affords a very smooth transition from one track to another. In this the two tracks terminate in two double rails, e d and e' d', pivoted at dd', and shifted as occasion requires in a similar manner to the former, the rails being connected by cross-pieces,

so that the whole are moved simultaneously. In the present position of the apparatus the lower track is that connected with the single line; but by moving the switches in the direction of the arrow, the lower track would be disconnected, and the upper one made to join the track at A. These switches, like those previously described, are occasionally used treble; and they are sometimes made to unite two tracks in each direction.

Fig. 18 is designed to illustrate the manner in which switches are applied at passing-places and crossings. a b is a passing

a

Fig. 18.

B

Fig. 1 6.

d

B

b

f

A

f

of moveable tongues. The black lines are the fixed rails which at A form one track, and at B two tracks. The double line from c to d indicates the switch, which is pivoted at d, and tapered to a point at the other end. From its under edge proceeds the bar e, which passes under the rail to a lever or eccentric placed in a convenient situation for being moved by an attendant. In the position represented by the engraving, the switch would conduct a train along the upper track from A to B, because free passage is allowed for the flange between the switch and the upper rail, while the inside of the flange pressing against the switch c d prevents the flange on the opposite side of the track from quitting the straight course. If, however, by turning the lever or eccentric connected with e, the switch be moved in the direction indicated by the arrow, the case will be reversed: the switch being brought into con tact with the rail at c, the flange will be compelled to move along its inner side, and consequently that on the opposite side of the track will pass along the opening by the side of the lower rail. ff are fixed bars called guard-rails, which prevent the switch moving too far, and protect the narrow ends of the switch and rail from injury. Switches on this principle sometimes connect three tracks with one, by two moveable pieces, of which an example is in use at the Great Western Railway station at Paddington. It is a great recommendation of this kind of switch, that, unless the moveable

place for a single line of railway where the traffic is about equal in each direction. It should be observed that the angles in this figure are, to save room, made more abrupt than they should be on a public railway, where angles of more than 2° or 2 are considered objectionable. In this arrangement every train from a to b takes the lower track, and those from b to a the upper one. Switches of the kind first described are used at the points a and b, and, as they have always to be passed through in the same order, they are made self-acting, that at a being held by springs in the position for guiding carriages on to the lower track, and being opened by the flanges of the engine wheels for the passage of the trains in the contrary direction, while that at b in like manner conducts trains passing towards a into the upper track. This kind of passing-place has been successfully used on the Newcastle and Carlisle, and other railways. cd represents another arrangement for the same purpose, which may have the same kind of switch, but is generally used without any, the impetus of the train always keeping it to the straight track, while if suitable openings be made for the flanges it cannot escape from the rails in running from the double into the single part. ef shows the arrangement of a crossing on a railway with two tracks, switches being placed at both junctions, which, being only for occasional use, are worked by hand, men being stationed at g g for the purpose. The risk of accident, arising from the neglect or misplacing of the switches, is somewhat reduced by affixing a signal-apparatus to them; which, by

At the points where two rails cross, grooves are formed to allow the flanges to pass; and to check any tendency in the wheels to escape from the rails, guard-rails, as indicated in fig. 18, are fixed within the track, to guide the inside of the flanges.

Turn-tables are useful in transferring single carriages from one track to another, which they do in much less space than any arrangement of crossings and switches. They consist of circular platforms of iron and wood, fixed on a level with the tracks, and mounted on friction-wheels, so as to turn on their centres with great facility. Fig. 19 represents two turn-tables

so laid as to communicate with one another. Four rails are laid across each, and made to tally precisely with those of the track. If it be desired to transfer a carriage from the track a to that marked b, it is rolled on the turn-table at d, and then, the catches which held the turn-table steady being released, the platform, with the carriage upon it, is turned a quarter round. The carriage is then rolled on the turn-table e, and being again turned a quarter of a circle, is in a right position for running on the track b. Carriages may in like manner be transferred to a cross-track, as at c. Locomotive-engine houses are frequently made octagonal, with eight radiating tracks, the engines being moved to or from any of them by

means of a large turn-table in the centre.

Carriages.-Railway carriages for the conveyance of passengers are usually very capacious, the bodies being made to project over the wheels, which on ordinary lines seldom exceed three feet diameter. This arrangement is not productive of danger, since the evenness of a railway, the comparatively low build of the carriages, and the great weight of the iron wheels, axles, and framing under the body, prevent the liability of overturning. On account of the rapid speed at which they travel, and the violent shocks to which they are occasionally subject, great strength of construction is necessary; and the circumstance of several vehicles being linked together in one train renders the use of an elastic apparatus for starting and stopping them essential. Elasticity in the traction is also necessary, in order that the engine may not have to overcome the inertia of the whole train at the same instant, which would require much more power than suffices, when they are started, to keep the whole in motion. Various contrivances are in use for this purpose, but fig. 20 may serve to give a correct idea of the principles on which they all act. It represents the ground-plan of a passengercarriage, the body being removed. The frame, which is outside the wheels, is supported on lapped springs, which, by brass bushes or bearings, rest on the ends of the axles, they being extended beyond the wheels, and accurately turned, for that purpose. a a a a are buffers, or disks of wood or metal, someFig. 20.

which pass through the frame and along the sides to the ends of the long springs e c, which are capable of moving towards each other when pushed by the rods, but are prevented by stops on the frame from moving in the opposite direction. The centre being allowed to slide backwards and forwards, both springs are brought into action by an impulse given to either end. All the buffers in a train being placed at the same height and width, they come into contact when the carriages run towards one another in stopping suddenly, and the jerk is by them communicated to the springs e c, whose elasticity allows so much motion as to prevent any injurious shock to the carriage. The traction apparatus, or that by which the carriages are drawn forward, consists of rods passing through the frame at b b', aud connected, in a manner which it is unnecessary to describe, with the small springs e' e, which also act together, the centre of e pressing against the cross-bar of the carriage-frame as an abutment, when the pull is from b, and that of e', in the like manner, when the traction is in the direction of . The connection between the different carriages often consists of a jointed bar of iron, which is disunited, when necessary, by the removal of a pin. Chains are sometimes used, and occasionally united by a peculiar kind of screw, which draws the carriages so close that their buffers come in contact. In some carriages the same springs serve both for traction and buffing, and spiral or helical springs are not unfrequently applied to the purpose. Axle-guides, fixed to the framing, are used to keep the axles square; but a more elastic construction of carriage, in which the axles have sufficient play to enable them to adapt themselves to a curved track, and the springs for bearing the weight, drawing, and buffing, are made of an unusually light character, is being introduced by Mr. Adams, with great promise of success. having a treble body, with six seats in each compartment; The ordinary first-class carriages convey eighteen passengers, and the second-class, of similar make, carry twenty-four passengers. Those on the Great Western Railway, which are mostly on six wheels, are much larger, some of the secondclass vehicles seating seventy-two persons. Open carriages, in which the passengers stand, are frequently used for short stages. Waggons for goods and cattle, trucks for the conveyance of stage-coaches and private carriages, and horse-boxes, are all mounted on springs, but their buffing apparatus is often very simple and inelastic. The weight of the ordinary passenger-coaches, when empty, is from three to five tons.

The

Locomotive Engines.--Since the successful adoption of locomotive steam-engines on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, improvements have followed closely upon one another, but they have been chiefly of a minor character, when compared with that of tubing the boiler, which formed the distinguishing feature of the Rocket engine. Stephenson built several engines shortly after the competition in which the Rocket had proved victorious, retaining this arrangement, but having the machinery disposed in a different manner. cylinders were placed in a box beneath the chimney, and the piston-rods moved horizontally under the boiler, working two cranks formed on the axle of the hind-wheels, which were then made the largest. The boiler and machinery were attached to a massive frame, the sides of which were outside the wheels, and rested, by means of springs and brass bearings, on the ends of the axles. Bearings outside the wheels have this decided advantage over inner ones-which are, nevertheless, preferred by some engineers-that the ends of the axles may be turned away to so small a diameter as materially to diminish the friction, without the risk of breakage which would attend the reduction of the axle within the wheels. The superior economy of large engines becoming evident from experience, it was deemed advisable to add a third pair of wheels, which were made small, like the fore-wheels, and placed under the fire-box end of the machine. The flanges on the two pair of small wheels being sufficient to guide the machine, Stephenson removed them from the central or driving pair, which thus

carried in the tender,-a supplementary vehicle attached to the back of the engine. The fire-box is usually open at the bottom, to allow the free access of air, so that cinders fall through the bars upon the road,-a circumstance sometimes productive of accident. As there is very little water above the flat top of the fire-box a, a fusible plug is inserted in it, to act as a safetyvalve in the event of the water becoming too low, and leaving it dry. The tubes through the boiler b for the passage of flame and heated air are now always made of brass, which is found much more durable than copper. They vary in number in different engines, from about ninety to a hundred and fifty or upwards, being frequently less than an inch and a half in diameter. The power of generating steam, which is the measure of efficiency in a locomotive engine, depends much upon judicious tubing, it being desirable to deprive the heated air of its caloric as completely as possible before leaving the

boiler. The chief practical limit to the reduction of the tubes, and consequent increase of their number and extent of surface, is their liability to become choked with cinders and ashes carried into them by the draft. Boilers are frequently tubed to such an extent that from four to six hundred square feet of heated metal is exposed to the water, in addition to the area of the fire-box itself. An important feature in a locomotive boiler is its security from bursting, because, as the tubes are much weaker than the external casing of the boiler, they are almost certain to give way first, and the bursting of one or two tubes is rarely productive of more serious consequence than extinguishing the fire, and thereby causing a gradual stoppage of the machine.

Owing to the limited size of the boiler, the steam which collects in the upper part is mixed with spray from the water. A steam-chamber d is therefore added, in which it becomes free from the spray, and then enters the steam-pipe that passes through the smoke-box c to the cylinders or engines at e. A throttle-valve in this pipe is placed under the command of the engineer by a rod passing through the boiler and terminating in a handle connected with a graduated scale at the back of the engine. By this the supply of steam to the cylinders is regulated or cut off when necessary. Eccentrics for working the slide-valves, which admit steam alternately to each side of the piston, are fixed on the main crank-axle; and in some engines two pair are used, one for working in common, and the other when the engine runs backwards. The steam cylinders are usually twelve or thirteen inches diameter, and eighteen inches stroke; and the driving-wheels of the engine from five to seven feet diameter, the small wheels being three or four feet.

The pipe shown in the section passing from the cylinders to the chimney is the blast-pipe for the exit of waste steam, its upper end being tapered to give greater effect to the jet. At the top of the chimney a wire-gauze cap is frequently fixed to arrest sparks and small cinders which are often thrown up by the strong draft, and have been the occasion of many destructive fires; but a more effectual remedy has been recently introduced, consisting of a grating at the bottom of the chimney, which stops the cinders before they are affected by the steamjet.-ƒ and g are safety-valves held down by springs, the former only being under the control of the engine-driver.-h is a steamwhistle, which, by its shrill sound, warns persons working on the line of the approach of an engine.-i is one of two feedpipes, communicating between the water-tank in the tender and small forcing-pumps under the boiler, which are worked by the engine, and ensure an equable supply of water in the boiler. Valves for regulating this supply, handles for reversing the motion of the machine, steam and water gauges, and numerous other conveniences are added, being placed within reach of the engine-driver, when on the platform at the back of the fire-box. In order to economise the heat by checking its radiation, the boiler is coated with wood, and sometimes flannel is placed between them. The steam dome and similar parts are double, the space between the inner and outer casing answering the same purpose. The tender, and sometimes the engine itself, is supplied with powerful brakes, to arrest the motion of the wheels when necessary. Some of the carriages also have them, and handles for working them are placed within reach of the guards.

Stationary Engines.-Locomotive engines are very expensive to work, on account of their necessarily limited dimensions, and the rapid action of the working parts; while the addition of their own weight to the load to be conveyed, and the injury they cause to the rails, form additional disadvantages, from which stationary engines are exempt. But the smaller cost of working stationary engines is met by a serious drawback,— the friction of the rope used to convey their power to the carriages, and of the sheaves or pulleys upon which it is supported. The use of stationary engines is generally confined to those parts of a railway which are too steep to be conveniently worked by locomotives; but a very ingenious

application of them has been introduced for working the London and Blackwall Railway, which appears to possess some important advantages for the working of a short line with numerous stations, as the through passengers are not delayed by the stoppage of the train at intermediate stations; each station having a distinct carriage, which stops and starts independently of the rest. To avoid the inconvenience attending the use of ropes is the object of the "atmospheric railway," in which the power of stationary steam-engines is communicated to the train by means of an exhausted tube, instead of a rope. The diminished risk of collision is one advantage attending the use of stationary instead of locomotive engines.

A tabular statement of the principal railways in the United Kingdom, to which some explanatory notes are added below, may appropriately close this paper.

The annexed Table of British railways is far from complete, yet it contains every line of general importance on which the conveyance of passengers by steam power is a principal object, whether such lines are opened or in course of construction. All merely projected lines are excluded, and also a few which have received the sanction of Parliament, but are not likely to be executed at present.* Unless otherwise specified, the

railways included in this table are worked by locomotive steam-engines. The number prefixed to each line in the first column is for the convenience of reference, and, when followed by an asterisk, refers to a note on this page. The length given in the fourth column is usually that of the main line, independent of branches, which are often left unnoticed for want of room. The date of opening, in the sixth column, is that of opening throughout; partial openings being mentioned in the additional notes, to which references are inserted. Where the precise date of opening is not known, a dash is inserted in this column; and where it is left blank it indicates that the railway is in progress, but no part of it is complete and in use. The last column gives the gross sum which the company are authorised to raise for the undertaking, of which from one-fourth to one-third is usually procured by loans. The sum here stated often exceeds the actual outlay of the company; as, for instance, when new shares are issued at a discount, or powers are obtained for the construction of branches that are subsequently abandoned. In a few cases the sum actually raised is greater than the parliamentary capital, as mentioned in the notes on the Great Western and London and Birmingham Railways.

1. Leased to No. 30 Company. 2. 38 m., from Hampton to Derby, opened in 1839. 3. 6 m. of No. 11, from Cheltenham to Gloucester, used by this company.

5. The length and capital here given include the extension of 24 m. to Kenyon, though it was formed by a distinct company. 6. Rather more than 9 m. opened February, 1841. 8. Opened from Bristol to Bridgewater, 32 m., June, 1841. Leased to the Great Western Railway Company.

9. This line commences 7 m. from Bristol, on a collieryrailway, which is to be widened and improved, and extends to No. 11, at Standish, 74 m. from Gloucester.

10. Worked by locomotive and fixed engines, and horses. 11. Opened from Swindon to Cirencester, 17 m., May 31, 1841. Leased to No. 22 Company. The part between Gloucester and Cheltenham is also open, and used by No. 3 Company.

13. The company was, in 1840, incorporated with the Grand Junction Railway Company.

14. From the Tees, about 4 m. below Stockton, to No. 50, at Sim Pasture, with many branches, which are included in the length stated. Used chiefly for coal, &c. 15. For minerals and merchandise. Worked chiefly by

fixed engines and horses.

18. Opened to Brentwood, 173 m. in 1840. 19. In progress. Made by No. 35 Company. 20. The length and capital are for the whole line, of which about 4 m., from Warrington to Newton, were formed by a distinct company.

21. Opened from York to Darlington, 44 m., in 1841. The southern part of the line is formed under an Act passed in 1837.

22. In addition to the parliamentary capital, as given in the Table, the directors have been authorised to borrow 600,000. on loan notes. There have been several partial openings, the latest being May 31, 1841, which left only 13 m. incomplete.

26. Leased, in 1840, to No. 54 Company.

28. The capital in the Table includes 208,0001. for a branch at Manchester, to unite with Nos. 37 and 38, which is not yet (June 1811) commenced.

29. Chiefly for minerals. The length in the Table embraces numerous branches, which, with great part of the main line, have been made under an Act of 1835. opened as early as 1833.

Part was

30. In addition to the parliamentary capital in the Table, the Directors have been authorised to borrow 250,0001. by Loan notes.

31. Excepting a quarter of a mile at the London end, this line was opened in July, 1840. It is worked by stationary engines and ropes.

*The reader who is desirous of further information on the Railways of Great Britain and Ireland will find a more complete table in the Penny Cyclopædia," Art. " Railway," or in the "Companion to the Almanac" for 1841. The latter contains, in chronological order, every railway for which an Act of Parliament has been obtained, whether constructed or not.

32. A branch of 5 m., to Shoreham, was opened in 1840, and others are embraced in the Act, but not in progress. The whole of the branches amount to 19 m.

35. The capital given is exclusive of the Gosport branch. 36. As originally intended, this line was 45 m. from Manchester to Chebsey, with branches to Crewe and Macclesfield, making 263 m. more; but it is now proposed to abandon the main line, making only that from Manchester to Crewe, 38 m., with a branch of 11 m. to Macclesfield. 51 m., from Manchester to Stockport, were opened in 1840.

38. The distance between Manchester and Leeds, by this line, is 60 m. Branches to Oldham, Halifax, &c., are intended. 39. Opened for coal, &c., 71 m. from Maryport, in 1840. 43. Formerly intended to extend to Cambridge. 16 m. opened in 1840.

45. The southern part of the line was formed as a separate undertaking. The statements of length and capital include this, which was called the Wigan Branch Railway.

50. The main line from Witton Park Colliery to Stockton is 28, or to Middlesbrough 32 m., and the total length of the lines specified in the Acts of Parliament is about 40 m. Several additional branches have, however, been made, extending the whole length of railway, in 1838, to about 54 m., of which 28 has a double track. The parliamentary capital is only 252,000l., but 450,000l. had been expended by the company at the time alluded to. The line is used principally for the conveyance of minerals. 51. Besides the main line of 24 m., there are about 17 m. of branches, some of which are not yet completed.

52. Though in a forward state, the works are suspended on account of the difficulty of raising the capital required. On part of this line the atmospheric apparatus of Clegg and Samuda has been tried.

53. Worked chiefly by horse power.

56. Projected to extend to Johnstone, 22 m.; but only 5 m. of the main line, and 63 m. of branches, have been made. Improved in 1840, and connected with No. 64.

58. Worked by locomotive and stationary engines. There are railways from this line at Newtyle to Coupar Angus, and to Glammiss.

59. The length given includes branches. This line is worked by horses.

62. This line is chiefly used for the conveyance of minerals, &c. It is connected with the Ballochney, Kirkintilloch, Wishaw and Coltness, and Slamannan Railways, all of which are used in like way, the conveyance of passengers being a minor consideration.

63 and 64. 6 m., from Glasgow to Paisley, is the joint property of these two companies. The Ayr line is to have a branch to Kilmarnock, and one or two others, amounting to 17 m.

68.

8 m. of this line, from Belfast to Lisburn, were opened in 1839, and a further portion is in progress. Excepting this and the Drogheda line, the Irish railways may be considered to be in abeyance, though Acts of Parliament have been obtained for the construction of a few more.