Some railway myths
AT first sight it may seem not a little strange that such essentially prosaic and scientific things as railways should be able to produce any ‘myths’ at all. But it must be remembered that the vast possibilities of railway locomotion have a tendency to appeal to the imagination of marvel-lovers, and imagination of that sort is apt to clamour for the out-marvelling of marvels. Hence have arisen the wondrous tales of manifest impossibilities which have been current ever since railways were given to a grateful world.
In the old broad gauge days, Brunel went down from London to Bristol, 118½ miles, in an hour!
Nor is it perhaps surprising to find this craving for the marvellous with regard to railway speed. For speed is the one characteristic in which railways so far stand alone and unapproachable. By no other means as yet feasible on this earth can a human being experience so swift a rate of motion as on the railway. In mere weight-carrying, a railway is surpassed by some other modes of conveyance – by water carriage particularly – given only the necessary time. Even a horse or a man could convey a load as heavy as that of a train if allowed the requisite time in which to do it. But in no other way than by rail can anybody, or anything, as yet be conveyed at the rate of 70 or 80mph. And so it is the rapidity of railway-transit that specially and justly appeals to the admiration, and to the imagination also, of the world in general.
And thus it is that railway speed has been the subject of so vast a number of mythical romances. Their prevalence is at times apt to be mortifying to careful and accurate observers of locomotive performances. If one happens to mention to a railway mythologist one of the notable locomotive feats of the past two years, such as the averaging of 67mph from start to stop, the prompt reply is: "My dear fellow, that's nothing. Why, in the old broad gauge days, Brunel went down from London to Bristol, 118½ miles, in an hour!" It is useless to argue or to lose temper. The temptation may be great, but to yield is idle. The railway mythologist is not to be undeceived.
The railway myth has never blossomed so profusely as upon the old broad gauge system and its 8ft, single-wheel engines, one of the most famous of which, Great Britain, I now illustrate. It was entirely natural that the magnificent scale of the 7ft gauge, and the high speeds of the single-wheelers, should impress the public imagination. And it is quite true that they did many things which, in those days, must have seemed marvellous, and, which, even in these times, we are warranted in regarding with warm admiration, But they did not do – and no engine ever did – the miraculous things attributed to them.
That myth, that Brunel once ran down to Bristol in an hour, is often to be heard. And I suspect it had the same origin as the equally fabulous story that the horse Eclipse ran a mile in a minute. The horse, I believe, really did run a mile in a minute – and so many seconds; in fact, a little under two minutes. And I have reason to think that Brunel and Gooch did once go to Bristol in 1hr 55min – that is to say, five minutes under the two
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