The day brought an immense concourse of people to Darlington, all bent on
seeing the novel spectacle of a train of carriages and wagons filled with
passengers and goods, drawn along a _railway_ by a _steam_ engine. At
eight o'clock in the morning the train started with its load--22
vehicles--hauled by Stephenson's "Locomotion," driven by Stephenson
himself. "Such was its velocity that in some parts of the journey the
speed was frequently 12 miles an hour." The number of passengers reached
450, and the goods and merchandise amounted to 90 tons--a great
accomplishment, and George Stephenson and Edward Pease were proud men
that day.
Seven years from this present time will witness the _Centenary_ of the
railway system. How shall we celebrate _it_? Will railway proprietor,
railway director and railway manager on that occasion be animated with
the gladness, the pride and the hope that brightened the Jubilee Banquet?
Who can tell? The future of railways is all uncertain.
A word or two regarding the railway system of Scotland may not be
inappropriate.
Scotland has eight _working_ railway companies, England and Wales 104,
and Ireland 28.
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