AT
ALTON--VISIT TO BELGIUM--GENERAL EXTENSION OF RAILWAYS AND THEIR RESULTS.

The rapidity with which railways were carried out, when the spirit of the
country became roused, was indeed remarkable. This was doubtless in some
measure owing to the increased force of the current of speculation at the
time, but chiefly to the desire which the public began to entertain for
the general extension of the system. It was even proposed to fill up the
canals, and convert them into railways. The new roads became the topic
of conversation in all circles; they were felt to give a new value to
time; their vast capabilities for "business" peculiarly recommended them
to the trading classes; whilst the friends of "progress" dilated on the
great benefits they would eventually confer upon mankind at large. It
began to be seen that Edward Pease had not been exaggerating when he
said, "Let the country but make the railroads, and the railroads will
make the country!" They also came to be regarded as inviting objects of
investment to the thrifty, and a safe outlet for the accumulations of
inert men of capital. Thus new avenues of iron road were soon in course
of formation, branching in all directions, so that the country promised
in a wonderfully short time to become wrapped in one vast network of
iron.

In 1836 the Grand Junction Railway was under construction between
Warrington and Birmingham--the northern part by Mr. Stephenson, and the
southern by Mr. Rastrick. The works on that line embraced heavy
cuttings, long embankments, and numerous viaducts; but none of these are
worthy of any special description. Perhaps the finest piece of masonry
on the railway is the Dutton Viaduct across the valley of the Weaver. It
consists of twenty arches of 60 feet span, springing 16 feet from the
perpendicular shaft of each pier, and 60 feet in height from the crown of
the arches to the level of the river. The foundations of the piers were
built on piles driven 20 feet deep. The structure has a solid and
majestic appearance, and is perhaps the finest of George Stephenson's
viaducts.

[Picture: The Dutton Viaduct]

The Manchester and Leeds line was in progress at the same time--an
important railway connecting the principal manufacturing towns of
Yorkshire and Lancashire. An attempt was made to obtain the Act as early
as 1831; but its promoters were defeated by the powerful opposition of
the landowners aided by the cana