The Project Gutenberg eBook ofRailway Adventures and Anecdotes: Extending over More Than Fifty YearsThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: Railway Adventures and Anecdotes: Extending over More Than Fifty YearsEditor: Richard PikeRelease date: February 25, 2010 [eBook #31395]Most recently updated: October 3, 2020Language: EnglishCredits: This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAILWAY ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES: EXTENDING OVER MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS ***
This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.
Title: Railway Adventures and Anecdotes: Extending over More Than Fifty YearsEditor: Richard PikeRelease date: February 25, 2010 [eBook #31395]Most recently updated: October 3, 2020Language: EnglishCredits: This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler
Title: Railway Adventures and Anecdotes: Extending over More Than Fifty Years
Editor: Richard Pike
Editor: Richard Pike
Release date: February 25, 2010 [eBook #31395]Most recently updated: October 3, 2020
Language: English
Credits: This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RAILWAY ADVENTURES AND ANECDOTES: EXTENDING OVER MORE THAN FIFTY YEARS ***
This ebook was transcribed by Les Bowler.
EDITED BY RICHARD PIKE.
THIRD EDITION.
“The onlybona fideRailway Anecdote Book publishedon either side of the Atlantic.”—Liverpool Mercury.
“The onlybona fideRailway Anecdote Book publishedon either side of the Atlantic.”—Liverpool Mercury.
London:Hamilton,Adams,and Co.Nottingham:J. Derry.
1888.
nottingham:j. derby,printer,wheeler gate and hounds gate.
Although railways are comparatively of recent date we are so accustomed to them that it is difficult to realize the condition of the country before their introduction. How different are the present day ideas as to speed in travelling to those entertained in the good old times. The celebrated historian, Niebuhr, who was in England in 1798, thus describes the rapid travelling of that period:—“Four horses drawing a coach with six persons inside, four on the roof, a sort of conductor besides the coachman, and overladen with luggage, have to get over seven English miles in the hour; and as the coach goes on without ever stopping except at the principal stages, it is not surprising that you can traverse the whole extent of the country in so few days. But for any length of time this rapid motion is quite too unnatural. You can only get a very piece-meal view of the country from the windows, and with the tremendous speed at which you go can keep no object long in sight; you are unable also to stop at any place.” Near the same time the late Lord Campbell, travelling for the first time by coach from Scotland to London, was seriously advised to stay a day at York, as the rapidity of motion (eight miles per hour) had caused several through-going passengers to die of apoplexy.
It is stated in the year 1825, there was in the whole world, only one railway carriage, built to convey passengers. It was on the first railway between Stockton and Darlington, and bore on its panels the motto—“Periculum privatum,publica utilitas.” At the opening of this line the people’s ideas of railway speed were scarcely ahead of the canal boat. For we are told, “Strange to say, a man on horseback carrying a flag headed the procession. It was not thought so dangerous a place after all. The locomotive was only supposed to go at the rate of from four to six miles an hour; an ordinary horse could easily keep ahead of that. A great concourse of people stood along the line. Many of them tried to accompany the procession by running, and some gentlemen on horseback galloped across the fields to keep up with the engine. At a favourable part of the road Stephenson determined to try the speed of the engine, and he called upon the horseman with the flag to get out of his way! The speed was at once raised to twelve miles an hour, and soon after to fifteen, causing much excitement among the passengers.”
George Stephenson was greatly impressed with the vast possibilities belonging to the future of railway travelling. When battling for the locomotive he seemed to see with true prescience what it was destined to accomplish. “I will do something in course of time,” he said, “which will astonish all England.” Years afterwards when asked to what he alluded, he replied, “I meant to make the mail run between London and Edinburgh by the locomotive before I died, and I have done it.” Thus was a similar prediction fulfilled, which at the time he uttered it was doubtless considered a very wild prophecy, “Men shall take supper in London and breakfast in Edinburgh.”
From a small beginning railways have spread over the four quarters of the globe. Thousands of millions of pounds have been spent upon their construction. Railwaycontractors such as Peto and Brassey at one time employed armies of workmen, more numerous than the contending hosts engaged in many a battle celebrated in history. Considering the mighty revolutions that have been wrought in social affairs and in the commerce of the world by railways, John Bright was not far wrong when he said in the House of Commons “Who are the greatest men of the present age? Not your warriors, not your statesmen. They are your engineers.”
The Railway era, although of modern date, has been rich in adventures and incidents. Numerous works have been written upon Railways, also memoirs of Railway Engineers, relating their struggles and triumphs, which have charmed multitudes of readers. Yet no volume has been published consisting exclusively of Railway Adventures and Anecdotes. Books having the heading of Railway Anecdotes, or similar titles, containing few of such anecdotes but many of a miscellaneous character, have from time to time appeared. Anecdotes, racy of the Railway calling and circumstances connected with it are very numerous: they are to be found scattered in Parliamentary Blue Books, Journals, Biographies, and many out-of-the-way channels. Many of them are highly instructive, diverting, and mirth-provoking, having reference to persons in all conditions. The “Railway Adventures and Anecdotes,” illustrating many a quaint and picturesque scene of railway life, have been drawn from a great variety of sources. I have for a long time been collecting them, and am willing to believe they may prove entertaining and profitable to the railway traveller and the general reader, relieving the tedium of hours when the mind is not disposed to grapple with profounder subjects.
The romance of railways is in the past and not in the future. How desirable then it is that a well written history of British Railways should speedily be produced, before their traditions, interesting associations, and early workers shall be forgotten. A work of such magnitude would need to be entrusted to a band of expert writers. With an able man like Mr. Williams, the author ofOur Iron Roads, and theHistory of the Midland Railway, presiding over the enterprise, a history might be produced which would be interesting to the present and to future generations. The history although somewhat voluminous would be a necessity to every public and private library. Many of our railway companies might do worse than contribute £500 or £1000 each to encourage such an important literary undertaking. It would give an impetus to the study of railway matters and it is not at all unlikely in the course of a short time the companies would be recouped for their outlay.
Before concluding, it is only right I should express my grateful acknowledgments to the numerous body of subscribers to this work. Among them are noblemen of the highest rank and distinction, cabinet ministers, members of Parliament, magistrates, ministers of all sections of the Christian church, merchants, farmers, tradesmen, and artisans. Through their helpful kindness my responsibility has been considerably lightened, and I trust they will have no reason to regret that their confidence has been misplaced.
A.B.C. and D.E.F.
171
Accident, Abergele, The
220
,, Beneficial Effect of a Railway
186
,, Extraordinary
128
,, ,,
265
,, Remarkable
172
,, Versailles, The
96
Action, A Novel
255
Advantages of Railway Tunnels
126
Advertisement, Remarkable
124
Adventure, Remarkable
146
Affrighted Toll Keeper
19
Agent, The Insurance
269
Air-ways, instead of Railways
83
Alarmist Views
28
Almost Dar Now
122
American Patience and Imperturbability
183
A’penny a Mile
170
Army with Banners, An
207
Atmospheric Railroad Anticipated
14
Baby Law
216
Balloonists, Extraordinary Escape of
275
Bavarian Guards and Bavarian Beer
198
Bill, Expensive Parliamentary
102
,, First Railway
16
Bishop, A Disingenuous
267
,, An Industrious
248
Blunder, An Extraordinary
254
Bookshops, Growth of Station
130
Booking-Clerk and Buckland, The
248
Bookstalls, Messrs. Smith’s
131
Brahmin, The Polite
260
Bride’s Lost Luggage, A
142
Brassey’s, Mr., Strict Adherence to his Word
264
Brougham’s, Lord, Speech
60
Box, Shut up in a large
273
Buckland’s, Mr. Frank, First Railway Journey
175
Buckland, Mr. Frank, and his Boots
261
Bridge, Awful Death on a Railroad
273
Bully Rightly Served, The
190
Burning the Road Clear
179
Business, Railway Facilities for
118
Calculation as to Railway Speed
28
Capture, Clever
105
Catastrophe
165
Carlist Chief as a Sub-contractor, A
213
Carriage, The Duke’s
60
Casuality, Curious
193
Chase after a Runaway Engine, A
136
Child’s Idea on Railways, A
179
Child, Remarkable Rescue of a
249
Claim for goodwill for a Cow killed on the Railway
268
Clergy, Appealing to the
83
Clever, Quite too
181
CoachversusRailway Accidents
198
Compensation for Land
106
,, A Widow’s Claim for
242
Competition, Early Railway
27
,, For Passengers
167
,, Goods
135
Conductor, A Wide-awake
184
Coincidences, Remarkable
291
Cook’s Railway Excursions, Origin of
87
Cool Impudence and Dishonesty
248
Coolness, A Little Boy’s
258
Constable, The Electric
92
Contracts, Expensive
263
Contractor, An Accommodating
113
Contractors and the Blotting Pad, Rival
99
Contrast, National
171
Conversion of the Gauge
243
Counsel, The bothered Queen’s
247
Courting on a Railway thirty miles an hour
159
Crimea, The First Railway in the
156
Croydon. It’s
271
Curious Classification, A
294
Custom of the Country, The
234
Cuvier’s Description of the Locomotive
21
Damages easily adjusted
127
Day. The Great Railway Mania
114
Death. Faithful unto
153
Decision. A Quick
95
Decoy Trunk, The
224
Deodand. The
88
Difficulties encountered in making Surveys
31
Difficulty solved, A
181
Discovery, A Great
144
Discussion, An Unfortunate
89
Disguise, Duty in
283
Dissatisfied Passengers
236
Doctor and the Officers, The
246
Dog Ticket
91
Down Brakes, or Force of Habit
192
Drink. That accursed
274
Drinking from the Wrong Bottle
262
Driving a last spike
224
Dropping the letter “L”
267
Dukes and the traveller, The two
114
Dying Engine Driver, The
191
Early American Railway Enterprise
66
Early Morning Ride
187
Early Steam Carriages
15
Elevated Sight-seers Wishing to Descend
59
Engine Driver, A Brave
247
,, A Mad
278
Engine Driver’s Presence of Mind
232
,, Driving
230
,, Fascination
166
Engineer and Scientific Witness
133
,, Very Nice to be a Railway
113
Entertaining Companion
195
Epigram, Railway
124
Epitaph, An Engine Driver’s
86
,, on the Victim of a Railway Accident
85
Escape, Providential
128
Escapes from being Lynched, Narrow
153
Everett’s Reply to Wordsworth’s Protest
123
Evidence of General Salesman
78
,, Picture
111
Evil, A Dreaded
145
Excursionists put to the proof
294
Extracts from Macready’s Diaries
138
Fares, Cheap
188
Fault, At
241
Female Fragility
250
Flutter caused by the murder of Mr. Briggs
253
Fog Signals
121
Forged Tickets
217
Fourth of July Facts
244
Fraud on the Great Northern Company, Immense
161
Frauds, Attempted
140
Freak, Singular
170
Freaks of Concealed Bogs
138
Frightened at a Red Light
223
Girl, A Brave
273
Goat and the Railway, The
155
Good Things of Railway Accidents
186
Gravedigger’s Suggestion, A
257
Gray, Thomas. A Railway Projector
22
Greenlander’s First Railway Ride, A
255
Growing Lad, A
217
Hartington, The Marquis of, on George Stephenson
283
Hair-Dresser, The anxious
79
Heroism of a Driver
270
Highlander and a Railway Engine, The
138
Hoax, Accident
167
HorsesversusRailways
262
How to bear losses
214
Impressions, A Mexican Chief’s Railway
278
Incident, An amusing
258
,, An Electric Tramway
282
Information, Obtaining
154
Insulted Woman, An
235
Insured
202
Judge’s feeling against Railways, A County Court
150
Kangaroo Attacking a Train, A
209
Kemble’s Letter, Fanny
35
Kid-Gloved Samson, A
184
Kiss in the Dark, A
256
Lady and her Lap-dog, The
242
,, An Exacting
183
Legislation, Railway
100
Liabilities of Railway Engineers for Errors
127
Liability of Companies for Delay of Trains
191
Life upon a Railway, by a Conductor
148
Loan Engineering, or Staking out a Railway
172
Locomotive, A Smuggling
234
,, Dangerous
292
Luggage, Lost
112
,, in Railway Carriages
281
,, What is Passengers’
243
Madman in a Railway Carriage, A
201
Marriage, A Railway
139
,, and Railway Dividends
228
Match, A Runaway
93
Merchant and his Clerk, The
160
Mistake, A slight
263
Monetary Difficulties in Spain
212
Money. Lost and Found
87
Monkey Signalman, A
294
Navvy’s Reason for not going to Church, A
80
Nervousness
259
New Trick. A
203
Newspaper Wonder, A
211
Newton, Sir Isaac’s Prediction of Railway Speed
14
Notice, Copy of a
237
,, A curious
154
,, A remarkable
252
,, to Defaulting Shareholders, A Novel
95
Not to be caught
246
Novel Attack, A
197
,, Obstruction
215
Objections, Sanitary
77
Opposition, A Landowner’s
110
,, English and American
71
,, Parliamentary
29
,, to Making Surveys
75
Orders, My
280
Parody upon the Railway Mania
118
Passengers and other Cattle
158
,, Third-class
143
Peto, Sir Morton, and the Balaclava Railway
156
Peto’s, Sir Morton, Railway Mission
104
Phillippe and the English Navvies, Louis
125
Photographing an Express Train
259
Polite Irishman, The
194
Portmanteau, His
130
Post Office and Railways. The
119
Power of Locomotive Engines, Gigantic
94
Practice, Sharp
80
Prejudice against carrying Coals by Railways
84
,, Removed
81
Presentiment, Mrs. Blackburne’s
56
Profitable Damages
295
Prognostications of Failure
73
Pullman’s Carriages
295
Race, A Curious
254
Railway, An Early
20
,, An Early Ride on the Liverpool and Manchester
61
,, Announcement
17
,, Enterprise
296
,, Travelling, Early
63
,, Destroyers in the Franco-German War
223
,, from Merstham to Wandsworth
16
,, Liverpool and Manchester
32
,, Manners
272
,, Merthyr Tydvil
17
,, A Profitable
260
,, Opening of the Darlington and Stockton
26
,, Romance
93
,, Sleeper, A
246
,, Signals
120
,, Switch Tender and his Child
199
,, Train turned into a Man-trap
185
,, Up Vesuvius
274
Railways, Elevated
214
,, A Judgment
268
,, Origin of
13
Railroad Incident
214
,, Tracklayer
216
Rails, Expansion of
158
Rector and his Pig. The
103
Redstart, The Black
199
Rejoinder, A smart
158
Reproof for Swearing
189
Request, A Polite
136
Ride from Boston to Providence in 1835, A
81
Robinson’s, Crabb, First Railway Journey
65
Ruling Occupation strong on Sunday
186
Safety on the Floor
147
Seat, The Safest
268
Scotch Lady and her Box
272
Scene at a Railway Junction, Extraordinary
134
,, Before a Sub-Committee on Standing Orders
176
Security for Travelling
229
Sell, A
241
Seizure of a Railway Train for Debt
208
She takes Fits
210
Shrewd Observers
20
Signalman, An Amateur
97
Singular Circumstance
125
Sleeper, A Heavy
276
Sounds, Remarkable Memory for
266
Snag’s Corners
210
Snake’s Heads
81
Snowed up on the Pacific Railway
237
Speed of Railway Engines
30
Steam defined
137
,, Pulling a Tooth by
276
Steel Rails
193
Stephenson Centenary, The
284
,, ,, George Robert Stephenson’s Address
286
,, ,, Rev. T. C. Sarjent’s Address at the
288
,, ,, Sir William Armstrong’s Address at the
284
Stephenson’s Wedding Present, George
194
Stopping a Runaway Couple
200
Stumped
293
Swindling, Ingenious
292
Taken Aback
152
Taking Him Down a Peg
252
Taste, Loss of
291
Tay Bridge Accident
245
Telegraph, Extraordinary use of the Electric
111
Ticket, A Lost
164
,, Your
271
Traffic-Taking
86
Train Stopped by Caterpillars, A
204
Travelling, Effects of Constant Railway
281
,, in Russia
204
,, Improvement in Third-Class
143
Trent Station
192
Trip, An Unpleasant Trial
72
Tunnel, In a Railway
137
Very Cool
199
Waif, An Extraordinary
245
Ward’s, Artemus, Suggestion
197
Watkin, Sir Edward, on Touting for Business
269
Way, A Quick
138
Way-Leaves
13
Wedding at a Railway Station
166
What are you going to do?
189
Whistle, Steam
98
Wolves on a Railway
197
Wordsworth’s Protest
122
Yankee Compensation Case, A
218