Lives of the Engineers Part 17

[Picture: Land-slip on North Midland Line, near Ambergate]

The Oakenshaw cutting near Wakefield was also of a very formidable character. About 600,000 yards of rock shale and bind were quarried out of it, and led to form the adjoining Oakenshaw embankment. The Normanton cutting was almost as heavy, requiring the removal of 400,000 yards of the same kind of excavation into embankment and spoil. But the progress of the works on the line was so rapid in 1839, that not less than 450,000 cubic yards of excavation were removed monthly.

[Picture: Bullbridge, near Ambergate]

As a curiosity in construction, we may also mention a very delicate piece of work executed on the same railway at Bullbridge in Derbys.h.i.+re, where the line at the same point pa.s.ses _over_ a bridge which here spans the river Amber, and _under_ the bed of the Cromford Ca.n.a.l. Water, bridge; railway, and ca.n.a.l, were thus piled one above the other, four stories high; such another curious complication probably not existing. In order to prevent the possibility of the waters of the ca.n.a.l breaking in upon the works of the railroad, Mr. Stephenson had an iron trough made, 150 feet long, of the width of the ca.n.a.l, and exactly fitting the bottom. It was brought to the spot in three pieces, which were firmly welded together, and the trough was then floated into its place and sunk; the whole operation being completed without in the least interfering with the navigation of the ca.n.a.l. The railway works underneath were then proceeded with and finished.

Another line of the same series constructed by George Stephenson, was the York and North Midland, extending from Normanton-a point on the Midland Railway-to York; but it was a line of easy formation, traversing a comparatively level country.

During the time that our engineer was engaged in superintending the execution of these undertakings, he was occupied upon other projected railways in various parts of the country. He surveyed several lines in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, and afterwards routes along the east coast from Newcastle to Edinburgh, with the view of completing the main line of communication with London. When out on foot in the fields, on these occasions, he was ever foremost in the march; and he delighted to test the prowess of his companions by a good jump at any hedge or ditch that lay in their way. His companions used to remark his singular quickness of observation. Nothing escaped his attention-the trees, the crops, the birds, or the farmer's stock; and he was usually full of lively conversation, everything in nature affording him an opportunity for making some striking remark, or propounding some ingenious theory. When taking a flying survey of a new line, his keen observation proved very useful to him, for he rapidly noted the general configuration of the country, and inferred its geological structure. He afterwards remarked to a friend, "I have planned many a railway travelling along in a postchaise, and following the natural line of the country." And it was remarkable that his first impressions of the direction to be taken almost invariably proved correct; and there are few of the lines surveyed and recommended by him which have not been executed, either during his lifetime or since. As an ill.u.s.tration of his quick and shrewd observation on such occasions, we may mention that when employed to lay out a line to connect Manchester, through Macclesfield, with the Potteries, the gentleman who accompanied him on the journey of inspection cautioned him to provide large accommodation for carrying off the water, observing-"You must not judge by the appearance of the brooks; for after heavy rains these hills pour down volumes of _water_, of which you can have no conception." "Pooh! pooh! _don't I see your bridges_?" replied the engineer. He had noted the details of each as he pa.s.sed along.

Among the other projects which occupied his attention about the same time, were the projected lines between Chester and Holyhead, between Leeds and Bradford, and between Lancaster and Maryport by the western coast. This latter was intended to form part of a west-coast line to Scotland; Stephenson favouring it partly because of the flatness of the gradients, and also because it could be formed at comparatively small cost, whilst it would open out a valuable iron-mining district, from which a large traffic in ironstone was expected. One of its collateral advantages, in the engineer's opinion, was, that by forming the railway directly across Morecambe Bay, on the north-west coast of Lancas.h.i.+re, a large tract of valuable land might be reclaimed from the sea, the sale of which would considerably reduce the cost of the works. He estimated that by means of a solid embankment across the bay, not less than 40,000 acres of rich alluvial land would be gained. He proposed to carry the road across the ten miles of sands which lie between Poulton, near Lancaster, and Humphrey Head on the opposite coast, forming the line in a segment of a circle of five miles' radius. His plan was to drive in piles across the entire length, forming a solid fence of stone blocks on the land side for the purpose of retaining the sand and silt brought down by the rivers from the interior. The embankment would then be raised from time to time as the deposit acc.u.mulated, until the land was filled up to high-water mark; provision being made by means of sufficient arches, for the flow of the river waters into the bay. The execution of the railway after this plan would, however, have occupied more years than the promoters of the West Coast line were disposed to wait; and eventually Mr. Locke's more direct but uneven line by Shap Fell was adopted. A railway has since been carried across the head of the bay; and it is not improbable that Stephenson's larger scheme of reclaiming the vast tract of land now left bare at each receding tide, may yet be carried out.

While occupied in carrying out the great railway undertakings which we have above so briefly described, Mr. Stephenson's home continued, for the greater part of the time, to be at Alton Grange, near Leicester. But he was so much occupied in travelling about from one committee of directors to another-one week in England, another in Scotland, and probably the next in Ireland,-that he often did not see his home for weeks together.

He had also to make frequent inspections of the various important and difficult works in progress, especially on the Midland and Manchester and Leeds lines; besides occasionally going to Newcastle to see how the locomotive works were going on there. During the three years ending in 1837-perhaps the busiest years of his life {263}-he travelled by postchaise alone upwards of 20,000 miles, and yet not less than six months out of the three years were spent in London. Hence there is comparatively little to record of Mr. Stephenson's private life at this period; during which he had scarcely a moment that he could call his own.

His correspondence increased so much, that he found it necessary to engage a private secretary, who accompanied him on his journeys. He was himself exceedingly averse to writing letters. The comparatively advanced age at which ho learnt the art of writing, and the nature of his duties while engaged at the Killingworth colliery, precluded that facility in correspondence which only constant practice can give. He gradually, however, acquired great facility in dictation, and possessed the power of labouring continuously at this work; the gentleman who acted as his secretary in 1835, having informed us that during his busy season he one day dictated not fewer than 37 letters, several of them embodying the results of much close thinking and calculation. On another occasion, he dictated reports and letters for twelve continuous hours, until his secretary was ready to drop off his chair from sheer exhaustion, and at length he pleaded for a suspension of the labour. This great ma.s.s of correspondence, although closely bearing on the subjects under discussion, was not, however, of a kind to supply the biographer with matter for quotation, or give that insight into the life and character of the writer which the letters of literary men so often furnish. They were, for the most part, letters of mere business, relating to works in progress, parliamentary contests, new surveys, estimates of cost, and railway policy,-curt, and to the point; in short, the letters of a man every moment of whose time was precious. He was also frequently called upon to inspect and report upon colliery works, salt works, bra.s.s and copper works, and such like, in addition to his own colliery and railway business. And occasionally he would run up to London, for the purpose of attending in person to the preparation and deposit of the plans and sections of the projected undertakings of which he had been appointed engineer.

Fortunately Stephenson possessed a facility of sleeping, which enabled him to pa.s.s through this enormous amount of fatigue and labour without injury to his health. He had been trained in a hard school, and could bear with ease conditions which, to men more softly nurtured, would have been the extreme of physical discomfort. Many, many nights he s.n.a.t.c.hed his sleep while travelling in his chaise; and at break of day he would be at work, surveying until dark, and this for weeks in succession. His whole powers seemed to be under the control of his will, for he could wake at any hour, and go to work at once. It was difficult for secretaries and a.s.sistants to keep up with such a man.

It is pleasant to record that in the midst of these engrossing occupations, his heart remained as soft and loving as ever. In spring-time he would not be debarred of his boyish pursuit of bird-nesting; but would go rambling along the hedges spying for nests.

In the autumn he went nutting, and when he could s.n.a.t.c.h a few minutes he indulged in his old love of gardening. His uniform kindness and good temper, and his communicative, intelligent disposition, made him a great favourite with the neighbouring farmers, to whom he would volunteer much valuable advice on agricultural operations, drainage, ploughing, and labour-saving processes. Sometimes he took a long rural ride on his favourite "Bobby," now growing old, but as fond of his master as ever.

Towards the end of his life, "Bobby" lived in clover, its master's pet, doing no work; and he died at Tapton, in 1845, more than twenty years old.

During one of George's brief sojourns at the Grange, he found time to write to his son a touching account of a pair of robins that had built their nest within one of the upper chambers of the house. One day he observed a robin fluttering outside the windows, and beating its wings against the panes, as if eager to gain admission. He went up stairs, and there found, in a retired part of one of the rooms, a robin's nest, with one of the parent birds sitting over three or four young-all dead. The excluded bird outside still beat against the panes; and on the window being let down, it flew into the room, but was so exhausted that it dropped upon the floor. Mr. Stephenson took up the bird, carried it down stairs, had it warmed and fed. The poor robin revived, and for a time was one of his pets. But it shortly died too, as if unable to recover from the privations it had endured during its three days' fluttering and beating at the windows. It appeared that the room had been unoccupied, and, the sash having been let down, the robins had taken the opportunity of building their nest within it; but the servant having closed the window again, the calamity befel the birds which so strongly excited Mr.

Stephenson's sympathies. An incident such as this, trifling though it may seem, gives the true key to the heart of the man.

The amount of their Parliamentary business having greatly increased with the projection of new lines of railway, the Stephensons found it necessary to set up an office in London in 1836. George's first office was at 9, Duke Street, Westminster, from whence he removed in the following year to 30, Great George-street. That office was the busy scene of railway politics for several years. There consultations were held, schemes were matured, deputations were received, and many projectors called upon our engineer for the purpose of submitting to him their plans of railways and railway working. His private secretary at the time has informed us that at the end of the first Parliamentary session in which he had been engaged as engineer for more companies than one, it became necessary for him to give instructions as to the preparation of the accounts to be rendered to the respective companies.

In the simplicity of his heart, he directed Mr. Binns to take his full time at the rate of ten guineas a day, and charge the railway companies in the proportion in which he had been actually employed on their respective business during each day. When Robert heard of this instruction, he went directly to his father and expostulated with him against this unprofessional course; and, other influences being brought to bear upon him, George at length reluctantly consented to charge as other engineers did, an entire day's fee to each of the Companies for which he was concerned whilst their business was going forward; but he cut down the number of days charged for and reduced the daily amount from ten to seven guineas.

Besides his journeys at home, Mr. Stephenson was on more than one occasion called abroad on railway business. Thus, at the desire of King Leopold, he made several visits to Belgium to a.s.sist the Belgian engineers in laying out the national lines of that kingdom. That enlightened monarch at an early period discerned the powerful instrumentality of railways in developing a country's resources, and he determined at the earliest possible period to adopt them as the great high-roads of the nation. The country, being rich in coal and minerals, had great manufacturing capabilities. It had good ports, fine navigable rivers, abundant ca.n.a.ls, and a teeming, industrious population. Leopold perceived that railways were eminently calculated to bring the industry of the country into full play, and to render the riches of the provinces available to the rest of the kingdom. He therefore openly declared himself the promoter of public railways throughout Belgium. A system of lines was projected, at his instance, connecting Brussels with the chief towns and cities of the kingdom; extending from Ostend eastward to the Prussian frontier, and from Antwerp southward to the French frontier.

Mr. Stephenson and his son, as the leading railway-engineers of England, were consulted by the King on the best mode of carrying out his important plans, as early as 1835. In the course of that year they visited Belgium, and had several interesting conferences with Leopold and his ministers on the subject of the proposed railways. The King then appointed George Stephenson by royal ordinance a Knight of the Order of Leopold. At the invitation of the monarch, Mr. Stephenson made a second visit to Belgium in 1837, on the occasion of the public opening of the line from Brussels to Ghent. At Brussels there was a public procession, and another at Ghent on the arrival of the train. Stephenson and his party accompanied it to the Public Hall, there to dine with the chief Ministers of State, the munic.i.p.al authorities, and about five hundred of the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of the city; the English Amba.s.sador being also present. After the King's health and a few others had been drunk, that of Mr. Stephenson was proposed; on which the whole a.s.sembly rose up, amidst great excitement and loud applause, and made their way to where he sat, in order to jingle gla.s.ses with him, greatly to his own amazement.

On the day following, our engineer dined with the King and Queen at their own table at Laaken, by special invitation; afterwards accompanying his Majesty and suite to a public ball given by the munic.i.p.ality of Brussels, in honour of the opening of the line to Ghent, as well as of their distinguished English guest. On entering the room, the general and excited inquiry was, "Which is Stephenson?" The English engineer had not before imagined that he was esteemed to be so great a man.

The London and Birmingham Railway having been completed in September, 1838, after being about five years in progress, the great main system of railway communication between London, Liverpool, and Manchester was then opened to the public. For some months previously, the line had been partially opened, coaches performing the journey between Denbigh Hall (near Wolverton) and Rugby,-the works of the Kilsby tunnel being still incomplete. It was already amusing to hear the complaints of the travellers about the slowness of the coaches as compared with the railway, though the coaches travelled at the speed of eleven miles an hour. The comparison of comfort was also greatly to the disparagement of the coaches. Then the railway train could accommodate any quant.i.ty, whilst the road conveyances were limited; and when a press of travellers occurred-as on the occasion of the Queen's coronation-the greatest inconvenience was experienced, and as much as 10 was paid for a seat on a donkey-chaise between Rugby and Denbigh. On the opening of the railway throughout, of course all this inconvenience and delay was brought to an end.

Numerous other openings of railways constructed by Mr. Stephenson took place about the same time. The Birmingham and Derby line was opened for traffic in August, 1839; the Sheffield and Rotherham in November, 1839; and in the course of the following year, the Midland, the York and North Midland, the Chester and Crewe, the Chester and Birkenhead, the Manchester and Birmingham, the Manchester and Leeds, and the Maryport and Carlisle railways, were all publicly opened in whole or in part. Thus 321 miles of railway (exclusive of the London and Birmingham) constructed under Mr. Stephenson's superintendence, at a cost of upwards of eleven millions sterling, were, in the course of about two years, added to the traffic accommodation of the country.

The ceremonies which accompanied the public opening of these lines were often of an interesting character. The adjoining population held general holiday; bands played, banners waved, and a.s.sembled thousands cheered the pa.s.sing trains amidst the occasional booming of cannon. The proceedings were usually wound up by a public dinner; and in the course of the speeches which followed, Mr. Stephenson would revert to his favourite topic-the difficulties which he had early encountered in the promotion of the railway system, and in establis.h.i.+ng the superiority of the locomotive. On such occasions he always took great pleasure in alluding to the services rendered to himself and the public by the young men brought up under his eye-his pupils at first, and afterwards his a.s.sistants. No great master ever possessed a more devoted band of a.s.sistants and fellow-workers than he did. It was one of the most marked evidences of his own admirable tact and judgment that he selected, with such undeviating correctness, the men best fitted to carry out his plans.

Indeed, the ability to accomplish great things, and to carry grand ideas into practical effect, depends in no small measure on that intuitive knowledge of character, which Stephenson possessed in so remarkable a degree.

At the dinner at York, which followed the partial opening of the York and North Midland Railway, Mr. Stephenson said, "he was sure they would appreciate his feelings when he told them, that when he first began railway business his hair was black, although it was now grey; and that he began his life's labour as but a poor ploughboy. About thirty years since, he had applied himself to the study of how to generate high velocities by mechanical means. He thought he had solved that problem; and they had for themselves seen, that day, what perseverance had brought him too. He was, on that occasion, only too happy to have an opportunity of acknowledging that he had, in the latter portion of his career, received much most valuable a.s.sistance, particularly from young men brought up in his manufactory. Whenever talent showed itself in a young man he had always given that talent encouragement where he could, and he would continue to do so."

That this was no exaggerated statement is amply proved by many facts which redound to Mr. Stephenson's credit. He was no n.i.g.g.ard of encouragement and praise when he saw honest industry struggling for a footing. Many were the young men whom, in the course of his useful career, he took by the hand and led steadily up to honour and emolument, simply because he had noted their zeal, diligence, and integrity. One youth excited his interest while working as a common carpenter on the Liverpool and Manchester line; and before many years had pa.s.sed, he was recognised as an engineer of distinction. Another young man he found industriously working away at his bye-hours, and, admiring his diligence, engaged him for his private secretary, the gentleman shortly after rising to a position of eminent influence and usefulness. Indeed, nothing gave Mr. Stephenson greater pleasure than in this way to help on any deserving youth who came under his observation, and, in his own expressive phrase, to "make a man of him."

The openings of the great main lines of railroad communication shortly proved the fallaciousness of the numerous rash prophecies which had been promulgated by the opponents of railways. The proprietors of the ca.n.a.ls were astounded by the fact that, notwithstanding the immense traffic conveyed by rail, their own traffic and receipts continued to increase; and that, in common with other interests, they fully shared in the expansion of trade and commerce which had been so effectually promoted by the extension of the railway system. The cattle-owners were equally amazed to find the price of horse-flesh increasing with the extension of railways, and that the number of coaches running to and from the new railway stations gave employment to a greater number of horses than under the old stage-coach system. Those who had prophesied the decay of the metropolis, and the ruin of the suburban cabbage-growers, in consequence of the approach of railways to London, were also disappointed; for, while the new roads let citizens out of London, they let country-people in.

Their action, in this respect, was centripetal as well as centrifugal.

Tens of thousands who had never seen the metropolis could now visit it expeditiously and cheaply; and Londoners who had never visited the country, or but rarely, were enabled, at little cost of time or money, to see green fields and clear blue skies, far from the smoke and bustle of town. If the dear suburban-grown cabbages became depreciated in value, there were truck-loads of fresh-grown country cabbages to make amends for the loss: in this case, the "partial evil" was a far more general good.

The food of the metropolis became rapidly improved, especially in the supply of wholesome meat and vegetables. And then the price of coals-an article which, in this country, is as indispensable as daily food to all cla.s.ses-was greatly reduced. What a blessing to the metropolitan poor is described in this single fact!

The prophecies of ruin and disaster to landlords and farmers were equally confounded by the openings of the railways. The agricultural communications, so far from being "destroyed," as had been predicted, were immensely improved. The farmers were enabled to buy their coals, lime, and manure for less money, while they obtained a readier access to the best markets for their stock and farm-produce. Notwithstanding the predictions to the contrary, their cows gave milk as before, their sheep fed and fattened, and even skittish horses ceased to shy at the pa.s.sing locomotive. The smoke of the engines did not obscure the sky, nor were farmyards burnt up by the fire thrown from the locomotives. The farming cla.s.ses were not reduced to beggary; on the contrary, they soon felt that, so far from having anything to dread, they had very much good to expect from the extension of railways.

Landlords also found that they could get higher rents for farms situated near a railway than at a distance from one. Hence they became clamorous for "sidings." They felt it to be a grievance to be placed at a distance from a station. After a railway had been once opened, not a landlord would consent to have the line taken from him. Owners who had fought the promoters before Parliament, and compelled them to pa.s.s their domains at a distance, at a vastly-increased expense in tunnels and deviations, now pet.i.tioned for branches and nearer station accommodation. Those who held property near towns, and had extorted large sums as compensation for the antic.i.p.ated deterioration in the value of their building land, found a new demand for it springing up at greatly advanced prices. Land was now advertised for sale, with the attraction of being "near a railway station."

The prediction that, even if railways were made, the public would not use them, was also completely falsified by the results. The ordinary mode of fast travelling for the middle cla.s.ses had heretofore been by mail-coach and stage-coach. Those who could not afford to pay the high prices charged for such conveyances went by waggon, and the poorer cla.s.ses trudged on foot. George Stephenson was wont to say that he hoped to see the day when it would be cheaper for a poor man to travel by railway than to walk, and not many years pa.s.sed before his expectation was fulfilled.

In no country in the world is time worth more money than in England; and by saving time-the criterion of distance-the railway proved a great benefactor to men of industry in all cla.s.ses.

It was some time before the more opulent, who could afford to post to town in aristocratic style, became reconciled to railway travelling. In the opinion of many, it was only another ill.u.s.tration of the levelling tendencies of the age. It put an end to that gradation of rank in travelling which was one of the few things left by which the n.o.bleman could be distinguished from the Manchester manufacturer and bagman. But to younger sons of n.o.ble families the convenience and cheapness of the railway did not fail to recommend itself. One of these, whose eldest brother had just succeeded to an earldom, said one day to a railway manager: "I like railways-they just suit young fellows like me with 'nothing per annum paid quarterly.' You know we can't afford to post, and it used to be deuced annoying to me, as I was jogging along on the box-seat of the stage-coach, to see the little Earl go by drawn by his four posters, and just look up at me and give me a nod. But now, with railways, it's different. It's true, he may take a first-cla.s.s ticket, while I can only afford a second-cla.s.s one, but _we both go the same pace_."

For a time, however, many of the old families sent forward their servants and luggage by railroad, and condemned themselves to jog along the old highway in the accustomed family chariot, dragged by country post-horses.

But the superior comfort of the railway shortly recommended itself to even the oldest families; posting went out of date; post-horses were with difficulty to be had along even the great high-roads; and n.o.bles and servants, manufacturers and peasants, alike shared in the comfort, the convenience, and the despatch of railway travelling. The late Dr.

Arnold, of Rugby, regarded the opening of the London and Birmingham line as another great step accomplished in the march of civilisation. "I rejoice to see it," he said, as he stood on one of the bridges over the railway, and watched the train flas.h.i.+ng along under him, and away through the distant hedgerows-"I rejoice to see it, and to think that feudality is gone for ever: it is so great a blessing to think that any one evil is really extinct."

It was long before the late Duke of Wellington would trust himself behind a locomotive. The fatal accident to Mr. Huskisson, which had happened before his eyes, contributed to prejudice him strongly against railways, and it was not until the year 1843 that he performed his first trip on the South-Western Railway, in attendance upon her Majesty. Prince Albert had for some time been accustomed to travel by railway alone, but in 1842 the Queen began to make use of the same mode of conveyance between Windsor and London. Even Colonel Sibthorpe was eventually compelled to acknowledge its utility. For a time he continued to post to and from the country as before. Then he compromised the matter by taking a railway ticket for the long journey, and posting only a stage or two nearest town; until, at length, he undisguisedly committed himself, like other people, to the express train, and performed the journey throughout upon what he had formerly denounced as "the infernal railroad."

[Picture: Coalville and Snibston Colliery]

[Picture: Tapton House, near Chesterfield]

CHAPTER XV.

GEORGE STEPHENSON'S COAL MINES-APPEARS AT MECHANICS' INSt.i.tUTES-HIS OPINION ON RAILWAY SPEEDS-ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM-RAILWAY MANIA-VISITS TO BELGIUM AND SPAIN.

While George Stephenson was engaged in carrying on the works of the Midland Railway in the neighbourhood of Chesterfield, several seams of coal were cut through in the Claycross Tunnel, and it occurred to him that if mines were opened out there, the railway would provide the means of a ready sale for the article in the midland counties, and as far south as even the metropolis itself.

At a time when everybody else was sceptical as to the possibility of coals being carried from the midland counties to London, and sold there at a price to compete with those which were seaborne, he declared his firm conviction that the time was fast approaching when the London market would be regularly supplied with north-country coals led by railway. One of the greatest advantages of railways, in his opinion was that they would bring iron and coal, the staple products of the country, to the doors of all England. "The strength of Britain," he would say, "lies in her iron and coal beds; and the locomotive is destined, above all other agencies, to bring it forth. The Lord Chancellor now sits upon a bag of wool; but wool has long ceased to be emblematical of the staple commodity of England. He ought rather to sit upon a bag of coals, though it might not prove quite so comfortable a seat. Then think of the Lord Chancellor being addressed as the n.o.ble and learned lord _on the coal-sack_! I am afraid it wouldn't answer, after all."

To one gentleman he said: "We want from the coal-mining, the iron-producing and manufacturing districts, a great railway for the carriage of these valuable products. We want, if I may so say, a stream of steam running directly through the country, from the North to London, and from other similar districts to London. Speed is not so much an object as utility and cheapness. It will not do to mix up the heavy merchandise and coal trains with the pa.s.senger trains. Coal and most kinds of goods can wait; but pa.s.sengers will not. A less perfect road and less expensive works will do well enough for coal trains, if run at a low speed; and if the line be flat, it is not of much consequence whether it be direct or not. Whenever you put pa.s.senger trains on a line, all the other trains must be run at high speeds to keep out of their way.

But coal trains run at high speeds pull the road to pieces, besides causing large expenditure in locomotive power; and I doubt very much whether they will pay after all; but a succession of long coal trains, if run at from ten to fourteen miles an hour, would pay very well. Thus the Stockton and Darlington Company made a larger profit when running coal at low speeds at a halfpenny a ton per mile, than they have been able to do since they put on their fast pa.s.senger trains, when everything must needs be run faster, and a much larger proportion of the gross receipts is absorbed by working expenses."

In advocating these views, Mr. Stephenson was considerably ahead of his time; and although he did not live to see his antic.i.p.ations fully realised as to the supply of the London coal-market, he was nevertheless the first to point out, and to some extent to prove, the practicability of establis.h.i.+ng a profitable coal trade by railway between the northern counties and the metropolis. So long, however, as the traffic was conducted on main pa.s.senger lines at comparatively high speeds, it was found that the expenditure on tear and wear of road and locomotive power,-not to mention the increased risk of carrying on the first-cla.s.s pa.s.senger traffic with which it was mixed up,-necessarily left a very small margin of profit; and hence Mr. Stephenson was in the habit of urging the propriety of constructing a railway which should be exclusively devoted to goods and mineral traffic run at low speeds as the only condition on which a large railway traffic of that sort could be profitably conducted.

Having induced some of his Liverpool friends to join him in a coal-mining adventure at Chesterfield, a lease was taken of the Claycross estate, then for sale, and operations were shortly after begun. At a subsequent period Mr. Stephenson extended his coal-mining operations in the same neighbourhood; and in 1841 he himself entered into a contract with owners of land in adjoining towns.h.i.+ps for the working of the coal thereunder; and pits were opened on the Tapton estate on an extensive scale. About the same time he erected great lime-works, close to the Ambergate station of the Midland Railway, from which, when in full operation he was able to turn out upwards of 200 tons a day. The limestone was brought on a tramway from the village of Crich, 2 or 3 miles distant, the coal being supplied from his adjoining Claycross colliery. The works were on a scale such as had not before been attempted by any private individual engaged in a similar trade; and we believe they proved very successful.

[Picture: Lime Works at Ambergate]

Tapton House was included in the lease of one of the collieries, and as it was conveniently situated-being, as it were, a central point on the Midland Railway, from which he could readily proceed north or south, on his journeys of inspection of the various lines then under construction in the midland and northern counties,-he took up his residence there, and it continued his home until the close of his life.

Tapton House is a large roomy brick mansion, beautifully situated amidst woods, upon a commanding eminence, about a mile to the north-east of the town of Chesterfield. Green fields dotted with fine trees slope away from the house in all directions. The surrounding country is undulating and highly picturesque. North and south the eye ranges over a vast extent of lovely scenery; and on the west, looking over the town of Chesterfield, with its church and crooked spire, the extensive range of the Derbys.h.i.+re hills bounds the distance. The Midland Railway skirts the western edge of the park in a deep rock cutting, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive sounds near at hand as the trains speed past. The gardens and pleasure-grounds adjoining the house were in a very neglected state when Mr. Stephenson first went to Tapton; and he promised himself, when he had secured rest and leisure from business, that he would put a new face upon both. The first improvement he made was cutting a woodland footpath up the hill-side, by which he at the same time added a beautiful feature to the park, and secured a shorter road to the Chesterfield station. But it was some years before he found time to carry into effect his contemplated improvements in the adjoining gardens and pleasure-grounds. He had so long been accustomed to laborious pursuits, and felt himself still so full of work, that he could not at once settle down into the habit of quietly enjoying the fruits of his industry.

He had no difficulty in usefully employing his time. Besides directing the mining operations at Claycross, the establishment of the lime-kilns at Ambergate, and the construction of the extensive railways still in progress, he occasionally paid visits to Newcastle, where his locomotive manufactory was now in full work, and the proprietors were reaping the advantages of his early foresight in an abundant measure of prosperity.

One of his most interesting visits to the place was in 1838, on the occasion of the meeting of the British a.s.sociation there, when he acted as one of the Vice-Presidents in the section of Mechanical Science.

Extraordinary changes had occurred in his own fortunes, as well as in the face of the country, since he had first appeared before a scientific body in Newcastle-the members of the Literary and Philosophical Inst.i.tute-to submit his safety-lamp for their examination. Twenty-three years had pa.s.sed over his head, full of honest work, of manful struggle; and the humble "colliery engine-wright of the name of Stephenson" had achieved an almost worldwide reputation as a public benefactor. His fellow-townsmen, therefore, could not hesitate to recognise his merits and do honour to his name. During the sittings of the a.s.sociation, Mr. Stephenson took the opportunity of paying a visit to Killingworth, accompanied by some of the distinguished _savans_ whom he numbered amongst his friends. He there pointed out to them, with a degree of honest pride, the cottage in which he had lived for so many years, showed what parts of it had been his own handiwork, and told them the story of the sun-dial over the door, describing the study and the labour it had cost him and his son to calculate its dimensions, and fix it in its place. The dial had been serenely numbering the hours through the busy years that had elapsed since that humble dwelling had been his home; during which the Killingworth locomotive had become a great working power, and its contriver had established the railway system, which was now rapidly becoming extended in all parts of the world.

About the same time, his services were very much in request at the meetings of Mechanics' Inst.i.tutes held throughout the northern counties.