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. Railway
contractors 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 of Our Iron Roads, and the History 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.
CONTENTS.
| 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] |
| Coach versus Railway 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] |
| Horses versus Railways | [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] |