Page:The Working and Management of an English Railway.djvu/323

Rh between Southend and Shoeburyness, and that hostile vessels were simultaneously ascending the Blackwater river to land a strong detachment at Stangate Abbey. Instructions were supposed to have been issued by telegraph for the concentration of six Army Corps, numbering about 130,000 men, on the line of Stanford-le-Hope, Billericay, and Chelmsford, with a view to occupy the Basildon position and repel the invader, three Corps being brought up as rapidly as possible, and the whole within forty-eight hours'. Particulars were given as to where the troops were stationed all over the country—North, South, East and West—and the number of men quartered at each place—and in due course the problem was solved and the answer furnished.

It was assumed, of course, that the ordinary traffic would be, for the time being, entirely suspended, that land could be freely encroached upon whenever necessary for the construction of temporary platforms of sleepers and ballast, for loading and unloading horses and artillery, and for other purposes, and that all the railways could be worked as one. Tables were submitted showing in the most complete detail the number of trains required, where each would start from, and the hour of starting, the route travelled, the hour of arrival at destination, the time allowed for refreshments and other purposes on the journey, and the number of men conveyed by each train. The total number of trains employed was 515; the speed was about 25 miles an hour, exclusive of stoppages, the trains following one another on the same lines at intervals of fifteen minutes, and the last train was timed to arrive at Chelmsford within 45 hours and 50 minutes of the hour at which the order was supposed to have been given by telegraph, so that, in theory, at any rate,