The life of George Stephenson, railway engineer - Lighthouse ...

196 LIFE OF GEOKGE STEPHENSON. [chap. xvn.
CHAPTER. XVIII.
ME. STEPHENSON APPOINTED TO SURVEY A RAILWAY
FROM LIVERPOOL TO MANCHESTER.
The project of a line of railway from Liverpool to Man-
chester was revived in the speculative year 1824. It had not,
indeed, been lost sight of by its advocates, who had merely
waited for a time in the hope of mitigating the opposition of the
powerful canal companies and land-owners. But the interrup-
tions to the conveyance of goods between the two towns had at
length become intolerable ; and it was a matter of absolute
necessity that some mode should be adopted for remedying the
evil.
Mr. Sandars continued to hold by his project of a railway ; and
his first idea, of a solidly constructed tramway, to be worked by
horse power, gradually assumed a more comprehensive form.
He continued to -propagate his ideas upon 'Change, and gradually
succeeded in enlisting on his side an increasing number of influ-
ential merchants and manufacturers both at Liverpool and Man-
chester. In 1824 he published a pamphlet, in which he strongly
urged the great losses and interruptions to the trade of the dis-
trict by the delays in the transport of goods ; and in the same
year a Public Declaration was drawn up, and signed by upwards
of 150 of the principal merchants of Liverpool, setting forth
that they considered " the present establishments for the trans-
port of goods quite inadequate, and that a new line of convey-
ance has become absolutely necessary to conduct the increasing
trade of the country with^speed, certainty, and eaonomy."
The formation of a third line of water conveyance, in addition
to the Mersey and Irwell Canals, was also considered ; but it was
almost immediately dismissed as impracticable, as the two exist-