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

CHAP. XXV.] POPULAR ALARMS. 291
Lancaster. Thus a branch was formed from Bolton to Leigh,
and another from' Leigh to Kenyon, where it formed a junction
with the main line between Liverpool and Manchester. Branches
to Wigan on the north, and to Runcorn Gap and Warrington on
the south of the same line, were also formed. A continuation of
the latter, as far south as Birmingham, was shortly after projected
under the name of the Grand Junction Railway. The
scheme of a line from Birmingham to London was also brought
forward anew, and it was thus contemplated to bring the popu-
lous districts of Lancashire and the northwestern counties into
direct railway communication with the metropolis. At the same
time an important cross country railway was projected from
Manchester to Leeds, traversing the populous manufacturing dis-
tricts of East Lancashire and West Yorkshire, and bringing the
chief towns of the two great northern counties into direct com-
munication with each other. Of the principal lines projected in
these districts, Mr. George Stephenson was appointed engineer
in some cases, in conjunction with his son. He was the engineer
of the Grand Junction, of the Manchester and Leeds, and other
new lines, so that his hands were full of work.
The number of railway schemes which were thus projected
by companies of private individuals, principally resident in the
manufacturing districts, created considerable alarm in the minds
of the country gentlemen, who were found everywhere up in
arms against these "new-fangled roads." The farmers were
thrown into a state of consternation at the idea of " fire horses "
running through their quiet fields and frightening their sheep
and cattle while grazing. In remote country places the most
extraordinary stories were propagated and believed respecting
railway locomotives. On one occasion, Mr. Stephenson and
some directors of the hne projected from Chester to Birmingham,
on coming into the neighbourhood of Nantwich to obtain
the consent of some landowners, were told that the canal pro-
prietors had been before them, and had told the farmers and
landowners that if a bird flew over the district when the locomo-
tive passed, it would drop down dead !
The inhabitants of even some of the large towns were thrown
into a state of consternation by the proposal to provide them
;