Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/250

Rh 238 ENGLAND [TEAM WAYS AND KOADS. Receipts Not included in the above summary are season-ticket holders, to the number of 394,427345,656 in England and Wales, 26,481 in Scotland, and 22,290 in Ireland the addition of which brings the total number of passen gers to 538,681,722 in the year 1876. The total receipts, the total working expenditure, and the and ex- j pendi- ture of railways. let receipts of the railways in each division of the Unitec Cingdom were as follows in the year 1876 : Divisions Total Receipts. Total Working Expenditure. Net ; Receipts. Proportion of Expendi ture to Total Receipts. England and Wales Scotland-

52,476,319 6,965,091 2,774,365

28,466,366 3,597,993 1,471,150

24,009,953 3,367,098 1,303,215 Per Cent. 54 52 53 Ireland. .... United_ King dom .. . . 62,215,775 33,535,509 28,680,266 54 Paasen- The receipts of the railways of England and Wales in ger and 1876 were derived to the extent of 55 per cent, from the traffic goods traffic, and of 45 per cent, from passenger traffic. In 1854 the total receipts were exactly alike from the two sources, but after that year the proportion contributed by goods gradually rose, reaching 51 per cent, in 1858, 52 per cent, in 1862, 53 per cent, in 1863, 54 per cent, in 1867, and 55 per cent, in 1873. In Scotland the receipts from goods traffic in recent years amounted to 85 per cent, of the total ; but in Ireland the passenger traffic furnished 53 per cent, of the total receipts. NnmLer The construction of railways in England was undertaken of rail- originally by a vast number of small companies, each way com- obtaining separate Acts of Parliament deemed requisite nnn taa, *- A for their existence. But many years did not elapse before it was discovered that (here could be neither harmonious nor profitable working of a great many systems, and this led^to a series of amalgamations, by vhich the majority of the lines were brought under the management of a few great corporations. In the official &quot; Railway Returns &quot; issued by the Board of Trade, there were still 92 independ ent companies enumerated as existing in England and Wales at the end of 1876, but the mass of these consisted of very small undertakings. Virtually, the railways of the country were controlled by seven leading companies, as follows : panics. Railway Companies. Seat of Manage ment. Length of Svstem Dec. 31, 1876. Great Western London Mile*. 2 058 London and North Western ... London 1,632 North Eastern York 1,429 Midland Deri iv 1 238 Great Eastern London 859 London and South Western .... Great Northern London London ,,,,,,,,, 687 640 The seven great com panies. The seven great railway companies here enumerated which might be reduced to six, the North Eastern and Great Northern practically forming a united system held between them 8543 miles on the 31st December 1876, representing nearly all the main lines of the country. It seems probable that, with the exception, perhaps, of two or three companies south of the Thames, possessing, in the communication with the Continent, an independent traffic, all the others will gradually follow the process of absorption, more and more strongly developed in recent years. It may be that the process will ultimately reach its furthest solution by all the railways being placed by purchase, the same as the telegraphs, under the sole control of the Government Tramways. The obvious advantages, quite independent Tram- of steam power, offered by placing longitudinal rails on the wa y s - ground for the traction of vehicles led to the introduction, in recent years, of a modified form of railways, known as tram roads. In reality, tramroads are the oldest railways. Wooden rails existed in the mining and quarrying districts of England as early as the commencement of the 18th century, and these being liable to rapid destruction by wear and tear, it occurred to the manager of the far-famed Cole- brookdale works before referred to that iron would be an excellent substitute for wood. Accordingly, in 1767 the whole of the wooden rails used on the extensive grounds over which the factories extended were taken up, and replaced by iron rails. Early as thus was the establishment of iron tramroads, over which vehicles were drawn by horses, into England, they were forgotten over steam- worked railways, and nearly a century elapsed before they were introduced again. The first tramway was laid clown at Birkenhead in 1860, after American models; but a subsequent attempt to lay down a line in London, from the Marble Arch to Bayswater, and another from Westminster Bridge southward?, proved a failure. Fresh attempts, made in 1868, were more successful; and in 1870 an Act was passed by the legislature 33 and 34 Viet. c. 78 to facili tate the construction of tramways throughout the country. This led to the laying down of &quot; street railways &quot; in nearly all the large towns. According to a return laid before the House of Commons in the session of 1878, the total length of tramways authorized by parliament up to the 30th of June 1877 was 363 miles, and the total length opened for traffic 213 miles, comprising 125 miles of double lines, and 88 miles of single lines. The total authorized capital of all the tramway companies on the 30th June 1877 was 5,528,989, while the paid-up capital amounted to 3,269,744, and the capital actually expended to 3,343,265. A parliamentary commission on tramways, which made its report in the session of 1877, recommended the introduction of steam as a motive power, and the pro bable adoption of this improvement can scarcely fail to bring &quot; street railways,&quot; in course of time, to be a useful appendage of the ordinary railway system. Canals. Roads and canals, too, the oldest aids to inter- Cunais. communication, are tending more and more, as far as lengthened distances are concerned, to be simple auxiliaries of railways. The total length of the canals traversing England extends over 2360 miles, and it is estimated that more than half of this length already either belongs to railway companies or is under their control, while the remainder must follow the same tendency of absorption, as the traffic on them, even for the heavy good:;:, is unable to withstand the competition of railways. Various attempts to introduce steam on the canals have not met with success, being opposed by the size and construction of most of them, and the hindrance of numerous locks, dividing unequal levels. Roa.ds. Railways have rather aided than prevented the Turn- extension and improvement of the old highways of England, I 1lk( j the turnpike roads, which are now acknowledged to be among the best in the world. But the &quot;turnpikes&quot; them selves have almost become things of the past. The system of road-building by private enterprise, the undertakers being rewarded by tolls levied from vehicles, persons, or animals using the roads, was established in England in 1063, an Act of Charles II., 15. c. 1, authorizing the taking of such tolls at &quot; turnpikes &quot; in Herts and Cambridgeshire. A century after, in 1767, the authorization was extended over the whole kingdom, by Act 7 George III. c. 40. In its fullness, the system lasted just sixty years, for the first breach in it was made by an Act 7 and 8 George IV. c. 24, passed in 1827, by which the chief turnpikes in the metro-