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Our Iron Roads: Their History, Construction, and Social Influences.

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Weight 600 g
Dimensions 45 × 35 × 16 mm
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A lovely early book on the history up to that point and current state of the railway system. Hard to find in the first edition and doubly so in clean condition. Lots of wonderful plates and a joy to any railway enthusiast. Nice decorative original cloth binding and nice and clean internally. locomotion-Traveling a, it was Equestrians
Century-Traveling in the times of the Stuarts-The country post-master of the seventeenth century-Evils set forth as arising from the introduction of coaches-Traveling at the commencement of the eighteenth century-Pennants journey from Chester to London in 1740-Establishment of a stage-coach between London and Edinburgh.
The means of communication from place to place in our own country were extremely limited till the commencement of the sixteenth century. People did, under special circumstances, manage to go from one part of the island to another; but, as regards the masses, traveling up to that period was rather a matter of theory than of practice. A journey was often, in early times, a very serious affair. The only way of proceeding was on horseback, and the Rozinante was compelled to go on till he was tired, and then both master and horse had to wait and rest. If the horse fell lame, the rider was obliged to tarry till he was sound again; if the steed died, and another could not be obtained, the traveler had to stop, or proceed on foot. But, putting such. disasters—common as they were—out of the calculation, the comfort of the rider was dependent on the roads, which were often in a miserable condition. Fatigue, even for the strongest, was inevitable, and danger was often imminent. Instead of the firm footing which the horse now has, he might suddenly plunge into a marsh; or, there being no ford or bridge over a river. Here are the titles for each illustration:1.The Wayside Inn; 2.The Novelty; 3 The Rocket; 4. A Leveling Party; 5 Railway Bridge at Manchester; 6 Making a Cutting; 7 Making the Running; 8 Woodhouse Tower and Cutting, on the Caledonian Railway; 9 Abbotts Cliff Tunnel; 10 Making an Embankment; 11 The Tip ; 12 Chesterford Station, Eastern Counties Railway; 13 The Horse Gin; 14 Shaft of Kilsby Tunnel; 15 Shugborough Tunnel; 16 The Tarentin Viaduct; 17 Dryfe Sands Viaduct; 18 Viaduct on the Midland Railway near Rugby; 19 Congleton Viaduct; 20 New Holland Ferry; 21 Winkwell Skew Bridge; 22 Rugby Road Bridge; 23 Maidenhead Bridge; 24 Drawbridge over the Arun; 25 Floating Railway across the Forth; 26 High-level Bridge at Newcastle; 27 Britannia Tubular Bridge; 28 Temporary Bridge; 29 Station Signal, with Cottage; 30 Auxiliary Signal; 31 Junction Signals; 32 Woburn Station; 33 Level-crossing Station; 34 A London and North-western Passenger Locomotive; 35 Vicenza and Venice Railway; 36 Water Crane; 37 The Old Road and the New.
It has often been remarked, that it is possible for men to live in habitual contact with the most wonderful and beautiful objects, and yet to be altogether unaffected by their presence. The peasant will dwell beneath the mountain range, whose colossal peaks are covered with eternal snows, without feeling any homage for its grandeur; and multitudes will wander heedlessly upon the shore, unconscious of the sublimely of the ocean. And this principle is true of mans relation to the world of science. We are often as ignorant of its operations as we are familiar with its effects. The blessings which it confers are daily enjoyed, till their amplitude makes us indifferent to the causes and means from which they originate. Such is the case, to a great extent, with that mighty and elaborate locomotive system which has arisen under our own observation, which filled all with admiration, till its wonders were almost too numerous to be appreciated, and yet with the arrangements and operations of which few are acquainted.
With the desire of at once stimulating and satisfying a laudable curiosity in reference to this subject, the present volume has been prepared. In it the