George Findlay

“ In these days, journeys must be accomplished quickly in order to keep pace with the times, and meet the growing requirements of the travelling public; but the highest attainable speed is not always the most compatible with safety and punctuality, and these latter essentials are certainly not the least important to be secured in the working of a railway. Thus the London and North-Western, if it does not lay claim to the doubtful distinction of running the fastest trains in the world, is, it is believed, fairly entitled to the reputation of being the most punctual line in the kingdom. ”

“ The only competition from which the public can reap a real and lasting advantage is that of two companies carrying at fair and remunerative rates, and each seeking to attract business to its own railway by performing the service to the public in the most efficient, safe, and expeditious manner. ”

“ If we go no further back than the commencement of the present century, only a few years before the first railway was projected, we find that, although the difficulties of earlier locomotion had been to some extent obviated by the introduction of fast and well-appointed coaches, running between some of the most important cities in the kingdom, the only means of communication between the smaller towns was by means of post-chaises, or private carriages for the wealthy, and, for the less well-to-do, the humble carrier's cart or the slow and ponderous stage waggon. ”

“ In considering railway law, nearly every thing appears to turn upon the great question of what constitutes a "common carrier," and if this point is once clearly established in a given case, the rights, liabilities, and immunities of a common carrier are pretty clearly defined by the authorities. We learn, then, that a "common carrier" is one who undertakes the conveyance of goods or passengers for hire or reward, and therefore stands in the light of a bailee. ”

“ The Company are very far from being unmindful of the material welfare of the men they employ, and indeed it is their constant study to maintain the most cordial and friendly relations with them, and to make them feel that their employers have a sincere interest in them and in their well-being at all times, apart from the mere buying and selling of their labour; in fact, they are taught to regard their employers as their best friends and advisers, as should be the case in every department of labour where proper relations exist between master and man. ”

“ In the fitting shop, which, to the unaccustomed eye, presents a most bewildering appearance, with its endless ramification of pulleys, shafting, revolving wheels, and machinery of every description, all kinds of operations connected with the making of the various parts of an engine may be seen in progress. Here are turning lathes, planing, shaping, slotting, boring, and drilling machines. ”

“ In days gone by, it cannot be denied that railway companies incurred great losses and sacrificed a considerable portion of their revenue by extreme competition amongst themselves, but in this matter, as in many others, they have gained wisdom by experience, and "profited by the uses of adversity." A certain amount of healthy competition will always exist; but the companies now mitigate its severity by agreeing amongst themselves what the rates between competing points shall be by all routes. ”

“ The most absurd statements were gravely put forward and believed in; the smoke of the engines would kill the birds, cattle would be terrified, and cows would cease to give their milk; the sparks from the engines would set fire to the houses and manufactories on the line of route; the race of horses would become extinct, and many other direful consequences would ensue, amidst which the absolute ruin of the country would shrink to the insignificance of a detail! ”

“ Forty-two feet in length, with- accommodation for three classes of passengers, and a compartment for their luggage, provided with a lavatory for the first-class passengers, mounted upon the easiest of springs, well lighted by gas, and warmed during the winter, adorned with ornamental woods and the handsomest upholsterer's work, and replete with every convenience and comfort throughout, it embodies in fact in a high degree, the latest development of modern civilization as exemplified in railway travelling. ”

“ It has always been a somewhat vexed question amongst railway statisticians as to what is the most reliable method of arriving at an estimate of the relative net profits derived from the various classes of passenger traffic; that is to say, that, having ascertained the total cost of working the traffic as a whole, the difficulty is to find a sure basis upon which to apportion it between the three classes. The number of passengers carried is obviously not a safe guide, because it is necessary to take into consideration the wide difference in the conditions under which they are conveyed. ”

“ The stations, which were once of the most primitive description, consisting of little more than a platform and an office, have been replaced by costly and elaborate structures, replete with every kind of accommodation, and erected at a large expense; the trains are luxuriously fitted up with every modern appliance for comfort and convenience, and run at a rate of speed never dreamt of in the earlier days ”

“ Thus it is evident that railways have revolutionised the conditions of modern warfare, much as they have revolutionised everything else that existed before their advent. In the days before the era of railways a kingdom might be lost or won, or the fate of a dynasty decided, before a single army corps could make its way by forced marches from the north of England to the south coast. ”

“ If the theory of the Time Bill, with regularly appointed trains running at varying rates of speed, with specified places for them to pass each other, could be realised absolutely in regular practice, it would represent the perfection of railway working; but, owing to bad weather, the fluctuations of traffic, the running of special trains at short notice, and other uncontrollable causes, this ideal can never be absolutely attained. ”

“ Here we find the spoils of the West Indian and American forests in the shape of huge logs of mahogany, baywood, pine, and Quebec oak, the East Indies being represented by teak, largely used in the framing and fittings of the carriages, while English oak and ash are not wanting. Overhead is a high-speed travelling crane which, as we are looking on, seizes one of the great logs in its powerful grasp, and lifts it on to two trucks, standing upon a miniature railway of two feet gauge, which runs throughout the works. ”

“ The first dawn of the idea of a railway was, no doubt, about the beginning of the seventeenth century, when some inventive genius hit upon the plan of laying down parallel blocks of timber to form tram-roads in the vicinity of mines, to enable the mineral products to be drawn more easily by horses to the riverside. ”

“ The policy of the railway administration, instead of being guided by one consistent principle, as at present, viz., the improvement and development of the traffic, with which the prosperity of the country is necessarily bound up, would, in all probability alter from time to time, as one party or the other succeeded to office, and this want of continuity would prejudicially affect the management of the railways, and the commercial interests so largely dependent upon them. ”

“ Thus the humblest railway servant, if he does not, like one of Napoleon's corporals, carry a marshal's bâton in his knapsack, may at least contemplate a field of possible promotion of almost as wide a scope. It is scarcely necessary to say that engine-drivers are very carefully trained for their duties before being entrusted with the charge of a locomotive. They usually commence service as lads in the engine sheds, where they are employed as cleaners ”

“ A return to the earlier practice of conveying third class passengers only by secondary trains, combined with a general reduction of speed, is practically out of the question, for if anyone were sufficiently bold to propose any such retrograde policy, it would encounter the strongest tide of public opinion in opposition to it, and it would be impossible to get all the companies to adopt and adhere to it in the face of the pressure which would be brought to bear upon them. ”

“ If the attention of an individual is drawn to any new law, any fresh discovery or social reform calculated to promote his personal comfort or well-being, his interest is at once aroused; and the circumstance that, in this case, the revolution has been effected and the benefit is actually being reaped should surely not suffice to rob the subject of its interest. ”

“ It is the duty of a carrier to deliver the goods within a reasonable time according to the usage of trade, the ordinary course of business, or the terms of the contract.
(16.) We have seen that the responsibility of the carrier continues until he has effected delivery of the goods to the consignee, but much litigation has from time to time arisen as to what constitutes a good delivery. ”

“ The construction of the Stockton and Darlington Railway followed in 1821, but the first railway made with public money, and for the public benefit, and which marks the birth of the railway system as we know it to-day, was the Liverpool and Manchester. The conflict which was sustained by the promoters of that undertaking with the forces of ignorance and prejudice was really the decisive one, and when the struggle was over and the battle had been won, the floodgates of enterprise were opened wide and the era of railways had commenced. ”

“ The traders, who have now the advantage of free access to the officials engaged in the management of the railways—men trained to understand their business and their needs, and willing and anxious to meet their views and assist their operations—would find themselves confronted by the attitude of a Government official, bound inflexibly by hard and fast rules, with no personal discretion, and with, above all, a great disinclination to incur any responsibility. ”

“ There can be no question as to the great advantages of a system of this kind; for not only are railway companies saved a vast expense which would otherwise be incurred in litigation, but the cases are adjudicated upon by able and experienced railway men, who are perfectly conversant with the facts, and incomparably more competent to arrive at a satisfactory decision than any other tribunal which could be selected. ”

“ It is evident that the readiness of English railway companies to yield to the demands of the public, and to proceed from one concession to another, has arisen from the peculiar nature of the traffic of a country of limited extent like Great Britain, and where the business is so extremely competitive. Most of the railways in Germany, Austria, and Belgium are either State railways, or are controlled more or less by the State, and are worked not only for the benefit of the travelling public, but with an eye to the improvement of the State revenue ”

“ For the working of single lines of railway, most companies adopt what is known as the "Train Staff and Ticket System," which is carried out in the following manner:—Supposing the line, or the section of line, extends from A to B, and there are three trains at A wanting to proceed to B. The first one is despatched with a ticket, and the second also, but the third, or last, must carry on the engine what is known as the train staff, a straight piece of wood somewhat resembling a constable's staff, but coloured and lettered in accordance with the particular section of line it refers to. ”

“ On most Continental railways the express trains carry, as a rule, only first and second class passengers, and the fastest trains travel, on an average, ten miles an hour less than the express trains in England. The permanent way—constructed with Vignoles, or flat-bottomed rails bolted to the sleepers, without chairs, and weighing considerably less to the yard than the rails commonly in use in this country—is not adapted to bear the enormous strain which would be imposed upon it by long and heavy trains running at the high rates of speed which prevail upon English railways. ”