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

CHAP, xxvm.] REPORT ON THE EAST COAST LINE. 345
interior of the country, and up the various valleys which run
nearly at right angles to the main line ; for instance, as regards
the present railway, those productions, both agricultural and
mineral, which are found in Northumberland and Scotland, may
be conveyed on branch railways running up the valleys of the
Blyth, the Wansbeck, the Coquet, and the Tweed, on declining
railways from the places where they are produced to the main
line of railway, when they can be carried north or south as may
be required.
" It is a very important consideration indeed, that branch rail-
ways should possess a falling inclination towards the main line,
as the productions of the country are invariably conveyed either
to the coast for shipment, or to populous towns through which
the main railways of the kingdom are carried ; and the traffic
conveyed from populous towns and the coast into the interior of
the country is generally of a light description, consisting of gro-
ceries, and what may be called the luxuries of life. There is,
however, in this case, an exception, and that is the river Tweed.
It will be a great advantage to the valley of the Tweed, inasmuch
as the inhabitants will procure both lime and coal from
Berwick at a cheap rate, and as that river is crossed at the
height of 90 feet, and being a sluggish stream near its mouth,
you will be enabled to have a level branch along the valley for
many miles.
" The towns of Morpeth, Belford, Alnwick, and Kelso, may
be easily accommodated by branches up the different valleys in
which they are situated.
"I will now conclude this Report, congratulating you upon
the favourable nature of the country, and the great facilities
which exist for constructing the works on the coast line, with a
firm conviction on my own mind that it is the only feasible and
desirable line of railway, with levels to which locomotive steam
power can be advantageously applied, between the town of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow."
The recommendations contained in this able Report were even-
tually adopted, although several years elapsed before the line
was actually constructed. This delay was caused by unavoid-
able circumstances, to which we shall afterwards recur. In the
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