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

330 LIFE OF GEORGE STEPHENSON. [chap. xxvn.
Predictions were confidently made in many quarters, that the
line could never succeed. It was declared, that the utmost en-
gineering skill could not construct a railway through such a
country of hills and hard rocks ; and it was maintained, that,
even if the railway were practicable, it could only be formed
at so enormous a cost as to prevent it from ever remunerating
the proprietors.
The croaking of all the prophets of evil and disaster reached
its height in December, 1840, as the Summit Tunnel, near
Littleborough, was fast approaching completion, when the alarm-
ing rumour was spread abroad in Manchester that the tunnel
' had fallen in and buried a number of workmen in the ruins.
The last arch had been keyed in, and the work was all but
finished, when the accident occurred which was thus exaggerated
by the lying tongue of rumour. An invert had given away
through the irregular pressure of the Surrounding earth and
rock at a part of the tunnel where a " fault " had occurred in
the strata. A party of the directors accompanied the engineer
to inspect the scene of the accident. They entered the tunnel's
mouth preceded by upwards of fifty navvies, each bearing a
torch. This extraordinary subterranean viaduct had occupied
the labours of above a thousand men during nearly four years.
Besides excavating the arch out of the solid rock, they had used
23,000,000 of bricks, and 8000 tons of Koman cement. Thirteen
stationary engines, and about 100 horses, had also been employed
in drawing the earth and stone out of the shafts. The entire
length of the tunnel was 2869 yards, or nearly a mile and three
quarters,—exceeding the famous Kilsby Tunnel by 471 yards.
After walking a distance of about half a mile, the inspecting
party arrived at the scene of the " frightful accident," about
which so much alarm had been spread in Manchester. All that
was visible was a certain unevenness of the ground, which had
been forced up by the invert under it giving way; thus the bal-
last had been loosened, the drain running along the centre of the
road had been displaced, and small pools of water stood about.
But the whole of the walls and the roof were as perfect there as
in any other part of the tunnel. Mr. Stephenson explained the
cause of the accident : The blue shale, he said, through which