Page:Rivers, Canals, Railways of Great Britain.djvu/428

 from Leicester to Ashby-de-la-Zouch; thence across a small rivulet north of the village of Glenfield, along the western bank of which it pursues its course by the villages of Ratby and Newton-Unthank to Desford, where it again takes a northwardly course by Merry Lees, Thornton and Bagworth; thence by the Birch Tree Inn, on the above-mentioned road, and westward by the Red House to the turnpike-road leading between Hinchley and Melbourne, at the north end of the village of Swannington, where it terminates. It is fifteen miles and three quarters in length, and the various inclinations which are rendered necessary by reason of the irregularities of the ground, over which it is intended to be made, are as follows; from the Leicester end of the railway it ascends 2 feet 10 inches in the distance of five furlongs; in the next six furlongs and one chain it rises 38 feet 9 inches; there is a rise of 5 feet 3 inches only, in one mile, three furlongs and two chains; then a long stretch of four miles, five furlongs and seven chains gradually rising 79 feet, and a further ascent of 57 feet 2 inches in the next distance of one mile, two furlongs and nine chains. From this point the railway gradually ascends 65 feet 7 inches in three quarters of a mile, and 22 feet further in the next one furlong and five chains; then a rapid ascent of 72 feet 3 inches in the short distance of three furlongs and seven chains. It is then level for the space of one furlong and three chains; but in the next seven furlongs and two chains there is a rise of 49 feet; from which point it descends 43 feet in one mile, six furlongs and four chains, and at the foot of this plane is a level course of five furlongs; then a further fall of 28 feet in the next one mile and two furlongs; and at the end of that another level course of two furlongs and one chain. From this point the line descends 133 feet in the short space of two furlongs and seven chains; whence, the remaining portion of the line, viz. one furlong and two chains, is level.

There are four branches from the main line above described, viz, one, in a distance of two furlongs and seven chains, extending eastward from the Freaks Grounds to the River Soar, near the North Bridge, Leicester; another of the same length to the collieries belonging to Lord Viscount Maynard, at Bagworth; and a short distance beyond which there is a third branch of one mile, four furlongs and eight chains in length, extending to Ibstock