THE RAILWAYS OF ENGLAND. Published by ICE Publishing, 40 Marsh Wall, London E14 9TP. Distributors for ICE Publishing books are USA: Publishers Storage and Shipping Corp., 46 Development Road, Fitchburg, MA 01420 www.icevirtuallibrary.com A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-0-7277-5253-6 © Thomas Telford Limited 2011 ICE Publishing is a division of Thomas Telford Ltd, a wholly- owned subsidiary of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). All rights, including translation, reserved. Except as permitted by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the Publisher, ICE Publishing, 40 Marsh Wall, London E14 9TP. This book is published on the understanding that the author is solely responsible for the statements made and opinions expressed in it and that its publication does not necessarily imply that such statements and/or opinions are or reflect the views or opinions of the publishers. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that the statements made and the opinions expressed in this publication provide a safe and accurate guide, no liability or responsibility can be accepted in this respect by the author or publishers. THE RAILWAYS OF ENGLAND. NORTH WESTERN. SOUTH WESTERN. MIDLAND. GREAT WESTERN. GREAT NORTHERN. GREAT EASTERN. MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, BRIGHTON AND SOUTH COAST, AND LINCOLN. CHATHAM AND DOVER. NORTH EASTERN. SOUTH EASTERN. BY W. M. ACWOKTH. FOURTH EDITION. WITH 57 ILLUSTRATIONS. LONDON: JOHN MUEEAY, ALBEMAELE STREET. 1890. LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. TO THE THEEE HUNDRED THOUSAND SERVANTS OF THE PUBLIC, WHO ARK AT WORK BY NIGHT AS WELL AS BY DAY, IN FOG AS WELL AS IN SUNSHINE, UPON THE EAILWAYS OF ENGLAND; WHO, WHETHER THEY BE CHAIRMEN AND GENERAL MANAGERS, OR SIGNALMEN, DRIVERS, AND PLATELAYERS, MUST INDIVIDUALLY BEAR THE BLAME OF FAILURE, WHILE THE CREDIT OF SUCCESS GOES TO THE COMPANY, AND THE PROFIT TO THE SHAREHOLDERS AND THE COUNTRY AT LARGE, THIS BOOK IS Dedicate* AS A TRIBUTE, NOT ONLY OF GRATITUDE FOR ASSISTANCE BUT OF SINCERE ADMIRATION. PREFACE. SOME two years since I went down to Liverpool and Manchester with the intention of obtaining materials for a magazine article. The result of that journey is that I have written a book which cannot even offer for itself the apology that it is only a very little one. But, before it goes forth to the world, I trust I may be forgiven for offering a few words of merely personal explanation. I have published before now not a few criticisms (which were meant to be scathing) on English Eailways anonymously. I find myself using, under my own name, the language of almost unvarying panegyric. This is partly to be explained by the plan of the book, which professes to set before the reader those points on each line which best merit description—its excellences, there­ fore, rather than its defects. Much more, however, is it due to a change of opinion in the writer. The more I have seen of railway management—and in the course of the last two years I have seen a good deal—the more I have realised the difficulty of the problem set before the railway authorities for solution, and the more I have appreciated the success with which, on the whole, they have solved it. I have found in so many cases that a satisfactory reply existed to my former criticisms, that I have perhaps assumed that 'such an answer would