RAILROADS OF THE UNITED STATES. CHAPTER I. THE ORIGIN OF RAILROADS. To that imperial people who colonized when they had conquered, England owes her first road, in the year 415. Wherever the Romans penetrated-into whatever distant countries their victorious legions marched, the arts went hand in hand with arms. The Roman camp required the Roman way: and it has been remarked that the general direction of those works, which excite and astonish the beholder, is closely allied to that of the modern railway. In the Dark Ages, the roads of England were beset with danger and delay; and the age of chivalry was a terrible era for the traveller. The great highway of Watling Street, says Francis, was beset, even in the age of Edward the Confessor, by robbers and highwaymen. The highwayman, indeed, was a portion of the English roads until 1763, as he is now a portion of established English literature. Seventy-five years ago tram-roads were extensively employed in many parts of England. They consisted of thin beams or rails of wood, upon which the wheels of wagons rested, in their passage. The wooden rails, forming the tracks for the wagon wheels, were about four inches broad, supported on thicker pieces of timber laid at right angles to them, called sleepers, to which they were secured by wooden pins. Over a road thus constructed it was found that wagons, heavily loaded, could be drawn with ease. The friction of the wheels, however, passing over the rails, gradually wearing out the latter, new ones were substituted: and afterwards these tram-roads were made by laying down two rails, one above the other, so that when the upper rails were worn out, they could be easily replaced. These tramways were of especial value in mining and coal districts. At the Colebrook Iron Works, in 1767, in order to protect these wooden rails still more, plates of iron were laid over them. These iron plates were four inches wide, one inch thick, and five feet long, and were made with holes through which spikes were driven to fasten them down. Tramways constructed in this manner were found to be so durable that their use became greatly extended, so that, in 1811, there were one hundred and eighty miles in operation in Wales alone. The first railroads that were constructed in the United States were little more than iron tram-roads of this kind. In 1805 a tram-road was opened at Croydon, and the advantages which it presented were subjected to a practical test. A good horse, on an ordinary turnpike road, can draw two thousand pounds, or a ton. A party of gentlemen were invited to witness the experiment, that the superiority of the new road might be established by ocular demonstration. Twelve wagons were loaded with stones, till each wagon weighed three tons, and the wagons were fastened together. A horse was then attached, which drew the twelve wagons with ease, six miles in two hours, having stopped four times, in order to show that he had the power of starting, as well as drawing this great load. Horses continued to be used on these tram-ways for many years; and as long as the only motive power on these roads continued to be horses, few or no improvements were made in the construction of the roads themselves. But in 1820, Mr. Thomas Gray, of England, published a book in which he propounded a general iron railroad, or land steam conveyance, to supersede the necessity of horses in all public vehicles. This was a startling innovation; for steam had not yet begun to be used on railroads, or as a means of propulsion on land. Mr. Gray proposed that his plan should first be attempted between Liverpool and Manchester. He laid his plan before the capitalists of Manchester. But, although they owed their fortunes to steam, they could not appreciate the idea. Macaulay says: "There were fools then, as there are fools now; fools, who laughed at railways as they had laughed at canals; fools, who thought they evinced their wisdom by doubting what they could not understand." A In 1825, the first railroad in England, for the conveyance of passengers, was established, It was the Stockton and Darlington road, was thirty-seven miles long, and consisted of a single track with sidings. It |