.irv. 1 represents a side elevation of one span of a double suspension railway, supported at the extremities by a pier of masonry, d d, and at equal distances by four cast-metal pillars e e e e. a is the upper or " bearing rail ;" b the lower or " safety rail," which are bound together by intermediate stay braces, better shown on a larger scale at ff in figures 2, 3, and 4.
Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of a frame e c e, for a double line of rail, with a carriage on one of them at g. The letters of reference in this figure, as in all the others, designate similar parts ; it therefore need only be said, that the stay braces ff are seen in section betweenthe rails a b.
Fig. 3 gives a side elevation of' a carriage on a portion of rail ; b h h being the running wheels, and i i i the anti-friction rollers, which revent the carriage from being thrown off the railway. An examination of . 2, which exhibits the end view of this carriage, will fully explain its form an construction.
lig. 4 is a perspective sketch of one of the stay braces on a larger scale. The i expense of one mile of railway on this principle is calculated at 13951. lOs. 6d. The advantages contemplated are stated by Mr. Dick as follows : " In the first place, as you save distance, so do you save time; which all must admit, that in a commercial as well as in a political point of view, is of the utmost importance.
The suspension rail takes a straightforward point from one town to another, without regard to the surface of country over which it has to go, whether rising or falling, crossing of rivers, or otherwise. All are, by regulating the heights of the pillars, with the same ease gone over ; and by that means saving of dis tance, saving of surface ground, saving bends in the formation of the rail ; which bends, besides the extra expense of originally laying, are always liable to great derangement from the lateral friction of the waggons coming round them, compared to that of a straight line of rail. Secondly, the suspension railway, over that of the ground railway, has another immense advantage ; that is, as far as expense is concerned, which is, in the saving of all embank ments, excavations, building of bridges, cutting of tunnels, besides the great breadth of surface ground. Thirdly, and which I think the most important
of all, is the great despatch to be gained by the suspension railway, without, in the least degree, endangering either persons or property, ha height being suffi cient at all places to allow every agricultural and commercial intercourse to go on under it without interruption ; and then the carriages being so completely locked within the rail, prevents any chance of their escape, whatever may be their velocity ; so that I do not stretch a point when I say, with light carriages con taining the mail, and all small packages, a velocity of sixty miles an hour is to be obtained, including all stoppages, and that with the greatest ease and safety." Of all the railways hitherto constructed, that which now connects Manchester with Liverpool is, beyond all comparison, the most perfect and the most exten sively useful. The peculiar commercial connexion between those towns renders a cheap and rapid communication not merely of local, but of national interest. Liverpool is the port whence Manchester receives all her raw materials, and to which she returns a large portion of manufactured goods for shipment to all parts of the world. By means of the railroad, the transit of goods is now effected in about two hours, which is about one eighteenth part of the time previously occupied by the water carriage of fifty miles, besides a saving of fifty per cent. in the cost per ton of carriage ; making an annual saving in carriage to the cotton manufacturers of 20,0001.; rendering it unnecessary for them to keep a stock on hand to meet sudden orders. Man chester, we may observe, has now all the advantages of a sea-port, since a cargo may be delivered into a warehouse at Manchester on the same day that it is received at Liverpool. These towns are, by thirty-two miles of railway, as much connected for the purposes of business or pleasure, as the eastern and western extremities of London ; the facilities of communication between the latter are, in fact, not so great as the former. The immense public advantages attending this great mechanical work, have, however, been so often and so ably set forth, in poetry as well as prose, that it will be quite needless to make any further remark on this head.