"7. That they will become a speedier and cheaper mode of conveyance than carriages drawn by horses.
"8. That, as they admit of greater breadth of tire than other carriages, and as the roads are not acted on so injuriously as by the feet of horses in common draught, such carriages will cause less wear of roads than coaches drawn by horses.
"9. That rates of toll have been imposed on steam carriages which would prohibit their being used on several lines of road, were such charges permitted to remain unaltered."
On August 20, 1832, we hear of a steam carriage, constructed by a Mr. Hancock, intending to make an experimental trip to Windsor, and coming to grief at Dachet. In November and December of the same year we learn that a steam carriage, constructed by Captain Macirone and Mr. Squire, was running about Paddington, and that "the jolting was not much greater than an ordinary stage coach." In the Times of April 25, 1833, we read of a
"Steam Omnibus.
"Monday afternoon an omnibus, worked by steam on a new and ingenious principle, was tried on the Paddington Road. The machine altogether does not exceed the space which an ordinary omnibus, with horses attached, would occupy, and the appearance is particularly neat. The body is capable of containing fourteen persons, the engine dividing that from the furnace in the rear. The passengers experience no inconvenience from heat, and, coke being the fuel employed, there is no annoyance from smoke. The engine works on a crank, not on an axle, and the propelling power is applied to the wheels by means of iron chains. The chief recommendation, that which timid persons will consider most, is that there can be no possibility of explosion. The propelling power is equal to fifteen or twenty miles an hour; but, even when the steam is raised to its very highest pressure, there is no risk, the water being deposited in several iron pipes, or what are termed chamber boilers, with a valve to carry off the superfluous steam. The guide, who sits in front, has complete control of the vehicle, and can arrest its progress instantaneously. It is intended to ply regularly from Paddington to the Bank."
Captain Macirone's steam carriage was repeatedly noticed by the Press, and in 1834 there is an advertisement of a company to work Dr. Church's steam carriage; but all the schemes came to nought.
When William IV. came to the throne there were practically no railways for passenger traffic; and it was during his reign that nearly all the main lines in England were projected. I now marvel at their having attained so rapid a popularity, for the travelling was very uncomfortable. The idea of a stage coach was very difficult to get rid of, and the carriages were subdivided so as to represent it as much as possible—even their outsides were modelled, as far as could be, to look like a coach, and to this day a train is, in railway parlance, made up of so many coaches. The first class were padded and cushioned, but were very stuffy, having small windows; the second class were of plain painted wood, narrow seats, no room for one's legs, and very small windows; in the third class there were no seats, it was simply a cattle truck in which every one stood up, and as there was no roof, it was rather lively travelling in wet weather.
Railways were soon considered as a nuisance to the public, and on March 30th, at York, an action of Rex v. Pease and others was tried. It was an indictment for a nuisance against the Stockton and Darlington Railway Company, which was opened on September 27, 1825. By an Act of Parliament, passed in 1821, the defendants were authorized to form a railway from Darlington to Sunderland, and, by another Act passed in 1823, they were authorized to use locomotive engines thereon. The railway which, it was agreed, had been formed upon the line pointed out in the Act of Parliament, was opened for public use in 1825. Only one steam engine was at first used; but the number gradually increased till there were seven in operation. This increase had been rendered necessary by the increasing business on the railway.
For about a mile and three-quarters the railway runs in a parallel line with the high-road leading from Yarm to Stockton, the two roads being at an average distance from each other of fifty yards. The nuisance complained of was the fright and danger which the noise and the smoke of the steam engines occasioned to passengers on this part of the highway. A variety of witnesses proved that accidents frequently happened in consequence of horses taking fright at the steam engine. Counsel for the railway stated that he was willing to admit that his clients had been guilty of a nuisance, unless their conduct was justified by the Act of Parliament, according to the directions of which, the railway had been formed, and the steam engines used. He suggested, therefore, that the best mode would be for the jury to return a special verdict, finding the facts already proved, and also that the defendants had used the best engines they could procure, and availed themselves of every improvement offered. The counsel for the prosecution, after some deliberation, agreed to the proposal, and a nominal verdict of guilty was recorded.