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ABOUT OUR RAILWAYS.

By VICTOR L.

There are 136 Railways in the British Isles, made up as follows:-England and Wales, 92; Isle of Man, 2; Isle of Wight, 4; Scotland, 9; Ireland, 29.

Of these the following have over 100 miles of rail in their respective systems.

ENGLAND AND WALES,

1. Great Western, 2576 miles. London Terminus, Paddington. Serves the West of England, South Wales, Oxford district, Birmingham, and Birkenhead.

2. London and North-Western, 1908 miles. London terminus, Euston. A line of "Stephenson "fame, serving the Midlands, North Wales, North-West and North of England and Lake District. One of the two principal routes to Scotland, viâ Carlisle and the Caledonian Railway. The Royal Mail route to Ireland, via Holyhead and Dublin, also via Holyhead and Greenore, Fleetwood and Belfast, Stranraer and Larne.

3. North-Eastern, 1643 miles. Principal station, Newcastle-on-Tyne. With this is amalgamated the oldest public railway in the world-the Stockton and Darlington. Serves Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, and parts of Westmoreland, Cumberland, and Roxburgh. In conjunction with the Great Northern and North British forms part of the "East Coast Route" to Scotland. Its locomotives are the largest in Britain.

4. The Midland, 1431 miles. London terminus, St. Pancras. Serves many of the most important midland towns and the North, with running powers over numerous other lines. Forms a route to Scotland via Carlisle.

5. The Great Eastern, 1102 miles, formerly the "Eastern Counties." London terminus, Liverpool Street. Serves the Eastern Counties, and has a gigantic suburban traffic. The route to the Continent via Harwich to Antwerp, Hook of Holland, and Rotterdam.

6. The London and South Western, 882 miles. London terminus, Waterloo. Serves the SouthWest of England, and has extended beyond Exeter to Plymouth and the North Cornish Coast. Route to America via Southampton, and to the Channel Isles from the same port.

7. The Great Northern, 812 miles. London terminus, King's Cross. An amalgamation of the "London and York " and " Direct Northern." Serves the Midlands to Shaftholme Junction, a few miles north of Doncaster, one of the lines in the "East Coast Route" to Scotland.

8. The Lancashire and Yorkshire, 553 miles. Serves the counties giving its name. Manchester is the centre of its system. Has an immense traffic in this thickly-populated district, not the least being with tourists.

9. The London, Brighton and South Coast, 438 miles. London termini, Victoria and London Bridge. Serves Sussex, parts of Surrey, and Kent, and the south coast between Portsmouth and Hastings. Has a route to France via Newhaven and Dieppe.

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10. The South-Eastern and Chatham and Dover, 601 miles. London termini, Charing Cross, Cannon St., Victoria and Holborn. Continental services via Dover and Calais, Dover and Ostend, and Queenborough and Flushing.

1. The Great Central, 383 miles. London

WHITECHURCH,

terminus, Marylebone. Until recently known as the "Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Ry." The latest great trunk line into London. Runs to the Midlands via Leicester. Headquarters at Manchester, serves parts of Lancashire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Notts, and Lincoln.

12. The Cambrian, 252 miles. An amalgamation of several early Welsh Railways, works in connection with the L. & N.-W. & G. W. Rys., and also the Midland, by which lines through carriages are run between Aberystwyth and principal English towns on those systems. Serves Aberystwyth, Towyn, Barmouth, Portmadoc, and the Welsh Coast.

13. The North Staffordshire, 193 miles. An important little line with its centre at Stoke-onTrent, joining the L. & N.-W. & G. C. at Macclesfield, and also the former at Crewe, Merton Bridge and Colwich,the G. W. at Market Drayton, the Midland and G. N. at Burton and Derby.

14. Midland & Great Northern Joint, 179 miles. Serves the northern district of Norfolk, and caters for the tourist traffic on the Broads.

15. Cheshire Lines, 139 miles. Chief terminus Liverpool (central); joint property of the G. N., G. C. and C. Rys., an amalgamation of several lines in the Lancashire and Cheshire District.

16. Furness Railway, 134 miles, incorporated 1844. Principal terminus-Barrow-in-Furness. System in Lancashire and Cumberland, an important link to Lake District in connection with the L. & N.-W. and Midland Rys.

17. The Taff Vale, 121 miles, an important South Wales line, serving the district around Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil. Principal station, Cardiff (Queen Street).

18. Somerset and Dorset, Ior miles, an amalgamation of the "Somerset Central" and "Dorset Central," leased by the L. & S. W. and Midland, runs across the two counties, and has running powers to Bournemouth,

SCOTLAND.

19. The North British, 1,222 miles. Headquarters Edinburgh, one of the three lines in the East Coast Route." Only route between Edinburgh and Berwick, Galashiels, Hawick, Jedburgh, Dunbar, Burntisland, Kirkcaldy, St. Andrews, Helensburgh, Fort William, etc. Famous for its two great bridges, the " Tay' and the "Forth."

20. The Caledonian, 938 miles, runs from Carlisle to Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, etc. One of the two lines in the "West Coast" Route to Scotland.

21. The Highland Railway, 473 miles. Originally an amalgamation of the Inverness and Aberdeen Junction, and Inverness and Perth Junction Railways. Runs from Perth to the north of Scotland.

22. The Glasgow and South-Western, 394 miles. The main line is between St. Enoch's (Glasgow) Station and Gretna; from here to Carlisle it has running powers over the Caledonian. Route from Glasgow to Greenock, Kilmarnock, Dumfries, Ayr, Stranraer, and Ardrossan.

23. The Great North of Scotland, 331 miles, Main line from Aberdeen to Elgin. Runs through coaches to Inverness.

IRELAND.

24. Great Southern and Western, 604 miles, he most important line in Ireland, connecting Dublin' with the south and west. The main line is 177 miles long.

25. The Midland Great Western of Ireland, 538 miles, originally incorporated as a railway from Dublin to Mullingar in 1845. The main line extends from Dublin to Galway and Clifden.

26. Great Northern (Ireland), 528 miles, the route from Dublin to Belfast, Londonderry and the North of Ireland.

27. Waterford, Limerick and Western, 342 miles, from Waterford in the south to Limerick and the west of Ireland.

28. Belfast and Northern Counties, 249 miles, originally the "Belfast and Ballymena Railway." Serves the district covered by its title.

29. Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford, 144 miles, Dublin and the East Coast.

LONGEST RAILWAY TUNNELS

Length.
Miles. Yds.

Tunnel.

Railway.

Severn

Great Western

4 624

Totley

Midland

3

950

Standedge

London & North-Western 3

62

Woodhead

Great Central

...... 3

17

...

Bramhope North Eastern

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1844. An engine on the Yarmouth and Norwich Railway ran a mile in 44 seconds.

1853. "Bristol and Exeter" broad-gauge 9 feet single-wheel engines began to be built, and attained a speed of 81 miles per hour.

1888. The first race "to Scotland between the "West Coast" (L. and N.-W. and Caledonian) and "East Coast" (G.N., N.E. and North British).

1895 (August). The great race to Aberdeen between the above companies.

Best time. London to Aberdeen:

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"East Coast," 5234 miles in 518 minutes. "West Coast," 540 miles in 512 minutes. In the same year a record run was made from Euston to Carlisle without a stop, in which the miles between Preston and Carlisle were 90 accomplished in minutes.. 79

The same year the Great Western Railway ran a train from Exeter to Paddington, 194 miles, in 194 minutes.

FIFTY YEARS' ADVANCE IN BRITISH RAILWAYS.

The following shows: (A) The length of line open for traffic. (B) The number of passengers carried (exclusive of season-ticket holders). (C) The weight of goods and minerals conveyed. (D) The amount of paid-up capital invested. (E) The gross receipts for each year of the railways in the United Kingdom as shown in the latest Parliamentary return.

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LONGEST RAILWAY RUNS.

There are upwards of 100 runs of over 100 miles without a stop performed daily on British Railways; in the summer months this number is often increased. All the year round the average may be taken at 108, made up as follows:

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The runs of 120 miles and upwards are here tabulated-several of them are performed three or four times each day

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FASTEST

RAILWAY RUNS FROM START TO FINISH

ON THE UNDERMENTIONED RAILWAY SYSTEMS.

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It must be borne in mind that the above are only the timings from start to finish. Very many of our long distance trains, timed on an average less than the above, attain 60 to 70 miles per hour on certain parts of their journeys, but this speed is not maintained.

DIFFERENCE IN TIME

IN THE PRINCIPAL CITIES OF THE WORLD.

Variation of time depends on Longitude; East of Greenwich every degree causes the clock to be minutes earlier, every degree West 4 minutes later.

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CONTINENTAL TIME.

The times stated in the above diagram are strictly correct according to longitudinal difference, but may be well to explain that the Railway Companies on the Continent largely adopt either MidEuropean or East European time. The following shows more precisely what this means:

BELGIUM AND HOLLAND.-Greenwich (West European) time.

FRANCE.-Paris time-9 minutes 2016 seconds earlier than Greenwich.

AUSTRIA, DENMARK, GERMANY, ITALY, SWITZERLAND, NORWAY, SWEDEN.-Mid-European time - hour earlier than Greenwich. Italian time is reckoned from 1 to 24 o'clock.

GREECE.Athens time-1 hour 35 minutes earlier than Greenwich.

BULGARIA, ROUMANIA AND EASTERN TURKEY.-East European time-2 hours earlier than Greenwich. RUSSIA.-St. Petersburg time-2 hours 1 minute earlier than Greenwich. Moscow time-2 hours 30 minutes earlier.

SPAIN.--Madrid time-14 minutes later than Greenwich.

PORTUGAL.-Lisbon tiine-364 minutes later than Greenwich.

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