Length of Miles. 1st class. 112 48 38 45 27 1933 56 88 78 31 313 46 Name of the Railway, and prevailing Gradient. London and Birmingham, prevailing gradient 16 feet, or 1 in 330, with the exception of the inclined plane at Camden Town, 1 in 75, now worked with locomotive engines. Midland Counties, gradients 1 in 330, 354, 389, 420. Birmingham and Derby Junction, no plane greater than 1 in 330. Great North of England, from 1 in 349 to 1 in York and North Midland, prevailing gradient 8 London and Brighton, prevailing gradients 20 Lancaster and Preston, prevailing gradients about 10 feet, or 1 in 500. South Eastern, London and Dover, prevailing gradient about 10 feet, or 1 in 330. South Western (London and Southampton), between first and second class, prevailing gradient about 21 feet or 1 in 250. Hull and Selby line, undulating gradients 1st class, but some second. Dublin and Drogheda, 1 in 267 to 329. Edinburgh and Glasgow, prevailing gradient 1 in 880, with the exception of a very steep Length of Miles. 1st class. 51 22/ 2d class. 82 60 10 53 60 25 101 30 6 Name of the Railway, and prevailing Gradient. incline at the tunnel near Glasgow 1 in 43, now worked by locomotive engines. (This railway is one of the most uniformly level lines which has been made.) Glasgow and Ayr, the steepest rise is 1 in 400. Glasgow and Greenock, the steepest rise is 1 in 330, at Bishopton. Grand Junction, general gradients good, 1st incline 1 in 85, 1 in 100, 1 in 177, 1 in 330. Manchester and Leeds, average inclination 1 in 260, steepest incline 1·182 for 6 miles. Manchester and Bolton, inclines 1 in 160, 200, 239, 274. Birmingham and Gloucester, the prevailing gra- Newcastle and Carlisle, 1st incline 1 in 106, one Belfast and Portnadown (Ulster Railway), pre- Dublin and Kingston, the steepest incline is 1 Length of Miles. 3d class. 24 16 5 13 2 miles 8 chains 6 28 9 81 17 9 Name of the Railway, and prevailing Gradient. North Union, 10 planes inclining at the rate of 1 in 100. Leicester and Swannington, some very steep in clines ascending and descending 1 in 17, 1 in 29, worked with fixed engines; also inclines of 1 in 147 and 1 in 230, &c. Sheffield and Rotherham, ruling gradient 1 in 78. Durham and Sunderland, entirely worked by stationary engines. Edinburgh and Newhaven, a steep incline in a tunnel 1 in 27.45, proposed to be worked with locomotive or atmospheric power, second plane 1.160, third plane 1-360. Canterbury and Whitstable, divided into 5 planes, some of which are inclines of 1 in 31, 1 in 46, 1 in 50, and are worked with stationary engines. Maryport and Carlisle, very steep inclines, from 1 in 27 to 1 in 97. Dundee and Newtyle, inclines 1 in 10, 1 in 13, and 1 in 25, very steep, worked by fixed engines, and the levels by locomotives. Edinburgh and Dalkeith, and branches, second Brandling Junction, worked by locomotives, and L The preceding classification does not always, however, afford a correct idea of the working of the line: for example, the Liverpool and Manchester, which comes under the 2d or 3d class, has no gradient exceeding 1 in 849, with the exception of the two inclines near Rainhill. In the older railways in this country, it will be perceived the gradients were generally much greater than those of later construction: the cause of this is obvious, for they were made for the use of stationary engines, which was the only means then known to gain the summit level. Within a few years the stationary system has in many railways been disused for gradients which were formerly impracticable with any other than fixed power are now easily ascended with locomotives-which has led to the return to the plan of adopting steeper gradients throughout a line; and what was formerly termed a stationary engine plane, has now, in many instances, become a locomotive plane. Where fixed engines are used, the usual method is for the engine at the top of the incline to draw up the train or waggon by means of a rope running round a drum and cylinder attached to the engine, while the return waggons, or descending train, proceeding down by their own gravity, carry back the rope. On other lines self-acting planes were used; or when the descending weight preponderated, the gravity of the descending carriages drew up the ascending carriages to the apex of the plane to the pits' mouths. The very steep inclines on the Leicester and Swannington railway are worked in this manner; and chiefly likewise the planes at the Ballochney railway in Scotland. The Whitby and Pickering railway, which is very tortuous, is worked by horse power, except one plane, on which a tank of water mounted on wheels is made to descend the steep incline by gravity, and to assist the ascent of the trains. At Brassleton fixed engine plane, on the Stockton and Darlington line, where there are inclines on both sides from the summit a single coach is drawn up by a rope attached to a fixed engine, and let down by gravity, drawing the rope after it. The Clarence railway is worked partly by horse power the trains descending by their gravity the horse returning to the bottom of the incline in a stable attached to the trains. The Canterbury and Whitstable railway was one of the first railways made in the south of England, worked by stationary and locomotive power. The first act was obtained in 1825: but it was not constructed till 1830. The fixed engine, of 25 |