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

CHAP. XXIV.] LAND IMPROVED IN VALUE. 279
on the neighbouring estate, and ruin the owner by rendering the
land worthless for building purposes ;
that " no man in his sober
senses would build houses there, each to have a level line with
locomotive engines running before them;"* and yet the land in
question was shortly after covered with villas, and its value was
enormously enhanced. Mr. Hardman Earle, who had opposed
the line, afterwards declared before the Committee on the London
and Birmingham Bill, that his fears on account of residential
injury had been entirely unfounded ;
and that the passing of the
locomotives, instead of being regarded as a nuisance, was actually
regarded as an object of interest. The landlords who had driven
the surveyors from their grounds, and compelled the promoters
of the railway to divert it from its original route, were shortly
found complaining of the grievance of being deprived of the ad-
vantages of railway communication ;t while those who were so
fortunate as to have had the railway forced through their lands,
were observed, when letting their farms, to advertise that the
railway passed through the estate or near it ; and it was found
that there was a quicker competition for farms so situated, and
higher rents were obtained for them. When the Railway Com-
pany came again to these landowners to purchase additional
land from them, they had invariably to " pay through the nose,"
—the improved value of the land, in consequence of its proximity
to their own stations, being quoted against them. Even
the most barren and unproductive land became of value. Chat
* Evidence of Mr. Thomas Dickenson before the Committee on the Liverpool,
and Manchester Railway Bill, p. 363.
f The following evidence was given by Mr. Moss, one of the directors of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway, before the Committee on the London and
Birmingham Bill in 1833 :—
" Have you found owners, on the line between Liverpool and Birmingham,
consent to the railroad there, who, nevertheless, opposed the Liverpool and
Manchester line? " " Yes, several; among others, Lords Derby and Sefton."
"Did Mr. Heywood of Manchester oppose the Manchester Railroad?"
"Yes."
" Did he afterwards complsiu of its not passing through his lands ? " " Yes
he complained very much of it."
Lords Derby and Sefton, who, by their opposition, forced the line from their
estates, and compelled Mr. Stephenson to take it over the worst part of Chat
Moss, were afterwards found patronizing a second and rival line between
Liverpool and Manchester, on condition that the line should pass through their
property.
;