The Roads and Railroads, Vehicles, and Modes of Travelling, of Ancient and Modern Countries: With Accounts of Bridges, Tunnels, and Canals, in Various Parts of the World ... |
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a-half Act of Parliament afford Alps ancient arch axle boiler bottom bridge Britain British roads called canal carriages carried chains chapter coach common roads communication construction conveyance conveyed cylinder danger descend difficulties distance ditch earth England erected excavation feet force four ground Highlands hills horses hundred improvement inches iron Italy journey labour land latter length Liverpool Loch Oich locks London Mac Adam Manchester means miles an hour military mode modern motion mountains move nature navigation necessary pass passage passengers paved Petersburgh piers piston present rail-road rails railway reader river road-making road-way rock Roman roads Rotherhithe Saint-Bernard Sankey brook navigable Sankey canal Sankey Viaduct says Scotland Scottish Highlands shaft side Simplon soil steam steam-carriages steam-engine stone surface Thames Thames Tunnel tion towns travelling tube tunnel valve vehicle Via Mala wall Wans Dyke weight wheels whole
Popular passages
Page 5 - tis the twanging horn o'er yonder bridge, That with its wearisome but needful length Bestrides the wintry flood, in which the moon Sees her unwrinkled face reflected bright ;— He comes, the herald of a noisy world, With spattered boots, strapped waist, and frozen locks ; News from all nations lumbering at his back.
Page 272 - That as they admit of greater breadth of tire than other carriages, and as the roads are not acted on so injuriously as by the feet of horses in common draught, such carriages will cause less wear of roads than coaches drawn by horses. 9. That rates of toll have been imposed on steam carriages, which would prohibit their being used on several lines of road, were such charges permitted to remain unaltered.
Page 237 - It has increased indefinitely the mass of human comforts and enjoyments, and rendered cheap and accessible all over the world the materials of wealth and prosperity. It has armed the feeble hand of man, in short, with...
Page 272 - That at this rate they have conveyed upwards of fourteen passengers. 3. That their weight, including engine, fuel, water and attendants, may be under three tons. 4. That they can ascend and descend hills of considerable inclination with facility and safety. 5. That they are perfectly safe for passengers. 6. That they are not (or need not be, if properly constructed) nuisances to the Public. 7. That they will become a speedier and cheaper mode of conveyance than Carriages drawn by horses.
Page 237 - It can engrave a seal, and crush masses of °obdurate metal before it, — draw out, without breaking, a thread as fine as "gossamer, and lift up a ship of war, like a bauble, in the air. It can embroider muslin, and forge anchors, — cut steel into ribands, and impel loaded vessels against the fury of the winds and waves.
Page 85 - ... weather. In the formation of such roads, and before they become bound or firm, a considerable portion of the subsoil mixes with the stone or gravel, in consequence of...
Page 285 - ... so vast as to rend a cable asunder. Hydrogen gas and high-pressure steam; columns of water and columns of mercury ; a hundred atmospheres, and a perfect vacuum ; machines working in a circle without fire or steam, generating power at one end of the process and giving it out at the...
Page 132 - ... springing of its vaulted roof immediately from its floor. The width of the tunnel varies from fifty to one hundred and fifty feet; its course is that of a continuous curve, resembling the letter S, first winding to the right as we enter on the upper side, then to the left, again to the right, and then again to the left, on arriving at the entrance on the lower side. Such is its peculiar form, that an observer standing at a point about midway of its subterranean course is completely excluded from...
Page 237 - By his admirable contrivances it has become a thing stupendous alike for its force and its flexibility, for the prodigious power which it can exert, and the ease and precision and ductility with which it can be varied, distributed, and applied. The trunk of an elephant, that can pick up a pin, or rend an oak, is as nothing to it.
Page 244 - I need not take time to relate,) the price of pigs became very low, and their works being of great extent, in order to keep the furnaces on, they thought it would be the best means of stocking their pigs, to lay them on the wooden railways, as it would help to pay the interest by reducing the repairs of the rails ; and if iron should take any sudden rise, there was nothing to do but to take them up, and send them away as pigs.