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

CHAP. XXVII.] THE NOETH MIDLAND KAILWAY. 333
September, 1835 ; and the result was the approval of the line
as laid out by him. A subscription list was at once opened, and
Mr. John Marshall, one of the most public-spirited and influential
manufacturers of Leeds, having put his name down for 35,000^.,
the shares were soon taken, and the project was fairly launched.
The act was obtained in 1836, and the first ground was broken
in February, 1837. The execution of the works extended over
a period of above three years, and the line was opened through-
out in July, 1840.
Although the North Midland Railway was only one of the
many great works of the same kind executed at that time, it
was enough of itself to ^e the achievement of a life. Compare
it, for example, with Napoleon's much-vaunted military road
over the Simplon, and it will at once be seen how greatly it ex-
cels that work, not only in the constructive skill displayed in it,
but also in its cost and magnitude, and the amount of labour
employed in its formation. The road of the Simplon is 45 miles
in length ; the North Midland Railway 72J miles. The former
has 50 bridges and 5 tunnels, measuring together 1,338 feet in
length ; the latter has 200 bridges and 7 tunnels, measuring to-
gether 11,400 feet, or about 2^ miles. The former cost about
720,000^. sterling, the latter above 3,000,000/. Napoleon's
grand military road was constructed in six years, at the public
cost of the two great kingdoms of France and Italy; while
Stephenson's much more magnificent railway was formed in
about three years, by a company of private merchants and capi-
talists out of their own funds, and under their own superintend-
ence.* And if the name of the Chevalier Fabbroni has been
honoured for the design and construction of the military road
across the Simplon, how much higher ought the name of George
Stephenson to rank as the engineer and architect of the North
Midland, the Manchester and Leeds, the Liverpool and Man-
chester, and many other e4ually gigantic works of great public
utility
!
Mr. Stephenson's strong sagacity, assisted by the experience
* The number of men employed on the line, while the works were in full
operation, was between 9000 and 10,000, assisted by eighteen stationary and
several locomotive engines. The quantity of earthwork on the line amounted
to 9,500,000 cubic yards.