Particulars of the cost of such a line will be found in Sections IV. and IX. On my experimental course there are six stations, at three of which are sheds for the accommodation of the rolling stock. When the line is used on the occasion of a garden party, a regular service of passenger trains is run, and several times trains of eight long bogie cars, carrying 120 passengers, have been hauled up the gradient of 1 in 20, and up the still more trying one of 1 in 47 situate on a three-quarter-circle curve of 40 ft. radius.
In the year 1894 I exhibited the line to the engineering public during three days. On this occasion a variety of experiments in haulage and shunting were shewn, and for part of each day two trains were run concurrently.
IV.
DETAILS OF THE EATON HALL LINE.
During the exhibition of my railway at Duffield in 1894, one of the visitors was the Hon. Cecil Parker, agent to the Duke of Westminster, who was desirous of laying some sort of light railway from Eaton Hall to the Great Western Railway, three miles distant. It was necessary that the line should be unobtrusive in appearance, of a thoroughly permanent character, yet moderate in cost. The traffic was, as it proved, correctly estimated at from 5,000 to 6,000 tons annually. Here was a perfect opportunity for a practical experiment with the 15 in. gauge, which was ample for five times that amount. I was asked to inspect the route, and subsequently roughly estimated the cost, exclusive of buildings, at about £6,000. I had some doubt at first whether it was possible for me to find time to lay out and construct the whole line and rolling stock myself, but the difficulty of getting special designs effectively carried out by commercial firms at a reasonable cost decided me to undertake everything. It was at my desire eventually agreed that I should have a free hand in regard to all the designs, doing the work at cost price and without charge for my own time.
The line will now be generally described, after which some of the more interesting details will be enlarged upon.
The Eaton estate railway connects the Hall with the Great Western Railway at Balderton, 3 miles distant. The total length of line laid is 4½ miles, which includes, besides the main line, a branch ¾ mile in length to the estate works near Pulford, together with several shorter branches to the estate brickyard and other points. The traffic to be dealt with, consisting chiefly of coal, road metal, and building material, was computed at about 6,000 tons per annum. As it was desired that the line should be as inconspicuous as possible, since it had to cross the park and the three principal drives, and the required capacity being small, it was decided to adopt the 15 in. gauge.
The line is laid with steel flat-bottomed rails, weighing 16½ lbs. per yard, and, to reduce repairs to a minimum, these are carried throughout on cast-iron sleepers, 3 ft. long, 6½ in. wide, weighing 28 lbs., and coated with anti-corrosive. Steel spring-keys secure the rails in jaws cast on the sleepers, which are spaced at 2 feet 3 inches centres, and, at the joints, at 1 ft. 4 in. Steel girders, on cast-iron foundation plates, are used for all the bridge-work. Thus no timber whatever is employed in the permanent way, and the depreciation is practically limited to wear of rails.
The rails for the points are rivetted on to flat-topped cast-iron sleepers, and were built up in my workshops, and forwarded ready for laying down. A set of points with seven sleepers carrying them, and with lever, counterweight, base plate, and the necessary rods, weighs about 4 cwts., and costs £7 15s. 0d. All the switches are planed out of the solid, and the crossings are of cast steel. Special cast-iron sleepers are employed on the girder bridges. These are of bar form, having below a cross-piece which is tightened up to the sleeper by two bolts, and which grips the inner flange of each girder. It is thus possible to set the rails to any moderate curve, on straight girders. For crossing roads a short and very strong sleeper, only 2 feet in length, is employed, with jaws fitted to take a second rail on each side to act as a guard-rail to the running one. These sleepers have a concrete foundation, and are packed to the required level with tarred macadam. The spaces are then filled in with the same material, and the road finished to a surface level with the top of the rails with a mixture of tar, pitch, and screenings. The flange space is of course left free; this is 1½ in. wide so as to avoid any chance of the shoes of draft horses jamming therein. The field crossings, to permit of carts crossing the line at convenient points in the various fields, are arranged with a similar double rail, but on a specially strong sleeper of the standard length, packed with ordinary ballast.
The ballast is red furnace cinder, 5 to 6 in. in depth below the sleepers. The surface width is 4 ft., and through the park the top of the ballast is level with the turf, the drainage here being effected by a central 4 in. pipe. The appearance is thus that of a narrow garden walk. For the remainder of the route, which is entirely over grass land with a stiff clay subsoil, the ballast is above ground.
The railway is unfenced throughout, and passes from field to field on short open girders with a dyke excavated below, thus preventing the passage of cattle. Two high roads besides the three drives are crossed on the level, and several brooks by girder bridges, the longest span being 28 ft. The line is practically a surface one, there being few noticeable cuttings and embankments. The cost of the earthwork has been £205 per mile. The maximum gradient against the load is 1 in 70, the highest point of the line is 63 ft. above the lowest, and the Eaton terminus is 51 ft. above the junction with the Great Western Railway. The curves on the main line do not run below 300 ft. in radius, but curves of 60 ft. radius, and, at difficult points, of still less, occur at some of the termini and on the branches. At Eaton a large covered coal stove 80 ft. long and 33 ft. wide has been erected, so arranged that the little wagons run in at a high level and readily discharge their contents.