The Highland monthly - National Library of Scotland

Darkest Inverness-shire. 629
screechiest machine that ever a descendant of Watt or
Stephenson fitted together. The latter, the van to wit, had
a seat all round, and a double one right up the centre. It
appeared to be fitted up for fifty occupants ;
and
on this
particular occasion it was well filled. This car was not, in
any sense, a " Pullman ;" it was not fitted up in a luxurious
way, and its springs— if, indeed, there were any—had, by
years of incessant bumping, ceased long since to perform
their functions. The small windows—one on either side
were, to put it mildly, inadequate as a means of letting air
in or out, inasmuch as the}' were both occupied by the
—
robust frames of two of the workmen, who were to be
envied in the coign of vantage they had secured, and who
stuck manfully to their posts with the most perfect
indifference to any one's comfort but their own For, by
comparison with the others, and notwithstanding that their
heads and shoulders were out in the air, their positions
were much coveted, at least by me, for air they had— good
pure air, albeit cold and damp ; while inside was thick
with fog and smoke, for it was a smoking compartment
smoking and spitting—merely that, as a particular raven
would say, " that and nothing more." Fortunately, at
every few miles, there was a stoppage to let out some of
the men where their work lay ;
but, unfortunately, others
whose work was further on, came in, so that the balance
of numbers was kept up. They brought in some fresh
air with them, however, which was seized on by gasping
occupants just as physical food would be if we were as
starved as we were stifled.
The motion of the car, too, was peculiar ; the little
engine tugged and tore at it as if it wanted to tear its
inside out, and as we went with considerable speed over the
uneven rails, the motion appeared to be a succession of
rapid tugs ahead, say a couple of yards, each accompanied
by a lateral motion of one foot to the yard, varied at
intervals by a bump which seemed to throw it off the
rails. This motion showed itself in a comical way on the