TRAVELLING ON RAILWAYS. (Hansard, 5 August 1845)

§ Viscount Palmerston

had a question to ask of the Vice President of the Board of Trade, of which he had given notice. He wished to state his reason why he put this question. He had received a letter from a friend, who had not long ago been a Member of that House, and who, having observed a statement in the papers as to the practice of employing engines at the rear of the train, wrote to him to say that he had observed the same thing on the London and Birmingham Railway. His friend said that he was going down the other day on the fast train—he begged of hon. Gentlemen to remark that—and upon the line from the Weedon station to Birmingham, he observed that they had an engine in the rear, when they were going at a rate, it might be supposed, of from forty to fifty miles an hour. His friend remonstrated against this, but in vain; and in the morning, when he complained at Birmingham, the answer he received was that they were in the constant habit of doing it. If this, then, were the general practice on railways, it seemed to him to be a matter of considerable importance; and it was desirable and essential that it should be put a stop to. The questions, then, that he wished to ask of the hon. Baronet the Vice President of the Board of Trade were, whether the Board of Trade had the power by law to prevent these proceedings; and whether, if they had not the power, the Government would think it right to bring in a Bill—to bring it in now, before this Session was over, giving them some power in this matter? Even still there was time to do this; a Bill might pass through the House of Lords to-morrow and next day, and being brought down to that House on Friday, might pass through all its stages. A Bill of this sort, he said, was required to give security to Her Majesty's subjects.

§ Sir G. Clerk

replied, that the Board of Trade had no power whatever in the matter 1440 to which the noble Lord had referred. All that they had was the power to remonstrate with railway companies, and of pointing out to them any dangerous practices that were known to exist on their lines. And he would take the present opportunity of stating, that whenever the Board of Trade had felt it to be their duty to remonstrate, they had found the utmost readiness, on the part of the various companies, to adopt any suggestion that they might make. The question of having engines placed behind the trains, had attracted the notice of the Board of Trade on several occasions; and in 1841 they addressed a number of queries to all the railroad companies at that time in existence, asking them whether, under any circumstances, additional engines were employed by them, and whether they were placed in front or behind the trains. In answer to those queries, he believed with one or two exceptions only, the Board were informed that it was necessary sometimes from the state of the weather, or accidental circumstances, such as the extraordinary weight of the train, to employ a second engine, but they uniformly employed it in front of the train; and most of the companies admitted that it was extremely objectionable, and highly dangerous, to use an engine behind. At the same time, they stated that there were particular circumstances, as in case of an incline of considerable steepness, which it was found difficult to overcome with the ordinary locomotive power, where it was more convenient to employ an engine behind; because, if it were placed in front for a short distance, in order to surmount the incline, there would be considerable difficulty experienced in detaching the engine, and getting it out of the way of the train, without stopping the train altogether. They added, that where a second engine was employed in a case of that sort, the speed of the train was necessarily very much reduced, and there was no ground for apprehending danger. In the neighbourhood of Liverpool, he understood, there were one or two steep inclines, and that the practice of having a second engine to propel the trains up these inclines, had been adopted without any danger arising. The Board of Trade received a complaint from a gentleman last year, relative to the practice which prevailed on the South Eastern Railway of employing an engine to propel the trains on other parts of the line than the 1441 steep gradients. The Board of Trade corresponded with the directors of the South Eastern Company on the subject. They attempted to defend the practice; and the Board signified that it was extremely objectionable, and could only be allowed on steep inclines. He was sorry to hear the statement made by the noble Lord, that upon the London and Birmingham line, the practice had been lately introduced of using a second engine to propel the trains. He presumed, however, that that must have been in the case of the express trains; for, on referring to their answers, taken in 1841, he observed that the directors of the London and Birmingham Railway stated that it was a practice they never had had recourse to. Any Gentleman who went to Euston-square might see two engines employed to take the trains to Camden Town; but those engines were in front, and not behind. The Board of Trade had always said, that it was extremely dangerous, and, therefore, highly objectionable, to place the engines behind; and they had endeavoured, as far as they had power, to prevent it. It might be expedient, if the practice were becoming more general, that Parliament should interfere early in the next Session; but it was utterly impossible to do what the noble Lord proposed, namely, pass a short Bill through its various stages, in both Houses of Parliament, in the present Session. He apprehended that, considering the difference of opinion which prevailed in this House, with regard to investing the Board of Trade with additional powers, any Bill, having that object in view, would give rise to very considerable discussion, and occupy some time in passing through the House. He could assure the noble Lord, that the Board of Trade would devote their best attention to the subject, in order to remedy the evil complained of.